Apple Quietly Unveils Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand

Apple on Thursday posted a surprise on its online store and it’s another limited edition thing. It’s the Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand, a $70 MagSage-compatible grip for iPhone.

The “Hikawa” refers to the product’s designer, the Los-Angeles-based Bailey Hikawa. What’s unique about the Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand is it’s built with accessibility top of mind, with Apple saying on the product’s page the Grip was designed with “direct input from individuals with disabilities affecting muscle strength, dexterity, and hand control.” The stand portion supports both landscape and portrait orientations, and the object itself is touted by Apple as “inspired by modern sculpture” as well as “an art object unto itself.” The company also notes the new accessory coincides with the 40th anniversary of Apple’s building of assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

“The grip was designed through an extensive interview process to support varied ways of holding iPhone while reducing the effort needed to keep it steady,” Hikawa said.

Apple is sending me one of the Hikawa Grip, but as of this writing, it hasn’t reached my doorstep just yet. At a high level, however, the accessory strikes me as highly reminiscent, at least conceptually, of PopSockets. In fact, it was this time last year I published an interview with PopSockets chief executive Jaiyu Lin, wherein she spoke with me about the company’s popularity and, coincidentally, a collaboration with Apple. In my story, I editorialized some by talking about the accessibility benefits of using a PopSocket with one’s iPhone; namely, it can assist with having better tactility in terms of grip and standing for those who, very much like yours truly, have lower muscle tone in their hands and/or have fine-motor disabilities. (It’s also reason to prefer a case.)

The Hikawa promises identical benefits, if stylistically and ergonomically distinct.

The advent of the Hikawa Phone Grip comes after Apple announced iPhone Pocket earlier this month, a similarly limited edition iPhone accessory. The product is sold out.

new ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Series Has ASL Stream

HBO Max is soldiering on with augmenting much of its content with American Sign Language (ASL) by giving its latest series, IT: Welcome to Derry, the ASL treatment for Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Notably, the show—a prequel exploring the origins to Stephen King’s frightful Pennywise the Clown character—is the first-ever HBO Max series to showcase not one but four ASL interpreters handling the translation duties.

IT: Welcome to Derry is HBO Max’s third-biggest premiere, with 5.7 million viewers.

“When it became clear that multiple Deaf talents were needed to represent the show’s diverse perspectives, HBO Max and Warner Bros. fully supported that vision,” Leila Hanaumi, the show’s sign language director, said in a statement provided to me. “The result is an ASL experience that raises the bar for storytelling and accessibility, which I’m so proud to be part of.”

Justin Jackerson, another interpreter, wrote in a post on Instagram ahead of the show’s premiere that he was “so proud” to be a Deaf artist who helped bring IT: Welcome to Derry to life so inclusively. “Who says horror doesn’t deserve access?” Jackerson said.

“It has been a wonderful experience bringing access to Welcome to Derry through my native language and acting,” Jackerson said in a statement sent to me. “Having a Deaf director at the helm was key to achieving an authentic ASL translation that reflects Deaf linguistic and cultural nuances, a result only possible with Deaf leadership.”

News of IT: Welcome to Derry in ASL comes after I reported in mid-September HBO Max was providing a dedicated ASL stream for this summer’s blockbuster in Superman.

‘FC26’ Amongst Game Awards Finalists for Innovation in Accessibility category

In other accessibility-and-awards news, the Game Awards have announced the nominees for this year’s “Innovation in Accessibility” category. As a diehard sports fan, the title that caught my attention was EA Sports’ FC26. The game is on virtually every possible platform—PlayStation, Xbox, Windows—and cloud-based like Amazon’s Luna.

Back in late July, I wrote about FC26 including several new accessibility features for players with disabilities. Perhaps most impressively is the game’s high-contrast mode, which the development team (EA Canada) touted as “one of the first-ever sports titles” to have such functionality. In addition, FC26 has a setup screen devoted to accessibility upon first boot, akin to the screens Apple shows users during the device setup process.

Besides FC26, the other titles up for Innovation in Accessibility are Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Rebellion’s Atomfall, id Software and Bethesda Softworks’ Doom: The Dark Ages, and Compulsion Games and Xbox Game Studios’ South of Midnight.

The 2025 Game Awards are scheduled for December 11 at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater.

Be My Eyes Amongst App Store Awards Finalists

In a post on its Newsroom site, Apple on Wednesday announced the 45 finalists for this year’s App Store Awards. The honorees span a slew of categories, as well as Apple’s panoply of platforms, and accessibility is recognized in the Cultural Impact section.

“Each year, the App Store Awards celebrate developers from around the world whose apps are improving people’s lives, and exemplify the very best in technical innovation, user experience, and design,” Apple said. “In the coming weeks, App Store Award winners will be announced, selected from this year’s distinguished group of finalists.”

Amongst the finalists in the aforementioned Cultural Impact category include accessible puzzle game Art of Fauna, Is This Seat Taken? for engendering empathy and inclusivity, and, most notably to me, Be My Eyes. I’ve covered Be My Eyes extensively over the last few years, writing stories on the company’s partnerships with the likes of Meta and Microsoft as well as interviews with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley, who’s based here in San Francisco. The app connects Blind and low vision people to sighted volunteers, the latter of which assists users in identifying real world information such as expiration dates on food labels, printed instructions, signage, and much more. I last interviewed Buckley in August of last year following Be My Eyes’ acquisition of popular Apple community website AppleVis, telling me the two entities hold “shared values” and a shared mission, emphasizing the notion that there was “too much value and utility” of AppleVis to the Blind and low vision community to simply go away forever.

The App Store winners will be announced “in the coming weeks,” according to Apple.

Report: Zoox Opens Rides to Public in San francisco

Andrew J. Hawkins reports for The Verge on Tuesday Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company, is beginning to invite people on its public waitlist—those whom Zoox calls “Zoox Explorers”—to start hailing its robotaxis in select San Francisco neighborhoods. The announcement comes after the company last month began allowing select passengers to take rides in the vehicles. Rides will be free of charge.

Zoox, per a company spokesperson, currently has a fleet of approximately 50 vehicles operating in San Francisco and Las Vegas, according to Hawkins’ story.

“The experience sounds like it will be similar to Waymo: customers are able to hail a ride anywhere within Zoox’s service area, which includes most of the SoMa, Mission, and Design District neighborhoods,” Hawkins wrote of Zoox’s plans. “As a point-to-point service, riders can select their own destination, enter a street address, drop a pin, or select from a list of suggested points of interest. Walking directions to their final destination will be provided if needed.”

As Hawkins noted, Zoox vehicles are unique not only for their rectangular, toaster-like body, they, unlike Waymo, lack characteristics of human-driven vehicles like a steering wheel, sideview mirrors, or pedals. Hawkins described Zoox as “one of the few companies to offer rides in a fully driverless, purpose-built autonomous vehicle.”

