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Best Buy recently unveiled a new tabletop radio with voice prompts that guide users as they change channels and maneuver other push-button commands. It's the technology retailer's first product designed for the nation's estimated 20 million visually impaired, but experts say consumers can expect to find similar technology in a growing number and variety of products for the home and workplace.

In this example video, I show how to use Automator and Speakable Items to launch three apps simply by saying "Good morning" to my iMac. Sure, it's not exactly a super-useful example, but can you imagine how powerful this can be to someone who doesn't have good motor skills or has other accessibility issues? Use your imagination and Automator to see how you can use the power of your voice to control your Mac.

Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness explores the interconnectedness of wellness, illness, and cultural life for Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Visitors will discover how Native concepts of health and illness are closely tied to the concepts of community, spirit, and the land.

Electronic Brailler LLC Manufacturers of the Cosmo Braille Writer and "BERT" Braille Education Remote Tool  Now as never before a blind student using a Braille Writer in the classroom can be as quiet as a sighted student writing with a pencil on paper. The non disruptive patent pending Cosmo Braille Writer is a classroom-friendly Braille writer and quiet embosser. The Cosmo Braille Writer is easy for children and adults to use, economical to run and easily maintained. For the first time in the history of Braille; Braille can be taught over the internet. BERT is a revolutionary new tool that enables both the teacher and student to communicate by voice and keyboard in real time during a remote teaching session. Any keys depressed by the student on the BERT Braille keyboard will be immediately recognized by the teacher either on their Braille display or for sighted teachers on their computer screen. BERT enables real time interactive communication between teacher and student, creating a "side by side" mode of working together.

Electronic Brailler LLC Manufacturers of the Cosmo Braille Writer and "BERT" Braille Education Remote Tool  Now as never before a blind student using a Braille Writer in the classroom can be as quiet as a sighted student writing with a pencil on paper. The non disruptive patent pending Cosmo Braille Writer is a classroom-friendly Braille writer and quiet embosser. The Cosmo Braille Writer is easy for children and adults to use, economical to run and easily maintained. For the first time in the history of Braille; Braille can be taught over the internet. BERT is a revolutionary new tool that enables both the teacher and student to communicate by voice and keyboard in real time during a remote teaching session. Any keys depressed by the student on the BERT Braille keyboard will be immediately recognized by the teacher either on their Braille display or for sighted teachers on their computer screen. BERT enables real time interactive communication between teacher and student, creating a "side by side" mode of working together.

On any given day, the feeds of my social media accounts are brimming with resources, stories, and motivation about disabled people: parenting tips, educational advice, how to work with someone who has a disability, etc. About us, but too often not including us. There are countless communities geared towards supporting parents, family members, and professionals, sharing words of encouragement on how to be the best advocates for the disability community. And while I understand such support networks are usually well intentioned, in many cases, they take the power out of the hands of the people who know themselves and their needs best: people who are actually disabled. Don’t get me wrong – allies, or what I refer to as advocate-allies, are incredibly important to advocacy efforts. “Ally” implies being supportive, while “advocate-ally” paints a more accurate picture of people who join in along with self-advocates. And true advocate-allies deserve the utmost respect. But a real advocate-ally is someone who doesn’t overshadow the voices and efforts of the people who experience being disabled every single day. Of course, as a disabled child is just beginning life, parents and professionals have a responsibility to play a key role as advocates. Obviously, a four-year-old wouldn’t be able to discuss medical procedures or know what kind of environmental access modifications are needed, so we can hope that parents will make sound and informed decisions on their child’s behalf. But as disabled children grow older, if they can communicate effectively in any way, then the primary goal should be to embrace the child’s form of communication, working with them to develop their own voice for advocacy. It can become problematic if parents or professionals are reluctant to relinquish their positions of authority and move to the role of advocate-allies, advocating alongside, instead of on behalf of, disabled people. Therefore, as important as it is to step up as advocates, it’s more important to know when to step down.