Perkins Library

02/02/2026

Perkins Library is partnering with Massachusetts Center for the Book to bring you monthly reading challenges for all of 2026! 📚

For February, read a book outside of your genre comfort zone. Our reader advisors are just a call away if you need help with ideas!

Submit your books by the end of each month to be entered for prizes! Sign up for the challenge today: https://mareadingchallenge.org/

02/01/2026

The Reflex is a robotic device designed to strap to a person's leg for orthopedic knee rehabilitation. The hope is to help therapy after an injury be more efficient. Read more: https://bit.ly/4pBTRZF

Assistive Technology Development, or ATDev, is working with people with disabilities to develop systems for rehab and daily tasks.

01/31/2026

A lightweight assistive exoskeleton has been introduced by RoboCT to help people with mobility issues be more active in daily living. Read more: https://bit.ly/4qjnUXn

Home News PR Newswire RoboCT Unveils Lightweight GoGo Exoskeleton Series at CES 2026, Pioneering Effortless Daily Mobility for All RoboCT Unveils Lightweight GoGo Exoskeleton Series at CES 2026, Pioneering Effortless Daily Mobility for All Provided by PR Newswire Jan 6, 2026, 3:00:00 AM RoboCT Unvei...

01/30/2026

Will the 2026 Winter Olympics be more accessible than ever before? ⛷️ NBC TV properties and digital platforms, such as Peacock and the NBC Sports app, will offer increased accessibility options like closed captions, audio description, keyboard navigation, color contrast, and screen reader support.

Will you be tuning in to Olympics coverage beginning with the opening ceremony on
February 6? What sports are you most looking forward to? 🏅

01/29/2026

Unfortunately, 94.8% of websites do not pass accessibility standards and, of those, 96% fail because of the same six errors, which are all simple fixes. Read more: https://bit.ly/4qgKorH

New WebAIM data shows 94.8% of home pages fail WCAG, pushing brands to rethink accessibility audits and modern web workflows.

01/28/2026

Congrats to Perkins Library patron Matthew Shifrin on all his success!

Matthew Shifrin is on a mission to make Legos accessible for blind people through his nonprofit Bricks for the Blind.

01/28/2026

In celebration of , members of our Perkins community, including students from Perkins School for the Blind, would like to share their favorite books with all of you! 📚

📕 Shelby: “I like the bear book (That’s Not My Bear!). It’s a mystery! Where is the bear? He is missing!”

📕 Beth: "The historic 1961 World Book Encyclopedia in braille is 145 volumes long!"

📕 Myatt: “My favorite book is Tennessee. I made it in braille class with my teacher. I love this book because it is about Tennessee where my grandparents live.”

📕 Brian: "Braille cookbooks are where my fingertips and love of food come together."

📕 Noa: "My favorite book is about Louis Braille. I like it because it is all about braille. I love braille!"

Keep the celebration going by posting a "shelfie" of yourself with your favorite book! Remember to tag us and share this post!

01/27/2026

Meet W1, an assistive device robot that can detect smoke and open windows and doors. Read more: https://bit.ly/45PbkGO

Zeroth unveils assistive home and outdoor device, W1 Zeroth’s W1 is a mobile robot with track wheels and cameras in the eyes that can monitor smoke and open windows and doors at home. Both a home and outdoor assistive device, the rolling gadget uses AI and LiDAR to understand its surroundings and...

01/26/2026

Why do some symbols look the same? 🤔

A single braille cell can contain up to six dots, resulting in only 63 possible combinations to represent all letters, numbers, punctuation, and contractions. So, some symbols work double (or even triple) duty! What they represent is determined by their position within or relative to a word or sentence.

Note that the following examples use contracted (or "shorthand") braille.

Example 1️⃣: Dots 2, 3, and 6
🟢 At the beginning of a word: Opening quotation mark
🟢 At the end of a word: Question mark
🟢 Standing alone: Contraction of "his"

Example 2️⃣: Dots 2 and 5
🟡 At the end of a word: Colon
🟡 At the start of a word: Contraction of "con"
🟡 Inside of a word: Contraction of "cc"

Example 3️⃣: Dots 2 and 3
🔵 At the end of a word: Semicolon
🔵 Standing alone: Contraction of "be"
🔵 Inside of a word: Contraction of "bb"

01/25/2026

A Dutch design company has developed a compass that always points home and can be tracked by loved ones to alleviate anxiety for elders with memory loss and their families. Read more: https://bit.ly/49xC4gl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1qxgyGGUKw There is a tension in families where someone loves to walk but sometimes forgets the way back, especially in the context of early dementia. Smartphones, maps, and tracking apps can feel overwhelming or unfamiliar, and that often leads to staying indoors in...

01/24/2026

NBCUniversal plans to make the Winter 2026 Olympics more accessible than ever before through closed captioning, increased audio description, additional support for screen reader users, and more. 🏅 Read on: https://bit.ly/4a2YS8W

Television coverage of the upcoming winter Olympics is on track to be more accessible to people with disabilities than ever before.

01/23/2026

Does have punctuation and symbols? 🤔 Absolutely! Braille contains the same punctuation marks as are found in print. 📚

But, some combinations of dots have different meanings depending on their placement. For example, the same combination of dots can represent an opening quotation mark when at the start of a word/sentence or a question mark when placed at the end of a word/sentence.

Want to learn about braille letters? Check out: Perkins.org/Alphabet