Although I’m very much a driverless car truther due to my myriad positive experiences with Waymo, I’m keen on trying out Zoox someday hopefully soon. I’ve seen their vehicles a few times while out and about in the city, although the company’s service area—SoMa, the Mission—are areas completely across town from my haunts in the Inner Richmond. It would be quite the meta journey for me to take a Waymo to the South of Market area only to hail a Zoox over there. In any case, I think it’s good to see autonomous vehicles gain more of a foothold in San Francisco; using Waymo has been utterly life-changing in terms of accessibility as a Blind person who’s precluded from driving due to my low vision. From a journalistic standpoint, it’ll be fascinating to compare and contrast the experiences of Waymo and Zoox whenever I can try the latter.

News of Zoox’s gradual expansion of its service comes days after Waymo announced its cars are now able to traverse freeways here in the Bay Area, as well as in Los Angeles and Phoenix. I put my name on the “freeway waitlist” in the Waymo app, but have yet to have the functionality unlocked for me. I’m excited because, as one example, that Waymo does go on the freeway now means I could potentially travel more accessibly to media events in the South Bay at Apple Park in Cupertino and Google in Mountain View.

Alice Wong, Writer and disability activist, Dies

Chloe Veltman reported Saturday for NPR Alice Wong, 51, died of an infection at a San Francisco hospital. Her death was confirmed by friend and fellow activist, Sandy Ho.

Wong enjoyed a sizable online presence with a number of followers, as she was a co-founder of the #CripTheVote movement in 2016, which Veltman describes as “a nonpartisan online movement [that] facilitates discussions about disability issues between voters and politicians.” Moreover, Wong started the Disability Visibility Project and published her best-selling memoir, titled Year of the Tiger in September 2022.

“Alice Wong was a hysterical friend, writer, activist and disability justice luminary whose influence was outsized,” Veltman reported Ho said of Wong in her email message. “Her media empire, the Disability Visibility Project, left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape of our country. The legacy of her work will carry on.”

I was saddened to hear the news Wong had died. As I said on X, we knew each other through social media—in fact, Wong told me a couple times in the past she “loved” my work—but, despite residing in the same city, never had the opportunity to meet in person and converse with more depth. I follow her on social media and found myself nodding my head in agreement with many of her opinions, particularly the plastic straw bans around the country. Advocating for disability justice—whether it be Wong’s work or my own brand of tech journalism—is a an oftentimes frustrating, lonesome, downright Sisyphean task—but Wong’s legacy reverberated for so many, and the rest of us in the disability community will surely miss her wise words. Wong’s last post on X was itself mournful, as she commented on last week’s news that Teen Vogue was shuttering its political coverage and, thusly, Wong’s popular Disability Visibility column.

Latest Mac Beta Adds New ‘Edge Light’ Feature

Apple this week released new 26.2 betas for its panoply of platforms, with Wednesday bringing word of a new feature addition to macOS Tahoe. The new function is called Edge Light; what it does is create a virtual light ring surrounding the border of your Mac’s display. The controls are accessible via the menubar, with the idea being Edge Light helps people better illuminate themselves during videoconferencing sessions.

John Voorhees has posted a good first look at Edge Light for MacStories.

News of Edge Light’s advent piqued my interest because my little corner of the dining room where my makeshift “office” is located doesn’t get the best lighting. My desk is nearest a window, and that helps—as does my desk lamp—but the ceiling light isn’t very bright—especially at nighttime. I don’t do a ton of calls with video enabled for these reasons, not to mention my general social anxiety, but nonetheless Edge Light remains a cool (and clever) piece of software. It’s one of those “only Apple can do it” features.

Broadly, learning of Edge Light also serves as a sobering reminder of what I’m missing out on with not using an Apple silicon Mac as my everyday machine. I’m continuing to ride it out with my 2019 Retina 4K iMac for as long as possible—and I’m lucky my workflows aren’t more computationally demanding—but alas, this Intel iMac is starting to show its age. While it remains performant at what I need it to do day-to-day, the processor is definitely pokey, the fans blast, and, more pointedly, I’m irked by the nagging feeling that the aforementioned macOS Tahoe doesn’t support my machine and I’m feeling “behind.” I’m missing out on good-for-accessibility Apple silicon niceties like iPhone Mirroring and more—including the forthcoming Edge Light. But, life has been somewhat of a bear this year due to life stuff that I’m still working through, so revamping my desk setup has necessarily—understandably so—fallen by the proverbial wayside. What I’m saying is, I’m trying to give myself grace for not being on top of my game as usual; I do have two Apple silicon laptops available to me—one is an M2 MacBook Air, the other an M2 Pro 14” MacBook Pro—to “plug and play”—but that would mean redoing my desk setup, and I still lack the required mental/emotional bandwidth to tackle it. Moreover, from an accessibility perspective, I’d much prefer to dock one of those MacBooks with an external display. After 6 years of using a (still perfectly lovely) high-resolution, 21.5” screen, it’d be an adjustment for my low vision to shrink to 13–14”.

Things will happen when they’re supposed to—Edge Light just gave me more FOMO.

Rumors suggest Apple’s 26.2 software updates will ship sometime next month.

Passports Make Apple Wallet even more Accessible

Following yesterday’s news of the iPhone Pocket, Apple on Wednesday announced United States passports can now be added to Apple Wallet as part of the app’s “Digital ID” feature, currently launching in beta. The announcement comes months after the company previously said would be coming “later this year” during WWDC back in June.

According to Apple, Digital ID is “a secure and private way for users to create an ID in Apple Wallet using information from their U.S. passport, and present their ID with iPhone or Apple Watch.” Apple has posted a video showing how to add IDs to Wallet.

“Apple today announced the launch of Digital ID, a new way for users to create an ID in Apple Wallet using information from their U.S. passport, and present it with the security and privacy of iPhone or Apple Watch,” the company wrote. “At launch, Digital ID acceptance will roll out first in beta at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the U.S. for in-person identity verification during domestic travel, with additional Digital ID acceptance use cases to come in the future. Digital ID gives more people a way to create and present an ID in Apple Wallet even if they do not have a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or state ID. Digital ID is not a replacement for a physical passport, and cannot be used for international travel and border crossing in lieu of a U.S. passport.”

As Apple notes, a double-press of the Side Button on an iPhone (or Apple Watch) will give users access to Apple Wallet and their digitized IDs, which someone then can present to TSA at the security checkpoint. Personally, I got my first-ever passport a couple of years ago, and have used it once to visit Vancouver, BC in 2023. Apple’s Jennifer Bailey, who leads Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said in a statement for the press release the company has noticed how much customers “love having their ID right on their devices” for convenience and privacy, but as I’ve argued innumerable times over the years, digital IDs are a huge win for accessibility too. Although I do carry my physical wallet, including my passport, when I travel, that I now can add the latter to Apple Wallet on my phone means it’s more accessible once I get to security. Traversing airports as a disabled person isn’t fun most times, and while having TSA Pre-Check helps a ton, my already sky-high anxiety shoots into the stratosphere when I have to fly somewhere because of the rigamarole and relative inaccessibility of air travel. If I again travel internationally, I can take solace in the fact I needn’t have to worry about forgetting my tactile passport because I have a legally valid facsimile on my phone. What’s more, I needn’t have to dig through my bag and physical wallet to get to it—which is a bear in terms of vision and hand-eye coordination. I can use my iPhone or Apple Watch instead.

