Eclipse Soundscape Brings a Multi-Sensory Experience to the 2017 Total Eclipse

August 18, 2017 Kit Englard

Description: Gray rectangle outlining an inner rectangle. In the center is a black circle. Behind it is an artists rendition of the light from the corona during a total solar eclipse. Which is the outer-most layer of the sun which outlines the moon.… — Description: Gray rectangle outlining an inner rectangle. In the center is a black circle. Behind it is an artists rendition of the light from the corona during a total solar eclipse. Which is the outer-most layer of the sun which outlines the moon.
Photo credit: ©2006 Miloslav Druckmüller, Peter Aniol Printed with permission

Common sense tells us that those without the full use of their sight will miss the awe-inspiring aspects of the eclipse. Luckily, Dr. Henry Winter thinks outside of conventional wisdom and is bringing this once in a lifetime event to everyone. Winter, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory took his passion for inclusive science education and applied it to the solar eclipse by developing the Eclipse Soundscape app. It creates a unique, multi-sensory eclipse experience for those who are blind, visually impaired, and DeafBlind.

Astronomer Wanda Diaz Merced Uses Physics and Technology to Expand Accessibility to the Universe

May 26, 2017 Kit Englard

The ESO telescope located at La Silla, Chile. The building has a gold dome, and is sitting on a hill. In the background is the milky way.

Wanda Diaz Merced is an astronomer who has had a visual impairment for most of her life, and attended school during a time when there was less awareness for the needs of students with disabilities. She grew up in Puerto Rico, where like all children, she became an observer to the world around her. “Even though my parents were poor and I had no exposition to science activities besides the science class in my school, I always knew I wanted to know how things worked.” Merced said of her life. This intrinsic curiosity about the natural world would lead Merced to pursue science as a professional career.

Global Accessibility Is Vital For The Future Of Our Communities

May 18, 2017 Kit Englard

Image of a desk. In the picture the corner of the screen of a Mac computer can be seen, with a Bluetooth apple keyboard and mouse. To the left of the keyboard sits an iPad.

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, or #GAAD on Twitter. Global accessibility is something that is near and dear to my heart for a variety of reasons, but first we need to define what it is. It’s about making technology, all technology, accessible to all people with disabilities. More importantly, it’s about making developers aware of why it is important to design accessible products and apps.

Microsoft Build 2017 Accessibility Highlights: Day 3

May 15, 2017 Kit Englard

Black //build/ logo

The third, and final, day of Microsoft’s Build 2017 was met with a lot less flare, but no less innovation. The keynote presentation on Day 3 featured a video, rather than speakers, and focused on innovative technology for businesses. There was also a continuation of the AI theme that had been going on throughout the conference.

Microsoft Build 2017 Accessibility Highlights: First Two Days

May 12, 2017 Kit Englard

Microsoft’s mission statement rang loud and clear during the first two days of their 2017 Build conference. In every nook and cranny of development there were hints of accessibility achievements. In the past, Microsoft products have left a lot to be desired by way of accessibility. The last few years the tech giant has been making steps to rectify this reputation, and this year I think I finally believe that not only are they serious, but that they aren’t going to pull the rug out from under us.

First Multi-Line Braille Display Brings Innovation to Braille Technology

May 8, 2017 Kit Englard

The Canute is one of the devices in line being heralded by media as the “kindle for the blind”. Among assistive technology developers, is a race to see who can design and build such a device first, but so far no one has succeeded. Canute, built by Bristol Braille located in Bristol, is working on the first multi-line braille display—and it is nearly ready for distribution.

March for Science Denies Internal Climate Problems

May 3, 2017 Kit Englard

Little girl sitting on someone's shoulders at one of the March for Science events, holding a sign which reads, "We need to understand."

March for Science took place last month, the main event being in D.C. with sister marches happening around the country. Overall, the march has been considered to be wildly successful. You can even find images of dogs participating in the event. However, not all people were represented during the events, and we can all guess what got left out. Yep, it’s accessibility.

Echo Look—Possible Hot New Fashion Gizmo for Blind Users

April 26, 2017 Kit Englard

Amazon Echo Dot: short cylindrical device with two round buttons on top. It has the Amazon logo on the front.

If you are color blind or otherwise have limited vision, you know that indeed the struggle is real when trying to figure out what looks good in the morning. But what if there was a device that allowed someone who is blind or visually impaired to get an idea of how they looked to a sighted person? Such a device could have a major impact on independence, especially for women who are frequently judged more harshly on their appearance.

Youth Slam Puts Science in the Hands of Blind and Visually Impaired Kids

April 24, 2017 Kit Englard

Chemistry lab table, with 3 small bottled and 2 large ones full of colorful liquid. On a chalkboard behind them are various chemical formulas.

Blind children are often not given an opportunity to get involved with STEM (science technology engineering and mathematics) subjects. Nemeth code is not often introduced, and main streamed students simply don’t get access to biology, physics, and chemistry in the same way their sighted peers do. Youth Slam, run by the National Federation for the Blind’s National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS) is stepping in to change all of that.

Cripping the Con Changes What is Means to be a Geek

April 21, 2017 Kit Englard

Comic Conventions are notorious for not being accessible to people with disabilities. Lack of interpreters at presentations and panels, inaccessible buildings, not enough seating around the convention for people to rest, are all problems that can prevent potential disabled convention goers from enjoying themselves. It sends the unintended message that, ’you are not welcome here’.

