all categories Deals, Sales, and News

Reading regular sheet music can be a challenge for people with low vision. A new app for the iPad aims to solve this problem. Music Zoom is a sheet music app that allows users to enlarge their sheet music easily. Users are also able to scroll through the music using wired/wireless foot switches, or gestures on the screen. Other features of the app include: in app highlighting to draw the eyes to important sections of the music, inverting colors to white on black, and importing music from scanned images or the photo library. Music Zoom can be purchased for $19.99.

If you're a JAWS user that is considering switching to NVDA, but is concerned about the learning curve of switching to a new screen reader, there is now a new guide on how to make the switch. The guide covers a number of topics including: voices for NVDA, cursers and their functions, forms mode, and scripts. The guide will not teach you how to use NVDA, but it gives you tips on how to transition from JAWS.

For the past five years, WebAIM has been surveying screen reader users around the world to find out which screen readers are being used, how comfortable users feel with using their screen reader, how proficient they are using the web, and more. This year's results have just been published. All continents were represented in the survey, although North America still had the highest numbers. The results this year show that how people use screen readers and what devices they use is continuing to change. For instance, JAWS is still the most used screen reader, but it's continuing to decline in use. Also, more respondants are using mobile technology. Visit the WebAIM website linked in this post to see the full list of results.

Many YouTube videos have captioning, but almost none have descriptive audio. Now thanks to a new tool from the Smith-Kettlewell Video Description Research and Development Center, anyone can add descriptive audio to a YouTube video. According to the article from Media Access Australia, here are the steps to add the descriptive audio track:

"1. Copy and paste a YouTube URL into the YouDescribe search box and click on Search .

2. The YouTube video will appear with an option to 'Create/Edit Descriptions'. Select this option.
3. Using the 'Play/Pause' option on the video player, pause when you wish to insert audio description.
4. Use the 'Record' option to record your audio description then select Upload to upload the new audio file.
5. Continue this process until the end of the video.
6. When the process is complete you can log out or return to the YouDescribe search page where your video should appear at the top of the video list. The video can be played with audio description."

Hopefully this tool will result in many more youtube videos having descriptive audio tracks.

If you thought that the BrainPort was strange, researchers in Israel are now developing a contact lens that would tell the blind what they are seeing through tactile stimulation on their eye. The device uses a smart phone camera to take a picture and than translates that image into a set of electric pulses that the wearer would feel on the eye. The researchers feel like their field testing has been promising, but before this device ever comes to market they have to go through full clinical testing. Tell us what you think of this idea. Would you feel comfortable with having images drawn for you on your eyes? Is this preferable to the BrainPort which uses the tongue?

Enhanced Vision has just released their latest desktop magnifier called the Merlin Ultra HD. This magnifier has an HD camera that has a wider lens to improve image quality. Some other features of this magnifier include: easy to use tactile controls, LED lighting for better image quality, adjustable tilt for the screen, and 1.9 X to 104 X magnification depending on size of screen and XY table chosen. For pricing and more information, contact Enhanced Vision at (888) 811-3161.

Back in the fall I read about a new series on NBC that would feature a blind character. The show, which we now know is called Growing Up Fisher, is about a families transition through divorce. What makes this show different is that the dad is a blind lawyer. According to an article in Studio System news , the show is based on the childhood of the main writer DJ Nash. His goal was to write about what it was like to have a blind dad and experience his parents going through a divorce.

After waiting for months to find out when the show would be airing, it was recently announced that the show would premier after the closing ceremonies of the olympics which is this Sunday. To see the premier though, you'll have to stay up until 10:30. If you miss the premier, you can watch the show on Tuesdays at 9:30 on NBC. To get a feel for what the show is like, check out the videos on the Growing Up Fisher Youtube page.

There have been a number of shows that have featured blind characters. In all cases that I'm aware of, none of these characters have been played by blind actors. Growing Up Fisher is no different. This show also adds in the complexity that the character is a guide dog user. So now, the writers are left with the task of not only portraying the blind community accurately, but how to use a guide dog. It is my sincere hope that Mel Fisher will be a character that will be a positive contribution to our community and show viewers that people who are blind are capable of doing anything they choose.

A number of companies have set up designated support options for customers with disabilities. Below is a list of the companies and the contact information for their disability tech support hotlines. If we've missed any companies please let us know and we'll add them to the list.

A team in Houston has developed a new and innovative way to improve vision for people with diseases such as macular degeneration and RP. By using the Occulus Rift and their own software, the team is able to customize each device for the user. According to the company's website, this is how the device works. "The VUE takes stereo images captured by two cameras and using custom software from Reveal, manipulates the images to present them in the best way for the specific user. These manipulations are not only custom for the wearer, but also for each eye. The VUE then presents the images to the user through the Oculus Rift display with minimal latency." In field tests, they've found that users can improve their vision up to 3 to 5 lines on the eye chart.

