Ned Desmond
TechCrunch
California, United States
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Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Ned:
Explore accessibility via Amazon Alexa at Sight Tech Global 2022
At the upcoming Sight Tech Global conference, two of Amazon’s accessibility leaders will discuss how Amazon continues to dig deeper into the Alexa. → Read More
Sight Tech Global 2022 agenda announced
Sight Tech Global announced the agenda for their virtual, free and highly accessible event on December 7 and 8, with some of the world’s top experts working on assistive tech for people who are blind or visually impaired. → Read More
Sight Tech Global 2022 announced
Sight Tech Global is a free virtual event on December 7-8 that tracks the advances in technology supporting people who live with blindness. → Read More
Final call for Sight Tech Global Dec. 1-2 –
The second annual Sight Tech Global happens this week, on December 1-2, and this free, virtual event is incredibly packed with insights about how rapid advances in technology are fostering an accessibility revolution for people who are blind or have low vision. Register today. All the sessions have been pre-recorded, and I can tell you first-hand […] → Read More
Sight Tech Global agenda announced –
The second annual Sight Tech Global conference, a virtual, free event on December 1-2, will convene the world’s top experts on advanced technologies, notably AI, addressing accessibility and assistive tech for people who are blind or visually impaired. Today we’re excited to roll out the main stage agenda. These 10 expertly moderated fireside and panel sessions […] → Read More
Apple and Amazon ML/AI leads to speak on accessibility at Sight Tech Global 2021 –
Sensors and data are proliferating. Whether it’s from a phone, a car or smart home devices, astonishing amounts of data fuel the work of researchers and product developers conceiving new products and experiences. Among those who stand to benefit, even more than they already do, are people who are blind or visually disabled. That’s why […] → Read More
Mike Shebanek and Matt King share W3C accessibility project at Sight Tech Global 2021 –
Millions of people who are blind or visually impaired use a technology known as a screen reader to access the Web. However, few websites are coded to work properly with screen readers. Global web standards that specify how to support screen reader users as well as other people with disabilities have been available since 1999, […] → Read More
Microsoft’s Saqib Shaikh, lead on Seeing AI, is returning to Sight Tech Global, Dec. 1-2 –
At last year’s inaugural Sight Tech Global event, a virtual event dedicated to applications of AI and related tech to accessibility for people who are blind, one of the most popular sessions belonged to Saqib Shaikh. The Microsoft engineer co-founded and leads the Seeing AI mobile app, which embeds a remarkable number of services beneficial to people […] → Read More
Announcing Sight Tech Global 2021 –
Shortly after the first Sight Tech Global event, in December last year, Apple and Microsoft announced remarkable new features for mobile phones. Anyone could point the phone camera at a scene and request a “scene description.” In a flash, a cloud-based, computer vision AI determined what was in the scene and a machine-voice read the […] → Read More
Imagine being blind and trying to attend a virtual event. Try that next time you stage one. –
How do you make a virtual event accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired? When I started work on Sight Tech Global back in June this year, I was confident that we would find the answer to that question pretty quickly. With so many virtual event platforms and online ticketing options available to […] → Read More
Sight Tech Global day 2 is live! Hear from Apple, Waymo, Microsoft, Sara Hendren and Haben Girma –
Day 2 for the virtual event Sight Tech Global is streaming on TechCrunch from 8 a.m. PST to 12:30. The event looks at how AI-based technologies are rapidly changing the field of accessibility, especially for blind people and those with low vision. Today’s programming includes top accessibility product and technology leaders from Apple, Waymo, Microsoft […] → Read More
Sight Tech Global is live! Join top AI technologists and accessibility innovators to discuss the future of assistive tech –
Today and tomorrow, from 8 a.m. PST to 12:30 p.m. PST the first annual, virtual event Sight Tech Global is streaming on TechCrunch. The event looks at how AI-based technologies are rapidly changing the field of accessibility, especially for blind people and those with low vision. Today’s programming includes AI giants Amnon Shashua and Kai-Fu […] → Read More
Perkins, ACB, Benetech, Salesforce and more announce breakout sessions at Sight Tech Global –
Sight Tech Global is little more than two weeks out, and today we published the detailed agenda for Dec. 2 & 3. The show runs from 8 a.m. to noonish Pacific standard time. If you have not already grabbed a free pass to the 100% virtual event, now is the time! Sight Tech Global will […] → Read More
Treviranus, Butler and Fruchterman to speak at Sight Tech Global –
Sight Tech Global goes live the week after Thanksgiving on December 2-3, and now’s the time to pick up a free pass! The agenda for this virtual, global event on AI-related technology and accessibility for people who are blind or visually impaired just keeps getting better. Today we’re delighted to announce two new sessions […] → Read More
Apple’s Jeff Bigham, disability rights lawyer Haben Girma, author Sara Hendren and more to join Sight Tech Global –
The other day we announced the first ten sessions for Sight Tech Global, a virtual event Dec. 2-3 that is convening the world’s top technologists to discuss how AI-based technologies are revolutionizing the future of accessibility. Today, we’re pleased to announce three additional sessions. Registration is free and and open now. Designing for Everyone: Accessibility […] → Read More
Here’s the curtain raise on the Sight Tech Global agenda
The goal of Sight Tech Global, a virtual, global event on December 2-3, 2020, is to gather the world’s top experts who are applying advanced technologies, notably AI, to the future of accessibility and assistive tech for people who are blind or visually impaired. Today we’re excited to roll out most of the agenda. There […] → Read More
Amazon’s Josh Miele and Anne Toth talk Alexa and the future of accessibility at Sight Tech Global
When Alexa launched six years ago, no one imagined that by today there would be hundreds of millions of Alexa-enabled devices or that Alexa would become part of so many lives. For people who are blind or visually impaired, voice assistants are a huge convenience, whether you are calling a loved one, cooking a meal, […] → Read More
Hailing a self-driving taxi when blind. Learn how Waymo answers that challenge at Sight Tech Global –
Imagine yourself unable to see well enough to drive, and how that would change your life. I witness that scenario every day at home with my wife, who is legally blind, and a very busy person. She reveres Uber and Lyft because they provided her with the still remarkable option to get up and go […] → Read More
JAWS architect Glen Gordon is joining Sight Tech Global, a virtual event Dec. 2-3 –
For people who are blind or visually impaired, JAWS is synonymous with freedom to operate Windows PCs with a remarkable degree of control and precision with output in speech and Braille. The keyboard-driven application makes it possible to navigate GUI-based interfaces of web sites and Windows programs. Anyone who has ever listened to someone proficient in […] → Read More
OrCam Technologies co-founder Amnon Shashua to speak at Sight Tech Global –
If the measure of progress in technology is that devices should become ever smaller and more capable, then OrCam Technologies is on a roll. The Israeli firm’s OrCam MyEye, which fits on the arm of a pair of glasses, is far more powerful and much smaller than its predecessor. With new AI-based Smart Reading software released […] → Read More