Author: Rhea Althea Guntalilib

Before COVID, virtual events tended to be a Plan B or used in companies with remote workers. After the pandemic hit, virtual meetings became a necessity. Meetup, a website that brings together people with shared interests, existed before the pandemic. Now, virtual events and huddles are the norm. Initially, Meetup was location-based and focused on […]

Screen Reader 101 discusses the basics of using a screen reader and getting started with one on a computer. This sparks interest and conversations as it reveals that blind people like me not only use computers but also use smartphones. People are surprised when they learn that I could use a smartphone with a touchscreen. […]

“What is a screen reader anyway?” I remember asking this very same question when being introduced to the wonderful world of assistive technologies. The person told me that a screen reader is a computer that talks. For the life of me, I could not comprehend how a blind person like me can use a computer, […]

Prior to releasing it, Apple promised iOS 14 would come with enhanced accessibility features. Sure enough, the company came through. Out of all the added accessibility enhancements, I want to share my experience with the new accessibility feature called VoiceOver Recognition, particularly Screen Recognition. Although VoiceOver Recognition has been available for a few versions, Screen […]

This new normal has turned a fast, reliable, and convenient way to communicate into an essential part of our day-to-day. Be it for work, for school, or even for our daily conversations with friends and family, text chat has been vital. No wonder why several messaging platforms have grown popular these days. Among them are […]

In this day and age when technology is at its peak, communication and information dissemination are vital in our highly digital world. One of the strongest and most effective platforms we have for communication is electronic mail. As a blind person who solely relies on screen reading software to read, write and send email, I […]

When accessible technologies for the blind started to become more of a fixture in the global IT industry, blind people all over the world, myself included, became more expectant about what the next best gadget or app might be. We tend to be the most excited when these innovations have something to do with promoting […]

“See the world together” is the tagline for the unique, philanthropic mobile application “Be My Eyes.” As defined on their website, this is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance via live video. There are two main features of this app. The first is […]

In an increasingly data-driven world, persons with special needs, particularly the blind, may find themselves left in the dark when it comes to visual representations of information and statistics. Unlike sighted people, the blind are disproportionately deprived of the ability to consume accessible information, especially when it is presented in graphs, charts and other visual […]