Podcasts about national braille press

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2022 54:49

Our Special was founded in 1927, and is the most popular magazine published by National Braille Press. It comes out six times each year, and covers career issues, fashion, parenting, cooking, maternity, dating, health, and a panoply of other women's issues. Each issue of the magazine includes articles written by and for blind women, and the slim and convenient pull-out recipe section, "Kitchen Corner." Kim Nova is delighted to be a columnist for OS, and recently was thrilled to become the publication's newest editor. She's excited to share more about Our Special, the types of content you'll find in the magazine, how to obtain a subscription, and most of all, to introduce you to two of Our Special's columnists, Sylvia Reid and Holly Turri, who write wonderful travel and book-related columns, respectively, for the magazine. Kim is so pleased to have the opportunity to share more about this unique magazine with blind women and the men who love us. Presenter Contact Info Email: wordweaver546@tgmail.com To learn more about Our Special and obtain a subscription: https://www.nbp.org

os magazine columnist our special national braille press

Tek Talk welcomes Kim Nova, columnist and editor, to discuss the National Braille Press magazine Our Special. 03/28/2022

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2022 54:49

os magazine columnist our special national braille press

Tek Talk welcomes Kim Nova to discuss online dating. 02/14/2022

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2022 56:58

If you've considered dipping your toe into the world of online dating, congratulations on thinking about embarking on this adventure. However, before you begin there are many important things to know first. Fortunately, Kim Nova has been there and is happy to provide some helpful tips, tricks and advice for your journey. From dating sites and apps and their accessibility, to straight-forward help in creating dating profiles, and a bit on the red flags to look out for if he or she just seems way too good to be true, we'll cover it all in this Valentine's Day edition of Tek Talk. If you're hoping this will be your last February 14 without a valentine of your own, come join us for this discussion, and, of course, bring your questions... and a box of yummy heart chocolate to share! Presenter Contact Info Kim Nova Email: Kim@MysticAccess.com Website: https://www.mysticaccess.com Dating in the Digital Age, book written by Kim for National Braille Press: https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/DATING.html?from_search=1Presenter

dating digital age online dating national braille press

Tek Talk welcomes Kim Nova to discuss online dating. 02/14/2022

Mystic Access Podcast: Where the Magic is in Learning

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2022 56:58

dating digital age online dating national braille press

Episode 19 – An Unstoppable Pioneer in Web Accessibility and Life with Mike Paciello

