Dear AccessWorld readers,
Happy Holidays! For our United States readers, Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and a number of winter holidays are just around the corner. This season generally means travel for many and with the COVID-19 pandemic still ravaging the world, I hope you stay safe and healthy if you are planning to travel during this time. In celebration of the holidays, this issue of AccessWorld brings you several articles regarding shopping and gift giving.
First, Bill Holton brings us a gift guide with a focus on the kitchen. For this article, he consulted with Dale Campbell, host of the Cooking in the Dark radio show and owner of Blind Mice Mart. The article is full of useful devices to make cooking more efficient and enjoyable; there are several that I plan to pick up myself.
Next, Deborah Kendrick brings us her yearly gift guide for people with vision loss. This year's guide focuses on technology, and as a bonus, all gifts can be obtained from businesses with owners who are blind.
Finally, Janet Ingber offers her yearly accessible shopping guide, which details several shopping apps and their accessibility or lack thereof. This year, Janet has focused on Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, and PetSmart.
In addition to the holiday focused articles, Steve Kelley has produced a review of the eSight low vision wearable. There are now many devices that provide video magnifying capabilities, as well as much more, in the form of a portable headset. The eSight 4 is the first of these devices to be reviewed in AccessWorld. For some time, I have been very interested in featuring this class of devices in AccessWorld, so am quite excited to bring this article to you.
Finally, Janet Ingber has produced a thorough breakdown and review of the newest iOS operating system, iOS 14. This version of the operating system brings many significant new mainstream and accessibility features which Janet discusses in detail.
I would also like to remind AccessWorld readers of the excellent bug tracker for iOS by AppleVis. Here, AppleVis keeps track of the bugs that are currently present in iOS that relate to accessibility for blind or low vision users. It seems that since iOS 7, there are generally several severe accessibility related bugs introduced with each new operating system version. These bugs are usually fixed quickly, but before updating my device I always review the report for the latest operating system to make sure there aren't any bugs that will have a significant negative impact on me.
I usually avoid asking for donations in these pages, but since it is the season of giving, I would like to humbly ask you to remember AFB if you are considering a charitable donation this season. The reason that we have been able to offer AccessWorld for free to everyone for the past 20 years is due to the actions of individuals. Aside from project-specific grants, AFB doesn't receive government funding. The bulk of our funding comes from donations made by individuals. In addition, the vast majority of the support that keeps projects like AccessWorld active comes in the form of donations of $25 or less. December 1st is GivingTuesday and if you are planning to make a donation, I would again humbly ask that you remember AFB and AccessWorld when you make your decisions.
From everyone on the AccessWorld team, Happy Holidays! We hope that this season brings you happiness and that you stay safe and healthy during these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Aaron Preece
AccessWorld Editor in Chief
American Foundation for the Blind
