November 21, 2022

Mozilla Accessibility Blog: Significant Improvements for Screen Readers Now in Nightly Firefox

Mozilla Accessibility Blog: Significant Improvements for Screen Readers Now in Nightly Firefox. “A couple of months ago, we shared an update on our Cache the World project, covering the ongoing re-write of the Firefox accessibility engine. The project aims to improve Firefox’s overall performance for users of assistive technologies (ATs) like screen readers and to reduce crashes and hangs. It will also make the accessibility engine easier to maintain and simplify adding new features going forward.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
September 28, 2022

PR Newswire: American Foundation for the Blind Announces Free Digital Inclusion Toolkits for School Administrators, Teachers, Families, and Students (PRESS RELEASE)

PR Newswire: American Foundation for the Blind Announces Free Digital Inclusion Toolkits for School Administrators, Teachers, Families, and Students (PRESS RELEASE). “The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) today announced its Digital Inclusion Toolkits, a set of free resources to create, encourage, and advocate for more digitally inclusive classrooms. Designed for school administrators, teachers, families, and students who are blind or have low vision, the toolkits include planning tools for educators and administrators; information and resources for families and students with visual impairments that are designed to help them connect with others; advocacy tips; and lists of support organizations, hotlines, and other helpful resources.”

New Resources 0
April 9, 2022

TechCrunch: Twitter launches improved alt text accessibility features globally

TechCrunch: Twitter launches improved alt text accessibility features globally. “For a while now, Twitter has made it easy to add alt text to image uploads, allowing tweeters to provide a description of an image to aid people who use screen readers or speech-to-text programs. But until now, you haven’t been able to see what images do or do not have alt text if you weren’t using a screen reader yourself — so, for example, if you wanted to make sure that the content that you retweet was accessible to followers who might be Blind or have limited vision, you’d just have to retweet and hope for the best. After a successful test last month, Twitter is rolling out two additions to its alt text feature.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
November 23, 2021

MakeUseOf: How to Use VoiceOver Image Descriptions With Your iPhone Photos

MakeUseOf: How to Use VoiceOver Image Descriptions With Your iPhone Photos. “Apple introduced a new feature in iOS 15 that allows users to add image descriptions to their photos that can be read by VoiceOver. VoiceOver is an important accessibility feature that allows blind and low vision users to navigate their iPhones and other Apple devices. Adding image descriptions is a great way to make images more accessible and be able to share your pictures with low vision or blind friends, family members, and colleagues.”

Useful Stuff 0
August 24, 2021

Lifehacker: 8 Ways to Make Everything on Your iPhone Easier to See

Lifehacker: 8 Ways to Make Everything on Your iPhone Easier to See. “If you frequently find yourself wishing for larger text or icons on your phone, you’re not alone. Some people prefer microscopic font sizes but others want large, bold text everywhere. Luckily, there are things you can do to make text more readable—and everything else easier to see—while using your iPhone.” A slideshow, but good tips.

Useful Stuff 0
July 27, 2021

Chrome Unboxed: Google Docs Improves Braille Mode With Detailed Inline Suggestions

Chrome Unboxed: Google Docs Improves Braille Mode With Detailed Inline Suggestions. “Google is improving its support for braille mode in Docs so that those using screen readers and refreshable braille displays can interact with suggestions in their documents easier. Basically, inline detailed suggestion information will be audible out loud alongside the rest of the text in the document.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
February 27, 2021

Google Blog: Our all-new TalkBack screen reader

Google Blog: Our all-new TalkBack screen reader. “Screen readers, such as Android’s TalkBack, are the primary interface through which Joshua [Pearson] and many other people who are blind or low vision read, write, send emails, share social media, order delivery and even write music. TalkBack speaks the screen aloud, navigates through apps, and facilitates communication with braille, voice and keyboard input. And today we’re releasing an all-new version of TalkBack that includes some of the most highly requested features from the blind and low vision community.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
February 27, 2021

EurekAlert: Smartphones could help to prevent glaucoma blindness – study

EurekAlert: Smartphones could help to prevent glaucoma blindness – study. “Smartphones could be used to scan people’s eyes for early-warning signs of glaucoma – helping to prevent severe ocular diseases and blindness, a new study reveals. Some of the most common eye-related diseases are avoidable and display strong risk factors before onset, but it is much harder to pinpoint a group of people at risk from glaucoma.”

Research & Opinion 0
October 17, 2020

Optometry Times: US launches searchable contact lens database

Optometry Times: US launches searchable contact lens database. “The listings are sustained and updated regularly by the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) at the University of Waterloo. The site allows visitors to filter, compare, and search for a variety of contact lenses and contact lens products. A feature allows manufacturers to log in and update product information directly, to keep listings current.”

New Resources 0
August 18, 2020

Concordia University: Concordia postdoc builds a database to study the factors behind age-related sight loss

Concordia University: Concordia postdoc builds a database to study the factors behind age-related sight loss . “Caitlin Murphy (GrDip 08, MSc 10) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Concordia Vision Lab. Her research investigates the physiology of the retina in individuals with visual impairment using optical coherence tomography. She is currently building a database of images of individuals with visual impairment, which will allow researchers to pursue interdisciplinary projects on vision and aging. She also hopes it will help clinicians to better understand how vision loss impacts other areas of health.”

Research & Opinion 0
February 19, 2016

Woman Gets Sight Via Google Cardboard App

A woman who has lost much of her vision to disease can see again thanks to a Google Cardboard app. “The woman in question, Bonny, suffers from Stargardt disease. This is a common form of vision loss that causes the photoreceptor cells in the retina to die, which in turn could potentially cause complete vision loss. However thanks to the use of the Cardboard headset and an app called Near Sighted VR Augmented Aid, it has allowed Bonny to see again.” The story includes a video of Bonny using Google Cardboard and her victory dances when he realizes she can really see things. Please note I had to blow my nose and wipe my eyes multiple times during the video because of … allergies. Yeah. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Around the Search & Social Media World 0

The ResearchBuzz Firehose is regular RB content presented as individual posts.
For digest-type posts a couple of times a day, please visit ResearchBuzz.

Want to know how to best use the Firehose for content discovery?
Check out this handy article.

Get RB Firehose Via EMail

Enter your email address to subscribe to ResearchBuzz Firehose and get a firehose of new posts straight to your email.

Join 2,020 other subscribers

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Latest ResearchBuzz Gizmos

Stephen’s Cloud Seeder
Search Mastodon Instances for Two Hashtags at a Time
Search Wikipedia for Mastodon Accounts with WMT
RSStodon v2
Mastodon Username Helper

Brought to you by Calishat.