Disabilities

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Ten years ago, the United States passed into federal law the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), broadening the mandate of state vocational rehabilitation agencies to facilitate successful school-to-work transitions for student populations. Among its many provisions, the measure provided an unparalleled opportunity to expand the scope of available experiences and training to help…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Interest in shared e-bikes and e-scooters, or "micromobility" devices, has skyrocketed in Australia. Every capital city and over 25 local councils have trialed shared e-scooter systems through private operators including Lime, Beam and Neuron.…

At its 14th Ability summit, which kicks off today, Microsoft is highlighting developments and collaborations across its portfolio of assistive products. Much of that is around Azure AI, including features announced yesterday like AI-powered audio descriptions and the Azure AI studio that better enables developers with disabilities to create machine-learning applications. It also showed off new updates like more languages and richer AI-generated descriptions for its Seeing AI tool, as well as new playbooks offering…

In the last few years, smartphone makers have been making efforts to provide an inclusive experience for all users. As part of this endeavour, companies have rolled out a wide range of accessibility features that cater to users with disabilities. For example, there's a colour correction feature on smartphones that compensates for people with colour blindness. Such measures are aimed at making sure no one feels left out. With the recent evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), several apps have emerged that aim to…

The project took place in different locations, such as the participants' school, the university, and other community settings. Here is a workshop held at UiA. Credit: University of Agder The atmosphere on the bus is cheerful. A group of young people with disabilities are testing an app they have helped develop. This app is designed to make it easier for them to take the bus to and from work. …

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain "Teen with special needs makes thrilling buzzer beater shot." "Special needs student offered shot of a lifetime." "High school basketball manager gets his time on the court." These inspirational headlines may sound familiar. They highlight brief but exhilarating moments of disabled students in sports. They represent…

Pinball is a nostalgic arcade game played all over the world. But the standard design of most machines makes it difficult, if not impossible, for people with mobility issues to get in on the fun. A group of Colorado entrepreneurs wants to change that. Six friends have invented a controller that can be hooked into a pinball machine to make the game more accessible to people with disabilities, injuries or other physical challenges. Their small hexagonal-shaped device features three round buttons on one side, which a player…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain In a new study published in the Tidsskrift for omsorgsforskning (Journal of Care Research), researchers from the Regional Center for Obesity Research and Innovation (ObeCe) at St. Olavs Hospital and the University of Agder uncovered human rights violations in five assisted living facilities for people with developmental disabilities in Central Norway. …

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. ― Myrna Peterson predicts self-driving vehicles will be a ticket out of isolation and loneliness for people like her, who live outside big cities and have disabilities that prevent them from driving.Peterson, who has quadriplegia, is an enthusiastic participant in an unusual test of autonomous vehicles in this corner of northern Minnesota. She helped attract government funding to bring five self-driving vans to Grand Rapids, a city of 11,000 people in a region of pine and birch forests along…

The world of adaptive controllers can often feel expensive and overly complicated for a player with disabilities. Paying $100-plus for a base controller and then an extra $80-plus for extensions that you aren't sure will work for you feels intimidating and, at the end of the day, like a significant investment for something that may not provide the ideal experience. However, adaptive, ergonomically designed, and affordable equipment is a hole in the market that Sony is now attempting to fill with the…