Newsletter No. 358
Gene therapy experiment treats rare childhood blindness - BBC News
An experimental trial of gene therapy has helped four toddlers,born with one of the most severe forms of childhood blindness, gain “life-changing improvements” to their sight, according to doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
The rare genetic condition resulted in the babies’ vision deteriorating very rapidly from birth.
Before the therapy, they were registered legally blind and only just able to distinguish between dark and light.
After the infusion, all parents reported improvements, with some of their young children now able to begin to draw and write.
Further work is being done to confirm the early study, which appears in the Lancet medical journal, external.
Gene therapy for another form of genetic blindness has been available on the NHS since 2020.
The new work builds on that success by injecting healthy copies of a defective gene into the back of a child’s eye, very early in life, to treat a severe form of the condition.
The best TVs for people who are blind or partially sighted
There are dozens of accessibility features that make TVs easier to use for people with sight problems, but not all TVs have them
Studio 24 launch a brand-new web platform for the RNIB Bookshare website
Thousands of children and young people across the UK with vision impairments and/or difficulty reading standard print due to conditions such as dyslexia, can now access more than a million books and images quicker and easily following the major upgrade of the RNIB’s Bookshare service.
World Book Day
World Book Day is on 6th March 2025:
Find out what books RNIB has prepared to celebrate World Book Day 2025
Read author Tom Palmer’s World Book Day letter to editor – RNIB
IFLA Guidelines for Making Libraries Accessible for People with Disabilities
New and updated IFLA Guidelines for Making Libraries Accessible for People with Disabilities provide basic ideas and strategies on how to make libraries accessible.
They include:
- universal design, assistive technology, and physical and information accessibility.
- provide a rights-based approach for library services to all persons with disabilities, based on human rights-related laws.
- focus on leadership and management in libraries.
- educate library staff on the wide range of users with disabilities so they can provide appropriate and welcoming services to meet everyone’s needs.
- provide updates on helpful technologies to promote accessibility through numerous new library practices and innovations.
- provide easy-to-understand guidelines so librarians without related training or experiences can begin serving all community members well and they contribute to the United Nations 2030 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), such as reduced inequalities, good health and well-being, quality education, decent work, and economic growth.
Google Unveils Direct E-Book Sales on iOS, Bypassing Apple Commission
Google has now been granted permission to sell e-books and audiobooks directly to buyers via its iOS app, Google Play Books.
Google said users will henceforth be able to complete a book purchase by clicking on the ‘Get Book’ option associated with a book in the Google Play Books iOS app.
Users will then be redirected to the Google Play website where they get to complete the purchase using their Google Account and saved payment method.
With the payment being processed on its own site, Google isn’t required to pay the approximately 30 percent cut that Apple charges on any in-app purchases made on the iOS app.
This complies with the External Link Account Entitlement that Apple first introduced in 2022, as per an agreement reached with the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC).
Any company willing to use the entitlement is required to have Apple’s approval for the same as well as following other guidelines, such as. specifying the particular site that needs to be displayed when an external link is clicked and so on.
The rule also makes it mandatory to show a full-screen announcement that lets users know that they aren’t transacting with Apple after they have clicked the external link.
The entitlement is primarily targeted at reader apps which should include those that allow readers access to content such as books, magazines, audiobooks, music, video, and such. Read about it here: