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Paschall Power Newsletter
Edition 34 | September 2026
Your Premier Source for Blind & Low Vision Access News
| Email: PASS1@AccessiblePass.net | Website: accessiblepass.net |
Welcome to Edition 33
Welcome to the Paschall Power Newsletter — your trusted, community-driven source for news, technology, and inspiration crafted specifically for the blind and low vision community. Each edition, we hand-pick the stories that matter most to your accessible and digital journey — from the latest screen reader updates and AI breakthroughs to cultural highlights, empowering profiles, and practical tools that make everyday life richer and more independent.
Quick Accessible Fact
Did you know? The first official screen reader for Windows was SlimWare Window Bridge, released by Syntha-Voice Computers in 1992 for Windows 3.1!
Accessibility Note
Reading with a screen reader? Activate your “Say All” or “Read All” command to enjoy this newsletter completely hands-free — including all accessible image descriptions and labeled content. You can also press your Headings navigation key (H on most screen readers) to jump quickly between articles and sections
Inspiration Corner — Quote of the Month
This month’s inspiration comes from community and political Leader, Mr. Hakeem Jeffries — U.S. Representative for New York’s 8th Congressional District and House Minority Leader.
A tireless advocate for justice, equity, and the dignity of every American.
“We view a setback as nothing more than a setup for a comeback, and America has the great opportunity to keep the comeback going.”
Hakeem Jeffries (April 2026)
Now, let us get into the news📰
Apple’s Most Ambitious iPhone Lineup Ever: iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max & the Foldable iPhone Ultra — What It All Means for Our Community
Paschall Power Newsletter — Technology & Independence Feature
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to be announced at Apple’s fall keynote, with retail availability beginning around September 18, 2026. Powering both devices is the all-new A20 Pro chip, built on TSMC’s groundbreaking 2-nanometer process, featuring a 32-core Neural Engine capable of executing over 60 trillion operations per second and 12GB of unified RAM. For our community, that raw power means VoiceOver’s AI-powered image descriptions, Live Recognition, Magnifier’s visual AI, and Siri’s natural language understanding all run faster, more accurately, and entirely on-device — your personal information never leaves your phone. The Pro starts at $1,099 (256GB) and the Pro Max at $1,299 (256GB), available in Dark Cherry Titanium, Natural Titanium, Slate Black, and Glacier White. The accessibility suite arriving with iOS 27 is equally impressive. VoiceOver’s new Image Explorer delivers richer, AI-powered descriptions of photographs, scanned bills, and visual content systemwide. The Action button now lets you instantly ask a question about what the camera sees and receives a spoken response — with natural language follow-ups supported.
Magnifier gains AI-powered visual description in a high-contrast interface, controllable entirely by voice. Voice Control now understands natural language — say “tap the named folder” instead of memorizing exact labels. Accessibility Reader handles complex multi-column documents with on-demand summaries and built-in translation. And new generated subtitles automatically transcribe spoken audio in uncaptioned videos, processed privately on device. Then there is the iPhone Ultra — Apple’s first-ever foldable smartphone, expected to be announced alongside the Pro models, with shipping beginning October through December 2026. This book-style foldable opens to reveal a 7.8-inch internal display — near iPad mini-sized — that is genuinely transformative for low vision users: text that is difficult to read on a standard screen becomes significantly more readable on that expanded canvas. When closed, a 5.5-inch external display functions as a standard iPhone. The Ultra is expected to start at $1,999–$2,499 (256GB), powered by the A20 chip with 12GB RAM and a 4,800–5,000 mAh battery — the largest ever in an iPhone. Note: All iPhone Ultra specifications are based on current supply-chain reporting as of August 2026 and are not yet officially confirmed by Apple.
