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November Digital Accessibility Roundup
Discover November's roundup of digital accessibility news.
This Month's Roundup Powered by: Draper Laboratories
Welcome to Disability: IN’s monthly round up of digital accessibility news for November.
At Disability:IN we know that digital accessibility impacts all aspects of disability inclusion. If you have questions about our digital accessibility program, please contact Jeff Wissel, our Chief Accessibility Officer.
Disability:IN Happenings
We have been busy remodeling the Disability:IN Website! Take a few moments and check us out. The website streamlines the Disability:IN Pillars into four main categories.
Spotlight on Disability:IN Partners using technology to enhance the accessibility of products we use every day.
Nashville International Airport Launches Good Maps to Elevate Accessibility and Set a New Standard in Airport Navigation
Designed to assist all travelers, GoodMaps is especially transformative for individuals who are blind or have low vision. Acting like a GPS for indoor environments, the app delivers turn-by-turn guidance through audio cues or on-screen text, helping passengers navigate gates, dining and retail locations, parking garages, and other airport amenities with ease.
The European Accessibility Act For PDFs 2026 | The Accessibility Guy
The European Accessibility Act introduces vital regulations regarding PDF accessibility, outlining the necessary standards for compliance among organizations. Essential guidelines focus on creating accessible digital documents to ensure equal access for all users.
Be My Eyes’ Digital Accessibility Tools for Customer Service Teams
The Be My Eyes Customer Accessibility Suite combines visual AI,real-time video support, and intuitive service routing to empower customer service teams in serving blind and low-vision consumers effectively. These tools address significant gaps in traditional customer service, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and unlocking business value.
From Innovation to Impact: 2025 Lex Frieden Employment Award Winners
Nike and DHL were awarded for cultivating a workplace model where people with disabilities are fully integrated across multiple departments, from logistics to leadership.
Uber launches optional in-app feature to improve experience for assistance dog users
Uber has introduced a new optional feature to improve journeys for riders across the UK who travel with assistance dogs.
The new function allows users to self-identify within the Uber app,automatically notifying drivers that the rider will be traveling with an assistance dog. The aim is to provide smoother, clearer communication from pickup to drop-off, while also offering additional support if any issues occur during the journey.
Google – YouTube Use automatic captioning
Captions are a great way to make content accessible for viewers.YouTube can use speech recognition technology to automatically create captions for your videos.
Note: These automatic captions are generated by machine learning algorithms, so the quality of the captions may vary. We encourage creators to add professional captions first. YouTube is constantly improving its speech recognition technology. However, automatic captions might misrepresent the spoken content due to mispronunciations, accents, dialects, or background noise. You should always review automatic captions and edit any parts that haven't been properly transcribed.
Microsoft Wants You To Talk To Your PC And Let AI Control It
Microsoft is transforming Windows to enable speech interaction with PCs, aiming for a seamless integration of AI features that allows users to control their computers through voice. The initiative, spearheaded by Copilot, intends to enhance user experience by enabling tasks via natural language commands while also promoting future updates to the Windows operating system.
AI Prompts For Web Accessibility Testing
By mid-2025, ADA web accessibility lawsuits had increased by 37%compared to 2024. This highlights a pressing challenge for businesses: building inclusive, compliant websites without slowing development or increasing legal risk.
To keep pace, many teams are turning to AI tools like Chat GPT, Perplexity and Claude to speed up accessibility fixes. These tools aren’t a substitute for manual audits or legal advice, but I have found that with the right prompts and human oversight, they can help close compliance gaps faster.Here are seven common high-impact accessibility issues often flagged in audits and lawsuits, along with AI prompts and practical guidance you can use to resolve them.
Netflix introduces color-coded subtitles in 'Physical: Asia' to boost accessibility
Netflix will introduce color-coded subtitles for the upcoming competition series “Physical: Asia,” marking the first time the feature has been used in a Korean Netflix production. The new subtitle system aims to make the viewing experience more intuitive and accessible for audiences worldwide. The streaming giant said Thursday that the subtitles will debut with the release of “Physical: Asia” on Oct. 28. The feature applies distinct colors to subtitles in each language, allowing viewers to easily distinguish who is speaking — a first for Netflix’s Korean lineup.
