Podcasts about royal national institute

Google launches its Gemini Vision tool on smartphones, bringing impressive new possibilities for accessibility, while in stark contrast, the UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) announces deep cuts to its personal transcription service — with braille users taking the biggest hit.In this episode, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece are joined by disability rights advocate and blind writer Connor Scott-Gardner, who explains why these cuts matter, what's at risk, and how the blind community is responding. Connor discusses the importance of braille transcription for musicians, students, and everyday users, highlighting the personal and social impact of the service loss. He also outlines his petition to reverse the RNIB's decision, while sharing powerful insights into accessibility, community consultation, and respect.The hosts also share their candid thoughts on Google Gemini's new AI-powered vision features, why resetting a phone isn't as easy as it seems, and the larger discussion around inclusion vs. isolation when accessible services disappear.This is an episode that underscores why advocacy matters and what happens when communication fails.Get in touch with Double Tap by emailing us feedback@doubletaponair.com or by call 1-877-803-4567 and leave us a voicemail. You can also now contact us via Whatsapp on 1-613-481-0144 or visit doubletaponair.com/whatsapp to connect. We are also across social media including X, Mastodon and Facebook. Double Tap is available daily on AMI-audio across Canada, on podcast worldwide and now on YouTube.Relevant LinksPetition to save the Braille service: https://saveourbraille.wordpress.comRNIB Official Site: https://www.rnib.org.ukLearn more about Google Gemini: https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini/ Find Double Tap online: YouTube, Double Tap WebsiteJoin the conversation and add your voice to the show either by calling in, sending an email or leaving us a voicemail!Email: feedback@doubletaponair.comPhone: 1-877-803-4567

In this podcast series, Spill The Tea with Womenkind Collective, we'll dive into topics impacting our health and well-being, featuring extraordinary women who are raising their voices for positive change, and our guest today is not only raising her voice she is actually making the change. Anna Tylor is the chair of trustees for the Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB), she's a fierce champion for equity in healthcare and an extraordinary advocate for accessibility. She's an organisational and business expert, a trained mediator and author, blogger and fellow podcaster. Born with Albinism, Anna was born partially sighted and experienced sight loss, at which point she was registered as certified severely sight impaired. This classification is also described as blind, though Anna would say she does have some 'useful sight'.She self-educated while raising a child, later working with major organisations to drive inclusivity, from the police force to banking, and even revolutionising access to audiobooks and digital libraries.More recently, Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer, she is now, two and a half years in remission. Her diagnosis exposed shocking gaps in healthcare accessibility for blind and partially sighted people, from vital information being inaccessible through to serious risks to patient safety. Her experience has made her a passionate voice for women advocating for themselves in healthcare and pushing for a more equitable system.Anna is knowledgeable and is a power-house for positivity and change, we loved spilling the tea with her We discuss Google and Apple calendars wiping off not just the history of women but of men as well, we share your comments, there's a new strutting WI (weekly invitation) and a little bit of inspiration to send you off with for the week.It's an episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, go and get the kettle on and settle in for our weekly collective chat while we spill the tea! Anna Tylor:Book: The Blind Truth. Anna Tylor. Audio Book. 2020W: www.theblindtruth.co.ukPodcast: The Blind TruthL: Anna TylorX: @annatylor RNIB Book borrowing service - https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/independent-living/reading-and-books/rnib-bookshare/https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/independent-living/reading-and-books/rnib-bookshare/If you've enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won't post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.You can watch the full unedited interview on our YouTube channel: Womenkind Collective. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media can feel dizzying. Platforms are fast-moving, ever-evolving, and always demanding, with new rules, new trends, new styles, and so on. It can be tough to keep up. And charities can post without considering their users, their audience, even their own communities. That means posts can exclude the very people you want to serve.  This podcast, hosted by Prue Watson, Senior Social Media Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) will delve into some practical tips for social media accessibility, including how to add and write image descriptions, how to use emojis and hashtags, and how to make your video content accessible. The session was recorded at our Digital Inclusion Summit in June 2024. You can find the the video recording and additional resources here. 

SightlessKombat is a video game streamer and reviewer, who also consults on some of the industry's biggest titles: "God of War," "Sea of Thieves," "Horizon: Forbidden West," and more. Yet he has never seen a single pixel. That's because he was born blind — completely without vision. But he was drawn to video games from a young age because ... well, they're awesome. So, how does he actually *play* them? The answer is, it depends. Game and Internet accessibility has come a long way since the '80s and '90s. But many in the blind community still rely on volunteers to mod screen readers into games. The process is tireless, collaborative, and very community driven. This week on INFLUENCE, Matt sits down with 3(!) guests to talk about video game accessibility. Aure is a German programmer who recently released a screen reading mod for the wildly popular deck-building poker-like "Balatro," allowing blind players to enjoy the game for the first time. SightlessKombat is the aforementioned streamer, game reviewer, and Accessible Gaming Officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the UK. And Ohylli is a legally blind accessibility advocate (and "Balatro" enthusiast!) based in Finland. They discuss the amazing tools that make wildly complex games like "Factorio" and "Stardew Valley" accessible to blind players, how 3D action games like "Sea of Thieves" and "Star Wars: Outlaws" are played without sight, and why studios that make games more accessible can reap unexpected profits. Follow Aure's modding work: https://github.com/Aurelius7309 Subscribe to SightlessKombat: https://linktr.ee/sightlesskombat Follow Ohylli: https://x.com/ohylli Special thanks to u/matrheine on Reddit This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts:

Today on the show Steven and Shaun discuss two major stories – the potential cuts to the UK's RNIB technology service for blind people and Steven's recent suspension from the X/Twitter platform.The guys dive into a discussion about social media following Steven's suspension, which Steven now knows the reason for and shares how others can avoid this pain. It leads to a perhaps unsurprising conversation about the role X has in our society and whether platforms like Mastodon are better places to go.Next up Steven brings us the news that RNIB in the UK is going to potentially cut a major service that helps blind and low vision people to access technology. The Royal National Institute of Blind People's Technology for Life team is made up of a number of blind and low vision people itself and provides an essential service to those who need access to tech following a diagnosis of sight loss. Campaigner and trustee of the Eye Matter charity in the UK, Rachel Bowden, joins Steven by phone to explain her decision to set up a petition to challenge the upcoming decision by the charity, which also faces a massive £10 million ($18 million CAD) cut in its budget over the next decade. You can find and sign the petition here – https://www.change.org/p/save-rnib-s-technology-for-life-team-from-cutbacks-to-staff-and-services Keep in touch with the guys by emailing feedback@doubletaponair.com or call 1-877-803-4567 and leave us a voicemail. You can also find us on social media and on YouTube.

If you saw Jeremy Allen White's Calvin Klein ad, count yourself lucky. It was shared without ALT text, so blind and partially sighted people couldn't join the fun. That was until RNIB schooled us all. Behind every sassy, creative, and inventive post from the Royal National Institute of Blind People is an important message: People with sight loss exist. Social media content manager and previous copywriter for Specsavers' agency, Helen Dutson, and RNIB's social media officer Holly Tuke, who's registered blind are on a mission to show social media that accessible content is achievable, necessary, and rich ground for creativity. In this episode we got a lesson in what scrolling through social is like for someone with sight loss, how to make truly accessible content, who's doing it well, and how platforms can improve their features. Got a question or a suggestion for the SocialMinds podcast? Get in touch at social.minds@socialchain.com.

On this week's episode, the IAB's Chief Marketing Officer, James Chandler, is joined by journalist & copywriter, Ellen Hammett, and Broadcast & Audio Description Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Sonali Rai. Their conversation digs into a recent article Ellen wrote for Marketing Week about disability inclusive marketing, covering how AI is advancing accessible advertising, what smaller brands can do on lower budgets, and why accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought but embedded within all campaigns.Read Ellen's Marketing Week piece 'Why brands could be losing billions by failing to make their marketing more disability inclusive': https://www.marketingweek.com/brands-losing-billions-failing-marketing-disability-inclusive/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy customers means happy business right? So, how do you make sure that the customer's voice isn't lost in the maelstrom of all the moving parts of your business? A common failing across multiple sectors and industries and in this episode we discuss how you can overcome it.Joining our hosts Emily and Oli from Mima is our first guest, Derek Bishop. He's a a world-renowned expert in culture change and employee experience, and director at Culture Consultancy. They design and align organisational cultures to elevate business performance through creating strong leadership and high-performing employees based on a sense of purpose, core values and the right behaviours. Our second guest is Andrew Dickinson, a hugely experienced Head of Train Service delivery, having worked in the industry for nearly 20 years, currently the Service Delivery Director at KeolisAmey Docklands. We discuss what culture is, the impact it can have on businesses, what 'good' and 'bad' culture can look and feel like, and also discuss in depth projects including a project Andrew has led on partnering with Transport for London (TfL) and The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to trial NaviLens, an app designed to help blind or partially sighted customers navigate stations. Join us as we find out how to put the customer at the heart of your business and create a step-change in performance by changing your business culture.

While attending the 2023 NFB Convention in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant sat down with Dave Williams. Dave works on the Inclusive Design Team at RNIB, Royal National Institute for Blind People. Dave also serves as chair of the Braillists Foundation, a United Kingdom based charity with the mission of promoting the advancement of Braille.   Dave speaks with Simon about his journey of his denial to acceptance of blindness. He discusses how technology, Braille, and mobility skills have not only empowered him but helped him to empower others to make their dreams come true. As a member of the Inclusive Design team, Dave works with existing technology companies to make sure their emerging products are inclusive for all, regardless of disability. Read More

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Jay Pocknell; a production and mixing engineer from the UK.Not only is he a skilled sound engineer and a lovely person to talk to but also a proactive member of the audio community. He founded the Sound Without Sight organization and currently works at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) advocating for music software, music hardware, and music instruments accessible to everyone: including musicians and sound engineers with disabilities.Basing on his lived experience with sight loss, he gives invaluable advice on how any audio programmer can make their software accessible. This is a gold mine of first-hand information!In the podcast episode, we discuss his path to becoming a sound engineer, which obstacles he needed to overcome, and how we as the audio community can remove some of these obstacles permanently.Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this

Are You Listening? is now on season 4! We're so excited to be starting off with Health Watch Oxfordshire supporting the beginning of this podcast and this second episode is all about invisible and visible disabilities.   Trigger Warning: Suicide, Depression, Anxiety, Self-Harm, Eating disorders, Abuse, Ableism   Molly (She/Her) is joined by Hamzah (He/Him) and Esah (He/Him) to explore invisible and visible disabilities. This insightful conversation touches on topics such as accessibility, education and ableism built into society. They specifically hone in on how professionals can support them and other young people. This is an episode that everyone should listen to, especially if you're trying to dismantle the internalised ableism.   **** DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed by the podcast hosts and their guests do not necessarily reflect those of Oxfordshire Youth.  **** Disability support and awareness   Yellow Submarine - https://www.yellowsubmarine.org.uk/ FAAAZE (Faringdon Access All Areas) – https://www.faaaze.org/ My Life My Choice - https://www.mylifemychoice.org.uk/ Keen Oxford - https://www.keenoxford.org/ Let's Play Banbury - https://letsplaybanbury.org/ Thomley - https://thomley.org.uk/ Scope - https://www.scope.org.uk/ Cyclability - https://www.cyclability.org/ Mencap - https://www.mencap.org.uk/ Disability Rights UK - https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/ The Royal National Institute of Blind People - https://www.rnib.org.uk/ The Royal National Institute for Deaf People - https://rnid.org.uk/ British Vogue, May 2023 - https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/british-vogue-may-2023-editors-letter   **** About Healthwatch Oxfordshire Health Watch Oxfordshire are the county's independent health and social care watchdog. They collect your opinions and experiences to inform and influence those who run your health and social care services. They can also provide help and advice if you have a question about local health services. You can get in touch with them in many ways:   https://healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk/services https://www.facebook.com/HealthwatchOxfordshire https://twitter.com/healthwatchoxon https://www.instagram.com/healthwatchoxfordshire/ **** Watch Are You Listening? On Youtube:  https://youtu.be/0Jb6euzwPHc

