Podcasts about accessworld

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. As we prepare to celebrate Global Accessibility awareness day, we thought it would be great to look into the future of accessibility, welcoming our special guest to the podcast Gemini, Google's AI platform, whcih gives us a glimpse into the power AI has toward making the world around us more accessible.  Aaron and Tony take time to talk with Gemini on its latest update to provide image and real world description in real time (Editor's Note: the version used in this episode is still in beta, so some of the lag times were edited out for brevity). The conversation serves as a launch pad to discuss how AI is already tackling tasks that three years ago seemed like light years ago in a galaxy far, far, away. Aaron then offers a breakdown on apps like Suno, which creates AI generated music. You can check out more about its own accessibility for content enthusiasts in the Spring issue of AccessWorld. The conversation moves into ways that AI may continue to be rolled out in other ways, such as when will Aaron and Tony's guide dogs be able to take a well-deserved vacation in the Bahamas as the development of AI robots continue to flourish. Guide dog users don't fret, we're still quite a ways away from guide-bots. In the meantime, enjoy this special episode that dreams about the future ahead of us. The AccessWorld podcast is an extension of AccessWorld Magazine, a quarterly publication from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Published each quarter, AccessWorld Magazine offers news and reviews encompassing digital inclusion and accessibility. AccessWorld celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and we're excited to share all of our back issues online free for readers. Visit www.afb.org/aw for the latest issues and to access our archives online. Aaron Preece serves as editor-in-chief of AccessWorld, and Tony leads communications for AFB. Together, they enjoy meeting up each month to discuss the latest happenings around accessibility. Visit the AFB website to learn more about our exciting work like our groundbreaking research on the impact of AI for people with disabilities. And consider making a tax-deductible donation to help support this podcast and all of our work at AFB. Your support helps us create a world of endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this month's episode of the AccessWorld podcast, Aaron and Tony talk with Dr. Joshua Miele, who shares his life's journey and work making the world more accessible for people with disabilities. A MacArthur Fellow and design scholar, Dr. Miele has played a key role in designing some of the leading  breakthroughs in digital inclusion over the past three decades.  Last month, Dr. Miele published his memoir, Connecting Dots: A Blind Life. And in this episode, we learn how Dr. Miele's passion for science and exploration took him from the tree lined streets of his boyhood home in Brooklyn, to the leading technology labs of Berkley, California. It's a story that goes well beyond the world of accessible design, unleashing that problem solver that sits restlessly inside all of us. To learn more about Dr. Miele's book and his current work on digital accessibility, visit his site at: www.MieleLab.com. AccessWorld is a production of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Published each month, it is a companion to AccessWorld magazine, now celebrating its 25th anniversary. Aaron Preece serves as the publication's editor-in-chief, and Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. Together, they take time each month to speak with leading voices for digital inclusion and accessibility. Be sure to like and subscribe to AccessWorld, and visit www.afb.org/AW to  read the latest online issue of the magazine and browse through over 25 years of back issues, all completely free-of-charge. To learn more about AFB, visit us online at www.afb.org and consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work as we create a world of endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this episode, we welcome AFB's chief public policy and research officer Stephanie Enyart and director of research Dr. Arielle Silverman, who share the latest study from AFB's Public Policy and Research Institute on the pros and cons of AI for people with disabilities. The study drew consensus from experts spanning industry, government, and advocacy, who mapped out the key areas worthy of focus in this rapidly expanding technology. You can access the study at www.afb.org/AIResearch. AccessWorld is a monthly podcast from the American Foundation for the Blind. Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld and Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. Together, they take a deep dive into all things digital inclusion and accessibility. It's a companion to the quarterly e-zine AccessWorld, now in its 25th year of publication. To access the latest issue, or to browse all of our back-issues for free, visit www.afb.org/aw. To learn more about the American foundation for the blind or to support our work, visit us online at www.afb.org. Produced and edited by tony Stephens at the Pickle Factory in Baltimore, Maryland. Digital media support by Kelly Gasque and Breanna Kerr. Theme music is by CauseMonkey, compliments of ArtList.io. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. On this episode, we have a chance to connect with Ayelit Winer and Brianna Burrows from T-Mobile's accessibility team. Eyelet and Brianna share the strong growth of accessibility within the corporate culture of T-Mobile in recent years and their work launching Magenta A11y, an open source platform for mobile developers that is a one-stop shop for making sure mobile applications are accessible for all consumers.— not just T-Mobile customers, but for customers around the globe. They share what got them interested in digital inclusion and accessibility and give us a glimpse into what the future holds for accessible mobile communications. AccessWorld is a production of the American Foundation for the Blind. The podcast is a companion to AccessWorld magazine, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To check out the latest issue and browse through the archives, which are all completely free, visit www.afb.org/AW.  Check out Magenta A11y at: https://www.magentaa11y.com About the Hosts: Aaron Preece is the editor-in-chief of AccessWorld, and Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. Together, they share their passion for digital inclusion and take time each month to engage on conversations at the intersection of technology and accessibility. For questions or comments about the show, email communications@afb.org. Check out our podcast page here. And be sure to like and subscribe from wherever you get your podcasts!  Produced and edited by Tony Stephens at the Pickle Factory in Baltimore, MD. Digital media support is by Breanna Kerr and Kelly Gasque. Music compliments of ArtList.IO and hosted on PineCast. About AFB: Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. Since its inception, AFB has been a leading voice for access and independence through technological innovation. In addition to publishing AccessWorld and the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at www.afb.org.  Consider making a tax deductible gift today to support this podcast. Your contribution helps us cover things like server costs and transcriptions. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Happy New Year AccessWorld Fans, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to AccessWorld Magazine, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. In this special episode, Aaron and Tony put down their eggnog, stoke the fireplace, and reminisce on all the milestones that drove digital inclusion and accessibility in 2024.      AccessWorld is a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. A production of the American Foundation for the Blind, it drops each month. The podcast is a companion of AccessWorld Magazine. Check out the latest issue of Accessworld online, and be sure to visit the archives, which has 25 years of back -issues available completely free! Aaron Preece is editor-in chief of AccessWorld Magazine. Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast, and even consider making a tax-deductible gift to help support our work and cover the cost for producing the podcast. You can visit the podcast page HERE, which posts transcripts shortly after each episode drops.  AccessWorld is produced by Tony Stephens at the Pickle Factory in Baltimore Maryland with digital media support from Kelly Gasque and Breanna Kerr. For questions or comments, email communications@afb.org. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Thanks for checking out AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this episode, we get ready for the season of giving with AccessWorld's annual gift giving guide. And we're excited that our guest sharing this year's guide is none other than AccessWorld founder Deborah Kendrick. Deborah gives us the gift of hearing first hand AccessWorld's origin story, and we get a sneak-peak into her annual gift giving guide. So, be sure to like and subscribe, and you can check out the podcast page for episode transcripts, which should be posted within a day or two after the podcast goes live. To check out the latest online edition of AccessWorld, or to access over 24 years of back issues for free, visit the online magazine's home. AccessWorld is a production of the American Foundation for the blind (AFB). To learn more about AFB, or to help support our work creating a world of endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision, visit www.afb.org. Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld Magazine, and Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. Together, they take a deep dive each month into the world of digital inclusion. For questions or comments relating to this podcast, email: communications @ afb.org. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome back to another episode of the AccessWorld podcast, a production of the American Foundation for the blind. We've been on break the past month taking care of some housekeeping. Some of that work was moving to a new podcast hosting platform. After hitting our one-year milestone for the podcast, we wanted to move to a new hosting platform that would allow us a bit more flexibility. AFB is now on PineCast, which we have also found to be significantly more accessible on the back end. So, stay tuned for more episodes and other features as we build out the pod in our second year. In this episode, AccessWorld's editor-and-chief Aaron Preece visits the exhibit hall at the 2024 AFB Leadership Conference held this past September in Minneapolis. In this episode, we hear from AIRA, Selvas BLV, and Vispero. There's lots of exciting projects on the horizonfor each of the exhibitors, and we hope you find this episode informative. The latest issue of AccessWorld Magazine dropped on Nov. 20th. Visit the AccessWorld page now for the latest issue and over 20 years of back-issues for free.. AccessWorld is an online magazine published each quarter, providing insight and news for those in the digital accessibility space. Transcripts of this episode are available on the AFB podcast page. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

