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            <span style="font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial;line-height:110%">OPLIN 4Cast #728: Assistive technology is making significant strides in the mobile world</span><br>
 <span style="font-size:11px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;font-family:arial">December 9th, 2020</span></p>

            <p style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><img align="left" src="https://4cast.oplin.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/assistance-scaled.jpg" alt="Hand holding a cell phone with the message Do You Need Assistance?" width="130" height="94" style="padding-right:14px;padding-top:4px;padding-bottom:4px">

Last week, the nonprofit Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired held <a href="https://sighttechglobal.com/" target="_blank">Sight Tech Global</a>, the first of a planned annual virtual conference that looks at how AI-based technologies are changing accessibility for blind people and those with low vision. The event was free, and you can <a href="https://sighttechglobal.com/agenda/" target="_blank">watch session recordings</a> from the two-day conference. Perhaps coincidentally, Apple and Google have recently announced new projects and improvements designed to assist people with disabilities in intriguing new ways.

</p><ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none">
              </li><li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://venturebeat.com/2020/11/19/googles-project-guideline-uses-ai-to-help-low-vision-users-navigate-running-courses/" target="_blank">Google’s Project Guideline uses AI to help low-vision users navigate running courses </a>[<em>VentureBeat</em>] "Google’s Guideline app works without an internet connection and requires only a guideline painted on a pedestrian path. Users wear an Android phone around the waist using the aforementioned harness; the Guideline app runs a machine learning model that looks for the painted line and identifies it. Then, the app approximates the user’s position and delivers audio feedback via bone-conducting headphones to help keep them on the guideline."</li>
              <li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/03/iphones-can-now-automatically-recognize-and-label-buttons-and-ui-features-for-blind-users/" target="_blank">iPhones can now automatically recognize and label buttons and UI features for blind users</a> [<em>TechCrunch</em>] "It was done by taking thousands of screenshots of popular apps and games, then manually labeling them as one of several standard [user interface] elements. This labeled data was fed to the machine learning system, which soon became proficient at picking out those same elements on its own."</li>
              <li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/3597573/android-voice-control.html" target="_blank">Android's secret voice control superpowers</a> [<em>Computerworld</em>] "Voice Access empowers you to do virtually <em>anything</em> you could do by touching your screen simply by speaking, including some things that make dictating text much easier and more practical."</li>
              <li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/8/22160011/google-look-to-speak-eye-tracking-android-disability" target="_blank">Google Look to Speak lets you use your eyes to select and speak phrases</a> [<em>The Verge</em>] "The Android app is designed to make communication easier for people with motor and speech impairments."</li>
            </ul>

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            <p style="text-align:left;font-size:20px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><small><strong><em>From the <a href="http://ohioweblibrary.org" target="_blank">Ohio Web Library</a>:</em></strong></small><br>
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            <div style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%">
<ul>
<li>Bouck, Emily C., et al. “<a href="https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=144918912&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">Virtual Manipulatives as Assistive Technology to Support Students with Disabilities with Mathematics</a>.” <em>Preventing School Failure</em>, vol. 64, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 281–289.</li>
<li>Carolan, Jane. “<a href="https://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=109563254&site=pov-live" target="_blank">Why We Need to Champion Assistive Technology for People with Autism</a>.” <em>Learning Disability Today</em>, vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2015, p. 31.</li>
<li>Caruso, Catherine. “<a href="https://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sch&AN=123611367&site=scirc-live" target="_blank">Grandma’s Robot Helper</a>.” <em>Scientific American</em>, vol. 317, no. 1, July 2017, p. 24. </li>
</ul>

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