Utah Council of the Blind

10/30/2026

Gemini's best new feature was built for people who are blind; it shows what AI is really for
Oct 4, 2026

Nearly four years into the generative AI hype cycle, most of what we've been sold is mediocre corporate emails and weird synthetic art.

So it says a lot that the most convincing AI featureGoogle has shipped in a while is an accessibility tool.

Guided Vision is rolling out gradually to Gemini Live as part of the September 2026 Android Drop.

Google built it with and for blind and low-vision communities. It turns your phone into a conversational set of eyes.

I've been testing and writing about consumer AI for a while now. This one deserves respect for what it's doing.

Gemini Live screen sharing shown on a smartphone.

A camera app does nothing until you tap the shutter. Guided Vision talks you through the whole fiddly framing process.

You share your phone's live camera feed with Gemini Live and ask for help with something physical. Say you're hunting for a specific jar on a crowded spice rack.

Gemini looks at the video feed and answers with spoken directions.

The best part is what happens when you get the shot wrong. If you're aiming at the ceiling or cutting off half the label, Gemini doesn't bail on you.

It coaches you into a better shot. It might tell you to pan, for example.

Google also wired it into Android. You can start it from the TalkBack menu or through Android's accessibility shortcuts.

And this means no more digging through submenus when all you want is to read a label.

A Gemini feature that doesn't demand a new phone
Eight years of Android covered
The Android mascot holding a smartphone surrounded by colorful floating gears over a red background.
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police

Guided Vision works on any phone that can run the Gemini app, which means Android 9 or newer with at least 2GB of RAM.

Two of the other headline features in the September Android Drop only work on recent versions of Android.

Motion Assist, which puts up on-screen cues to fight passenger motion sickness, needs Android 17.

Find Hub's new remembered items feature, which lets Gemini save where you put things that don't have a tracker tag, needs Android 16.

Android's fragmentation problem is famous. People who depend on assistive tech shouldn't have to buy an expensive new flagshipevery two years.

Supporting older hardware means the feature reaches the people who need it, on the phones they own and trust.

A middle ground between Lookout and Be My Eyes
Software that talks back
A phone showing the Android Accessibility Menu next to a large accessibility icon
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police | Viktoriia Lomtieva / Shutterstock
Visual assistance apps have always felt a little old-fashioned to me.

Even Google's Lookout makes you pick a mode before you start, so reading a letter and checking a banknote are two separate jobs.

It can now use Gemini to describe a photo and answer follow-up questions, but it still works one captured image at a time.

Be My Eyes took a different path by connecting users with sighted volunteers over live video. Its Be My AI feature can describe photos, but live help still means a video call with a stranger.

Guided Vision feels like something between static software and a live human helper, which I think is the more useful half of that comparison.

Gemini Live is a conversational engine at its core, so you get a back-and-forth dialogue that a photo-by-photo tool can't manage.

You can ask follow-up questions about a room's layout, and Gemini will work with you on what the camera needs to see to give a better answer.

So you end up in a running conversation about your surroundings, with the phone in the middle.

To me, that's the logical next step for mobile AI. It answers your question and then sticks around to help with the task.

It's the most useful AI tool Google has shipped in a while

10/30/2026

How the New Sirius D&D Disability Pride Dice Make Gaming Accessible for All Players
Oct 5, 2026
AAPD is excited to announce our partnership with Wizards of the Coast and Sirius Dice on a Dungeons & Dragons dice set themed around disability pride! Read this blog originally posted on D&D Beyond to learn more.

Every hero deserves a chance to roll for initiative. Wizards of the Coast in partnership with Sirius is proud to unveil the Dungeons & Dragons Accessible Adventures – Disability Pride Dice Set: a new 7-piece polyhedral set forged to make adventure more accessible for every kind of player at the table. Inspired by research from the Disability & Accessibility Alliance (DAA) at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, these dice were carefully crafted for adventurers with low vision, neurodivergence, dyslexia, color vision deficiency, and mobility impairments — combining striking visibility, thoughtful design, and easy readability worthy of a legendary loot drop.

With integrated digital support on D&D Beyond for both in-person campaigns and online play, the Disability Pride Dice Set helps ensure every roll, every crit, and every unforgettable moment can be shared by all.