The rise of artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm over the past two years, and it has the potential to have an enormous impact for people who are blind or have low vision. In this episode of AccessWorld, after a quick detour on the Blind barbie project, our hosts Tony and Aaron offer a rundown on what's in the latest online issue of AccessWorld Magazine, which takes its own deep dive into several related A.I. areas, and they then dive even deeper into the AFB Leadership Conference, held Sept. 23rd - 25th in Minneapolis. This year's #AFBLC focuses on Leading in the Digital Age, and one of the tracks will unpack the rise of A.I. and measure its impact across our community. There's still time to register and be part of the big event. AccessWorld is a production of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB, and Aaron Preece is the editor-in-chief of AccessWorld Magazine, an online publication that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year promoting digital inclusion and accessibility. Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld, and Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. ABOUT AFB Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. In addition to publishing AccessWorld and the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at www.afb.org. Consider making a contribution today and help sustain our mission to create endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision. And be sure to like and subscribe to our podcast. You can access past episodes and transcripts on the podcast page of our website.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld., a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this episode, Aaron and Tony talk with AccessWorld contributor Janet Ingber on the latest updates with Apple. From  the recent announcement around Apple AI, to what is in the pipeline for Apple IOS 18, Janet helps break it all down. We also give a nod to AppleVis, the longtime Apple accessibility online resource blog that will be winding down. Then, Aaron offers an overview of Apple VoiceOver. The segment begins at 22:45, and it provides a useful tutorial for those who may be new to screen readers and want to get up and running on it. About AccessWorld AccessWorld is a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. A production of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), the podcast supports AccessWorld magazine, a quarterly online publication that has chronicled happenings in the access technology space for over 24 years. To check out the most recent version, and to access all of the magazine's back-issues, visit: www.afb.org/AW.  About  AFB Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. In addition to publishing the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at www.afb.org.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. Marking our 10th episode, we thought it would be great to bring on our own President & CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), the one and only Eric Bridges. Eric has long been engaged in fostering partnerships and adovcacy at the intersection of accessibility and technology. In this episode, he reflects on some of his past experiences, sharing how our rapidly changing and technologically dependent world has brought us both great opportunity and challenges. And along with co-hosts Tony and Aaron, they look into the future at what opportunities may exist just beyond the horizon.  About the Hosts: Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld Magazine. AccessWorld is a quarterly online publication produced by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Readers can access the latest issue along with over 20 years of back-issues for free at ⁠www.afb.org/AW⁠. Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. When he's not geeking out on all things encompassing access tech, he's trying out new ways to use technology to master blind sailing on Chesapeake Bay. To check out Aaron's article breaking down NVDA even further in the most recent issue, ⁠click here⁠. About AFB: Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. In addition to producing AccessWorld, AFB publishes the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at ⁠www.afb.org⁠.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. Apologies as we ran into technical issues with this month's episode but better late than never. This month's episode is an excellent resource for developers and those interested in learning more about the free text-to-speech engine NVDA. This application is a powerful tool to learn how text-to-speech works and to test out your own site. It's also a great solution for those looking to gain access on-the-go with a nimble application that can offer assistance through this access-tech application that has a wealth of add-ons to customize the users experience. Our co-host Aaron takes us on a deep dive of NVDA, providing a demo of how it responds to web content and breaks down some helpful extensions that make this free application a robust tool for blind and low-vision users. About the Hosts: Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld Magazine. AccessWorld is a quarterly online publication produced by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Readers can access the latest issue along with over 20 years of back-issues for free at www.afb.org/AW. Tony Stephens leads communications for AFB. When he's not geeking out on all things encompassing access tech, he's trying out new ways to use technology to master blind sailing on Chesapeake Bay. To check out Aaron's article breaking down NVDA even further in the most recent issue, click here. About AFB: Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. In addition to producing AccessWorld, AFB publishes the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at www.afb.org.

On this special edition of the AccessWorld podcast, we welcome AFB's Chief Public Policy & Research Officer Stephanie Enyart and Senior Advisor for Public Policy & Research Sarah Malaier. Together, our hosts Tony and Aaron discuss with our guests the U.S. Department of Justice's recently published final rule on website and mobile app accessibility for state and local governments. This rule is the culmination of decades of advocacy and rulemaking and marks a significant step in ensuring that the digital world is fully accessible to people who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind. Learn more about the final rule on the AFB Blog: https://afb.org/blog/entry/final-rule-website-accessibility. AccessWorld is a podcast and online magazine on digital inclusion and accessibility produced by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). The podcast drops at the start of each month, and the online magazine is published quarterly. To learn more about AccessWorld, visit www.afb.org/AW. Aaron Preece is the editor-in-chief of AccessWorld, and Tony Stephens is the Assistant Vice President for Communications at AFB. Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast, and you can also support our work by making a tax deductible  donation at www.afb.orgdonate. For past episodes and transcripts, visit the AFB AccessWorld Podcast page.

Welcome to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility from the American Foundation for the Blind. In this episode, Aaron and Tony celebrate the power that audio description can have toward making media more inclusive for audiences who are blind or have low vision. They welcome Roy Samuelson, a leading audio description performer, producer, and advocate who continues to be a champion for inclusive media and entertainment. Roy shares his own professional journey, how a close friend sent him on a mission to bring quality in audio description to the masses, and how the team he assembled for AFB's documentary film “Possibilities” took the craft to a whole new level.  Want to learn more about those who work behind-the-scenes to make media more inclusive through audio description? Check out the Audio Description Network Alliance, where you can also find out more about your own favorite voices describing content for television and film. To learn more about AFB's documentary film Possibilities, visit www.afb.org/possibiliteis. About the Hosts: Tony Stephens is the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for the blind (AFB), and Aaron Preece is editor-in-chief of AccessWorld, a quarterly online publication produced by AFB encompassing all things digital inclusion and accessibility. To learn more about AccessWorld, and to gain access to over 20 years of back-issues free of charge, visit www.afb.org/aw.  Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates opportunity and expands possibilities through thought leadership, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. Learn more about AFB at www.afb.org and consider making a tax-deductible gift to support our work creating a future of endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision.

Welcome back to another episode of the AccessWorld Podcast, a production of the American Foundation for the Blind. In this episode, our hosts Tony and Aaron welcome Enzo Caruso from Haptic. Their new venture from HapticLabs is rethinking the way haptic navigation can be used for travelers with disabilities. Enzo shares what lead to the release of their HapticNav app for Apple and Android devices and ways the app is being integrated into existing navigation platforms. They'll be spotlighting the technology at SXSW this month as they prepare for integration in mainstream wearable devices. Users can download the HapticNav app for free on IOS devices.  Tony and Aaron also share exciting news for AFB's TalentLab, which announced on March 1st that applications are now being accepted for the Digital Accessibility Bootcamp, a paid summer internship experience that is perfect for students majoring in computer science or a related field and interested in strengthening their accessibility skillset for a competitive marketplace. Check out the AFB Talent Lab page for more info on the internship program. About Our Hosts Aaron Preece is the Editor-in-Chief for AccessWorld, a quarterly online publication from the American Foundation for the Blind encompassing digital inclusion and accessibility. Tony Stephens is the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for the Blind. Together, Aaron and Tony enjoy diving into all things digital accessibility. You can access the current issue of AccessWorld, along with over 20 years of our back-issues, for free at https://afb.org/AW. For questions or comments about this episode or the podcast, email us.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. February is Low-Vision awareness Month, and we're excited to welcome Lee Huffman from the American Printing House for the Blind. Lee is a familiar voice for AccessWorld enthusiasts , having held down the helm for AccessWorld before joining APH. Lee, who also has low vision, shares his experiences and offers great insight into where we've been, and where we are going in regards to technology for low-vision consumers. Hosts Aaron and Tony along with Lee also share the challenges that often rise up when companies try to have a one-size-fits-all approach toward accessibility, not recognizing the vast spectrum that exists for users with varying conditions like low-vision. Read more about low-vision and assistive tech in the February issue of AFB's AccessWorld E-Zine, which can be delivered right to your inbox this Feb. 20th. Visit www.afb.org/aw and sign-up today. You can also access back issues for free! Listen to past episodes and access transcripts on AFB's podcast page. Transcripts are usually available within 48 hours after an episode drops. You can also check out other podcasts produced by AFB. And, while you're there, consider making a tax-deductible gift to the American Foundation for the Blind. Your gift helps us create a future of endless possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision.

Happy New Year and welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this episode, Tony and Aaron kick off 2024 by sharing their resolutions on improving their braille. Tony shares how he's an old dog still trying to master UEB. Aaron offers guidance in a previous article that breaks down the transition to UEB. We then take a deep dive into distinguishing the difference between accessibility and usability. While accessibility is a critical piece of making the internet accessible for all, usability takes us that extra step toward assuring we can be fully inclusive with our digital content. Check out this previous AFB Tech Notes post on the value of usability. Aaron also breaks down accessible gaming for the blind, sharing some insight taken from the most recent issue of AccessWorld. You can check out the latest issue, published each quarter, along with all the back-issues by visiting: www.afb.org/aw. AccessWorld is produced by the American Foundation for the blind (AFB. For questions or comments, email communications@afb.org. You can support our work by liking and subscribing to the podcast, and even consider making a donation today by visiting www.afb.org.