How do we see? What parts of the brain are responsible for vision? And how can gene therapy restore sight to people living with a visual impairment?   In this episode of How We're Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she unpicks the neuroscience behind our sense of sight, from the complex computations of the retina to how gene therapy is revolutionising treatment for blindness.    With special thanks to Peter, Botond Roska, Bernard Schneider, and the Royal National Institute of the Blind.   How We're Wired is a Fresh Air Production for The Bertarelli Foundation. Follow now so you never miss an episode.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. For decades, people with vision loss had limited options when it came to accessing video games. Aside from screen magnification and text-to-voice tools, gamers who are blind or visually impaired didn't have many ways to play their favorite titles. But in recent years, the same cutting-edge technology used to create games has been used to also make them more accessible for people with vision impairment. These advances include more visibility options, the implementation of 3D audio, haptic feedback, and customizable controllers for gamers with vision impairment. Furthermore, 3D audio technologies being developed in live sports may soon make their way to online multiplayer video games. The implementation and improvement of these technologies mean that everyone will be able to play together, regardless of their visual acuity.   The Big Takeaways: Leap in Accessible Gaming Options. In the past, the lack of accessibility features has made it much harder for gamers like Elaine Abdalla to access her favorite titles. But as gaming technology and accessibility improve, gamers like Elaine who are visually impaired are now able to more actively participate in their favorite titles. For example, The Last of Us: Part 2 boasts over 60 accessibility options including sophisticated visibility adjustments and inclusive difficulty settings. Participating in the Process. Robin Spinks is the Head of Inclusive Design at the UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). He helps gaming companies implement accessibility options as part of the design process from the very beginning. By ensuring people with vision loss are part of the process from the jump, Robin is helping make games more immersive than ever — for everyone. Xbox Accessibility Team. Kaitlyn Jones first became passionate about gaming when she helped her father launch a nonprofit foundation that built customized setups for gamers with disabilities. She's now the program manager of Xbox's Gaming Accessibility Team. They develop guidelines for all kinds of accessible gaming options, including for people with vision loss. Thanks to her team's efforts, new titles include options like spatial audio cues, which make it easier for gamers who are blind to navigate complex dungeons and unlock achievements. Action Audio. At the 2022 Australian Open, a new technology called Action Audio became available for tennis fans with vision loss. Through cutting-edge camera tracking technology, Action Audio creates an information-rich 3D audio experience that allows tennis fans with vision loss to experience every thrilling rally as it happened, and to share in a communal experience. Spatial Audio in Gaming. Action Audio's developers hope to make it a universal technology that can also be used in gaming. Whether it's working with a team in the latest first-person shooter or dribbling around opponents on a virtual basketball court, 3D (or spatial) audio technology is positioned to help people with vision loss to more equitably participate in the gaming community.   Tweetables: “The motivation here is to remove barriers, to form partnerships, and to collaborate so that going forward it becomes a much more possible area of life for people. 'Cause gaming's fantastic, right? And why should you be stopped from enjoying it just because you're blind or partially sighted?” — Robin Spinks, Head of Inclusive Design at RNIB “When something happens on the court, it's captured quite fast with Hawkeye within hundreds of milliseconds, and we're able to take that data relatively quickly and generate the audio and then send it to the broadcast before it's received in the real world.” — Tim Devine, AKQA Executive Director of Innovation “It's like that Japanese principle of continuous improvement, kaizen, where you're kind of constantly looking to do things better. That's what we want to see in the gaming world. — Robin Spinks, Head of Inclusive Design at RNIB “We've always really prioritized accessibility along the way. But I think in terms of the journey of, even where we started when I first joined the team a few years ago versus now, I think the bar honestly just keeps getting higher and higher.” — Kaitlyn Jones, Program Manager: Xbox Accessibility Team “I'm just happy to see the disabled community is finally getting the assistance they need. It's taken a while and it's still gonna take a while, but we're going in the right direction.” — Elaine Abdalla, creator of BlindGamerChick YouTube Channel Contact Us: Contact us at podcasts@lighthouseguild.org with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.   Pertinent Links: Lighthouse Guild RNIB Accessible Video Games Page Xbox Accessibility Guidelines BlindGamerChick YouTube Channel On Tech & Vision: Training the Brain: Sensory Substitution

Alex kicks off Season 4 with a conversation with the lovely and super stylish Tasha Ghouri.Alex and Tasha discuss her journey before and after her experience on the popular reality show ‘Love Island', where she not only found love but also became the first preloved eBay ambassador after being on the show. They dive into her lifelong passion for dance, how she's embraced her challenges with hearing and becoming a key spokeswoman for the deaf and hard of hearing community within the UK and beyond.Her jewellery choices, classic and timeless in their design, are so well loved by Tasha that she never takes them off. In fact one piece, gifted by her close group of friends, became a signal to communicate with her loved ones whilst she was participating on ‘Love Island'.Be sure to listen out for Tasha's upcoming podcast series, ‘Superpowers', where Tasha and her guests discuss their personal ‘superpowers' and how they've embraced their challenges to become the people they are today.Here are some useful links for further reading on topics discussed by Alex and Tasha:You can follow Tasha on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tashaghouri/ TikTok - @tashaghouri1YouTube - @tashaghouri9868For information on the charity Deaf Kidz: https://deafkidzinternational.org/For information about Royal National Institute for Death People (RNID) who Tasha is an ambassador of: https://rnid.org.uk/illustration by Connie Bella MonroeEdited by Emily SandfordMusic by Daniel Patrick Cohen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samantha Baines is an entrepreneur and philanthropist: an award-winning comedian, award-winning actress and award-winning broadcaster. A deaf activist and hearing aid wearer, Samantha is the author of two children's books with deaf protagonists; the award-winning Harriet Versus the Galaxy which she also voices on Audible and Bloomsbury Education book The Night the Moon Went Out and new book Living With Hearing Loss and Deafness: a guide to owning it and loving it.Samantha likes to keep busy and you may have seen her keeping busy in acting roles in Netflix's The Crown, Call the Midwife, Silent Witness or Magic Mike Live (directed by Channing Tatum) or personal appearances on ITV's Loose Women, Sky News and Andrew Neil's This Week. After seven years of stand-up comedy, two sell out Edinburgh Fringe runs and a UK tour, Samantha has proved her comedy chops but these days sticks to being funny on social media, speaking events, radio and in her books (due to her sound sensitivity).If you don't like watching things, you may have heard her keeping busy presenting on BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Kent, Virgin Radio, hosting Q and A's at the BFI. She also hosts her multi-award nominated, smash-hit podcast The Divorce Social, which has been featured in international publications as well as being a 'Times Podcast of the Week' and a No.1 relationship podcast on itunes. The podcast recently won the bronze award for Best Sex and Relationship podcast at the British Podcast Awards 2022.​If you don't like watching or listening then you must like reading surely! Samantha has written for publications including The Guardian, Time Out, Huffington Post and Stylist Magazine. Samantha's debut children's book Harriet Versus the Galaxy was listed in the Independent's Best Children's Books of the Year 2019, Book Trust's Great Book Guide 2020 and won the Coventry Inspiration Book Award 2021. Samantha's second children's book The Night the Moon Went Out was released in August 2021, published by Bloomsbury and was been nominated for The People's Book Prize. Her new non-fiction book is being published by Headline in April 2023.Samantha is a self appointed 'accidental activist', a proud Ambassador for the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID), leads talks on deaf awareness and has spoken to MPs at the House of Commons about tinnitus, as well as fronting the RNID 'Subtitle It' campaign.Samantha is also founder and director of successful social media marketing company Penguin in the Room, which she set up after she left drama school. Penguin in the Room have managed social media output for the likes of Susan Calman, The Guilty Feminist, Helen George, Lucy Porter and Ruby Wax's charity Frazzled Cafe and employ a team of creative freelancers who work for the company to support their other artistic endeavours.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Hearing-Loss-Deafness-owning/dp/1035401509/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1666619238&sr=1-2#WritingCommunity #SamanthaBaines #Livingwithhearinglossanddeafness ______________________________________Find out more: www.TheWritingCommunityChatShow.ComTHE WCCS – TOGETHER AS ONE WE GET IT DONE!If you would like to advertise your #book on the show, to enroll in a book launch interview, or to have a WCCS social media shout out, visit here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheWCCSFOLLOW US► Our website – https://www.thewritingcommunitychatshow.com► Universal link – https://linktr.ee/TheWCCS► Buy the show a coffee – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheWCCS► Use hashtag TheWritingCommunityChatShow or TheWCCS on social media to keep us current. This show will only succeed with your support!► Support us through Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/WCCS► For our FIVERR affiliate link click here (we will earn a little from you signing up through our link and more if you use the service. We back this service and have used it with great results! – https://fvrr.co/32SB6cs► For our PRO #WRITING AID affiliate link click here – https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=15286Hey! We have spent 3 years using StreamYard. You can see how much we love its features, and how we can make it look great for live streaming. We are huge fans and they are constantly improving their service. Check it out with our link and we could earn from referrals!https://streamyard.com/pal/4835638006775808

Remember: you can also always follow the show on Twitter @dotnetcoreshow, and the shows host on Twitter @podcasterJay or visit our Contact page. Welcome to season 5 of the award-winning .NET Core Podcast! Check that link for proof. Hello everyone and welcome to THE .NET Core Podcast. An award-winning podcast where we reach into the core of the .NET technology stack and, with the help of the .NET community, present you with the information that you need in order to grok the many moving parts of one of the biggest cross-platform, multi-application frameworks on the planet. In this episode you'll gain insight into the development of software from a humanitarian perspective. Hear from Jamie, who shares his experiences and skills to ensure his software works for his users. Learn how to design platforms with empathy, sympathy, and compassion in mind to make the world a better place and improve user experience. With resources such as case studies and interviews with people in the tech industry, there's always something new and exciting to learn. Tune into The .NET Core Podcast today and become a part of the revolution! The full show notes, including links to some of the things we discussed and a full transcription of this episode, can be found at https://dotnetcore.show/episode-118-empathy-sympathy-and-compassion-for-our-users/ Useful Links from the episode: Programming Ethics on Wikipedia IEEE Code of ethics Ethics in the Software Development process on Springer The countercultural revolution The Cuban Missile Crisis TMRC Geek chic Yamaoka Tesshu Sengoku Jidai My CPD logs Empathy vs Sympathy: Which one are you? Sword of Damocles The scientific method Zawinski's Law Episode 48 - Rockstar with Dylan Beattie The Rockstar programming language the Law Society Colourblind Awareness Key information and statistics on sight loss in the UK from the Royal National Institute of Blind People How blind people see the world Accessibility laws and policies Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy The Law of Intuition Overton Window Charles Limb - To be Creative Don't Think So Hard Pych2Go on Empathy vs Sympathy Simon Sinek on Understanding Sympathy Nasty, Brutish, and Short by Scott Hershovitz How to be Perfect - Michael Schur any book by Dr. Brené Brown Think Again by Adam Grant Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy The Friendly Orange Glow - Brian Dear Remember to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or wherever you find your podcasts, this will help the show's audience grow. Or you can just share the show with a friend. And don't forget to reach out via our Contact page. We're very interested in your opinion of the show, so please get in touch. You can support the show by making a monthly donation on the show's Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/TheDotNetCorePodcast

