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Intel's keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show included a demonstration of how their RealSense technology has the potential to help the visually impaired be more aware of their surroundings. In the video, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich introduces us to Darryl Adams, a Technical Project Manager at Intel who also happens to be visually impaired. They explain how vibration and other feedback is used to convey nearby information, and how it has opened up new possibilities for Adams. While opinions may differ on the effectiveness of this approach, it's another example of a mainstream company giving time to issues that affect the visually impaired in a major and well-publicized speech. We've linked to the relevant portion of the video in the source so you can watch it for yourself and share your feedback.

Google Docs has received the lion's share of attention when it comes to accessibility, but Microsoft has posted a blog message detailing some current and future planned enhancements to Office Online. Included in the changes are increased formatting notifications, virtual buffer reading for smaller files, and improved documentation. While much of the post centers around Narrator support, the help documentation also gives tips for screen reader use with Jaws and Window-Eyes. Check the source link for the post and help files. Have you tried Office Online, and how does it compare with Google Docs? Let us know in the comments.

It's the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and that means stories from all parts of tech, from currved televisions to wireless connections for your toothbrush of the future -- except from Apple of course. They don't attend CES. However, they always manage to slip into the news cycle either by luck, chance or just plain shrewd countermarketing. Here are just some of the stories that involved the company this week.

Just one more to go. we continue our written recap of the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Number 2 is actually quite a bit related to number 3.

Did you get our This year in Assistive Technology podcast? You can listen to that now and know the top 3. Meanwhile, we continue our written recap of the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Number 3 involves a colossal merger.

We're winding down our countdown of the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Next up, a very active story on social media.

We're in the middle of counting down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Number 5 is a familiar entry on our list, but for slightly different reasons.

We're in the middle of counting down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Let's turn to Joe for his take on our number 6 story, which involves a 12-year-old wiz kid.

Happy New Year. We're counting down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Coming in at number 7 is a potential huge break-through for accounting.

We're counting down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Number 8 involves one of the biggest free giveaways in recent memory.

We're counting down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014 on Blind Bargains. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Next up, an entry from Google at number 9 which doesn't directly involve Android.

The ballots are in and the votes have been tallied. It's time to count down the top 10 biggest and most influential stories of 2014. This year's panel included Jeff Bishop, J.J. Meddaugh, Jamie Pauls, Alena Roberts, and Joe Steinkamp. Each panelist gave us their opinions on the biggest stories in assistive technology and we've compiled their votes to create our annual list. We'll reveal a new story each day on the way to number one. SO without delay, let's get started with number 10 and a popular new braille display.

Southwest Airlines has now extended its flight schedule through August 7, 2015, meaning you can now book travel on the airline for the NFB and ACB summer conventions. Southwest is often the most economical way to travel to a convention considering they allow for two checked bags with your ticket. So if you take a lot of items to convention, there's a potential $100 savings or more. Contrary to popular belief however, Southwest does not always have the cheapest fares, so it's still best to shop around before making a purchase. Check the link to go to the Southwest Airlines website to book travel. The NFB convention will be held in Orlando from July 5-10 while the ACB holds its meeting in Dallas July 3-11.

One of the biggest changes to SSI benefits in decades is about to take place. Thanks to legislation passed by Congress this week, many recipients of SSI will be able to put money in savings without penalty.

So you're lying in bed and you can't sleep because your vent is blasting hot air into your room. But the thermostat is so far away. Now, thanks to Google and Nest, you can just talk to your phone to solve this dilemma. You can now use a Google Now voice command such as "raise the temperature to 72 degrees" to control a Nest thermostat, assuming you've linked it to your Google account. In addition, Google can use location services to automatically adjust the Nest when you are headed home, and will display this info in a google Now card. Google purchased Nest earlier this year. While this helps make the connected thermostat a bit more usable for the blind, there are still several hurdles which have not yet been addressed, including inaccessibility of the initial set-up process and poor app design. This all existed before Google's purchase, so perhaps things will improve in the near future. There's more details in a post on the Nest site.

The Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired (CAVI) is offering an employment course in 2015. Topics discussed include motivation, traits that are helpful when marketing yourself, job readiness and more. There will even be an opportunity to receive feedback on your resume and a mock interview from staff responsible for hiring of employees.
Check the link on this post to learn more.

Jamie Pauls, host of the SeroTalk Weekly Podcast and content curator for Serotek, has decided to leave the company, according to a post on twitter. "I have chosen to bring an end to my relationship with Serotek. Thanks to the best group of people I have ever worked with in my life!" This brings the number of departures at the company to 6. Original CEO Mike Calvo is now taking a more active role in the company and promises that services such as the System Access Mobile Network will remain intact. This is a developing story and we'll post more as we learn of it.

As a website who has been covering holiday deals for the past 8 years, we'd like to think we know a thing or two about Black Friday sales. As you start to plan your shopping strategy, there's a few Black Friday truths you should be aware of that could help you in your quest for the best deal. Here's five things to consider.

AI Squared has released the first public beta for Window-Eyes version 9, formerly from GW Micro. 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, 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. The beta is free to try for users of Window-Eyes 8.4 or those with a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 or later installed. We've linked to the beta page which includes more information and download links.

AI Squared, who is now owners of the Window-Eyes brand after the merger with GW Micro, has posted several teasers leading up to the imminent release of Window-Eyes 9.0 Beta 1. Among the new features teased are completely rewritten web support for Internet Explorer and Firefox, which will handle modern web pages with dynamic content. The need for a rewrite to their web engine had been talked about by company representatives as early as the CSUN conference, and it appears to be the flagship feature for this update. In addition, support for Google Docs and preliminary support for the Windows 10 preview are included in the update among other features. The beta is expected to go public within the coming days and will be free to try for users of Window-Eyes 8.4 or those with a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 or later installed. We've linked to the beta page which includes more information.