Aaron Preece, AccessWorld Editor in Chief

One of our goals at AFB is to promote wide spread high-level change in society for people who are blind or have low vision. One way we do so, in the Digital Inclusion space in particular, is by encouraging the employment of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about accessibility in the technology industry. Providing suggestions from the outside can only go so far; having people who think of accessibility during the product development process and have the knowledge to bring it about is…

If you are a long time AccessWorld reader, you may remember our reviews of various JAWS scripts and additions-our review of Leasey the most prominent. In a similar vein, I wanted to share some of the addons for the NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) screen reader that I find invaluable. If you are new to NVDA addons, they are additional packages that can be added to NVDA to provide extra functionality or make an inaccessible app or software accessible, much like JAWS scripts. In the most recently…

Since they saw mainstream adoption in the early 20th century, guide dogs have changed the navigational landscape for many people who are blind or low vision and served as a positive symbol of independence to society at large. To celebrate this National Guide Dog Month, I wanted to share some of my personal journey working with guide dogs over the past 12 years. Even though everyone's reasoning for choosing to partner with a guide dog is different, it has been an incredible experience for me…

Since 2015, we celebrate Disability Pride Month each July in honor of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was passed in 1990. For anyone unfamiliar with me, I'm Aaron Preece, editor of AFB's AccessWorld Technology and Digital Inclusion publication. I have severe low vision due to a degenerative retinal condition. For context, I primarily function as blind, e.g., using a screen reader and am not able to get any use out of magnification. When I was considering…

In recent months, we at AFB had the good fortune to celebrate several pieces of legislation that have improved the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired. We celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July, the 22nd anniversary of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in August, and now, the 10th anniversary of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). Ratified on October 8, 2010, the CVAA significantly extended…