Hasta La Gadget!

The Arizona Republican Party is asking the state Supreme Court to rule that vote by mail is unconstitutional.

As the popularity of cryptocurrency is rising, it’s not surprising to see that more companies are starting to accept it as a form of payment. For those of you who shop on eBay often, there might be some good news on that front.

According to an interview with TheStreet, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone hinted that support for cryptocurrency could be coming. According to Iannone, “We’re just completing our transition to manage payments where we’re now managing $85 billion of volume on our platform directly. This gives us the ability to open up new forms of payment.”

While Iannone does not explicitly confirm support for crypto, the CEO did hint at it by saying that they are trying to appeal more towards Gen Zs. “We opened up Google Pay and Apple Pay. We have a partnership with Afterpay in Australia, which is a platform that appeals to Gen Z, and that is a buy now pay later platform on the marketplace.”

Iannone does note that at the moment, crypto payments aren’t supported on eBay, but says that more details are expected to be revealed on the 10th of March where they will be discussing more about things like payments. For those of you who might be holding a fair amount of crypto, this could be good news as it would represent another way to spend it or even earn from it.

eBay Could Soon Accept Cryptocurrency As Payments

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

At CES earlier this year, OnePlus announced their latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 10 Pro. However, back then the company only revealed that the phone would be launching in China, a bit of an odd move given that past OnePlus handsets were launched globally, but we have some good news.

At MWC 2022,  the company has confirmed that fans of the OnePlus series of phones living outside of China will be able to get their hands on the OnePlus 10 Pro by the end of March 2022. According to OnePlus, “Following the incredible sales achievements of the OnePlus 10 Pro in China, I’m happy to announce the device will launch in North America, India, and Europe by the end of March 2022.”

The company adds, “OnePlus’ emphasis on its key markets – India, the United States, Europe, and China – remains as strong as ever. In parallel, OnePlus will aggressively explore new markets and expand our product lineup in existing ones. OnePlus will expand its product lineup in Mexico and Canada later this year – giving customers in both countries more OnePlus products to choose from at a wider range of price points.”

For those learning about the phone for the first time or who might now be interested given that it will be expanding to other markets, the OnePlus 10 Pro will come with a 6.7-inch 3216×1400 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, the handset will also be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which is par for the course for 2022 flagships, and will be accompanied by up to 12GB of RAM.

The phone will also feature a triple camera setup on the back which comprises of a 48MP main shooter, an 8MP telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultrawide. There will also be a 32MP front-facing camera for selfies. There’s no word on pricing yet, but we expect we’ll learn more once the phone is closer to release.

OnePlus 10 Pro Will Launch In The US In March 2022

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The American Council of the Blind, National Disability Rights Network, National Federation of the Blind and more than 170 other disability organizations signed a letter published today, calling for the Department of Justice to finalize rules for online accessibility. According to the letter, the rulemaking process began in 2010 “under Titles II and III of the ADA” but was withdrawn in 2017. Last year, US representative Ted Budd (R-NC) led the re-introduction of a bill proposing an Online Accessibility Act, which was initially introduced in October 2020.

In today’s letter, addressed to assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke, the signees urged “the Department of Justice to maintain this rulemaking process as a priority and finalize a rule by the end of the current administration.” It states that while the DoJ has held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes websites and other technologies critical to accessing a business’ services, it has “failed to define when and how they should be accessible.”

Director of advocacy and government affairs for the American Council of the Blind Clark Rachfal told Engadget that at the moment, the DoJ enforces accessibility online “on a case-by-case basis.” 

“This is equivalent to enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act for the physical build environment by going door-to-door along main street,” he said. The signatories of this letter want the DOJ to create enforceable accessibility standards “to ensure equal access to telehealth, distance learning, remote work, and online commerce for all people with disabilities,” he added.

Efforts to come up with these rules have ebbed and flowed. The letter noted that “In 2018, the Department reconfirmed its position that the ADA applies to the internet but never completed rulemakings that were begun in 2010 under Titles II and III of the ADA and withdrawn in 2017.”

The result is an online world where people with disabilities struggle to get their needs met. According to WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind), about 97 percent of the 1 million pages evaluated had WCAG 2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) failures. These issues ranged from using low contrast text and missing form input labels to empty buttons and missing alt text for images.

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“The absence of digital accessibility regulations in the intervening time period has resulted in persistent exclusion of people with disabilities from digital spaces covered by the ADA,” the letter notes. It also highlights issues like “persistent barriers in telehealth accessibility,” particularly for deaf users. While there haven’t been quantitative studies on intersectional disabilities and how they relate to online accessibility, the letter states “anecdotal reports suggest that the vast majority of DeafBlind people are completely unable to utilize telehealth as it currently exists.”

An American Foundation for the Blind study that’s cited in the letter found that almost 60 percent of educators surveyed in Fall 2020 reported “their blind and low vision students could not access one or more of the digital learning tools they were expected to use in class.” 

As the world increasingly lives and conducts business online, it’s crucial that the digital world is accessible by design. The letter points out that “These findings are neither exhaustive of all website-related issues nor comprehensive of the entire disability community.” There’s a lot of work and research still to be done. 

“The disability community is large and diverse, facing access issues that continue to grow and evolve with the ever-changing landscape of websites and applications.” Having a set of rules in place will help enable clearer communication and implementation of the tools that will make websites (and apps) accessible to all. 

TikTok has joined Facebook in blocking access to two Russian state media outlets in the European Union. Sputnik and RT are no longer able to post to audiences within the EU, and their pages and content will no longer be accessible to users in the bloc, a TikTok spokesperson confirmed.

TikTok’s move comes as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have also cracked down on the outlets, which have large followings on social media platforms. Facebook also said Monday that it was blocking access to the publications, and Twitter said it would label all tweets from Russian state media accounts.Those actions come after a broader order from EU officials to ban RT and Sputnik.