By @derek-frisicchio, @shan-chang, @sfairoos, & @cathyjhu The MTA’s Current Status with Accessibility In the United States, there are over 70 light rail, rapid rail, commuter rail, monorail, and inclined-plane systems. According to the Federal Transit Authority’s (FTA) National Transit Database, 72% of all systems have accessible stations and the entire nation’s fleet is 88% accessible […]
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NaviLens is an innovative navigation and labeling app specifically designed for people with visual impairments. By scanning the special tags generated by the systems, the users are able to get audio information on positioning and route guidance, empowering them to find their ways quickly and effectively.
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In 2009, Google introduce machine-generated automatic captions to YouTube. These automatic captions are generated by machine learning algorithms, and allow YouTube creators to easily add captions to their videos. YouTube viewers can toggle captions on and off in video settings.
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Seeing AI is an app developed by Microsoft to utilize AI for accessibility. The app features various modes to assist blind people such as barcode scanners, document readers, and experimental AI modes such as person recognition. “Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you. Designed for the blind and low vision
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Reading is a fun diversion, whether it’s a riveting novel or an interesting blog post or a funny tweet. It becomes a challenge when you are sleep-deprived or in a noisy environment and it’s hard to concentrate. This simple activity poses an even greater challenge for people with cognitive impairments that affect their ability to read.
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The curb cut is a work of assistive technology so commonplace that it is more a part of assistive infrastructure than a “product.” Curb cuts, those short concrete ramps found at just about every pedestrian intersection in the United States, provide a gentle slope from an elevated sidewalk to the street surface below. About 1
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Kurzweil 3000 is a text-to-speech software that emphasizes reading comprehension through a multi-sensory approach. When a user uploads a PDF document to Kurzweil, the software is able to transform the text into a customizable audio-track, change the font of the text to an OpenDyslexic font, and more. Text-to-Speech Features For most of history, reading was
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EazyHold was invented by three sisters who understood how important it is to maintain independence through adversity. With EazyHold you can easily accomplish all your daily living activities with independence despite physical conditions or disabilities that might be impacting your grip strength. Their patented EazyHold design gives children and adults the ability to hold onto
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Closed captioning was primarily created to assist people who are deaf or hearing-impaired in comprehending the audio content of a video. It provides people an option to display the audio portion of a video as text on the screen. This technology is extremely important because it provides “a critical link to news, entertainment, and information for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.”
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KOMP is a one-button computer designed by No Isolation, for the elderly to be able to connect with their family members. KOMP is primarily a communication device for their families that allows them to share photos of their day-to-day lives, send messages, reminders, and make video calls. By giving the elderly access to these technological
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