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Latest News

May 2013
Date Published	News headline and description
23 May 2013	Guest post: Voting independently In a recent state by-election, screen reader user Andrew Devenish-Meares* was able to vote online. Here, he talks through the experience of being able to place a secret vote independently.*
22 May 2013	Google petitioned on accessibility Software giant Google has been petitioned by J.P. Shandra, a blind user, to make each of its products usable for people with disability. The petition, posted on global consumer campaigning site Change.org, identifies that Google is failing to keep up with its competitors on accessibility.
21 May 2013	Opinion: Regulating audio description the only way Australia is a long way behind the rest of the world when it comes to audio description on television. Media Access Australia CEO Alex Varley looks at the different approaches to regulating audio description and what conditions lead to across-the-board services around the world.
20 May 2013	UK regulator seeks to improve live TV captioning The UK communications regulator Ofcom has announced proposals aimed at improving the quality of live captioning on television, including asking broadcasters to report on the quality of their captions.
20 May 2013	Presentation: Web For All 2013 Dr Scott Hollier and Associate Professor Denise Wood, co-lecturers of the Professional Certificate In Web Accessibility presented at the Web For All (W4A) Conference in Rio de Janeiro last week.
17 May 2013	Captioned cinema moves forward with new technologies Two new accessible cinema developments in the USA and UK have movie fans getting excited about what might be the next steps in captioned movies. Both developments, InvisibleCaptions and the Off-Screen Cinema Subtitle System, present the compromise that can win over both consumers and exhibitors.
16 May 2013	The 2013 Print Disability Roundtable The Roundtable on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities is a forum of 40 organisations from Australia and New Zealand. Its upcoming conference will bring together influential thinkers in web accessibility, braille and audio description.
16 May 2013	Federal budget fails to deliver on audio description The federal budget announced on Tuesday evening had disability reform as its cornerstone. While most Australians with disability cheered, the budget also held disappointment for those who are blind or vision impaired.
13 May 2013	Blind taxpayers sue for inaccessible website The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the USA and two Massachusetts residents who are legally blind have filed a lawsuit against one of the largest tax preparation firms in the country for failing to make their online tax services accessible to people who are blind and vision impaired. Filed earlier in April, the lawsuit claims H&R Block violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and article 114 of the Massachusetts Constitution.
13 May 2013	Media Access Australia at the World Wide Web Conference Dr Scott Hollier, our manager of major projects, is presenting a paper at the 22^nd International World Wide Web conference in Brazil today. Presented with co-lecturer Associate Professor Denise Wood, the paper looks into how the Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility addresses the shortfall in accessibility knowledge in Australia.
10 May 2013	Ai-Media appoints new caption quality auditor The access provider Ai-Media has appointed Robert Scott as an independent auditor to ensure the quality of the captions it produces for broadcast, government, education and corporate services in Australia and the UK.
09 May 2013	Dog finds his voice: First Dog On The Moon goes aural Crikey cartoonist First Dog On The Moon has started releasing versions of his political cartoons in audio format specifically for the enjoyment of blind and vision impaired readers.
08 May 2013	Disability: the untold story of the NBN We sat down with Graeme Innes, Disability Discrimination Commissioner and National Broadband Network Champion, to talk about how high-speed internet can benefit people with disability. Interview by Eliza Cussen.
08 May 2013	Audio description on British TV A new video produced by the UK’s Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) celebrates some recent advances which have made TV more accessible for the blind and vision impaired, including audio description and a new generation of ‘talking TVs’.
07 May 2013	Global Accessibility Awareness Day down under To celebrate the second Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Thursday 9 May, a number of volunteer groups are holding events in capital cities around Australia. In Sydney, A11Y (accessibility) Bytes, will bring like-minded individuals together for a night of lightning talks about innovation in technologies that help to include people of all abilities.
02 May 2013	Tactile smartphone in development The world's first tactile smartphone could be available in stores by the end of the year. Currently in prototype phase, the phone uses a mouldable metal screen which will provide a tactile experience for blind users.

April 2013
Date Published	News headline and description
30 April 2013	Audio description promoted in Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Association, in association with Accessible Media Inc, (AMI), has developed a public service announcement to build awareness of audio description on television.
30 April 2013	Deaf advocate takes discrimination claim to the United Nations Michael Lockrey, a prominent figure in Australian disability advocacy, has petitioned the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities after he and the New South Wales Government failed to reach conciliation over a discrimination complaint.
29 April 2013	Opinion: Australia still a prison for vision impaired TV viewers Blind advocate Scott L. Nixon shares his hopes and dreams for Australian television.
24 April 2013	Facebook Home inaccessible on Android Android users who rely on assistive technology might have to wait a little longer until Facebook Home becomes accessible. Facebook Home, a new interface for the popular social networking website, has been released in the USA on the HTC First smartphone. However, an HTC resource suggests Facebook Home is inaccessible.