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Disability is often framed as something to accommodate instead of celebrate. But Visible Voices, a new digital platform launching today on Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025, is challenging that mindset. The platform is part magazine, part gallery, and part curated e-shop. As a whole, its repositioning disability as a source of culture, creativity, and style, fueled by the belief that accessibility and aesthetics should not be at odds. Cofounded by journalist Bérénice Magistretti and creative entrepreneur Reuben Selby, both of whom live with invisible disabilities, Visible Voices is the platform they wish existed when they were first navigating those identities, with a Vogue-meets-MoMA editorial approach that leaves traditional disability resources in the past. The result is a cultural rebrand and design manifesto, as visually compelling as it is radically inclusive. [Screenshot: Visible Voices] Why is disability still something we tiptoe around? Selby asks. Why are we reluctant to claim it with pride? We realized there was a space missing. A space where people could feel proud of who they are, not despite their disabilities, but because of everything it taught them. A space that didnt feel clinical or heavy, but vibrant, creative, and human. Bérénice Magistretti and Reuben Selby [Photo: Inez & Vinoodh (Magistretti)/courtesy Visible Voices] Built over the course of a year, the Visible Voices platform is as considered in form as it is in content. The site, which they designed in collaboration with design firm Droga5, integrates accessibility from the ground up, without sacrificing visual impact. Embedded accessibility features on the website include a toggle button to shift between light and dark mode and clickable Text-to-Speech audio versions of each article. Rather than default to conventional accessibility plug-ins or overlays, every design choice was made with both beauty and usability in mind. Foundry studio Modern Type also developed a bespoke, hyper-legible typeface to improve readability across the site. And sound designers at Lucky & Bamba created a sonic logo by translating the braille version of the brands name into a musical scale. The result is a sensory-rich digital experience that invites users to engage with content on multiple levels. Were all used to visual logos, Magistretti says. But what if you cant see a logo? You should be able to hear it, feel it. Thats what weve created, and we hope it inspires other brands to think differently. At the heart of Visible Voices are the three editorial pillars designed to reframe disability through a cultural lens: a magazine, digital gallery, and curated e-shop. The magazine features stories at the intersection of disability and aesthetics, including hairstylist Anna Cofones mission to make fashion more accessible, textile artist Caterina Frongias use of braille in her tapestries, and activist Nadya Okamotos reflections on living with Borderline Personality Disorder. Florence Burns, Desert, 2022 [Image: courtesy Visible Voices] The creative voices gallery highlights artists who are either disabled themselves or are reshaping how disability is represented in contemporary art. Among them are Florence Burns, a Manchester-based illustrator whose clients include Nike and Channel 4; award-winning photographer Anna Neubauer; and American painter, writer, and disability rights advocate Riva Lehrer. Aliteia, The Ballad of Human Mutations [Image: courtesy Visible Voices] Meanwhile, the e-shop takes a bold stance that says disabled consumers deserve products that are not only functional but beautiful. We didnt want to take the health-related route of selling medtech devices because we want to go beyond this patient-focused narrative and offer disabled people a beautiful, creative, and aspirational hub, Magistretti explains. Anna Neubauer, Megan [Image: courtesy Visible Voices] While many charities, foundations, and grassroots organizations continue to do vital work supporting disabled communities and advocating for systemic change, Magistretti and Selby intentionally structured Visible Voices as a for-profit business. Commerce plays a huge role in pushing culture forward. People buy what brands tell them to buy, so diverse representation is crucial, Magistretti explains. If you only see nondisabled people in campaigns and runway shows, the assumption will be that the market for disabled people is niche, because its invisible. By increasing representation across fashion and beauty, that visibility generates awareness, and awareness creates demand. Blind Beauty [Photo: courtesy Visible Voices] At launch, the store features six brands across three categories, including clothing, accessories, and beauty. Each brand offers a tightly curated selection of 5 to 10 items. Standouts include Neo-Walks vibrant, sculptural canes; Auzis luxury hearing-aid jewelry; beauty brand Human Beautys inclusive makeup; and Liberares adaptive intimates. A visible voices merch line is also in the works, and the team plans to continue growing the store through exclusive collaborations and new brand partnerships that align with their mission. Hearing Aid by Auzi [Photo: courtesy Visible Voices] The bottom line, Magistretti says, is that disabled people arent just patients who need to buy functional medical items. They are consumers who want to buy what they desire, what makes them look good and feel great. The disabled demographic is a huge untapped market with massive spending power. We want to offer them what they want to buy, and show that disability is the next frontier in fashion and beauty.