Unstoppable Mindset

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2022 64:43

It is not often that most of us have the opportunity and honor to meet a real trendsetter and pioneer. Today, you get to meet such an individual. Mike Paciello has been a fixture in the assistive technology world for some thirty years. I have heard of him for most of that time, but our paths never crossed until this past September when we worked together to help create some meetings and sessions around the topic of website accessibility. As you will hear, Mike began his career as a technical writer for Digital Equipment Corporation, an early leader in the computer manufacturing industry. I won't tell you Mike's story here. What I will say is that although Mike is fully sighted and thus does not use any of the technology vision impaired persons use, he really gets it. He fully understands what Inclusion is all about and he has worked and continues to work to promote inclusion and access for all throughout the world. After you hear our podcast with Mike, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to email me at michaelhi@accessibe.com to tell me of your observations. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast About our Guest: Mike Paciello has been a pioneer and influential figure in the accessibility industry for more than three decades. He wrote the first book on web accessibility and usability (Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities), and has since achieved many notable milestones. He is the founder of WebABLE.Com and co-founder of WebABLE.TV. Mike currently serves as AbleDocs VP of US Operations. Mike served as co-chair of the United States Federal Access Board's Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC), co-founder of the International Committee for Accessible Document Design (ICADD), and was recognized by President Bill Clinton for his contribution to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). He was the recipient of the 2016 Knowbility Lifetime Achievement and the 2020 ICT Accessibility Testing Symposium Social Impact awards. Contact Mike at mpaciello@webable.com or mpaciello@abledocs.com About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. Thanks for joining us this week, we have a guest I've been looking forward to for quite a while his name is Mike Paciello. And I'm not going to tell you a whole lot about him because he gets to do that himself, except I will tell you that he's very deeply involved in the web accessibility world. Why do we deal with web accessibility a lot on this podcast? And why do I continue to bring it up. Because if you've listened to many of these podcasts, you know that there is an ever widening gap between websites that are accessible and those that are not. And it is something that we all need to deal with. Because there are so many people in this world who don't get to access all the websites that everyone else can access for one reason or another. Mike has been very deeply involved in dealing with those issues for a lot of years. And I'd like to introduce you to him now. And we can talk more about it. Mike, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Mike Paciello 02:23 Thanks, Mike. Great to be here. Michael Hingson 02:27 So how did you even get involved in this? I mean, you you are cited you, you, as far as I know, don't have any what people would call physical disabilities and all that. So how did you get involved in all this? Mike Paciello 02:41 Well, it's a it's a long and winding story that probably folks have heard many times in the past, but I was worked at a a computer company that no longer exists anymore. It maybe exists in parcels at HP. But it was Digital Equipment Corporation back in the 80s. I actually Michael Hingson 03:03 just this morning was reading something from someone on a list where they were talking about the old desktop synthesizer. Mike Paciello 03:10 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I know that memories. Yeah, I know the guys that worked on that. And Tony Vitaly was one of the lead engineers on that. And Tony, now we're good friends. He passed away several years ago from ALS. Ironically enough, it he discovered it while he was at the seaside conference. Boy, I think so. So this was in the late 90s, maybe in early 2000s. But at any rate, I was working as a technical writer at Digital in the mid mid 80s, right through the early 90s. And was asked to take on a project voluntarily, which involved providing our computer software documentation we did mostly operating system software, to the National Braille Press in Boston. And I just thought it was interesting. And so I followed up and they said, and maybe you'll get a request once or twice a year. I hadn't had the project for more than a few hours. And I got a cost a call right away from Bill reader who was the writer? Yep. You know, Bill, yes. And he said, Hey, we need this, this this this? Can you bring these down? And I said, Sure, I'd have been happy to. And so I hadn't carried the physical publications, which as I found out, they would then take and transcribe into and reproduce in Braille. And Bill was awesome. He gave me a complete tour of, you know, the factories and the offices and what they did. And right away he started talking about, you know, screen reader. Well, actually, it was a screen reader technology that was braille translation software at that particular time. It's so that that piqued my interest, and i i At the same time I was doing that I also happen to be working in the very first instances of markup language. This is pre SGML, which, as anyone that knows the standardized, standardized or Standard Generalized Markup Language was the precursor to HTML, which is makes up the web. But it was actually a, a markup language used to basically mirror what an editor, a physical editor of a red publication would do, you know, take a ticket document from an individual divided up into, you know, logical portions on on, you know, within a page. So this is a paragraph, this is a list, this needs to be indented. This is a title, this is a heading, those type of things. And Dale SGML could do that electronically. And at the time, I specifically was working on a project that involves converting our electronic documents or digital into postscript, which anyone knows a postscript is that free PDF? Yes. So I thought to myself, if we can do these electronic conversions from basically a text markup file, to a postscript file, which is, you know, kind of a graphical a page, right? Right. Why not output it to Braille? And that led me on my quest to go figure out how to do that. Michael Hingson 06:36 So what did you What did you end up doing? Mike Paciello 06:39 Well, I curse I had established a few contacts, because of this arrangement that digital had with the National Braille Press. And one of those contexts was George cursher. Anyone that knows anything about this business knows that George is a champion and a hero, and just one of the greatest human beings I've ever known. And Matt, and it's great to be to be called a friend and a colleague of his, Michael Hingson 07:08 and George was the person who kind of really was the proponent of the DAISY format, which is used today not only in audio recordings to make them fully accessible and navigable, but he did it for Braille as well. Mike Paciello 07:22 That's right. That's exactly right. And I'll tell you, a lot of people remember George for when he worked for what you would call it out there in New Jersey and Princeton for the blind index, Michael Hingson 07:36 RFP coding, right. Now Learning Ally, right, Mike Paciello 07:40 right, right, exactly. However, before he joined RFB, nd he had his own little company called computerized books for the blind, write it so I established a contact with him, he and I started talking about markup languages. He pulled it a couple of other people like Joe Sullivan, from Duxbury Systems. And Yuri Minsky, who was the President CEO of soft spot, which was a major producer of SGML editing software. And we formed together with many other colleagues, also international colleagues, what was a working group called the International Committee for accessible document design. We did that in the late early 90s, early 90s. Michael Hingson 08:30 So you, you put some processes together? And how successful were you at being able to get postscript translated into Braille? Mike Paciello 08:43 Well, no, no, as far as I know, there was no success there. Yes, story. The story with postscript is, you know, Adobe, eventually converted everything into a PDF. And that's where the success so to speak, relatively speaking, came in play. Adobe actually had members that were part of our, the internet international committee for accessible document design. And they got involved effect their lead engineer at that time was Carl Orthey. And Carl met with George myself in another great colleague, who worked with me at that time at Digital TV Raman. And we looked at ways of, again, taking the PDF and converting into something that was accessible. So that's that's so there's no real story as far as I know around postscript. It's all about PDF at that level. Michael Hingson 09:42 It's, it's interesting. You had a lot of good beginnings and laid a lot of foundations. But But today, it seems like a lot of the accessibility that we're seeing is still somewhat sporadic and spotty. In that not everything gets to be put into or can easily be put into an accessible form. Even with Adobe, there is a lot of document, there are a lot of documents that are released and created by various people that aren't accessible. Why is it that Adobe and other organizations don't really follow through and try to create native accessibility? Right from the outset? Mike Paciello 10:28 Yeah, well, you know what that is, it's it comes down very simply to it's a business decision. You know, corporations. for all intents and purposes, they've got a mindset, they're all about reporting back to their boards of directors, and reported profits. I mean, it's just a business's business, especially here in you know, in this in this country, where we're driven, you know, by a by, you know, why the markets in so businesses, businesses look at it, and I've yet to see this not be true. Even for those companies that I believe Excel, where accessibility is concerned, a businesses have never been able to figure out really how to turn accessibility as you and I know it into a business value proposition, they haven't figured out how to make it, how to make money out of it, there are all kinds of numbers that are thrown out there about discretionary income by people with disabilities. But it doesn't come down to that. It's it's channels, it's business lines, it's, it's we're talking about, you know, companies don't want to talk about making business unless we're talking about billions of dollars now. And then, you know, it won't take much longer looking at the recent, the recent profit reports, you know, by by Apple and Amazon, that we're going to be talking about trillions of dollars. So if we can generate that kind of thing, then then, you know, a business business really does want to want to investigate. And secondarily, designing architecting, developing all of the engineering lifecycle or product lifecycle disciplines that are associated with ensuring that whatever it is that we're building, and I'll just use just a software environment, because that's, that's what I'm most familiar with, whatever software platform or interface that we're designing or developing, you know, it has to be accessible, they're not doing enough, you know, out of the box, it's not being done in the concept, you know, conceptual design and architectural, and then fall all the way through. If you know, what I'm doing right now, as I'm illustrate, I'm using, you know, kind of a gesture to show, you know, for the beginning, all the way to the end of the lifecycle, there, every piece of that needs to be accounted for, where ensuring something is usable, and accessible to a variety of people, disabilities, and the persona types associated with it. And companies just typically don't make that kind of investment. Unless someone at the top is driving it. And, you know, you can look at, you know, I think Microsoft is a is a good company right now to kind of hold up there, because I believe that they've done a great job at raising the bar. Because all of its being driven by Jenny in by, you know, by their CEO, you know, he himself has, I think, at least one son with with a disability. So he's got a personal connection to it, but you don't see that at 90% of most businesses. So again, like I said, it's a, it's a value cost analysis, that, you know, from an accessibility standpoint, it's probably never going to really, truly wash. Now that even Michael Hingson 14:04 go ahead. Oh, go ahead. No, I was just gonna Mike Paciello 14:07 say, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. And that doesn't mean that we shouldn't tackle this pervasive, really, you know, like global challenge, using other means by which to, you know, kind of change the world and change thinking. And I really think that that's probably another big piece of it. Michael Hingson 14:28 We see them with Microsoft, but even with Microsoft, now with new windows 11. There are a lot of things that are technically accessible, but they're not obvious and they're not obviously located so that one can