It's an AFB family gathering for this end-of-year episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this episode, co-hosts Aaron Preese and Tony Stephens welcome AFB's Breanna Kerr and Kelly Gasque, who lead AFB's digital communications. Kelly and Breanna offer up some helpful tips for making sure your social media posts and documents are accessible, just in time for all those end-of-year .pdf reports and holiday posts. Aaron, Breanna, Kelly , and Tony also breakdown 2023, sharing their favorite accessibility wins for the year, and Aaron shares what's new in the latest issue of AccessWorld. AccessWorld is a podcast from the American Foundation for the Blind. The podcast is an extension of AccessWorld magazine, a quarterly online publication that focuses on all-things digital inclusion and accessibility. Enjoy the podcast? Be sure to like and subscribe, and even consider making a donation. Transcripts are available on the AFB podcast page.

Welcome back to another episode of AccessWorld, a podcast on digital inclusion and accessibility. In this, our second episode, we take a deep dive into the latest update for Apple IOS 17. We're excited to have AccessWorld frequent contributors Janet Ingber and Judy Dixon, who break down the mainstream updates and new accessibility features for IOS-17 users. Check out their posts on the AFB blog for more information. We also wrap up National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), with a reminder that inclusion in the workplace continues to be something worth having on our radar year round. AccessWorld has a wealth of articles in back issues that spotlight employment in the tech field as well as in other careers. So, don't forget that you can access for free every issue of AccessWorld going back to the year 2000. We close out the episode with a sneak peak of what's in the upcoming issue of AccessWorld, which will drop later this month. About The Podcast: AccessWorld is a podcast produced by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Since 1921, AFB has been expanding possibilities for people who are blind or have low vision. The podcast is an extension of the online publication AccessWorld, a quarterly e-zine that focuses on digital inclusion and accessibility.  Aaron Preece is the Editor-in-Chief for AccessWorld. His co-host Tony Stephens is the Director of Communications for AFB. Together, they enjoy taking deep dives into topics encompassing digital inclusion and equal access for people with disabilities. For questions, comments, or show suggestions, feel free to send us a note. And be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast to get new episodes on the 1st of each month. You can also subscribe to AccessWorld on the AFB subscriptions page to get the latest issue of the publication when it drops each quarter. Transcripts of each episode are released at the time or shortly after the posting of each podcast on the AFB podcast page.

Welcome to the first episode of the AccessWorld podcast, a new podcast from the American Foundation for the Blind. This episode is a cross-over with our Inform & Connect podcast. AccessWorld will be released the first of each month, and provides additional commentary and in-depth takes on all things relating to digital inclusion and accessibility. Please like and subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts. Questions and suggestions can be sent to communications@afb.org, and check out AccessWorld online at www.afb.org/AW. You can also learn more about AFB's programs, research, and advocacy at www.afb.org, and even consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our work. AFB — Creating a world of no limits for people who are blind or have low vision.  

It would be truly wild if you could take the skills you have learned through playing audio games, like Swamp or Tactile Battle, and transfer them into real world Orientation and Mobility. Surprisingly enough, J.J. did just that when he spoke to Brandon Biggs, Engineer with the Smith-Kettlewell | Eye Research Institute, during our CSUN 2020 coverage. A lot has happened in two years and Brandon is back to demonstrate the Audiom project. Audiom is a browser based inclusive map system that utilizes Open Street Map data in ways that allow the user to explore the world around them in a manner that provides more information than what can be parsed by a screen reader by itself. Tune in, or read below, to experience demos of this new system of navigation. Also, be sure to check out our previous coverage of the TMaps initiative as it is a great partner technology mentioned in this interview. Be sure to visit the Audiom public beta website to test drive this software for yourself. Audiom is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research, and National Institutes of Health. Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Neal Kuniansky, Director of marketing and Sales for Duxbury Systems, is no stranger to the BBQ Exhibit Hall microphones. Moreover, he might be slightly infamous for his aid in a past April's Fool podcast. But this interview is about Duxbury's future and J.J. gets the low down on the new features in 12.6 for Windows and Mac OS. Tune in, or read the transcript below, to get some insights on EBRF and multi-line braille display support as well. To learn more about 12.6, which has been released since the time we recorded this, or to purchase an upgrade to an existing product, visit the Duxbury Systems website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