Accessibility and Adventure
Bailey Vaughan, D&D Beyond Senior Content Specialist and DAA Champion of Accessibility Advocacy and Education, says the foundation for the new Disability Pride Dice Set stems from some of the frustrations felt by the disability community regarding standard dice.

“We knew going in that since the disability community is extremely diverse, we wouldn’t be able to create a set of dice that addresses every barrier a disabled player may face.” Vaughan says. “Instead, our goal is to show how small adjustments can make a huge difference in terms of accessibility.”

Those adjustments found their way into both the packaging of the set, which includes an easy-open cap that makes it easier for those with low vision to identify and store, and intentional design of the dice, with increased font sizes, easily distinctive colors, usage of the OpenDyslexic font, a unique arch-style d4 design for easier visibility, and more. But while accessibility took a front seat in the design, that doesn’t mean style was neglected, with colors paying homage to the Disability Pride Flag originally designed by disabled activist Ann Magill.

“A lot of us are also dice goblins and love to collect fun dice to show our friends at the table. Our team wanted to create something visually exciting while keeping our commitment to accessibility,” Vaughan says.

Play anywhere with D&D Beyond
An added function of the Disability Pride Dice Set is its digital component with D&D Beyond. With every purchase, players receive a code to unlock a digital version of the dice set on D&D Beyond, allowing for accessible play both in person and online. Players can also purchase just the digital version of the set as well.

While the digital version isn’t a one-for-one replica of the physical set, many of the core design adjustments have transitioned to D&D Beyond to help dismantle barriers regarding identification and readability. By offering the flexibility to roll physical dice or utilize the digital component, Vaughan says she hopes it empowers players with the autonomy to choose the experience that best suits their individual accessibility needs.

“For myself personally, I adore the game of Dungeons & Dragons but really struggle with the cognitive load of calculating each roll,” Vaughan says. “Having the dice available on D&D Beyond means I can share my disability pride with my party while still using the support the platform offers.”

AAPD Joins the Party
The final component of this innovative set is that $10 from every purchase goes toward the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), which helps increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities. Vaughan says the partnership with AAPD speaks to the importance of both building community through play and including the disabled community in those conversations.

“There is a saying in the disability community ‘nothing about us, without us,’” Vaughan says. “What this means is that conversations and decisions about the disability community should happen with the disability community. This has been a core principle for everything we do as an employee resource group (ERG) and it was important for us to find a partner that also embodied this phrase. We thought who better than a team that has been advocating alongside the disability community for the past 31 years.”

Whether you’re battling dragons, solving ancient mysteries, or gathering around the table with friends, the Accessible Adventures Disability Pride Dice Set is a celebration of what makes D&D truly magical: everyone belongs in the story.

“There should be no barriers to play in any world—whether real or fantastical,” Maria Town, President and CEO of AAPD, says. “In Dungeons & Dragons, you can dream up a fantastical world full of adventure. With the creation of these dice, now the act of play will be as unlimited as Dungeon Masters’ imaginations or the characters players create. We’re grateful to Sirius Dice for their partnership and commitment to accessibility in designing these dice.”

With accessibility at the heart of every roll, these dice help ensure that adventure is always within reach.

AAPD is excited to announce our partnership with Wizards of the Coast and Sirius Dice on a Dungeons & Dragons dice set themed around disability pride! Read this blog originally posted on D&D Beyond to learn more. Every hero deserves a chance to roll for initiative. Wizards of the Coast in partnershi...

10/30/2026

All Aboard!
Take a magical ride to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express
UCB Holiday Celebration filled with Christmas cheer!

Date: Saturday December 5, 2026
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DSBVI)
250 N 1950 W, Salt Lake City, Utah
Cost: $7 per person, $5 for those who are 4-12 years old,
3 years and under are free
Theme: Polar Express
Entertainment: Polar Express story and singing time
Catered by IHOP
Since our theme is Polar Express, we encourage you to come in your pajamas. Sticking with the theme, we will enjoy breakfast and hot chocolate. Someone special will be visiting again this year for the children, young at heart and anyone who wants a picture with him!

Money and RSVP’s must be in no later than November 20th.