Activate the following link for more about Apple’s May 2026 Accessibility Announcement💡
JAWS 2026 Gets an AI Assistant — Meet FSCompanion, the Screen Reader’s New Best Friend
Paschall Power Newsletter — Screen Reader & Software Feature
If you use JAWS — Job Access With Speech — as your primary screen reader on Windows, the 2026 update is one you will want to install right away. The headline feature is FSCompanion, an AI-powered assistant trained on JAWS help and training data as well as Microsoft support content. The concept is beautifully simple: instead of searching through multiple help documents to find a keystroke or setting, you simply ask. “How do I change the JAWS volume?” “How do I select cells in Excel?” “How do I turn off the Preview Pane in Outlook?” FSCompanion searches the relevant resources and delivers a concise, step-by-step answer — including the exact keystrokes you need — in seconds. Access it within JAWS by pressing INSERT+SPACEBAR, then F1, or visit FSCompanion.ai from any browser.
JAWS 2026 also brings automatic language detection — the screen reader can now identify the language of text it is reading and switch to the appropriate voice automatically, even when documents lack proper language tags, running entirely on-device with no internet required. EPUB reading receives meaningful improvements, with new region navigation types (chapters, glossaries, indexes, appendices, and more) accessible via the R and SHIFT+R quick keys, and page numbers now announced as you move through digital books. A wide range of web and ARIA improvements round out the release, including better handling of radio buttons, tables, combo boxes, switch elements, and Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. JAWS remains available at approximately $95 per year for a Home Annual License. It is also worth noting a landmark shift in the screen reader landscape: according to the most recent WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey, NVDA — the free, open-source screen reader developed by NV Access — has now surpassed JAWS as the most widely used primary screen reader worldwide. For users on a budget, NVDA covers the vast majority of everyday web browsing, Microsoft Office, and general computing tasks at no cost. Whether you use JAWS, NVDA, or Narrator, 2026 is a strong year for screen reading technology across the board.
Activate the following link for more about What’s New in JAWS 2026 — Freedom Scientific💡
What’s New in JAWS 2026 Screen Reading Software
Accessible AI: What the American Foundation for the Blind’s (AFB) Landmark Report Tells Us About AI and the blind Community
Paschall Power Newsletter — Research & Advocacy Feature
In March 2026, the American Foundation for the Blind published The AI Quagmire: Benefits, Risks, and Aspirations Through a Disability Lens — the most comprehensive national survey of AI use among people with disabilities ever conducted. Researchers surveyed 1,070 U.S. adults with disabilities and 665 without, and the findings are striking: nearly half — 44% — of disabled participants reported using AI for visual descriptions, compared to just 26% of non-disabled participants. Among blind and low vision users specifically, 51% use AI visual descriptions at least once per day. The most common uses include reading text (93% of BLV AI users), describing photos (78%), describing scenes (78%), and identifying object details (76%). This is not a community on the sidelines of the AI revolution — we are among its most active and invested users.
The report does not shy away from the challenges, and neither will we. Among BLV users who reported AI visual description errors, 21% said those errors caused them real harm — compared to 9% of sighted users. The difference is significant: sighted users can visually verify an AI description. BLV users often cannot. The report documents real examples: an AI that provided incorrect information while helping a user complete tax forms, and an AI that misread a medication label. These are not hypothetical risks. They are documented experiences from real members of our community.
“AI is both a powerful accessibility tool and a source of emerging inequities. Participants reported widespread adoption, meaningful benefits, and strong interest in further skill development — yet also described persistent accessibility barriers and challenges in high-stakes contexts.
Activate the following link for more about The AI Quagmire Report — American Foundation for the Blind💡
The AI Quagmire | American Foundation for the Blind
Lumin: The Voice-First Email App That Was Built for Us — and Works for Everyone
Paschall Power Newsletter — Apps & Daily Living Feature
Email is one of the most essential tools in modern life — and one of the most frustrating for blind and low vision users. Swiping through subject lines with VoiceOver, wrestling with HTML-formatted messages that screen readers struggle to parse, hunting for tiny reply buttons — it is a daily friction that most sighted users never think about. Sriram, the blind founder of Lumin, thought about it every single day. His lived experience with progressive vision loss from cone-rod dystrophy, combined with a background in video game engineering and immersive technology, led him to build something our community has been waiting for: a voice-first email assistant for iPhone that lets you manage your entire inbox by talking to it. Tap once, talk to it, and Lumin reads, replies to, deletes, and triages your email — without you ever having to look at a screen.
