From the ACB mailing list:

Congress has reintroduced the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA). This bill works to ensure that people with disabilities are not paid subminimum wage under an almost 100-year-old piece of legislation that allows certain businesses with a specific certificate to do so. The bill will work to eliminate such working environments and help transition people currently in such settings into a more integrated work situation. To ask your member of Congress to support the bill, go to speak4.app/lp/9801enwx/?ts=175….

#blind #congress #accessibility #work #job #wage #TCIEA #ACB

I live in America and am on Mint Mobile. I am totally blind and use an external keyboard. I own a Galaxy A15, and while it works well, it's simply too large and wide for my needs, especially when I need to hold it to use Seeing AI (for scanning printed materials). My specifications shouldn't be too difficult to find, and yet, they are.

Android 14 or 15. Technically, I can go as low as 12, but I would really rather not.
Upgradable if possible.
Comes with Talkback pre-installed (or able to have someone install it). I have also heard of MicroG, an alternative to Google services that allows such apps to be installed, so that could work as well.
No larger than the iPhone SE 2022, unless by a tiny amount. Smaller is fine.
Headphone jack.

I am considering the Jelly Max, the Fonepia Q10, and the Minimal Phone. Has anyone here tried any of these in the United States? I don't think the Max has a headphone jack, but as much as I want one, I would be willing to sacrifice it if necessary. I know almost nothing about the Q10. The Minimal contains a real qwerty keyboard, so I wouldn't need to carry one. I don't care what they do with the screen, since I can't see it.

Am I missing any other good phones? I would like to keep this undder $350 at the most, preferably under $300 (Minimal might cost more, but could be worth it).

#accessibility #blind #Android #JellyMax #keyboard #MinimalPhone #phones #Q10 #qwerty #SmallPhone #SmallPhones #Talkback #technology

As it is the start of the month I would like to invite my fellow #Blind, #DeafBlind, and #VisuallyImpaired people, along with their family, and friends, to #OurBlind. OurBlind comprises the #Discord, #Lemmy, and #Reddit communities operated by the staff of the r/Blind subreddit, as well as those who have joined since the creation of the Discord in 2022, and Lemmy in 2023. We have members from all over the world, and of all ages, hearing and vision levels, and are a welcoming and safe space for Our #LGBTQIA and #neurodiverse friends. Our general community guidelines, and the links to reach our platforms can be found on our website.

ourblind.com/

@main @mastoblind

OurBlind

Welcome to OurBlind Join Us Reddit Discord Lemmy Who We Are OurBlind is a community of blind and visually impaired people, their family and friends, and allies, from around the world.

^OurBlind

Blog post about the #Dolby #Accessibility Solution

When Good Intentions Meet Poor Design at the movie theatre: Why Nothing About Us Without Us Still Matters

blog.blackspheretech.com/?p=47…
#blind #A11Y

Please boost for reach, for any OnePlus users or staff:

I wrote a review of my OnePlus 13 on OnePlus' community site. If you're a member there, please like it to show support for the accessibility issues I brought up. I'd really like to get these fixed, since this is a powerful phone that's got Google's TalkBack, not Samsung's moldy fork, and is great overall, besides the accessibility issues. I'd love to be able to recommend this phone as an all-around great phone for blind people.

@accessibleandroid

community.oneplus.com/thread/1… [A review of the OnePlus 13, from a blind person's perspective]

#android #OnePlus #OnePlus13 #blind #accessibility #Braille

OnePlus Community

Introducing our new OnePlus Community experience, with a completely revamped structure, built from the ground-up.

^{community.oneplus.com}

***Attention! If you miss MSN/Windows Live Messenger, AIM, and/or ICQ, this is for you! If you use a screen reader and want a 100% accessible messenger client, this is also for you.*
This works with Windows XPthrough 11, and I'm logged into it as I write! It's called Escargot, and it revives Windows Live/MSN Messenger. This is the original software, but it has been patched so that it connects to the escargot.chat server and not the Microsoft one. It is 100% free and accessible with NVDA and I'm sure JAWS as well. They also have projects for AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and ICQ, including for Android and IOS, and are working on a web client for MSN. (I don't know if AIM or ICQ are accessible with screen readers, as I have never tried them). Anyway, if you're over twenty-one (my personal request), have read my profile here, and wish to add me, I am dandylover1@escargot.chat. You can find everything here.

escargot.chat

Note: If you already have Windows Live/MSN Messenger on your system, you will still need to download their version and create an account. Your Microsoft, MSN, or Hotmail one won't work for signing in. Also, remember to click on RUN_AFTER_INSTALL.exe, in order to patch the program to the Escargot server.

