Category: Tech

Center for Human Services has launched Missouri’s first statewide Mobile Sensory & Accessibility Resource Center, with Google as founding sponsor. The 34-foot mobile unit includes a calming sensory space and a fully ADA-accessible restroom with a universal changing table, designed to help children and adults with disabilities, sensory sensitivities, autism, or mobility needs take part in public events. The unit will travel to fairs, festivals, sporting events and legislative gatherings across Missouri, including the Missouri State Fair and University of Missouri athletics events. Organisers describe it as the first phase of a longer-term statewide accessibility network, with more sites and community partnerships planned.

Why it matters: Sensory-friendly and accessible facilities are often missing at large public events; a travelling resource like this can make everyday community life more reachable for disabled residents outside major cities.

Source: Herald-Whig →

Verbali, a company founded by parents of non-verbal children, has released MaTalk AI, a free AI-powered communication app for kids who use picture-based systems to speak. The app listens to conversation happening around a child and instantly suggests relevant picture replies, so kids can respond to questions in real time rather than searching through static menus. A “Smart Starters” feature prompts children to begin conversations rather than only answer them, and a growing visual library lets families import their own photos or generate new images, with everything syncing offline for fast tapping. MaTalk AI is available now, free on iOS and Android.

Why it matters: Real-time, context-aware suggestions could cut the time and effort AAC users spend hunting for the right words, making everyday conversation faster and less tiring for non-verbal children and their families.

Source: Verbali →

Augmental has opened public US sales of the MouthPad, a $1,400 custom-fit device that lets people control a computer cursor with tongue movements and head tilts, sending clicks, scrolls and pointer input over Bluetooth. Already used daily by more than 100 people with mobility challenges, the device now ships to a waitlist of over 6,300. Alongside it, Augmental introduced Vox, a $200 skin-worn microphone pendant that picks up speech through the body as well as the air, letting people dictate quietly in noisy places. The company says pairing both devices could eventually enable fully “silent speech” input.

Why it matters: For people with limited hand or arm mobility, including some with spinal cord injuries, ALS or cerebral palsy, hands-free tools like these can restore everyday computer and phone access without the cost or surgery of implanted alternatives.

Source: Augmental →

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is partnering with Meta and the Blinded Veterans Association to give away free Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses to blind and low-vision veterans at the 2026 ACB Conference and Convention in St Louis on 27 July. The glasses use built-in AI to describe surroundings, read printed text aloud, identify objects and capture photos or videos hands-free. Eligible veterans need proof of military service, must acknowledge legal blindness, and must own a compatible smartphone. The giveaway is part of Meta’s wider pledge to donate glasses to 130,000 blinded veterans worldwide, with ACB providing training resources to recipients.

Why it matters: For veterans who are blind or have low vision, hands-free AI glasses can make everyday tasks like reading mail or finding your way around a new building easier and less dependent on others.

Source: American Council of the Blind →

Rylo, the company formerly known as Nagish, has raised $85 million in growth funding led by General Catalyst, with Canaan, Vertex Ventures and Contour also participating, pushing its total funding past $100 million at a $500 million valuation. Rylo builds AI-powered real-time captioning and communication tools that let Deaf and hard-of-hearing users make and receive phone calls independently, without relying on a third-party relay operator. The company, based in Tel Aviv and New York, says it will use the new capital to expand its AI communication tools and reach more of the roughly 48 million Americans with hearing loss.

Why it matters: Real-time, private captioning removes a major daily barrier for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and this scale of investment signals growing confidence that accessible communication tools can be both useful and commercially viable.

Source: Business Wire →

Blazie Technologies has released its July 2026 update for BT Speak and BT Braille, marking what the company calls the first AI integration built into a braille-first editor. The update adds literary braille input in Desktop Mode, chapter navigation in the Podcasts app, and a milestone BT Code release with a new Code Store for sharing programming projects. Reliability improvements also touch AI tools, file management, Bluetooth and headset controls. The new AI features are included for customers with an active maintenance contract and require no extra setup, extending what blind and low-vision users can do directly from a braille device.

Why it matters: Braille users have typically had to switch to a separate screen reader or app to use AI writing tools. Building AI directly into a braille-first editor keeps that workflow in one accessible device.

Source: Blazie Technologies →

Microsoft has begun rolling out Screen Tint, a new built-in accessibility feature, as part of its July 2026 security update for Windows 11 (versions 24H2 and 25H2). Found under Settings > Accessibility > Screen tint, the tool lets users wash the entire display in one of six preset colours, or a custom colour, with an adjustable strength slider. It runs independently of Night Light and Color Filters, switching either off when enabled. The feature is aimed at people who experience eye strain, light sensitivity, or visual discomfort while reading or using a screen for long periods, including many autistic people and those with migraine or vision conditions.

Why it matters: Colour overlays are a long-used low-vision and light-sensitivity aid, and building the option directly into Windows removes the cost and hassle of separate software or coloured overlays for millions of PC users.

Source: Pureinfotech →

Netflix has partnered with SignUp Media to add American Sign Language interpretation to roughly 200 hours of children’s and family programming, covering 73 titles across 41 franchises, including Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, CoComelon and The Magic School Bus Rides Again. The interpretations are delivered through SignUp’s free Chrome browser extension, which overlays an ASL interpreter onto existing Netflix and Disney+ titles rather than requiring separate video files. The rollout began July 20 and is aimed at deaf children, most of whom don’t read fluently until around age 12, giving them direct access to shows without relying on captions alone.

Why it matters: Captions alone often don’t serve deaf children whose first language is ASL, so native sign-language access can be the difference between passive viewing and full comprehension.

Source: IndieWire →

Microsoft MakeCode for BBC micro:bit has launched screen reader support for its block-based coding editor, letting students who are blind or have low vision independently navigate the drag-and-drop blocks that introduce many children to programming. Developed by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation with Blockly and Microsoft, and supported by Google’s Blockly Accessibility Fund, the update was co-designed with blind and low-vision students and specialist schools in the UK, Netherlands and US. Because Blockly also powers Scratch, CodeAI and MIT App Inventor, the accessibility groundwork could extend well beyond micro:bit to other widely used coding tools for children.

Why it matters: Block-based coding has long excluded screen reader users by design, shutting many blind and low-vision children out of an increasingly common entry point to STEM education — this closes that gap.

Source: micro:bit Educational Foundation →

India’s Blind Relief Association, working with Torchit Electronics, has launched a set of AI-powered assistive products for people who are blind or have low vision: Wireless Jyoti AI Vision Glasses, a companion “Jyoti AI Web” tool, and an Advanced Foldable Smart White Cane. The launch, backed by the Indian government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, was pitched around affordability and local manufacturing, with AIIMS New Delhi involved in user testing. Organisers also opened an EnableMart resource centre offering talking and tactile books, positioning the launch as a step toward more accessible education and independent living.

Why it matters: The WHO estimates nearly a billion people who need assistive technology can’t get it, largely due to cost — locally made, lower-cost devices like these aim directly at that access gap.

Source: The News Mill →