Podcasts about code jumper

From the 2023 NFB Convention in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant spoke with Greg Stilson, Head of Global Innovation at American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Greg first takes listeners through the new Monarch Tactile Display. This braille display is a partnership between APH, Humanware, and the NFB. Greg also gives an overview of APH's other offerings such as the Mantis and Chameleon braille displays, and the low-vision magnification devices such as the Juno and Jupiter  as well as the Matt Connect Android Tablet.   Additionally, Greg discusses the recently released Code Jumper, and Road to Code a set of tools designed to help blind people learn how to code. Greg closes the interview by talking about his personal journey through blindness and technology and how his experience is an asset to his current work at APH.   Read More

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

Greg Stilson, long time friend of the show, has not appeared in front of the BBQ microphones since November 2020. So, he had a lot to cover with J.J. in this look at what is happening at the American printing House. The pair catch us up with updates on Mantis Q40, Chameleon 20 and Code Jumper. Then the party really starts with the duo delving into products like Juno, the upcoming Poly and a deep dive into what it takes to bring the Dynamic Tactile Device Project from development to purchasable product. Learn what EBRF is and why it is important to the future of multi-line Braille Displays in this interview. To learn more about the products mentioned, or to inquire about the regional user s groups Greg mentioned, listen to the file or read the transcript below. You can also find out more about products, manuals and accessories by visiting the APH website Sponsor: American Printing House for the Blind Since 1858, APH has operated in Louisville, Kentucky, empowering people who are blind or visually impaired by providing accessible and innovative products, materials, and services for lifelong success. APH's vision is for an accessible world, with opportunity for everyone. Visit APH.org to learn more about their products and services.

Whoops, A Belated Happy Birthday to Apple April 1 1976   On Apple’s Birthday each year, I always tend to look back fondly on my first Apple computer which was an Apple IIE: CPU and keyboard in one unit, single floppy disk drive, and a very tiny monitor. For access, I used an Echo synthesiser, TextTalker software, and several talking programs like WordTalk.   https://www.macobserver.com/news/happy-birthday-apple-founded-april-1-1976/   Tech Friday for Newcastle April 2021 - Smart Home Tech   Andreas, Rebecca, Ray and I share our smart home tech we use plus some other suggestions.   Video Link:   https://visionaustralia.zoom.us/rec/play/DREf3bnMllHfc4KwjtY-PTwD3EXK1jssMjy_ZQs3Spwuh-CUCvr0CKBDEyWSpID_TOGv0ioxYaXJgw9l.JlQAvmKtHBu8COzL?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=2e6Or3WzR8WKoDJsPSUnCQ.1617940416126.c644e99ffce760db9a670aa3855f4335&_x_zm_rhtaid=930   Exploring Technology with David Woodbridge - In the Kitchen low and High Tech   In my latest Exploring Tech Webinar for March, in the Kitchen, Alex, Tony and I share low and high tech ideas for working in the kitchen.   Video Link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVODmlqHGw8   Product Video from Me - Victor Reader Stream   In my continuing product video series on my favourite products from the Vision australia Vision Store, this one is a mini get up and going with the Victor Reader Stream which allows you to play daisy books, take recorded notes, read documents, listen to podcasts and radio stations online.   Video Link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIcVNtNU0EM   Vision australia Vision Store product link for the Victor Reader Stream:   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/esrm021   Code Jumper Now Available on the Android Google Play Store   Code Jumper which is the physical series of pods to teach the concept of block programming for students available from APH and developed by Microsoft, now has it’s Code Jumper software available on Android, not just Windows 10 computers. Tip - like Windows 10, your screen reader (Talkback) will speak out of the Hub speaker on Android as the Code Jumper Hub which the pods are connected to acts as a hBT head set. Whole setup works extremely well.   Android Play Store Link to Code Jumper:   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.aph.codejumper   Vision australia Vision Store Product Link for Code Jumper hardware link:   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/es1208-so   Code Jumper website for All tutorials, Curriculum etc:    https://codejumper.com   Smart Tab Plus     The new way to find items from Samsung.   https://news.samsung.com/global/introducing-the-new-galaxy-smarttagplus-the-smart-way-to-find-lost-items?utm_source=nr_twitter&utm_medium=social   How to Find 3rd Party Accessories Using Apple’s Find My   3rd party support for Find My Items Tab in Find My from Apple, still no sign of AirTags.   https://9to5mac.com/2021/04/10/how-to-track-third-party-accessories-using-apples-find-my/   All the Best Head Phones for Working at Home in 2021   This article which goes through a variety of head phones is just a good reminder what is available and at different prices.   https://www.cnet.com/news/the-best-headphones-for-work-at-home-for-2021/?ServiceType=twitter&UniqueID=CD12D100-99FE-11EB-9F14-8B263A982C1E&ftag=COS-05-10aaa0b&PostType=link&TheTime=2021-04-10T13%3A15%3A20   How Often Should One Shut Down Their iPhone   Looks like at least once a week.   https://www.idropnews.com/news/heres-how-often-you-should-shut-down-your-iphone-and-why/98673/   The Latest Trade in Deals for Apple Devices in Australia   The old story, the longer you wait to trade something in to upgrade, the less the trade in price is. However, I think having a backup to your iPhone by keeping an older one around is still a great idea.   https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/04/new-apple-iphone-ipad-watch-trade-in-deals-australia/

Back To School (education in general) Vision Store Webinar by David Woodbridge   In this webinar on the 27th of Jan from 12:30-13:30 ESDT, I’ll be discussing assistive and main stream software and hardware to keep you in good stead for the year.   Register at:   https://visionaustralia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_r9cjH_XRTtydmVAEShfSbw   Competition to Win a Mantis Q40 is still Open Until the 31st of Jan 2021   In fifty words or less, explain why you would need a Mantis q40.   https://us10.list-manage.com/survey?u=4fb7b10e02480183869d219e8&id=6cf73b1a06   Aftershokz OPenMove Bone Conduction Head Phones   A reminder that the Vision Store now has the Aftershokz OpenMove bone conduction head phones in stock, still one of my most used head phones.   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/aftershokz-openmove-wireless-bluetooth-headphones   Update on Stuff from CES 2021   It was great to hear about the fact that there were a number of assistive technology related vendors at CES covering such products as the Orcam, IrisVision, and Code Jumper.   IO’d have to say my favourite product was hiring about the Smart Doggy Door.   https://www.cnet.com/pictures/the-weirdest-new-gadgets-at-ces-2021/13/?ServiceType=twitter&PostType=link&UniqueID=B77776DC-55EF-11EB-9662-7B300EDC252D&TheTime=2021-01-13T22:36:02&ftag=COS-05-10aaa0b   ATIA Virtual Conference 2021 Registration Open   https://www.csun.edu/cod/conference/sessions/index.php/public/website_pages/view/24   CSUN 2021 Virtual Conference Now Open For Registration    https://www.csun.edu/cod/conference/sessions/index.php/public/website_pages/view/24   Samsung Jan 14 Event   Samsung Buds Pro (Jan 15), Smart Tags to use with Smart Things Find (Jan 29 and later in year for Tags Plus), Samsung Galaxy S21/S21 Plus (Jan 29) and Galaxy 21 Ultra 29 Jan (in other words the Pro version), new 1UIw across Samsung devices, new S pen for 21 Ultra only, better integration with Android audio, Digital key for cars, new improved partnership with Google, new version of Talkback on S21.   https://insights.samsung.com/2021/01/04/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-2021-watch-the-livestream-here/   Search With Your Voice Button Now On youtube.com   Works quite nicely, just remember to try and mute your screen reader if you are using one.   https://www.youtube.com   Galaxy ID Mate Discontinued After 25 Years   End of an era for this stand alone bar code reading device. Parts and databases will still be available for a while to come.   https://mailchi.mp/envisionamerica/id-mate-is-being-discontinued?e=b2a317a265   A Nice Little Bonus  with the VA Connect App for the VA Library   If you happen to use an M1 Mac (ability to run iOS apps), you can use the VA Connect app quite nicely on the computer. Some odd issues but not to bad including: inability to change categories from “All”, text to speech voice for daisy text (such as newspapers) using last speech voice on the Mac, table of contents within a book not working that well, and not sure where downloaded books go. However, as far as searching for a book, adding a book to your bookshelf, listening to a book, moving forward or backward through a book, and changing the speech rate, all works fine on the Mac.   https://apps.apple.com/au/app/vision-australia-va-connect/id1051618020

