hello. this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines: the uk's chief negotiator returns to brussels to resume brexit talks, with time running out to reach an agreement. we will see what happens in negotiations today and we will be looking forward to meeting our european colleagues later on this afternoon. donald trump holds his first rally since losing the us presidential election, urging crowds in georgia to vote republican in crucial senate run—off elections. hospitals across the uk are getting ready to accept delivery of the coronavirus vaccine, with the first jabs set to be given on tuesday. peter alliss, the former golfer and bbc commentator, has died. the bbc‘s director—general says no—one told the story of golf quite like him. now on bbc news, it's time for click.

this week — hands, face... 0h, there's two people. yeah, there's two — yeah, got them. ..race? hello, welcome to click! hope you're all doing 0k. it is that time of year when we mark the international day of persons with disabilities. it happens on 3rd december and we have a show this week all about accessibility in tech. click‘s very own paul carter has been putting the show together for us, and thanks to the magic of television, he's here! hi, paul!

hi, guys. how you doing? good to see you. it's not magic, really. someone tell her. chuckles. that's right, this is a show all about disability tech — and i should point out that we do cover these stories all year round on click, it's just that this one day gives us a particular excuse to unashamedly focus just on these issues. it's always such an inspiring show. i wonder how it's been curating and putting this programme together during a pandemic. it's been a challenge, i'm not going to lie. it might look a little bit different in terms of scale and scope from previous years but as this pandemic showed us, disabled people regularly have to find ways of adapting and using technology, so it's an appropriate thing for the programme. how has this lockdown affected you personally? it's not always been easy. lots of disabled people — you know, me included — have had issues around isolation and loneliness. but one of the real positives to come out of this has been the rise of remote working and technology that makes that possible. disabled people have been calling for it for years and were often told it's not possible and these last crazy, crazy few months have shown

us that actually, it's more possible than we probably thought. and i wonder what that'll mean for the future. well, we'll have more from paul later on in the show but first, lucy edwards — who is somewhere between becoming radio one's first blind dj and a tiktok phenomenon — she's been investigating how ai could be making smartphones the latest mus—have accessory for people with visual impairments. the latest must—have accessory for people with visual impairments. if you're blind like me, tech that describes its surroundings can be life—changing. robotic female voice: facing south—west along world piazza. not that it always gets it right. is there a bike parking in front of us? that was last year. now, the new iphone 12 comes with lidar to help users detect people around them. that's especially useful right now when we're all meant to be socially distancing. i asked my best friend dave to help me give it a go. hello!

how are you? i'm good, thank you. how are you? it's nice to see you. in these strange times, i have felt a bit anxious about leaving the house. have you tried it out the house yet or is this the first time...? this is the first ever time. the world outside is so inaccessible at the moment for me. i don't know if people are going to cough on my face or where they are in proximity to me, but will this in my hand have the answer? there's no people detected, so i'm guessing that's correct. as we set off down my local high street, we saw the tool could be amazingly accurate. a white building with a red and white sign on it. a person wearing a helmet sitting on a motorcycle. then again, it did also think that dave was a child. hilarious! robotic male voice: a child standing in front of a building with a sign on it. what did thatjust say? did thatjust say a child in front of — i get that a lot! i don't know! it is telling me you're in front of a building though.

i mean, that's accurate! but what really surprised me was the people proximity alerts. 0h, there's two people — yeah, there's two. yeah, you got those. you got both of them. yeah, got them. it is almost getting almost every person that is walking past. i love it! 1.5,1.5. there's a person 1.5 metres away from me! do i need to socially distance? the smartphone counts down as people get closer. i've found you, you are five metres away. iam! four. four metres away. two. 1.5... and your cane is about to... one. there we go! 0.5. thank goodness you're in my bubble, babe. i think this is going to be useful even after the pandemic for tackling things like queues. right, you're there. a person standing on a sidewalk in front of a store. that is incredible. sings: # two metres away. i'm two metres away! 0h, there's another person. honestly, i think knowing that people are around me freaks me out a little bit because i'm really not used to knowing where people are! so i'm going to have to get used

to it, but i'm really excited that i can be in control again. but any a! tool can only ever be as good as its training data. and objects like braille readers or white canes have never been the focus of an a! database before, until now. these clips have been collected by microsoft, city university of london and the university of oxford, but they have all been filmed by people like robin. it's really important that blind people themselves are the ones to do the recording of the things that are important to them. that they're the ones that are capturing these training videos because they're the people that are going to be using the software to find the objects, and they might not line it up in the viewfinder very well. it might be obscured by another object, you know? it may be partially hidden because, you know, the machine learning behind it, the brain behind it will be that much smarter, and will give that much better — a more inclusive experience

for people with a vision impairment. so far, some 3000 videos have already been collected and the project aims to gather around 10,000 clips in total. we developed a data collection app — it runs on an iphone, they can download it — and then we ask them to take some videos — so seven videos of at least five objects through the data collection app. that automatically gets uploaded, we check it... because this a! can learn from just a handful of clips, users will be able to teach it personalised objects. that means being able to pick out your keys or your cane from other people's. sojust imagine if i could train it to say "yep, robin's shoes" or "0h, those are robin's glasses". particularly when you have family members leaving their stuff around as well — you know, is this my mug that i'm about to pick up, or is it somebody else's?

