At last year’s inaugural Sight Tech Global event, a virtual event dedicated to applications of AI and related tech to accessibility for people who are blind, one of the most popular sessions belonged to Saqib Shaikh. The Microsoft engineer co-founded and leads the Seeing AI mobile app, which embeds a remarkable number of services beneficial to people […]
Stark, a hub for accessible software design, launches a Mac app in beta
Today, Stark launched a private beta for its Stark for Mac app, which streamlines accessibility compliance to make products more inclusive while allowing everyone involved in a project to easily collaborate. Companies can upload their design files into Stark’s tool, which then identifies accessibility issues and suggests changes. Stark started in 2017 when Cat Noone […]
Google powers up assistive tech in Android with facial gesture-powered shortcuts and switches
Making smartphones more accessible is always a good idea, and Google’s latest features bring quick actions and navigation to people whose expressions are their primary means of interacting with the world. Project Activate and Camera Switches let users perform tasks like speaking a custom phrase, or navigating using a switch interface, through facial gestures alone. […]
Paralympians bring home gold medals, but we’re failing them on web accessibility
With the internet taking an increasingly central part in our lives, we’re seeing the same exclusionary practices that we experienced — and fought — all those years ago reappearing in a new form.
Xbox and Special Olympics hold first ‘Gaming for Inclusion’ esports event
Gaming in general is moving toward accessibility, but that’s not as much the case in esports, which like other sports are competitive and by nature somewhat exclusive. Xbox and the Special Olympics are working together on a new event that combines competition with inclusion, and it’s going on right now. This week, Special Olympics athletes […]
Make accessibility part of your startup’s products and culture from day one
Startups have an advantage here: They do not bear years of inaccessible baggage. It’s not written into the code of their products. It’s not woven into the business culture.
How game-makers are catering to disabled players
Hardware and software solutions open gaming to a wider audience than ever.
The Shadow of the Crown
Falling Squirrel Games has just released The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, also available on itch.io. It is also available for Xbox One, if you prefer to play on console.
This is an audio action adventure game, meant to be enjoyable for blind and sighted …
Twitter’s web redesign isn’t as accessible as it should be, experts say
After teasing its new font in January, Twitter made some major changes to its website and app design this week. But while Twitter framed these updates as making the platform “more accessible,” some accessibility experts say that these changes missed the mark. Most noticeably, tweets now appear in “Chirp,” Twitter’s proprietary typeface, and the display […]
Twitter’s web redesign isn’t as accessible as it should be, experts say
After teasing its new font in January, Twitter made some major changes to its website and app design this week. But while Twitter framed these updates as making the platform “more accessible,” some accessibility experts say that these changes missed the mark. Most noticeably, tweets now appear in “Chirp,” Twitter’s proprietary typeface, and the display […]