The capabilities are practical and powerful. Say “What’s new?” and Lumin reads through your unread mail one by one — respond with “delete,” “archive,” “reply,” or “next.” Dictate a reply naturally and Lumin writes a professional, full-sentence email that does not sound like AI — you review before it sends. Ask it to “find the email from my doctor last week” or “summarize this,” and it delivers. Lumin was co-designed with Lighthouse for the Blind, supports VoiceOver natively, includes robust text zoom, a simplified interface, and a dark mode — all standard, not afterthoughts. Privacy is built in: Lumin only reads what you ask it to read, never sells or trains on your inbox content, and gives you full account control including deletion. Lumin is free to download on the App Store for iPhone (iOS 18.6 or later) and currently works with Gmail accounts. The development roadmap includes Outlook and calendar support, iPad and Android versions, and eventually smart glasses and car integration. If email has been a daily frustration, this app is worth trying today — it is one of the most thoughtfully built accessibility tools to arrive on iPhone in years.
Activate the following link for more about Lumin — App Store💡
Lumin — apps.apple.com/us/app/lumin-talk-to-your-email/id6762822189 – Search
Robot Dogs Are Here — But What If They Were Programmed to Guide Us?
Paschall Power Newsletter — Technology, Innovation & Community Feature
You may have seen the headlines: ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — is planning to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamics’ four-legged Spot robots, according to a federal procurement notice released in late August 2026. The Spot robot, already deployed by the U.S. Secret Service, the LAPD, and police departments across the country, is equipped with 360-degree cameras, sensors that detect gas, radiation, and vibration, an extendable robotic arm capable of opening doors, and the ability to navigate uneven terrain in environments too dangerous for human officers. ICE intends to use the robots for inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment — not arrests. But here at the Paschall Power Newsletter, reading that story sparked a different question entirely: what if these same robot dogs were programmed not to search — but to guide?
The technology to make that happen already exists — and researchers are already building it. In August 2026, the Mila – Quebec AI Institute unveiled Milo, the world’s first fully autonomous, open-source robotic guide dog, manufacturable for under $2,000. Milo uses onboard AI, LiDAR sensors, and RGB cameras to navigate both indoor and outdoor environments without pre-mapped routes, cloud connectivity, or an internet connection. A telescopic handle connects the user to the robot physically, with sensors tracking the handler’s position and walking dynamics. A directional control pad lets users adjust walking speed and indicate preferred direction at intersections — preserving user agency while the robot handles obstacle detection, pedestrian avoidance, and path navigation. In testing, Milo outperformed traditional navigation baselines, delivering smoother movement and fewer handler collisions. The full hardware designs, software stack, and pre-trained AI models have been released publicly as open source. Now imagine that same technology — the sensors, the AI, the navigation intelligence — scaled up and purpose-built for our community. A robot guide dog that navigates city streets and building interiors, announces intersections and points of interest via built-in speakers, connects via USB or Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device for GPS-integrated turn-by-turn guidance, monitors your home environment for safety hazards, and responds to voice commands. A companion that never tires, never needs years of training, and could be available at a fraction of the cost of a trained guide dog — which today runs upward of $50,000. The Paschall Power Newsletter team believes this is not a distant dream. It is an engineering decision waiting to be made. Someone will build this. And when they do, our community will be ready.
Activate the following link for more about Milo, the Open-Source Robotic Guide Dog💡
Time Is on Your Side: Five Accessible Smartwatches for the Blind and Low Vision Community
Paschall Power Newsletter — Wearable Technology & Daily Living Feature
Smartwatches have quietly become one of the most powerful accessibility tools available — a device on your wrist that speaks to you, alerts you with a tap, reads your notifications, tracks your health, and connects you to the world without ever requiring you to pull out your phone. With so many options on the market in 2026, choosing the right one for our community comes down to screen reader support, voice assistant integration, haptic feedback, battery life, and price. Here are five of the best accessible smartwatches available right now, each verified for blind and low vision use. The Apple Watch Series 10 ($399, iPhone only) remains the gold standard for VoiceOver users. Triple-click the Digital Crown to activate VoiceOver, which reads every notification, app, and health alert aloud. Zoom magnifies the display up to 15x. The X-Large watch face displays the time in numbers that fill the entire screen. Siri handles voice commands hands-free. The Taptic Engine delivers distinct wrist taps for different alerts, and Screen Curtain lets you use the watch with the display completely off for privacy. Battery life is 18 hours. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 ($299, Android) brings TalkBack screen reader support, high-contrast display modes, and Galaxy AI coaching to Android users, with an impressive 40-hour battery and ASHA hearing aid certification for direct audio streaming. The Garmin Venu 3 (~$449, iOS and Android) offers up to 14 days of battery life — the longest of any mainstream smartwatch — with built-in GPS, voice-guided workouts, and a bright AMOLED display with large text support, making it ideal for users who cannot charge daily.