see them, you know, as an example. It used to be in his latest Windows 10. If you wanted to go to what we're now calling even with Windows and app that's installed on your machine, you hit the start button. And then you could use the arrow keys to go down and find the AP. But that's not the case in Windows 11 anymore. And there are additional keystrokes or other things that you need to do. They have not kept the same obvious process. And yes, it's accessible because you can find it. But is that really is usable, and was a lot of thought given to that when they were creating windows 11. And it seems to me that Jenny has has done a lot and we're speaking by the way for those who don't know, of Jenny Lefevere, who is the Chief Accessibility Officer for Microsoft, and Jenny is deaf, we met at a convention a few years ago. And obviously, you, you work with her pretty well. But I just think that there are things that they aren't, they're still not giving a lot of thought or as much thought as they should, to some of the architecture and ways to make Windows is obviously usable as it should be. Mike Paciello 15:59 You know, I mean, Mike, I can't, I can't deny that I totally agree. I think, you know, what we see out on the web in terms of social networking, social Mark marketing, we see what Microsoft wants us to hear, right, but we're not inside. In I am not at all surprised, because I frankly, I hear this about a lot of the other, you know, big companies, who was it was at Forbes was at Forbes, or was a fast company that just came out with this glowing article. It in mentioned, it was it was really kind of interesting. It mentioned Microsoft, Amazon, Google. Facebook, who else was in there apple in all these great, wonderful things that they do in I mean, you can't deny the fact that they've made some awesome, you know, steps forward and done some great things in behalf of the entire disabilities marketplace. Right. But force, but at the same time, you and I both know, I see every single day, if not hundreds, you know, dozens, you know, if not dozens, hundreds. So whichever way you want to look at it, I have people who are seeing exactly what you're saying. Yeah, great, but now I can't use Windows, I've seen that. I've seen that whole discussion on Windows 11. So what happened? Who's Who's not watching the the watching the ball there? How can you not at this point in the game, when you're in industry, as mature as Microsoft is? Including the accessibility space? How could you miss these things? You can't. So someone's making decisions that should either is, is not well educated, well versed and accessibility, or be and I think this tends to be more likely scenario. They're doing it because they're being driven by whatever financial incentives that they have. Right? Michael Hingson 18:04 Right. But But here's, here's another aspect of that. I agree that in especially in this country, we tend to be very driven by the financial aspects of it. What Uh, what about our stockholders, we've got to report directly to them. And they're the only ones who matter, which I'm not convinced is true. But that's what what companies do. But when do we get to see companies believe? It says much about the cost of doing business to include people with disabilities, and we'll deal with blindness here. But in general, to include people with disabilities as it is others look at Adobe, if you install Adobe Acrobat, or if you look at a lot of the things that that you can do with Acrobat, and Acrobat, DC today, we have Acrobat, DC, licensed as I do here, you get options for different kinds of languages, you get a variety of different kinds of settings. And obviously, those were put in because people somewhere thought it was important to have more than English, then of course, part of that is you want Acrobat to be able to be marketed all over the world. But even in this country, you want Acrobat to be able to produce documents and English and Spanish and Chinese and Japanese and other languages as well. But so there's a mindset there, that that's important. But I think part of the issue with corporate decisions is there isn't a mindset yet about dealing with disabilities, even though more than 20% of all people in this country and around the world have some sort of disability there isn't a mindset of inclusion for those people yet. Mike Paciello 19:56 Yeah, I totally agree. Um, you know, we all I often talk about culture, we often talk about acumen, we I used to have a domain that was called thinkaccessibility.com. And it's true with the mindset is, they're just not doing it. But I also feel like in I kind of apologize, because I haven't been able to come up with the right answer yet. But I used to talk in terms of what, you know, what, how do we change the world? I mean, that's, that's what we're trying to talk about, right? We're talking about changing the world change the world's mindset, as it relates to people with disabilities, in, in accessibility. In terms of any kind of interaction or, or or inclusive design doesn't matter whether it's hardware, or software, wood, or paper, or electronic. The same thing is true all the way across the board, I still see buildings that are built, and they don't meet the ADA standards. Right. Right. So So what is it? I used to talk about, you know, back in the, in the 90s, particularly, we went through this phase, where alternative energy became, you know, a big thing. In many governments, many, many governments put billions of dollars into alternative energies for a lot of reasons, right? They want to stop fossil fuel pollution and things along those lines, right? The the atmosphere, but there were a lot of reasons for doing it. But the the government's and the people, the scientists behind it, saw, had had the foresight, they saw a vision of what the world would be like, in 5060, you know, 100 years or decades ahead, in from the term from the standpoint of preservation, for from the standpoint of, you know, global warming, pollution, things along those lines, it became intrinsic to life, for every human. We haven't achieved that in the disability accessibility. A world in our world, we have not created a mindset that says, We need to change the world, because if we don't, this is what's going to happen in the years to come. Right? That makes sense. It does. Michael Hingson 22:31 And, you know, part of the problem is the term disability is still, we're great at redefining words, right? I mean, we've re defined, we've redefined diversity all over the place. And now diversity generally tends not to include disabilities. And will but we haven't been able to define disability yet to not mean you're not able. And so it is a problem. And I'm just not sure how we're going to get around that. But somewhere, we need to do that, to get the mindset to shift so that people can truly understand and accept that just because a person has a different ability set than they and it doesn't include some of the things that that their ability set includes. That does go the other way as well. And it isn't all of a physical nature necessarily. Mike Paciello 23:24 I totally agree. I tell you every I mean, what's also factually true is, you know, the profession, the business and the community that you and I are part of, is it is in and of itself kind of a civil rights notion, right? It is. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in the US, it's absolutely that, well, actually, most countries, it's absolute. That's why you have, you know, Ada, like legislator, legislation and laws throughout, you know, throughout the world. But here's the interesting thing about that. Every great civil rights movement, every great movement, has always had a great leader and a vocal leader and a visible leader. And I've always thought that that's one of the things that we miss, we don't really have, we have some great leaders, we've got some great people out there. Jenny being one of them, for example. You know, when I, when I grew up, Ellen Brightman was like, it was like my hero key and Gary Moulton. Were just, you know, awesome. Good. George cursher, you know, to this day is, but we don't have, you know, a Martin Luther King, like individual, you know, a Mahatma Gandhi, like individual who, who doesn't just bring the cause, but brings the recognition in, in in creates change as a result of that in in so I still kind of think that that's something that we we probably need in this industry to to to change the world the way that we want to change it. Michael Hingson 24:56 Yeah. And and the problem is that to bring the recognition that take a Martin Luther King, the the thing is, there were some differences about him. But there were enough similarities between him and everyone else that people could rally around him. And I'm not sure that when you're viewing people as physically disabled or developmentally disabled, when you bring that disability in, there's, there's a part of it, that I'm not sure that anyone yet has figured out a way to get around the closest person who I ever encountered. And I never met him personally, but person who I think could have achieved that, although not in the exact same strident way that Dr. King did would be Jacobus timber, the founder of the National Federation of the Blind. He was he was the deep philosopher, and extremely vocal about it and very innovative, but he was blind. And I think that that's that problem is what we face in terms of dealing with disabilities. Mike Paciello 26:11 Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, so I mean, I think that's just one, one piece of the, you know, of the puzzle, so to speak, to try to solve this worldwide mindset that that needs to be changed. Michael Hingson 26:31 Yeah, and I'm not sure how we're going to get around it. Because I think we also tend to not be violent, and we shouldn't be violent about what we do. But we do need to somehow cross this barrier. And maybe the way we need to do it is to be more forceful, collectively, and get people to to notice, but there are things that that companies could do take apple. So Apple, finally came to the realization and it took in part of the threat of a lawsuit to make it happen. But Apple finally took the iPhone and made it accessible. The iPod. And they even went so far as to make iTunes you available, although I don't hear as much about iTunes you today. But still, it was the method by which a number of people could get class lectures, and so on. And they made all of that accessible. The problem that I see with what Apple did is that they didn't take that last step. That is to say, there is still nothing in the App Store today that mandates any level of accessibility for the apps that they allow to go through the store. And they could make an incredible change in mindset and shift in mindset. If they would just say, your app has to have some level of accessibility. And that's going to be different for different kinds of apps. But at least I ought to be able to control apps that go through the store. And I recognize that a lot of apps are going to be graphical in nature, but they still ought to give me the ability to control the apps and manipulate the apps and my example that I use are star charts, you know, I'm not going to see star charts. But for me to take the time to describe it to someone and describe what I want to get them to manipulate it rather than me being able to manipulate it and then saying to someone, what do you see, I still don't even get that. And apps go in and out of accessibility in the app store all the time. Apple could, with a fairly simple process, make accessibility as mandatory in the store, as it does other things. It would seem to me. Mike Paciello 28:54 Yeah, well, what companies do about their own products is definitely one thing. But again, I still think it comes down to dollars and cents. No, they're not gonna push any harder than they have to, because they just don't have the C level people who should be, you know, putting this on their agenda and in prioritizing accessibility the way it ought to be, as we as we see it. Michael Hingson 29:21 Right. Right. But what's but what's the message there? The message, it seems to me is still we're still not really important enough for us to do that. Mike Paciello 29:31 Oh, that's right. You're not a viable entity? Yeah, absolutely. There's no doubt about that. They'll never say it. But in fact, that's really what's going on in the boardroom. Now. One One thing that we tried to do have been unsuccessful up till now. But when Jim Tobias and I shared the the last five weeks, one of the things that we had already laid groundwork for doing was implementing the Five weight requirements, which include all the the web accessibility requirements into the Americans Disabilities Act, because the Department of Justice was a participant there, they're following what we're doing. And we made some good head rows, headway into it. But it came to an abrupt abrupt stop. As a result of politics, frankly speaking. We, my my last meeting, ironically enough, at the White House, was the day before the 2001 or 2016 election. Yeah, yeah. 2016 election. And I listened to President Obama's chief technology officer, and his chief science officer, both talked about the players that they were laying out for the next four to eight years. In all those things got trashed right after that election. So again, not not not really, in no way am I see he could have a political position