Episode Notes Timestamps: 0:00 Intro and Jokes 08:40 Guest speaker: Who is Anat Nulman? 13:00 RealSam Pocket phone itself compared to other smartphones 15:35 Out of the box setup and use, touchscreens and gestures vs tapping 23:16 Phone calls and creating contacts with audio alone 30:20 Text Messages 37:59 Auditory Contrast and voice options 46:52 Wrap up and suggestions for a Part 2 Review of the RealSam Pocket Full Notes: 11:04:17 Welcome to vision forwards, tech, connect, live, connecting you to the world of assistive technology. 11:04:24 And now here you hosts, Corey and 11:04:28 Hello, everybody! I'm welcome back to. And that's fine. 11:04:34 I always had Ted talk flavor, welcome back to tech, connect, live, a resource, and brought to you by vision, Forward Association, Association. 11:04:44 Yes, they are yeah. Vision Ford Association. And this is tech, connect, live, welcome. 11:04:47 It is Thursday, January nineteenth. 11:04:51 Well, remember 2,023. I know amazing how it's our second show. Second show. 11:04:57 What was our oh, our first show of the year was windows, magnifiers as a one v. 11:05:02 One. My son says A. One V. One of windows magnifier versus zoom text. 11:05:06 Go back and check that out. But today, is our second one. 11:05:09 Indeed! Yeah. Oh, was that our second one? And this is our third one. 11:05:13 Hmm, no, it's 2 weeks. It's only 19. 11:05:15 Well, you know everybody's having a wonderful day today. Yes, our last one was pretty popular with the windows. 11:05:20 Magnifying the Zoom text, so, yeah, as the kids say, it was a bang. 11:05:25 You were just full of all of these great, frees. If you are looking for if you're looking for a screen, magnificent program, and you're not sure which one to go for, then definitely check out. 11:05:33 That previous tech connect live? Sure. But in this video we are not talking about computers. 11:05:40 Or I guess we kind of arc as smart yes, but we're not talking about Pcs. Oh, no, we are talking about Pcs. 11:05:47 Oh, no, we are talking about accessible smartphones. Koi. 11:05:51 This is a topic which we have discussed in the past. 11:05:52 We have discussed accessibility on Android phones, on apple phone that we have. 11:05:56 Looked at different apps, check? Which? Yeah, yeah, we look at the blank shell of call on check. 11:06:02 Yeah. Louie. Louis. Software on us? Yeah. Check. Yeah. So we have a, you know, phones, these are topics that we like to cover here. 11:06:08 And that's because basically everybody these days uses a phone and needs to use a phone because there's so much things that we have to do via apps, or even just communicating with people. 11:06:19 And so on, and so forth. What is when you work with individuals on cell phones? 11:06:26 What percent of them? Yes, come in, yes, and strictly use, or only really want to use their voice. 11:06:35 I would say a fairly high percentage. Okay, I need a number. 11:06:40 Well, okay, I'm gonna go at least 70, probably 81%. 11:06:47 Yes, I've done the math. I need to see the take on this. 11:06:50 But yes, it is a high percentage. Yeah. A lot of people want to be able to do, you know, stuff on that phone with a voice particularly, I don't want to pigeonhole people but I would say, the more elderly population in particular might be keen on that just because they want to be as simple 11:07:05 As possible, and the voice potentially offers simplicity. 11:07:08 Now, I will say, if you want to use a computer with just your voice, maybe not so simple. 11:07:12 It's a little different. Yeah. Using a smartphone definitely, you know, it can be easier. 11:07:17 And hopefully, they are paying attention today. Yes, hopefully, they are. Yes. 11:07:21 And yeah, so you can do stuff on a regular smartphone with your voice. 11:07:25 But the smartphone we're looking at today is going to be a little bit different and allow you to do a little bit more. 11:07:29 So we're looking forward to jumping into that. But before we start, of course we do like to tell jokes, don't we call it? We do like to tell jokes, I mean, I know you think we were telling a joke this whole time. 11:07:40 But yes, your face was a joke. Oh, now we're in that I don't know if I like 2,023. 11:07:49 I don't know if I like your New Year's resolution, but yes, so we like to tell jokes. 11:07:53 We also like our audience to tell jokes as well. So if you are in the audience, then please feel free to communicate with us via the chat or the Q. 11:08:02 And a either way is completely fine, and also, if you have any questions about to the things that we are looking at today, then do feel free to put those in the chat and the Q. And a. 11:08:09 You will get the most out of this if you ask questions, because that way you're going to be able to know exactly what you need to know about to the things that we're talking about. 11:08:18 So for today's jokes, I did pull up some jokes about artificial eleventh. 11:08:24 I just want to quickly say for those watching on Youtube, yes, make sure you put your questions in the comments, and we'll we'll in Producer Jonathan will be making sure that those come through. Indeed, he will. 11:08:35 We don't want to exclude. No, you on the 2 everybody is welcome. 11:08:38 Yeah, so today is choke from us is going to be the following, you looked one up, yeah, I did, yeah, okay, so we are talking about a phone today, which is you know, somewhat. 11:08:51 AI-based artificial intelligence base. So I hold up an artificial intelligence-related joke, and here it is. 11:08:56 Cori. Yes. Did you hear that? They've made a new, artificially intelligent orio? 11:09:02 I haven't get double stuff, Megas. 11:09:11 Well, I just wanted to tell you something about it. Oh, Lis, please, please, is one smart cookie. 11:09:17 How many times can I hit this yeah, I thought that was quite something after the upgrade. 11:09:32 Yes, I thought that was quite something after the upgrade. 11:09:35 Yes, you know, having the what is it? The Davos Conference? 11:09:36 Or they're having at the moment, or one of those world conferences. Okay? 11:09:40 So basically that I hear that those world leaders didn't upgrade to their secret artificial intelligence. 11:09:46 And they asked it, Hey, is there a God they just have to know? 11:09:51 And the artificial intelligence responded, there is now 11:10:01 Hey? Yeah. So I'm kind of hoping people put some in the chat. 11:10:04 So we don't have any I don't know why, but our audience veers between, you know, hundreds of jokes in a session and 0. Yeah. 11:10:17 So I, after seeing this today, it's really important that you put jokes in the jet. 11:10:21 But I do know that our special guest yes, has a couple jokes, for indeed. 11:10:27 So without further ado, we will introduce our guest today, and I'll guess, is Anat Norman, and that's what you care to say. 11:10:33 Hello! 11:10:34 Hello, everybody! Thank you for hosting me today 11:10:35 Well, thank you very much for coming on now, before we do get into things too much here I do want to make sure that I am pronouncing your name correctly, so we are seeing, and that is that correct? 11:10:45 That's beautiful! 11:10:46 Alright! That's what I like to hear so, and that we did talk talk. 11:10:51 We did talk very briefly before the show, and we did warn you that we might ask you for a joke, and I believe that you have at least one joke ready for us. 11:11:00 So if you would like to hit it. 11:11:02 Well, sure, since I work with cell phones I've prepared you a joke about cell phones. 11:11:07 Excellent, good. 11:11:08 Why was the self monitoring glasses 11:11:12 Hmm! I mean your way across this cuz you, Count sarsided near side is no sighted double vision like calling and texting amblyopia. 11:11:27 As, yeah. 11:11:29 Way simpler than that. It just forgot its context 11:11:34 That's pretty good. I like that one. That one's pretty good soverts your expectations. 11:11:39 Yes, what idle! And that's I do think you may have another yeah, I've been dying to hear this. 11:11:45 The skunk 10, yeah, yeah. Let's hear the skunk. 11:11:48 One. 11:11:50 So, yeah. 11:11:51 What happens when you cross breed a cell phone and a skunk 11:11:55 I mean, I imagine it probably smells quite bad. You get a cell skunk, a skunk cell smelly, Sally smelly. 11:12:06 Sally smelly, smelly, Sally 11:12:08 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you get a sync, it connection. 11:12:13 I I like it very good. Smelly, Sally, and from dog in the chat. 11:12:23 Oh, you go, Doug! What are the fastest means of communication? 11:12:27 Fastest means talking to somebody, face to face. Yeah, I don't know. 11:12:38 Hussein Bolt, telegraph, telephoneom, telephone, and tell a woman like the chat. 11:12:51 I'm sorry, Doug gonna have to give you that one. 11:12:53 I'm sorry, but you failed to improve our joke quality. 11:12:58 Yeah, all right, then, that's well. Thank you for the jokes and let's get started here. 11:13:03 Why don't you tell our audience a little bit about yourself and the company that you work for? 11:13:09 And your background, and so on, and so forth. 11:13:11 Sure sure. So my name is Anat Nulman. I'm the director of Business Development, and the company called Real Thing AI, and we are based out of Australia. 11:13:21 But we obviously have presence in the Us. As well as other countries, and we deal with artificial intelligence specifically, with voice technology. 11:13:31 We have a product that's called real Sam Pocket, which is a voice operated smartphone, which I understand will be talking today about. 11:13:39 And I would be quite unhappy to discuss that in more details, and show you how it works a little bit about me. 11:13:44 I've been working in assistive technology for about 9 years. 11:13:48 I've worked from out a company. And I've been with real thing, AI for about 2 years. 11:13:54 I live in California. I have 2 kids and a lot of animals 11:13:39 Awesome. That is good to you. I was just going to say what you say. 11:14:02 A lot of animals like I immediately think of, like cats, dogs, pigs, cows, chickens, like just you know, because usually someone say, like, I have a lot of cats. 11:14:12 Yeah. But when you just say general and animals, anyways, yeah, we're talking about here. 11:14:17 What animals do we have? Okay, one and a half. Did he say 11:14:27 Okay. That's much better than an actual half dog. 11:14:18 One and a half dogs, one and a half dogs, because the other dog lives with us half of the time, and we have 11:14:30 That's what I was a little worried about. Yeah. 11:14:30 And that doesn't count. The squirrels and the pigeons, and all beautiful animals that live in the 11:14:34 Oh, I'm assuming, though, that you don't keep those in the house, because that would be chaos. That would be gas 11:14:44 You never know 11:14:40 Not really. But you know, if we forget to close the doors, or and really and spirited chickens come inside to say Hello. 11:14:49 Yes. Does the half dog chase the squirrels at all? 11:14:54 How dog does! But the whole dog does. 11:14:53 That's what I'd like to see. And just drag itself across that's good to know. 11:15:01 Now I didn't. I didn't realize that real thing were based out of Australia. 11:15:06 So that's really cool. And do they do anything else? 11:15:09 Or is the real sum there? Only the only thing at the moment 11:15:13 Because we're voice technology company, will license our technology to third parties for a variety of applications. 11:15:21 But you would probably never hear about it, because it all happens in the background. 11:15:18 Okay, yeah, sure, that makes sense. 11:15:26 What you is in terms of consumers, things that are visible. 11:15:29 We have real Sam Pocket in the Us. And we have some of the products in other countries. 11:15:33 Very cool. So what were real thing doing the voice recognition technology before they created the real sum that 11:15:44 Yeah. 11:15:40 So as as real Sam, we've been around for over 10 years, and what happens is that our founders came from airspace and other industries in Australia, and one of their buddies named Graham Enas, who at the time was the Commissioner on disabilities in Australia came to his friends and said 11:15:59 listen. I am so tired of waiting 3 days until I can get an accessible newspaper Graham. 11:16:05 Is blind, he said. Can you help me out in this section? 11:16:09 We can whip up something for you. So we started basically as a media company changing, making media accessible to people who are visually impaired. 11:16:19 Cool. 11:16:23 Yeah, yeah. 11:16:19 Oh, we got invited to the Uk. Luke. You might want to hear that by Rna B. 11:16:27 Sure. 11:16:26 Royal National Institute for the Blind, and they wanted us to develop a product that's called Rna B. 11:16:40 Yeah. 11:16:32 In your pocket was a book player. So we did, but we used a cell phone as as a handset, as hardware, and we support cell phone. Let's make it a cell phone. 11:16:43 So that was kind of an evolution, and then pass forward. 11:16:44 That's very cool. 11:16:46 A few years later we came to the Us. Because we wanted to want a competitive bid from Nls to prototype some of their products. 11:16:53 Oh, very cool. 11:16:53 So we we have a contract with Nls. We're working with them, and then we also have the real some pocket which came from the Rna. 11:17:02 B. In your pocket, but it was a little bit of mouthful 11:17:04 Yeah. No. Truly. Yeah, no, that's very cool. So I assume that the real sun, then, is available in at least the Uk, and possibly other parts of Europe. 11:17:12 Is that the case? 11:17:13 At the moment it's available in the Uk and in the Us. 11:17:16 Okay. 11:17:17 And Google, I mean expanding our services and availability to other countries soon 11:17:21 Very cool. All right. Well, that's very informative. So the real Sam pocket, then, which I might just refer to as the real sum going forward here, why don't you tell us a little bit about the philosophy behind it, and so what kind of hardware we're talking about here? 11:17:39 And maybe even show us it on the camera there as well 11:17:41 Sure. So I'm holding the pocket here a real Sam pocket in my hand for those of you who can see you will see that the glaring difference between our cell phone and most other cell phones is that they're not visible apps. 11:17:55 The screen is almost empty. It has a, you know, little sound wave in the middle, and a logo that is just pretty element. 11:18:03 It has a little hamburger menu on the top left corner, which can be expended, and it has a large top to talk button at the bottom of the screen. 11:18:15 So this is a voice operated device, which means all you do is you tap on this button at the bottom of the screen and tell what you want it to do. 11:18:24 Yeah. That's Ok, though, I think we get the idea. 11:18:27 Yeah. 11:18:23 It's hiding because of my background. So I can just stop and say, What is the time 11:18:34 The time is 18 min past 9 11. On Thursday, January the nineteenth, 2,023, I'm in California. 11:18:39 There we go. Yes. So yeah, that makes perfect sense. Hmm. 11:18:41 So I'm 2 h ago, not now, you know. So this behind the phone, we exist because one simple reason, some of the commercially available phones are not acceptable to some people like you mentioned earlier 75 83% that you see say that it's hard for them 11:19:01 To use commercially available phones, which are great, and they have a lot of functionality for those who can use. 11:19:07 But for those who can't we have a solution out which is real. 11:19:11 Sampocket. It is easy to use phone. All you really do is you tap on this large button and you tell it whole. 11:19:17 Luke, send a message to Aaron. What is the time? 11:19:20 Read me a book with the title, The Old Man and to see, you know. 11:19:24 Listen to radio. So we have a limited set of functionality in terms of hardware, and we use a Samsung galaxy phones with our software on them. 11:19:35 So below the experience or users interact with real Sam as opposed to android. Which is, it's android based phone. Because we offered this voice interface as opposed to visual interface, was kind of an afterthought of existibility on commercially available phones 11:18:57 Yeah, so basically, if somebody buys the real son, what they're getting is the phone. 11:19:56 And when they boot the phone they are going to go straight into this real-time interface, which, as you described and showed us, is a very simplified interface. 11:20:05 So you're not having to worry about dealing with all the apps and things like that, and in terms of service. 11:20:08 I believe that the phone is unlocked, and so you would be able to use whichever carrier that you wanted to. 11:20:15 But I assume that on your phone plan, you would need data because I'm assuming that this phone is using data when you are when you are talking to it and given it commands 11:20:22 That is correct. So there's some of the things that physically live on the phone and there's some things that physically live on the cloud. 11:20:28 So that conversational AI, the ability to talk to the phone actually lives on the cloud so in order to use the phone and use most of its functionality, it requires access to Internet which can come from data plan when you're out and about and your Wi-fi when you're sedentary at 11:20:46 your home office, or whatever you are. 11:20:48 Cool. That's awesome. And you had mentioned there that you know current cell phones. 11:20:53 So whether they be android phones or iphones, they do have voice activation features. 11:21:00 So you know, we've talked to Syria before on our show. 11:21:04 We've talked to the Google Assistant as well so there are things that you can do with an off-the-shelf smartphone at the moment in terms of voice control. 11:21:12 And so you did kind of mention briefly what sets the real summer part. 11:21:15 But if you just like to expand on that a little bit 11:21:17 Sure. So iphones are great android devices are great. 11:21:22 If you can use them, and we're not trying to compete with Siri or accessibility features or top back, we're offering a solution to those who can't use conventional phones successfully, because it's too complicated. 11:21:36 And it can be too complicated, because it's hard for people to do accessibility gestures, double tapping, triple tapping. 11:21:44 It's high to find little icons and move between them. 11:21:47 We simplified all of that. So the difference between real Sam Pocket and other phones is that there's only one button that you tap on, and you really don't even top. 11:21:58 You just put your finger on it, and you'll lift up your fingers so there is no ever double tapping at triple tapping. 11:22:04 So it's very simple for somebody who further has maybe dexterity issues, maybe don't have lamps so you can tap with whatever it doesn't have to be a finger. 11:22:12 You can talk with your knuckle, you can sound check, we can. 11:22:16 You can add with tiles, band and then you just talk to the phone and you ask it to do what you want it to do. 11:22:22 Would you have 3 sets of functionality? So that includes communications, content, and tools? 11:22:31 The communication is real ability to make and receive phone call, send and receive text messages by voice the phone has access to email, which is lives on the provider network. 11:22:42 Yes. 11:22:41 And you can add contacts by voice, which is one of the challenges, was an iphone at the moment, because you can't really add context by voice, and it can show you later how easily it's done on on the pocket 11:22:51 Yeah, and that's definitely something that I did want to highlight, because it is a pretty big deal. 11:22:57 And we've talked about this on the show before. How, with an iphone, you can, you know, hands-free, say, Hayesi call, you know, whoever and the firm will do that, and that's great. 11:23:09 But yeah, when it comes to something like adding a contact which you would have thought would be something that shouldn't be too hard to kind of program. 11:23:13 It's just not available on Android or on the iphone. 11:23:17 So definitely, that's one of the features with the real sun that I think is really neat. 11:23:22 Yeah, what do you think? Are, yeah, I mean, yeah, absolutely. I think you know the ability to, you know on those other devices you can always speak the actual number, which is a workaround. 11:23:33 But you know it's hard to remember all of these ph phone numbers. 11:23:38 And so it's natural to want to add contact. Exactly. 11:23:40 So, being able to do it independently, and I guess for some reason I can kind of see on the other devices when you're you know, when you if you ever go into a contact, you can see there's so much in their birthday to address. 11:23:52 Phone, email so but but it would have been nice to at least been able to add a name to the phone number. 11:23:56 Yeah, exactly. And another another thing with the philosophy of this phone and that is that so that's slightly different is that when you're talking to the phone so I don't think there is a hands-free option, correct, me, if I'm wrong, you are going to be using that large button on the bottom of the 11:24:09 phone. And also if the phone asks you a question, you are also gonna hit that button before responding. 11:24:17 So anytime we want to talk to the film we're always hitting on that large tap to talk button at the bottom of the phone. Is that correct? 11:24:22 That is correct, and it was done as kind of a security privacy issue, because some of our customers did not want the phone to listen to them all the time. 11:24:32 Having said that it is something that we're working on, and in the future our users will have an option of hands-free. 11:24:39 They will be able to say, Hey, pocket, or something like that, and any sheets make sure that the phone listens to them so it could perform the task that they, asking it to do, or just the button 11:24:47 Yeah, yeah, and I can see the benefit of both. You know. 11:24:52 At first you might say. Well, geez! It you know hands-free would would make sense, and I think it does have a place. 11:24:59 But there is something about the consistency, especially on the when you, if you ask a question, and then it wants a follow-up answer having to tap to speak, having that consistency of every time I speak. 11:25:13 I tap really? Because with with with Syria and Google assistant, it can be kind of confusing sometimes when we work with clients where the hold down a button and say, Call Luke, and then they let go, and then it says you know to confirm you'd like to call Luke and then they 11:25:31 hold the button again down right, and it just gets kind of confusing when you when you didn't need to. 11:25:36 So, you know, making it intentional like that. I think there is definitely a benefit, I think consistency is definitely key for people who struggle with phones just having a consistent way to operate. 11:25:44 It is definitely very helpful. 11:25:45 And another thing, I want to point out is that while we developed the phone specifically for people who are visually impaired who may have low vision or maybe blind, we realize that because the phone phone constantly provides guidance, and it's relatively easy to use people who have memory conditions, and memory challenges 11:26:06 Sure. 11:26:04 really like our phone as well. So we're seeing more and more users may. 11:26:09 And maybe this may may not be visually impaired, but they have other conditions that prevent them from using regular phones, so that that matter of consistency is really really helpful for them as well 11:26:19 Yes, agreed. Yeah. Now, just quickly, if we purchase the phone, if I'm an end user and I purchase the phone I assume that all I need to do is take it out the box. 11:26:31 Make sure it's charged. Put my SIM card in, and I know it comes with a little SIM card tool that you can pop open the syndrome with, and then we're good to go right. 11:26:41 There's no other setup required. Is that correct or not? 11:26:43 Okay. 11:26:42 That's correct. We also recommend connecting it to your home Wi-fi. 11:26:46 If you come up, and other than that, that's it. 11:26:45 Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 11:26:57 Nice 11:26:49 It also comes with the case. It has a protective screen over on on the phone and it the LAN yards. So you can. If you worried about losing your phone, you have a linear that that you can use 11:27:03 Excellent. So just to clarify. There is no android setup, then, that that original, that kind of onboarding of android that you do with a brand new phone that's either been taken care of or is bypassed because it's going right in to real sam 11:27:16 We we do it on the back end before our users get the phone. 11:27:18 Perfect. 11:27:20 So we activate it. So we do all of that, because, you know, you can see, that's not always easy to do 11:27:25 Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that's a huge benefit. All right. I do like that. 11:27:30 It comes with the screen protector on it, because I have to say every time I try and put those things on, I always end up with so many air bottles up. 11:27:35 Yeah, exactly. I'm just awful at putting them on. 11:27:39 Okay. So I think that it's about time that we saw this thing in action. 11:27:44 What do you think calling? Yes, I am already all right. So and that we are gonna start off with whatever you want to start with. 11:27:52 I mean, I think the calling into texting are probably a good place to start. So did you want to maybe show us one of those 11:27:57 Sure sure I will show you how to make a phone call. 11:28:00 How to send a text message. And since we talked about contacts, I think that's also exciting. 11:28:04 Oh, yeah, for sure. That'd be great. Yeah. 11:28:06 And I'll tell you a little bit about some of the other features. 11:28:09 Okay. 11:28:09 Well, so to make a phone call, I can simply say, call a number, or I can say, call the contact. 11:28:16 So I already have a contact that's called my cell phone. 11:28:19 So I'm gonna top. And I'm gonna say. 11:28:22 Call my cell phone 11:28:26 Calling my cell phone, press the side button to cancel 11:28:31 Okay. So now we have a large dialpad that is talking. 11:28:36 It is calling my son, and if I put my finger on the dial pad it will tell me everything that's on it. 11:28:45 I think the screen went dark for a second. There we go. 11:28:53 And 11:28:54 Yeah. 11:29:00 I see very cool. 11:28:47 Yup, (408) 310-7903so if you need to get a hold of me, that's a good number, need to enter an extension number, you simply navigate your finger until you get to the number that it digit, and you lift it up and to hang up you have a very large 11:29:04 Hang of button at the bottom. Finger on it. 11:29:05 Yes. 11:29:08 It will tell you what's under it, and then you just lift up your finger and it will 11:29:11 Cool, and any time we need to use the top screen, we are using this kind of feel and then raise the type of method. 11:29:19 So we would leave our finger in contact with the screen until we've heard the thing that we're looking for, and then lift the finger to input or to activate that thing 11:29:28 Okay. Yeah. 11:29:27 That's correct. That's exactly correct. I think my virtual background is in. Yeah. 11:29:32 It's kind of messing with the phone screen a little bit. Yeah. 11:29:35 So let me. I'm gonna take it off. And you guys can see my beautiful white wall. 11:29:40 But so I can also add a contact. Right? 11:29:46 So let's say I want to add 11:29:46 And I'm sorry to button. But would you mind if I just ask a quick question here with regards to the calling? 11:29:50 Absolutely. Yeah. 11:29:53 Is it possible to ask to call somebody on Speaker Phone 11:29:57 Yes, so you can actually set up you can. You can set up in the settings so on on the left hand side, we have this hamburger menus. 11:30:09 If I put my finger on it, I basically it will draw large L for those of you who can't see. 11:30:12 That's okay. So what you would do, you would just move your finger from top left corner until the bottom left corner and then you go on the bottom from left to right, and it will open the mania so you hear the items you want and then release and then if you go to settings, okay, call number 11:30:28 Settings that's sitting menu. So how disabled! Start! 11:30:34 Call on Speaker, so I can set up how I want my behavior to be. 11:30:40 Start the phone on speaker or not by default. But I can also change that. 11:30:44 I'm gonna exit out of the menu. I can also change the specific behavior on it in any particular call. 11:30:54 So when we're in the call on the dial pad, the bottom right corner is the speaker, so you can type on and off absolutely. 11:30:58 Yeah. Ok, perfect one other question. If you don't mind. 11:31:03 So obviously, we're looking at a primarily voice activated phone here. 11:31:08 But I was wondering if a call comes in, whether you would answer that with the voice, or whether there's large buttons on the screen to answer a call. 11:31:16 Let me show you how it works. So I'm gonna call that my phone 11:31:17 Okay. Great. 11:31:23 Well from my cell phone pat back, set or press the side button to reject. 11:31:30 Yes, yes. 11:31:29 So accept is kind of takes about 30% of the screen where the top to talk is and reject is on the side. 11:31:34 Okay, that's cool. 11:31:35 So I accept it. 11:31:38 Yes, and now you're on the coal. Yeah. So that's really good. 11:31:41 So I mean, there's a good consistency there. The most important thing is, if you're using the screen is going to be in that bottom kind of third of the screen, so very easy to locate the important things depending on what you're doing that makes a lot of sense. 11:31:52 Alright! 11:31:54 Yeah, cool. And I like that. I like that. There's not really any gestures. 11:31:58 It's very natural. You're just touching the screen, whatever your finger is on is going to be spoken out loud, and then lift, and to activate. 11:32:07 And I say again the, as you said before, the thing to really remember is to keep that finger on that screen sliding it kind of explore by touch, and then don't lift until you actually hear what you want indeed, yeah, all right. 11:32:21 So I'm not. So you are about to talk about messages. 