Apple, Issey Miyake Announce New ‘iPhone pocket’

In a surprise announcement, Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new iPhone accessory: the iPhone Pocket. The limited edition product is the result of a collaboration with Japanese design brand Issey Miyake. Apple says iPhone Pocket “features a singular 3D-knitted construction designed to fit any iPhone,” akin to Vision Pro’s Solo and Dual Knit Bands.

A “short strap” iPhone Pocket costs $150, while a “long strap” is $230. They’ll be available online and in select Apple Stores starting this Friday, according to Apple.

“iPhone Pocket features a ribbed open structure with the qualities of the original pleats by Issey Miyake,” Apple said of its newfound accessory for the iPhone. “Born from the idea of creating an additional pocket, its understated design fully encloses iPhone, expanding to fit more of a user’s everyday items. When stretched, the open textile subtly reveals its contents and allows users to peek at their iPhone display. iPhone Pocket can be worn in a variety of ways—handheld, tied onto bags, or worn directly on the body. Featuring a playful color palette, the short strap design is available in eight colors, and the long strap design in three colors.”

As John Voorhees rightly notes, the advent of iPhone Pocket immediately conjures memories of Apple’s iPod Socks with their similarities in both conceit and design. The same goes for the iPhone Crossbody Strap. In fact, the latter proved to be one of the most fascinating bits from September’s iPhone 17 event; I got to play with one in the hands-on area following the presentation, and it occurred to me the accessory might prove useful for accessibility for someone who, like me, oftentimes travels with my blind cane in tow. Apple included a Crossbody Strap (in black) in my iPhone 17 review kit.

At a high level, I’m curious about iPhone Pocket because of—what else?—accessibility, obviously. iPhone accessories—or Apple Watch bands or Vision Pro straps, for that matter—are prime examples of the notion that hardware accessibility matters just as much as software accessibility. To wit, having an Apple Watch does no good if a disabled person can’t reliably get it on (and off) their wrist. Likewise, what good is there in getting iPhone Pocket if one struggles to use it? I often say accessibility lies everywhere, and things like hand-eye coordination and fine-motor skills are crucial considerations when someone contemplates accessories. Is iPhone Pocket accessible? It’s a valid question, something that also reminds why adaptive clothing exists. Snaps and/or Velcro can be more accessible fasteners to certain people than, say, traditional buttons or zippers. So it goes for iPhone accessories… as a disabled person, it’s only natural to question the utility of something like iPhone Pocket when something ostensibly simple and straightforward can be confounding and complex.

Getting Reacquainted with Apple watch Ultra

When Apple mailed me my proverbial goodie box of new iPhones for review back in September, the company included the also-new Apple Watch Series 11. As a Series 10 user, I initially was inclined not to open the Series 11 because I thought what I had was good enough. And it is, except I determined I really do like the new space gray finish on Series 11. In fact, I’ve been wearing it mainly for that reason over the last several weeks.

Last week, however, I was trying to clean the calamity known as my “office” in the dining room when I came across my original Apple Watch Ultra. It’d been a while since I last worn (and reviewed) it, and I was immediately struck by the bigness of its screen and by the niceness of its titanium build. The moment of admiration got me wondering if perhaps I should reconsider wearing the Ultra; after all, I figured, an Apple Watch’s screen is tiny relative to that of my iPhone Air, for instance, and it would be sensible to want the biggest version of the smallest display for accessibility’s sake. So, I charged the Ultra’s battery, repaired it with my phone—you can have multiple Apple Watches paired to your iPhone now—and upgraded its software to run the latest watchOS 26.

After all was said and done, I strapped the OG Ultra to my wrist for a few hours.

My initial impression was twofold: I was delighted by the aforementioned bigness of the Ultra’s screen while slightly aghast at the device’s heaviness on my wrist. As an Apple Watch’s screen is so small, it isn’t something I want to stare at for more than a minute or two; the Ultra’s 49mm case reminded me why I adored it—it is so easy to see the clock, complications, and notifications. By contrast, however, heavy is the wrist that wears Apple Watch Ultra. The Faustian bargain of using iPhone Plus/Pro Max models is just as apt here: you can have the big, beautiful screen, but you must incur the cost of using a relatively unwieldy object in return. Like I said about iPhone Air last month, what I found so endearing about Apple Watch Series 10 last year was its Goldilocks attributes; I can have a “good enough” screen size (46mm) in a form factor that’s considerably lighter—and less conspicuous—on my body. Put another way, it’s not that I can’t cope with the compromises of Apple Watch Ultra (or iPhone Pro Max) practically speaking. It’s more that Apple offers alternative models which helpfully give me the best of both worlds.

All that said, this brief dalliance with my old Ultra has me curious about the new one. I like the new Double Tap and wrist-flick gestures in watchOS, and the giant screen is undoubtedly alluring. What’s more, I am appreciative of the handsomeness of Apple Watch Ultra as a fashion piece—especially the black finish. I think it looks really nice.

We’ll see what the future holds, but as happy as I’ve been with my Series 10/11, I’m happy to have confronted my complacency and revisited the Ultra, even for just a little while.

Glassbox chief technology officer Yaron Gueta Talks digital Accessibility, Automation, more in interview

When I connected recently with Yaron Gueta, the co-founder and chief technology officer at Glassbox explained to me his company is devoted to “how we can make the life of our customers simpler” and we discussed how that ethos pertains to accessibility. On its website, Glassbox boasts its mantra is to “[reveal] the insights that empower organizations to deliver better digital customer experiences.” In terms of disability inclusion, the heart of the matter lies in Glassbox’s next sentence: “When we help our customers create better experiences for their customers, everyone wins.”

According to Gueta, serving the disability community vis-a-vis accessibility extends further than complying to Americans with Disabilities Act regulations or WCAG standards. Indeed, he pointedly mentioned the elderly population for whom, he said, consuming digital content can be hard due to elements like small font sizes. Aging, Gueta went on to tell me, isn’t often thought of as needing accommodation(s); but many people who are older have disabilities and, as such, could benefit from things like larger, more accessible text on the web. Gueta himself even acknowledged, as someone of a certain age, he has trouble at times reading smaller print on websites.

“While we [at Glassbox] were looking at the customer experience domain, we noticed that there are troubles that is actually from accessibility—but it’s not [exclusively] for people who are considered disabled,” Gueta said.

