Local News about Hueyify - Published in the Leader Community Newspaper

It seems we got published into the local news paper. I didn't think it would appear into the newspaper for a few more weeks yet. However, my daughter Elleleen came and told me her friend had PM-ed her telling her she already read the story in her newspaper. We haven't received our copy yet but that didn't stop us from reading it online.

Link: Leader Community Newspaper. A screenshot of the article is as follows:

Technology Changing Lives - Living the Moment

Technology truly has the power to change lives. We live in a world of constant awesomeness that it is easy to forget what technology can do and appreciate the moment.

Sometimes, just sometimes like today I have the privilege to experience the difference that it makes. I took my daughter out to the Cinemas and we went to see the film "Paper Planes". Being legally deaf means I always struggle at the Cinemas especially if there is a lot of talking in the film. Despite this I am an avid movie goer. It is not uncommon that I need to have a detailed conversation follow up after the film to try to fully understand why certain things happened to fully get the plot of the story. Often I would follow up with watching on DVD with subtitles and be surprised how little I had understood in the original screening of the show. Today's movie session had the "CC" (Closed Caption) so I thought I would give it a try.

The CaptiView (Closed Caption Viewing System) looks like the following below. For me I had position it that it was relatively minimal in having to read the screen and refocusing the film on the screen behind it. Meaning you could almost visually view the caption screen and the screen both at the same time (i.e. a bit of multitasking required which was minimal if you ask me). After a few minutes it becomes second nature and adapted to the new way of obtaining information.




This no doubt forms the very reason why I set out to become an Engineer and work in the IT Industry. This reenforces my "why" I chose my profession. Yet it is the rare moments like this that gets me inspired and excited when I'm on the receiving side and experience the benefits from the technology. No doubt this was the same reason why I founded and formed Hueyify to make a difference to people's lives when browsing the Internet.

Ironically the storyline of the film "Paper Planes" reenforces the point about living dreams and doing something something that you wouldn't have thought was possible. Perfect storyline to go with "living the moment".

I guess from Hoyts point of view - this may not be well received by those who use it. When I researched I had found an article dating back to 2013 to nearly two years ago and it appears that the CC solution is more of a "nightmare than an access solution". I cannot comment but for me the experience was entirely different. It seems that there is a call for OC (Open Captions) in which is how I watch DVD or TV at home otherwise without it I don't bother watching it at all.

I am excited about the next film I would see and most definitely I would be doing this again.

Hueyify and People with Low Dexterity (Bad Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy)

Recently I received an email from a worker at a USA University asking us to tackle issues for those people who have Low Dexterity (i.e. Bad Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy) and making Web Browsing easier for this category of people.

I must say what was involved from this request was researching and following through reading various information on this topic. There is so much content to go through and absorb but clearly there is a place for Hueyify to assist as one of the features Hueyify offers is to provide different means of interaction with the Web. Obviously in this instance the interaction must be formed in what works well for those with Low Dexterity. I can foresee further challenges when addressing those with multiple set of disabilities along with Low Dexterity.

I confess that it had never occurred to me that Web Browsing was challenging for those with Low Dexterity and am happy that this was conveyed to us. I must say I am excited at the opportunity and undertaking extra challenge to make a difference.

Question: "How large is the market for computer hardware, software and related products to help blind & deaf people with their daily tasks?"

I just spent a few moments tonight to answer a very interesting question asked on quora:

"How large is the market for computer hardware, software and related products to help blind & deaf people with their daily tasks?"


This is an interesting question and given my background being legally deaf and a father of a legally blind / hearing impaired son there's no doubt I would be biased in my answer to the question.

You can read the answer on quora.

A closer look at Hueyify - Explaining what is it that we do.

These days we have been thinking much about how we tell and share the Hueyify vision and goals. If we cannot clearly share our vision and goals with others and the community then in we surely have a problem. Communication is the key!

I know that we've come a long way from the early days. But like everything else there is a learning curve to go through. For sure we know that at Hueyify we are thinking big and if we have to summarize this into a metaphor that explains what we are doing we would explain it as:
"Imagination is Technology"

And if we may add a few words to describe what we are doing we would say:
"Consume the Web with you in control. Web browsing made easier, smarter and fun"

Which further can be explained by:
"Your Phenomenal Web Browsing Experience. Completely Personalise your Entire Web Experience"

I was notified today that BabyWonder.org posted a blog to create awareness about Hueyify and I must say it was delightful to read that our message and vision is getting through. It was very clear and spot on. Worth a read:

Hueyify presented at the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment 2015 Biennial Conference

Very grateful for the opportunity to present at SPEVI 2015 Biennial Conference on January the 14^th 2015. We hope for more opportunities like these to come along.