We began our 2022 CSUN coverage with a discussion about some of the upcoming initiatives from APH. But hearing about the Dynamic Tactile Device Project over Zoom wasn t enough for J.J. s curiosity. That s why he managed to brave the conference labyrinth and find Greg Stilson, Director of Global Innovation for APH, and lay his hands upon the DTD himself. In this demo you will learn more about the current prototype unit while J.J. navigates through images, floor plans and other examples. Greg then goes on to explain more about EBRF, how the unit differs from the DotPad and why he is optimistic about how the DTD will bring a whole new layer of context when it comes to reading textbooks in the classroom. To learn more about the project, and to see if there will be a demonstration coming to your area, visit the Dynamic Tactile Device Project site Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Braille Screen Input, or BSI, is a great choice for those who like that approach on a touch sensitive glass screen. But there is now more than one way to input a cord these days andFreek van Welsenis, Co-Founder of Hable, offers to J.J. another alternative for smartphone navigation. The lightweight Hable is a Bluetooth enabled input device for Android and iOS that has been sweeping its way across the EU. And now it sets its sights on a U.S. launch. To learn more about the device, visit the official Hable website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Higher end math and computational thinking are skill sets that can provide amazing opportunities to many at a young age. The problem that persists is how do parents and educators find the right accessible tools for mastering these abilities in the K-12 environment? We have featured APH s Code Jumper in our previous convention coverage. However, that s just the start for APH s Road To Code offerings that teach students the concepts of sequencing, loops and block coding. J.J. spoke to Leslie Weilbacher, APH Regional Outreach Specialist for the Northwest Region, about some of the new programs and products that can assist in the teaching of coding fundamentals. The interview covers products like the Colby Mouse, Code Quest and Snapino s Snap Circuits and Snap Rover. Lastly, programs like the National Coding Symposium and Access Academy are discussed. To learn more about the products mentioned, with additional links to educational resources, visit the APH Road To Code website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Transcribed by Grecia Ramirez Directly, and actually in person, from Anaheim, it s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2022. Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings; access technology book reviews and mobile apps; and how they can enhance entertainment, education, and employment, log onto AccessWorld. The American Foundation for the Blind s free online technology magazine. Www.afb.org/aw. Now, here s J.J. Meddaugh. J.J. MEDDAUGH: Blind Bargains virtual Exhibit Hall coverage, CSUN 2022 and beyond and across the pond. Hey. I rhymed myself. I will have an award for me later. No. I m just kidding. Ed Rogers, Managing Director, and Charlie Harding, Marketing Distribution Manager for Bristol Braille Technology. The Canute is alive, and we have updates to share. Welcome back to the podcast. ED Rogers: Thank you very much. It must have been a couple years. CHARLIE HARDING: Hi. JM: Yes. Absolutely. And this is your first time, I think, Charlie, on this? CH: It is my first time, so thanks for having me. JM: Yeah. Sounds great. And we ll get back to you in just a second, Charlie. Welcome. I want to talk to Ed first though because we ve been talking about the Canute for a few years, and you got a bit of a head start on some of the other multiline things that have been out there. The Canute has actually shipped. We ve seen units in hand. But why don t you go ahead and give an update on the current status of the Canute and what s going on. ER: Yeah. We started shipping right at the start of 2020, about the same time as the pandemic, actually. And JM: What a time. ER: -- we shipped perfect timing. We shipped a batch of machines out, our very first commercial machines. And then, again, at the end of 2021, we shipped another batch out. And what we are focusing on now is on making sure that the customers that have those machines can actually start to do some more interesting things with them. Because we built these machines and we sold these machines as eBook readers. This is a paperless Braille page, a full Braille library. And, of course, as it s got nine lines, you get the kind of context that you don t get on any other Braille Display because it s 40 cells by nine lines. That s a third of a Braille Ready File, a BRF file. So that was our initial focus. But we re now starting to think about varying the uses people put the Canute to. JM: So before we get into what some of the people are using the Canute for, let s just talk about that. The Canute, like you said, has gone through a couple different runs now. But I know there s been certainly, the part shortage has been affecting lots of different industries and such. How are things looking as far as the Canute users in so far as people who want to think about getting into the Canute? ER: Well, we ve been very heavily affected like many, many factory-owned businesses and like a lot in this industry. At this moment, the machines that are out there are the machines that are available, so there s very limited stocks for people wanting to buy them. But there s hope that the situation can resolve itself soon. These things are being worked and we re working through them. But meanwhile, we do have machines out there in the field being used, and yeah. We hope to go back into production very soon. Like I said, we finished our last one just at the at the start of 2022. JM: Yeah. I can realize that too. It s a product that is specialized and takes a certain set of parts, so I think there s an expectation that it s not the type of product that you re going to order today, and you re going to have these things delivered tomorrow; right? ER: No. One of the things which is making Braille Displays, especially multiline Braille Displays, such a challenge is that the Canute has of course that being 40 cells by nine lines, and each of those cells is a six-dot because it s a six-dot system. That is 2160 -- please write in if I ve got that wrong. That s a lot of moving parts. Now, we went for an approach which has enabled us to sell the Canute as approximately the same price as a 40-cell Braille Display, which is to use a very mechanical system where we actually have although we have something like 2 thousand pins, we only have about a thousand moving parts. I say only, but of course, that makes for a very complicated machine to build. As it is though, we re quite proud, to be honest if you ll forgive us we re quite proud for manufacturing it here in Bristol, in the U.K. We buy the parts in, we had a great team building these machines, and they re all, you know, hand-built, effectively, by us, and then sent out to the customers. JM: I think there s a lot of potential going forward. But let s talk about, first, what people are using the Canute for now. And, Charlie, you re a little bit newer to Bristol, and I think you ve talked to a lot of customers about what they are using the Canute for, so why don t you go ahead and give me a couple examples of what you ve been hearing from users. CH: Oh. Absolutely. It s been really nice, like, getting to know people that are using their Canutes. And like Ed was saying that we originally started making them as an E reader, but then, obviously, we found out that there s a lot more that can be done with them. So I mean, for example, we ve sold one to a girl who s headed off to university. She s doing an English literature degree, so not only can she use it to read for fun, she s using it to help her with her studies. Saves them a lot of paper as well. JM: Yeah. CH: Less to carry about in a bag. We ve spoken to an undergrad student who is doing simultaneous music and physics degrees. JM: Wow. CH: And what he really found helpful with the Canute is being able to read multiple lines of content when it came to reading music. So he was able to do the notes and see the lyrics, essentially. And so instead of having to keep cross-referencing, he was able to do that in one place. And he said that he d wished he d actually had access to it when he was doing his physics degrees because he probably would have carried on with that line of career sorry with that line of education now. It would have made his physics and Maths sets a lot easier to understand and to have done that work. And again, he mentioned that, like, not having to use as much paper was really, really good. And then, finally, there s someone that works with us now, one of our interns, who s been absolutely invaluable. And she s said how great it s been for using for Maths, again, with things like complex equations. And she s said that the you know, it s actually improved her calculation speed and her accuracy because she s able to read the Maths and use that data in a, just, much more effective way. So yeah. In all, like, we love people buying the Canutes and sort of reading for pleasure and catching up with all those books and things, but, before, they ve had to wait for them to be delivered and all this paper and these, you know, five-foot tall series of books. And actually seeing people really engaging with the technology and using it to help them with their education and their careers has been really, really lovely. And we re really happy to keep sort of pushing on and improving that functionality for people. JM: Yeah. The cost of paper alone, you re looking at $40, $50 for a thousand sheets. And I m sure that s just going to keep going up, you know, so I can see CH: Oh. I completely agree. I mean, this economy. JM: Absolutely. And that s just going to keep adding up, and, you know, when you don t have to buy paper, and you can have, essentially, a device that works as a refreshable embosser is how I ve described it to some people, that can just keep pumping out Braille over and over really can be beneficial. CH: Absolutely. And it s just one of those and I mean, even if you don t care about the environment -- and I, you know, waggle my finger at anybody that doesn t -- but it s, you know, it s just a space-saving thing, you know. I mean, we those books are pretty bulky, and just being able to set a Canute on your desk and sort of plug it and go almost is it s invaluable, really. Yeah. It s really freeing people up to get on with things that they want to do rather than sitting around waiting for deliveries, paying for paper, you know. It s really beneficial. JM: Great. So we ve talked for a long time about the other potential uses of the Canute, and, full disclosure, A T Guys, we ve sold the Canute as well. And one of the big things that keeps coming up is either how do you load in other types of books besides BRF and TXT files or will it have, quote, unquote, screen reader support? Ed, you ve been doing a little bit of work in these areas. ER: Yeah. We ve been doing a bit of work in those areas. It s been one of those relationships which has really grown during the pandemic, initially, thanks to the Google Chrome OS team, but later on, we ve had our -- we ve been working directly with the BRLTTY team. Now, for those who don t know, this is a screen reader led by Dave Mielke. And this is a screen reader that s used for lot a lot for very technical uses. It s a console screen reader -- JM: Yeah. ER: -- rather than a graphical user interface screen reader, and we ve seen some real improvements on it. And as a result, you can plug your Canute now into a computer into a Windows computer or a Linux computer, and you can then bring up a console and you can use text-mode programs. You can do your own programming. You can for those who use the CommandLine. This is a really powerful tool. And what we re really talking about here is for people who want to take make advanced uses of the Canute, who people who are very tech savvy. And this is still quite early days for multiline Braille being used in this way. So we are certainly looking for people to start dipping their toes in the water. People who are maybe who do something related to computer science for their work. It could be as simple as if you ve got a program that outputs logs, and you just want to be able to see that directly on your, you know in a columner format. You want to be able to see the actual columns of the log, you can plug a Canute in, run this program in the background, and have your Canute output those things. Like I said, these are very technical things. But some of these areas are areas where Braille readers can really excel, especially when given the same kind of context that you get with multiple lines where you can compare like Charlie was saying with the music. You can compare the results on one paragraph with the result on another paragraph. JM: I want to ask a really tech sorry. Sorry. Go ahead go ahead. ER: You were saying about users using different files on their Canutes. Now JM: Yes. ER: -- the Canute accepts Braille-ready format as its input like many Braille Displays like many stand-alone Braille Displays. That s its default format. What we re working on now and this would be for all existing customers is -- this does not require using a screen reader just a small upgrade that people can go on someone s SD card where they could put some of the more common formats like TXT on it, and it would convert that to a BRF that you can then read on the device without having to do the conversion on your computer. This has not yet been released, but it will be released, and that will be for all existing customers. So once we do that, we can start to play around a little bit because you can people can come in and say, well, I put my DOCX format on it, and it was great, but could you maybe change it so that there s some space between the header and the paragraph underneath it, and we can go, Sure. Well, let s change the format so it really fits with that. And you can t do that unless you ve got multiple lines. And for me, what s important as well is that you can t easily achieve the true, sort of, representation of white space unless you have 40 cells by multiple lines. Because when you get shorter than that, you can t represent most BRFs, and it becomes very difficult to do tables or tabular format and to do indentation. So for example, if you re trying to represent functions in code, then you need to be able to indent things quite far. And that s where things like having 40 cells with nine lines can mean you can see one function, and then you can see the next function underneath it. This is all stuff that s in that requires the this is future development, but what -- like I said, at the moment, what people can do is they can have a go at using the BRLTTY screen reader if they are very technically savvy. Otherwise, if they re just someone who wants to be able to read their documents on the Canute, they can get in contact with us and we can let them know when that s ready. JM: I m going to ask one really technical question, but I ll try to phrase it in a format I won t lose 99 percent of our listeners. So when you re connected to the screen reader, which is a console -- so CommandLine where you type commands and it would output something, is it set up in a way that everything that is output would come to the Canute, or is it set up that it will only output to Canute if you implicitly tell it to, as in like redirecting output to a printer or a text file? ER: Well, also attempting not to lose 99 percent of your listeners. There are two answers to that. The simple answer is when you re using BRLTTY as your main screen reader, everything which is on the console on the CommandLine will be output to the Canute. So if you use CommandLine programs and that outputs to the console, that will then output to the Canute once you ve set it up correctly. There is something called BRLAPI, which means that you can choose what to output to the Canute. So a program if a program has been built especially for it to support Canute, it can do that in a choosy sort of way, which brings us onto using Duxbury with the Canute, which is something that they ve been developing. And it s very exciting, the idea that you can plug a Canute in on a window s machine, have your Duxbury DBT latest version running, and the Braille output on DBT will be simultaneously output to the Canute. JM: And that s another way to solve the file format challenge as well because it s eliminates an extra step. ER: Yeah. And of course, Duxbury DBT has some of the most advanced ways of representing tables, for example, and has a the sort of support for conversion that in some ways, you can only get through that program. JM: These types of features I mean I think it s really important to show what s possible with Canute as you look towards creating more units, as you look towards, you know, going back into production, I do feel like it s important to show some of these things that have been kind of talked about as possibilities, to show them as reality as you try to go in to make more of these; right? ER: Right. That s very much what we re looking at doing over the rest of this year and early next year. JM: Charlie, you wanted to talk to a little bit about the future of Bristol and the Canute and kind of transitioning us to where that leaves us next as more of these software features come in, as more interest develops. Obviously, there s going to be a desire to create more units. So what s the near future look like for the Canute? And whoever wants to answer this I guess the other related question is how does the Canute fit in now with all these other multiline products and graphics products being announced? CH: I think well, I mean, I ll take the first question. JM: All right. CH: Thanks, Ken. We ve got some really exciting plans, actually, in the mix. We just we really want to get the Canute out to more users, essentially. That s the goal. And we really want to, sort of like what Ed was saying before, like, really expand what people are using the Canute for, and, you know, part of that, really, think further about what Braille can be used for. I think, sort of a people assume Braille reading yes. Absolutely. But, you know, as we ve been discussing, like, there s so much more that can be done with it. So what we re hoping to do is to organize some fundraisers and get the Canutes into some blind specialist schools and have them sort of set up to, again, specialize in certain subjects. We want to give kids, sort of, access to Braille, but not just traditional reading. You know, that s really, really important. You know, we want kids to read. Brilliant. But, you know, it s just really kind of giving them access to something even more exciting. And then, you know, with, hopefully, that becoming a success, we d like to expand that again and send it out to adult Braille users. And what we d like, actually, is for anybody interested in our, sort of, funding endeavors wanting to get involved, wanting just some more information is to sign up on our mailing list on the website. It s a super easy box just to fill in. We will be releasing this information in its entirety, hopefully, over the next, kind of, couple of weeks, once we ve got all our ducks in a row. And then hopefully, fingers crossed JM: Right. CH: And then on the 30th of April, in Bristol -- in the U.K., obviously -- we re going to be doing a demo of some of the work that we ve been doing with our group, the Braillists. So we re really looking forward to getting some hands-on feedback on what we re up to. We ve had a little bit of showing show-and-tell, as it were, in the last couple of weeks, and everyone s been really, really positive, which has been lovely. And then, fingers crossed, we should be making it out to the NFB convention this year in some way, shape, or form. So that s sort of a little laundry list of everything that we re hoping to get sorted in the next six months, I d say. JM: Awesome. Maybe -- I guess I ll let Ed take the other part of that before we go. ER: Yeah. JM: Lot of things going on. Lot happened at CSUN with tablets getting announced. And another thing that s related that I think applies to Canute is the new development of the EBRF format. So how does the Canute play into all of that? ER: Well, the EBRF format itself is an interesting development if it comes off the ground. This would be the what do I want to say necessarily the second attempt at this. But this is certainly tied with the portable embosser format, and I hope that we get further with this because I think it s very important that there is a Braille format -- or formatted Braille which can hold some metadata. So EBRF or XMLBRF would be an advance for spreading Braille around, and I look forward to getting involved in how that develops. On the CSUN, you were able to attend that, J.J.? I wasn t actually able to attend this year. But I gather there were some interesting new tablets being announced or being demoed or promised to be demoed. JM: Yeah. Oh, yeah. We did definitely did see a lot of that in various stages of development. Nothing that is being sold today, but certainly stuff that is being talked about especially from Dot and APH. ER: Yeah. And what I find interesting is the focus appears to be very strongly on graphics, which is interesting. And I suspect, in the long run, complementary to what we re doing. Of course, the Canute has been on the market now for two years. And our focus is very much on multiline Braille. And we do experiments with graphics on the Canute using contractions -- two-letter contractions -- to represent a grid of, for example, buildings. So you can sort of move around a map like that. These are experiments that we ve tried and we ve but these are very much focused on Braille itself. So some of these new tablets I ve seen are very focused on Vector graphics and on Bitmap graphics, and it ll be very interesting to see where they go with that. Like I said, our own focus is going to be kept strictly on a format of Braille which fits with high-quality formatted Braille that you would otherwise send to an embosser. It s like -- you said yourself, it s like a refreshable embosser. So that means 40 cells wide as opposed to 20 cells or 32 cells wide. That s very much an important fact for us. And I think where we would end up seeing this shaking out in a few years, if some of these tablets come to market and if they are a comparable price, is a split between tablets which are focusing on being able to output graphics and the Canute which is still talking more about tabular content. So that s tables and text which has where the focus is really on the context around each character and each cell. JM: Sounds fair. We look forward to seeing you perhaps in New Orleans if that happens. And of course, anyone who is in the U.K. can meet up at the end of April. Charlie, you want to give out the contact information if people want to sign up, get involved, help with fundraising, maybe express interest in buying one of these things in the future? What s the best way to do that? CH: Yeah. Absolutely. They can Email me direct. I love to get Emails. It s Charlie, C-h-a-r-l-i-e, dot Harding, H-a-r-d-i-n-g, at Bristol Braille dot ORG. That will come straight to me, and -- yeah. I will be happy to pop you in a mailing list, give you an update, have a chat, anything like that. No problem at all. (Charlie.harding@bristolbraille.org.) JM: Awesome. Thank you, Charlie, thank you, Ed so much for coming on the podcast. We always appreciate it. ER: Thank you, J.J. CH: Thanks so much. ER: Have a good rest of your week. For more exclusive coverage, visit blindbargains.com or download the Blind Bargains app for your iOS or Android device. Blind Bargains audio coverage is presented by the A T Guys, online at atguys.com. This has been another Blind Bargains audio podcast. Visit blindbargains.com for the latest deals, news, and exclusive content. This podcast may not be retransmitted, sold, or reproduced without the express written permission of A T Guys. Copyright 2022. An emerging theme from our CSUNATC22 coverage revolves around the future of Braille beyond a single row of cells. We've spoken to several A.T. makers about this over the years, specifically in BBQ 200, but a lot has changed since 2019. J.J. caught up with Bristol Braille s Ed Rogers, Managing Director, and Charlie Harding, Marketing Distribution Manager, to talk about what it has been like to release the multi-line display during Pandemic times. The trio then cover some of the success stories of canute users and how these successes have led the team to think beyond eBook reading for future updates. File conversion, Duxbury compatibility and Screen Reader support are discussed along with some thoughts about the EBRF format. To learn more about the canute in the U.S., visit the A.T. Guys website. For other inquiries, visit Bristol Braille on the web. Also, be sure to keep up with many things regarding Braille by heading over to the Braillist Foundation Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Many of you might be familiar with Dot through their first entry into the market with the Dot Watch. Since then, the company has grown their offerings beyond the Braille timepiece and are now reaching into the realm of tactile graphics. J.J. traveled to the CSUN basement to talk with Daniel Hyun, Director of Operations for Dot Incorp, about their new technology shown at the Exhibit Hall. The pair discuss how the team has iterated to a 4th generation of Braille Cell, their drive towards Accessible Kiosks and then the conversation moves to the Dot Pad prototype. Fans of Open Source Projects won t want to miss the discussion about the API mentioned in this interview. To learn more about Dot, including the Dot Watch, visit the official website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Shelly brought us our first look at the Envision Glasses almost two years ago at CSUNATC20. A lot has happened since the team debuted that initial pair. And J.J. caught up with Karthik Kannan, Cofounder and Chief Engineer of Envision AI, to find out more. In this interview you will learn about the expansion of the platform, how the new Envision Ally app works and what upcoming features are on the horizon for the Glasses and Envision AI app. To learn more about the products mentioned in this interview, including the ability to schedule a virtual demonstration, visit the Envision AI website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