#accessibility #AIM #Android #AOL #blind #chat #Escargot #EscargotChat #ICQ #IOS #Messenger #MSN #MsnMessenger #Microsoft #NVDA #Talkback #technology #Voiceover #Windows #WindowsLiveMessenger

Did y'all know it's Disability Pride month? Well I totally forgot. Lol. Pride. I can't be proud to be blind.

#blind #disability #accessibility

Please boost for reach among the blind community. Okay y'all, is it just me, or are the Meta RayBan glasses descriptions, even with detailed responses on in accessibility settings, still not very accurate? I mean it feels like they're using Llama 3.1 8B, a small model. Am I going more crazy than I already am? Am I missing some context engineering tricks? Like I don't get it. It said my coffee maker's filter basket was empty when it wasn't, said a cup of coffee was empty when it was about half full, then said the coffee cup was folded when I asked it it was full again, cause speech recognition still sucks I guess and AI can't work around that, and said a washing machine was beside the bathroom counter when it was behind me, across from the counter. Like this isn't me playing a video game, this is normal household stuff.

#meta #RayBan #llm #ai #accessibility #blind

From the BrailleNote mailing list, about BrailleNote updates:

I'm not a HumanWare employee but was also there and can get this started and they can come in and verify.

They started with the first Braillenote Touch that had android. They went thru the entire Google certification process to allow it to have all the google services like google play store. This certification allowed them to update its Android OS to a certain point. To go any farther they had to have a device certified for the new version. They tried to certify the first braillenote touch for the new android OS but google will not allow recertification of a already certified device. This is where Braillenote touch plus comes to play. They created a new model and got it certified for the new version of android OS. Braillenote touch plus has now again gotten to the limit of its android OS updates. Human ware said the process of certifying a device of extensive and the cost was extremely high for the low number of devices they sell. They said there will be new devices to continue the segment with, but they can't talk about those right now. They said they're not just stopping the braillenote touch plus and that's it! They're working on finding a valid solution for the high cost of google certification for a new device. Rather that's Linux, windows, uncertified android, etc.

The Monarch has an uncredited android which is not a bad or wrong thing to do, this just means it doesn't have the google services like play store.

I hope this helps everyone understand where they are with this and that it's a google stupidity thing not a HumanWare thing.

#Braille #accessibility #blind #BrailleNote #technology #Android #google

Ok I debated making this but it cannot hurt. I hope all my fellow #Blind, #DeafBlind, and #VisuallyImpaired people, along with their family, friends, and others have had a great time at the #ACB and/or #NFB 2025 conventions. I am taking this time, and the increased activity on certain hashtags to do some shameless promotion of #OurBlind. OurBlind comprises the Discord, Lemmy, and Reddit communities operated by the staff of the r/Blind subreddit, as well as those who have joined since the creation of the Discord in 2022, and Lemmy in 2023. We have members from all over the world, and of all ages, hearing and vision levels, and are a safe space for Our LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse friends. Our general community guidelines, and the links to reach our platforms can be found on our website.

ourblind.com/

@main @mastoblind

OurBlind

Welcome to OurBlind Join Us Reddit Discord Lemmy Who We Are OurBlind is a community of blind and visually impaired people, their family and friends, and allies, from around the world.

^OurBlind

Well y'all, I might have to go back to Windows. With Fedora 42, and Orca 48.6, I cannot use Google Docs well at all on Google Chrome, and on Firefox, the outline view which I use to navigate through many, many headings in a document I need for work, isn't usable at all. I can arrow up and down all I want, but nothing speaks.

#accessibility #fedora #linux #blind

As the tech transbian of the family, I'm trying to get my mother to regain some of the independence blindness (add an overprotective partner to the mix for maximum effect) took away from her by re-teaching her to use the computer. When she lost her sight she used JAWS or NVDA (I can't remember which one) and she even wrote a couple of books with that, but a fatal update broke compatibility with the program and neither her nor her partner knew how to deal with that situation, so she started relying on other people for computer stuff.
So, fedi people with disabilities, I'm asking for pointers on this. Accessibility software of any kind, if there are updated versions of either JAWS or NVDA that run on modern Windows (don't tell her to delve into Linux, that ain't happening in the near future. One baby step at the time.) or any alternative software to those programs, voice controls, resources for learning, anything. All info is welcome. Thanks in advance!

#blind #software #accessibility #lowvisiontech