Taking small steps to make digital content more accessible can make a big difference. That was one takeaway from the University of Washington’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day held earlier this… Read More
Microsoft’s Ability Summit has come a long way since its inaugural event 13 years ago. What began as a meeting of about 20 employees has grown to more than 20,000… Read More
Starbucks is turning to technology to help blind and low-vision customers navigate its U.S. stores. The Seattle-based coffee giant is now offering free access to Aira, a service that connects… Read More
Long before COVID-19 thrust how we teach and learn using technology into an uncomfortable spotlight, Mike Tholfsen was imagining the tools that would make learning more inclusive and empowering for… Read More
The University of Washington is launching a new Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE) and Microsoft is helping to fund the effort with a $2.5 million… Read More
Microsoft is making gaming more accessible for patients at 22 Veterans Affairs rehab centers by supplying them with its Xbox Adaptive Controllers for players with disabilities. The goal is to… Read More
— “We earth men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things.” That statement seems eerily on point for what’s going on in the world right now, but it’s actually… Read More
LAS VEGAS ― More than 180,000 people attended CES to see the latest in consumer technology. From autonomous suitcases to a laundry-folding robot, there were many wacky gadgets making headlines throughout the… Read More
Jennifer Mankoff faced a slate of challenges that could have derailed her academic aspirations. It started with a repetitive stress injury from a poorly designed keyboard during graduate school in… Read More
Ian Mackay was 26 years old when a bicycle accident left him with a life-changing spinal cord injury. Ten years and nearly 10,000 wheelchair miles later, Mackay is charging ahead… Read More
The idea of a hackathon at any company is to harness the energy and creativity of employees to find new solutions to problems and potentially new products for consumers. As… Read More
Microsoft’s mission to create technology that can empower every person doesn’t just begin and end with the products it is creating. It extends to the people it hires, the standards… Read More
Microsoft, Apple, and other tech companies are working together to make it easier for people with impaired vision to use braille displays across devices and operating systems. Working with the USB… Read More
Cyrus Habib presides over Washington state’s Senate in his capacity as lieutenant governor — a task that would have been much more difficult if he had been elected a decade… Read More
Daman Wandke was explicit in explaining what he needed in his San Francisco hotel room: he had to have a roll-in shower to accommodate his wheelchair. He took the extra… Read More
Each year, Special Olympics International and its 220 chapters worldwide organize some 108,000 events. The games give athletes with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to compete in everything from basketball to… Read More
Amazon is making it easier for visually impaired users to benefit from the improvements of digital books by bringing VoiceView to the Kindle Paperwhite, the tech giant announced today. VoiceView has… Read More
When you can’t leave your bed, you can’t explore the world. But what if you could? The Seattle Art Museum is testing technology that would allow people to tour its… Read More