With many children, young people and adults being forced to study at home, access to text books is essential, especially if you are visually impaired and require accessible formats. RNIB's Book Share service is free for all ages and has over 647,000 accessible educational titles, and growing, in it's archive. As well as the free access, RNIB has teamed up with VICTA, a sight loss charity for children and young people, to also offer a free Orbit Reader + and the ability to buy Code Jumper for £90, 10% of it's full retail price. RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell spoke to Stacy Scott, RNIB Book Share Manager, to learn more about the free service and the great offer, in collaboration with VICTA. If you would like more information about the RNIB Book Share service, and the tech offers, go to bookshare@rnib.org.uk  or www.victa.org.uk You can also email bookshare@rnib.org.uk  or call 0303 123 9999.Image: An Orbit Reader Machine 

Ok The Official Look Back at The Decade - Highlights for me   Main Stream   Apple Siri. MacBook Air/MacBook Pro. AirPlay. Apple TV. Apple Watch. HomePod/HomePod Mini. AirPods/Pro/Max. M1 Macs. AirPods Max. Apple Music. Apple Pay. Car Play. Fitness Plus. iCloud.   Touch ID. Face ID.     Amazon Echo Alexa. Google Ok Google.   Android Play.   Self driving cars, and car driving safety features: eg line keeping, distance from car in front etc.   Audio Description expands.   Smart Home Tech explodes.   Smart TV Accessibility.   4G to 5G. ADSL to NBN.   ChromeCast Audio. Chromecast video. Chrome-cast with Google TV.   Streaming video services: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney, Netflix, Stan etc. Streaming Music services: Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify etc.   Microsoft Windows 10 Microsoft Narrator. Microsoft Sound Scape. Microsoft Seeing AI. Microsoft Surface.   Xbox One with Narrator.   Sony Play Station 4/5. Last Of Us II PS4 game.   Bone Conduction head phones.   Tile Tag trackers.   Wearables: Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Fitbit etc.   Assistive   Sangean Accessible Radio.   Talking Microwave.   Aira. Be-My-Eyes.   Wearables: IrisVision, Orcam, SunuBand.   Engergrid Accessible Power Bank.   Dot Watch.   Orbit Reader 20 (low cost Braille Display).   Canute 360 Multiline Braille Display.   Swift Playgrounds. Code Jumper.   Accessible Help Desks from Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

The Developers of Fear, The Game of Running Blind Are back with a New Name and Game in Development   Mental Home E.U., and the game is called Sonar Islands.   https://www.mentalhome.eu/news/   Blind Review of the Sony PS5   Interesting read, and excellent news for gamers world wide.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP0eKVeD_hk&feature=youtu.be   Apple Accessibility Has a New Look   A bit different to your traditional webpage layout, but now an excellent resource even more for features across all of the Apple product lines.   https://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/   David Woodbridge’s Blog   Updated and is where you can find all my webinars, podcasts, etc.   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/david-woodbridge-s   Humanware and APH Hour of Code - Code Jumper   This week in the US it is Science Education week and Humanware/APH are joining in with an hour of code using the Code Jumper system, lessons linked below.   #CSEdwin from Dec 6 2020 - Hour of Code - from @Humanware @APHfortheBlind - Code Jumper Lesson 1: Algorithms - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SznjDNlK96M #CSEdweek from Dec 6 2020 - Hour of Code - from @Humanware @APHfortheBlind - Code Jumper Lesson 2: Threads - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND1gD7t2SOU #CSEdweek from Dec 6 2020 - Hour of Code - from @Humanware @APHfortheBlind- Code Jumper Lesson 3: - Debugging - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUdFxWRwo_c #CSEdweek from Dec 6 2020 - Hour of Code - from @Humanware @APHfortheBlind - Code Jumper Lesson 4: Loops and Sequences - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-eU9QBtam4 #CSEdweek from Dec 6 2020 - Hour of Code - from @Humanware @APHfortheBlind - Code Jumper Lesson 5: Constants - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQS4TGFUOHY   Continuing with David’s TEch Toy Gift Ideas   For this week, a known but very handy feature of the HomePod Mini. If you like streaming audio for entertaining in the garden, all you need is a USBC power bank to plug the HomePod Mini in to, and off you go with connection to your Home Wi-Fi network.   https://www.apple.com/au/shop/buy-homepod/homepod-mini

In this episode of Change Makers we're talking about Code Jumper, an accessible way for students to learn block coding in an inclusive setting. We talk with Cheri Bortleson, who tested Code Jumper in Washington State. Cheri is the K5 STEM and Computer Science Developer for the Bellevue School District. We also talk with Robin Lowell. Robin spent years teaching students with visual impairments in the classroom, and wrote the curriculum for Code Jumper.If you'd like to learn more, watch videos, or read the curriculum, visit codejumper.com.