Earlier in the feed we featured a chat with Randy Ahn on innovation at HIMS. But for those who are eager to learn more JJ spoke with Thomas Simpson, VP of Marketing and Sales for HIMS Inc, about the announcement of pre-orders for the BrailleSense 6 Mini. The pair discuss what s in store for those who are seeking the new Android based notetaker, upgrade paths and initial feature sets for the new device. To learn more about pricing, listen or read the transcript below, and visit the HIMS Inc website to pre-order the unit Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit https://www.afb.org/aw

The BBQ Crew has been talking about the joys of 3d printing for some time now. But J.J. really wanted to know more about the process and what it takes to make an idea go from CAD design to cake design. That is why he sat down with Matthew Suggs, Founder of 3D Wolf Paw Printing, to learn more about how one goes about printing materials on mass. Matthew has more than 10 3d printers of various size and type. He gives J.J. a crash course on the materials used, the time it can take to print something and how he enjoys the experience of holding the fully realized project. To commission a product, email Matthew at blind.grey.wolf@gmail.com. Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

We last caught up with AudioEye on the CSUNATC19 Exhibit Hall floor with news of their advancement into the kiosk access space. The internet has evolved a lot in the 2+ years since that interview and that is where J.J. starts with Dominic Varacalli, President, of AudioEye. The pair discuss the hot button topic of overlays, user testing and how the company is educating their customers to understand that access is a journey rather than a one and done service environment. If you are interested in joining the user testing program, visit this page for more information. Also, to obtain services, travel to the AudioEye website for more details. Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

It has been a long time since we ve welcomed back Earl Harrison, and HIMS, to our BBQ convention coverage microphones. A lot has happened since ATIA20, and a lot has happened to Earl specifically. JJ chats with Earl Harrison, National Account Manager for HIMS, about his return to the company after a scary bout with the virus in November of 2020. The pair then move along to a deep dive of the newly announced BrailleSense 6 notetaker. Topics discussed cover a wide range of questions that were sent in by our fans on Twitter. Tune in, or read below, to learn a physical description of the product and some of the general menu structure. Earl provides some insight into the new approach with the BS6, how this device differs from the Polaris, and he addresses the Android update elephant in the room directly. To learn more about the new BrailleSense 6, including transplant and trade-in options, visit the BS6 product page. Additionally, check out the HIMS YouTube channel as well for up-to-date information about the various lines of HIMS products. Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

