Neowin News Feed for: Blind

Facebook is shutting down its facial recognition system in trust-building exercise

Paul Hill — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 19:52:01 +0000

Facebook has said it's disabling facial recognition on its platform. It'll see a degrade in the quality of automatic alt text but the firm said it wants to wait for regulators to lay out rules. Read more...

Microsoft: Accessibility is a focus in Windows 11

Usama Jawad — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 09:06:01 +0000

Microsoft has emphasized that Windows 11 is built with accessibility in mind through new and redesigned components, services, and APIs. It calls this initiative the "modern accessibility platform". Read more...

Facebook improves photo descriptions for the visually impaired

Paul Hill — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 20:38:01 +0000

Facebook has improved its automatic alternative text feature to help describe photos to the visually impaired. It now detects photo contents ten times better and gives better descriptions. Read more...

Samsung TVs receive accreditation from blindness organisation

Paul Hill — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 23:36:01 +0000

Samsung has been award accreditation by the Royal National Institute of Blind People for including features on its 2020 Smart TVs that make them more accessible for those with vision impairments. Read more...

Microsoft collaborates with Be My Eyes to offer tech support to the blind

Hamza Jawad — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 06:42:01 +0000

Be My Eyes is an app that caters to people who are blind or have low vision. Microsoft will now be offering technical assistance to customers of Be My Eyes via its Disability Answer Desk. Read more...

Facebook knows you're in a photo before being tagged

Paul Hill — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 17:34:01 +0000

Facebook has announced some new face recognition tools on its social media platform which will stop malicious parties using pictures to impersonate another person. The tools will also help the blind. Read more...

Microsoft's new Windows Phone-compatible headset helps blind people navigate

Jett Goldsmith — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 08:40:01 +0000

A new headset designed by Microsoft works with Windows Phone to help blind people navigate cities via GPS and beacons, which could transform a way of life for millions around the world. Read more...

The next step in wearables? $100 vibrating smartshoes that can help the blind

Andy Weir — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 14:27:28 +0000

An Indian company has developed 'smartshoes' that vibrate to help you to navigate around town. Originally developed to help the blind, they also include fitness sensors, and go on sale in September. Read more...

See, hear: Microsoft is developing a wearable device to help blind people

Andy Weir — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 18:43:54 +0000

Microsoft has been developing a new wearable device: a 'smart headband' that can help blind people to 'see' the world around them - although not quite in the way you may be imagining. Read more...

From the Forums: Windows 8 design inconsistencies!

Brad Sams — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 06:22:53 +0000

We like to highlight quality posts that hit our forum and in today's edition of "From the Forums", one of our readers noticed several errors that made there way to the RTM build of Windows 8. Read more...

Leading the blind, one Kinect at a time

Brad Sams — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 05:57:50 +0000

Imagine a world where you can't see the text on this screen, then think about trying to venture out of your house. With the power of Kinect, the blind will soon have a new companion to travel about. Read more...

Blind People Say Quiet Hybrid Cars Pose Safety Risk

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:15:11 +0000

Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from a constituency that doesn't drive: the blind. Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run solely... Read more...

IBM Labs: Helping the Blind 'See' Internet Multimedia

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:14:47 +0000

The emergence of multimedia content has risen dramatically in the last two years yet people with low or no vision have not been able to enjoy the benefits of these advances. Among other complications, current... Read more...

Vista's UAC security is colour blind

Steven Parker — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:11:00 +0000

Windows Vista's User Account Control (UAC), a system that Microsoft says makes the new operating system safer from attack, can be spoofed and shouldn't be completely trusted, said a Symantec researcher. Ollie Whitehouse, an architect... Read more...

New graphic displays for the blind

Thu, 23 Dec 2004 05:20:19 +0000

MarÃa JesÃºs San Segundo, Spanish Secretary of Education and Science, and Carlos RubÃ©n FernÃ¡ndez, President of ONCE foundation, awarded the prize to the scientists at the historical Complutense University auditorium in Madrid. Georg Boomgaarden, German... Read more...

Workers Told: Computers Could Blind You

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 09:16:58 +0000

Even though this is just a study and nothing is conclusive, everyone should remember to rest their eye perodically (every 20 min) when using a computer. This is especially applicable to people playing HL2 non-stop... Read more...

Apple unveils Spoken Interface for blind OS X users

Wed, 17 Mar 2004 17:54:44 +0000

Apple has introduced a new accessibility solution for visually impaired users that it will integrate with the next major release of Mac OS X. The company took the wraps off of the new technology today:... Read more...

Spam-bot tests flunk the blind

Wed, 02 Jul 2003 20:50:49 +0000

An increasingly popular technique for preventing e-mail abuse is frustrating some visually impaired Net users, setting the stage for a conflict between spam busters and advocates for the disabled. Many companies have... Read more...

BT develops talking SMS for the blind

Tue, 05 Nov 2002 09:25:52 +0000

I don't know about you but for me, it's always great to hear news about new technology that help to aid disbled people to have a better life. BT wants someone with pots of cash... Read more...