11:32:24 We do have a question in the chat here as well, and I know we might get to this in a little bit. 11:32:28 But Elizabeth ask when you dictate an email instead of typing it. 11:32:34 So I don't know if that's something you want to cover now, or maybe a little bit later. 11:32:35 But Elizabeth also asks if we can, I think she wants us to slow down. 11:32:42 The phone voice speed, if possible, because it may be a little fast to understand 11:32:44 Okay, absolutely. So I start with the second. So you can change voices and you can change the rate of speech. Yeah. 11:32:51 Ok. 11:32:52 And you can do it by touch. You will top on the top to talk, and you can say, Speak slower 11:33:02 Cool. 11:32:59 Okay. This is now my speech speed, and I can save multiple times. 11:33:05 I can say it again. Speak slower. Okay, this is now my speech. 11:33:12 Nice, good. 11:33:12 Speed. Yeah, I'm fully cited, but I've been working in the industry for so long that I don't even pay attention. 11:33:19 Yes. Yes. Yeah. 11:33:23 Nice 11:33:18 How fast my phones! I've discovered that I can listen to books 2 and a half speed right now, and my friends tell me it's too fast. 11:33:26 I'm like no normal. So I apologize for that. 11:33:30 I'm glad you mentioned question about email. So at the moment we don't have email, but it is something that we're working on our users get 2 years of free software updates. 11:33:39 So if you get the phone today, that doesn't have an email and 6 months down the road, we launch email. 11:33:45 We will simply push that update to your phone, and you can choose whether you would wanna use it or not. 11:33:49 Excellent. 11:33:50 So once we have an email functionality, you will be able to dictate the email at the moment. 11:33:57 It just doesn't exist yet. But it's something that we're definitely working on. 11:33:58 Sure cool. One thing I really like, too. I just wanted to mention when you tap the the speak button. 11:34:05 I really like that. It just goes right to a beep. 11:34:08 I'll be honest, I get really annoyed with the ones where it'll be like, yeah. 11:34:14 I listen after a yes, give your command. Once I make a beep that's happening in 3 s. 11:34:19 Yeah, I mean, a lot of times they they. It's almost 2 verbose. 11:34:23 And in the beginning I sort of get it. But then, after you've had the device for a while, except the way so you can get it, yeah, so I like that. 11:34:29 This, you know, just gives you a nice auditory sound. 11:34:32 It's obvious it's time to talk after that sound. 11:34:34 Yeah, and it's quick, agreed all right, I did. 11:34:37 You want to show some text messaging. Then 11:34:38 Yes, yes, so again I can send a message to contact, or I can send a message to a phone number just to mix it up. 11:34:46 I'm going to send it to my cell phone, which is also my contact. 11:34:49 Once I send a message. Once I ask for the phone to send a message. 11:34:53 It will basically repeat, and it will confirm that I actually want to send it or not, which is also great feature case. 11:35:00 You made a mistake. You can go and redo it. 11:35:01 Sure. 11:35:03 So with text messages, we can do it in 2 ways. 11:35:06 I can say. Send a message to Corey. Hey, Corey, what a gorgeous day! 11:35:11 Despite the fact that in Wisconsin, here in California, right? 11:35:16 Or I can say, send a message 11:35:21 What should the text message say? And now the phone is going to guide me through the process and tell me what I need to do. 11:35:28 Ok. 11:35:28 So I can say 11:35:32 What a gorgeous day! Exclamation Mark. Let's go to the beach period 11:35:38 Who do you want to send it to? 11:35:41 483-10-7903, 11:35:48 Your text message to my cell phone says what a gorgeous day! 11:35:52 Let go to the beach. Would you like to send it so? 11:35:56 If you notice, I set a phone number and it was repeating it said the message to my cell phone, because it's a contact that I registered. 11:36:04 Yep. 11:36:04 So it recognizes it so you can say, either contact or phone number. 11:36:06 Cool. 11:36:07 And if that's phone number is not stored, it will just repeat the number. 11:36:10 So now I'm going to tap and say yes. 11:36:15 Excellent. So, okay. 11:36:14 Message sign. I'm gonna show you that I actually received that in case you're wondering. 11:36:21 So here you go! 11:36:21 That's the proof. There's a few things I really like about this so far. 11:36:27 First of all, I like that it's there's a little bit of flexibility you know. 11:36:33 If somebody is a little more advanced being able to say, Send a message to Corey and give the message right off. 11:36:38 You like, boom right off. Yeah. Or you know the reverse being able to just say, Send a message, and on follow the steps. 11:36:46 I really the other thing I'm finding kind of interesting, too. 11:36:50 We talked a little bit ago about the consistency and tapping before talking for each time. 11:36:54 I think this this example you just gave us. Really, it makes it really evident to me, because sometimes it'll ask a question, and it immediately wants an answer, and sometimes the clients we work with they don't they don't think about it, and then it's like say again, I didn't hear you 11:37:13 But this one you really can kind of take your time you know, at you had that message ready to go, and then you talked to us for 30 s. 11:37:21 45, that thing, and then came back and said, yes, and that that's really you're having that time to think makes it a lot easier as well 11:37:26 Well, this is made possible by the type of technology we use. 11:37:33 So let me kind of spend. Maybe 30 s on external, because I think that's critical, and absolutely agree with what you guys say. 11:37:39 And in fact, everything we do is user driven. So we constantly ask for existing customers, feedback and potential customers, feedback folks like you who work with and customers so constantly get feedback from the field and the phone that you see today is not the same phone lunch 5 years ago, it has become much much 11:38:00 better not because we're smart, but because we ask our customers what they need and kind of try to understand our needs. 11:38:07 So in voice, and in voice technology, there's 3 levels. 11:38:12 So the most basic one is a VR which stands for automatic voice recognition. 11:38:15 This is when you call your doctor's office, and it says, say, a press one to schedule an appointment, say a press one to, you know. 11:38:21 Pay a bill, say, press 3 to to talk to your doctor. 11:38:26 Right, very, very basic, very, very limiting. The second line is voice commands, this is your Syria cartana. 11:38:32 Alexa, you ask one thing at a time. The device does it for you, and forgets that it ever did it. 11:38:39 It's very transactional. We use what it's called voice dialogue. 11:38:43 Voice dialogue allows for intelligent conversations between us as human beings and devices. 11:38:50 Computer. So the reason it was waiting for me and didn't forget and didn't ask me to to say the message or the name right. 11:38:57 It remembers it has a conversation with me rather than just the transaction. 11:39:03 So, for example, another example of it would be, let's say you are listening to a book, and then you phone rang. 11:39:09 You talk on the phone, and then we want to know what time it is. 11:39:13 So you tap on the phone and you say, What is the time and it will tell you the time. 11:39:17 And it says it looks like you were reading the murder. The Orient Express. 11:39:27 Trump. 11:39:20 Would you like to resume from where you stopped? So again, it helps keep people on track and remind them what they were doing and make going back to what they're doing? Easy 11:39:29 Yeah, that's a good bit of info. So thank you for that. 11:39:32 I never heard about those different types of voice recognition. Yeah, that's a good bit of info. 11:39:37 There, now, if we want to read, have a text message read aloud to us. 11:39:41 I'm assuming that we can have the phone. Do that also. 11:39:44 Is that true 11:39:44 Absolutely. So let me send a message back. So I'm gonna reply to going to the beach 11:39:50 No, not today. It's raining. It's knowing, is it? 11:39:52 Oh, that's a shame! 11:39:57 Snowing up there 11:39:58 No, it's actually quite mild, appear surprisingly, it has been raining there. 11:40:02 Yeah. Yeah. So we've had a really mild January. That's been great. Apophenia. Cold snap in December has been nicer 11:40:13 Ok. 11:40:09 So while you guys were talking, my phone said, text message received and I'm not sure if if you or or the listeners or participants hurt us. 11:40:19 But now, that's okay. That's okay. 11:40:19 I think we were talking over it. That sounds about right 11:40:22 I'm so happy it's not knowing, because, as California I I can't rub my head around when it's gets really, really cold. 11:40:29 That's why I like to visit you guys in the summer. 11:40:31 There you go! 11:40:32 So now I can top, and I can say messages 11:40:44 Thinking hard. 11:40:41 So it's doing the sticking some. It's thinking I don't always have the best reception at my house. 11:40:47 So that's why it's doing this 11:40:49 Thinking, thinking, thinking. 11:40:53 Whoo! 11:40:51 You have 10 and red messages. Initial 5 of the 89, one. 11:40:56 Oh, right, that's good. Last day of your men. 43 h and 30 min ago, from 6, 7 0 0 2 red text in only 2 days left on 3 days ago from 6 7 0 0 3. 11:41:13 I'm right tucked in there, I mean 7, Dave trial 67 min. Me a little bit 11:41:26 So a lot of messages. I we get the idea. I think we get the idea. 11:41:24 Been able to 35 days ago. For myself, number one 11:41:32 Yes. Yeah. 11:41:33 I'm right. That's good. Last day of your man. 11:41:38 Trial upgrade to a full plan right in the app and choose the monthly data amounts that fits your needs, cancel 11:41:46 So I can, I can interact with my messages. I can delete them. 11:41:52 I can reply to them. You know I can do all kinds of stuff that you would do with regular text messages 11:41:57 I've got to ask the as it was going through. 11:42:01 It was read, and in at least in the sample. When it was reading all 10, there it was, using a male voice, for, like the little you know, sample, there is that something that you can. 11:42:13 True. Actually, that was a really that that voice was super. It's on it, really human. 11:42:17 Yeah, but I'm just curious. Is that something that you can kind of? 11:42:21 You were mentioning before about switching voices is that one of the options 11:42:21 Yes. Great question. So there is a thing that's called auditory contrast. Right? 11:42:29 It's like for sighted people. We have visual contrast, black and white. 11:42:33 Here we have auditory contrast, male and female. 11:42:36 So, if your devices, voice, main voice is female, there's certain things that will be said in male voice. 11:42:46 Hmm. 11:42:44 Just so our users pay attention, so, for example, when you're saving a contact when it repeats the form number in the name, it will be in contrasting voice here the message itself is in a contrasting voice to differentiate the message itself from instructions, because sometimes it could be confusing so 11:42:59 That is done on purpose, and that actually came as a direct feedback from our customers. 11:43:04 I have to say that's a real smart idea. It's it really is. 11:43:07 I'm thinking about, you know a screen reader on windows computer and a new screen reader user. 11:43:13 So many times you have to listen to what yeah, they're like what you say, even just got a going on to an icon on the desktop this PC. 11:43:21 2 of 10 like, what did it just say, all right. No idea, yes, but having that con. 11:43:25 Yeah, it does draw your how long? In a web browser the element. 11:43:30 So in a different voice, to the name of the element how well you are! And I think I actually think in jars, you, you can go through and sell all that up. 11:43:38 But you need to show me, but I mean I like it right out of the box. 11:43:42 I think it's a brilliant idea 11:43:44 And in terms of voices. We again you can change voice so you can tap, and you can say, change voices, alright, change voice. 11:43:52 You can use one of the following voices, Hello, I am Voice number one. 11:43:57 Hello, box number one. 11:43:59 My voice. Number 2. Hello! I am voice number 3. Hello! I am voice number 4. 11:44:05 Hello! And voice number 5. Please select one, or say next for more. 11:44:11 So anytime we have a list of more than 6 items. 11:44:15 We group them in groups of 5 again, to make it easier for our users to to understand. 11:44:21 So our first 5 voices are American, the other 5 voices. 11:44:25 Luke, you're gonna love those next 11:44:28 Sure you can use one of the following voices, Hello, I'm voice number one. 11:44:35 I think I know her. 11:44:35 Hello! Oh, it's number 2. Hello! I have voice number 4. 11:44:41 Love, accent. 11:44:42 Hello! I'm voice number 5 11:44:45 Awesome. So good. Voices. Yeah, very nice to high quality voices. I'm impressed 11:44:50 Yeah. And with those voices, you know again, we have a good combination, a good, a range of male and female voices, high-paid flowpage because some of our users have, you know, mild hearing impairments more graver hearing impairments and sometimes there's also 11:45:07 just a preference for a voice, so our users can choose whatever voice that suits their needs, and they can hear best 11:45:12 Very nice, all right. We're already out of time here. I don't know. 11:45:16 This happens every time. Time. Just goes so fast. We are either the best interviewers now or the worst. Anyway. 11:45:21 But yeah, I definitely would like to make sure that we cover a couple of things. 11:45:28 And one of those things is adding a contacts. Just yeah, let's do that quick, just because that is so important. 11:45:33 And I had a request afterwards. I have a question. Okay, Gama, upfront with this. 11:45:37 So I just wanted to ask you cause this pops into my head while I was thinking about this earlier. 11:45:42 If somebody calls you, and they're not in your contact list, is it possible to add their number to your contact list? 11:45:49 Using voice commands. 11:45:50 Yes, you can. So once you go, you go to your call log, and then you can add it from there 11:45:54 Ok, okay, is that with that we're using the took screen, though, rather than the it's all by voice. Ok, that's awesome. 11:45:59 No, it's all by voice. Oh, by the way, you know, another thing with context that is really good, that our customers love is that we have a companion website which is called Customer Portal, you cannot ask the phone for your portal login details. 11:46:14 Nice 11:46:14 They're always on the phone, so you can just say, what's my portal login? 11:46:18 It will give you, URL, your username and your password, and if you have a list of contacts you can just upload a file, or if you have, you know, family member or caretaker, or somebody that's helping the user out, they can do it for the user, and it will just sync with 11:46:31 Cool. 11:46:34 That's brilliant. Yeah, that's good. 11:46:33 The phones and that's another way. Good contact. Let me let me show you how to add a contact right again, like with the voice message. 11:46:42 You can just say it all at once, or you can do it step by step. 11:46:44 So since we, since we did text messages step by step, let me do it all at once. 11:46:49 Ok. 11:46:49 So I can say, get a contact, Luke. (123) 456-7890 11:46:59 Contact, saved contact. Name Luke number (123) 456-7890. 11:47:16 That's pretty cool, faster. 11:47:07 You can call text change, name or number. Delete or safe finish to continue again contrasting voice gave instructions of what you can do, and if you didn't, you didn't hear you correctly, you can you can fix it right. Away. 11:47:23 I'm going to delete it because I made up the number. 11:47:25 Obviously Ali say yes, to confirm that you want to delete Luke. 11:47:32 Yes. 11:47:35 On top 11:47:35 You know. Foley, I'm muted you because you're deleted that is my actual telephone, and it's also the combination of my luggage. 11:47:48 Well, next time we do this show I'll put you a real number 11:47:49 Now, okay, so that's really cool. I love. I love the ability to do it all real fast, like that, too. 11:47:56 Again. I think it really works towards individuals who might be a little bit quicker, but also have the ability you know, to slow it down, for people who want to go step by step. 11:48:06 Yeah, and it will say, I mean, it does like some of the more advanced features. 11:48:08 So I don't think we can add additional numbers or email addresses or physical addresses and things like that. 11:48:16 That's right. You can only just add a name and a number. 11:48:18 Yeah. 11:48:18 Correct. Yeah, name on the number. And if a person has 2 different numbers, then you'll create, you know, a network. 11:48:22 2 separate 2 different one. Sure. And I think that's okay. Yeah. 11:48:25 Yeah, in New Jersey, and then in the future we will do more. 11:48:30 But again, this phone is supposed to be a simple phone you know, there's always this balance between how much you put on it and how simple it is. 11:48:37 Yes. 11:48:37 So we always have to balance that. But you know, because it's because it's not visual. 11:48:44 There's no visual clutter. We we are constantly adding new features, and then some of our users just use real sam pocket just to make phone calls and maybe send text messages. 11:48:53 Yeah. 11:48:54 Others, use everything, and I wanted to mention that it does have quite a bit of additional functionality. 11:49:00 You can listen to books, you can listen to radio newspapers podcasts. 11:49:04 There are tools like, where am I? What's around here? 11:49:08 Outdoor locations, and we have specific tools for people, who are visually inherent. 11:49:21 Nice. That's cool 11:49:11 So we have be my eyes on the phone. If a digital magnifier, we have Ocr, which is ability to read text that reads handwriting, which is very, very exciting, because, as you guys know, there's very few devices out there that can do that and even fewer that can do it well, and 11:49:27 We have object, recognition. 11:49:29 Very cool, collie. I think you wanted to. I have a question where I'm going to put you on the spot, and not if you don't mind. 11:49:36 So you mentioned podcasts now, are you able to search directories like, if we said, we wanted to listen to vision forwards, tech, connect, which we do have a podcast you might not have known that I might not talking to you? 11:49:53 Are you able to, you know, request a specific show like 11:50:00 Okay. 11:49:57 I'm not sure if you guys actually here yet, and if not, I can you but let's check. 11:50:03 Let's call vision forwards. 11:50:04 Tech connect 11:50:06 Listen to vision forwards, tech, connect, podcast. 11:50:15 There is no station. And now 11:50:10 Come on, keep it cool. That's all right. We'll get added 11:50:19 See, it's just going back, and we're choosing voice. 11:50:24 Oh, that's funny! 11:50:23 So it's still remembered that I was choosing voice. So and now I'm gonna go out of it, cancel 11:50:28 So where is it searching for those podcasts? Then where is it searching for those podcasts 11:50:33 I'm sorry, so we we have several podcast, sources. 11:50:46 Ok. 11:50:39 So we have BBC Podcasts, we have Npr Podcasts, and we have the real Sam collection, which is our own curated collection of podcasts from the community. 11:50:49 So after this, let's get together. Send me your Rs. 11:50:53 Feed and move little edges. 11:50:54 Thank you. We're definitely not on BBC. Or Npr. As far as I know. 11:50:57 So. No, we should be, though we don't make sure we are definitely high brow well, yeah, we will be on wheel sum, and that's good enough for us. 11:51:06 Okay, so that's awesome. I wonder? So we only have 10 min left. 11:51:11 Yeah, I'm almost thinking, I mean, either. Either we like maybe highlight. 11:51:16 One more thing, or we even talk about if in, interested, maybe we do a part, 2 coming up soon too. Just there is a lot we miss. 11:51:25 But but what do you? I'd be curious. You know my 2 things from a blindness perspective. 11:51:30 I think the GPS like, where am I would be interesting, and maybe a point around me are then, or also maybe using something to read, the Ocs. 11:51:40 As I'm not whether it might be better to do a second part to this. 11:51:44 If you are open to coming on a second time, and we could dive into some of those other features, how would you feel about that? 11:51:48 I would be more than happy to come back and show you everything, and by that time we may have some new functionality because we work. 11:51:54 Awesome. Yeah, I think. Well, I think we should definitely do that. 11:51:56 Thank you. 11:51:57 Then it would have been really awkward if and that was like, I'm not coming on this show again. Forget it. 11:52:00 But she still could go stuff, I mean, you never know I have to, but I do think we really scratch the I think we we showed a lot of its very basic features, which are probably the ones that are going to use. 11:52:12 Most often. Yeah. But I do know that individuals would be interested in some of those more advanced. 11:52:18 You know. How are you handling some of those more advanced things? 11:52:20 So I think, rather than us, trying to rush something through. 11:52:23 I agree? Let's be a good idea. Yeah, for sure. 11:52:26 Yeah. 11:52:24 I want to mention a couple of things about sort of availability of real some pocket. 11:52:30 I'm assuming that most of the most of the folks are joining now from Wisconsin, but because it's going to be recorded, there will be folks from other parts of the country. 11:52:39 So if you are a veteran and you qualify for veteran benefits, and you're interested in real Sam Pocket. 11:52:47 Talk to your Va. Talk to you this coordinator you may be you may be eligible to get it for free, so we've been working with many vas. 11:52:55 We're not available every single Va. But the list grows on the weekly basis. 11:52:59 Perfect. 11:53:00 We have some financial resources available, not in Wisconsin, but in few other States. 11:53:06 So if you're low income and have qualifying disability, you may qualify for phone for free. 11:53:11 Please, check our website, which is real. Sam Re. Als, A. 11:53:16 M.dot.us, and the phone is obviously available through vision. 11:53:23 Forward Tokyo, Luke. Dr. Corey talked to the staff, and they will be able to demo it for you. And if you have any questions, contact any one of us, and we are more than happy to coordinate Demos and answer any questions 11:53:37 And then that what is your email address for our viewers? 11:53:41 So they know how to contact you directly 11:53:42 Yeah, my email addresses are not a at real thing. 11:53:48 Dot AI 11:53:49 All right, and could you also? Just I don't think we mentioned it. 11:53:53 What is the current retail price for those that might need to pay for it straight out? 11:53:58 What? What's the current retail price 11:54:00 It's it's a one time payment of 1399, $1,400 11:54:04 That includes the phone. And you said, in 2 years of free software updates, correct 11:54:08 Correct. Correct includes the phone charging cable wall, plug screen protector case and a linear and a little simple 11:54:15 Perfect, wonderful, awesome, all right. Well, for now I think we will wrap it there. 11:54:20 We've covered some great stuff, and there is more to come as well so, and thank you very much for coming on the show, and being an excellent guest. 11:54:28 Oh, just so, hold on a second. We may have a comments in the Youtube let me ask, okay, Jonathan. Yes, shoot. So, Mr. 11:54:36 Jonvan, first off, you should know. People are quite excited about being able to add a contact from being cold and and going through logs and doing it also, I'm sure. 11:54:45 Yeah, 2 questions. And these are likely going to have to be topics for Part 2. 11:54:48 If we do that, we have questions about, how does Ocr operate on this device? 11:54:56 Okay, and some general like, well, hold on. Is there a built-in screen? 11:55:00 Reader on the phone is how does it compare to how the iphone and Android might like it? Is it? 11:55:06 Is it in some way tailored better, and or limitations that might be relevant? 11:55:11 Yeah, so those are the 3 things people like the contacts. 11:55:15 Yeah. Ocr, yeah. And is there a built-in screen okay, so for the Ocr, we'll definitely cover that in the next session for the screen, reader, I mean, I think the general point is that you want not interacting with Ios, or with the android operating system it appears not to 11:55:26 Be, a not. Please tell us if we're wrong, but it appears to me that it's not a gesture-based screen, reader, that you would see with Voiceover, or talk badly, but it's a more explorer by touch whatever your finger slides over is going to be spoken lift to 11:55:40 actually. And then the gesture to bring up that main menu kind of drawing an L on the screen is that is that sound about right for kind of for the screen, reader. 11:55:52 Tha tha, that's that's correct. There is no need actually, for a screen, reader, because it's a voice operated operating system. 11:56:00 So it by default. It's it's already by voice, so there's no need. 11:56:04 There's not much on the screen now in the future. 11:56:07 Not every single feature is voice operated. Some of the features, you would need interact with the screen. 11:56:15 But I guess we can talk about that more, and next time 11:56:16 True, yes, all right. Good stuff. So yes, for those on Youtube who are searching for more answers that we haven't answered yet. 11:56:24 Then make sure that you tune in to our next episode, which we want. 11:56:27 We'll have to talk with you and that's about when that's going to be. 11:56:31 And obviously we will push out an email to let people know to people in the zoom same thing that I just said to the people in Youtube, yeah, join us in that. 11:56:40 And the next session we will look at the remainder features of the phone. 11:56:45 In the meantime, if you would like to get more questions answered, then you can always get in touch with Annette, and or you can give us a call, or whatever you would like to do and with that being said, and that we will say again, thank you very much for coming on, and it's being great and we 11:57:02 Look forward to seeing you at the next time, and to everybody else who don't forget our Youtube channel. I was gonna get that? 11:57:09 Well, I thought you were about to say you're signing up. 11:57:12 I was whining up to sign off, I quickly referenced the fun to the way. Were you going to say, are you 2 ch. 11:57:18 We have a Youtube channel for those of you on Youtube. Hopefully, that won't be a sort of but for those of you on Zoom, if you're not familiar with our Youtube channel, it is Youtube, com forward, slash vision forward. 11:57:29 Tech connect. That is correct. It make sure you check out next week. 11:57:33 Thursday, which would be one week from today. It should be January the 20 fifth 6, 6 we've got a new, a different type of video. 11:57:45 Usually everything is assistive technology. This has a bit of assistive technology. 11:57:49 But I think this this video that'll be releasing on the 26 is a little different. 11:57:53 So make sure you check it out and give us good feedback. 11:57:56 That's a week from today. Again, so vision is Youtube. 11:58:01 Com! Forward, slash! Vision forward, tech, connect. And with that being said, and that thank you again. 11:58:08 Audience, thank you. Very much, and you can join us alive on our show again in 2 weeks time. 11:58:13 Yeah, when we will be talking about it would be a skimming Cory baller. 11:58:18 Yes, scream, reader, you're gonna be giving me tasks on the Internet. 11:58:23 Yes, things I don't know how to do. Well, okay, things I've never done before, and I'm going to talk through how I'm doing it. 11:58:29 Yeah, so that you can have maybe a brief glimpse into the chaos that I call my head, and how I how I use a screen reader on the Internet. 11:58:38 I think it'll actually be quite informative. I think so too. 11:58:42 So yes, if you are a fledgling screen, reader. User. 11:58:45 Oh, an experience screen reader, user, or you have no interest in screen readers. 11:58:48 It doesn't matter because it's going to be entertaining, anyway, so there'll be jokes. 11:58:52 They'll be jokes, so make sure to join us in 2 weeks time for that. 11:58:55 So the official title of that is how to be a good screen reader. Person. 11:58:58 Yes, how to be a Corey valid screen reader. 11:59:01 User with a screen reader. And your name's Cork. 11:59:05 Very good title, so organ on that we really are. This opportunity to put in suggestions to the Channel as well. Oh, that's right. 11:59:13 Yeah. So if you have suggestions for what's kind of content, we should be putting on our Youtube channel. 11:59:17 Then please make sure to get those within the next week to us you can leave comments on our latest video, or you could send us an email or whatever. 11:59:25 But let us know what you'd like to see on our Youtube channel, whether you know the content is good, whether it's not good. 11:59:31 It is at the right length that the topic's good enough do with Corey, and I not tell funny enough jokes. 11:59:35 Whatever you want to say, do I need a haircut? 11:59:37 Alright, everybody! Thank you and us again. Thank you, everybody. We will see you in 2 weeks and time and goodbye for now. 11:59:46 Thank you guys, it was a pleasure 11:59:48 Well, thank you. Thank you. 11:59:58 Thanks for joining us for another tech connect, live. If you enjoyed Corey and Luke's antics, be sure to join us next time, for all things tech connect, go to vision dashboard, org tech connect Find out more at https://techconnectlive.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Although e-scooters are becoming commonplace in most major UK cities, the law surrounding them isn't common knowledge.In our latest podcast, our senior associate solicitor Richard Biggs is joined by Lewis Winton, regional campaigns officer, and Erik Matthies, policy officer, from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Together, they discuss e-scooter accidents and injury statistics, the law's view on e-scooter use and ownership, how blind and partially sighted people are affected day-to-day, and what can be done to make e-scooters use safer for everyone.