In this weeks Talking Tech, David celebrates his 30 years at the RBS of NSW and now Vision Australia by discussing some of the tech highlights over his time working as a technology specialist.     With these notes, you get the whole list, enjoy.   Unusual or Meaningful Tech Over the Last 30 years   When I started work for the then RBS of NSW (now Vision Australia) on June 4 1990, my tech on my desk was a Keynote PC Plus based on a Toshiba 1000, a Braille & Speak note taker, and of course a telephone land line.   Tech sitting on my desk 2020 for general everyday stuff, iPhone, QBraille Braille Display, iPad, MacBook Pro, Surface Pro, Google Home, Amazon Echo, and HomePod: plus my audio studio setup for podcasting and my radio program.   In no particular order, this is a list of all the tech that I have personally used for both home and work over the last 30 years covering my time at both Royal Blind Society of NSW then  Vision Australia).   Where amazingly some of the tech still exists when it first came out and where it has evolved to current, I’ve put the updated version in the current lists as well.   Interestingly, there are over 10 products that are Assistive Tech related that have lasted the test of time and are in the old and current tech sections.   Where some of the products may not be that well known (at least according to me smile), I’ve put a very short blurb next to them.   Oddly or not, I wish some of the devices that are no longer around still were, as they did some great specific things.   For me, I think the main technology advances were: Microsoft Windows 3.1 access (keeping in mind Outspoken had been out for a while for Macs) in the 1990’s, Mobile and Smart phone access in the 2000’s (Talkback for Synbian and VoiceOver for iPhone) plus VoiceOver for the Mac in 2005, Smart speakers and Smart home tech in 2010-2020.   Things we still need to conquer: Ongoing message and change for accessibility across mobile/desktop apps, and the huge one, the web. Access to self service kiosks. Indoor navigation. Accessibility in white goods. Accessible EFTPOS terminals (Apple Pay sort of gets around this). More audio described content on free to air. Hate to pick out out Foxtel, but they sort of deserve it, an accessible Foxtel box. One final point, we should be careful about assigning accessibility based on the fact that it works with one specific type of software, particularly in the screen reader industry.   Old Tech   If you haven’t heard of some of this stuff, use good old Google, should still be some info floating around.  If it brings back hopefully good memory’s I’m glad.     Keynote PC Plus (Toshiba 100 laptop with Keynote note taking software and insult speech). Keynote for DOS. Keynote across portable devices (current today - BrailleNote Touch)).   Braille & Speak (Braille keyboard based simple note taker with speech). Braille Lite (Braille & Speak with a 40 cell Braille Display). Type & Speak (Braille and Speak with a QWERTY keyboard).   Inca QWERTY Keyboard for DOS (with two Braille display lines).   Navigater Braille display.   OutSpoken for Mac for System 6.07, 7 and 8. OutSpoken for Windows.   Enlarge for Mac.   Closeview for Mac.   Artic Business Vision MSDOS screen reader. Artic Business Vision internal PC Card. Artic Transport (you could upload the screen reader to the MSDOS PC from the external synthesiser). Artic Gizmo Pad (an external navigation keyboard for Artic). Arctic Winvision for Windows.   Double Speak (external synthesiser).   Accent SA (external synthesiser).   Keynote Gold PCMCIA, PC or Keynote Gold external synthesiser (had driver to be made available to other screen readers).   Apollo external synthesiser.   Hal MSDOS screen reader (worked with the Apollo Synthesiser). Hal for Windows (eventually became Supernova for Windows current today).   DECTalk Classic(very large external speech synthesiser. DECTalk PC internal synthesiser card. DECTalk Express external synthesizer. DECTalk Access software synthesiser.   ASAP (As Soon As Possible) MSDOS screen reader. ASAW ASAP for Windows).   JAWS For DOS MSDOS screen reader. JAWS for Windows (current today).   Eloquence software synthesiser (Made famous when first worked with JAWS For Windows V3.2).   Vocal-Eyes MSDOS screen reader (could be configured). Window-Eyes for Windows.   Master Touch MSDOS screen reader (could read direct video writes). Master Touch Touch Tablet (25 line by 80 column tablet for navigating with Master touch cursor).   Dragon for DOS. Dragon For Windows (current today).   Braille to Print for Perkins Brailler.   Jot A Dot (small Braille writer).   Kurzweil PC Reader (internal PC Card supporting the KPR OCR software).   Arkenstone Easy Reader OCR software. OpenBook for Windows OCR software (current today).   Versa Braille (20 cell Braille note taker using cassette tapes).   Pac Mate note taker with 40 cell Braille Display.   Blazy Personal Embosser   Rainbow  Reader (stand alone reading machine).   Eureka A4 (personal Braille input keyboard note taker).  Oddly had a vault metre, and thermometer..   MountBatten Brailler, Braille Writer, embosser etc  (current Today). Mimic for MountBatten, LCD display  (current Today).   Braille Mate (single Braille cell on a notetaker).   Light Probe (detects light source - current today).   ABC Courier (deaf/blind Communicator). Telebraille, deaf/blind communicator.   Talking keyboard plug in box (made any keyboard speak that was plugged in to it).   Nomad tactile and talking diagrams.   Vista plug in PC screen magnifier for MSDOS, had own mouse. ViewPoint Split PC/CCTV.   Magic for DOS. Magic for Windows (no longer being upgraded).   Zoomtext for Dos. Zoomtext for Windows (current Today).   Road Runner text reader.   Book Sense (book reader).   Plextalk Pocket (seems to be no longer available).   Parrot or later Voice Mate (record notes and appointments).   Voice Diary (record notes and appointments).   Olympus DM5 Digital Recorder (with inbuilt speech menus).   Business Memo (voice recorder).   IBM OS 2 Screen Reader for OS 2 and Windows 3.11 with dedicated external number pad keyboard which could also be programmed).   Home Page Reader (from IBM for reading the web - self voicing application for Windows).   PW WebSpeak (self voicing application for reading the web in Windows).   Narrator for Windows XP screen reader for Windows, used to be joked about that this was an example of a screen reader that wasn’t a screen reader. Narrator for Windows 10 (current Today).   Talking Microwave late 90’s LG. Talking Microwave 2020 Cobolt (current Today).   Talking Caller ID for land line.   Nokia Communicator 9210 with Talks for later Nokia phones. Nokia N82 and other Nokia’s running Talks and the Symbian operating system.   Freedom Box talking interface to Windows - self voicing application, name later changed to System Access Mobile network. System Access Screen reader for Windows (could also run off a USB stick). SAToGo (run System Access from a Webpage). System Access Remote Access Manager (remote PC support).   Guide Connect early 2000’s, later sold to Dolphin Systems. Guide Connect (Dolphin Systems, simple to use menu driven self voicing application for Windows, current Today).   Speaking menus on iPod nano/Shuffle (speech came from PC).   Talking set top  box (Hills Set Top Box).   I can’t remember the name of this, but before land lines had a hands free speaker phone so you could instruct someone over the phone, there was a gadget that you placed the receiver of the phone on and it turned the phone in to a hands free phone for microphone and loud speaker.   Current Tech   A few main stream bits and Bobs in here as well.   The first 13 or so products below, are listed in both sections and whilst they have ben updated or changed, are still around amazingly.   Keynote across portable devices (current today - BrailleNote Touch)).   JAWS for Windows. JAWS Tandom (part of JaWS but fantastic tool for remote PC support).   Window-Eyes for Windows (this has only recently been discontinued).   Non Visual Desktop (NvDA) screen reader for Windows. Can be completely run as a stand alone screen reader. Supernova screen reader for Windows. Hal for Windows (eventually became Supernova for Windows).   Dragon For Windows.   OpenBook for Windows.   MountBatten Brailler. Mimic for MountBatten.   Magic for Windows (no longer being upgraded).   Zoomtext for Windows.   Narrator for Windows 10 (happy to now call it a screen reader smile).   Guide Connect Dolphin Systems. Dolphin Pod (use your TV to access entertainment options of Dolphin Guide Connect - plug in box).   Light Probe.   Plextalk Pocket (seems to be no longer available).   Victor Reader Stream.   Victor Reader Trek GPS.   Envoy Connect (basic daisy player.   Focus 14 and 40 Braille displays.   VoiceOver for Mac from 10.4.   VoiceOver for iPad nano, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Tv. Various iPod nano (latest version had version of VoiceOver on it before device was discontinued). Various iPhones. Various iPads. Various iPod touch. Various Apple TV. Various Apple Watch . Various AirPods.   Magic Trackpads and Magic Keyboards.   Wireless chargers.   Various Fitbits.   Be My eyes and Aira using 2 way video communication  via Smart phone for assistance.   Various tablet/phone stands.   Xbox One/One S (with Narrator).   Talkback for Android. Voice Assistant on Samsung phones/Tablets, and Galaxy Watch. Symapptic software for Android.   Various Macs (all Mac since 2005 with work laptop and current Surface Pro tablet).   Kindle eBook stand alone Readers.   Samsung Tab One (originally to drive my App driven coffee machine in 2017 and iOS version of the app was not accessible).   Samsung Galaxy S10 smart phone.   Surface Pro (Windows tablet).   Smart TVS (Samsung in particular).   RIVO keyboard (custom keyboard to navigate mobile platforms for iOs/VoiceOver, Android/Talks, and Samsung/Voice Assistant).   Orbit Reader 20 (first cost effective Braille Display).   Brailliant BI14 small Braille Display.   ElBraille Windows 10 docking station with a Focus 14 or 40 Braille Display.   InsideOne Windows Braille TAblet with 32 cell Braille Display.   Tap With Us Wearable Keyboard supporting VoiceOver for iOS.   Dot Watch (smart Braille watch).   Sunu Band (wearable sonar device for O&M).   Mini guide (hand held sonar O&M device).   Buzz Clip (attach to clothing or cane sonar O&M device).   O6 (navigate iOS with VoiceOver).   Orcam OCR etc wearable device.   Accessible Radio (Sangean Accessible Radio).   Accessible Power Bank (Engergrid).   Large print USB keyboards black/white, white/black, yellow/black.   Code Jumper from APH for teaching coding. Swift Playgrounds on iPad/Mac for teaching coding. 3D printing (Ballyland 3D objects to teach coding). Dash robots for Swift Playgrounds Tello Edu Drones for Swift Playgrounds.   Bose Frames (3D Audio Reality sun glasses).   Bone Conduction Head Phones (Aftershokz).   ID Mate Bar code scanner.   QBraille braille display and BT keyboard.   ViewPlus Embraille personal embosser.   Amazon Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Show. Google  Home, Google Mini, and original Google Hub. HomePod.   Olitech EasyFlip 4G Mobile Phone with speech/physical keyboard.   Smart Vision 2 Android phone with speech/physical keyboard.   Smart Home Tech: eg AC Controller for Split AC, video doorbell, switch’s, weather sensors, vacuum cleaner etc.   Tile Tag Tracking devices.   Beyond the usual assistive tech of screen readers. Screen magnifiers, Braille displays, Braille note takers, reading machines or OCR software etc etc, the devices that have stood out for me have been (and a few add ins here): Outspoken for Mac, Braille & Speak, The ABC Courier, Artic Business Vision/Winvision. Vocal-Eys for MSDOS. Master Touch. IBM OS/2 Screen Reader, Nomad Tactile Talking Diagrams. Road Runner, Arkenstone Easy Reader, Mountbatten Brailler, Talking Microwave, Victor Reader Stream, Victor Reader Trek, ID Mate, Talkback for Synbian, Speaking menus in Nano, VoiceOver for Mac and iOS, Apple TV, Macbooks, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods Swift Playgrounds. Code Jumper, 3D printing, Olitech 4G Easy Flip Phone. Magic keyboards and Magic Trackpad, App Store’s for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. QBraille, Dot Watch, Orcam, RIVO Keyboard, Tap With Us wearable keyboard, Sunu Band and Mini Guide, Aftershotkz Bone Conduction head phones, Bose Frames. JAWS For Windows and Eloquence, Narrator for Windows 10, Smart Speakers, Smart TVS. Be My Eyes and Aira. Wireless charging. Tile Tracking Tags.   The End    

