One of my favorite new authors is Joe Abercrombie. A few year ago, he published The First Law trilogy, a dark fantasy series, followed recently by Best Served Cold, a novel set I’m the First Law world. I picked up the first nook in the trilogy a few years ago in paperback and was...
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Today, author Joe Abercrombie announced that his new book, Best Served Cold will be released in the US on the Kindle. I have found the Kindle app on my iPod Touch to be very readable on the largest font setting  and with the inverse color scheme (white text on a black background). Despite this,...
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Spotted on Twtter, Talking lamp-posts will help blind people find their way. IF YOU heard a lamp-post talking, you might think you were going mad. But speaking signs have been springing up to help blind and partially-sighted people. Newcastle is one of the first places in the UK to pilot the RNIB React Talking Sign...
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Apparently, some one, as usual, has beaten me to it.  Not long ago, I posted about talking lamp posts. These talking lamp posts would give nearby visitors an audio description of their location. I thought it would be a better idea to build that capability into GPS-capable devices. They can build the ‘guides’ into the...
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The NYTimes ran an article, The Work of Fashion Photographer Richard Avedon, with an accompanying audio slideshow today that is worth checking out. The article is inspired byt a retrospective of Avedon’s photography at the International Center of Photography. That blueprint is, broadly, the subject of a retrospective at the International Center of Photography, from...
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As spotted on MacWord’s iPhone Central, Ars Technica is reporting that iPhone OS 3.0 to feature voice control and feedback. Various voice-related features, under the codename “Jibbler,” have been discovered in the version of SpringBoard set to ship with the next update to Apple’s mobile operating system. …. Not much information is known at this time, but...
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It has been a while since I have posted about my campaign for more unabridged audiobooks. I have not abandoned my quest, but I have not made much progress either. I did hear back this week from one of my favorite new fantasy authors, Joe Abercrombie, about the bogged down negotiations for the audio...
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The Victoria and Albert Museum offers via Photographs Described for Blind and Partially Sighted Visitors. Currently this online collections has four historical images with descriptions for perusal. This section of the website looks at four very different historic photographs from the V&A’s collection. Each photograph is reproduced in colour and is accompanied by an explanation...
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Speeding up a recording used to make it sound like Alvin & the Chipmunks. Growing up, I had a cassette player for the blind that had a variable speed playback control. Being a kid, I used it mainly for entertainment value. Fun was...
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As you probably heard, this week Apple released its new Shiffie.  The key new accessibility feature is VoiceOver. Introducing VoiceOver. Musically speaking, the new iPod shuffle is brilliant, thanks to an exciting new feature called VoiceOver. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a...
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I had two best men at my wedding. Their tandem toast revolved around my relationship to BPR. Addiction may be the word they used. So, as I was browsing the iPhone app store on my iPod Touch, I could not resist testing out NPR Mobile when I ran across it. NPR Mobile is...
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Today’s NYT Tech Talk podcast from the New York Times features two accessibility pieces. The first accessibility segment featues Audiopoint Voice Terminal Service Brian Lichorowic, the chief executive of Audiopoint, explains how the company’s Voice Terminal Service works to bring the Internet to visually impaired users by phone. Bettina Edelstein also offers a round-up of...
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The brouhaha over the new Kindle’s text-to-speech function possibly violating copyright has really caught fire. The issue hit the papers as well as the blogosphere. The Wall Street Journal carried the sotry with New Kindle Audio Feature Causes a Stir. Several fellow accessibility blogs have picked up the issue. The Talking Books Librarian...
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Spotted on Slashdot, Author’s Guild Says Kindle’s Text-To-Speech Software Illegal. “The Author’s Guild claims that the new Kindle’s text-to-speech software is illegal, stating that “They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.” Forget...
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Today’s NY Times has an artucke about a new audio tour company, iJourneys. It looks like a good one. If you find this post useful or interesting, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.
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