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A team in Italy hopes to make accessing email on the web a much better experience for the visually impaired. As it stands now, many email providers do not offer a quality experience for screen reader users when accessing their mail on the web. Some providers offer simplified options like basic html, but this strips out some if not many of the features that are available to sighted users. To solve this issue, the team has created "Voice My Mail", a web ad on that gives blind users a more feature rich experience when accessing email on the web. Since it's not a stand alone program, the idea is for it to work with any email provider website.

The team has created a working demo for people to try out, but according to the Indiegogo page, they won't be able to make the project global without extra funding. Users of JAWS and NVDA can test out the demo in the Firefox browser. Let us know in the comments what the experience is like and if you would use the app if it was available.

I am always on the look out for finding more ways to get access to books, in fact, I think I have more book apps on my iPhone than is really necessary. Well now I've added one more. Audio Books HQ is an app that provides access to almost 8000 free audio books. This app was previously not usable to Voiceover users, but now I can say with pleasure that the app is easy to use.

The app currently has access to books from LibriVox, PodioBooks, and the Globe Radio Repertory. Each of these three catalogs is easy to search through. Finding books can be done in a number of ways including: looking by genre, title, author, most downloaded, or in order of when books were posted. There is also an option to preview the book before choosing to download it. For me, I really appreciate this feature because it means I get to hear the narrator and decide if I like their voice before I download the book.

There are a number of features when playing books that you've downloaded. You can adjust the playback speed to be slow or very fast, add a bookmark, skip forward and backward by time or by chapter, and even start a sleep timer.

Just as a final note, the app itself is $1.99 but all of the books available in the app are free.

In November of last year, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), decided to adopt the Unified English Braille code (UEB). After a year of discussions which included a forum in October of this year, BANA voted at their annual meeting to make January 4, 2016 the date that UEB will be fully implemented in the U.S. What this means for braille readers in the U.S. is that our braille code is going to change. Some of the changes are minor, and some will
feel very strange to those of us who have been reading braille for years. BANA has put together a list of many of the changes to the literary code. The most significant of these changes is the removal of nine contractions and no longer joining and, for, of, the, and with.

There are likely those who are still wondering why BANA made this decision since it's going to be disruptive for braille readers and transcribers. In effect, children who are learning braille now will have to know both the literary braille code and the UEB code because they are likely to encounter both. According to BANA's website, there are a number of reasons why they decided to make this change. The primary reason was to allow for more braille books to be sent across borders. The U.S. was the only English speaking country that still was not using UEB which made it challenging to provide braille materials to other English speaking countries. It will also mean that braille readers who go to other countries will not have any problem reading braille produced in those nations.

Odin Mobile is a new carrier that is only selling phones that would be accessible to people with vision impairments. The first three phones that Odin offered were either very simple, or modified Android phones. They are now offering a mainstream option with the Nexus 4. The phone costs $299, and comes with no contract. According to the Odin Mobile website, when you purchase a Nexus 4, the phone will come with Android 4.4 KitKat preinstalled, and a custom desktop with apps that will help visually impaired users access the features of the phone. Purchasing the Nexus 4 also comes with an instructional package which includes one on one training with a blind Android user and access to a help line for the first month.

It is encouraging to see that Odin Mobile is choosing to sell more feature rich phones and that they're hiring blind Android users to teach new customers how to use their new devices.

One of the reasons people often choose not to try new assistive technology is cost. The team at Serotek wants the blind community to have a chance to try out all of their products for free. So, from now until December 11, feel free to download and use any of their products for no cost.

Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do if they want the visually impaired community to start using their smart phones. Nokia is hoping that their Nokia Create contest will encourage developers to make more apps for the Windows Phone platform. There are eight categories for apps, and one of them is to make apps that are accessible to the visually impaired. According to the Microsoft Accessibility blog, developers can submit apps that are as basic as adding vibration to the compass, or as complex as using the built in camera for image recognition. There are ten categories of apps that Nokia is looking for. These include "Image and Photo, Near Field Communication, Maps and Places, Music, Cross-8,
Fun and Games, Work Life,Freestyle, Nokia Lumia Devices, and Remote Device Access." Developers have until December 15 to submit their apps.

It will be interesting to see how effective the contest is at adding to the accessible app options. Having choice is the best way to encourage innovation. It is my hope that at some point, Microsoft can add their name to the list of smart phones that the visually impaired community will want to use because it meets their needs and improves independence.

If you're a premium subscriber to Spotify and have trouble accessing Spotify content on your PC, you now have a solution. A new app called Blindspot has been released. The app gives screen reader users access to their Spotify account and more. The app can be used in five languages including English, French, German, Spanish, and Swedish. The app uses a set of hot keys for navigation which users can learn about by visiting the documentation section of the website. At this time, the app only works with premium accounts, but the developer hopes that at some point, people who only want to use the free features in Spotify will be able to use Blindspot. Spotify currently only allows the use of their API for premium accounts, thus the limitation. Spotify Premium costs $9.95 a month and also gives you offline playlists and full access to their mobile apps.

Back in my PC days, Winamp was definitely my favorite music player. It was simple to use, and worked well with screen readers. I know there are still people who do internet radio shows using Winamp playlists. Sadly though, the times have changed, and the developers of Winamp have decided to bring this chapter to a close. There will be no new updates for the software, and you will only have until December 20 to download the application because after that day, it won't be available anymore. Tell us about your experience with Winamp in the comments. Will you find a new media player or just hold on forever?