It's a technical Tech Talk this week! Steven and Robin are joined by David Woodbridge to discuss the release of Code Jumper in the UK, and why it's so important. Also on the show, Steven talks how to use a keyboard with iOS, the Ask Tech Talk this week covers solid state drives, and we also have news on CSUN, a Whirlpool recall, and Android security. Those important details if you would like a question answered, either by us here at Tech Talk, or by the RNIB's Technology for Life team: Email: techtalk@rnib.org.uk  Tweet: @RNIBRadio using the #AskTechTalk. Call: 0303 123 9999

Code Jumper Now Launched in Australia   In this weeks Talking Tech, Stephen caught up with Anne Durham from the American Pritning House for the Blind (APH) at the Launch of Code Jumper at the VA Kooyong office 27 Feb, and spoke to her about APH itself and what Code Jumper offers to the educational market in teaching blind or low vision students coding.   The evening before, APH along with Humanware and Vision Australia, also did a webinar on Code Jumper in Australia.    https://vacast.podbean.com/e/audio-recording-of-the-code-jumper-launch-webinar-in-australia-feb-26-2020-presented-by-va-aph-and-humanware/   Code Jumper on the Vision Australia Online Shop   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/microsoft-code-jumper   Website for Code Jumper - documentation, and curriculum:   Https://www.codejumper.com

CES 2020   CES 2020 seem to be mainly about Connected cars, Smart Home and the Internet Of Things, and AI.   https://twitter.com/CNET/status/1214796184381988865   Code Jumper to be demonstrated at this Weeks SPEV Conference in Adelaide   Besides being shown off at CES 2020, Tony Wu from Vision Australia will be demonstrating Code Jumper at the SPEVI conference for educators.   Code Jumper Website:   http://www.codejumper.com   Still waiting for a release date, it is hoped to be Feb or March.   Completed the MacBook Pro 16 Podcast   I did complete my MacBook Pro 16 podcast, and I still think this is the best MacBook Pro ever for quite a long time, just the keyboard and sound are amazing.   https://davidwoodbr.podbean.com/e/macbook-pro-16-review-by-david-woodbridge/   A Note About the Extended Trial  of the Vision Store and AT Helpdesk Operating Hours   For Jan 2020, both the Vision Store and the AT Helpdesk can be contacted by phone up to 9PM for the Store, and 8PM for the Helpdesk ESDT BD via 1300 847 466.  

