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GW Micro has released a free maintenance release of Window-Eyes, version 8.3. This version includes support for Windows 8.1, better support for Windows 8 modern apps, support for Internet Explorer 11 including the spell checker, improved support for apps using the QT5 framework, and numerous stability and speed improvements. It's a free update for those running version 8.0 or later.

Last month we told you about a Kickstarter campaign for a new interactive game called Codename Cygnus. The campaign was a success, and last Friday the game was released on the app store. Over the weekend I had an opportunity to test out the game.

In an effort to boost sales of iPhones at it's retail stores, Apple has just rolled out it's new trade-in program. Starting today, if you visit an Apple store and you want to upgrade to a newer iPhone, you will have the option of trading in your old device for in-store credit. To use the trade-in program you will have to agree to sign a new two year contract with the cell phone carrier of your choice. According to the chart on the CNBC website, a 16 gig iPhone 5 could get you as much as $336 and an iPhone 4S as much as $221. The article also lists all of the other trade-in options and how much each company is willing to give you.

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Labor issued new rules that change the goals for hiring people with disabilities. Companies that have contracts with the federal government will now need to aim for the goal of having at least 7% of their workforce be people with disabilities. The 7% number is not a mandate, but if they can not achieve this goal, they will need to demonstrate how they will improve their numbers. The over 171 thousand companies that this effects will have six months to comply with the new rules. They will have to document how they are reaching out to people with disabilities, and how many applicants they have had who admit to having a disability. A Washington Post article estimates that if all the companies were to comply, almost 600,000 people with disabilities could be added to the workforce. Hopefully these new rules will help lower the unemployment rate amongst the disabled community.

If you weren't able to attend this year's Visions Conference hosted by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, you can now download the audio from many of the sessions. The Visions Conference is unique in that it is the only conference where you can learn about different diseases of the eye as well as learn about the research that is being done to treat diseases of the eye. All of the audio sessions can be downloaded for free. This year's conference featured sessions on topics such as gene therapy, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis, overcoming the emotional barriers of blindness, participating in a clinical trial, information sessions on diseases such as Ushers and RP, and stem cells 101.

If you're considering upgrading to a new iPhone this year, and you're planning to sell you're old one, you may want to look at trade in options. Some of the most popular options include: Gazelle, Amazon, Nextworth, and USell. It's important to note that the amount of money you will get for your trade is greater now then it will be after Apple announces the new iPhone.

The Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies is interested in learning more about the accessibility practices of financial institutions. The results of the study will be used to gain insights and create best practices so that banks and other financial institutions can best serve people with disabilities. The survey should take between 15 and 20 minutes. If you're interested in receiving the results, you can provide your email address at the end of the survey.

There are a number of changes that are coming in the new release of iOS. Many writers are likely going to focus on the visual changes, and Apple will release a new handbook, but the mainstream is not going to focus on accessibility and the changes to Voiceover. Jonathan Mosen who has been beta testing the new iOS 7 is writing a book that will be specifically for Voiceover users. He is offering the book at 50% off, or $9.95,if you pre-order it before iOS 7 is launched. The book will be released when iOS 7 comes out. According to his website, here are some of the chapters included in the book, "What’s new in VoiceOver, Working with the Control Center, Notifications - a New Look and Feel, Search gets the Spotlight, App Switcher Changes, Siri Comes of Age, A better App Store, and iTunes Radio."

If you are a Learning Ally member and use an Android device, you can now read books from their collection using the Learning Ally Audio App. The app has the same functionality as the iOS app. You can read any book in their collection, download directly onto your device from your bookshelf, navigate by page or chapter, and add bookmarks. In order to use the app you will need to have Android 4.1 or later. Like the iOS version, no search capability is included, so you need to log into the Learning Ally website to add books to your bookshelf. It's available now and is free from Google Play.

The United States Visitors Center is one of the many destinations for tourists to visit when they come to Washington D.C. If you're planning a trip to the U.S. capital, and plan to stop at the Visitors Center, you can now get an audio tour. The tour can either be played on a special device that can be requested at the front desk, or you have the option of downloading the files onto your own personal device before you arrive. The audio files are more then three hours of content, and provide the visitor great detail of the exhibits at the center. The files are available to download in Mp3, Zip, and text. Having a text option means that the tour is even accessible to the deaf/blind.

