In an opinion published on September 6, 2017 (but issued earlier on July 31, 2017), Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Southern District of New York ruled that a retail website was a place of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (as well as under state and local law) and therefore the owner the website had to take “the steps necessary to ensure that the blind have full and equal enjoyment of its website – provided that taking such steps would not impose an undue burden on Blick or fundamentally alter the website.” Andrews v. Blick Art Materials, LLC, 17-CV-767, NYLJ 1202797331595, at *15 (EDNY, Decided July 31, 2017).
NEWS
Accessible Banknote Enters Circulation in the U.K.
A new £10 banknote celebrating Jane Austen has entered circulation and will start to show up in people’s pockets in the coming days and weeks. How does your new £10 note measure up? The new tenner is the first Bank of England banknote with a tactile feature to help blind and visually impaired users. The new tactile feature is a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner of the banknote, developed with the help of the RNIB.
Senator Raises Questions About Security and Privacy of Face ID
Just a day after Apple unveiled its new flagship iPhone X equipped with a facial recognition system, United States Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook with some questions on the privacy and the security of the Face ID feature.
Paintings Speak to Visually Impaired
a first ever painting exhibition for the visually impaired opened at Uniq Istanbul Monday.
How Alexa, Siri, , Google Assistant Can be Listening Without You Knowing It
Voice assistants connected to smartphones and other devices have been hijacked using sounds above the range of human hearing. Once in, hackers have been able to make phone calls, post on social media and disconnect wireless services, among other things.
College Students Invent Smart Helmet for Blind People to See’ Obstacles and Read Out Text
Five students from China have developed a smart helmet that could aid the visually impaired in their everyday activities.
VIP: Hey Google, Get Off My Lawn
In this week’s VIP, Nelson and James are joined by Rob Minault from the AT Banter podcast. They discuss the top stories from Cool Blind Tech and give you some Cool Picks to think about.
An Overview of This Week’s Apple Event
On Tuesday, Apple announced this fall’s additions to their hardware lineup. They unveiled the Series 3 Apple Watch, a 4K version of the Apple TV, the iPhone 8 and 8+, along with a special iPhone X addition.
Accessibility Changes Coming on the iPhone X
The iPhone X features two 12-megapixel sensors with a f/1.8 wide-angle lens and f/2.4 telephoto lens. The iPhone X features optical image stabilization on both 12-megapixel sensors. It also includes an improved Quad-LED TrueTone flash, with Apple promising two times better uniformity of light. Like the iPhone 8, Apple says it will deliver an improved portrait mode that will allow users to adjust the light that’s rendered on the subject’s face. Portrait mode will also be available via the front-facing selfie camera.
iPhone X Pre-orders Begin on October 27th for Canadians
On Tuesday, Apple debuted its new premium flagship iPhone X, a device created in honour of the iPhone’s ten-year anniversary. Canadian consumers will need to pay $1,319 to buy the base 64GB model outright. The anniversary iPhone is also available in a 256GB variant for $1,529. Pre-orders begin on October 27th, through Apple Town Squares and online at Apple.ca.
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