It was upon this realization that, Gueta said, the company began uttering a refrain popular amongst many accessibility-minded organizations: prioritizing accessibility isn’t merely the moral thing to do… prioritizing accessibility is savvy business practice too. Gueta noted that Glassbox began educating its customers on how, if they invested in good accessibility, “you are going to help between 25% to 30% of your audience.”

To illustrate his point, Gueta pointed to one of “a dozen examples” of struggle that makes up what he described as “rage click.” Rage click, he explained, occurs when a user repeatedly clicks a button, expecting it to do something, and it fails to do anything. The same goes for something he called “dead zoom,” whereby a user attempts to zoom in on a page to no avail. The website (or app) doesn’t support zooming APIs, he added.

In both cases, most people wave the proverbial white flag.

“They abandoned what they were trying to do,” Gueta said.

The reason Gueta can cite such detailed information is because Glassbox’s software works continuously in the background, churning away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This automation is more conducive to not only providing better accessibility for end users, but for quality assurance staffers as well. Rather than a human using what Gueta called “widgets” to manually check for accessibility every time, Glassbox makes those checks more accessible unto itself by using technology to handle the grunt work.

As a practical matter, Gueta said while major enterprises such as financial institutions and whatnot do employ teams dedicated to sniffing out accessibility, human curation goes only so far—which is precisely where Glassbox comes in to flex its muscle. Its software, he told me, is able to detect “dozens and dozens” of accessibility problems that, bless their hearts and hard work, a human team was bound to overlook. But with Glassbox’s technology in tow, Gueta said these companies’ teams have the ability to “have visibility” to unearth more issues and fix them accordingly. In other words, Gueta said Glassbox gives enterprises the chance to move their mindsets beyond sheer legal compliance into more moral, do-right-unto-others action. Glassbox provides a clearer pathway for such a shift. It’s about intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation.

When asked about the feedback Glassbox receives from its customers, Gueta said he believes the company is gaining “very good traction” with its product. Interest is high “across the board,” he added, and the overarching mission resonates deeply with all.

Looking towards the future, Gueta expressed enthusiasm for—what else?—artificial intelligence. He was effusive in his praise for generative AI’s capability to extend the work of companies like his. It will help make spotting problem even easier and more efficient, while giving teams the opportunity to address issues “on the fly,” he said. The use of artificial intelligence will also prove more budget-friendly to companies as well.

What’s next for Glassbox? “Autonomous fixes for accessibility issues,” Gueta said.

Revisiting My Relationship with Apple Vision Pro

Apple this week released its 26.1 updates to its panoply of platforms, including visionOS. Because life has been hectic over the last several months, my Vision Pro—the OG, M2-powered model—sat unused (and uncharged) for some time, its software frozen in amber at the ancient 2.0.1. Monday’s release of visionOS 26.1 was fortuitous, as it provided the proverbial kick in the ass I needed to not only charge Vision Pro, but also update its software. When all was said and done, it naturally was an opportunity for me to rekindle my relationship with the fledgling highfalutin headset. So, I put it on…

I don’t have much to report right now on 26.1 itself. The headlining features include things like widgets and the ability to scroll webpages just by looking at them. I’ve yet to try widgets, but can say the visual scrolling works as advertised—and is really cool. At a high level, it strikes me as a “low level” version of the Dwell functionality on macOS insofar as you focus your eyes up or down to move accordingly. The comparison is imperfect of course—Dwell is necessary for people who literally cannot control their computer(s) via the conventional input methods—but otherwise works because the mechanics are conceptually similar. If you, like me, sometimes feel cramps at doing the pinch-to-scroll gesture in visionOS due to low muscle tone, visionOS 26’s eye-scrolling feature can be helpful as a de-facto accessibility feature. In that sense, it’s much more than technically impressive; as ever, a mainstream feature can benefit accessibility too.

I wrote last month about Apple’s announcement of its new M5 chip, which the company is using to run the base model 14” MacBook Pro and, pertinently here, the Vision Pro. In my time so far this week playing around in Vision Pro, the M2 model runs 26.1 with aplomb and I can do everything I want just fine; I see no reason to upgrade. Likewise, alongside news of the M5 Vision Pro came word of a new accessory: the Dual Knit Band. The $99 headband, which coincidentally is compatible with my model, supposedly feels nicer to wear while using Vision Pro, partly because the band at the top helps redistribute much of the Vision Pro’s considerable weightiness. Personally, I’m not that interested in the Dual Knit Band—although I could make a cogent argument for trying one for journalism’s sake. Nonetheless, the truth of the matter is I like the default Solo Knit Band very much. It exudes niceness in terms of construction, and it feels comfortable to wear for the hour or so I use Vision Pro. I have a distinct memory of initially disliking the Solo Knit Band during my briefing with Apple way back when, but that was eons ago. After getting Vision Pro home for testing, I got the Solo Knit Band to fit how I wanted it—and have loved wearing it ever since. It really is a great piece of kit.

My time revisiting Vision Pro over the last few days has been instructive in that it has reaffirmed the best use cases for me. For one thing, the device plays well to my introverted, anxiety and depression-addled self because it’s decidedly a solitary device. I know you can FaceTime and Zoom in visionOS, but I feel “alone” once I put on Vision Pro. The Mindfulness app is great for when I need a little pick-me-up, and I remain steadfast in my conviction that Vision Pro is the best product for watching video I’ve ever used. I watched this week’s episode of The Morning Show in Vision Pro and it was spectacular in the TV app’s “Cinema” environment. The picture quality is astounding, while the immersive nature of the environment makes watching stuff more accessible. Experientially, it truly does feel like you’re sitting inside a brick-and-mortar movie theater. Alas, I wish visionOS was more rife with apps beyond Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, and Pluto TV. I wish Netflix and Prime Video had native Vision Pro apps. I wish Channels had an app too. The iPadOS apps are serviceable, but they aren’t like using an app specifically and intentionally built for the Vision platform. Vision Pro will likely never become my main entertainment vehicle—I have a 77” LG C3 OLED on the living room wall, glorious in its own right—but if I’m spending time home alone, all by myself, I’d love to immerse in more movies and television shows using the headset.

Beyond entertainment value, though? I’m not sold on Vision Pro as a productivity machine. Although I’m appreciative of the ability to resize windows to my heart’s content—browsing in Safari is especially good for visual accessibility—I’m not of the mind that I want to actually do work in visionOS. The reasons for this are many, but I think the biggest one is sensory. To wit, I don’t relish being “trapped” in a headset for an hour or two, writing a story or doing email, with a heavy computer strapped to my face.

Reservations aside, Vision Pro remains damn cool—and accessible at that.

Instacart Pledges support for SNAP Recipients

San Francisco-based Instacart on Friday announced what it describes as “a new grocery offer” to help SNAP recipients and food banks more accessibly obtain food. In addition, Instacart is spearheading a nationwide food drive to support local food banks.