January 4 2020, Celebration of Braille   Yes it is still around, yes it is as important as ever, and advances in technology are making it more relevant.  As myself and others keep saying, It Is Not Going Away.   The Bush Fires   Stephen and I hope you all stay safe over this trying and awful period with these horrific bush fires.   Here are 3 apps in particular that may assist in allowing you to keep track of what is going on, and contacting emergency services.   The Fires Near Me NSW iOS App   Whilst not fantastically accessible, you can at least set watch zones including around your current area,  get notifications when a bush fire starts near you, and change the view to List to get a list of all the Bush Fires in NSW. This has come in handy a few times for my family over the Christmas New Years break.   Fires Near ME NSW iOs app:   https://apps.apple.com/au/app/fires-near-me-nsw/id370891827   Android:   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.nsw.rfs.firesnearme.nsw&hl=en_AU   To cover the rest of Australia, the Fires Near Me Australia app works much the same.   iOS version of Fires Near Me Australia:   https://apps.apple.com/au/app/fires-near-me-australia/id406270824   Android:   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.nsw.rfs.firesnearme.national&hl=en_AU   Have a Battery Operated  Radio with You   Its been pointed out that having a battery operated radio especially if you are near any Bush Fires is the best way to stay in contact with emergency announcements in case the power goes out, your mobile phone is out of service  etc.   Especially if your travelling and you need to switch frequency’s to the local ABC, the Sangean Accessible Radio isn’t a bad idea: this is the very reason why I purchased mine before Christmas.   Accessible Sangean radio link to the Vision Australia Vision Store:   https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/accessible-amfm-radio   My podcast on the Accessible radio itself:   https://davidwoodbr.podbean.com/e/sangean-accessible-radio-for-blind-or-low-vision/   Some News Items from the Vision Australia Vision store and the Assistive Technology Help Desk   Vision Store phone line will be open to 9PM AEDT business days for the Month of Jan 2020. Phone 1300 847 466.   Shopping from the online https://shop.visionaustralia.org Vision Store, enter the Promo Code WELCOME2020 (in all caps) when you check out to get free shipping on a specific order.   A reminder from last weeks show, for the Month of Jan 2020, the Assistive Technology Help Desk from Vision Australia will be trialing extended hours to 8PM AEDT business days for the Month of Jan 2020. Phone 1300 847 466.   Code Jumper to be Released at This Weeks Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020   Finally will be not only announced but be available via Humanware world wide.   I will go in to more detail about Code Jumper in next weeks show, and also share the link to my evaluation of this amazing product.   I’ll also do a bit of a round up of CES 2020 as well.     Code Jumper website:   http://www.codejumper.com   Code Jumper tutorials from APH Youtube links (already available):   The Hub   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGb51PW9zJQ&feature=youtu.be   The Code Jumper Windows 10 app   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg72YPz6CWY&feature=youtu.be   Play and Pause Pods   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=446jCw8qcDI&feature=youtu.be   Selection and Merge Pods   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx7EnNcjUrU&feature=youtu.be   Loop Pod   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFKbKLlD3HI&feature=youtu.be   Extension Cable and Nested Loops   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQQZM0CAKZc&feature=youtu.be   Plugs   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTy8moSohlE&feature=youtu.be   Adding Custom Sounds   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18o7wvSoeNc&feature=youtu.be   Now for my Newest Toy:   The Ryze Tello Edu Drone for use with Swift Playgrounds, yes, people who are blind can fly, well sort of.   Will be doing a podcast on flying the drone myself in the next week or so.   Here is a link to the Apple Online Store if you want to have a bit of a read about the Drone (which is classified still as a toy and a beginner drone).   https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/HMBE2X/A/ryze-tello-edu-drone-powered-by-dji   Other podcasts from me over the Christmas break/new year (and coming up):   Inside One Windows 10 Braille Tablet   Over the Christmas break, I did an initial podcast of the Inside One Windows 10 Braille display which I’m pretty impressed by.   https://davidwoodbr.podbean.com/e/demo-of-the-insideone-windows-10-braille-tablet-first-truly-windows-tablet-with-a-braille-display-inbuilt/   Besides my already mentioned Drone demo (fingers crossed), I have a podcast on a review of the MacBook 16 Pro, a 2nd podcast on the InsideOne, and all going well, a podcast on my review of the Code Jumper system.

