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It may be at least 2018 until regulations governing sounds made by quiet cars takes effect. According to Green Car Reports The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has delayed their rulemaking procedures on the issue until the end of 2015, which also has the effect of delaying implementation of the rule. IN 2011, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act became law, a bill which required quiet cars to emit a sound to alert pedestrians including the blind. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated over 11 million vehicles which use alternative fuels were on the road as of 2011, though not all of these vehicles would be considered quiet cars. Check the source link for more details.

A new ultraportable braille display was the biggest news at the Hims booth during the recent Assistive Technology Industry Association conference in Orlando. Named the Smart Beetle for its connection options, it can simultaneously connect to up to 6 devices at once, 5 Bluetooth and one USB 2.0. Beetles have 6 legs, thus the use of the nature-inspired name.

The wildly successful adult party game Cards Against Humanity is now accessible to the blind, thanks to a kit from 64 Oz. Games. The company specializes in making kits which make card and board games accessible, often accomplished by using plastic overlay sleeves. To achieve this, you would purchase the Cards Against Humanity game and then the accessibility kit. It'll be necessary to find a way to read the printed cards so they can be matched with their corresponding braille overlays. Once this is done, you'll have a completely accessible version of one of the most popular games in the world.

Hims is adding another model to its line of Blaze portable DAISY players. The Blaze ET will include additional features including a dictionary, calculator, and other applications. A redesigned layout is also a possibility, given some of the features and requests from users of the original Booksense models. This presentation outline from this week's ATIA conference gives some additional information. No pricing info has been released. We'll be sure to post more about this as our ATIA coverage unfolds. Update: Earlier we reported the inclusion of a Skype application, based on the above link. Hims has now said this feature will not be included, at least for now.

Microsoft stole most of the week's news with their announcement of Windows 10, Office 16 and those Holo Lens thingies. However, we still have some interesting reads this week regardless.

Good things usually come in threes. However, this week sees the release of four new apps for your iDevice of choice.

The field for crowdsourced helper applications is growing rather quickly, and the latest entrant to this category, Specular, is now looking for beta testers. Specular takes elements of some existing services and adds some new twists, allowing blind users to take a picture of something and ask a question via audio. From the description, the app seems a bit more conversational, allowing the sighted or blind user to ask for clarifying information or a better picture. Since the company is looking for beta testers, go ahead and check the link on this post and apply to join the free program for yourself. Both iPhone and Android apps are promised. Only time will tell if all of these new services will survive, but the landscape is certainly becoming interesting.

The Be My Eyes app has become one of the most talked-about app launches for the blind in recent memory, receiving a whirlwind of mainstream attention not seen since the early days of Fleksy. Media sources and users have been weighing in, giving both user testimonials and prognostications of the future's viability.

HumanWare has posted a new version of the software for the New Generation Victor Stream without much fanfare. Version 4.4.12 doesn't include a changelog as of this post but does seem to include some speed improvements and support for FLAC audio files. One Twitter user reports speed improvements when transferring files from the main memory to the SD card. A bug that caused some users to lose their list of podcast feeds also appears to be squashed. Updates for the stream can be downloaded wirelessly, directly from the unit or from this HumanWare page. If you notice other improvements or changes, post them in the comments.

En-Vision America has released a free update to the software for the I.D. Mate Quest Bar Code Scanner which includes some new social features and bug fixes. Users can now share bar code results with the company to help improve the database. In addition, a history mode can be enabled that allows one to listen to the last 30 scanned items. The entire changelog is posted below.

CES is over, so that must mean its time for Macworld. Alas, that event is no more but you sure couldn't tell by the amount of news we have in the run down this week.

Some Window-Eyes 9 users received an unexpected pop-up message earlier today, the result of a security breach on the company's App Central repository. AN updated copy of one of the default scripts was posted to the website by someone who maliciously hacked the server. AI Squared quickly defused the problem, though some users may need to go and redownload the GW Toolkit app. No personal data stored on your computer is believed to be at risk. We've included more info on how to fix the problem and a statement issued by AI Squared below.

In the world of accessible games, Super Liam was the first accessible side-scroller, taking many of its cues from Super Mario and other past titles. Now, you can relive this chapter in early 2000's accessible games by downloading and playing Super Liam for free. L-Works is releasing several of its older titles for free and users can expect additional releases including Judgment Day in the near future. Check the link to learn more and download the free game, compatible with most versions of Windows.

There's no shortage of quality text-to-speech voices available for Android users and now Code Factory, who already has made available a version of Eloquence for Android, has added to the available options by releasing Vocalizer voices for the platform. Vocalizer voices are most commonly associated with the iPhone, including Samantha which is the default United States voice. Similar to Acapela, a free app allows users to browse available voices (more than 80 in all) and individual voices can be purchased for $3.99 each. Early reports indicate the voices are quite responsive. Have you tried out any of the new Vocalizer voices for Android? Let us know what you think.

The Be My Eyes app we previously posted about is now available for free on the iTunes App Store. The app pairs blind or visually impaired individuals with volunteers who can help answer visual questions such as the expiree date on milk or the reading on a thermostat. We've linked to the page on the App Store from this post, and you can hear an interview with cofounder Thelle Kristensen in our Blind Bargains podcast.

We've made it to number 1! Thanks for following the top 10 stories of the year in assistive technology, as voted on by our panel: Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Number 1 was a pretty simple choice for us this year, and we discussed it in detail on the This year in Assistive Technology podcast which you can listen to now. So without delay, the top story of the year.

Those who have been reading our Top Ten lists over the years know that we like to get an idea of what other stories are making news in the general field of Assistive Technology. And who better to ask than a former panelist Mr. Wade Wingler of the INDATA podcast and social media feeds. Take it away Wade!

In the 80s the board game of choice was Trivial Pursuit. And all you needed to play was a dining room table, a board, a six sided die and all these little pie wedges that fit neatly into a six sectioned pie. You rolled a die and answered trivia questions from one of six genres, determined by where you landed with your dye roll. But now it’s 2015 and surely someone has found a way to put all that into your hand, right? Enter Trivia Crack.

AI Squared has released Window-Eyes version 9, the biggest update to the screen reader in a couple years. Among the new features are completely rewritten web support for Internet Explorer and Firefox, which will handle modern web pages with dynamic content. In addition, support for Google Docs, the latest version of QuickBooks, MathPlayer, and preliminary support for the Windows 10 preview are included in the update among other features. Increased responsiveness is also included, especially when arrowing around documents or executing other keyboard commands. Window-Eyes is free for users with a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 or later installed. We've linked to the press release from this post.

For the past two years, blind individuals in Denmark have been testing an app which uses the video chat capabilities of an iPhone to provide sighted assistance. Now The app is set to launch worldwide on January 15. Be My Eyes connects volunteers with people needing assistance for cases where an extra pair of eyes could be useful. Examples given include reading mail or adjusting the thermostat. Currently, the nonprofit is looking for volunteers to help run the free service, and is using Thunderclap, a tool to generate interest on social media, to do this. To learn more about the app or join the Thunderclap, which will send their message to over 200 accounts on Thursday, check the link on this post. And, here's a link to the Be My Eyes site. Thanks to Bryan Smart for the tip.