#accessibility

#accessibility

It had everything we wanted as twentysomethings in the city - convenience, charm, great views. Over time, however, our needs have changed, and it's no longer the right fit for us. The only problem? We bought it shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when rates had plummeted to historic lows. In fact, we locked in a 2.75% mortgage rate - so now we feel trapped in a house that no longer checks all our boxes.

When a video game series goes on for a long time, it raises a question for newcomers: Just where is the best place to jump in? In the case of Dragon Quest, there are nearly a dozen mainline titles, not to mention copious spinoffs and ports that span four decades of history. Of late, though, publisher Square Enix has been releasing a number of remakes that serve as almost ideal entry points for beginners who are intimidated by all of that baggage.

LNER has unveiled the name and interior design of a new fleet of long-distance trains, which will be the first to carry the new Great British Railways branding when it launches in a few years time. LNER says demand on its East Coast Mainline route has continued to grow since the pandemic, with more than 24 million passengers travelling in 2024-25.

He then lowered his fists, extended his thumbs and little fingers, and moved them up and down by his chest, as though milking a cow. Finally, he laid the fingers of one hand flat on his chin and flexed his wrist forward. Hartwell, who has no hearing problems, had just used BSL, British Sign Language, to order his morning latte with normal milk at the deaf-run Dialogue Cafe, based at the University of East London.

Some blind and low-vision fans will have unprecedented access to the Super Bowl thanks to a tactile device that tracks the ball, vibrates on key plays and provides real-time audio. The NFL teamed up with OneCourt and Ticketmaster to pilot the game-enhancing experience 15 times during the regular-season during games hosted by the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.

"While that project led to a lot of good iteration on our systems, it ultimately proved difficult with some technical limitations, and we've since moved in a different direction," 321 Coffee Co-Founder Michael Evans told Daily Coffee News. "In the past year, we've been focusing on making our roastery more accessible with new equipment, such as a green coffee system to minimize the movement of heavy burlap bags of coffee around our space."

The design, which has a cycle lane between the stop and the kerb, is intended to allow bus passengers to get on and off safely while cyclists continue moving. Sarah Gayton, street access campaign co-ordinator at the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, said: "It does not address the concerns that blind and visually impaired people have and it's totally insulting to think that we'll accept this."

Sally Tallant, the former boss of the Liverpool Biennial, has been announced as the new director of the Hayward Gallery and visual arts at London's Southbank Centre. Tallant, who is currently in charge of the Queens Museum in New York, will return to the UK to take over from Ralph Rugoff, who will step down after two decades in charge of the institution, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

Liberation wants to get you talking, and it gives you plenty to talk about. Whitney White's direction elicits a triumph of ensemble acting whose equipoise is a perfect realization of the play's own themes.

Education has never been static, but digital learning has made that movement visible. What once looked like a straight line from curriculum to classroom now feels more like a living system: stretching, folding, responding, and reshaping itself around learners, teachers, technology, and policy. Digital learning is no longer a "format." It's a motion subtle at times, seismic at others, shifting shape as expectations evolve. And here's the quiet truth many are discovering: the biggest changes aren't about more technology. They're about different technologies.

We don't need more courses. We need better ones. Everywhere I look, someone is launching a "Learn Figma in 5 Days" crash course or a "Top 10 AI Hacks for Beginners" tutorial. And don't get me wrong - those courses aren't useless. They scratch an itch, they help you pick up a tool, and sometimes they even get you to a quick win.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I had a choking incident at the office today when I inhaled a cherry tomato. One of my direct reports did the Heimlich maneuver and helped loosen it, and then one of the guys from another department joined in to keep the tomato moving. As I recovered, a secretary from down the hall put a cold compress on my neck and forehead. I want to thank them, but don't quite know the right thing to do.

N AOMI HAD ALWAYS hated school, so much so that she cried for hours when school breaks ended. She hadn't always considered herself disabled, though. Sure, she'd felt lucky to have discovered her autism and learning disabilities relatively early-and to have started getting accommodations in junior high-given that most autistic women aren't diagnosed until adulthood, if at all. But until her second semester of university, Naomi hadn't realized how much autism impacted her life. Then, just before semester's end, COVID-19 crashed in.

Buffer is a social media productivity tool for creators, small businesses, freelancers, and agencies. A place to schedule posts, manage comments, and track performance across Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube, Mastodon, and Google Business Profiles without getting sucked into the feed. Most social media tools are built for brands with big budgets and dedicated teams. We build for everyone else: the creator just starting out, the small business owner doing everything themselves, the freelancer building a personal brand between client work,

I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to explain, in practice, many of the success criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, better known by the acronym WCAG. The same number of times I've tried to explain them, I've seen the WCAG guidelines presented in many contexts (articles, lectures, webinars, etc.) as a reference to be shared with teams so they can begin the work of implementing and correcting the accessibility of their digital products and services.

Bank of Ireland said its rolling programme of works has already delivered 168 new machines in 46 branches from Donegal to Wexford. In total, approximately 650 new devices will be deployed to every Bank of Ireland branch on the island of Ireland as part of a €60m investment. According to the bank, the new fleet has greater cash processing capacity and will slash energy use by more than half.

"Making it more difficult for seniors to get their checks. It's a back door way to cut SS benefits. Horrific." Cuban urged anyone seeing his message to help their loved ones apply for Social Security online to get their benefits approved. But the reality is that not all seniors are tech-savvy, and not everyone has access to someone who can help them navigate the maze of filing for benefits.

Signage along central London Bakerloo line stations are being rebranded as "Bakerl0.0" and "Waterl0.0" as part of an advertising campaign by Heineken to promote its zero alcohol products. Emma Vogelmann from Transport for All said getting around London with confidence and ease depended on having "consistent, recognisable information across the Tube network". Transport for London (TfL) said advertising campaigns provide additional funding and are "fully assessed to ensure they do not impact services, staff or customers".

What makes Strapsicle's design stand out is the way you can slide your hand under either strap and read from any position. There's no fussing about where to stick a grip or worrying about adding bulk with a clunky case. Strapsicle is an excellent accessory for those with dexterity or mobility issues, or in my case, a great way to keep my face safe from accidental drops.

The station needs upgrades to handle projected passenger demand as new housing is built nearby, but the current design wouldn't be able to accommodate it. The main problem is that the station is elevated high above the streets but has a long staircase to use. As a result, the two lifts are under unusually high use as people understandably avoid the stairs. That means the lifts are also often in need of repairs due to their higher-than-average use.

The internet has turned fringe belief into mainstream politics and policy from authoritarianism to vaccines. With democracy itself threatened, is it time to go back to a previous world of landlines, letters and face-to-face-contact, audiotapes and Ansaphones? What would we miss about the online world that is worth the risk to liberal culture and basic freedoms? Should we turn the internet off?

It's also important to know that some of the vibes come with intentional signalling. Plenty of people whose views you can find online have a financial interest in one product over another, for instance because they are investors in it or they are paid influencers. They might have become investors because they liked the product, but it's also possible that their views are affected and shaped by that relationship.