In April 2021, The Royal National Institute of Blind People, the RNIB, announced changes to their braille library service. Their new system offers access to more digital copies and home delivery of books on request. However, In Touch listeners have expressed their concerns about long wait times and no longer being able to return books, leading to high levels of wastage. We invited Ailsa Fairley and Tim Pennick to share their concerns with Dave Williams, The RNIB's Customer Experience Manager. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Ken Woodward was involved in a chemical explosion at work that resulted in the loss of his eyesight, smell, and taste. Rather than talking just as a victim, he embraces what can be learned from the incident that cost him three of his senses. In this episode, Ken stresses the importance of all team members working together equally to target zero damage to people, equipment, products, and finances. There's not just one driver to workplace incidents; there's a build-up over time. Tune in to learn how to increase safety participation in the workplace! About the Guest: Ken Woodward was working for Coca-Cola Schweppes Beverages (CCSB) in November 1990 as a production operative when involved in a chemical explosion, which resulted in the loss of his sight. With enormous support from CCSB and following months of rehabilitation and re-training with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), Ken eventually returned to work. In 1996 Ken was invited to appear in a Health & Safety Film – ‘Fighting Against Chance'. As a result the video ‘1 in 1.6 Million' was also produced and this proved to be a valuable tool in Behavioral Safety training. Now an independent consultant since September 2000, Ken's ‘Passion for Safety' has taken him all over the UK as well as internationally. In February 2004, Ken's work was recognized by The Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) in the UK when he was made an Honorary Fellow of IOSH. Contact: furzemead@btinternet.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prior to the current cost of living crisis, the Royal National Institute of Blind People found that one in five blind and partially sighted people had difficulty in making ends meet. People with sight loss already have extra living costs and are more reliant on benefits than others as a result of low employment rates. Recently, the government have introduced financial aid and have increased benefits, but the RNIB say that these measures don't go far enough. We hear the story of Alex Ramzan, who has been struggling with the cost of living crisis and we speak to David Aldwinkle, who is the Director of Insight and Customer Voice at the RNIB, about the problems they are hearing and their campaign. The cornea is a very delicate part of the eye. It is essentially the surface through which you see, so if it becomes scarred or damaged in any way, what you see can become increasingly impaired. The cornea can be replaced though, and the effects can be dramatic. But the supply of donated corneas has not kept up with demand. Currently, one in 10 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register have indicated that they do not wish to donate their corneas, making donations low and waiting times for replacements high. We hear about the causes behind this and the implications for people waiting from Kyle Bennett, who is the Assistant Director of Tissue & Eye Services at NHS Blood and Transplant. We also hear from Shelly Hague, who recently had her corneas replaced. She tells us about the impact this has had on her life. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: pictured is an extreme close up of a brown eye on a black background.

