For four years, I have lived within three blocks of two major movie theaters on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, yet, as a deaf person, I have never gone to a movie in these theaters because they do not use captioning systems. Consequently, my wife and I are forced to go across town to [...]
I recently did an interview for ABC news video. They asked me to come and talk about five new assistive technologies. I did the interview in their New York City studio, which presented somewhat of a difficult challenge as ABC News’ anchor is based in Washington, D.C. Which meant a remote feed — an [...]
Picture this: You fly off to Rome, head to the Coliseum and, using your iPhone, play a video that guides you around the ancient arena where gladiators and lions once roamed. Later, walk across Piazza del Colosseo to the Roman Forum and view a video tour of the sprawling Forum ruins, taking in what [...]
Keen Guides founder Catharine McNally says mobile video is the future of guided excursions, and will benefit the deaf and hard of hearing, too.
My favorite gadgets at this year’s Assistive Technology Industry Association conference, which featured more than 100 vendors, include two communications products and a new PDA for the blind. I also note some worthy mentions – gadgets that I liked because of their design or originality. Here’s the list. ECO2 This eye-gaze system brings the latest in alternative [...]
By Suzanne Robitaille In a much anticipated release, at this year’s Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference HumanWare and Code Factory debuted Oratio for the BlackBerry, the first-ever screen reader for the visually impaired using this smart phone. Oratio uses text-to-speech technology to convert the visual information displayed on the BlackBerry screen into audio output. [...]
I wonder if Intel feels sheepish right now. Here they are, thinking they’ve just launched a great new product for the blind, a mobile device that reads text aloud. Intel partnered with assistive tech pioneer HumanWare and reached out to the blind community to get their input, too. But the Intel Reader, announced yesterday, has [...]
Insurance companies argue that many of today's speech-generating devices are not eligible for reimbursement because they can also perform "fun and games" -- like e-mail and web browsing. But is it really fair? The disabled say they'd rather have an all-in-one device that lets them speak while doing computer work and web browsing. But they can't simply walk into a Best Buy or Circuit City to get what they need, unless they pay for it out of pocket.
The new service, which turns voice messages into text and delivers it as e-mail, will benefit people with hearing and other disabilities.
Apple introduces its screen reader for the iPhone, and other accessibility innovations for people with disabilities.
