Apps

August 15, 2013 - Access to mobile communications might have become a lot easier for the almost one in five people who live with a disability with the launch of a new service to help identify which smartphones and tablets provide the critical features they need to communicate.

"Activ" Team Wins Silver in the 2013 UX Awards!

One of this year’s teams at Virginia Tech was awarded a Silver for “Best Accessibility Innovation” in the UX Awards 2013.  Winners were honored as part of NY Internet Week on May 21.  Now in its third year, the UX Awards are the first awards created specifically to celebrate exceptional design in digital user experience.   http://userexperienceawards.com/ux-awards-2013-winners/#activ

July 2013 — The Seeing Eye and the Sendero Group released The Seeing Eye GPS app, described as the first fully accessible GPS product for the iPhone. The app provides turn-by-turn directions, and includes features such as announcing the orientation of cross streets at all intersections, “heads-up” announcements for upcoming turns, automatic recalculation if the individual wanders off the route, and the LookAround Wand, which audibly lists nearby establishments depending on the direction the phone is pointed.

June 2013 — The New Mexico Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NMCDHH) released the final report on results from their iPad Pilot Project.  The project arose from a recognition of the decreasing number of requests for telecommunications equipment although hearing disabilities as the third fastest growing disability, at the same time as an increased demand for more mainstream and wireless devices.

Speaking at the M-Enabling Summit on June 6, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced that Sprint’s new LG Optimus F3 smartphone will be preloaded with TalkBack, Google’s accessibility app for the blind and visually impaired. Unlike other smartphones that require downloading and activation of Talkback, the Optimus F3 begins providing voice guidance to help with activation and setup as soon as the user powers up the phone.