Apps

"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 2014 International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN) announced a call for papers.  Currently, CSUN is accepting paper proposals for the Scientific/Research Track to be considered for inclusion in the Journal of Technology and Persons with Disabilities. Suggested paper topics include

The Wireless RERC is pleased to announce that users can now personalize their news experience by creating an account at www.wirelessrerc.org. Subscribers are able to choose from a variety of topics including legislation, universal design, emergency communications, employment, assistive technology, broadband, aging, and community living. Preferences can be adjusted at any time, and news notifications can be received on an as-it-happens, daily, or weekly basis.

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.