The weekly access information newsletter read by more than 50,000 people now puts every issue since 2022 on phones and tablets, built for screen readers first.

These apps are my gift to the publication and to blind readers everywhere. I am sorry only that it took me 18 years to get us here.”

— Aaron Di Blasi, Publisher, Access Information News

CLEVELAND, OH, UNITED STATES, November 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Access Information News, the world’s #1 free online resource for current news and trends in access information, published by Mind Vault Solutions, Ltd., has released free apps for iPhone and iPad and for Android phones and tablets. According to publisher Aaron Di Blasi, the apps were designed from the ground up for blind readers.

“Today, with great pride and deep enthusiasm for blind readers everywhere, I am incredibly excited to announce the release of the free Access Information News iOS app for iPhone and iPad, and the free Access Information News Android app for Android phones and tablets,” said Di Blasi.

Di Blasi, who is not blind himself, approached the apps from a sighted e-reader best practices perspective while tapping blind experts with extensive e-reader experience to map out the most-requested functionalities that sighted reading apps lacked. “Some overlap, but many do not. So I wanted to build an app for Access Information News that blended the two. This is my first attempt. And I would love to know what you think,” he said.

Blind readers have asked for an app since about 2008, when Apple first launched its App Store, Di Blasi said, but the development cost always made the idea a nonstarter. By his estimate, before the rise of AI coding assistance, native reading apps for iPhone, iPad and Android built specifically for blind and low-vision readers could easily have cost between $200,000 USD and $550,000 USD for professional, production-ready builds.

When AI coding reached the point where that cost could be reduced by approximately 100 times, Di Blasi donated the time and resources required to create the apps. “These apps are my gift to the publication and to blind readers everywhere. I am sorry only that it took me 18 years to get us here,” he said.

According to Di Blasi, every screen of the iPhone and iPad app was tested at each step of development using Apple’s own automated accessibility audit, with VoiceOver and the largest text sizes in mind, and reviewed by AI accessibility agents before being tested on a real iPhone and iPad by three unique, anonymous blind users and three unique, anonymous sighted users prior to launch. The Android app was held to the same standard, with every main screen checked by Google’s own Accessibility Test Framework on Android phones and tablets, with TalkBack in mind.

Listen reads each issue aloud, highlights the heading being read and keeps reading when the screen locks. Every article has its own heading, so a screen reader moves through an issue article by article, and an optional notification arrives each Monday, normally at 6:00 AM Eastern, with the new issue already downloaded.

Topic Alerts name every article in a new issue that mentions a followed word or name, such as JAWS or braille, without the topics ever leaving the device. Readers can also save articles, add notes and highlights, search every issue since November 7, 2022 even with no connection, add upcoming events to a calendar, translate an issue, choose high-contrast colors and the Atkinson Hyperlegible font, and save an issue as an EPUB book for a braille notetaker.

The apps are free, carry no additional ads and have no in-app purchases. Di Blasi donated the builds; Access Information News escrow will take care of their maintenance, supported by the publication’s Sponsors and Advertisers.

The iPhone and iPad app runs on iOS 17 or later, and the Android app on Android 8.0 or later. Every feature, and how to reach it, is described on the Access Information News App page. Apps for its sister publication, Top Tech Tidbits, are coming soon.

About Access Information News

Access Information News is the world’s #1 free weekly newsletter dedicated to covering the latest news and trends in access information for people who are blind, low vision, deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, neurodivergent and/or disabled. Founded in 2022 and published by Mind Vault Solutions, Ltd., it reaches more than 50,000 readers each week and gathers human-curated news, tips and how-tos every Monday morning.

Aaron Di Blasi
Access Information News
+1 855-578-6660
publisher@accessinformationnews.com
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