Please call Kate with the UCB at 801-245-9264. Be prepared to tell Kate all your information. We hope you will all come and join us for this celebration!
Holiday Celebration Reservation Form
Cost: $7 per person,
$5 for those who are 4-12 years old,
3 years and under are free
Name:
Number in group:
Number of children 4-12 years old:
Number of children 3 or younger:
Please contact Kate with the UCB at 801-245-9264. Be prepared to tell her of any
dietary restrictions.
Reservation must be in no later than November 20th.
Hope to see you there!

Image Shown: Santa and one of his elves at the UCB holiday celebration.

10/30/2026

My Board Buddy Brings the Smart Board Right to Your Desk!

Sep 19, 2026 The Blind Life

In this video, I review My Board Buddy and explore how it can improve access in classrooms, meetings, and other professional settings.

The My Board Buddy wireless system brings the content from a smart board or presentation screen directly to a smaller display at a student’s desk or an employee’s workstation. Users with low vision can magnify the image and adjust the contrast without affecting what everyone else sees on the main screen.

In this video, I review My Board Buddy and explore how it can impro...

10/30/2026

The UCB Skill Development Program that provides in-home training in blindness skills by teams of a blind and sighted individual. These teams are available to you in Logan, Ogden, Davis County, Salt Lake City and surrounding areas, Provo area, Manti area, Price area and Kanab and surrounding towns. These teams visit homes and bring information and help with skills such as cane travel, braille, safety in the kitchen, organization and more. They can connect you with other services, such as the Library for the Blind, senior services, Meals on Wheels, Medicaid, DSBVI, and other community services. Many of them can help you find adaptive technology to assist you be more independent. These teams also teach basic Orientation and Mobility skills which provides necessary training to use a white cane and orientation to and around your neighborhood. For those with hearing and sight loss, there are special programs which offer support service providers to help you access your community as well as special adaptive technology to assist with both sensory losses. They can also connect you with transportation resources and help people with the UCB programs which provide special services for members. For more details, click the link below:
(image shown: an Independent Living Skills team is showing a blind woman how to chop vegetables using a cutting guide)
https://www.utahblind.org/teachertrainer.html

10/29/2026

Paralympian Jason Dunkerley to receive honorary degree from Laurier at Brantford ceremony
Oct 6, 2026
Paralympian Jason Dunkerley to receive honorary degree from Laurier at Brantford ceremony

https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/paralympian-jason-dunkerley-to-receive-honorary-degree-from-laurier-at-brantford-ceremony/

Celebrated Paralympian Jason Dunkerley said learning he was chosen to receive an honorary degree from Laurier Brantford came as a total shock.

“I got an email around late May,” he said. “At first, I thought it was spam.”

When Dunkerley realized the message was legit, he was overwhelmed.

“It is a huge honour, for sure,” he said in an interview from his office in Ottawa.

Born blind due to Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye condition, Dunkerley discovered running as a boy while living in Northern Ireland.

When his family immigrated to Canada, Dunkerley, then 13, and his younger twin brothers, also blind due to the same eye condition, attended the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind in Brantford.

It was there – he graduated in 1996 – Dunkerley said he grew both as a person and a future elite runner.

“The school was a big part of my life. There was a very enabling environment where barriers are removed. It was a safe place to grow up as a blind person with other blind people. You learn that things aren’t out of the realm of possibility. There is a glass-half-full mentality.”

Encouraged by teachers at W. Ross Macdonald, Dunkerley ran at the school and, in his final years there, joined the Brantford Track and Field Club.

He continued to train with the track team at the University of Guelph, where coaches learned how to work with a blind runner. The heightened level of training enabled him to qualify for his first national team in 1998.

Blind and visually impaired runners compete using specialized equipment including wrist or waist tethers and run in synchronization with sighted guide runners. Dunkerley said he trained with a variety of guides.

“It’s an intimate thing. You inevitably end up talking and connecting. They always talk about running as an individual sport but that has not been the case for me.”

Dunkerley competed in the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, where he won a silver medal in the T11 men’s 1500 metre event.

He repeated that silver-medal win in the same event at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece.

He was back for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where he won a bronze medal, again in the men’s 1500 metres – T11 event.

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, he won a bronze medal in the men’s 1500 – T11 and a silver in the men’s 5000 metre – T11.

