I’m back, having got married, been on honeymoon, and perhaps inevitably, caught COVID. So, a little later than planned, please enjoy the latest issue of frequent11y! Robles v. Domino’s Settles After Six Years of Litigation This case concerns Guillermo Robles, a blind customer of Domino’s who was unable to order a custom pizza from their… [Read More]

Man Who Is Paralyzed Communicates By Imagining Handwriting A man left quadriplegic after a freak accident has taken part in a study of a system called BrainGate2, developed at Stanford. The system relies on electrodes surgically implanted near the part of the brain that controls movement. The man imagines writing individual characters by hand, and… [Read More]

This 3D printed controller allows you to game with one hand This Facebook video (3 minutes) demonstrates an attachment for a standard PlayStation controller, allowing you to access all of the buttons on the device using just one hand. The attachment was designed and 3D-printed by Akaki Kuumeri and is quite fascinating to see in… [Read More]

New sensor technology helps blind and visually impaired pedestrians avoid hazards Intelligent Material Solutions, Inc. have patented an “intelligent material” of rare earth crystals embedded in paint or thermoplastics. The crystals can be grown to any shape or size and exhibit unique emission and absorption spectra and tuneable energy conversions. Paired with sensors mounted or… [Read More]

Whisper’s hearing aids use AI to boost speech and reduce noise Whisper is a startup that is developing hearing aids that self-tune over time, using AI. Traditional hearing aids require frequent adjustments, which can put people off wearing them. The CEO was inspired when his father asked to sit in a quiet corner of the… [Read More]

Default focus outlines: Don’t remove them! So many good tips in this article – though don’t be fooled by the title. This isn’t about the native browser focus styles; the participants in this podcast do advocate that it’s fine to provide your own custom focus styles. This is about removing any focus styles whatsoever, and… [Read More]

Accessibility: The Biggest Scam in UX Dot Tomczak draws us in with a clickbaity headline, and rants about designers that claim their work is accessible without being able to back it up. Dot says that following a WCAG checklist isn’t enough – how many designers have actually included at least one person with a disability… [Read More]

Designing for Web Accessibility in 60 Seconds UX Designer David Kennedy writes a short article with some useful quick wins for accessibility, focussed around asking questions. Is the content specific enough in important areas? People skim when they read. Make sure your link text describes the content of the target link, and use concise headings… [Read More]

Cabinet Office signs £400k deal for digital accessibility audits To audit the accessibility of its digital services, the Cabinet Office has signed a two year deal with Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) – a non-profit organisation based in Wales. Adding context to the deal, which Civil Service World values at £436,632, the article states: “Research conducted… [Read More]

I’m Deaf And I Have ‘Perfect’ Speech. Here’s Why It’s Actually A Nightmare. Rachel Zemach writes about some of the frustrating encounters she’s had, as someone who became Deaf at the age of 10 (and had already learned to speak). Her speech is indistinguishable from someone who is not deaf, and she can ‘lip read’,… [Read More]