There are a number of reasons that people use third party apps to read their twitter feeds. For screen reader users, one of the reasons is that for a long time, the twitter.com website was difficult to navigate. The team at twitter is aware of these challenges and they are working on fixing it. In a recent post to their blog, they discuss how they are making the website more easy to navigate using the keyboard.

Two of the keyboard shortcuts that are most valuable are the J and K keys. Using the J key will jump you to the next tweet in your feed and using the K key will jump you to the previous tweet in your feed. The blog post has a video demonstrating this feature using Voiceover, NVDA, and JAWS. Note that your screen reader's browse mode may require the use of a pass-through key for website shortcuts.

To get updates about accessibility or to give feedback on your experience, follow the twitter accessibility team .

There have been events where blind drivers have raced on a track with a sighted helper, but to our knowledge, never before has a blind driver competitively ridden a motorcycle by himself. Later this year, Dan Parker aims to change that. Before he lost his sight, Dan was an experienced race car driver. With the aid of a GPS system that will audibly guide him, Dan is going to participate in the Quest for the Salt at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Below is a copy of the press release from the NFB who is among the organizations sponsoring his efforts.

Sendero has just announced that they have submitted Seeing Eye GPs 1.1 for the iPhone to the app store. There are a number of changes in this version and the company has decided to reward early adopters of the app by resetting their subscription date to August 20. This means that everyone has been using the app for free since it launched. Below is a copy of the release that discusses the changes and new features.

The Fred's Head blog is compiling a list of videos that you can find on YouTube that address issues about blindness and how to adapt to losing your vision. The current list has 86 videos and they plan to add more as they find them. The list of videos is organized by category. The list also has the title of the video, the name of the presenter, and how long the video is.

HIMS has just released a new version of their firmware for the Braille Edge 40. The upgrade includes additional braille tables including Danish and Hebrew, the ability to read and edit TXT, RTF, DOC, and DOCX files in contracted braille, ability to save text in TXT format, and automatic battery warning when the unit has 10% of battery life left. See below for the entire list of new features and instructions on how to upgrade your unit.

AI Squared has just released the newest version of ZoomText for Windows8 . Free trials are available for this release, which is only currently available on Windows 8. A Windows 7 version is planned. In addition to the Windows 8 support, support for Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft Office 13, and touch screen devices is included. They have also posted some videos to introduce the new features in version 10.1. We've included the list of new features from their website after the jump.

Going to the gym or using exercise equipment in your home can be a challenge if the machine is not accessible. A lot of exercise equipment uses inaccessible touch screens or other visual information that the blind can not access. A team of researchers is asking for feedback about how the blind use exercise equipment, what the challenges are, and how the machines could be made better.

A researcher at the University of Maryland is studying the accessibility of mobile technologies. The survey asks for feedback about what does and does not work for users. The survey should take no more then 25 minutes and at the end of the survey you will have the option to be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. To enter into the drawing, you will need to provide your email address.

Support for braille displays on Android is improving with the latest update to BrailleBack. According to the Google Play website, these are the braille displays that are now supported: APH Refreshabraille,
Baum VarioConnect, Esys EuroBraille, Freedom Scientific Focus Blue (14 and 40 cell models), HandyTech (Basic Braille, Active Braille, Braille Star, Braille Wave, Braillino, Easy Braille), Harpo Braillepen 12, HIMS (BrailleSense, Braille EDGE), Humanware Brailliant (1st generation and BI models), Optelec Alva (BC640, BC68, Papenmeier Braillex Trio, and the Seika (notetaker and 40 cell. Several new commands were also added in this release, including a command to search for text on the current screen which works with displays with a braille keyboard. It's available now on Google Play and works with Android 4.1 and later.

Giving presentations can be a challenge when you can not read print. Many blind people use braille notes or memorize what they want to say. If you don't use braille, or find memorizing too challenging, this demonstration from Bruce Gardener will show you how to use a Victor Reader Stream as an audio teleprompter.