Meet the man who's part-responsible for setting up HMRC (for you lovely non-UK listeners, that's Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) and was at the centre of what became a giant media storm surrounding the Gambling Act with his emails debated at Prime Minister's Questions.Gideon Hoffman is a decorated businessman who works across media, technology and finance. A trustee at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (Gideon lives with an impaired hearing condition) and a lover of startups and growing businesses, Gideon is passionate about challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries. With a past life as policy maker at HM Treasury and now an avid Founder, Advisor and Trustee, Gideon is a man with a wealth of stories to tell and advice to give.Check out Gideon Hoffman's recommendations:WIRED Podcast"Another Podcast" with Benedict Evans"The Slow Newscast" with TortoiseBWB is powered by Oury Clark.

In this episode, Kate was joined by comedian, actor and broadcaster Samantha Baines to discuss her divorce. Sam is an award-winning comedian, actor and broadcaster with many shows and appearances to her credit including The Crown, Call the midwife and Magic Mike Live. She is also the host of The Divorce Social podcast and has written for various publications including The Guardian, Time Out, Huffington Post, Stylist Magazine, The Pool, Standard Issue and has a column in Modern Woman Magazine.  Sam's debut children's book Harriet Versus the Galaxy was listed in the Independent's Best Children's Books of the Year 2019 and in the Book Trust's Great Book Guide 2020. She has a second children's book The Night the Moon Went Out which was released last summer. Sam is also an Ambassador for Royal National Institute for Deaf people, is a Phonak HEARo and has spoken to MPs at the House of Commons about hearing issues, as well as fronting the RNID cinema subtitles campaign. Kate and Sam began by exploring her separation which started off on an amicable footing but turned sour during divorce proceedings when solicitors got involved and two sides were created. Sam opened up about how difficult she found the initial aftermath and emotional fallout after her husband left and the difficulties the pandemic brought to the process. They looked at the challenges of healing after divorce as well as how rewarding Sam found it was to rediscover herself through working, sex, dating and self-exploration after the divorce.  Sam discussed her own journey with her mental health and how she has found both therapy and medication useful in helping her to cope. Finally, they talked about Sam's wonderful podcast The Divorce Social which she created in part to help with her own emotional recovery and is a fantastic resource for others going through a similar thing. 

