It’s been a while since we put together an accessibility news roundup. With the increasing awareness and interesting breakthroughs being made, the UserWay team thought it was about time to check back in with the world of accessibility news from January and February. We’ve also included some UserWay-related news so you can see what our team has been working on over the past few months.
Microsoft Gets It Right
Image credit: Microsoft
We shared this on social media – but the inclusive campaign is worth sharing again. Microsoft’s Super Bowl advertisement on accessible gaming helps shed light on a very important issue – inclusion is important in all aspects of life. By creating modified gaming controls, gamers can participate without limits. But more than this ad, what this signals is that Microsoft is actually producing technology that is accessible and useful for many gamers who were previously unable to play what they wanted. Watch the full ad here, it’s pretty inspiring.
Emojis are Finally Catching Up
Credit: BBC
If you’ve ever felt limited by the emoji options (I know as a visually impaired person I have) then the new update is going to make you happy. After a long-awaited approval, these emojis will be instated sometime during 2019. Check out this BBC article to learn more about this useful update.
Interesting Articles
- How are mobile phone makers doing when it comes to accessibility? A recent Georgie Institute of Technology study takes a look at the successes and failures of mobile phone accessibility.
- Helping Institutions Reach Accessibility Goals – a look at issues with accessibility in universities and colleges.
- Find out how VIA Rail Canada’s Ottawa station just got a major accessibility upgrade.
UserWay Updates
- We launched white labeling and custom branding options so you can create a widget that blends seamlessly with your site (go to Manage on your widget menu to see these options).
- We created a way for the public to donate to our efforts and help us keep UserWay free for websites around the world.
- We’re proud to share that we have 6 million widget loads per day and we’re growing fast!
Did we miss something? Let us know what accessibility stories you found interesting this month in the comments below.