the data base will undoubtedly improve seeing ai and soundscape — two audio tools already launched by microsoft. the biggest gap is what we have been calling the data desert, to really light up all of that potential. we start to realise that there is not enough data, holistically — notjust any — for any one company. just holistically, there's not enough data. from next year, the database will also become open source so anyone can build better products, whether that is for your smartphone 0!’ even your smart glasses. oh, yeah! high five. blind girl high five! will it come to glasses soon? boy, i really do hope it will! and i would actually wear these glasses around the house, notjust out and about, because then everything that i look at would be spoken to me. wow, that sounds amazing. i use apps every single day but i've never seen something that will personalise objects in my hand before, and this would be

groundbreaking for the visually impaired community. lucy edwards there. paul, do you think that smartphones are going to become vital tools for blind people? absolutely. ithink, you know, lucy touched on it there — what has been extraordinary has been the pace of change in that smartphones now are just absolutely essential as an accessibility aid. do you think there's even more to come in this space? absolutely. i think the next thing will be live, on—the—fly, people recognition, so it can identify individual people, notjust people in general. but i think it a more wider sense, ai is going to have huge implications for this area and i think as more companies cotton on to the power, we'll see it rolled out much more widely. hello and welcome to the week in tech. it was a week that tiktok started allowing some users to record longer

3—minute videos as part of a test run, instead of the usual one minute limit. spotify has had some of its pages defaced by a hacker who put up pictures of his own snapchat, amongst other things. and apple revealed the nhs covid—i9 app was the second most downloaded iphone app in the uk this year. only the video chat app zoom was installed more times. it was also the week that one of biology‘s biggest mysteries was mostly solved by artificial intelligence. deepmind has used their a! alphafold to largely predict, with very high accuracy, how a protein folds into a unique 3d shape. trained using the shapes of known proteins, alphafold was able to do in a matter of days what might take years in a lab. researchers at mit csail have developed robogrammar — a way for a computer to design its own robotic body by considering the terrain, available parts and obstacles. the system creates a body that best suits the conditions.

and finally, do you want your own robotic rover? this is exomy — a mini replica of the european space agency's rosalind franklin rover, which is meant to go to mars in 2022. the esa have allowed people to download materials so they can 3d—print the bot at home, and even drive it around using your phone. you can even pick what hat it wears! 0h! cute! back in 2016, we were in switzerland at the first ever cybathlon. it's the world's only competition where people with physical disabilities compete using assistive devices and robotic technologies. this is the olympics for bionic athletes. and the competitors — known as ‘pilots' — are notjust pushing their own abilities but also technological boundaries.

this serves as an important platform for research into assistive devices for everyday use. over the last four years, the pilots and technology developers kept working to prepare for the 2020 cybathlon and, in spite of the pandemic, the competition has gone ahead. however, instead of competing in zurich's swiss arena, the 51 international teams participated in their home countries. three, two, one... beep! in six different disciplines, the pilots tackled tasks and obstacles, trying to get around courses in the shortest time whilst incurring the lowest number of penalties. woo! the events were recorded and sent to the organisers in zurich to be judged. commentator: ..race, and we go straight to seoul, in south korea, to look at young hoon kim. let's quickly go over to india. this is team viswajyothi.

they were then broadcast as if they were happening live, with the results kept secret until that moment. 0wen collumb, on the other hand, shows a perfect turn. he drives absolutely clean through corner four. and with the teams participating remotely, all the competitors needed to face exactly the same conditions. the first step is that we have a rulebook which clearly defines not only the rules by which the tasks have to be completed, but also the dimensions by which the tasks have to be set up. and, of course, there had to be a way of ensuring everyone stuck to the rules. we recruited referees all over the world in the last month. we trained them also via videoconferences. we did some more tests with them and now, they are ready tojudge, on site, the performance of the pilots. each discipline challenged teams to solve everyday problems. now again, over that rough terrain! all green lights...