In order to bring the device to market, they need to raise more funds. Visit their Indiegogo campaign page to learn more and contribute.

Fedora Outlier, the company behind the weekly access chats on Twitter and the book "The Old Hat Guide to iPhone Accessibility", has just started a new series on their blog called "There's an app for that". Each week they will feature a list of apps based on a category. This first week focusses on music. All of the apps recommended will be accessible to VoiceOver users. It's great to see another place where VoiceOver users can go to get app suggestions.

A new version of NVDA has just been released as a beta. Some of the new features in NVDA 2014.1 include: support for Powerpoint 2013, support for braille displays that are connected using the Widcomm Bluetooth software, and readable labels for attachments or flagged emails in outlook or windows live mail.

A new study just published in the journal Experimental Eye Research showed that the active chemicals in marijuana can slow down the progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). For the study, researchers in Spain gave rats with the disease doses of synthetic THC and found that after 90 days, rats who had received the treatment had 40% more photo receptors and performed better on eye exams. This finding points to another way that marijuana can help treat progressive diseases. It will be interesting to see how eye doctors respond to the findings and if they start recommending medical marijuana for their RP patients.

Creating your own website can feel like an impossible task especially if you use a screen reader. With the right tools and information though, building websites using WordPress is in your grasp. A new e-book called, "WordPress for Bad Eyes: A Beginners Guide" is designed with screen reader users in mind. Topics covered in the book include: buying a domain name, securing a host, and code for including different pieces of your website. The book also comes with a set of plugins that will help the user in developing their website. The book costs $9.99 and is available in Word, PDF, and DAISY formats. Those who want to try the book before they buy can also download it for free for one hour.

From now until February 17, HIMS is offering discounts on some of their products. You can get $100 off the BookSense XT, now $449, $50 off the BookSense, no $299, and $100 off the Candy Grip Handheld Magnifier .

Smart phones can be a great asset to people with vision impairments, but sometimes it's hard to know which model or operating system will meet your needs. The RNIB has created a simple to follow spread sheet that lists a number of phone models with their price in the UK and the features that come with the phone. For those outside of the UK, the price will not be relevant, but in many cases, the phones themselves will be available where you live. Hopefully this guide will help users make informed decisions about what smart phone to choose.

Today President Obama made an executive order raising the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. This change will impact hundreds of thousands of people who either work for or are contracted by the federal government. Under that executive order, the president is including all federally contracted workers including those who work for sheltered workshops. this is the first step in the battle to change the law that allows people with disabilities who work in sheltered workshops to be paid less than the minimum wage. Hopefully, this executive order will be a wake up call to congress to finally change this law.

Technology in our classrooms is becoming more prevalent each year. Although technology can be a great asset for students with disabilities, it can also be a barrier if the technology is not accessible. There are already a number of laws that help protect student's rights to have access to accessible materials, but the current laws aren't always strong enough. A new bill in congress called the Technology, Equality, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act, or the TEACh act, would require that technology used by colleges and universities either be accessible or that accommodations would be put in place to give students as much access as possible. This <a href="http://petri.house.gov/press-release/petri-introduces-teach-act-ensure-equal-access-educational-materials-students" article provides more details about the act and what it would do.

A petition on Change.Org has been set up for supporters of the bill. The petition already has over 120 thousand signatures, but the more signatures the better. If you believe this is a bill that will help students with disabilities, consider adding your name by following the link in the headline. Both of the major U.S. consumer organizations have expressed support for the bill.

If you live in Sydney and are blind, you are eligible to help Google research how the blind use mobile applications made by Google. The interviews will last for about 2 hours, and questions will cover how the blind use mobile devices such as phones and tablets, and the accessibility of Google apps like Drive and Gmail. Participants will earn $200 for their time. Call Murray Gale at 02 9371 0855 or send an email to office@qra.net.au for more information.

One of the greatest challenges for lowering the cost of printed braille is making braille printers affordable to everyone. This challenge may just have been tackled by a 7th grader in California. Using Lego's Mindstorms EV3 kit and some parts from a hardware store, Shubham Banerjee came up with a way to make a braille printer that costs less than $500. His invention, called BRAIGO is named for the combination of braille and Lego. Shubham has decided to make his project open source so that families around the world and organizations that serve the blind will have easy access to the software that runs the printer.

In this youtube video, Shubham demonstrates how the printer actually works. At this point, the printing speed may be too slow for many applications, but the cost will hopefully open the doors to more of the blind having access to braille around the world. It will be fascinating to see how this project progresses.

The writer Rosemary Mahoney has just released a new book called "For the Benefit of Those Who See". It describes her time spent at the Tibetan school for the blind known as Braille Without Borders. To celebrate the book and braille, the National Braille Press is giving the book away for free for those who sign up for their monthly eNews. The free copy is an eBraille file. If you're interested, follow the link in the headline.