here, because I don't I stay out of politics, but I'm just sitting, having been the chair, a co chair, rather, of a committee, whose charter was to enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities by enhancing technology for accessibility. We lost, we lost, we lost quite a bit at that level. Now. You know, will it ever get into ADA? I don't know. I really don't know. It's it's more or less than table, that the Department of Justice position at this point is well, you know, things are fair, you know, are out there for everybody to follow. They don't need enforcement. But the reality is, lawsuits are gonna keep coming until until until enforcement is mandated. And then then corporations will do one or two things, they'll either comply, because they'll have to obey. Or they'll do what they typically do, which they send lobbyists groups in and fight it. Michael Hingson 32:06 Yeah, well, and you bring up a really interesting thing regarding lawsuits, because lawsuits can can be a powerful and valuable way to help the process if the litigation is brought for the right reason, namely, we really want to help fix the problem. But we're also seeing a lot of lawsuits. And it's been going on well, certainly before the ADEA. But we'll use the ADEA. And, and and our situations and experiences as the example, lawsuits today are often filed by lawyers who just want to make a bunch of money. They're very frivolous lawsuits. I saw one last week, where a lawyer decided to sue a company actually a bunch of different companies, because they said their websites were inaccessible. And they use the same boilerplate on on all of the lawsuits. And in reality, from the time the plaintiff, quote, looked at the website that I am aware of, until the time the lawsuit was filed was about a month. And in that time, unbeknownst to the defendant, or to the plaintiff, the company took action to make the website accessible because it was the right thing to do. So that by the time the lawsuit was filed, in reality, the claims were totally baseless because the website had become accessible and usable, demonstrably speaking, but yet the lawsuit was still fired filed, and there are so many of those frivolous lawsuits. It seems to me that one of the things that we ought to figure out ways to do is to get Bar Association's and others to go after these lawyers who are doing these frivolous lawsuits, because they're not doing anyone any good. Mike Paciello 34:07 Yeah, yeah, there's no doubt about there are a lot of evil, it's chases out there. They've been out there for as long as I've been, you know, in the software and web accessibility, because it's, I mean, I don't know if we'll ever be able to change that unless, unless we do what would there is there has been some inroads made in terms of how much a person can sue for and, and in some of the motivations for but yeah, yeah, I mean, it's sad, in unfortunately, they they bring in individuals with disabilities, you know, to be part of the of the suit itself. And that creates angst in the communities as well. Right. So I mean, it's, yeah, it's, it's funny, I gave a talk at the UN years ago on fear based incentives, and I hate them. I mean, it's such a stands for any kind of fear based incentives. But the fact of the matter is that we see it does. It does effect change, right. So you've seen large corporations in organizations in educational institutions who have made the changes because they were forced to as a result of those lawsuits. I don't like it. I don't think anybody likes to be quarter, you know, put into a corner and then have to fight out. It just gives accessibility and disabilities a bad name overall. But it is effective. Set Michael Hingson 35:36 offer, marketing, fear based marketing is all around us. I mean, turn on a television, and you hear commercials, like your check engine light is going to turn red at some point. And then it's going to be too late. You have to get our car warranty. Now I'm in fear marketing is all around us. Mike Paciello 35:56 Yeah, that's true. And I work separately. It is ironic, because it is kind of ironic that you're talking about that, because we are kind of talking about messaging, and marketing. It's one of the reasons why would I built web able, one of the things that I really wanted to focus on was trust based marketing, that anyone that I did business with, has to has to be truthful in everything that they say and everything that they do. And so I've worked really hard at that focus, I'm actually updating our pages right now to add another set of value statements associated with trust, and in truthful marketing, because I believe it's ironic my drive here is to make sure that people with disabilities and consumers with disabilities, you know, what they're being told, or what they're being sold, is, you know, an accurate reflection of what your product can or cannot do. So or what a service company or a service based company says they can and will do, because I believe, frankly, speaking, very analogous to the lawyer, you know, the English face lawyer scenario, is I believe that there that that individuals with disabilities, not unlike the elderly community are often take advantage, taking advantage of, because they don't know everything that's going on it, you know, their disability puts me into a situation where they, they, they often are not aware of what the true motivations of a corporation or organization really are. Michael Hingson 37:38 Right. And it's, it says an important for those of us in the disability community to understand corporate dynamics, and do as much as we can to become a part of the corporate world, because change does have to come from within, and it won't come unless we help bring it about and unless we work as hard as we possibly can to get other allies on the inside. But I still think ultimately, it's it's going to require that mindset shift. And I'm, I'm not convinced that it needs to be a costly thing to bring about accessibility, especially if you create a native way to make it happen right from the outset. Then you're building it into the cost of doing business, which is what Apple did, of course, with the iPhone, and the iPod and the technologies that are in the Mike Paciello 38:37 Mac voiceover voiceover right. And then voiceover, Michael Hingson 38:41 it's a cost of doing business. And I'm not even sure I totally like that. But it's, it's okay. It's a cost of doing business to make sure everyone can use the product. And I think that's a reasonable thing to do. But that's why I think that they, they need to take that last step. And get to the point of recognizing that part of that same cost of doing business has to be to say, to developers, you've got to have some sort of basic amount of accessibility, just like we do with the with the iPhone and the iPad and the Mac itself, because you're leaving people out. The The problem is that Apple put itself in that position by being a policing agency for what goes into apps and how apps work. I understand. I don't even I haven't looked lately, but I understand that if you create a piece of software that looks like it has a Windows desktop, that was true of Windows 10. Anyway, Apple wouldn't release it in the app store because it didn't look abolition often look to Windows II and of course their competitors. They have the ability to make and they do make decisions based on what they choose. Mike Paciello 40:02 Yeah, yeah, there's no no no doubt about that, again, businesses are in the business of doing business. Right. And, and, and that's why we have things, you know, like trademarks and copyright and, and patent infringement and patents, and, you know, all of that it's all proprietary, proprietary systems closed open. This that's, that is the world that we that we live in today is as as we started, as you said, from the beginning, the sad part of all of this is that in that the decision makers, the architects, the designers, are not really truly thinking about accessibility and building an infinite start. Michael Hingson 40:44 And it would make it just and it's not that hard to do. If they would do it. Tell me about the web accessibility initiative a little bit. Mike Paciello 40:53 Gosh, sure. Well, I'll tell you, as much as I know, I mean, I haven't. I've been on the fringes of it more or less for the last 15 years or so. But I'll tell you the, the interesting story about the about the way is that I and I was working as a volunteer, I was working at digital and working as a volunteer to kind of with MIT, in the WCC to just kind of build some content, leads, you know, email lists, you know, some some resource information, and just keep it there for accessibility. Organizations like trace ad, which then under Greg Vanderheiden, was at the University of Wisconsin, now down at University of Maryland, Baltimore, I think that's where they're at. And in WGBH, here in Boston, under Larry Goldberg's directorship in cast, they also were organizations that were kind of pulling together these resources around around the web. And so while I was there, I came in contact with a few key people like Daniel da, and of course, Tim Berners. Lee, I was working closely with with Uri Rybicki before he passed the 96. In others, Dave Raggett, just a few other people that were there, in ultimately, you know, we started talking about, you know, can we do something with this. But at the same time, conversations were being carried on with with the National Science Foundation is Department of Education, and a couple of European consortiums, including tide. And what happened was, Tim, as I understand it was approached by either Vice President Gore, or President Clinton at at that particular time said, hey, look, would with the W three C, would you guys be interested in kind of building a project around people disabilities that access to the web? And Tim came back to myself DlG Villar a dragon and said, Hey, do you guys think that we could do this, but would this be something that we could do and ultimately, that led to us putting together a plan and a proposal for an initiative at the time was called the web accessibility project or whap. And I never liked it. Never like, you know, from a marketing standpoint, you know, a branding simple, I just knew it wasn't gonna work. So when we decided that we were going to launch it in 1997, Danielle, and Danielle and I went back and forth, okay, what can we name this whole thing? And I came up with way Wi Fi. That was marketable, it was easy to say and easy to brand. And Daniel liked it. And and we were back in 1997. Now at the I think it What was it? Like everybody, I think it was the sixth, sixth or seventh. Why would conference, I think the seventh I want to say seven, but even six. And I've got my stuff right over here on my other shelf. I can't see it right now. But we launched it there. It's at Stanford and see in Santa Clara. And that's that led to, to the launch of the initiative. We got funding, US government funding matching funds from MIT in matching funds from the tide initiative for three years. So we built a three year business plan for it. Ultimately, I at that time, actually, I changed jobs and Dale Yuri had passed away 96 It's now 1997. And I was the executive director of the European ski and sky foundation. So under that notion, I went out and helped help lead and build the the Web Accessibility Initiative Program Office. And ultimately that led to us hiring Judy Brewer. Who was in Massachusetts, it had been very well known for her activity with. With her boy, I can't remember the name of the organization was I want to say the mass mass association for disabilities. But she had led the effort to requiring Microsoft to ship Windows, Windows 95, with certain accessibility features into it. And so she was a great hire, you know, to leave the office, I went back off and eventually left the OSI Foundation, and started up my own company TPG. Michael Hingson 45:43 And now you've since fairly recently sold TPG, right? Mike Paciello 45:49 Today, it's already been for almost five years. Michael Hingson 45:54 What did TPG do? What what did you form the company to do? Mike Paciello 45:59 Yes, so I, what I really wanted to do was forming a professional services organization, company that helped make web web applications and software, regardless of the platform, usable and accessible to people disabilities. So I built an initial team, we went through several iterations of the team, before I could pull the right group of people together. But ultimately, that's, that's, that's what we did. And that's how I sold it became one of the most, if not the most well known brand, in software, professional services around web and software accessibility in the world. And that led to the company at the time, was VFO. Now now known as Despero, and they acquired they acquired TPG is specifically for that we had the largest bring not the largest company, but the largest brand most well done. It was because we were built on a foundation of trust. Every client that we had, came to us by referrals, we never did outbound sales ever. And, and we had lots of lots of repeat business enough to keep you know, ultimately, I think when I saw that we had about 40 or so people on staff in some of the world's best, best of the world in this business. Now my drop it in their knees, because they're all there are there. So they've gone off and formed their own companies. You know, I find I find that a little bit