All News and Views

The March update for JAWS 2018 has been posted, and the promised drivers for the Orbit Redaer 20 are now included along with a pile of additional changes.

Zoomax USA is the latest low-vision company to jump into the wearable device game, and is teasing a new product on their Twitter feed to be released at CSUN.

The next time you visit your local airport, grocery store, or university, you may be able to call an AIRA agent for free to receive help.

Video game maker EA has launched a new website to centralize accessibility resources for its games and provide a place for users to share feedback.

Just ahead of CSUN, HumanWare has released version 5.0 of the KeySoft software for the BrailleNote Touch.

Terrill Thompson has once again posted a completely accessible NCAA March Madness bracket which you can fill out and monitor.

Shipments of the Orbit Reader 20 refreshable braille display have been delayed until summer according to the latest news update from The American Printing House for the Blind.

NVDA's first release of 2018 is now available and Firefox and braille users will be among those who will love the new features.

Freedom scientific has recently released an update to their popular screen reading solution JAWS which adds new functionality and simplifies some interactions.

Microsoft's Disability Help Desk has partnered with Be My Eyes, a smart phone application to connect blind and visually impaired individuals with technical support representatives from Microsoft in over 12 countries.

Users of the Orbit 20 braille display and the JAWS screen reader will no longer need to use an emulation mode to enjoy all 20 cells of their displays, thanks to the release of new drivers for the display.

It is no secret in the blind and visually impaired community that unemployment is one of our biggest group challenges. To help combat the high rate of unemployment in the blind and visually impaired community, Aira has recently introduced the Aira employment program.

It is no secret that the BBQ Crew has been a bit scattered since the holidays. Some news has fallen behind the sofa, or been swept under a few floor rugs, so this large pile is our way of acknowledging some stories that have occurred while we've been occupied elsewhere.

Big shout out to Dean at Top Tech Tidbits and Access World for keeping the news torches burning. They are great resources for a little light reading when we aren't actively posting.

Baum USA, distributor of Baum braille displays and other products, is closing its doors as of the end of business today.

Apple has been slowly adding popular features found on Android phones for a few years now. yet the two biggest items on the Apple wish list would probably have to be that of wireless and rapid charging. With the release of the iPhone 8, 8+ and the X, apple fans finally saw their wishes become reality. Do these new power options really help you get through a day's worth of use more easily? The short answer is yes . Read on to learn more about my first month of using the official Apple USB C rapid charger and the Belkin Boost Up wireless pad.

Aira user Greg Stilson will be attending the Superbowl Sunday Feb 4th, and will be using Aira to get descriptions of the big event. Generously, he and aira will be streaming the event to all, even if you're not currently an Aira subscriber.

On January 23, Mozilla released Firefox version 58. The previous Firefox version, 57, known as Firefox Quantum, was a major Firefox release which changed how webpages were rendered, but unfortunately also [rendered Firefox much slower and less accessible to screen reader users including users of NVDA

Ever wished you could get more help with the accessibility of your google products? Now you can. After being in beta for several months, Google now offers a dedicated accessibility support team for all your accessibility questions.

Many VoiceOver and other audio game players on iOS have most likely heard of and have played the Blindfold series of games from Kid Friendly Software While these games have been accessible for speech users, they have not been useable by those who want or need to be able to play them with a braille display. Late last year, I posted a blog on AppleVis calling attention to this fact and pointing out that submited feedback prior to that point had not been taken into account. A discussion ensued, and in early January, I was happy to post that full braille display support was available with Blindfold Wildcard. This card game is very similar to the traditional Uno card game.

Last week, Kid Friendly Software released full braille display support for another game, Blindfold Travel Cards, a version of the popular game better known as One Thousand Miles. As someone who used to be able to play audio games, who later had that ability taken away due to a series of major hearing losses, it is great to now be able to play these games. It is my hope that Kid Friendly Software will continue to work to offer braille support on many of their titles which are text based.

APH has announced via it's mailing list for the Orbit Reader 20 that they will start taking orders tomorrow for the much anticipated braille display/notetaker.