The long road trip with no bathroom breaks that was 2019 has reached its destination in the form of our annual wrap up show. This year s panel included J.J., Joe, Shelly Brisbin, Scott Davert and Rookie of the Year Lisa Salinger. Read on, and tune into the podcast, to discover what trends and stories the group found to have the biggest impact on the year. Also, if you want a good laugh, see how right or wrong we were with our 2018 predictions Conventions At A Glance The entire panel attended at least one of the major Blindness and Low Vision A.T. events in 2019. You can hear what we thought were the big stories at CSUN And the Summer Conventions To gauge if those introduced products had an impact on our discussions for this episode. But we ll let you in on a little secret. What you, the readers and listeners of this site, peruse from our coverage often determines who we interview the following year. Therefore, behold the top 5 downloads of our various coverage in order of their event calendar appearances in our podcast feed. ATIA 2019 1 #ATIA19 Audio: Command Multiple Devices With The HIMS QBraille XL 2 #ATIA19 Audio: Humanware s New Braille Note Touch Plus Is One Tough Cookie 3 #ATIA19 Audio: Aces Are Hight For The Acesight And Zoomax 4 #ATIA19 Audio: IRIE-AT Is Totally Your Braille Buddy When It Comes To Phones And Video Magnifiers? 5 #ATIA19 Audio: Point Your Finger At The Books You Want To Read With BraiBook CSUN 2019 1 #CSUNATC19 Sponsored Audio: APH Is Bringing The Community Together To Impact The World At Large 2 #CSUNATC19 Audio: LS&S Would Like To Report A U.F.O. Sighting Over Anaheim 3 #CSUNATC19 Audio: A Deeper Dive Into The Process Of Updates And NV Access 4 #CSUNATC19 Audio: Feel Books And More With Feelif 5 #CSUNATC19 Audio: Row, Row, Row your Code Jumper Summer Conventions 2019 1 #NFB19 Audio: Humanware Flips The Card To Reveal Updates For Keysoft And Victor Reader Trek 2 #Sponsored Blind Bargains Convention Coverage: AIRA with Big Deals, Big Presence at #NFB19 and #ACB19 3 #Sponsored Convention Audio: APH Creates A Fun Pathway To STEM With Code Jumper 4 #NFB19 Audio: Seeing The World Wirelessly With OrCam 5 #ACB19 Audio: There Is Always Something New Over At Guidelights And Gadgets Our listeners landed on a story that we didn't cover during our look back at the past 365 days. With new products, and a new direction, APH had an abundance of announcements and our audience noticed. We additionally saw some new names make the list as well as a real interest in what Humanware brought to the Exhibit Hall tables. Off The Shelf Growing Pains A lot of the conversation that powered this discussion came from stories featured in our Mainstream Mayhem article. Of course, iOS 13 dominated the talk and Joe said with all sincerity that he admired Shelly for her work on iOS Access For All and the plight that comes along with so many updates to this year's version of the operating system. J.J. and Scott felt like Apple has too many operating systems these days to support and they should look to our friends at Apple Vis for a better understanding of what is and isn't working along all the various product lines. Even new features like Dark Mode are breaking on a system level when Smart Invert is active. And Scott noted that issues with Bluetooth audio, Switch Control and wireless Braille Displays made him glad he kept a device back on iOS 12 for employment access concerns. But Apple Park wasn't the only company with some setbacks in 2019. Joe and J.J. steered the group into the aspects of what disappointed them about Google this year. J.J. felt like Talkback regressed, Scott noted that if BrailleBack support was better he would have considered a serious switch to the Android platform and Joe talked about how Google's culture war seemed to be an underlying theme of the lack of focus for the company. Joe also stressed that the way Google releases features into the wild had him spending more time troubleshooting his Google services than enjoying them. Perhaps the easiest way to summarize the year in Google was how many in the tech press declared the Pixel 3a as their choice for Android phone of the year after the release of the 4 series of phones. Audio Description On The Rise On a much more positive note, as emphasized by our AD news article, 2019 was the year where we became Audio Described Couch Potato aficionados. A lot of titles that took flight in pop culture this year happened to have AD tracks. However, as Shelly stated, Amazon Prime Video has been steadily adding support for older titles that you might not have realized needed description. Lisa also said that it's surprising when a new movie or show isn't described these days. And she urged that we need to support these legal ways of obtaining the content we want in order to foster more content in the future or support Blind/Low Vision creators and actors with their projects. Here's an email from BBQ Crew Member Jamie Pauls that places the substantial jump for AD in context. Hello, all. JJ and I were talking last evening about adding the huge influx of audio-described content in 2019 to our end-of-year show. With JJ's blessing, I reached out to the AD project for some stats comparing the end of last year to now. They actually gave me some stats comparing the first of this year until now which is probably close enough. I am sharing the information with everyone. Copied tweets follow: 1/1/19 SUMMARY: 2418 unique described videos and TV Series. 985 videos were duplicated in more than one service. Titles From: 41 Current Movies; 1029 DVDs; 926 iTunes; 811 Netflix; 440 Prime-Video; and 197 TV Series, broken down as follows: 30 ABC, 13 CBS, 25 FOX, 20 NBC, 23 DISCOVERY, 10 HGTV, 25 HISTORY, 18 TBS, 11 TNT, 22 USA. 12/16/19 SUMMARY: 3534 unique described videos and TV Series. 1719 videos were duplicated in more than one service. 31 Current Movies; 1194 DVDs; 12 Apple TV+; 291 Disney+; 65 Hulu; 1178 iTunes; 1080 Netflix; 1508 Prime-Video; 5 Other; 228 TV Series: 35 ABC, 16 CBS, 2 CW, 24 FOX, 21 NBC, 25 DISCOVERY, 18 HGTV, 34 HISTORY, 18 TBS, 13 TNT, 22 USA. When Cameras Took More Than Pictures 2012 saw the splashy debut of Google Glass at Google i/o. So, it seems fitting that the Explorer Edition finds itself entering the Graveyard in 2020 just as others begin to really lean into smart glasses technology. AIRA and Be My Eyes both gained more partnerships and expansions into the services they provide. Seeing AI and Envision AI were joined by the addition of VoiceDream Scanner in the field of On Device OCR apps. We summarize many of these stories in our Visual Assistance article in the news section of the site. And Lisa gives us an idea of how helpful many of these tools were to her when adjusting to life in a new apartment. Scott lays out the pros and cons of using many of these tools as a Deaf Blind person. J.J. notes, as you can read below, that there are some things you must consider if you rely on these methods of viewing the world through a camera lens. Keeping Private Things Private As cool as many of these new ways to access the environment are, they do have some serious aspects to consider while using them. Lisa describes a situation she came across in a public area in her apartment building and Shelly talked about data storage and where it resides if a company is sold or acquired. J.J. illuminated upon some misgivings that could come about with public transportation adopting more open policies towards the Visual Interpreter services as seen in Boston and New York. And Joe mentioned about how some visual concepts are becoming more apparent to the community as they encounter these access options in more settings. Here are links to some of the specific items discussed during this portion of the show. Dark Patterns in Accessibility Tech The next Big Tech battleground is your ears Hey Alexa: How can we escape surveillance capitalism? An Update About Face Recognition on Facebook Stalker 'found Japanese singer through reflection in her eyes Oh, What A Tangled Web We Surf Our conversation about hacking our disabilities came about from each panel member noting a barrier to web access they met recently. Relying on one Screen Reader and one web browser seems like an illusion of the information superhighway s glory days as a combination of tools may work better for shopping, banking or even searching the web. Plus, don't even get us started on various mobile browsers on iOS or Android. J.J. noted that the latest Web Aim survey seemed to reflect the changing trends in web access and how players like NVDA are changing with the times. Lisa and Scott compare Windows Narrator to a gawky teenager growing into their own and that's a good thing for the built in technology moving forward. Joe thought it was interesting that JAWS was rapidly gaining more support for Google Chrome and G Suite products to stay relevant in the Enterprise sector. Additionally, Shelly and Scott mused how some have made the switch from mac back to Windows as a result to the modifications made to the Mac OS through the annual upgrade cycles. Pizza and music played a huge role in web access this year. Beyonce.com Lawsuit Reminds Us How Shitty the Web Is for Users With Visual Impairment BIG WIN FOR WEB ACCESSIBILITY IN DOMINO S PIZZA CASE Browser vendors win war with W3C over HTML and DOM standards The internet's accessibility reckoning Mozilla to release a new Firefox version every four weeks starting next year Here are the results of the latest Web Aim Survey The US Supreme Court Domino s Pizza delivery case rejection, dished out Accessibility, the future, and why Domino s matters What Domino s Pizza got wrong about internet accessibility Add Vimeo to the Growing List of Large Websites Taking Accessibility Seriously Miscellaneous Musings Just as some may not be aware of some of the technical aspects of using a camera for access, others are becoming more familiar with other disabilities outside of Blindness that come with aging. Lisa and Scott engage in a lively conversation about the cost of Hearing Aids and how many of their companion apps are not Screen Reader friendly. Joe expanded upon that and offered that this lack of access also falls onto apps that control the Smart Home and various appliances that tout their connectivity. Lisa found that there is a need for individual research for major purchases in that arena, over buying whatever everyone else in the community is snagging up. Tailoring your expectations, as well as concentrating on your specific needs for access, can possibly bring about a better solution than "following the herd". Joe added that apps are constantly being updated and that could break or fix access from month to month. Relying on reviews may not be the best course of action either because appliance makers are manufacturing products in smaller runs in order to offer new features at a faster rate. J.J. said that the push for outreach is still needed to bring about awareness and change with products that add Voice Assistant and app related features. And the group all noted how more televisions are coming with Speech on board, how the Instant Pot made their apps more Screen Reader friendly after Community advocacy and we do have more powerful technology on hand for navigating the gaps in access than we did in 2018. Shelly and Joe touch upon the rise in off-the-shelf tablets being used as the display on many portable Video Magnifiers. Shelly followed that up with how some in the press enforce the narrative on how well the big mainstream companies are doing with their access solutions and what impressions that can send to those who are unfamiliar with other Assistive Technology. Joe noted that some in the Community also misconstrued these messages to a point where they shun traditional technology that was designed by A.T. makers. He specifically noted discussions he heard at various events for the desire to not use something like AIRA's Horizon in favor of a possible future set of Apple created smart glasses. Finally, and ending on a high note, Lisa and Scott celebrate the fact that more people had the opportunity to compare the Braille me to the Orbit Reader in the battle of the low cost Braille Displays. Additionally, now that phones cost more and iOS is constantly influx, the traditional note taker may still have a place in being a more stable option for some tasks. Sound Off We asked trepidaciously on Twitter for ideas about what the big stories were and Jim Denham sent along his feelings in the below email. Hey guys: Just wanted to chime in with what I believe is the biggest news story of 2019. That would be, the Amazon Echo Show identifying products. This is a big deal b/c its not using the bar code, it is just identifying the product by visual appearance. Amazon is obviously using individuals who are blind or visually impaired to help develop this feature, with the long term goal to provide people the ability to reorder products just by holding them up to the Show. In this case, all involved win, as it is a great and really useful feature for individuals with an Echo Show. I also believe this is just the starting point. As machine learning continues to develop at a mind blowing pace, this will certainly grow much bigger in 2020 and beyond. Thanks for all the great audio and podcasts in 2019, you guys do an awesome job and your work is truly appreciated. Jim Last Word 2019 saw the BBQ Crew cross the 200th episode mark and place our 750th audio program into our vast archives. We have been thrilled, honored and humbled to bring you our brand of news and entertainment on a weeklyish basis for 5 years. This would not be at all possible if it weren t for our guests, interview subjects, sponsors, and most of all you, the listeners. We are not sure just what 2020 holds in store for us all in A.T. news. However, we look forward to bringing it all to you in the upcoming year! Thanks for listening!

