For people with disabilities, the digital divide predates the pandemic. But new tools are opening new pathways for participation. Last year, Google introduced a virtual Braille keyboard for Android to allow the visually impaired to read and write on smartphones. When Covid-19 catapulted society into a new age of remote work, school and life, educators, economists, and […]
The Apps That Are Redefining Accessibility Read More »
Eirrace Snead wheeled into her therapy session in pain, something she’d experienced often since sustaining a spinal injury in a car accident two months earlier. But this session on a recent morning at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, where the 19-year-old is being treated, was different. With the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Snead, an avid gamer,
Written by Brad Smith, Microsoft President More than 1 billion people around the world live with a disability, and at some point, most of us likely will face some type of temporary, situational or permanent disability. The practical impacts are huge. Employment and education rates are lower and poverty rates are higher for people with disabilities. And
Zoom says it is enhancing its service in order to be more accessible to users with disabilities. The video conferencing platform that’s become ubiquitous as the COVID-19 pandemic has kept people from meeting in person said it will add automatic closed captioning to its free accounts. The functionality, which will be called “Live Transcription,” is
Zoom commits to making its platform more accessible Read More »
As technology develops, the number of communication options available to persons with total or partial hearing loss grows. In particular, advancements in automatic speech recognition (ASR) have made a dramatic difference to millions of people’s lives. Everyone has a right to an education and access to information, and technology is now making this right a
6 apps for people who are deaf or have hearing loss Read More »
While the COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the importance of having a reliable thermometer at home and at work, for families especially those with children, having a reliable thermometer is generally always a necessity. For people with impaired vision, using a normal digital thermometer or glass thermometer may not be possible, which is why Tenscare SA’s Family
Talking Thermometer Read More »
An adaptive switch is an access device that allows people with movement-limiting disabilities to use technology and operate electronic devices. Instead of the person performing complex actions such as turning a knob, adaptive switches offer easier movement solutions. One such option is called the Grasp Switch, a tube-shaped switch with a simple pinch that releases
Google’s AI can now identify food in the supermarket, in a move designed to help the visually impaired. Part of Google’s Lookout app, this new update aims to help those with low or no vision identify things around them with the addition of a computer voice to say aloud what food it thinks a person
Google Lookout: App that reads grocery labels for the visually impaired Read More »
A Talking Calculator is a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics which then voices the answer back to the user in a clear voice. There are a variety of Talking Calculators available in South Africa, including the “A4 Talking Desktop Calculator” from Edit Microsystems. This A4 sized calculator
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Do you find it difficult to load your wheelchair into the boot? Wheelchairs on the Run is a company established in 2002 which prides itself in not being too big to care and not being too small to make a difference, offering persons with disabilities a variety of products and services at competitive prices. One
Manual wheelchair Carrier Read More »