Cripping the Con is changing what it means to be a disabled geek by creating a completely accessible comic convention.

Nintendo Forgets Why People Love Classic Games, Discontinues NES Classic Edition

April 16, 2017 Kit Englard

Image of the NES Classic Edition controller. It is rectangular, with the classic direction controller on the left, start and select in the middle, and A and B circle  action buttons on the right. — Image of the NES Classic Edition controller. It is rectangular, with the classic direction controller on the left, start and select in the middle, and A and B circle action buttons on the right.

A few days ago, we learned that the NES Classic Edition will be retired, and people are mad, with all the gaming and tech journals slamming Nintendo on its decision. Even I'm upset, and it probably isn't a huge shock that as a legally blind person I am not huge on traditional gaming. For anyone who wants to play classic games, the ship has sailed-- if the ship ever even landed in the dock.

Disability Poetry Reading Series: Ada Hoffmann Redefines What It Means To Be Creative

April 14, 2017 Kit Englard

Ada Hoffmann standing in a winter forest. The trees behind her have snow, with brown bark peaking through. She is wearing a heavy black coat with the hood pulled up over her head. Her honey brown hair can be seen out of the front of her hood, framin… — Ada Hoffmann standing in a winter forest. The trees behind her have snow, with brown bark peaking through. She is wearing a heavy black coat with the hood pulled up over her head. Her honey brown hair can be seen out of the front of her hood, framing a smiling face.

There was never a moment in Ada Hoffmann’s life when she wasn’t a huge geek. She was one of those who was born and raised in geekdom, and has continued the proud tradition herself through reading fanfics and participating in LARP. She is also a writer with autism, and is currently working toward her Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Marvel Disability Inclusion Series: Marvel, You Can Do Better

April 13, 2017 Kit Englard

Marvel comics laying in a pile on a blue background.

Marvel has a reputation for underrepresenting minorities in their content. Just recently, Marvel’s Sales VP made comments in an interview with ICv2 about a decline in sales being a direct result from including a more diverse range of characters. Translation: having too many female and minority characters were causing readers to spend money and time elsewhere.

Braille Smartwatch—Does it live up to the hype?

April 10, 2017 Kit Englard

Image shows the first few cells of a braille display. To the left of the display panel are three circular buttons places vertically meant for navigation. Along the top are the routing keys.

Dot Inc. has created the first viable braille smartwatch, called the Dot Watch. Or… Have they? Do a quick Google search and you find article after article praising the product—but none of the authors of those articles are blind or otherwise have an invested interest in the product. Here’s what we know about the smartwatch. Does it live up to the hype?

Disability Poetry Reading Series: Karletta Abianac's Poetry Crafts Awareness

April 7, 2017 Kit Englard

Karletta Abianac, dark hair pulled back, wearing long dangling earrings, is standing in front of a beige brick wall. She is wearing a purple blouse, and matching nechlace.

April is both National Poetry Month as well as National Autism Awareness Month, meaning that Karletta Abianac, who hails from Queensland, Australia—her work focusing on what it is like to live life along the autism spectrum—is the perfect poet to kick off our Poetry Month Reading Series.

Accessibility for YouTube TV a Flop

April 5, 2017 Kit Englard

A large red square with a smaller white rectangle across the bottom half. In the top red section the word "You" is written out in white letters. In the white rectangle is the word "tube" in black letters.

YouTube TV is meant to be live TV that replaces your cable. You can live stream cable channels like MSNBC, Fox, The CW, ABC, CBS, and others. Using my power of living in the New York area, I have access to the service on the first day so I signed up for the free first-month trial offer, and played with the iOS app to test accessibility, so you don’t have to!

Lawmakers Overturn FCC Rules for ISP's— What it all means

April 3, 2017 Kit Englard

An opened combination lock is sitting on top of the keyboard of an open laptop.

Last week both the house and the senate passed a bill that weakened the FCC rules for internet privacy. Unfortunately, the majority of our lawmakers are not tech savvy—let alone competent with your average desktop—and they are also heavily lobbied by telecommunication companies.

Bartlet for President! Could someone with MS get elected?

April 3, 2017 Kit Englard

Actor Martin Sheen, playing Josiah Bartlet, is standing on the set of The West Wing. He is outside of St. Anne's Church. There is a row of greenery behind him.

Sometime around the inauguration, the West Wing was trending on Netflix and I thought, “You know, I should watch that.” I was not expecting to fine a massive plot line surrounding Multiple sclerosis! I decided to dive into the history of our presidents, their medical histories, and answer the question: could we today support a president with MS?

Microsoft Opens its Doors to Neurodiversity

April 2, 2017 Kit Englard

Windows phone laying on its side, with windows logo in white on a blue background.

April 2nd was World Autism day, and Microsoft is a company that in recent years has been trying to change the image of Silicon Valley from nerdy white boys to a more diverse group—from age, gender, sexual orientation. In April of 2015, Microsoft decided to take itself to a new edge in hiring practicing by extending its diversity programs to include neurodiversity.

Windows Creator's Build Gets Innovative With New Narrator Features

April 2, 2017 Kit Englard

A woman wearing a short-sleeved blouse starting into the camera over the top of a lap top.

So what can be so exciting about yet another update to Windows? Believe it or not, the big reveal is that they will finally be adding native braille support. While this seems inconsequential, it is in fact the first time braille users will be able to access the capabilities of a windows OS without needing third party software.

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