A holiday stocking crammed full of news, a lively discussion on audio description options and a browser tip to aid you on your post shopping surfing successes. And most of all, in the Last Word, a continuing tradition helps us end our final regular show of 2019 on a high note. Grab that hot cocoa and fire up that Yule Log channel on Netflix before you settle down for a long winter s nap with episode 203. In The News: NVDA 2019.3beta1 now available for testing December updates for JAWS, ZoomText and Fusion 2020 have been released JIM THATCHER, ACCESSIBILITY GIANT, DIES AT 83 Phil Raistrick, Founder of En-Vision America, Dies at 78 Code Jumper wins CES award for best app inovation The AppleVis Community Names Seeing AI and Dice World as its Golden Apples of 2019 Microsoft updates Seeing AI,bringing new languages,currencies, and support for Siri shortcuts Register now for the 2020 AFB leadership conference Write and Preview Markdown with ease with IAWriter A Blueprint for Time Management: A Dozen Suggestions for Improving Apple's Screen Time Feature Choose the perfect gift, find the best food, or get help finding the perfect holiday decorations with Aira Access World features articles on Amazon Audio Description, microwaves and more Hulu app gains support for audio description tracks to help the visually impaired Casting Call: Apple TV+ Series "SEE" Season 2 Tip: Deleting Cached Files And Cookies In Firefox Or Chrome The new image description feature in Google Chrome sure is a lot of fun. However, it can eat up a lot of resources if you have it scan every picture on every page you encounter. To delete this weighty data, and we suggest you do this once a month if you aren t using this feature full time, press the Control plus the Shift and Delete keys at the same time. From there, choose the amount of time you want the browser to delete from your history. Notice you will find options like cookies and such as you make your way down to the Cache checkbox. Select the options you want and then choose the clear data button. The same hotkey works with Firefox if that is your browser of choice by the way. Sound Off: Rebecca Skipper writes in about something Joe knows very well. "Hi, I really want to read both the Star Trek 2009 countdown comic and the Picard prequel comics, but I can t get Openbook or JAWS OCR to scan the text properly. I purchased the 2009 comic in print, and I am so disappointed in the poor OCR results I got. Is there any way I can get accessible versions of these comics? Thanks. Rebecca Skipper" The great thing about the internet is that whatever you can think of... it's possible someone else has thought about it and posted the answer online. Fans of movies and shows do this a lot. Joe notes that there are dedicated channels on Youtube that wil dissect just about every aspect of a movie, show or comic. Check out these two links for major breakdowns of the first title in the prequel comic. Star Trek Picard - Countdown Comic #1 | Review, Breakdown & SPOILERS! Star Trek Picard news - Countdown Comic 1 analysis! IDW review reaction Lydia Alverson writes in to help Joe with something he doesn't know well. "Dear BBQ team, First off, I just want to let you know that I just finished listening to the 200th episode of your podcast on my Mac via Safari. The web player is great. Joe, I don't blame you about not being all that good at math. It isn't my favorite subject either. When I was a freshman in high school, my math teacher showed us a very catchy song and video to help us memorize the quadratic formula. To this day, I still can't get it out of my head. I will post a link to the video with a song below. The Quadratic Formula" Thanks again for another great podcast. Sincerely, Lydia Alverson" Last Word: Our sincerest thanks go out to the gang at Snyder Hall at University of Illinois For their fantastic Dial A Carol service. We appreciated their holiday spirit and we were thrilled to have them on the show again this year. To hear their holiday cheer from 2018, tune in to episode 169's "Last Word" section. Just know you may not want to do this if you want to survive Whamageddon unscaved P.S> Stay past the credits for a special musical treatment from Patrick. BBQ 204 has our A.T. Avengers assemble for the trends that emerged during 2019. Until then, Happy Holidays everyone!

In March, at CSUN19, APH was noted as being one of our big stories in our wrap up of the event. Code Jumper leaped into the spotlight at that show and people noticed the device's unique way of making the process of learning STEM subjects more enjoyable to different skill levels and age groups. Joe Strechay, Consultant, and Michelle Cundiff, Education and Outreach Specialist for APH, sat down with our own Joe to discuss the exciting news that has emerged since March. Tune in to hear how the Microsoft Education Community will aid in the creation of plans, achievements and goals related to Code Jumper. Michelle also previews some ideas for modules, materials and possible STEM Camps that Educators can use alongside Code Jumper. If you would like to know more about Code Jumper and the importance of coding in education, and To hear the units in action, listen in to our CSUN demonstration with J.J. and Dave Wilkinson. Also, check out our interview about how partnerships will play a role in APH's future moving forward. And you can always find the latest news about products and services from APH by visiting their website Sponsor: American Printing House For The Blind APH designs innovative learning solutions for people who are blind or visually impaired. They believe in the power of breaking down barriers and creating a future that belongs to everyone. Visit APH on the web to learn more about their products and services.