Dunkerley also has four world championship titles and multiple Parapan American Games medals.

He has “incredible memories” from the Games but says the two-week events can be “a bit of a blur” after so much focus on the physical preparation leading up to competition.

After years of considering putting his story into words, and four years of writing, Dunkerley’s autobiography, Visions of Running Towards My Own Truth, was published by Yorkland Publishing in 2024.

It chronicles his career as a middle-distance runner providing a behind-the-scenes look at elite track athletics and the emotional highs and lows of competition.

Dunkerley also shares some of the most difficult personal challenges in his life, including the su***de of his younger brother, Chris; returning to competition after being hit by a car and seriously injured in 2005; and donating a kidney to his wife in 2013.

“I wanted it to be a book about running that runners could relate to but be accessible to everyone,” he said.

Dunkerley, 49, works as a senior policy analyst and disability inclusion policy specialist for Sport Canada, a branch of the federal government department of Canadian Heritage.

He had just returned from a 7.5-kilometre run over his lunch hour before the interview for this story. He still runs almost every day.

“It feels very freeing. And I like the challenge of it.”

Dunkerley said he misses competition, with an “I want to go back, but not really,” attitude.

“I miss the rush of feeling like I’ve done it and I left everything out there. There’s not much else like it in life.”

Dunkerley will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws on Oct. 20 at a convocation ceremony for Laurier Brantford students.

https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/paralympian-jason-dunkerley-to-receive-honorary-degree-from-laurier-at-brantford-ceremony/

Dunkerley and his younger twin brothers attended the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind in Brantford

10/29/2026

Braille device could remove barriers to science
Oct 20, 2026
The Canute Scientific looks like a computer keyboard - but with holes and gaps through which the dots pop up and down
A blind university lecturer says a new braille device could help people with sight loss study and work in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The Canute Scientific has been created by Bristol Braille, a not-for-profit company that builds specialist technology with braille users.

Designed to display complex scientific and mathematical information in braille, it is hoped the device will help break down barriers for people pursuing STEM subjects and careers.

For Bath Spa University lecturer Hollie Baker, the technology could make a significant difference. "It is essentially a computer, with a multi-line braille display integrated into it," she said.
The Canute Scientific looks similar to a computer keyboard, but contains rows of holes through which braille dots move up and down, allowing users to feel information displayed on screen.

"The braille shows exactly the same thing as is on the visual screen. This means you can do things like edit text files – or custom apps to view data," said Baker.

Hollie is wearing a white T-shirt, using her fingers to read Braille on her new computer.
Hollie is an associate lecturer in computer science and creative computing at Bath Spa University

Across the UK, about two million people are living with sight loss, including around 340,000 people who are registered blind or partially sighted.

Around 20,000 people use braille.

Baker said accessing information while teaching had previously been difficult.

She had found it "challenging" to refer to her notes while delivering a lecture smoothly.

"Without multi-line braille, I'm relying on either a single line of braille which is like reading through a letterbox, or synthetic speech. And I find having speech babbling in my ear puts me off."

Ed Rogers wears a smart suit and is sitting in amongst Braille machines at the company's workshop in Bristol
Ed Rogers managing director at Bristol Braille says the machines are changing lives, for the better
The idea for a system of using raised dots to represent letters and numbers, to be read using your fingers, was first invented by French teenager– Louis Braille – back in the 1820s.

Since then, it has transformed the lives of millions of people around the world, allowing them access to a world which was previously completely inaccessible.

Bristol Braille is the not-for-profit company behind the invention of the Canute Scientific.

The company was founded and managed by Ed Rogers who says these machines are changing lives, for the better.

"Braille is traditionally embossed into paper," he said.

"It's a series of dots making up a single character. Those constitute anything in text, numbers, music scores but there is an issue when it comes to getting that digitised.

"The Canute Scientific has a braille display on the front.

"There are slots through which the dots come, representing the braille characters and that is representing data in the same way that a visual monitor is."

Students listen in to their lecturer, Hollie, who is delivering a computing lecture at Bath Spa University. Students sit at their desks in front of computer monitors.
Hollie's class at Bath Spa University listen to herdelivering a computing lecture
Chris Turner has been working at Bristol Braille for about a year.