The Google Pixel Watch 4 ($399, Android) integrates deeply with Google Assistant and Fitbit’s health platform, offering 24–31 hours of battery, Emergency SOS with satellite connectivity, and Wear OS accessibility features including TalkBack and large text. For users on a budget, the Garmin vívoactive 5 (~$235) delivers 11 days of battery life, built-in GPS, Body Battery energy tracking, and a clean AMOLED display with large text support — all at a price that makes it one of the most accessible entry points in the category. Whichever watch you choose, the key features to look for are a built-in screen reader (VoiceOver or TalkBack), strong haptic alerts, voice assistant support, and a battery life that fits your charging routine. The right smartwatch does not just tell you the time — it keeps you connected, informed, and independent, every hour of every day.
Contact our team for additional help by choosing a great smart watch & essential training on its functions💡
Paschall Power Star of the Month — September 2026
Dolly Parton — The Woman Who Made Sure Our Children Could Read
January 19, 1946 – August 25, 2026
We have reached the conclusion of our 34th edition — and you know what that means. It is time to honor the Paschall Power Star of the Month for September 2026. This month, we celebrate a woman whose heart was as big as her voice, whose generosity touched every corner of this country, and who did something for the blind and low vision community that most people do not know about — something quiet, consistent, and profoundly meaningful. The Paschall Power Newsletter is proud to honor Dolly Rebecca Parton — country music icon, philanthropist, literacy champion, and a true friend to our community.
Dolly passed away peacefully on August 25, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 80. The world is grieving. And we are grieving with it. Dolly was born the fourth of twelve children in a one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee — a family rich in music and love, but genuinely poor in material means. Her father, Robert Lee Parton, was the smartest man she ever knew, but he never learned to read or write. That reality shaped everything that followed. In 1995, Dolly launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library — a program that mails one free, age-appropriate book every month to every registered child from birth to age five, at no cost to families. What began in her home county grew to cover the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. By the time of her passing, the Imagination Library had gifted more than 332 million books to children around the world. The Library of Congress called her a “titan of children’s literacy.” She called it the work that meant more to her than nearly anything she had ever done.
“I knew in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true. Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. — Dolly Parton”
Here is the part of Dolly’s story that the Paschall Power Newsletter wants to make sure our community knows. In 2011, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library partnered with the American Printing House for the Blind to create the Braille Tales program — sending braille and audio versions of Imagination Library books to blind and low vision children across the United States, free of charge. Since the program launched, more than 110,000 braille books have been mailed to over 5,600 families. Dolly did not have to include our community. The Imagination Library was already one of the most successful literacy programs in the world. She could have stopped there. She did not. She looked at the children who could not see the pages and found a way to bring the books to them too. That is who Dolly Parton was — not just a star, but a neighbor, a friend, someone who saw a need and filled it.
“I am so excited that I can now bring the same joy to kids who may have some trouble seeing but have no trouble in believing that all of their dreams can come true. — Dolly Parton”
Activate the following link for more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library — Braille & Audio Books💡
Dolly Parton Official Website | Music, News & Biography
Stay Connected, Share, and Support
On behalf of the Paschall Power Newsletter team, thank you for reading. Do you have questions, suggestions for future content, or interest in submitting an article for a future release? Drop us a line at the contact link below:
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Written by the Paschall Power Newsletter Team