AFB Blog

Recently, Google hosted its yearly Google Developers Conference, Google I/O, where countless updates to Google products were announced, with many now being available to the public. Gemini, Google’s suite of AI technologies, was a highlight of the show and dominated Google’s announcements regarding new innovations. For this article, I wanted to gather together the announced or updated technologies that have the potential to be most impactful in terms of accessibility. As mentioned, this article…

In June, Apple hosted its annual virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), unveiling a wide range of updates and innovations. The keynote address highlighted the latest developments in Apple’s software ecosystem. Following the keynote, developers were invited to attend numerous sessions and collaborate directly with Apple engineers. Apple introduced a new visual design language called Liquid Glass, which unifies the look and feel of apps across the Apple ecosystem and gives the interface…

Both in the AccessWorld Spring issue as well as in recent AccessWorld podcast episodes, I have been raving about the capabilities of Gemini 2.5, specifically its ability to provide detailed descriptions of videos. For this blog post, I wanted to share detailed information on how this process works and what you may encounter when using it. At the time of writing, the most recent test version—and the one used for testing in this post—is Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06/05 (June 5th). The model is…

As any screen reader user knows, accessibility issues are still far too common across the web. You’ve probably run into buttons or links that won’t activate with your screen reader’s cursor, or content that should appear but doesn’t show up at all. I’ve discovered a simple trick that can often expose hidden or otherwise inaccessible elements: disabling a website’s stylesheets. I use this feature in Firefox because it’s quick and easy. When stylesheets are turned off, content that was…

Janet Ingber Editor’s Note: As someone who is blind, I’ve been a longtime fan of Apple’s SE—now known as the “E” line—of iPhones. I personally find these models strike an ideal balance by delivering the power needed to support the latest iOS features, while omitting many of the high-end elements that tend to focus on visual use, especially the camera. Since I don’t rely heavily on the camera, I can skip those premium extras and still enjoy a fast, capable device—with better battery life and a…

The American Foundation for the Blind is concerned that the extensive and rapid downsizing at the US Department of Education could harm the services, funding, and civil rights protections that people who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind rely on. The Department plays a critical role in enforcing rights and funding services required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act. In 2021, more than 7.7 million children received services through…

January is Braille Literacy Month, celebrated in honor of Louis Braille’s birthday on January 4, 1809. Each year, we take this opportunity to reflect on subjects related to braille, either on our blog or, previously, in the January issue of AccessWorld magazine. Since the spring quarterly issue now comes out in February, this content has moved to the blog, allowing us to continue the tradition of highlighting braille during this special month. This year, I wanted to focus on the history of…

Janet Ingber This fall, Apple released its new operating system for the Mac. Staying true to its California-inspired naming convention, the system is called macOS 15.0, Sequoia. Since then, two updates have been released, with the latest version being macOS 15.2. An M1 chip or higher is required to utilize the new Apple AI features. For this article, an M1 Mac running macOS 15.2 Sequoia was used. Here are some of the new features: iPhone Mirroring iPhone Mirroring allows users to access…

Janet Ingber This fall, Apple released its latest operating system for the Apple Watch. Among its many features, WatchOS 11 introduces new health options, the ability to play content through the Watch speakers, and support for multiple VoiceOver voices. WatchOS 11 is compatible with Apple Watch Series 6 and newer. For this article, I tested WatchOS 11 on an Apple Watch Series 10. Multiple VoiceOver Voices WatchOS 11 allows users to add multiple VoiceOver voices via the new Voice Rotor. By…