While not explicit, the allusion is clear: the company is announcing this move as the November 1 deadline looms for federal monies that keep programs like SNAP running.

“Starting this week, we’re offering active SNAP customers 50% off their next grocery order—up to a $50 discount. This special offer is designed to immediately help families stretch their grocery dollars, allowing them to keep nutritious staples and daily essentials in their carts and on their tables,” Instacart said in its announcement. “All eligible customers who used EBT SNAP benefits to get groceries delivered via Instacart at any point in October will receive an individual discount code via email in the coming days. This offer can be redeemed nationwide from any one of the nearly 180 retail banners and 30,000 stores that offer SNAP payments via Instacart, up to 100,000 redemptions—representing a commitment of up to $5 million in direct relief for families on SNAP.”

As the company notes, it has accepted SNAP payments since 2020. Back in March, I reported on Instacart making the actual grocery shopping more accessible by way of new features such as Smart Shop powered by—what else?—artificial intelligence.

“We’re committed to ensuring every family in every community can put food on the table,” Dani Dudeck, Instacart’s chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement. “As SNAP funding faces unprecedented disruption and food banks brace for longer lines, we’re focused on practical, immediate solutions: helping families who use SNAP stretch their grocery dollars and helping food banks stock up to support their communities.”

As I’ve written numerous times, tech-driven services like Instacart are far more impactful than mere conduits to convenience for many folks. Indeed, things like Instacart (and DoorDash and UberEats) have immense applicability to accessibility. Not only are they driven by what’s ostensibly every person’s primary computer in their smartphone, the truth of the matter is the on-demand, door-to-door nature means a disabled person who, for instance, cannot—or should not—leave their house for medical and/or logistical reasons still has access to groceries readily available. What’s more, those people who are on SNAP get a win-win: their food can be had in just a few taps and delivered to their doorstep all the while taking comfort in the fact their purchase was less expensive. In a nutshell, Instacart is a true lifesaver for a not-insignificant portion of the population—and that doesn’t take into account a historically-long government shutdown prompting action from Instacart and others.

Relatedly, Easterseals CEO Kendra Davenport said earlier this week the lapse in SNAP funding means the disability community will be amongst “the hardest hit,” rubbing salt in their proverbial wounds as people with disabilities “already face higher living costs and barriers to employment. Losing food support will only deepen hardship,” she said.

Davenport continued: “No political disagreement should stand in the way of feeding Americans. We urge Congress and the administration to find every way to keep programs like SNAP remain funded and protected, regardless of any government shutdown. This includes exploring the release of USDA contingency funding and passing the bipartisan efforts in both Houses of Congress to ensure benefits continue.”

Founded in 1919, Easterseals is America’s oldest disability rights organization.

Inside Fashion Institute of Technology’s ‘Adapt/Evolve’ Exhibition

The New York City-based Fashion Institute of Technology earlier this month ran an exhibit, called Adapt/Evolve, which the school describes as a “multidisciplinary exhibition that considers various approaches to designing for accessibility as well as adaptive design’s relationship to culture and society.” The projects on display, ranging from “stylish mobility aids” to other things which “prioritize both function and human dignity,” were meant to “bring to light a network of care, interdependence, and access to good design for all, paving the way to a built world that supports everyone,” per FIT.

Adapt/Evolve was announced in August and ran September 18 through October 26.

I recently sat down with Troy Richards and Fawz Kabra via videoconference to discuss Adapt/Evolve; Richards serves as FIT’s dean of the art and design school, whilst Kabra works as curator of the art and design gallery. At a high level, Kabra explained the overarching goal of the gallery was to “show what we are doing at FIT in terms of adaptive and inclusive design, and also see how it is also in conversation with people around us [in NYC].” Designing for disability, she added, has relevance to a vast cross-section of real-world products from children’s toys to furniture to jewelry to fashion and more. The intent with Adapt/Evolve was to showcase as much of possible “the array of imagination and creative solutions these artists and designers have come up with.”

“We’re so excited about this exhibition,” Richards said.

My conversation with Richards and Kabra rekindled my relationship with FIT. One of my bigger stories of 2024 was my interview with now-retired president, Dr. Joyce Brown.

Richards went on to tell me accessibility conceptually is “really important” to everyone at FIT, as the school strives to foster a diverse and inclusive learning environment. He noted that when leaders first bandied about ideas for what would eventually become Adapt/Evolve, something that proved especially exciting on campus was the work already being done through an inclusivity-tinted lens—to wit, Richards shared an anecdote about one such project being worked on for autism research in collaboration with a school for autistic children in New York City. A focal point, he added, is universal design, and the project involved toys that had what he called “universal appeal.”

“These are [product] designs that allow for greater accessibility for groups of people who have different disabilities,” Richards said. “But also they become just [examples of] good design, and we see that by thinking of these people with these with specific needs… we can actually make life better for everybody. It actually makes things easier for all of us, and makes a more comfortable and a better designed world.”

That Richards emphasized FIT’s commitment to diversity and inclusion vis-a-vis accessibility speaks to the school’s ethos on greater inclusion generally. FIT, part of New York State’s SUNY system, exists to “introduce students to the different careers available to them in art and design,” Richards told me, and its mission is to “encourage as many people from different backgrounds to think of the opportunities to consider these opportunities In art design because we value their voices [and] their vision.”

He continued: “It’s really those diverse visions that will help us solve some of the more challenging problems that we face in our world and in our country. We need as many people engaged in this creative work as possible. This is something that all of our faculty take very seriously that [attending FIT] is a transformational education.”

For her part, Kabra echoed Richards’ sentiments by sharing the story of one of the exhibition’s stars in Haley Schwartz, a FIT alum and who copes with chronic illness. Schwartz is behind adaptive apparel company Vetige Adaptive, with Kabra saying Schwartz is devoted to designing clothing which are “beautiful and stylish and fun and joyful, but also accessible” to people who, for instance, must deal with a colostomy bag or oxygen bag. Vertige’s designs have been thoughtfully created to accommodate such medical devices by way of pouches, enabling wearers to maintain their stylistic sensibilities (not to mention their dignity) while lugging around decidedly unstylish kit.

There are countless other examples of the concept, but Kabra’s larger point was simply that accessibility and design can, in fact, go hand-in-hand if they’re blended with intentionality. Former students such as Schwartz, Kabra added, have left FIT and gone onto their professional lives, thriving “working within the field of adaptive design.”

“I’m so happy we have these alums participating in the exhibition,” Richards said.

When asked how Adapt/Evolve journeyed from conception to fruition, Richards said the impetus is pretty personal on his end. His mother was diagnosed with ALS in 2017, around the time he assumed his perch at FIT, and passed away a year later after what he called an “aggressive” form of the disease. The heartbreaking part was not merely that Richards’ mom succumbed, but it was how she rapidly lost things like her mobility and overall independence. The job with FIT, Richards told me, was a prime opportunity to “encourage our departments to explore accessible [and] adaptive design so that people who who struggle with these types of conditions or have different disabilities.”