The most articulate person in the world probably could not accurately describe a Despicable Me Minion character in great detail. Or at least not at a level that could be discerned at a quality that rivals the act of holding one in your hands. Caroline Karbowski, CEO and Founder of See3d, and Ian Matty, Manager Mountain Lakes Public Library Makerspace, sit down with J.J. to talk about how their organization lets people 3d print cartoon characters and so much more. See3d, with assistance from the OSU Innovation Center and the Mountain Lakes Public Library Makerspace, have created over 1400 3d models ranging from anatomy to astronomy and even famous geographical locations. Hear how the process works, or read the transcript below, for making a request for a design. And learn how others are working hard to make the tools involved with 3d printing better with access technologies. To make a request, or join the See3d community, visit their homepage Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

So, the title of this interview infers that there will be some discussion of audio description within this conversation. And there is, we promise. But can you really blame J.J. for being nostalgic when talking to the author of more than 14 NBP books, and soon to be a retiree, Judy Dixon? UEB and Web Braille are some of the topics covered before the pair move on to her latest book Audio Description: What It Is, Where to Find It, and How to Use It"". Listen in, or read below, as Judy talks about the "independence of Braille" and how it impacted her journey with technology throughout her career. To purchase the book, visit the National Braille Press Bookstore page And to reach Judy directly, send an email along to judy@judydixon.net Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

The Etch A Sketch and Spirograph are some of the most successful toys available for introducing young people to the world of art. However, there are not many touch friendly equivalents for those searching for a tactile based option that would offer a similar experience to those classic toys. Daniel Seth Lubiner, Founder and CEO, and Brian K. Edwards, President and Chief Operating Officer, of TouchPad Pro Assistive Technology are out to change that by creating new products like the Braille Doodle and the TouchPad Pro. Hear the pair tell J.J. how these products were inspired by Braille students, transformed into an Indi Gogo project and how that process is leading to eventual product distribution. To learn more about the TouchPad Pro, visit this link to hear an audio described video of the introductory model. Additionally, to learn more about the company, visit the TouchPad Pro Assistive Technology website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

Steven Scott proudly proclaims to J.J. that he is indeed a "serial podcaster" during this interview. And it is hard to disagree with that statement when you consider the circumstances that led him to the place he finds himself with his career so far. Hear, or read the transcript below, as Steven regales J.J. with highlights from his more than 20 years of speaking into a microphone. Plus learn what is next for the RNIB, Double Tap and all-around Blind guy who talks tech. To keep up with Steven, and to get more information on his new podcast, follow him on Twitter @TechTalkerSteve Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

Blind and Visually Impaired job seekers often must play a guessing game when it comes to the determination if a possible employment avenue will fit within their specific needs for access. That is why J.J. was eager to sit down with Roy Baladi, Founder at Jobs for Humanity, to explore how his organization is looking to build healthy bridges between employers and those interested in employment. Tune in, or read the transcript below, to learn where the drive to assist others came from and where the trajectory may lead to in the future. To know more about Jobs For Humanity, or to browse their postings, visit the Blind.Jobs website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

J.J. notes at the top of this interview that the BBQast rarely interviews people within the Remediation and Testing sector of A.T. unless the subject of the interview stands out in a very crowded field. That is why he sat down with Samuel Proulx, Accessibility Evangelist for Fable, to discuss their unique approach to commercially available User Centric testing. In this chat you can hear how A.T. users of varying degrees of knowledge can embark on a pathway towards obtaining testing experience through resources provided by Fable. Additionally, those who are seeking something beyond automated testing can find a talent base curated by Fable from their growing community. To learn more about services offered by Fable, visit the company website or Follow them on Twitter @Makeitfable Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

There are products on the market that are so well recognized for what they do that they truly need no introduction to fans of this podcast. But even long-time users of a phentermine for sale product might not be aware some aspects of their favorite Assistive Technology can undergo a slight change during a yearly release cycle. Shelly sat down with Matt Ater, Vice President of Corporate Business Development at Vispero, to talk about some of the recent changes that are coming in an update to ZoomText 2021. The pair discuss the importance of the new Zoomy digital assistant, how user settings now migrate between updated versions of ZT and Matt then demos the functionality of Background Reader. To learn more about ZoomText, Fusion or any of Freedom Scientific's Low Vision products, visit the FS website. Also, be sure to check out the Freedom Scientific Training channel on YouTube as it has tons of great resources on various Vispero products. Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit .

Our virtual convention coverage is in full swing, with a deep dive into the happenings at Humanware. Joining J.J. in the simulated Exhibit Hall is Peter Tucic, Blindness Products Brand Ambassador, for his first interview in front of the BBQast microphones. The pair discuss all the features in the new Brailliant BI 20X and 40x units along with how they differ from the APH models. They then turn their attention to the Victor Reader Trek and its most recent GPS update. But that is just the tip of the iceberg as they cover more ground, including the recent service outage. To learn more, join the BI-X mailing list at brailliant-bi-x-users+subscribe@groups.io or visit the Humanware website Blind Bargains Virtual Exhibit Hall coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amoxil offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

As J.J. says early on during his interview with Brandon Biggs, Engineer with the Smith-Kettlewell | Eye Research Institute, "There's a lot to unpack here". The pair even commandeered an entire Platinum Ballroom, okay CSUN wasn't using it honest, to talk about indoor navigation and mapping techniques. Tune in, or read the transcript below, to hear how audio games like "A Hero's Call" can pioneer a tested user experience for providing and effective way to perform indoor navigation tasks. Also, hear a demo and learn how the term XR came about for describing hybrid reality experiences. To learn more about this technology, visit the Smith-Kettlewell | Eye Research Institute website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

A running theme throughout our CSUN 2020 coverage has been how strange the event has been due to restrictions on travel that were falling into place at the time of these recordings. Some Exhibitors were unable to attend and props to John Palmer, President of Patriot Vision Industries for showing some , of TrySight's products at their table as a friendly gesture. In this interview Shelly gets her hands on the Patriot Pro, mentioned during our ATIA 2020 coverage last month, and she gets a product overview of the newly announced Patriot Voice EZ. To learn more about the products mentioned in this interview, visit the Patriot Vision Industries website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

If you do these convention coverage events long enough, well, you end up having some compromising audio and photos being taken of you as a result. Somewhere out there are pictures of Joe with his interview microphone near an odd place on eBot the Robot's chassis. And now the BBQ Crew has a few funny pictures of J.J. thanks to Blindspot Consulting, Inc. and their Accessible Photo Booth. Leah Shaull and Scott Tate walk J.J. through the process of taking the photos while they chat about the company's web remediation, kiosk access design and other services that they provide. Currently the Podcast Team is working out the demands of J.J.'s blackmail and what it would take not to release these photos. But in the meantime, you can find out more on the subject of Blindspot Consulting, by visiting their website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

It has been almost a year since we had Karthik Kannan, Cofounder and Chief Engineer of Envision AI, on the program to talk about pricing plans and the release of the Android version of the app. So, with a new product announcement and pre-order campaign underway, Shelly swung by the booth at the emptier than normal CSUN Exhibit Hall floor to test out the new Envision AI Glasses. The interview covers topics such as why Google Glass v2 was chosen as the first delivery system outside of smartphones, how the company is taking a platform agnostic approach to future versions of the app and the drive to work with others in the A.T. space to adopt more wearable tech approaches. And don't miss Shelly's real time demo using the glasses to read nearby objects and text. To learn more about the Glasses, or the app for iOS and Android, visit the Envision AI website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

We've been lucky enough to capture the success of the Be My Eyes team on our microphones for years. And while the BBQ doesn't have 6 million volunteers, and 200,000 Blind or Low Vision users, we are happy to record another fantastic milestone in their amazing story. J.J. had Will Butler, VP Community, and Alexander Hauerslev Jensen, CCO, by the scaled down Blind Bargains Suite/Room/Alcove to chat on what's happened since our July 2019 interview in Las Vegas. The trio cover topics such as the new funding announcement from last month, where they believe the Specialized Help Platform can grow in the future and the launch of their secondary "13 Letters" podcast. And keep your ears open, or scan the transcript below, to catch a Blind Bargains Qast exclusive bit of news. You can keep up with all the latest information, or join the community, by visiting the Be My Eyes website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

In July 2019, Joe caught up with Kimberly Cline at her LVI America debut In Las Vegas to talk about her excitement for future Video Magnifier products. And that enthusiasm is echoed by Charlie Collins, Director of Sales, when he speaks to Shelly about the new MacViewer device. The pair talk about the specs of the unit, discuss the new improved toolbar experience before noting that the Video Magnifier is also available for Chrome OS and Pcs as well. If you would like to know more about the products mentioned in this interview, visit the LVI America website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