of a legacy. They you know, a car girls would often in antennen, and now he's with level access. Leone, Watson went out and started petrological. And she's got, you know, seven or eight members of her key team are all former TPG employees. Sara Horton is going off. She's doing her thing. So and I've gone off and done my so there's, there's been a lot of it's kind of interesting, a lot of breakout companies from from TPG. Michael Hingson 47:52 And now you're doing web ABL. Mike Paciello 47:56 And now I'm doing web ABL. Yeah, I've kind of labeled right. Web evil and evil docs. Michael Hingson 48:02 And you're married. So you have three jobs. What's that? And you're married? So you have three jobs? Mike Paciello 48:08 I probably have five because yeah, there's that parent tells me I have like five jobs now. So yeah, we're able to able to access web people. It really started out at TPG. It was my idea to kind of build a marketing, but I wanted to honestly, I built a news aggregator which the front of it is front end of it is a news aggregator. But ultimately, I wanted to be a digital marketing social networking marketing company strictly within the context of of, of accessibility and disability. And that's, that's where it's at. Michael Hingson 48:47 And what Able Docs? Mike Paciello 48:49 Able Docs is a right now, it is primarily known for documentation accessibility across the board. So it's not just PDFs its word, its Excel, PowerPoint. We're dealing with Google Docs. But it is a company that is involved in digital accessibility. We've recently branched out and started building on our, our own web accessibility services. So we did an acquisition of web key it out in Perth, Australia, so that we brought them in. And we're buying some tools and we're building some business long there. So so I've been helping Adam Spencer's, the CEO there at Apple docs. Adam has a long history in documentation accessibility, and they're one of the world leaders in that. So I'm here to help them build their USN branch. Michael Hingson 49:43 Pretty exciting, isn't it? Mike Paciello 49:44 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's startup all over again. So it's kind of fun from that standpoint, but a lot of hard work Michael Hingson 49:52 well, and doing it in the COVID era. Well, you get to do it at home. So there's, there's there's lots of time do it. So at least you just don't have to travel as much right now. Mike Paciello 50:03 Honestly, that's the thing I missed the most. I love travel. Yeah, I do too. I love traveling. I love speaking, I will go no everywhere and anywhere to do that, you know, to kind of carry the mission. So I missed that the most. Michael Hingson 50:17 I I've never really minded being on airplanes, although I understand the whole issue with COVID right now, but I've never really had a problem with it. I enjoy traveling. I haven't been to a place yet that I couldn't find some things to like about it. And I've enjoyed everywhere I've gotten to go and all the people I've gotten to speak to and speak with and educate. Yeah, I miss it as well. Mike Paciello 50:42 Yeah. Well, you and I saw each other down in Washington, DC. We do in Baltimore. So the NFB and, and then m&a Bling. But I right after that COVID started to break out again with the Omicron variant. So I stopped all travel. So right now and I've done probably five or six other events since then. Right now, if all things work out, I'll be at CSUN. Michael Hingson 51:09 Tell me about that. You're going to be the keynote speaker this year? Mike Paciello 51:13 Yeah, I was kind of surprised. I got a call from from from CSUN. And they asked me there their executive director asked me if I would see any uploading, asked me if I would consider I was really shocked. To be honest with you. I haven't been at CSUN. In you know, in four years right now. Yeah, in four years. Because my first wife passed away. And I was like, at home for I retired after I sold TPG. I retired for, you know, for the better part of four and a half years. And you know, was caretaking for Kim. And I really couldn't travel. So I did go to C center. I've been to CSUN since 2018. Yeah, so be four years now. So when they call when I can't think it now just lost her name. Oh, see any? Sorry. I went didn't see anyone see any called me. I was really surprised. But she asked me if I would consider giving the keynote and, you know, see son to me. See, says where I got my start in terms of networking and meeting people and getting involved in the community, not just on the national level, but on the international level. And that I think really spearheaded an awful lot for me in just about every other company that that's out there. So it holds a very dear in your place to me, Harry Murphy's the director, the founder of CSUN. He and I are close friends, even to this day. He retired over 10 years ago. And I served on I served on two advisory committees to to see some over the years. So when Sandy? Yeah. Well, she asked me, I said, Yeah, I'd be happy to. So I've got so Michael Hingson 53:04 so what are you going to talk about? Can you give us a hint? Well, the theme Mike Paciello 53:07 is trying to get make it a little bit interesting, intriguing accessibility users and the golden goose, why trust is a vital digital asset. So kind of goes with what you and I've been talking about what we've been talking about. We we in I did actually talk about this at m&a Bling. That I think there are four key attributes of our business in our industry that needs to be pervasive and promulgated and in founded, organizations and companies need to be fully immersed in. And that's innovation, collaboration, transparency, and trust. When those four attributes are built together, then then I think we come out with a winning value proposition. And so I'm planning on taking using a trilogy of three stories, life stories, and bring them all together to show how they work out that way and the value behind them. Michael Hingson 54:12 Yeah, I've been in sales a long time having started while working for Kurzweil and taking. Actually, my first foray into sales was the Dale Carnegie sales course, which was a 10 week program once a week with live lessons and then other things during the week, but in Massachusetts, and the the interesting thing, and the overriding message that was constantly addressed during that course was that when you're selling, you're really advising you're, you're helping people and you're establishing a rapport and if you You're doing it just to drive somebody to get your product no matter what, then you're not selling the right way it is all about trust. Mike Paciello 55:08 Yeah, absolutely. There's no doubt. Well, I think it's all for these areas, I really, you know, especially because we're in high tech in a digital economy and digital society. So innovation is critical, right? Working together, right? dispelling the myths associated with with competition. And collaborating, I think is crucial, especially again, in our space, transparency, transparency, you know, organizations need to be, you know, transparent about what they can and can't do. This is one of I think, one of the, I don't know, I don't know exactly where to attribute it to. But this much, I do know that people with disabilities are more than happy to work with you or your organization, your company, they're there, they'll they're one of the first ones to jump on board, and help you to make things useful and accessible, right? Because it benefits that. But if you're not transparent with them, right, if you know, tell them what is what is truth, right? What my product can or can't do upfront, it worse, you, you know, you, you mark it, or you sell something that's not trustworthy, or truthful, you're gonna lose them as a community, and you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna get five bad vibes, because this is a very close knit community of individuals. So you've got to be transparent, it's okay to say, look, we've gone this far, I've done this much. Our plan is to go this far in over the next three, five years is what we're going to do. People with disabilities will, will will support you, they know you're making some inroads towards accessibility. They applaud the effort now, okay, so they see your plan for the future. As long as you stay true to that mission. They're all in, and you'll get all the support in the world that you need from them. Which is why trust is so important. Because once you break those first three, and you break the trust, then you got nothing. Michael Hingson 57:14 In 2016, the Nielsen Company did a study of brand loyalty. I don't know all the details of how it got commissioned, or whatever. But one of the main points of the study was that persons with disabilities tend to be very brand loyal to those companies that include them want to work with them want to make their products available to them. And the brand loyalty is extremely strong because of that, which really goes along with exactly what you're saying. Mike Paciello 57:48 Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I remember when Jacob did that, that study. I think I may have even been involved in it some at some level. But yeah, that's it's absolutely true. I think people with disabilities, with maybe the strict exception of possibly elderly individuals are the most free and loyal community of individuals population of individuals ever, period. When it works. Sorry, you're not going to, you know, people, I mean, you know, this, people are Jaws users use JAWS because it works. Right, right. Even though Jaws is flawed, JAWS has has bugs in it, right. Just like every other piece of it I've ever I've ever seen. I've never seen a bug free piece of software at all technology. But once users got into it and started using it, it became very, very clear that this is going to be even though they've got to pay for it. Compared to say, and, VA, right. They're very, very, very strongly loyal to it. And that's been true about all 80. Frankly, Michael Hingson 58:58 but NVDA is is catching up NVDA has come a long way and is working better it is free, but it is still not Jaws know, at least in people's minds. And still not Yeah, Mike Paciello 59:12 nothing. Nothing is just me just, you know, Freedom owns 80% Plus that market. Right and in who have you seen over the years that have kind of gone by the wayside? Be You know, because they just churn market. Right. So Michael Hingson 59:30 and that will, that will be the case. As long as as you said, the trust is there. If if the sparrow breaks the trust ever, that's going to be a big problem. Mike Paciello 59:43 Yeah, I totally agree. I absolutely agree. They know it. I know it. And more importantly, all of the individuals have visual disabilities, the users know it. Michael Hingson 59:54 Yeah, no doubt about it. It's it's been that way and I've been using For a long, long time and have watched how they've grown and developed, and they've done some things that that have been challenging, but in the long run, it works, as you said, and that's what really is important. Mike Paciello 1:00:13 Yeah, yep. No doubt about it, Mike. Michael Hingson 1:00:16 Well, we have been going on for an hour How time flies when we're having fun. And I want to really thank you, if people want to reach out to you, how might they do that, learn more about the things you're doing and so on. Mike Paciello 1:00:30 Well, if they want to learn about Web Able, if you get what we're doing, I mean, we are we're on a sponsorship drive right now. So we're really looking for sponsors going into 2022. So you can send me email at M as in Mike Paciello, P a c, i e l l o at webable.com if they want to contact me at Able Docs for documentation, accessibility and even professional services around software and Web. And you can send me email at mpaciello@abledocs.com. Michael Hingson 1:01:02 Well, we've been we've been working together now for what since September, and October, and m&a billing and all that. And I know you're talking with folks that accessiBe, and there's a lot of exciting stuff going on there. And hopefully, we'll all be able to work together and make this a little bit more of an inclusive world. And hopefully, we'll be able to change mindsets, and get people to maybe look at the world a little bit differently than they're used to, and maybe look at it in a little bit broader and more inclusive way. Mike Paciello 1:01:34 I totally agree. Totally agree. Michael Hingson 1:01:38 Well, Mike, thanks very much for being here with us. And hopefully, you'll you'll have a chance and come back again. We'd love to have you back anytime. If you would have anything you want to talk about, then let us know. We'll try to catch the speech at CSUN. Not sure whether I'm going to travel down there or not this year, we'll see. But hopefully we'll we'll we'll work it out somehow. But thanks again for being here on unstoppable mindset. And for those of you who want to learn more about us, you can you can find us at Michaelhingson.com that's M I C H A E L H I N G S O N.com/podcast. And you wherever you heard this podcast, you can go anywhere where podcasts are posted and and released and you can find us there. So join us next week for another edition of unstoppable mindset wherever you are, wherever you happen to be at the time, and with whatever hosts you use. We'll be looking forward to seeing you then. You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