He describes himself as blind and says the machines they're making here are transforming lives.

"The machines are built here so if a customer wants to speak to someone who's built the machine, they can.

"If there's an issue we're all here and we can work on it."

A Bristol-made device displays complex data in braille, helping blind people study and work in STEM.

10/29/2026

Laundry Hack for the Frustrated, Vision Impaired, & More |
Oct 17, 2026 Sightless Living Channel
Today I am sharing a gadget that is completely accessible and is a great tool to help people, in all walks of life, keep an orderly, well organized personal space, extend the life expectancy of their clothing / garments, linens, and textiles, and maintain the shape of clothes to prevent unnecessary wear and tear. If blind, low vision, disabled, a senior, one who is frustrated with laundry, or have any other vision impairment, this gadget can help you become more independent and confident in your home, help develop essential skills for daily living, and/or help formulate clothing management / laundering skills for the household. Living life as a requires organization, self-discipline, adjustments, adaptations, patience, and understanding. The more automated processes you can put into place for yourself, the easier life should become (as long as those parameters you’ve set for yourself are maintained).

Perfecting the use of this gadget should help individuals learn and rehearse a sequence of steps to neatly fold clothing / laundry, garments, and more, as it helps to fold items evenly and uniformly in seconds in quick, easy steps. Works on all kinds of shirts, T-shirts, garments, pants, towels, and more. It never requires any maintenance. Takes up zero storage space. Blue in color and includes a color-matching angle hook which can be stored or hung anywhere. Saves many hours of laundry and organization time.
Inspire ideas on how to organize clothes in drawers and on shelves in a closet. Proper folding also prevents excessive wrinkles, cuts down on ironing time, and can help individuals avoid looking disheveled. Folding clothes / garments, linens, and textiles, is a necessary skill which promotes independence, organization, and self-care for people, not only for those who are blind or have vision impairments, but for everyone.

Hello there, I’m Anita of the Channel on YouTube. Welcome to my Lifestyle Channel. Having been once fully sighted to now totally blind, I give you my perspective from the best of two worlds — Sighted and Blind.
My Content focuses on adjusting to and living LIFE as a now blind person: Day-to-day Activities, Cooking, Grilling, Chores, Projects, Date Nights, Home Life, Technology, Travel, and so much more, with Rants, Raves, and Story Times in between.
Life is not the same every day so you are bound to see anything, within reason, on this Channel. Come discover the Tips, Tricks, Hacks, Gadgets, Gizmos, Thingamabobs, Technology, and More, I Use to Get tasks done.😉

If you like it here or like the vibes, Subscribe. Add yourself to the Channel and join the Fam. VoiceOver users, be sure to set notifications to ALL under OPTIONS so you will be notified each time new Content becomes available.
To help the Channel out, please ENGAGE (Like, Comment, and Share with your friends, family, and social media). That would be very much appreciated, as it would help YouTube push the Channel out to more viewers who may also enjoy the content. Thanks so much. I appreciate you all.:

Today I am sharing a gadget that is completely accessible and is a ...

10/29/2026

Adaptive Technology Grant Program
There are a lot of social services for the blind and many of them can help you find adaptive technology as an aid to become more independent. For those with hearing and sight loss, there are special programs which offer support service providers to help you access your community as well as special adaptive technology to assist with both sensory losses. The organization also has a credit union for all blind members. This allows them to get low interest rates for adaptive technology they may need. The Adaptive Technology Grant Program provides financial assistance to people with sight loss so they can acquire expensive adaptive devices which make them more independent. This may include: a Braille Embosser, a computer with voice or screen enlargement, special magnifiers, digital recorders, talking GPS etc. The individual with sight loss will pay 25% of the cost of the adaptive device while grant money is used to pay the remainder. Depending on the need, UCB will also train you how to use the adaptive technology like JAWS or Zoom Text. A lot of times we see people who are blind and receive adaptive technology such as JAWS from the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation and they do not receive any training how to use this technology. They only know how to turn it on, but with the right training, this technology allows a blind person to navigate their computers and become connected again. Depending on your case and if you are a member, we can train you how to use this vital adaptive technology.
(image shown: The UCB logo and adaptive Smart Glasses)
https://www.utahblind.org/adaptivetechnology.html