The team at AIRA started off 2020 with the recent news surrounding a change in ownership and the sunsetting of the Horizon product. J.J. caught up with Troy Otillio, CEO of AIRA, outside the Exhibit Hall floor to discuss several topics regarding the service. Listen in, or read the transcript below, as the pair talk about the future of AIRA and answer some of the questions sent into us by our Twitter followers. To stay up to date with the goings on at AIRA, or to sign up for the service, visit the company's website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Shelly found the Golden Chorale buffet booth of Video Magnifiers in the CSUN Exhibit Hall. And Jeff Gardner, CEO of Irie-AT, goes through the serving line with her pointing out all the good stuff from their new friends at Clover. There is a myriad of display sizes for that finicky reader in your life. But don't fill up on reading devices as the company has many more categories of Assistive Technology available on their website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

There sure are a lot of ways you can read your DAISY formatted materials these days. However, for some, many common options may be too complicated to learn or use effectively. That's why the ability to use a Digital Assistant could aid many when it comes to reading books and newspapers. J.J. spoke with Daniel Ainasoja, Sales Manager for pratsam, about their new Smart Speaker Service being shown publicly for the first time at CSUN. The interview contains a demo using a Google Home, but the new service is also available on Android, iOS, Windows and the web. Ideally this technology is good for those schools and libraries that are looking to provide their content to others without having to develop their own distribution apps. Moreover, some private companies may find the delivery system a good fit for their content as well. To learn more about the Smart Speaker Service, visit the pratsam website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

The Optelec Compact brand has come a long way from its flip out handle days of a decade ago or its original touch screen display option. Shelly got a chance to view the newest iteration and get a guided tour of the units features with vispero's Educational Specialist Michael Wood. The pair cover the differences between Easy and Advanced Modes, they discuss the Speech features as well as the OCR functionality of the new 10 inch display model. To learn more about this specific unit, and the two configurations offered, visit the Optelec Compact 10 HD website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

J.J. becomes the Keymaster in this interview. Okay, "Ghostbusters" movie references aside, J.J. did find that some retro names in A.T. have been updated in some cool new ways. He spoke to Jarek Urbanski, CEO of Harpo, about the soon to be released Mountbatten Tutor and gets an overview of the device's menus and feature set. And if that wasn't old school enough, the duo discuss the return of the Jot a Dot. For those listening to the audio, and not reading the transcript below, J.J. did capture the sounds of both on the quieter than normal CSUN Exhibit Hall floor. To learn more about these products, including the BraillePen Slim, visit the Harpo website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

We've interviewed makers of Smart Cane tech before on Blind Bargains, however, not many of those previous interviewees were featured in Time Magazine for tech innovation. That's why Shelly caught up with Kursat Ceylan, Cofounder of WeWalk, to discuss what sets this approach apart from others. Tune in, or read below, to find out more about the companion app and features for this mobility aid. Have you ever needed a light for night travel or a "find my cane" option? This just might be the ideal travel item for you. To learn more, or purchase the cane, visit the company's website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Visual Interpreter services are one way to gain access to meetings and notes. But the ability to work with a service that might better understand your specific field of study might just give you the edge over a broader all-purpose option. J.J. spoke with Daniel Goerz, CEO of Note Taking Express, about their notetaking platform and service in order to learn more about what sets this solution apart from others we ve covered on the BBQ podcast. Read below, or tune into the audio from the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor, for a description of the service and how it can take audio/video from recorded media into a service beyond basic transcription. If you would like to know more about the platform, visit the Note Taking Express website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Last month David Bradburn, President of Zoomax USA, shared at ATIA a sneak peek of a new product that would make its debut in Anaheim. Shelly caught up with David on the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor to learn more about the new member of the Acesight family and gets a tour of the controls, the specs and who might best find the VR approach most helpful for accomplishing common reading tasks. To learn more about the Acesight family of products, or to find your nearest Dealer, visit the Zoomax website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Last summer Lisa spoke to Venkatesh Chari, CEO and President of Orbit Research, during our ACB interview coverage. That interview noted some welcome changes that had come to the Orbit Reader 20 regarding upgrading the unit from the SD card slot. In November, Orbit Research released a chat app for the deaf-blind. And this month, as the doors opened to the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor, the company announced several new products and an update to the original Orbit Reader. J.J. snuck into that same Exhibit Hall before the crowds arrived in order to talk to Venkatesh about the new products, their pricing and more details about the status of the Graphiti display. To learn more about Orbit Research, or purchase any of the products mentioned in this interview, visit the company's website CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

We noted in our end of year wrap up show that Humanware's convention appearances were very popular with our listeners. Additionally, we noted in that same show, APH had an amazing 2019 with multiple stories working their way into our news lineups. One of those stories outlined that APH would be working on fostering future partnerships for growing their product lines on various platforms. In this interview Andrew Flatres, Braille Product Manager for Humanware, and newly minted APH member Greg Stilson, Director of Product Innovation, sit down with Joe to talk about two new Braille products and one new software announcement. Listen in, or read below, to learn more about the importance of the Educational market and how these new products can provide a solid steppingstone for those needing simple to use devices and software in the classroom environment. To learn more about the new products and partnerships at the American Printing House for the Blind, visit the APH website. And to learn more about the new software mentioned by Andrew, as well as other product news, visit the Humanware website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Orcam has been very busy since we spoke to them last year. The MyEye2 was featured in Time Magazine and the company won a CES 2020 INNOVATION AWARD last month. Joe caught up with Bryan Wolynski Optometrist and Consultant for Professional Relations at Orcam, to talk about all the recent accolades and portfolio expansions. The Orcam Hear listening aid will allow a user to center in on voices in a crowded room forming what Joe called a "Get Smart" "Cone of Silence" between the user and the speaker. The Orcam read is a device for reading disabilities and operates as a handheld pointing device for near distance tasks. Like the MyEye, the unit does not keep anything in memory and is well suited for a classroom setting. Also, a form of interactive reading and assisted guidance are possible new features that could be coming to the MyEye2 later this year. To learn more about any of the products mentioned, visit the Orcam website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

We were honestly lucky to get a few minutes to talk with Dan Gardner, CEO of View Plus, as his booth was constantly filled with convention attendees. Some of that was due to an ATIA promotion, an awesome TSA friendly bottle opener as a booth giveaway item but it mostly was due to the announced debut of the new Power Dot technology being used with the company's embossers. Dan explains how the new feel has come to their embossed braille and how people can compare it to their previous levels of quality. To learn more about Power Dot, or find a dealer in your area, visit the View Plus website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Video Magnifiers have been adding more options and features as they adopt off the shelf technology in their design. But imagine Joe's surprise when John Palmer, President of Patriot Vision Industries, informed him that you could use Alexa with a Video Magnifier. In this interview the pair discuss the new features of the Patriot Pro including voice control. The interview also provides and overview of the new Edge Mode feature that came to the Patriot Viewpoint last year. Lastly, John gives a sneak peek at a product coming to CSUNATC 2020. To learn more about the products mentioned in this interview, visit the Patriot Vision Industries website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Podcast fans would probably be the first people who could speak to the value of speech and how it conveys the meaning behind the presenter s message. Of course, in a classroom or meeting setting, the importance of adding meaning for contextual value matters when it comes to organizing thoughts and follow up actions. David Tucker, Co-Founder and CEO of Sonocent, spoke to Joe about his company's history with the Audio Notetaker product and how that experience is powering their next generation technology named Glean. The web based audio notetaking software is currently being tested and the newly redesigned interface is aiding people with the ability to tag, filter and sort information in new ways. Visit the Sonocent website if you would like to know more about Audio Notetaker. If you would like to assist in the accessibility testing of the new software mentioned in this interview, visit the Glean sign up page ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Joe and Jason Grieves, Product Manager Low Vision Windows Accessibility, sure find interesting places to conduct interviews. A coffee shop with a Bose nova soundtrack was the setting for their NFB 2019 chat. This year the pair sat out by the pool with wind, light rain and bad cover songs in the background. Regardless of the auditory conditions, Jason and Joe talk about what's recently come to Windows Magnifier and Narrator in the latest Windows 10 updates. And Jason provides some idea of what is in store with the next update arriving later this year such as Magnifier Reader. To stay up to date with everything going on with access at Microsoft, and to attend their new webinar series, follow Microsoft Access on Twitter ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Last year David Bradburn, President of Zoomax USA, shared with us the launch specifics for Acesight. in our latest interview Joe gets an update on the progress of not only the Acesight, but a sneak peek at a new product in the wearable line. The duo also discuss the Snow 12 portable Video Magnifier and a quick log entry from the BBQ's unofficial Travel Correspondent. To learn more about the products mentioned in this interview, visit the Zoomax website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