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Snow Cone

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2021 55:17

In this episode we first provide you with a few important announcements, including items about holiday shipping deadlines and Mystic Access closing dates. We also share our featured product of the month for December, which is our comprehensive Android audio documentation. It's twenty percent off through the end of the year. Our main event this time around is a magic castle discussion with National Braille Press's editor and programs manager Kesel Wilson, and customer service representative Luis Barrios. We talk about all the great new holiday releases that are available now,as well as a sneak peak of Mystic Access's latest book coming out in mid February, 2022. Now's the time to get in those last-minute holiday orders. Enjoy! Thanks, as always, for listening.

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Snow Cone

Mystic Access Podcast: Where the Magic is in Learning

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2021 55:17

snow android cone national braille press mystic access

Talking Tech 7th September 2021

Talking Tech - Vision Australia Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2021 14:31 Transcription Available

FlickType Keyboard for iOS being Discontinued Looks like Apple has finally pushed the developers of FlickType (the pattern recognition keyboard) to far this time, and they have decided to discontinue the iOS keyboard. Note you can with VoiceOver still use hand writing, slide to type, and BSI (Braille Screen Input). https://www.applevis.com/forum/ios-ipados/discontinuing-flicktype-keyboard-iphone Paralypics - Do as You Say So again like the Opening, the Closing show was not Audio Described. More concerning was the accident in the Olympic village last week where a VI Athlete got knock over by an electric vehicle used to carry athletes around, yes you guest it, it wasn't making a noise. Saving grace it was only moving at 1-2K, and the person is fine, and the vehicles were taken off the road. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/paralympics/toyota-halts-self-driving-vehicles-use-after-olympic-village-accident-1.6157569 Bursary Applications closing at the end of September 2021. https://www.visionaustralia.org/referral/benefits-and-funding/further-education-bursary Upcoming exploring tech webinar with DAVID WOODBRIDGE on the Apple Watch. As usual, last Wednesday of the Month (29 Sep 2021) from 12.30 to 13.30 EST. Registration page follows: https://visionaustralia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PfbH9oQITqqpJSbllR4RoA Apple Keynote Event iPhone and other possible devices launching this month: perhaps September 14??? https://www.techradar.com/news/iphone-13-launch-every-product-we-expect-to-see-from-apple Windows 11 Launch Date October 5 2021 https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/31/22649940/windows-11-release-date-features-devices-free-upgrade FitBit's with ECG Function Now Available in Australia. Remember, Fitbit devices are not self voicing. https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/08/fitbit-ecg-tga-approval-australia/ Book for Blind Android Users from National Braille Press in Multiple Formats https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/AND-COMMAND-2ED.html?from_search=1 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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20210721 - Audio Description: what it is and where to find it and how to use it

ACB Focus: Audio Description

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2021 67:12

~~Meet the Author: Attendees met Judy Dixon, Writer, Arlington, VA: Judy has just authored Audio Description: What it is, Where to Find it, and how to Use it, published by National Braille Press. Attendees learned about how she came to write this book, do her research, and asked her questions. Sponsored by: LUA, BRL, and ADP Recorded during the 2021 ACB National Convention on July 21 2021~~

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Interview with Judy Dixon, technology writer, on her latest book on Audio Description

Picture This

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2021 37:01

If you've ever tried to watch something on television that you were told would be described, only to find that there was no description, and wondered if you were doing something wrong, Judy Dixon's latest book is for you. Technology writer Judy Dixon joins Brian and Carl to discuss her latest book entitled “Audio Description: What It Is, Where to Find it, and How to Use It”. The book is available in multiple formats to purchase at the National Braille Press's website at . If you have any questions and wish to contact Judy Dixon directly, you may do so at . To leave feedback, suggestions, or ideas for a future podcast, please get in touch with the PictureThis team by emailing your comments to or leave a voicemail at 857-302-2817. We may use your email or voicemail in a future episode.

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Episode 61: Moving from Broken to Brilliantly Resilient with guest Kristin Smedley

The Kris and Kristine Show

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2020 64:55

Join us this week as we chat with Kristin Smedley. A single mom of 3 kids, which 2 of them developed blindness. In 2011, Kristin launched a nonprofit to fund research and resources for children living with the rare eye disease her sons have, CRB1 LCA/RP. In just nine years, the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation has raised over 1.4 million dollars and achieved a National Rare Eye Disease Awareness Day. That legislation, H.R. #625, was the first in US history to be submitted in Braille and it advocates for better resources for blind and visually impaired Americans. Kristin partnered with Spark Therapeutics to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. She has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and she partnered with Comcast media to spread awareness of the inclusive X1 product. In 2019, Kristin published her first book called Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight. It achieved #1 New Release on Amazon for paperback and kindle. Kristin partnered with TMobile and the National Braille Press to make the book available in Braille. Kristin recently received one of the highest honors in the rare disease community: The Champion of Hope Award from Global Genes. During the COVID19 pandemic Kristin and a friend launched an online show/podcast called Brilliantly Resilient where they help their “tribe” Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance after life's sucker punches. https://brilliantlyresilient.net/ Podcast Promos The Derek Duvall Show https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-derek-duvall-show-derek-duvall-NPO48BHytWQ/ Podbreed https://www.podbreed.com/ www.krisandkristineshow.com Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, rate and review, we love those five star reviews! Thanks for tuning in and until next time…keep moving forward! Twitter:https://twitter.com/k2showsandiego Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thek2showsandiego/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/k2showsandiego Support us on Patreon at: www.patreon.com/thekrisandkristineshow Email us at: krisandkristinepodcast@gmail.com The Kris and Kristine Show Podcast is recorded in Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/ Post-production editing is completed using Levelator which can be found at: http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator Remote podcasts and interviews are completed using Cleanfeed which can be found at: https://cleanfeed.net/