in the powered wheelchair race, competitors had to manoeuvre through confined spaces, over rough terrain, and even upstairs. bernhard winter is one of the many tech developers who were inspired by the cybathlon in 2016 to take their technology further. i started about six years ago. i wanted to do a student project. i had the idea to build a cool robot that could climb steps. at the same time, the cybathlon was initiated, so the idea came hey, we could put a seat on top. this is what we did. we built a wheelchair that could climb stairs. laughs. bernhard and i have history. here he is as a student at eth zurich trying to rescue me from peril as his first prototype leaves me hanging. literally. does this look as terrifying to you as it does to me? i'm not sure what is going to happen right now. no, it doesn't work.

whoa! then, tragically, in the 2016 competition, his machine failed to get off the starting grid. but now, his company manufactures and sells his motorised wheelchairs — and they do work. i can finally visit my neighbours next door because too often, they have long stairs leading to their doors and actually, i haven't been in their homes for the last five years, since my accident, so with scewo, i could, for the first time, visit them. central to the cybathlon is how research into how these high—tech solutions can work in everyday life. powered arm prosthetics are used to cut bread, screw in light bulbs and hang up washing. and exoskeletons are challenged with tasks like getting up from the sofa. even technologies like brain—to—computer interfaces are being tested.

the system detects brain signals and uses them to control an avatar in a virtual race. beep! applause. and in a cycling task for competitors with paraplegia — a complete or partial paralysis of the lower half of the body — a technique known as functional electrical stimulation is used to enable them to perform a pedalling movement on a recumbent bicycle. back in 2016, we metjohnny beer as he trained and competed in the 750 metre race. as technology has improved over the last four years, the distance has increased, but it still has to be covered in the same time of eight minutes. three, two, one, go! now, the cleveland team are the one to beat. now, this is a gentleman who is looking to turn the tables, johnny beer! in 2016, i got 4 minutes, 8 seconds. johnny beer is so close with — oh, and it is beer! the imperialberkel team takes silver medal.

today, i've got 2 minutes 57 seconds but for 1200 metres, so technically, i'm, like, 100% faster. every cybathlon there is, the technology is going to get better — and that's a good thing for disabled people. some competitors even turned their living rooms into makeshift tv studios with cameras linking back to zurich, screens with countdowns, and even cheering supporters. and there is the closure of the door! whilst it is a competition, cybathlon is first and foremost a place for collaboration, technological development, inclusion, and a showcase for what is needed by people with disabilities. oh, that brings it all back, doesn't it? we were there in 2016 and i have to say, it is one of the highlights of my entire time on this programme. it was incredible.

and i think it's much like seeing any sporting event — you don't quite appreciate the wonder of it when you see it on tv as you do in the flesh. now we're going to talk about gaming — and specifically, how accessible video games games rate. so paul, tell us about this next story, please. well, with the new next—gen consoles now on sale — the p55 and the xbox series x, questions have been asked aboutjust how accessible they are. is this the most accessible generation of console gaming ever? so niamh hughes has been looking into this for us and investigating specifically what changes have been made for disabled gamers. i remember seeing my first games console probably when i was around five or six, but it just wasn't something that kind of appealed to me at the time — primarily because the controllers were just completely inaccessible to me. i have congenital hemiplegia, which is a little bit like cerebral palsy, but it only affects the right side of my body. so my left hand is pretty 0k.

right hand, on the other hand... so having a controller in front of me and then navigate a character's movement, all at the same time, is really, really difficult. with the nintendo wii, that was a really, really important console for me but i suppose my first real exposure to gaming personally was through the playstation 2. the release of the eyetoy — you had a little camera above the telly and it would pick up all your movements and it would correspond with the games. i could do that and then invite my friends over. the eyetoy for playstation 2 was the first time that i really experienced accessibility and gaming — even though that was completely unintended. the eyetoy for playstation 2 was the first time that i really experienced accessibility in gaming — even though that was completely unintended. but thankfully, we've come a long way in the 17 years since, and now accessibility is being considered from the very start of the design process. there has been such an awakening across the industry and within our culture,

that it is no longer an afterthought and it is so much of the forefront of everything we do now. you know, we've made leaps and bound evolutions in fine motor and auditory impairment and visual impairment. so with the new generation of controllers being touted as the most accessible ever, it's nowjust up to me to get to grips with them. so this is the playstation 5 dualsense controller. it's pretty cool, and it's got an ergonomic design that makes it quite easy to hold. what's also really cool is that all of these buttons can be remapped on the console. so if you're, like me, left—handed, you can put all of the controls on the left—hand side, if you like. it's also got haptic feedback. and it isn'tjust sony's playstation that's taking steps to make games controllers more accessible. microsoft has been working with disability charities to help create something pretty unique. this is the xbox adaptive controller. it came out in 2018 and it's pretty cool. it's basically like one central