Thus, Adapt/Evolve was a literal manifestation of those ideals.

“[Creating the exhibition] was definitely an exciting process,” Kabra added.

“What we saw and wanted to bring to light is this network of care and kind of interdependence… people taking it upon themselves to do things for their community: for their friends, their neighbors,” she said of the raison d'être for FIT’s Adapt/Evolve exhibition. “[There’s] also a desire for art be to accessible and show good design for everybody so that we visualize like this ‘built world’ that is supportive of everybody. As we were putting together a checklist, we could see the artists and the designers are redefining accessible design… they’re creating these stylish garments, stylish mobility aids, and these community-focused solutions that prioritize both the function and the human, as well as human dignity. That [notion] really came to view for us.”

Both Richards and Kabra reiterated the belief that FIT and accessibility are inextricably tied. Richards said Adapt/Evolve is “a great start” to instilling the idea to students, as he noted many students graduate and go onto careers in fashion and/or design. More pointedly, he said the exhibition is a great forum from which to extol the virtues that accessibility is “vital” to design—in other words, accessibility isn’t something that can, or should, be an afterthought or bolted on at the end. The exhibition raises more awareness of that sentiment to students. "I keep thinking about how so many of the works demonstrate that accessible design is good design, and these are things that people will want in their own lives. “It makes [products] that much more inclusive… it makes the world that much easier for everyone to engage in,” Richards said.

Kabra concurred, telling me Adapt/Evolve is “definitely creating more visibility and shining a light on everyone has been very kind of important for this project.” She went on to say the exhibition is more or less a proof of concept of sorts, insofar as this year’s event gives her “bits” that she can “follow through other exhibitions” with accessibility top of mind from the outset. To prioritize accessibility is to prioritize empathy for all.

Feedback-wise, Richards said the reception to Adapt/Evolve has been “wonderful.” He shared an anecdote about an attendee who lives in Queens and doesn’t venture into Manhattan very often. The person, Richards said, made the sojourn to the exhibition primarily because most things of FIT’s kind don’t emphasize accessibility and inclusive design. The novelty of which “really excited him.” Moreover, Richards mentioned he’s heard similar effusive sentiments from both fellow faculty members and students alike.

“They find [the event] to be an important topic to be to be explored,” Richards said.

For her part, Kabra told me a group of alumni students built a fully accessible website for Adapt/Evolve and noted the site’s design “considers people with disability and and presents beautiful, contemporary and fresh work.” Overall, Kabra said there was “lots of excitement” over the event, and has proven itself “a pleasant surprise” for FIT staffers.

Looking towards the future, both Richards and Kabra reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the work in amplifying accessibility and, by extension, the disability community. Notably, Richards said FIT is in the process of developing a minor in Adaptive Design that’s interdisciplinary such that students get the chance to “get more focus” on the topic. Adapt/Evolve, he went on, isn’t a one-off token gesture; on the contrary, FIT assuredly will "address the sort of explore the topic again in future symposia.” At 30,000 feet, FIT wants to use these machinations to not only flex their institutional muscle, but to “change the fashion industry,” Richards said. Furthermore, he said he wants his students to learn to “design with empathy and forethought” as they work their way towards contributing towards the betterment of the wider world.

Kabra agreed yet again with her colleague.

“I hope to continue such exhibitions with important themes, but also for myself as an exhibition maker, to broaden the way I think about inclusivity personally,” she said. “[I want to] push myself to hopefully have more accessibility even within our shows.”

Accessibility at FIT, Kabra added, “should become second nature.”

Gallaudet University’s Tabitha Jacques Talks Recent Deaf Way Film Festival, More In interview

In my piece yesterday about last month’s Vimeo Staff Picks celebrating Deaf Awareness Month, I made quick mention of this year’s Deaf Way Film Festival. The event, held earlier this month on the campus of Gallaudet University, is a multi-day celebration of what’s described on the Film Festival’s website as “spotlighting the creativity, power, and stories of deaf filmmakers and professionals in the film industry.”

The Washington DC-based Gallaudet, founded amidst the backdrop of the Civil War, is literally the world’s preeminent institution of higher learning for the Deaf community.

“Join us for an unforgettable celebration of Deaf culture, storytelling, and community,” the school wrote about the Deaf Way Film Festival. “The Deaf Way Film Festival offers more than just films—it’s a vibrant celebration of Deaf culture and history woven throughout the Gallaudet University campus.”

I recently connected with Tabitha Jacques, Gallaudet’s director of arts, culture, and experience, via email for a brief interview in which she discussed the Deaf Way Film Festival and its poignancy to the Deaf community. At a high level, Jacques explained she feels “fortunate” to have the privilege of “[creating] experiences on campus related to deaf arts and culture,” adding her duties entail creating spaces in various locations on campus which “tell Gallaudet stories through art, artifacts, and didactic texts.”

It’s my understanding tickets for Deaf Way sold out quickly, with day passes the only ones available for interested parties. I sadly wasn’t able to attend, but it doesn’t take an astrophysicist to surmise a sell-out is a pretty good barometer of enthusiastic interest.

“I [was] so excited to bring back Deaf Way but in a new format where festivals are smaller and focus on a specific theme,” Jacques said of putting the film festival together this year. “This film festival will have films and panels, but also experiences that bring the community together such as participating in a community chalk mural and visiting art exhibitions on campus. I also look forward to creating a space for deaf people in the film industry to develop connections and to have the space to exchange ideas and to imagine a future where there are no barriers in the film industry.”

Jacques’ excitement was palpable because, as she explained, “deaf representation is getting better” along with the boilerplate caveat that “we still have such a long way to go!” Moreover, she noted she looks forward to the day when deaf representation is accretive; like Aisha Amin told me about her mindset after making Contours, which played at Deaf Way, and how she vows not to do another project without prominently including a Deaf character and ASL, Jacques looks forward to an environment wherein deaf representation merely constitutes “adding deaf people to the diverse cast of characters that make up our world” in addition to non-deaf people feeling increasingly “comfortable” with communicating with their Deaf and hard-of-hearing brethren.

“We are so lucky that we have such a wide range of technology to help us communicate and many ASL classes are being offered,” Jacques said. “We have made so much progress in the last 40 years and we still have so much more progress to work towards.”

She doubled down of her effusive praise for Deaf Way and what it represents writ large.

“It has been a wonderful experience to lead the festival. I have worked with so many wonderful people who are employees of the university and who are outside of the university,” Jacques said of her efforts to build Deaf Way. “Everyone has been incredibly supportive as they all want to see this festival be an amazing experience. I have also learned so much from everyone and from this process. I am grateful to be in this role.”