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Brian MacDonald (Episode 18)

BrailleCast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2020 43:43

Based in Boston Massachusetts since 1927, National Braille Press is a global leader in producing high quality, affordable braille materials and developing innovative technologies advancing braille literacy for blind and visually impaired children and adults everywhere. In addition to its first class braille transcription facility, producing everything from standardised tests to restaurant menus, NBP has a unique specialism in publishing original books by blind authors expressly for blind people, from cookery to technology. It also provides braille transcription and production services to like-minded organizations and, through the Centre for Braille Innovation, overseas the annual Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation. In adapting to public health guidelines designed to minimise the spread of COVID-19, National Braille Press has found safe ways to produce braille for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (part of the Library of Congress), is offering free digital downloads for both children and adults until 31 August 2020, and continues to supply original titles explaining food delivery and preparation options from a blindness perspective. On Friday 15 May, the Braillists Foundation was privileged to host Brian MacDonald, NBP’s President, on its weekly Stay Safe: Stay Connected conference call, and participants had the opportunity to ask questions about how more high quality braille is finding its way into the hands of more readers throughout these challenging times. We’re pleased to present a recording of that session on this episode of Braillecast, with sincere thanks to Brian and all of the contributors for their permission. To contact Brian, email bmacdonald@nbp.org. If you’re an aspiring author and would like National Braille Press to consider publishing your work, email editor@nbp.org or view the Frequently Asked Questions on the NBP website. Links of Interest NBP Book Store Braillo Norway, manufacturers of high speed production braille embossers NBP Tours Boston Globe article about NBP Sightsavers International A Sighted Man’s Path to Braille from the “Inside NBP” blog Braille Me affordable braille display NBP Events Books Cooking with Feeling by Deborah DeBord Dr. Atkins Carbohydrate Gram Counter by Robert C. Atkins, M.D. Recipes from my Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food by Christine Ha Super Short Stories in Uncontracted Braille Braille books update Touch of Genius Prize Winners Bristol Braille Technology Canute 360, 2018 Tactile Caliper (imperial version), 2013 Tactile Caliper (metric version), an extension of the 2013 idea

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Hot Off The Braille Press

Mystic Access Podcast: Where the Magic is in Learning

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2019

Todays episode is devoted to a segment in the Mystic access magic castle. We were delighted to chat with Kesel Wilson, editor and programs manager with National Braille Press. Kesel shares about NBPs founding, its mission and goals, and about the many de

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#IACast 87 – #NFB18 Wrap-up

The iACast Network

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2018 68:08

On this episode of the #IACast, Michael, Aleeha, Chelsea, Scott, and Meaghan discuss a lot of what the 2018 National Federation of the Blind convention had to offer. There was a lot that was discussed in this episode, so grab your favorite snack and settle in for a listen. In the news since we last spoke, there has been a lot going on. First up for discussion are the new MacBook Pros from Apple. There are a couple of convention related news items, including a ton of news from Aira, as well as KNFB Reader and NFB Newsline partnering to bring reading features to the Newsline app. Last, but certainly not least, we discuss the arrival of the Surface Go from Microsoft. In the middle of the show, we took a break to remind everyone of our training services, which are available for $18 per month. We also announced the availability of our help desk, information for which is being finalized. After the main discussion of the show, we discussed our picks for the week. Michael's pick is the SurfaceBook 2, a powerful laptop and tablet combo from Microsoft. For Anna, it's a new, inexpensive Braille display, being carried by National Braille Press, called the BrailleMe. Aleeha is back with another game pick, this one available for most common platforms, called Echos From Levia: Soulbound. Scott picks the Horizon glasses from Aira, which are rolling out to customers as we speak. Finally, Chelsea picks one of iAccessibility's newest apps, Current City. Don't forget to email us with feedback or suggestions at feedback@iaccessibility.net, and please consider supporting us at patreon.com/iacast.

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E92 Judy dixon's new book on writing with iOS, meet The Blind Perspective newsletter, specialist blindness players vs smartphones, and should religion ever override civil rights?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2018 63:38

There's been plenty of social media discussion and other feedback following comments in the podcast last week about audio in Windows 10. Jonathan Mosen has written down his thoughts, with additional work-arounds, in a blog post called Sounds Frustrating.The prolific Judy Dixon has a new book. This one's called "Writing Your Way: Composing and Editing on an iPhone and iPad". It's available here from National Braille Press. Jonathan speaks with Judy about what the book covers, and some of her favourite apps and methods for writing things in iOS.Jonathan then speaks with Nat Armeni from The Blind Perspective. This monthly publication, produced by blind volunteers, brings news and articles from a blindness perspective.Listener comments this week include the question of potentially conflicting accommodations, whether someone's religion should be allowed to override legally-enacted civil rights, and the continuing discussion of the pros and cons of specialist blindness player devices versus smartphones.We welcome your feedback. Send email to TheBlindSide at Mosen dot org or call the feedback line in the United States on (719) 270-5114.

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E75 Our very own Alexa skill, adjusting Spotify podcast pllayback, Samsung Galaxy S9, Delta sees sense, ADA gutting passes the house, Anna Dresner's new book, "You and your Apple Watch"

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2018 66:56

Episode 75 begins with more exciting news about how increasingly easy it is to hear The Blind Side Podcast wherever you need it. We're now on iHeart Radio, and we now have our very own cool Alexa skill for the Amazon Echo, which Jonathan Mosen demonstrates.Jonathan then demonstrates a hidden but cool Spotify trick, how to speed up playback of the podcast when listening through Spotify.Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S9, complete with some interesting news features, plus others that Apple has abandoned, and some customers miss, such as a fingerprint sensor, and the all-important headphone jack. Bixby has also been enhanced. Jonathan brings you the key points of the launch, and some analysis.Remember, to discuss all accessible phones, you're welcome to join the Blind Phones email group. Send a blank email to BlindPhones+subscribe@groups.ioThere's good news, as we follow up on a story we've covered previously relating to Delta's new policy on service animals. Advocacy has paid off, and guide dog handlers won't need to provide documentation 48 hours before they fly.We report further on the ADA Education and Reform Act, which has passed the US House of Representatives and is on a fast track in the Senate. We urge our listeners in the US to be in touch with advocacy organisations to find out what you can do.Our featured guest is Anna Dresner, who has written a new book, "You and your Apple Watch", published by National Braille Press. What does an Apple Watch do, why would you want one, how accessible is it, and how does it compare with cheaper alternatives?A reminder, to discuss the podcast with other listeners, you're welcome to join our discussion group by sending an email to TheBlindSide+subscribe@groups.io

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E42 Greyhound Lawsuit, “Go Where You Wanna Go” by Judy Dixon

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 4, 2017 63:33

A group of blind people in the United States are frustrated by their inability to book travel independently using the Greyhound website and apps. When they've sought help from the call center, they were charged a convenience fee. They've filed a lawsuit which is supported by the National Federation of the Blind. Jonathan Mosen speaks with Chris Danielsen from NFB about this specific suit, and looks at case law on web and app accessibility.“Go Where You Wanna Go” is Judy Dixon's latest book published by National Braille Press. It looks at GPS apps for iOS. Judy joins Jonathan to talk about the book, and the many choices we now have to help us get around.

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E35 Anna Dresner's latest book, and the unhelpful Canadian Passport Office

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2017 59:48

We all know how important it is to exercise regularly to stay healthy and alert. Audio workouts and accessible gadgets are making it easier than ever for blind people to stay active. But where to start? Respected technology author Anna Dresner has written a new book for National Braille Press to get you started, entitled “Ten Thousand Steps, Cane Not Included”. Jonathan Mosen speaks to Anna about her writing in general, and this book in particular.You can purchase a copy of the book by visiting http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/10KSTEPS.htmlWhether you're blind or sighted, applying for a passport is a laborious process, requiring you to provide photos and numerous details. In Canada, if you want the Passport Office to assist you because you don't have, or choose not to rely on, sighted friends or family, you're out of luck. Canadian Press journalist Michelle McQuigge tells Jonathan about the controversy, and talks about it in the wider context o [...]