Making Websites Accessible still falls short? We need to do MORE - pushing beyond just “Accessibility”

It’s interesting to read an article published by ABC news on 6 November 2014 in regards to “Blind woman launches claim of unlawful discrimination against Coles over website” and in recent times the banking industry like Westpac’s innovation to drive ‘service revolution’ published by The Australian 11 Sept 2014. The similarities on these two articles have a focus on accessibility issues in the Internet for all Internet users.

Gisele in the ABC news said she wants “Coles and other online shopping services to remember that there are blind and vision-impaired clients using their website and [they] need to be accessible to people like her” whereas Westpac highlights that they have strong focus on diversity and accessibility in their service revolution.

In addition we have Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Robin Banks saying her office deals with website accessibility complaints every year – The Examiner 6 Nov 2014. In the Accessibility News International archive you could find at least 1 article each month in 2014 around the globe either complaining about accessibility issues on the Internet in various industries such as education, airline, retail, utilities etc and demanding how organisations needs to cater for people with disabilities.

In addition amongst the disputes we even have companies fighting back where in one case “the Internet Association rushed to eBay’s defense, filing a friend-of-the-court brief saying the web is far too complicated to accommodate disabled people” [Ref]

Hueyify advocates improving website accessibility but questions whether the focus on accessibility is enough and we need to do much more than what the current recommendations suggest as it still falls short in truly solving problems faced by those disabled. While the standards do help, we need to accept that it is logically impossible to satisfy the expectations of each individual as we all have different ideas as to what works best, different cognitive comprehensions and personal preferences. In fact in our investigation into accessibility issues and collaborating with those who are disabled we received different suggestions and opinions as to what would be the best strategy or method to overcome problems faced and at times were conflicting. This clearly stresses that generalising a one-fit-for all isn’t feasible.

It is in our opinion that the accessibility expectations really needs to be dynamic and varying and has the ability to grow and evolve with the user as the user learns, improves and develops their website interaction skills. To put bluntly – accessibility isn’t “fixed” but rather “dynamic” depending on the disabilities in question, the level of experience the user has with Internet and personal preference as to what works best for the individual.

Eileen Fong the CEO of Hueyify, said that the founder of Hueyify – Kenneth Springer and her both strongly believe that a good website can only be the one that is most closely aligned to the reader’s personal preferences. This would truly make the user web experience to be the most optimal and enjoyable. If a website was closely aligned to the individual then it would mean to goal of satisfying both the general population and disabled community would both be achieved. The focus becomes about website experiences. Furthermore, this would not be limited to just online shopping, education or banking, but rather apply across all websites that the user interacts with.

According to the WHO there is 285 million people worldwide have some vision disability in which 39 million are blind and can not access content via sight leaving 246 million with low vision. Factoring in some of the other disabilities we have people with hearing impairment of 600 million people and 1 in 68 children who is autistic (based on Autism Speaks findings). Given the diversity of disabilities it would be challenging to find a solution that addresses the needs of each individual with regards to accessibility given that there is varying degrees of disabilities and different individual interpretations as to what makes accessibility work best for them.

Furthermore when considering the general audience - Ironpaper shows that colours increased web recognition by 80% where websites with a dark colour scheme increased growth by 2% whereas sites with lighter colour schemes experienced a 1.3% growth. Arguably both had shown growth but colour in websites is an influence on the readers. This is supported by “colorcom” who researches on colour and explains that the ideal colour choice would depend on gender, age group and demographic clearly highlighting the significance of personalisation of colour in web design. Ironpaper also states that 48% cited a website’s design in deciding a credibility of a business with 94% citing as the reason they mistrusted or rejected a website.

At Hueyify we believe that there is more to just a focus on “accessibility” when striving for the perfect web browsing experience. As a result we are pushing towards the next era of the Internet with a new product / service with a beta version to be released in 2015 with a focus on enabling personalisation of the entire Internet browsing experience. Hueyify has a learning engine that will learn more about your personal preferences the more you use it. It also enables the user to take control & manage all content in all web browsers providing the freedom, personalisation and preferences on how content can be displayed. Hueyify has a deeper understanding on the accessibility issues and limits because Hueyify was formed and founded based on a blind boy’s struggles with accessibility and ideas on how the Internet could be further improved and to help others who are also disabled.  The main objective is to improve people's Internet browsing experience by aiding comprehension, understanding and improving the overall web browsing experience.

Ms Fong states that it is more than just accessibility at play and is like viewing websites that was personally designed and tailored just for each individual. She also adds that what makes Hueyify ideal is that it is suitable for mainstream and disabled users – a win-win outcome satisfying everyone including website owners by having their websites accessible for all via Hueyify.

Hueyify has been receiving and seeking donations to fast track development of this project and it will have huge benefit to blind and autistic citizens worldwide (Please support us). It is free for anyone who is legally blind or autistic. To find out more visit: "why was Hueyify invented"