News

The ID Omni Mate featured on this site a few weeks ago has been making the news lately. Visual Independence have posted two clips on youtube. The first is from National Nine News and the second from the Today Show.

A pioneering gene therapy trial has helped a blind man to see in a breakthrough that brings hope to millions affected by eye diseases. British scientists have claimed a world first for the revolutionary treatment, which involved a single injection into the retina at the back of the eye.

Read more at The Independent's full article about gene therapy. 

Photo CC by Reyes from Flickr

The Braille Window Project (or the BWP for short) is an accessible, community-based art project built on braille, conceived and developed in Australia by Anne Walton and Bruce Maguire. It incorporates writing, video, sound and live performance - the 'act' of reading braille - on a city street-front window whilst the world streams by.

The Age has an informative article or you can visit the Braille Window Project home page.

The 4th general assembly of the International Council on English Braille has just been held in Melbourne, to discuss the ongoing significance of braille for blind and other visually-impaired people in the ever-changing media-rich and increasingly digitally-based environment of our world today.

ABC's Lingua France has a story on William Jolley and his views on the Unified English Braille. Available as audio or transcript. Photo CC from flickr by Yoppy.

BBC's Radio 4 has a informative show called "In Touch" featuring news, views and information for people who are blind or visually impaired. The show is downloadable as a podcast via the In Touch Podcast page using a podcasting program such as the podcaster (included with WebbIE) or Guide. Transcripts are also availble for use with JAWS or similar.

This week's programme looks at the Orion Web Box and what life is like for the Vision Impaired in Zambia.