Winners Of 2025 Hearing Technology Innovator Awards Announced
Hearing Health & Technology Matters announced the winners of the 2025 Hearing Technology Innovator Awards, recognizing advancements in hearing technology. The Innovator of the Year was awarded to Nuance Audio for its innovative audio glasses, which enhance accessibility to hearing solutions.
Researchers making AEDs more accessible for deaf users
Nearly 90% of cardiac arrests that happen outside of the hospital each year are deadly, according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation.However, chances for survival can go up significantly if a bystander uses an automated external defibrillator.
“Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, anytime,” Deaf Health Care and Biomedical Science Hub Executive Director Tiffany Panko said. “Often people assume that it's only older people, but it can be younger people with a variety of different situations, whether they're athletes or they're just in their dorm. Studying these things can happen anywhere, at any time. So all students,all people should be aware of what's out there that can help them save a life.”
Which is why every second counts in a heart-related emergency, but what if you can’t hear it.
Amtrak celebrates $30M in accessibility upgrades across North Dakota
FARGO — Amtrak is celebrating nearly $30 million in upgrades across North Dakota, aimed at improving travel for people with disabilities.
On Tuesday, Oct. 14, Amtrak leaders cut the ribbon on $4.5 million in improvements at the Fargo station. Stations in Devils Lake, Rugby, Stanley and Williston also received upgrades to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
Android's Accessibility Settings Give Access to Phones Like Never Before
The World Health Organization estimates that 16 percent of the world’s population has a disability, and that inequities arise in everything from education to employment. Without intentional innovation and integration,these inequities can extend to everyday devices like our phones. The State of Mobile App Accessibility report, which is put forth by app, website, and connected experience development studio ArcTouch, found that 72 percent of those surveyed who relied on accessibility features on their mobile devices had a poor experience using or accessing them, indicating that there is still much progress to be made.
Five Themes From The Forrester Wave™: Digital Accessibility Platforms, Q4 2025
As regulatory pressures for accessibility mount around the world,organizations are racing to prepare, and digital accessibility platforms (DAPs)are stepping up. This summer and fall, I dove deep into the DAP market,evaluating nine top vendors across 25 criteria for current offering and seven for strategy. As I heard briefings from executive teams and interviewed customers of these vendors, the aphorism “the more things change, the more they stay the same” kept running through my head. While the DAP market is surging around the promise of using AI to boost accessibility, core challenges that prevent organizations from scaling accessibility best practices, including low platform adoption and challenges quantifying the ROI of accessibility investments, persist.
Making Samsung Appliances More Accessible Through ‘Samsung Inclusive Essentials’
When using a washing machine for the first time, many users fumble for the tiny power button or struggle to figure out how to open and clean the filter. For older adults and those with visual impairments, such inconveniences can quickly become real barriers. To address these obstacles, Samsung Electronics has embraced an accessibility-first philosophy, making its home appliances easy to operate.
Become A Windows 11 Pro With These 73 Keyboard Shortcuts
You're probably already familiar with staples like Ctrl+C for copying and Ctrl+V for pasting, but those barely scratch the surface. Windows11 is packed with dozens of lesser-known key combinations that unlock advanced functionality. From expertly managing snap layouts to instantly calling up hidden system menus, the right shortcut can transform your efficiency. If your goal is to minimize time spent navigating menus and maximize productivity,mastering these key combos is essential.
Why accessibility might be AI’s biggest breakthrough
While tech companies market AI as a productivity tool for everyone,a UK government study reveals an unexpected result: Neurodiverse employees maybe benefiting far more from chatbots than their neurotypical colleagues.
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade recently released evaluation results from its Microsoft 365 Copilot trial showing that while overall satisfaction was 72 percent, neurodiverse employees reported statistically higher satisfaction (at a 90 percent confidence level) and were more likely to recommend the tool (at a 95 percent confidence level) than other respondents.
These5 smart TV settings make watching so much easier — here's how to enable them
Smart TVs pack impressive features, but navigating menus and enjoying content can be challenging for users with visual, hearing, or motor impairments. Many people might not realize their TV already includes accessibility tools designed to create a more comfortable viewing experience.
Both Google TV and Samsung smart TVs offer built-in features that can enlarge text, provide audio descriptions, reduce eye strain, and simplify navigation. These settings often go unused simply because people don't know they exist or how to activate them.