The BBQ Crew last caught up with Marty Schultz, Founder of Blindfold Games and Co-Founder of Objective Ed, at CSUNATC19 where he receive the Touch of Genius award From the National Braille Press for his work in providing new game based tools for Education. The accolades don't stop there, as Joe learns in this interview, the company was awarded a Microsoft AI For Accessibility grant for using Speech Recognition to teach Braille Literacy. Tune in to hear how Objective Ed is using a Refreshable Braille Display, speech and the Microsoft Cloud to build out skills. Plus, you get to learn about a Wayfinding game in a Medieval town. To learn more, and possibly be accepted for one of the company's upcoming pilot projects, visit the official Objective Ed website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Joe last spoke to Damian Pickering, Vice President of Sales for HIMS, in Las Vegas where updates were the major subject in that interview. We continue that trend in Orlando with a few insights on what's next for the Q Braille, a sneak peek at the next Polaris software release and a preview of what is in store for the U2's final firmware. GoVision and joe's old friend eBott also are mentioned near the end of the recording. To learn more about these upcoming releases, or to jump on board the possible promotions, visit the HIMS website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Joe has known Gareth Collins, Tech Support Manager for Dolphin, for a longer amount of time than either would probably like to admit. But here's a clue... Joe started out as a Dolphin beta tester for Supernova/Lunar v3.0 ages ago. A lot has changed from that version and from our ATIA 2019 coverage. Mr. Collins provides Joe with some of the key features that come in Supernova 19 regarding text sharpening and other text enhancements. He additionally gives an overview of the new Guide Connect and its remote control options. Lastly, Joe learns about some updates to Easy Reader and Dolphin Converter. To learn more about these products, visit the Dolphin Computer Access website ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Joe last caught up with the Bookshare team in Las Vegas with the announcement of the service hitting the one million book mark. As impressive as that feat is, Benetech Product Manager Nicholas Bowen provided Joe with an initial look at how Bookshare is working to make math easier to read. Listen in, or read below, how cloud services are being used to scale in order to allow the new "Math Detective" the ability to use OCR for a MathML injection into the appropriate area within a textbook. To learn more about this new tool, sign up for the newsletter at the official Bookshare site as new information will be released through that outlet. ATIA 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld. For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

Apple WWDC 2019 Videos and Transcripts Now Available   https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc2019/   Blind Alive Eyes Free Fitness is Still Available to Download Free Workouts etc   https://www.blindalive.com   A Twist on - What Technology is Most Likely to be Obsolete in Fifty Years   https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/07/what-technology-is-most-likely-to-become-obsolete-during-your-lifetime/   BrailleNote Touch Verses BrailleSense Polaris from AccessWorld   https://www.afb.org/aw/20/7/16711   Blind Bargains Podcast Interviews from NFB and ACB 2019 Quite a wide ranging number of podcasts from both the NFB and ACB conferences.   https://www.blindbargains.com/audio/   Two Recent Tech Friday Sessions Worth a Chat About: Daisy Players, and Sunu Band verses the Buzz Clip   In the Daisy workshop I went through the Victor Stratas, Victor Reader Stream, and the Envoy Connect and discussed the differences. Had a great discussion on the pros and cons of either using the Sunu Band or the Buzz Clip. Catch the podcasts from the Vision Store at vacast.podbean.com.

Stephen's Experience Of His Neck Lanyard, Sounds A Bit Better Than Mine    If you are  using a video streaming app of any kind, a neck lanyard to hang your smart phone from comes in handy so you can use the camera in your smart phone hands free.   http://www.iphone-lanyard.com   Be My Guide   Talking About Video Streaming Services: Check Out Be My Guide This app links you up with your Friends etc for them to assist you via your camera on your smart phone: Android or iOS.   https://www.bemyguide.com.au   Clew Object Recognition Path Finder Gets An Amazing Update   With this update, you can save your path in both directions, not just finding your way back.   have a play, but it seems a bit more fiddly now.   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clew/id1268077870?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D8   Bindi Maps (Beacon Technology) Test Site Comes to Vision Australia Parramatta   A few months ago we had Tony on from Bindi Maps to talk about the test site at VA Gosford, well it is now available at Vision Australia Parramatta and you can use it on the main floor level 7 by just downloading the app and choosing Vision Australia Parramatta. Enjoy.   https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/bindimaps/id1435118854?mt=8   Lazarillo GPS for the Blind   A not very much talked about GPS app, but works very well for both iOS and Android.   iOS   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lazarillo-accessible-gps/id1139331874?mt=8   Android   https://www.eastersealstech.com/2017/12/19/lazarillo-gps-on-google-play/   Some Aira News, Jonathan Mosen Moves on from Aira   AccessWorld App Discontinued - But Still on the Web   If you want to read AccessWorld, you will need to go to the new updated AccessWorld page as the AccessWorld app has now be turned off as it were and no longer supported.  Great thing about the webpage it will work across anything that runs a web browser smile.   https://www.afb.org/aw

Using The Assistive Touch Menu for people having issues with the iPhone X VoiceOver gestures for Home, App Switcher etc.   Another podcast from me regarding a great feature in iOS 12 where you can use your AirPods and iPhone as a remote listening device, great for listening to your wife read out a menu in a noisy restaurant.   Revisiting AccessWorld for November 2018   I think my stand out article from AccessWorld for November 2018 is the amazing job that Microsoft has done with Narrator in the October 2018 release of Windows.  Truly a screen reader now in its own wright.   The 2nd article that spurred my imagination was Christmas gift ideas including Amazon Echo Dot, Google Home Mini, Power Banks, The Tile Tracking System and others.   http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw1911toc   Whilst We're Talking About Gift Ideas: Vision Store is launching a relationship with The Good Guys   I'll be talking about this in the coming weeks.   Finally, the article concerning iOS 12 An Accessibility Overview is a good reminder of what exactly iOS 12 gave us.   http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw191105   Tip For Entering the Apple iOS Universe   A great reminder, to enter the iOS world, starting from entry level,  is still reasonably affordable (Au dollars) - iPod touch $299, iPad $469, iPad mini 4 $579, and iPhone 7 $749.  All work well with VoiceOver

Kirk Adams on AFB, Aira, Team Sea To See and Transitioning To College Kirk Adams sits down with the Blind Abilities team members Pete Lane and Jeff Thompson for this informative podcast on the American Foundation for the Blind. Kirk talks about the history and some of the latest happenings at AFB and the resources available to all students, teachers, TVI’s and parents. You can find a multiple of categories of articles ranging in topics from Transitioning to college,Life skills, Work Preparedness, Access Technology, Parents of Blind Children and much more.  You can find out about the apps available from AFB that put the information in the palm of your hand. Kirk also mentions the AFB Leadership Conference coming up on April 5-7 2018 in Oakland, California. Where AFB brings together all the entities around Blindness can be part of the conversation. Check out AFB.org on the web and download their apps so you can stay in touch with the latest happenings and information available from the American Foundation for the Blind. Check out the Apps below! Access World: This is the official app of the American Foundation for the Blind's online publication AccessWorld. AccessWorld is an online magazine dedicated to technology and people with vision loss This app has been optimized for iOS VoiceOver and Accessibility features. With this free app you can: • Browse and read articles from the latest issue of AccessWorld. • Browse and read any article in AccessWorld's entire archive of back issues. • Contact any member of the AccessWorld team.   AFB Career Connect: This is the official app of the American Foundation for the Blind's resource center AFB CareerConnect. AFB CareerConnect is a free online resource center specific to career exploration, job seeking skills, transition from school to work, e-mentoring, and navigating the employment process as a person who is blind or visually impaired. This app has been optimized for iOS VoiceOver and Accessibility features. With this free app you can: · Browse and utilize transition lesson plans from AFB CareerConnect · Browse and read “Our Stories,” firsthand accounts from AFB CareerConnect mentors · Browse and read blog posts from the CareerConnect Blog · Contact AFB and the AFB CareerConnect team  You can find out more about Aira on the Web at www.Aira.io You can follow and find out more about Team Sea To see on Facebook.   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

In this weeks show David talks about the Digital Certificate alert issued by AI Squared in relation to Zoomtext and other AI Squared products, discuss a couple of articles from AccessWorld (in particular an app being developed that will allow people who are blind to access touch screen appliances), and other stories.

In this week's edition of Talking Tech Stephen Jolley and David Woodbridge discuss the May edition of Accessworld; a website for parents containing information about children and technology and more on Apple TV and Apple Watch.

In this podcast, Lisa interviews Shannon Reece about a Bluetooth-enabled scale that works with iOS devices. Read more about the WiTscale Body Fat Bluetooth Smart Digital Bathroom Scale Read an evaluation by AccessWorld of two smart scales If you would like to contact Shannon, you can email her at iluv2read@cox.net or on Twitter In FitnessSpeak, Mel discusses lats and traps. In this episode's Feedback Files, Lisa discusses feedback she is giving to Apple via the ResearchKit functionality and related apps. You can locate any of the apps discussed by typing Research Kit into the search field on the Apple App Store. We welcome your feedback or questions via the contact form You can also follow Mel or Lisa on Twitter.

This week, David Woodbridge tells us all about the Read2Go app from Bookshare for reading DAISY books on IOS devices. Then, Tim Cumings reviews the Omnitronics EPF15A Pop Filter. Following that, Chase Crispin reviews the Twitter app for IOS devices. We complete the show with a review of a 3rd IOS app, this one for reading the Accessworld magazine from AFB.