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E-Commerce
Donald Trump said on the campaign trail ahead of his election that he intended to be the crypto president. But his vision and reality have collided in a way that could ultimately do more harm than good to cryptos broader adoption in the years ahead. Last week, the U.S. Senate dealt the cryptocurrency industry a significant setback, voting to block further advancement of the GENIUS Act, a bill aimed at establishing regulatory guardrails for dollar-pegged stablecoins by classifying them as securities under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The surprise collapse of the actwhich had passed through the Senate Banking Committee with Democratic supportstems from several factors, says Timothy Massad, a former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One major issue, according to Massad, is the bills quality. It didnt address some key concerns, he tells Fast Company. Bipartisan negotiations to refine the bills language were ongoing, he adds, but a larger obstacle loomed: the president of the United States. Trump is a vocal supporter of crypto, so much so that some view him as too deeply involved in the industry and too likely to benefit financially from any policy decisions he makes to be a neutral actor in shaping crypto adoption. First, World Liberty Financiala crypto firm run by Trumps sonsannounced that its new USD1 stablecoin would serve as the conduit for a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabis MGX fund into Binance, the worlds largest exchange. At the same time, the presidents $TRUMP meme coin, launched in January and already responsible for $320 million in trading fees, stands to gain from favorable crypto regulation. In March, Trump also named five tokens that the U.S. would begin stockpiling as part of a new crypto strategic reserve. Critics argue that these ventures blur the line between policymaker and market participant. Trump has been so brazenly self-dealing and corrupt that it has given some Democrats pause, says Corey Frayer, a former Senate Banking Committee aide. Massad agrees. Both the activities of the president that many people feel are corrupt and entirely inappropriate, coupled with the weaknesses in the bill, led Democrats to say, We cant support this, he says. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has stated that the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws. But the perception of personal benefit has already derailed what many saw as cryptos best chance at mainstream legitimacy. Its a source of incredible conflict and potential bribery, Massad says. Trumps involvementand the potential for him to profit from crypto-related policy decisionshas forced lawmakers to scrutinize their choices more carefully, including whether to legitimize stablecoins. Stablecoins dont do anything that we dont already do more efficiently in the financial system, Frayer says. That doesnt necessarily mean the bill is dead, or that Trump will get a pass for what critics see as self-serving actions. Theres been this basic agreement that it is bad when politicians use their position to benefit themselves, Frayer says, referencing support for legislation to ban lawmakers from trading stocks based on insider knowledge. This is the exact same type of issue, he continues. It crosses party lines. At least up until now, there has been a bright line at corruption. But the key phrase, as Trump knows all too well, is up until now.
Category:
E-Commerce
As automakers look to get more people in electric vehicles, they continue to make advancements in EV batteriesdevelopments that add range, speed up charging times, or lower costs, all of which entice customer adoption. Now, General Motors says it has developed a new kind of EV battery that provides a higher range at a more affordable price, and that it aims to become the first carmaker to deploy the technology. Called lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells, these batteries use a higher amount of less-expensive minerals, like magnesium, rather than more of the most expensive minerals like cobalt and nickel. Most EVs in the U.S. use lithium-ion batteries, which contain cobalt and nickel, minerals that have seen price increases as EV battery demand soars. GM and LG Energy Solution plan to start commercial production of these batteries in the U.S. by 2028. [Photo: Steve Fecht/General Motors] In addition to cutting costs, LMR batteries also offer more power. Engineers at GM and LG Energy Solution say their LMR prismatic battery cell has a 33% higher energy density than lithium iron phosphate based cells. This means GM could offer an electric truck with more than 400 miles of range at a more affordable price. In 2024, GM said lithium iron phosphate batteries could cut $6,000 from the cost of battery packs in its electric trucks and full-size SUVs. With this new LMR battery technology, the company expects to achieve even more savings. Its not exactly clear yet what that will translate to for a vehicles sticker price. (GMs Chevrolet Silverado electric truck, with a max range of 492 miles, currently starts around $73,000 but can go above $87,000.) GMs work to develop LMR prismatic battery cells began in 2015, but researchers were studying LMR technology long before that. Though they promised high range for a lower price, historically LMR batteries have been marred by shorter life spans. GM says it has solved this issue, and that its new LMR battery cells match the life span of current high-nickel batteries. The LMR batteries contain virtually no cobalt, per GM, but do still contain nickel, just at a lower percentage than typical battery cells. GM prototyped these LMR batteries at its Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center in Warren, Michigan. The batteries are called LMR prismatic cells because theyre rectangular, whereas most EV lithium-ion batteries are cylindrical or, increasingly, pouch-shaped. (GM has been using pouch cells for years in the U.S., while using cylindric cells in China.) With a rectangular design, GM says the cells can be more efficiently packaged into trucks and SUVs. These battery cells also use fewer components; with LMR batteries, GM says it can reduce the number of parts in its battery packs by 50%, which can cut weight from notoriously heavy EVs. GM expects to save hundreds of pounds in battery mass with LMR batteries. GMs announcement comes weeks after Ford announced its own LMR battery breakthrough. Charles Poon, Fords director of electrified propulsion engineering, announced at the end of April that the automaker is currently producing LMR cells at its pilot production line, and is working to scale LMR battery cell development and include these batteries in future vehicles within this decade.
Category:
E-Commerce
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