Assistive Technology

Popular video rental service Redbox agreed in a settlement to make 4,000 of their 35,900 kiosks located in California accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. The service, which is commonly found in supermarkets and other public areas, is inaccessible to blind or visually impaired users. As part of the agreement, Redbox agreed to add headphone jacks, text-to-speech output, and tactile keyboards to kiosks. The roll-out of accessible video rental boxes will be gradual and is planed to take longer than two years. In the interim, Redbox has also agreed to provide phone support to help blind customers navigate the rental process. It is not clear if Redbox plans to add more DVDs with audio descriptions to benefit its new larger customer base of visually impaired users, but such a plan would seem to make sense. The settlement deal will inevitably increase Redbox's potential customer base by providing access to more people with disabilities. Unfortunately, the settlement s...

ClaroPDF is an accessible PDF reader with many annotation options. The app uses text-to-speech to read any text based PDF . The app also includes numerous annotations options including highlighting, text boxes, underline, strikeout, shapes, and images. ClaroPDF includes a simple design that matches the interface of iOS 7 . Unfortunately, there is no full screen option that hides all controls so you can better focus on your document. To start reading a PDF you can use the open-in feature of many other apps or import a document using Dropbox. Then you can use a number of high quality text-to-speech voices to read the document at up to 240 words per minute. It would be nice to see the maxim speaking rate increased to around 400 word per minutes for people who are able to understand high rates of speech. To start reading the document you can just tap on a word a press the play button. Currently in version 1.2.6 there is a bug that causes layout issues with certain documents. The issue ...

Did you get the iPhone 5 today? Below is a list of apps to make the most out of your new iPhone 5. Read2Go (Bookshare) - $19.99 Read2Go  is the best way to access  Bookshare.org  books on your  iOS  device. Bookshare  provides free accessible eBooks for people with print disabilities. Click here to learn more about  Bookshare . Once you download the app you can download over 150,000 books directly to your device. The best part of  Read2Go  is that students can easily read books anywhere because of the portability of  iOS  devices. To learn how to become a member  click here . Learning Ally Audio - Free Learning Ally  (formally  RFB&D ) provides audio books to people with print disabilities. Members must pay a yearly fee in order to download books. To learn about how to become a member of Learning Ally  click here . Prizmo - $9.99 Prizmo  converts a picture of a document into text which can be read using...

HumanWare recently released the HumanWare Communicator app for iOS devices . The app is designed to make communication between a deaf-blind person and a sighted person possible.When the conversation is started an introduction is displayed for the sighted user to read. The deaf-blind person uses a Bluetooth   braille display to type a message to a sighted person, this message appears on the screen of the iPhone , iPad or iPod Touch.  Then the sighted user can respond using the virtual keyboard and the message will appear on the refreshable braille display . The conversation can then go back and forth with the deaf-blind person typing on the braille display and the sighted user typing on the device's virtual keyboard. HumanWare describes the app as follows, " The HumanWare Communicator application is intended to establish a text conversation, through a chat window, between a deaf-blind person and a sighted person. All interaction appears both on the deaf-blind pers...

Apple announced today that it will be holding a special event on September 12. Apple is rumored to announce a new iPhone , iOS 6 release data and possibly more. iOS 6 will include many accessibility enhancements including Guided Access . The new iPhone may include a better camera, faster processor and larger screen. Come back on September 12 to hear all the new from Apple and how it effects the world of assistive technology.

The BlackBerry Screen Reader is designed to make BlackBerry phones accessible to the visually impaired. BlackBerry Screen Reader is compatible with the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360, 9370, 9320 and 9220. Installation is complicated and may require the assistance of a sighted person. Unfortutantly , BlackBerry Screen Reader is not built into the phone. There are two methods for installing the BlackBerry Screen Reader. The first method is to visit this webpage from your BlackBerry. Another option for installation is to plug the BlackBerry into your computer and then install the Screen Reader. Connecting your BlackBerry device to your computer is the most accessible option for installation. Features Physical Keyboard Keyboard Shortcuts Speak Everything On Screen Free For Compatible BlackBerry Devices Once installed  you will be greeted with a solid Screen Reader that makes the BlackBerry accessible. The visually impaired user benefits from the numerous physical buttons, includi...