Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Tag: Accessibility
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
On Monday October 7, the United States Supreme Court decided which cases they would consider for their fall session. The Court chose to deny a petition from Domino’s Pizza to hear whether its smart phone app and website is required to be accessible to people who are blind or disabled. This leaves in place a lower court decision against the company.
A blind man named Guillermo Robles had sued Domino’s after he was unable to utilize the companies app and website to successfully order food while using a screen reader. Screen reading software is commonly used by the blind and visually impaired as a tool that provides voice feedback about what is showing on a computer or smart phone screen. A screen reader can be used to navigate computer operating systems, apps, games and websites using a variety of keyboard commands.
In court papers, Attorneys for Robles argued that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses with physical locations to make their websites and other online platforms accessible to those with disabilities.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Robles, writing that the “alleged inaccessibility of Domino’s website and app impedes access to the goods and services of its physical pizza franchises—which are places of public accommodation.”
Attorneys for Domino’s, backed by a variety of business groups, had argued that the ADA does not apply to online platforms that were not envisioned when the law was passed in 1990. And, they said, no clear rules exist for how to make their platforms properly accessible.
Robles’ attorney, Joe Manning, said in a statement Monday that the decision by the Supreme Court was “the right call on every level.”
“The blind and visually impaired must have access to websites and apps to fully and equally participate in modern society – something nobody disputes,” he said. “This outcome furthers that critical objective for them and is a credit to our society.”
Domino’s released a statement saying that it was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision, but “we look forward to presenting our case at the trial court.”
“We also remain steadfast in our belief in the need for federal standards for everyone to follow in making their websites and mobile apps accessible,” the company said.
Disability advocates have argued that if businesses do not have to create and maintain accessible websites, disabled people could be effectively shut out of substantial portions of the economy.
There has been an increasing number of lawsuits filed over website accessibility in recent years. In 2017, more than 2,200 such suits were filed in federal courts, according to the accessible technology firm UsableNet. That nearly triples the number from 2016.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Maria Johnson from Girl Gone Blind joins Tim this week on Life After Blindness to discuss the recent news from the blind and visually impaired community.
In the last episode, Tim spoke with Derek Daniel about the most recent announcements from Apple. Following up on that discussion, Tim and Maria break down IOS 13 and the newest accessibility features that have been made available for the blind and visually impaired. This includes customization options for voiceover gestures, keyboard commands, braille input devices and much more. ‘Dark Mode’ is also discussed as well as the potential of the new ‘Voice Control’ for people who have motor skill issues, whether they are visually impaired or not.
Next up, the conversation turns to Domino’s Pizza in the possibility of the supreme court hearing their case. Domino’s claims that the Americans with disabilities act does not include websites and smart phone apps when it comes to accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. Whether the Supreme Court hears this case or not could have a major impact on the accessibility of websites and apps going forward.
Then, Tim and Maria close out the show by talking about Be My Eyes and the recent partnerships with pentene and clear blue. They also talk about AIRA and their announcement about offering free access to their agents.
If you have any questions or comments, please send your emails to: tim@lifeafterblindness.com
When activated, adding image descriptions on Twitter is easy. So why isn’t this option enabled by default?
Posted in Blog Posts
Twitter has become a very popular social media service among the blind and visually impaired. This is because of how easy and accessible it is to share short bits of text. Unfortunately, images that are shared on Twitter can be a barrier to the blind. By taking a couple of easy steps first, it can make it easier for blind and
visually impaired users to fully have access to what you are tweeting.
Since May 2016, Twitter has allowed you to describe any image that you
include with a tweet. In order to do this you must activate this feature.
First you will need to enter the user menu by selecting your profile icon and select “Settings and Privacy”. Next, under “General”, select
“Accessability”. Once in the “Accessability” section, scroll down
until you find a toggle labeled “Compose Image Descriptions”. This
needs to be turned on.
That’s all you need to do! Once you back out and compose a Tweet,
you’ll be presented with a new box that allows you to compose an image
description for any image that you post.
This enables a blind Twitter user to use a screen reader software (like
Voice Over for iPhone or JAWS for PC) to find out what your shared image is all
about.
Features like image descriptions are nice and much needed in social media. I am quite grateful that Twitter has incorporated this along with so many other accessibility options into its service.
But why hide the option so deep within the accessibility settings? Most people might not even take the time to find it, let alone turn it on.
Unfortunately, it seems as though it was just an afterthought added in by developers. An accessibility feature like this is so very important to someone who
is blind or visually impaired. A feature that is so simple and yet so important should be turned on by default. It’s a small gesture that would go a long way in making a big difference to those who are not always able to be included in the family memory, political joke or trending meme.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Welcome to episode #10 of the Life After Blindness podcast! My guests this wweek are Holly Anderson from the Maccessibility Roundtable podcast, Derek Daniel from Life After Sight Loss and Shaun Preece from RNIB Tech Talk and Audio Pizza podcasts.
On June 5, Apple kicked off its annual worldwide developers conference. Tim Cook and others from Apple, delivered a keynote where they announced many new features and updates. Being a developers conference, Apple announced many updates to the various operating systems. Including iPhone, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
They also announced many upgrades and refinements to several hardware products as well. This includes iPad Pro in the Mac.
Please join us as we discuss the many announcements that were made during the keynote.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Welcome to the Life After Blindness Spotlight. This is the podcast where I interview someone connected to the blind and visually impaired community.
This week, I speak with Derek Daniel from Life After Sight Loss.
Derek talks about growing up in a small town in southern Indiana after having been adopted at just three weeks old. growing up, Derek discovered he had a passion for the performing arts as well as for helping people. Combined with his interest in technology as well as his experiences through church ministry, Derek is using these talents and interests to help others through his new website and podcast.
Listen as Derek describes losing sight at age 18. And how the love of family and Friends as well as his love for the performing arts, helped him through the transition. Derek also discusses how he manages being a stay at home blind father while producing YouTube videos, blogs and podcasts. He then shares his hopes for the future of Life After Sight Loss before ending with some inspirational thoughts for those who are losing their vision.
Thank you very much for listening to the Life After Blindness Spotlight interview with Derek Daniel.
LABCast #7: AIRA and the Boston Marathon, 3-D Ultrasounds and Movie Reading App with Lauren Hayes
Posted in Podcasts
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Tim’s guest this week is Lauren Hayes from AccessibilityOz.
Tim and Lauren begin the podcast by discussing Aira and it’s use in this year’s Boston Marathon. Working closely with Aira, a man completed the marathon using the service. Tim and Lauren discuss how it was used and what could be learned from this test going forward.
Next, Tim talks about a 3-D printing technology used in a hospital in Brazil. A blind couple worked with their doctor in order to have 3-D printed models of their child’s ultrasound in each trimester of pregnancy. This is the first time 3-D printing has been used while built into the ultrasound machine. Lauren and Tim give their opinions on the story as well as the medical and educational possibilities of this technology going forward.
A new app has been released in Australia called Movie Reading. This app enables Aussies to download and sync an audio described track to use with movies at the local cinema. Lauren talks about the current state of audio description in Australian cinemas. She then gives her opinion of the app and discusses it’s accessibility as well as the lacking accessibility of Movie Readings website.
Thank you very much for listening to the Life After Blindness podcast! Please join us again as together we continue our journey to find that there can truly be a life after blindness.