In this episode of our Private Wealth & Charities podcast series, Richard Norridge, Phoebe Fox and David Clarke, Chief Operating Officer (and formerly Director of Services) at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, discuss in more detail the charity's past, present and future. Part 2 of 2.

In this episode of our Private Wealth & Charities podcast series, Richard Norridge, Phoebe Fox and David Clarke, Chief Operating Officer (and formerly Director of Services) at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, discuss David's career to date, including his various roles within the British Paralympic Association, and the work he does at RNIB. Part 1 of 2.

In this series of "pop-up" livestreams, we're spotlighting some of the intrepid crews from the 2021-22 Atlantic Challenge, in the run-up to our March 8 Ocean Rowing episode.Stuart Shepherd tells the story of "Wrekin Rowers." For 40+ days, Shepherd, along with Martin Skehan, Stuart Richards & Gary Richards, all in their 50's, rowed the 3000+ miles across the Atlantic Ocean to benefit two UK charities, the Royal National Institute for the Blind and Severn Hospice.EPISODE SPONSOR: The Wave Rowing Magazine - the free resource for all types of open-water and coastal rowers. Issue #10 free to download as a PDF or flip-book.#oceanrowing#atlanticchallenge#pacificboys#foarfromhome#prowjectx#wrekinrowers#foarfromhome#rowingpodcast#rowing

This week I would like to propose three ideas for your delectation. If you find none of them delectable, we will be in serious trouble. However, you have not let me down yet! First, I thought it might be of interest to explore our experiences with books that feature blind people. My experience suggests that literature has contributed some to the attitude of society to those of us who are blind. How are we depicted? What are the worst depictions you remember? Have there been any good ones? What would make a depiction good! You can talk about TV shows or movies, if you like! My real intention is to talk about how we are perceived by those who get rich writing about us! Second, Easter is coming along fairly early this year! What customs do you follow? Do you do Easter eggs? What special stuff do you eat? Would you like to talk about Passover instead? What about Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Third and hopefully last, I want to begin to look at another element of non-verbal communication. We are going to do a whole show relatively soon. I want to explore blind people and pictures. As a child I saw lots of pictures particularly in books produced by the Royal National Institute for the Blind as it was then. I was remarkably unimpressed with them. My friend Brian Charlson shamed me by being able to identify pictures of different animals that were tactile drawings shown at a convention we attended together! He lost his sight at eleven, I think. Can we do more to make pictures accessible to people who are blind? Is it worth the effort? Can people born blind benefit much? How would we explain such things as perspective? How do paintings that are flat convey three dimensions? We need to at least understand what we don't know if we are to decide whether we want to know it or not! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is celebrating a significant milestone in the provision of practical and emotional support for people newly diagnosed with sight loss with the appointment of its 100th Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO). The ECLO, Renu Walia, is based in Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, North London and also provides support to patients in Barnet Hospital and Edgware Community Hospital. If you'd like to find out more about ECLO's please visit the RNIB website Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs) - RNIB - See differently Image shows: Renu Walia sat at her desk. 

This episode celebrates the film CODA, which has been longlisted for seven British Academy Film Awards: for Best Film, Director and Adapted Screenplay, for Leading Actress and Supporting Actor, for Casting, and for Sound. The uplifting comedy-drama follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) a 17-year-old CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), who finds herself torn between pursuing a future at music school and her fear of abandoning her family. First, our host Anna speaks to writer-director of CODA, Siân Heder and the film's leading actress Emilia Jones. The pair discuss the reactions they've had to CODA from the deaf community and Siân recalls some of the challenges she overcame making this film. Emilia also reveals to Anna her experience learning multiple skills for this film, including an American accent and learning ASL in nine months. Next, Anna is joined by two incredible women working to raise awareness for Deaf and disabled audiences. They are Charlotte Little, access consultant and film critic, and Teri Devine, Associate Director for Inclusion at the Royal National Institute for the Deaf. As a CODA herself, Teri discusses the relatability of Ruby's character and highlights some of the accurate details in the film that really stuck with her, including the humour of discussing sex through ASL. Being partially blind and deaf herself, Charlotte discusses the ways in which she relates to the film and analyses the lack of deaf access we see in the film through the Rossi family's experiences. Both Teri and Charlotte then discuss CODA through a feminist lens. An audio transcript of this episode is available to read on the below link or on our Patreon page. We welcome and encourage feedback from our listeners. If you would like to get in touch with us then please reach out on our social media or via email, girlsonfilmsocial@hlaagency.co.uk CODA is available now on Apple TV+ Become a patron of Girls on Film on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/girlsonfilmpodcast PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16GHpCfWKwcOoYiQerABqCnuIF3X6L5u68BqEH9n7TVg/edit Follow us on socials: www.instagram.com/girlsonfilm_podcast/ www.facebook.com/girlsonfilmpodcast www.twitter.com/GirlsOnFilm_Pod www.twitter.com/annasmithjourno Watch Girls On Film on the BFI's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX…L89QKZsN5Tgr3vn7z Girls On Film is an HLA production. Host: Anna Smith. Executive producer: Hedda Archbold. Audio producer: Dan Pugsley. Assistant Producer: Shanaiya Pithiya. House band: MX Tyrants. This episode was produced in partnership with Apple TV+.