When asked about the reception to Deaf Way, Jacques told me feedback to it has been “very positive” according to Andrea Passafiume, Gallaudet’s film programmer, as well as the school’s screening committee. The group, Jacques said, was excited for the wider world’s opportunity to “see what films they have worked so hard to curate,” adding “people are excited about coming back to Gallaudet to see artistic creations that my office and the Deaf Way Film Festival team have worked so hard to produce.”

In the end, Gallaudet is the platform atop of which the Deaf Way Film Festival shines.

“Gallaudet University is an amazing place with so much to offer in terms of what the deaf community is able to create and produce,” Jacques said. “My hope is that the world will want to come and visit Gallaudet and experience what we have to offer and keep on coming back.”

Vimeo Marked September’s Deaf Awareness Month with yet more Disability-Centric staff Picks

Back in April, I ran a story in which I covered Vimeo and the New York City-based company’s celebration of National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in March. My reporting featured interviews with Vimeo’s Meghan Oretsky, who leads curation of the company’s Staff Picks program, as well as 5-time Staff Pick honoree Case Jernigan. Jernigan, an indie filmmaker, spoke with me about his latest Staff Pick selection in Noggin, a 7-minute short chronicling his journey as he copes with multiple sclerosis. As I wrote in the spring, Vimeo’s Staff Picks aim to “shine the proverbial spotlight on work from indie artists exactly like Jernigan—to wit, people who hail from marginalized and underrepresented communities whose work is oftentimes overlooked by algorithms designed to cater towards mainstream audiences.” Indeed, Oretsky herself explained, since 2008, Staff Picks has stood as “a collection of the best short films in the world” created by emerging and established, independent filmmakers.

A few months later, Vimeo is back with more Staff Picks, this time for Deaf Awareness Month. September is Deaf Awareness Month, and Vimeo marked the occasion last month by bestowing Staff Picks to two films centering Deaf people: Breaking Silence and Contours. The former, made by Amy Bench, is a documentary delving into the advocacy of incarcerated Deaf people, while the latter is a film, from Aisha Amin, about a Deaf couple working hard to rekindle their relationship. Notably, Contours showed at the Deaf Way Film Festival. The event, held at Gallaudet University in Washington DC earlier this month, is described as “a four-day celebration spotlighting the creativity, power, and stories of deaf* filmmakers and professionals in the film industry.”

In a recent interview via videoconference, Bench explained to me Breaking Silence, of which she’s co-director and co-producer, the origins of the film trace back to 2019 when she pitched an idea for a series to Independent Lens. One of the topics of interest was criminal justice, and being based in Texas, piqued Bench’s curiosity as her state has one of the highest incarceration rates anywhere in the world, let alone the United States. One story Bench pitched was about Leslie Estes, a Deaf woman who had spent a decade in prison in Texas and New Mexico. At the time of Bench’s pitch, Estes had been free for about a month; Bench wanted to meet her and, ultimately, try to tell her story.

“I wanted to show her journey of reentry into society,” Bench said.

Then the pandemic hit. The unknowingness of everything proved to be an elephant-sized wrench for Bench and team in terms of producing Breaking Silence, which ultimately meant interviewing Estes was logistically difficult. The movie took three-and-a-half years to make, finally premiering at the Big Sky Film Festival in 2023. However Deaf-centered the film is as a product, Bench conceded “our initial focus” was actually about incarcerated mothers. According to Bench, her co-director Annie Silverstein worked on a film called Bull in which the main protagonist is a mother in prison; what’s more, Silverstein worked with young people whose parent(s) were incarcerated prior to becoming a filmmaker. Breaking Silence, Bench said, is poignant because it sheds light on “a really compelling issue a lot of people didn’t know about, including ourselves: the lack of access in prisons for people who are Deaf or have a disability.”

“I think what drove us was the realization that a lot of people have never considered Deaf people in prison before, so the fact it still isn’t a topic that is widely known,” she said. “We felt it was an important story to share.”

For Amin, Contours has a similar scope to raising awareness of the Deaf community.

“My writer, Brian Cohen, he was thinking about ways we could showcase new kinds of talent on screen… showcase diversity in a unique way. We just kept talking,” she said to me about making her movie. “Something that was so clear was there was very little Deaf talent on screen that we had both seen, and we knew of some performers who were Deaf that are just fantastic. What better way to showcase a diverse film than telling a film about a marriage, which is such a universal concept. Martial problems, but doing it where we are intentionally casting Deaf actors.”

Amin emphasized the notion she didn’t want to put deafness on display as though it lived “in a museum.” She didn’t want the disability to be tokenized as usual and “shown to the world as a tragedy,” as is commonplace for most stories involving disability.

“I wanted to tell a story about how hard it is to be married and communicating in sign language,” Amin said.

Amin called making Contours a “humbling” experience, telling me she was forced to “check myself” during production because, as a hearing person, she was showing a community she isn’t part of. She leaned on her partners, including the team at RespectAbility, in an effort to maximize authenticity. As she mentioned, the Deaf experience is oft-overlooked by society writ large—and, pertinently here, by Hollywood.

As to Vimeo, both Bench and Amin shared similar sentiments about how the company was great to work with. For Amin, she said Vimeo’s platform is especially valuable to her as a young filmmaker; it’s even more valuable for someone like her to get a coveted Staff Pick. As a three-time winner, Amin feels “very lucky” to have received the recognition, adding Vimeo is so great in large part due to its accessibility. With the internet’s nigh ubiquity, a film like Contours (or Breaking Silence, for that matter) has much greater opportunity to be seen and lauded via streaming—especially given Vimeo’s Staff Picks are intentionally human-curated. For Bench’s part, she described she and her own team being “really delighted” by Vimeo’s enthusiasm and said the platform is “the perfect fit” for Breaking Silence amidst Deaf Awareness Month.

Looking towards the future, both Amin and Bench expressed enthusiasm for, and commitment to, spotlighting the disability community in future projects. Both films have received tremendous feedback from Deaf audiences who’ve said the movies have proven deeply resonant. Bench told me Breaking Silence serves as a microcosm of how disabled people are treated, noting there are “so many topics we need to be talking about.” For Amin, making Contours proved so profound she readily admitted to it “changing” her as a person—so much so, she revealed her next project features a Deaf character who communicates in ASL. Amin is all-in as an ally of the Deaf community.

“I don’t think I’ll ever write another script without featuring Deaf or disabled talent,” she said of her future plans. “If I can do anything to shift a little of that scale in the industry, then I’m going to do it as a director. I’m going to always consider hiring Deaf talent because it’s underrepresented in Hollywood… anything I can do, I’m going to do it.”

Nintendo’s ‘Kirby Air Raiders’ for Switch 2 Gets ‘Rare’ Accessibility Menu, Report Says

Quinton O’Connor at The Gamer reported last week Nintendo has supplied “a plethora of detailed accessibility options” to its Kirby Air Raiders title for the Switch 2. The game was shown during a Nintendo Direct presentation featuring director Masahiro Sakurai.

