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What's New in Fall 2026: Apple's Latest iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches
Janet Ingber Apple has released several new products for fall 2026, including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo. Apple also introduced two versions of the AirPods 5 and two new Apple Watches. These devices offer improvements in performance, battery life, health monitoring, and artificial intelligence. Some of the new features may be especially useful for people who are blind or have low vision. AccessWorld will keep you updated about the new…
New Features in watchOS 27 and macOS 27
Janet Ingber Apple released new operating systems for both Apple Watch and Mac in September 2026. This article will discuss their main updates but not the many additional smaller updates. watchOS 27 Apple debuted two new watches in 2026: the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. The Series 12 GPS starts at $399. The Series 12 GPS + Cellular starts at $499 and the Ultra 4 starts at $799. The following watches can run watchOS 27: Apple Watch Series 9 or later Apple Watch…
New Mainstream Features in iOS 27
Janet Ingber Apple released the much-anticipated iOS 27 for iPhone in September 2026. This version offers a significantly updated Siri AI. Availability of Siri AI varies by language and region. In addition, there are updates to a number of other apps including Safari and Shortcuts. You can check if your iPhone is compatible here. Some phones are not compatible with all the new features. Siri AI One of the biggest upgrades in iOS 27 is Siri AI. It has received a major overhaul. However,…
iOS 27 Accessibility Updates and New Features
Judy Dixon iOS 27 was released in September 2026, bringing substantial accessibility improvements, particularly for people who are blind or have low vision. The changes go well beyond Apple's headline announcements. They include improvements to VoiceOver, braille, image recognition, camera-based assistance, Voice Control, Accessibility Reader, and captioning. Apple highlights five broad areas of improvement. VoiceOver: Richer AI-generated image descriptions and the ability to ask…
Taking Action to Respond to Cuts to the U.S. Department of Education
At a recent webinar hosted by the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), “IDEA at 50: Celebrating Progress in the Blindness Field and Beyond,” six experts in the blindness field, some of whom are also parents of students with disabilities, explained how federal oversight provided by the U.S. Department of Education remains important to students with disabilities, their families, their teachers, and their schools. This gathering on the importance of advocacy and the success…
A Breakdown of Apple's 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote
Janet Ingber On June 8, Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Unlike previous WWDCs, this one did not discuss individual devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. In addition, the event lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes rather than its usual 2 hours. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said, "Today we are looking forward to sharing some exciting announcements including our latest advancement in Apple Intelligence and Siri." Not all devices will be able to use all the…
Trailblazing Women in History Who Were Blind or Had Low Vision
As we observe International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we recognize the many women who are blind or have low vision whose work helped expand opportunities for others. When we think of blind women in history, many of us think first of Helen Keller, who became blind and deaf after an illness at 19 months old. Keller went on to become an internationally recognized advocate for people with vision loss and a powerful voice for those who were marginalized. Today, AFB’s fully…
Surviving Technology
How Tech Both Empowers and Complicates Teaching, Learning, and Generally Existing It is easy to recognize the dramatic ways technology has evolved and influenced how we interact with the world. Some of us grew up turning a dial to enter a single digit into the household’s shared telephone, now many of us have microcomputers in our pockets that not only allow us to dial telephone numbers with a single gesture, they provide instant access to a digital world that is designed to allow us to…
Film Review: Vivien’s Wild Ride
In Vivien’s Wild Ride, renowned editor and documentarian Vivien Hillgrove offers a powerful cinematic memoir chronicling a life shaped by the reality of going blind. The film, which premieres with audio description on January 26 as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS, rises above the disability tropes often found in documentaries that capture the experiences of people facing life-changing challenges. While the film does delve into Vivien’s journey into sight loss—resonating with the…
The Future of Technology Is Accessible Tech
Key insights from Part One of the JVIB Special Issue on Emerging Innovations for People With Visual Impairments. What if the technology innovations that are designed for the few ultimately redefine the experience for the many? That’s the central premise of a compelling new commentary by Sean Tikkun, of North Carolina Central University, on the future of technology for individuals who are blind or have low vision. Far from being a niche market, the Comment argues that the future of broader…