Author: Colin Hughes
When the system takes the carer, the disabled person pays the price
From a hospital bed in Arlington, Texas, Wael Tarabishi asked for only one thing: the return of his father. His father, Maher Tarabishi, had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late October during a routine check-in. He was Wael’s full-time carer and the person on whom his daily survival depended. Wael described the fear of losing him as “real and immediate”. Wael died on ...
Two years on, Apple’s antitrust case hasn’t gone away — and neither have the accessibility questions
Last week, I received an unexpected email from the U.S. Department of Justice. It wasn’t a press update or a policy statement. It was procedural — a reminder that, as part of the Department’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolising smartphone markets, it must produce materials received from third parties during the discovery process. The significance lies in the timing. In early 2...
iOS 26.3 will bring Notification Forwarding to the EU — the UK and others may be left waiting
Apple is currently testing a new feature called Notification Forwarding as part of the iOS 26.3 beta. On the surface, it looks like a small system-level change. In reality, it points to a potentially significant shift in how iPhones interact with third-party wearables. The setting is already visible in iOS 26.3 betas globally. Apple has said the feature exists to meet EU regulatory requirements, a...
EMG, smart homes and personal safety: a use case worth considering
Earlier this month at CES 2026, Meta announced a new research collaboration with the University of Utah exploring EMG smart home control and how consumer-grade EMG wrist wearables could support people with different levels of hand mobility. Using the Meta Neural Band, the research will examine how electrical signals generated by muscles at the wrist can be translated into digital input. Importantl...
A new smart lock hints at what accessibility-first smart homes could become
The arrival of a new generation of hands-free smart locks, such as the Aqara U400, is one of those moments where a feature framed as convenience quietly reveals something much more important. Using Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Apple Home Key, the lock can unlock automatically as you approach with an iPhone or Apple Watch. It represents a shift toward Zero-UI interaction: there is no tapping, no Face I...
Labour promised to fix the NHS. So why am I, a vulnerable housebound patient, still waiting for a flu jab?
Flu season has arrived early. BBC News reports a sharp rise in infections, prompting ministers and public health officials to issue their annual directive: get vaccinated now. Hospitals are already bracing for a gruelling winter, and the message to the vulnerable is urgent. Yet while the rhetoric is clear, the reality for those of us who cannot leave home is anything but. This winter, securing a f...
Budget 2025: Motability cuts that betray disabled people’s independence
The Autumn Budget delivered many of the usual headlines — duties rising on cigarettes and alcohol, eye-catching giveaways, and a handful of announcements clearly shaped for the early evening news. But beneath all that theatre came something far more damaging: the confirmation of significant Motability cuts, changes that strike at the heart of independence for thousands of disabled people. The gove...
Voice Control in macOS 26.1 fixes some bugs — but Apple should add “Background Accessibility Improvements”
Voice Control in macOS 26.1: progress, but key bugs remain After six weeks of waiting, Voice Control in macOS 26.1 has arrived — and it’s a story of progress mixed with frustration. The good news: Apple has finally fixed long-standing issues with “delete that”, “lower case that”, and the missing in-sentence cursor. These are small but meaningful improvements for those who rely entirely on voice to...
A picture paints a thousand words: why cutting Motability would be a betrayal
They say every picture tells a story. In this old family photo from the 1990s, I’m sitting outside our home in rural Wales with my brother Ian and sister Lyn. My brother Alan isn’t in the photo. Behind us stand three Chrysler Voyagers — wheelchair-accessible Motability vehicles that gave us the freedom to live, work, and stay connected with the world. All four of us were born with muscular dystrop...
Meta visited me to test the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses and Neural Band
Meta brought the future to my doorstep Two weeks ago, something quite extraordinary happened. Meta Reality Labs visited my London home to let me try the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses — the first model with a built-in display — bundled with the Meta Neural Band wristband. Officially released in the US on 30 September 2025, and priced from $799, the devices aren’t yet available in the UK— so havi...