“Nintendo’s not always on the ball about this [accessibility] stuff, and while many of us won’t tap into these features, some absolutely will—and in certain cases, they simply can’t play the game without them,” O’Connor wrote last Friday. “It’s worth highlighting just how much attention accessibility has gotten during development.”

O’Connor’s story includes a social media post from Steve Saylor, who wrote on Bluesky he was “pretty impressed” by the fact Kirby Air Raiders has its own Accessibility submenu—of which he noted was “rare” for Nintendo to include—and features options such as button remapping, text size adjusting, and more. In addition, Kirby Air Raiders has a “camera shake” toggle under the aforementioned Accessibility menu, which Sakurai encouraged players to “please try out… to find something that works for you.”

As someone who’s decidedly not a hardcore gamer—my favorites are sports titles—I admittedly was a little surprised to learn of Nintendo’s lackluster reputation in the accessibility arena. Back in April, I wrote about being intrigued by the Switch 2; in my piece, I noted Nintendo is involved with the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) new Accessible Games Initiative. Moreover, I interviewed ESA senior vice president Aubrey Quinn about the development of the Accessible Games Initiative in April as well.

Apple, NBCUniversal Announce ‘first-of-its-kind’ Apple tV × Peacock Subscription Bundle

Earlier this month, Apple and NBCUniversal put out a press release wherein the two companies announced a new bundle that couples Apple TV with NBC’s Peacock.

The bundle became available this week, on October 20.

“Customers in the U.S. can save over 30 percent by subscribing to the Apple TV and Peacock Premium bundle for $14.99 per month, or Apple TV and Peacock Premium Plus for $19.99 per month, through either app or website,” Apple said of its newfound subscription bundle in the announcement. “Apple One subscribers on the Family and Premier plans can subscribe to Peacock Premium Plus and receive a 35 percent discount—the first benefit of its kind for Apple’s all-in-one subscription bundle.”

As a subscriber of both Apple TV and Peacock—as well as Apple One—I was excited to learn of this news. My affinity for Apple TV is well-documented, but I’m also a fan of Peacock. Indeed, I signed up for this deal via the Peacock app on tvOS and it was great.

I’m planning to start watching The Paper soon, and I’m really excited that the NBA is back on NBC in addition to watching Sunday Night Football every week. From an accessibility perspective, the Apple-NBCUniversal bundle is notable insofar as it lowers barriers to entry for both streaming services. Whatever discretionary income a disabled person has to play with, someone who might be like me and loves both Apple TV and Peacock qualifies for a substantial discount on the monthly cost. What’s more, that the two are bundled together means that a person needn’t worry cognitively about managing bespoke subscriptions. In other words, the salient point is not only are Apple TV and Peacock made more financially feasible, the fact they exist as a bundle makes managing the services more accessible too. These are ostensibly mundane points, but therein lies the rub: the tiniest details can make the biggest difference for someone with disabilities. As I say, accessibility lies everywhere in the lives of disabled people.

News of the tv-Peacock deal comes soon after Apple dropped the “+” from Apple TV.

Apple TV’s ‘CODA’ Gets Blu-ray Release Date

Ryan Christoffel reported for 9to5 Mac earlier this week Apple’s CODA is going from streaming to solid state, as the film soon will be available on Blu-ray and DVD discs.

Pre-orders are happening now ahead of the disc’s release on November 4.

“This [CODA Blu-ray] release seems to be part of a growing trend of streamers being more willing to offer physical movies for purchase,” Christoffel wrote on Wednesday. “Despite previously favoring streaming-only availability, Apple now appears more open to offering Blu-ray versions of its movies.”

As Christoffel notes, CODA has tremendous historical significance as its 2022 Best Picture win—coupled with Troy Kotsur’s Best Supporting Actor victory—are firsts not only for Apple and Apple TV as the first streaming-only film to win Hollywood’s most prestigious award, but also for Kotsur as the first Deaf actor to win an Oscar. As a literal CODA myself, the movie holds a special place in my heart not merely for the subject matter, but for the representational gains it affords CODAs and the Deaf community.

While I, like most people, am a huge proponent of streaming content, I have begun to amass a small collection of my most favorite movies in 4K Blu-ray to go along with my dozens of DVDs from two decades ago. In fact, just yesterday I took delivery of Conclave from Amazon, about a fictitious papal election, and plan to pre-order CODA soon too. (I also have Season 1 of Severance in keeping with the Apple TV theme.) I’m pretty picky about which Blu-rays I’m collecting; space is a precious commodity at my house, so I’m hellbent on getting only the films I cherish most. From a technological perspective, I’m also motivated by the fact, as somewhat of a home theater nerd, the best picture quality comes from physical media versus streaming, and I’d like to take fullest advantage of my spectacular 77” LG C3 OLED in every way possible. I have the critically-acclaimed Panasonic UB820 Blu-ray player hooked up to said TV. For those times when I want to have a movie night with, say, CODA, I can pop the disc into the device and enjoy (again).

I should mention too that there indeed is a pro-accessibility argument for streaming versus Blu-ray. First and foremost, there are the costs associated with getting a good Blu-ray player itself, let alone the discs. More to the point, however, is the physicality to physical media. To wit, pressing a button on one’s Siri Remote may be far more accessible than opening the disc’s case, taking out the disc, and putting it into the player without scratching the disc, etc. For many people with certain motor disabilities, Blu-ray may be a nonstarter for this workflow. It’s a valid reason, and illustrative of the greater societal shift to embrace streaming music and movies for convenience’s sake.

News of CODA on Blu-ray comes not long after it was announced by Apple earlier this month F1: The Movie starts streaming in December. It’s also now available on Blu-ray.

Yours Truly Guests on the ‘Access All’ Podcast

Late last week, I received an email from a producer at BBC News who asked if I’d be interested in coming on the network’s podcast about disability, called Access All, to discuss my experiences using Waymo for my transportive needs in San Francisco. I happily agreed to come on, and we recorded the episode on Monday. To my surprise and delight, it posted earlier today for everyone to listen to in their favorite podcast app.

Besides yours truly, the episode features my friend Amanda Ventura at Waymo, as well as Emma Vogelmann. Vogelmann is co-CEO at UK-based organization Transport for All.

My cameo is timely, as it coincides with Waymo’s announcement it will be bringing its autonomous vehicles across the pond beginning in 2026. In a statement accompanying the news, Waymo’s own co-CEO in Tekedra Mawakana—whom I’ve interviewed in the past—said the company is “thrilled” to soon bring Waymo to Londoners, adding its service is “making roads safer and transportation more accessible where we operate [and] we’ve demonstrated how to responsibly scale fully autonomous ride-hailing, and we can’t wait to expand the benefits of our technology to the United Kingdom.”