controller but, as you can see, there are loads and loads of ports here that you can plug in any controller that you like to make a more bespoke gaming experience. it's interesting, you know? i've been in the industry now for 20—something years and definitely, i would say notjust at xbox but in all the partner publishers and developers and companies i deal with, the awareness is a lot higher. and i think the realisation is that when you design for accessibility challenges and opportunities, you actually open up so many other doors for a range of scenarios that are unexpected and you end up sort of solving for one but then applying to many in a really positive way, and i think that's really catching on in the industry. taking a closer look, it really does seem the consoles have added loads of accessible features and menus for both

the console and the games. menu cursor sensitivity. enhanced auto aim. like the ps5, the xbox's accessibility menu has a screen reader and custom button assignments. there are also captions, voice recognition and even transcription facilities. accessibility in technology often focuses on educational tools or disabled people's ability to adapt to surroundings on a day—to—day basis, but it rarely tackles entertainment and downtime. it's like we're surviving, but not thriving. specialeffect is a charity that recognises this and understands how important accessible gaming is to disabled people. what we do is if someone wants an assessment, if there's a game or games they want to play, we are able to send the equipment out to them and then we would go out and do assessment for the majority of people we help, because actually, being there is so important.

the most important thing is this — the gaming industry is becoming so much more inclusive and it's paving the way for accessible tech everywhere but, most importantly, it normalises the idea of considering accessibility from the get go — from the initial blueprints to the final product. and it's this normalising of disability that could help us change our attitudes towards disability in the future. that was niamh hughes. and paul, do you think the games industry is finally paying attention to this market? i do — or, at least, they're they're getting there. i think as niamh's experiences in that piece showed us, we essentially had a lost generation of disabled gamers who wanted to get involved but found that it was something that just wasn't accessible for them. and thankfully, that's now starting to change. generally, do you think 2020 has been a good year for accessibility? well, it seems weird to be

talking about taking positives from this year, doesn't it, but... too right. ..i think from accessibility terms, on the whole, yes. a lot of the new features and products that have been super accessible for disabled people this year, a lot of them have almost come about by accident and i think that plays into this notion of inclusive design — that if you include and design products for disabled people from the ground up, you end up with better products for everybody. paul, thank you so much. and don't forget, we have loads of content relating to disability at bbc 0uch!, which you can find at bbc.co.uk/ouch. also, a reminder that clicker 20, a live celebration, is happening this thursday at 12:30pm gmt. exciting! and if you want to be in our live online audience, then do send us a direct message via twitter or instagram at @bbclick. and later in the week, we'll be sharing a link for you all to click on if you'd all like to watch. that is it for this week, though. thanks so much for watching

and we we'll see you soon. bye— bye. hello. 0ur weather is going to stay on the cold side through not just the rest of the day but into the first part of the new working week as well. cold at the moment. there is rain in the east. the cold air has been brought to us by the dip in the jet stream with cool weather spreading across europe into the west of africa as well. this morning we had seen a widespread frost. temperatures have got down to minus four celsius in spots. the frost has been widespread there has been rain around as well.

the majority of the rain has been affecting eastern areas of the uk. we have a big variety of weather from place to place. we see some light and patchy rain crossing the midlands into east wales. showers will continue around the scottish borders and northumberland. athe showers for the west of wales, wet, and the isles of scilly. the best of the sunshine in the west and central scotland. even in the sunnier moments it was stakeholder but overnight it it will stay cold, but overnight it will get colder with a widespread frost on the way. a few showers in the east of scotland. on monday, the uk finds itself between the two areas of low pressure. there will be barely any wind around on monday and the wind will be slow to change that they will be dense and widespread mist and fog patches to start the day. some could linger well into the afternoon, perhaps lingering all day in places.

some sunshine across north—western areas. the weather will tend to cloud over in the east into the afternoon. look at the temperatures! three to six celsius. monday will be cold. 0vernight the rain moves into the cold air and we will see some of the rain turning to snow for a time over the high ground of scotland and northern england as well. in the middle of the week this low pressure will centre over the top of the uk. it will be chilly and cloudy with further outbreaks of rain. the rain will turn lighter and patchy as the week goes by. perhaps turning brighter as well. more cold weather over the next few days. that is the forecast.

good afternoon. the uk's chief brexit negotiator has arrived in brussels to resume talks with the eu about a trade deal. it comes after the prime minister spoke to the european commission president yesterday evening. significant differences remain on fishing rights, competition rules and how a deal would be enforced. this morning, the environment secretary, george eustice, said there was still a trade deal to be done, but admitted that the talks were in a "very difficult position". 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports.