Vision Loss

June 6, 2013 — Project Ray, a smartphone developer, and Odin Mobile, a cellphone services provider, announced the release of the first smartphone and accompanying services specifically designed for people who are blind or have low vision.  According to Project RAY, the phone, designed for eye-free operation, is affordable and offers built-in services such as “voice calls, email, messaging contact list services, calendar, GPS, advanced WEB remote assistance, voice recorder, panic and emergency services, color identification, pictures transcription and banknote recognition.” In addition, serv

April 16, 2013 — The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) announced that AT&T, Best Buy, Panasonic, Regal Entertainment Group and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) are the 2013 Access Award winners. This award is given annually to those individuals, corporations and organizations that AFB recognizes as substantially improving the accessibility experiences of individuals with vision loss. Carl R.

March 27, 2013 — On April 16, 2013, Sprint will be honored as the Marketplace winner at the Seventh Annual U.S. Disability Matters Awards Banquet and Conference for innovative accessibility solutions. Sprint will receive the award for the Sprint Relay ID pack and four accessibility-themed Sprint ID packs. The packs were funded and developed through Apps4Android and the Apps Factory project of the Wireless RERC.

March 2013 — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights entered into an agreement [OCR Compliance Review No. 11-11-6002] with the South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS) that requires the websites of the SCTCS and its 16-member colleges be accessible to all individuals, specifically those with visual disabilities.

BrailleTouch is a smartphone app that allows blind and visually impaired people to type on a touchscreen. It is based on the familiar six-key braille keyboard found on the Perkins Brailler and many electronic Braille notetakers. Both the free trial version and full version are available for download.  BrailleTouch was made possible, in part, by the Wireless RERC’s App Factory and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Download BrailleTouch