American Printing House (APH) continues growing with new partnerships bringing new products and innovations to the APH offerings. From Humanware, Microsoft and others, APH is putting a new face on at conventions and rightfully so. Dave Wilkinson had a table loaded with new devices and displaying new devices arriving this fall. Here are few devices Dave mentions: Code Jumper: Designed by Microsoft so that Blind and Sighted peers can work together in the classroom to learn the basic concepts of computer programing. Code Jumper is a series of linkable units that can combine to make complex sentences and songs. The Audible sounds are great.  BrailleTrail Reader:  Designed by Humanware and is a variant of the Humanware Brailliant BI 14 Braille Display, and is bright red in color. A very handy compact Braille reader designed for young students and excellent for the classroom. Braille Buzz: A Bumble Bee like device that interacts with phonics and descriptions. Aimed at the young 3-4 year-olds and provides a great experience for young Braille learners. The Braille Buzz has a Braille Perkins style keyboard as well as alphabet letters With audio feedback. A perfect tool for interacting with sighted peers and for learning letters and keyboarding skills. Dave also talks about the Sunu Band, the Color Star color identification device and the Jupiter Video Magnifier. You can find out more about APH and all of their offerings by email at info@APH.orgor by emailing Dave directly at DaveWilkinson@ApH.organd by calling 1-800-223-1839. ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: 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 Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Wellcome to the 11th EBU Access Cast. This time we have a special episode on Sight City 2019 and we talk about all interesting tech goodies we saw at the conference. At the beginning of the episode you can listen to the interviews which Mario and Tanja prepared, and than after Mario, Tanja, Bart and our special guest Paweł Masarczyk  who is very known podcaster from Poland in the Tyflopodcast discuss all about the things they saw at the Sight City. The first interview comes from Vispero group where Jan Blum presented to us what's new with all series of their products such as JAWS, Zoom, Fusion, and also Focus Blue braille displays 5g: 14, 40 and 80 characters. Jan also informed us about Omni reader: scanning and reading device as well as the products from Optelec Germany: video magnifier CCTV device with 16 inch screen. In the second interview we spoke with Mr Siegfried Kipke, CEO of Help Tech that is for many listeners better known as former Handy Tech which is a very good German manufacturer of braille devices. The products demonstrated in this interview were Actilino, portable and compact braille notetaking device with 16 ergonomic concaved braille cells, unique functions such as detection of the reading positioning, bluetooth connectivity with up to 4 different devices in the same time for transferring files or to use it as a braille display, magnetic USB connection, 16 gb of storage and support for SD cards plus standard lithium batteries which are possible to find in todays smartphones. We also spoke about Active Braille and Active Star braille devices, and we had a chance to see the new Active Braille Plus with 40 cells which has similar functionalities as Actilino, but with aditional 40 braille sells, and new rabber keys which make this unit really very quiet when typing. In addition, it supports Kindle and Kindle Fire HD  devices and the plan is to add the support for the Amazon's Alexa assistant. Our next visit was at the Kanematsu corporation booth and we spoke with the manager Mr. Tetsuo Takamatsu about their new product called TactPlus. TactPlus  is a product from Japan and it represents the first braille and 3d image printer which uses thermal printing on capsule paper. It has only 5 kg and it has the same size as a standard Inkjet printer. We were standing closely while the printer was working and we couldn’t hear any noise coming out from it. In fact our opinion is that this is the most silent braille printer that we herd so far, and we were very positively surprised by the quality of the embossed graphics and braille text. Another very good product which we demonstrated in the next interview is BraiBook and it comes from Spain. It is the first portable braille book reader with only 1 braille cell that has a size of a computer mouse. The cell can be refreshed at the desired speed which can be adjusted with a little joystick located on the left side of the device. Mr. Eric Sicard showed us the product and he explained to us that BraiBook supports currently 40 languages which are provided via the open source Liblouis braille translator, and that it also provides the text-to-speech functionality for users who want to read it via TTS through additional headphone jak. With 64 gb of internal memory, users have more than enough space to store thousands of ebooks in various formats such as Epub, PDF or TXT files and read it on the go. In few minutes we were able to get the unit going along and read the text very fast. The APH booth was very busy with the demonstration of their new products, and one of them which we saw in action was Code Jumper for which we can't wait the official release in Europe. As you will hear from our comments later in the episode, the rest of our team is also very happy with Code Jumper and our opinion is that the product has very bright future in the blindness community. Besides Code Jumper we  also saw BrailleBuzz which is really cool gadget for very young blind students who are just starting to learn braill. Speaking of braille devices, on the APH stand they presented also the Braile Trail, 14 cell braille display which is produced by HumanWare. Another company which is bringing lot of attention for last few years comes from Korea, and it is possible to see them almost on every assistive technology conference. They are called Dot incorporation, so we went to see what do they have in store for us this time. We were able to see the Dot Watch which was previously mentioned in our episodes, but we were also able to see the brand new low cost braille reader Dot Mini. It has 16 braille cels and built in speaker, Dot Mini represents modern reading unit and portable Braille display for blind people. The unit has also TTS support as well as the support for Daisy format, support for SD cards, USB and Bluetooth. Besides all the things we mentioned, we saw a bunch of other things for which we didn't have the time to do the interviews such as meteg product: 2 dimentional graphic braille display, Tactonom by Inventivio and Seika braille displays by Nippon Telesoft. Another cool thing which we mentioned in the later section of the podcast which we saw was the washing machine that has buttons with tactile markings. The buttons are also touch sensitive and by touching them will produce a sound to distinguish the number of the turns in the spin cycle or the desired temperature in a predefined program. The washing machine is designed to be accessible to visually impaired and it is manufactured by Miele. Miele started to make home appliances with universal design in mind since 2007, and on the next link you can read more information about it. Pawel saw also an interesting product from Italy called FelixPhone, which is bringing another adopted smartphone for blind people, Mediavoice - Speaky Facile, the device which connects thru your smart TV, and Bruno, the reading Machine for low vision and blind people. Last year the EBU Access Cast was launched on the Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Therefore at the end of this episode we tell you why this day is inportant for our community and we are sharing with you a short but very informative article about it. We hope that this episode was interesting to you and that we were able to bring at least a small piece of many different things which were possible to see and experience on this years Sight City. As always you are free to leave us the comments and the suggestions on our e-mail and Twitter and we're looking forward to be back with you in June.

Mit den Aktions-, Schleifen- und Wenn-Dann-Pods des American Printing House for the Blind setzen Schulkinder Geräusche zu Audiogeschichten zusammen und lernen so spielerisch programmieren.

1910 Learn to Code With Code Jumper (Mar. 6, 2019) Show Notes Have you ever wanted to become a computer programmer but didn’t know where to start? Well Code Jumper from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) may be just what you are looking for! Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Dave … Continue reading 1910 Learn to Code With Code Jumper (Mar. 6, 2019) →