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iPhone and iOS 9

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2016

In this Tech Doctor episode, Allison and Robert speak with Anna Dresner about her recently released book “Getting Started with the iPhone and iOS 9.” For several years, Anna has worked with National Braille Press to publish the only hardcopy braille step-by-step guide to using the iPhone for blind users. This latest update, covers all of the basics plus everything that is new in iOS 9. In addition to the book being great for beginners, the book will appeal to people who simply need to be reminded how a particular feature works. Geeks who want to know everything about the new features in iOS 9 will find this book helpful as well. In addition to hardcopy braille, the book is available in DAISY, Word and Epub formats. To locate the book, a reference card and other materials, go to The National Braille Press website and type “iPhone” in the search box. Thanks Anna. The Tech Doctors appreciate all of the care and detail that you always put into this book. It is an excellent resource.

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Everything You Need to Know About Using the Mac

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2015

In this Tech Doctor podcast, Robert and Allison talk with Janet Ingber the author of Everything You Need to Know to Use the Mac with Yosemite and VoiceOver The book is available from National Braille Press. While some of the information in this book was carried forward from Janet's first book about learning the Mac, she specifically focuses on everything that is new in the latest Mac OS called Yosemite. There is enough new in Yosemite to justify purchasing this new book even if you have read the first one. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to gain a clear understanding of what using the Mac with VoiceOver is all about. The book is appropriate for anyone who is considering a Mac as well as the already up and running Mac user who wants to learn the important details about working with Apple Mail, Safari, Text Edit, the Finder, the Notification Center and much more. Robert and Allison agree that this is a very important book because anyone who follows Janet's step-by-step instructions can successfully get up and running on the Mac with VoiceOver. It is exciting to finally have clear and thorough documentation on using VoiceOver with Yosemite.

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Mastering the Macintosh

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2014

How many times have you heard the following statement? “The Mac is great for working with email, web browsing and basic word processing. If, however, you want to get real work done, you will have to use Microsoft Office and a Windows Screen Reader.” In his new book, Mastering the Macintosh with VoiceOver, Tim Sniffen teaches VoiceOver users how to work with Apple's Pages and Numbers software to accomplish the same advanced word processing and spreadsheet tasks that most people think can only be done using a windows screen reader. As Allison and Robert discuss this book with Tim, it becomes apparent that Tim's years of experience and his passion for teaching access technology has enabled him to write a book demonstrating that a skilled VoiceOver user can indeed reach the same level of productivity on the Mac that can be achieved by an accomplished user of windows screen reading technology. In addition to building on what most Mac users already know as a result of having used an iOS device, Tim makes extensive use of such important Mac and VoiceOver features as the item chooser, custom keyboard shortcuts and custom trackpad gestures to accomplish such things as table creation and the building of sophisticated spreadsheets. Robert and Allison believe that Tim's book is the perfect follow-up to Janet Ingber's National Braille Press book called Learning the Mac with VoiceOver. Mastering the Macintosh with VoiceOver is for anyone who wants to move beyond the basics and explore just how much can actually be done with VoiceOver on the Mac. Tim's book is available free of charge in the iBook Store. We recommend that you read the book on your iOS device while practicing what is being taught on your Mac. Thanks Tim for a great podcast and congratulations on the fabulous job that you did on this book. Keep pushing the access technology envelope.

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Introducing LaunchBar

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2014

Allison begins this Tech Doctor episode by responding to some questions that we received via email. Feel free to Email Us your comments and questions as well. Robert then describes two excellent books that have just been published. The first book, written by Shelly Brisbin, is called iOS Access For All. Shelly has done an excellent job covering all that apple has to offer with regard to iOS accessibility. Go Here to learn more and purchase this expertly done book. The second book is a very good beginners guide for anyone wanting to “Learn to Use the Mac with VoiceOver.” Janet Ingber provides step by step instructions for learning to work with the most popular built-in Mac applications. This book is available in several formats from the National Braille Press. Click here for more information. Robert next introduces and demonstrates some of the features of the popular Mac app called LaunchBar. He recommends that anyone who is serious about learning LaunchBar get a copy of Take Control of LaunchBar which is one of the excellent take control books from TidBITS Publishing Inc. To learn more, start a free trial or to purchase LaunchBar, visit the LaunchBar website. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the podcast.

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For the Benefit of Those Who See

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2014

In this Tech Doctor episode, Robert and Allison have the pleasure of speaking with Rosemary Mahoney who just published her sixth book. Rosemary is a sighted woman who became interested in really understanding what it is really like to be blind. In the book, Rosemary candidly describes her journey of going from a person who was fearful of blind people to someone who now has significant insight in to how blind people function in the world. She dispels the myth that blind people are depressed and helpless. The book is honest, accurate and at times quite humorous. The podcast gives one a good idea of what Rosemary experienced but one can only fully appreciate the power of this story by reading the book. In addition to being available in print, the book is in audio format from both audible.com and the National Library Service BARD site. The National Braille Press will be making the book available in Braille as well. The book is entitled: “For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches From the World of the Blind.” More information is available at Rosemary's website. Robert and Allison agree that this is an extremely important book for everyone to read. We feel that sighted people can especially benefit from what Rosemary has to say.

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What's New in iOS 6

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2013

In this podcast, Allison and Robert speak with Woody Anna Dresner. Anna graciously visits the Tech Doctor podcast when she publishes a new book. This time she tells us about “iPhone iOS 6 Updates.” Anna explains that this new book is intended to supplement last year's “Getting Started with the iPhone and iOS 5 for Blind Users.” We discuss the fact that while the book is concise, it is packed with good information and may be sufficient on its own for experienced iPhone and iPod Touch users. Folks who are brand new to the iPhone may want to purchase both books. National Braille Press is offering the iOS6 update and the Getting Started with the iPhone books as both separate purchases and as a bundle. Click on this Link to go to the National Braille Press page where all of the iPhone related books are listed. Once again, Anna has done an excellent job of providing the information that every blind iPhone user needs. The book is organized in such a way that it can be used as both a complete learning tool and a quick reference.

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The Perfect iPhone Companion

Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2012

In this podcast, Robert talks with Anna Dresner the author of “Getting Started with the iPhone and iOS 5 for Blind Users.” Robert considers this book a must have for anyone interested in understanding how to get the most out of the iPhone as a VoiceOver user. Anna talks about the writing process and gives some good suggestions on how to most efficiently use the book. The book is available for $22 from the National Braille Press. It can be purchased either in hardcopy braille or as a download with several formats to choose from. To see the table of contents and learn more about the book, go to Getting Started with the iPhone Thanks Anna for Talking with us about this excellent book.

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Visiting with Jolie

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2012

During this hour, Robert has a fascinating conversation with, Jolie Mason, the founder and program director of the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service. The LA Reading Service can be heard world wide on an iOS app called iBlink Radio In addition to her radio reading service work, Jolie hosts a radio show on a Los Angeles radio station KPFK The show is called “Access Unlimited” and can be heard online by going to the KPFK site. Jolie is an enthusiastic iPhone user but did express some frustration with the fact that VoiceOver users are required to use different gestures than those that are used by sighted iPhone users. Robert mentions a new book that teaches iPhone VoiceOver users everything they need to know. The book is available from the National Braille Press and is called Getting Started with the IPhone and iOS 5 for Blind Users Jolie and Robert discuss an excellent website filled with information about Apple accessibility. The site is called Applevis There is a new iOS, Android and PC app that allows people to voice chat with other users of the app throughout the world. It has become very popular with blind people. The app is called Zello One thing that can quickly become a problem is finding a particular app on your iPhone. This problem occurs once you have dozens of apps. Jolie describes her excellent system for organizing and categorizing all of her apps. Finally, Jolie and Robert discuss some of their favorite apps for learning about birds and for using the iPhone in the kitchen. Here are the links to some really great birding apps. BirdTunes Handheld Birds Chirp Bird Songs USA + iBird Explorer Pro Here are the links to the cooking and shopping apps that Jolie described. Grocery Smart ShopShop List Recorder Crock-Pot Virtual Cooking Timer Cooking FastMall My visit with Jolie was delightful. I only hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Apple Pickin' Time: What's New In iOS4.1