I personally am a big fan of descriptive audio. Every time I watch a film that has a descriptive audio track, I get more out of the experience and I don't feel like I'm missing out on important parts of the film. It's great to see that many film studios are including descriptive audio, but you can only access the track if you watch the film on DVD or in the theater. Verizon has just announced that they will be the first streaming video provider to offer described films on their On Demand Service. According to the Verizon website, these are the first films that Verizon Fios users can access that have the descriptive audio track, "Wreck It Ralph, The Hangover III, Gangster Squad, The Great Gatsby, Iron Man 3 and Monsters University." Hopefully, more films will be added to the service, and maybe other service providers like Netflix and Hulu will follow their lead.

. As a huge fan of twitter and the connections that it's brought me over the years, I feel like more of the blind community need to be informed about how easy twitter is to use, and how it can connect you to those who can answer questions, provide you information, and make you feel like you're part of a community. When I joined twitter I knew almost no one in the blind community, but by reaching out and searching for people who had my same interests I've been able to get employment thanks to my social media skills and even be asked to cohost a podcast.

If you are someone who has been holding off on joining twitter because either you don't know how it works or you don't know how accessible it is, then the new book from Jonathan Mosen called Tweeting Blind may be for you. The book can bee purchased in many different formats including braille and BRF from the National Braille Press, or you can get the book in PDF or RTF from the Jonathan Mosen Consulting website for $19.95.

According to the NBP website, the book is quite comprehensive. Readers will learn what twitter is, how to sign up for a twitter account, how to follow, mention, direct message, and block users, and how to access twitter on multiple platforms including windows, mac, iOS, and Android.

Being able to order my own plane tickets online is very empowering, but even in 2013, not all airline websites are as accessible as they could be. There are also no accessible kiosks for passengers to check in at any of our airports, but this may be changing. The Department of Transportation (DOT), has just issued new rules to expand access to airline websites and airport kiosks to passengers with disabilities. A portion of the press release is pasted below.

After landing on Mars your job is not only to discover what is on the planet, but because you crashed onto the planet, you must now also survive. This is the premise of a new Interactive Fiction game called Red Planet Rex. The game is different from your average interactive fiction game since it's also voice activated. Instead of typing out your commands, you can just say them. It will be like having a conversation while you're playing.

The plan is for the game to be released for both iOS and Android, and for it to be accessible on both platforms. As a player, you will have the option of using the voice commands or playing the game with just text. This makes the game accessible to both blind and deaf, and allows users to switch off voice commands when they're in a situation where it would be awkward.

TapTapSee is one of my favorite apps. I've used it to identify many objects over the last year. I even had a chance to interview the developers about the app. It is truly the best object recognition app available, and two of it's best features were that it is super easy to use and it was free.

According to the TapTapSee website, due to the high cost of image recognition, the company will no longer be able to offer the service for free. Over the next few days, they will be rolling out their new paid subscription options. You can either spend $7.99 for 100 images to be recognized, or $9.99 for an unlimited monthly subscription. When you've hit the cap of 100 images or the month has run out, you'll be prompted to renew. If you find that you're not using the app as much or you find that you need more than 100 images to be identified in a month, you can change to the other plan when you renew.

Many people are likely going to be outraged by this change, but it's important to remember that the company kept the service free for over a year. According to one of their staff, they really didn't want to charge for the service, but that the costs have just gotten too high for them to handle.

AI Squared has just released a new version of ZoomText for the Mac that is compatible with the New Mac OS Mavericks. The upgrade is free for users, and you can find the download instructions by following the headline link. According to their website, this is only for users that are running Mavericks. If you're still using Lion or Mountain Lion then you don't need to upgrade.

The American Printing House is currently developing an iOS version of their Math Flash software, currently available for Windows computers. According to APH's Research and Development Report, Math Robot will allow students to be drilled on math products using the touchscreen or a refreshable braille display. The software is currently being tested and a release is expected within the next year.

The makers of Zombie's Run are developing a new game that will encourage you to walk rather then run. The makers of the game find that when there's a narration connected with your exercise, you're more likely to enjoy the exercise. According to an article in Polygon, this is the premise of the game, "You're given a vital package that needs to be couriered to Edinburgh, Scotland. You're about to get on the train when terrorists, attempting to get hold of this thing you have, blow up the station. An electromagnetic pulse kills all things electronic — cars no longer work. Now you're forced to walk the distance with the police on your tail." So instead of running from zombie's, you're walking quickly away from the police.

Unlike in Zombie's Run, the app does not just assume that you're exercising. The app will check in with you during the day, take samples of your movements, and estimate how much walking you've done for each day. Zombie's Run is accessible for both iOS and Android users.

Back in August, the Coalition of E-reader Manufactures requested a waver from the FCC. It was their opinion that their dedicated E-readers should not have to comply with the 21st Century Video Communications Act because the primary purpose of the devices was to read printed text. ON October 22, the FCC decided to grant a temporary waver until January of next year to the coalition to give them more time to review the waver request. If you are concerned that the FCC will grant a permanent waver to these companies, make sure to contact the FCC and your representatives in congress.

There is more descriptive video programming on television then ever before, but accessing that content is still a challenge for the blind. With the new rules that the FCC has adopted today, the challenges may soon become a thing of the past. Comcast has already announced a move to make a talking program guide and to enable a single button on the remote to turn on descriptive video or closed captioning. Now all other cable and satellite providers as well as makers of external devices such as the Roku Box will have to do the same. The official ruling of the FCC is pasted below.

Earlier this week, Apple released it’s newest operating system for the mac, OSX Mavericks.. The best part, it’s free and it comes with some pretty cool new features. After playing with it for a few days, there are some things I’m really pleased about and some bugs that I look forward to Apple fixing.

If you've been waiting for JAWS 15 to be released, it's finally here. Now that Windows works with touch screens, JAWS has been updated to support touch screens and gestures. There are also a number of other new features. Read our previous post about JAWS 15 to learn more about the new version.