Lisa sits down with Martin Ralfe from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Blind Since Birth Charity, and the Blind Dad Diaries podcast to discuss assistive technology and digital inclusion for the blind and visually impaired. Martin talks about his experiences in working inclusion into the design process as well as his favorite and least favorite assistive tech. https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinralfe/ (Martin Ralfe on LinkedIn) https://www.rnib.org.uk/ (Royal National Institute of Blind People) https://www.blindsincebirth.com/ (Blind Since Birth) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-blind-dad-diaries/id1554787047 (Blind Dad Diaries Podcast) SA Research on https://www.strategyanalytics.com/access-services/ux-innovation/advanced-hmi-strategies/reports/report-detail/how-people-with-sight-loss-use-smartphones-user-needs-technology-use-pain-points (assistive tech for those with sight loss) Send us your thoughts on designing for inclusion or ask us anything by emailing us at UXSoup@strategyanalytics.com. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisschreiner/ (Chris on LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-cooper-556343135/ (Lisa on LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-franganillo-luque/ (Diana on LinkedIn) https://sa-ux.com/ (Strategy Analytics UX Innovation Practice)

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Metro newspaper have launched the first Braille National newspaper cover to promote "seeing Christmas differently". This media first coincides with International Day of People With Disabilities and forms part of the RNIB's "Letter to Santa" Christmas fundraising campaign to send Braille letters from Santa to vision-impaired children. Barry Snell caught up with RNIB's director of Services David Clarke, to find out more. {Image shows RNIB See Differently written In Black against a white background with a Pink line underneath RNIB}

As a blind man, David has faced many different challenges, while at the same time overcoming them to have an impressive career in banking, as Director of Service of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and as a Non-Executive Director on the board of the British Paralympic Association, the St Albans and District Chamber of Commerce as well as being a member of the FA Council.Some of the key takeaways of the conversation include:“It's only when you feel excluded that you become anxious about getting inclusion right”Different voices bring a different perspective to the table.  David relates his own issues growing up blind when as a child he was unable to play sport due to the lack of pathway or access. This extended to rejection by two universities due to lack of resources to include him and eventually being turned down for jobs despite his degree in Politics and Masters in Diplomacy.There has been much progress recently, for example, the pandemic has shown that meetings can be attended virtually, removing one important barrier to inclusion carers or those with difficulty traveling.  However, there are still many practical issues with inclusion.  “You can have the right attitude but getting it wrong on the operational side can leave you floundering”David relates how organisations should be asking whether inclusion is a driver, or if it is simply the right words to remain on the right side of public opinion.  He is quick to emphasise that none of this is about blame, but it is easy to get it right.  Organisations should reach out to affected groups, seek advice about inclusion, and open up pathways for diverse groups where organisations have traditionally been less proportionately inclusive.  Some members of excluded groups may not have the necessary skills for example, and organisations could accelerate the process to give them the skills and experience they need.It does not matter how many people you have in the boardroom, there will be voices not being heard in that roomA sufficiently diverse boardroom is a huge asset, and regardless of the type of organisation, David believes that inclusion should cover those voices that are not currently included in the boardroom.  Boards need to actively consider who is excluded - and how the boardroom could benefit from hearing those voices. Being beneficial in terms of diversity, this also leads to more informed and well-rounded decisions and can avoid stereotyping particular groups.  However, there are barriers to inclusion in the boardroom.  For only one example, screen reader technology is not currently compatible with all major board portals.We often ask “Who is in the boardroom?”, but David Clark asks a very different and powerful question: “Who is not in the boardroom?”  Don't forget to subscribe never to miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. Available on all major podcast directories like Apple, Spotify or Google.To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or more information on Better Boards'solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

A new campaign by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is highlighting the issue of inaccessible packaging and the impact it has on people living with sight loss. Our Steven Scott spoke with RNIB's Strategic Accessibility Lead, Marc Powell to find out more. For more information: https://www.rnib.org.uk/about-us/design-for-everyone-campaign Image shows a shopping cart being pushed through a store. 

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has been working closely with Bequeathed, championing their work on the accessibility of their free will-writing service, to ensure that people with sight loss can now use the service.  Barry Snell spoke with Alex McDowell, RNIB's  Head of Public Fundraising and also Bequeathed's Chief operating officer, Pier Thomas, to find out more. {image: Bequeathed logo. The word 'Bequeathed' in blue typeface against a white background. Underneath in a lighter shade of blue, is ht words 'free wills, valuable advice'}

E-scooters, they're being trialled in over 30 areas in the UK, some say they're the future of green urban travel, whilst others say they're a disruptive fad. Matt Chorley speaks to the Head of Roads Policy at the RAC, Nick Lyes and Lindsay Coyle, the local campaigns manager at the Royal National Institute for Blind People, as well as Nick Freeman, aka Mr. Loophole, a traffic lawyer petitioning the government to require e-scooter riders to display a visible ID. And last but not least, he asks Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East about the success of e-scooters in Bristol.PLUS he dives into Tuesday's news with Times Columnists Danny Finkelstein and David Aaronovitch on Keir Starmer being uncharismatic and a report from the Pentagon detailing evidence on UFO's. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Exploring Global Problems, Professor Tom Crick (Professor of Digital Education & Policy), and Dr Yan Wu (Associate Professor in Media and Communication), examine digital inclusivity. They discuss digital education, including how to become digitally confident and capable citizens in a data-driven and computational world; how digital education supports wider work across the digital economy, infrastructure, society and culture; and the issues of inclusion and accessibility, and especially sensory impaired people’s access to and usage of digital media in Wales.   Professor Crick has been heavily involved with curriculum reform in Wales over the past 10 years, with a specific focus on STEM education and digital skills. In 2017, he was appointed MBE for “services to computer science and the promotion of computer science education” and was awarded the 2020 BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award for “Leading the Future of Science & Technology Education in Wales”. Professor Crick is also a Commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (2018-present), as well as previously an expert panel member for the Welsh Government’s Review of Digital Innovation in the Economy and the Future of Work (2019).   Dr Wu’s research in the past 10 years focuses on the impact of digitalisation of services and information on the welfare of sensory impaired users in Wales. It highlights how increasing digitalisation brings not only many benefits, but also risks of exclusion, and possible widening of the existing digital gaps. Dr Wu and her research team conducted empirical research combined with related engagement with end-users and beneficiaries, which has had a substantive influence on digital inclusion policies and practices in Wales. Specifically, the research work has helped shape and promote new media practices within broadcasting organisations in 2014. The recent research with the Royal National Institute of Blind People in 2018 has also influenced digital inclusion policy initiatives of government bodies, non-profit and non-governmental organisations.   Dr Wu represents Swansea University as a member for Wales Vision Strategy 2018-2021.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in partnership with British Blind Sport have received £1m in funding from Sport England to help develop participation in sport amongst people with sight loss. The organisations will work together and through their See Sport Differently programme deliver opportunities for blind and partially sighted people to access and participate in sport.Our Steven Scott caught up with RNIB's Steve Packer to find out more about the project and what we can look forward to in the next three years. Image shows the RNIB Logo. RNIB is written in black capital letters and underlined with a bold pink line. Words 'See differently' are written underneath. 

In the latest of our interviews with some of those competing to be Mayor of London, we hear from Peter Gammons, the UKIP candidate. He tells Bloomberg Westminster's Caroline Hepker and Roger Hearing UKIP wasn't just fighting about Brexit. It is a fight against the elite dominating politics, Gammons says, which he intends to pursue with policies including increasing the number of police stations and improving funding by instituting a London lottery. Plus Rob Geaney, head of campaigns and public affairs at the Royal National Institute for the Deaf joins to discuss the difficulties faced by the hearing-impaired during the Covid crisis and lockdown, including the failure of the government to provide signing during ministerial briefings.

A video that simulates sight loss has been developed by the Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) to highlight how the world looks through the eyes of people living with a visual impairment. Produced with help from Royal National Institute for Blind People and Glaucoma UK, the video focuses on the six most common sight conditions in the UK. Barry Snell spoke to TPT's Children Young People & Families Manager, Brydon to find out more. (image: still image from TPT video, highlighting sight loss)

Christmas is coming; the goose is getting fat; and some of Santa’s most trusted helpers have been sent, on secondment, to the Royal National Institute of Blind People, where they’re busy writing letters to visually impaired children in accessible formats. Co-ordinating this effort on behalf of RNIB is Racheal Jarvis, News Agent Team Leader, and ... Read more...

In April we spoke to Liz Brookes who looks after her husband Mike, who has had vascular dementia and to Chris Black who cares for his wife, Helen, who has Picks disease, or Frontal Temperal dementia. How they are getting on six months later? Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs from Carers UK joins them. For blind or partially sighted women it is impossible to read visual results of a standard pregnancy test. The Royal National Institute for the Blind has designed a prototype for a tactile test which means the user can maintain their independence and privacy. Jane Garvey talks to the Chair of the RNIB Ellie Southwood. Leila and Sahand were both married to other people when they fell in love and had a child together. Adultery is a crime in Iran, fearing for their lives they fled their homeland for a safe life elsewhere. We speak to Leila and to the director Eva Mulvad who has made a documentary film ‘Love Child’ about their life over the last seven years. Women still make up only 24% of those working in core science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations in the UK, and recent data has revealed that women make up just 13% of students studying computer science in the UK. There is a similar lack of women studying mathematics courses. The Suffrage Science awards scheme hopes to change this. Jane is joined by science communicator Dr. Kat Arney and Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon. Presenter: Jane Garvey Producer: Lucinda Montefiore

How Algae Survived A Mass Extinction Sixty-six million years ago when an asteroid slammed into what is now the Yucatan peninsula, it set off a period of near global darkness for almost two years. Scientists think a majority of land species went extinct during that time, but what was going on in the planet’s oceans? And how were these ecosystems able to bounce back?  In a new paper published in Science Advances, researchers say what saved Earth’s oceans may have been a type of algae that could hunt for food. Ira is joined by one of the paper’s authors, Andrew Ridgwell, a professor of earth system science at the University of California, Riverside, to discuss the little algae that could.  Gathering Together (Carefully) For A Pandemic Holiday The winter holidays hinge on gatherings of multiple generations of family and friends, indoors, for long periods of time. These are all factors that increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, or unintentionally infecting your loved ones. The CDC now defines a “close contact” as spending 15 minutes within less than 6 feet of an infected person, over the course of 24 hours—encompassing pretty much any holiday gathering.  With Thanksgiving looming, new cases are setting records all over the country, and mayors like New York’s Bill de Blasio are urging people not to travel. Many are rightfully now weighing whether they can in good conscience get together. Some epidemiologists, including Anthony Fauci, aren’t outright telling people to cancel their holiday plans, even as they worry about a further surge in the pandemic tied to winter gathering. But if you do choose to travel, there are things you can do to reduce the risk you’re taking, like isolating before you go, getting your flu shot, and taking well-timed COVID-19 tests. Science journalist Kate Baggaley and epidemiologist Julia Marcus discuss how to identify the risks you might encounter, and minimizing those risks you can control—like the choice between driving and flying, how much faith to put in coronavirus testing, and indoor versus outdoor spaces.  This Accessible Pregnancy Test Has Results You Can Touch Whatever answer you’re hoping for from a pregnancy test, taking one is rarely a low-stress occurrence. And for many who are blind or vision-impaired, taking a pregnancy test can be even more tricky: the tests use visual displays, and often the only solution for knowing the result is to call a friend, family member, or even stranger into a very private moment. The app Be My Eyes is now partnering with pregnancy test maker ClearBlue to offer volunteer services in reading pregnancy tests—but that still brings a stranger into the process. The UK’s Royal National Institute for the Blind, however, now has a new design for a tactile, accessible test that could be taken privately. It’s colorful, high-contrast, and big enough to use without full sight. And the results appear as bumps that anyone can feel. SciFri producer Christie Taylor talks to Gizmodo reporter Victoria Song, Blind Motherhood blogger Holly Bonner, and Procter & Gamble accessibility leader Sumaira Latif about the value of accessibility in pregnancy testing, and how a good idea might become an actual product.

Braille Bonus by Cathy Rundle, Accessibility Consultancy and User Experience Team, Royal National Institute of Blind People.

Imagine having to ask a stranger to read your pregnancy test for you, tell you what's in the results letter from the hospital or even if you've been accepted, or refused, a bank loan? That's what it's like for many blind and partially sighted people, despite legislation like the Equalities Act protecting the right to accessible information. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has launched it's "Design For Everyone" campaign to tackle the absence of privacy for people with sight loss.RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell spoke to, blind mum, Danielle Cleary, who took part in the campaign and was involved in the creation of the world's first, prototype, accessible pregnancy test. For more information on RNIB's "Design For Everyone" campaign, go to https://www.designforeveryone.org/  #RNIBConnectImage: World's first, Prototype, Accessible Pregnancy Test 

This paper describes RNIB's systematic approach to reviewing and rectifying shortcomings in the open source Liblouis braille translation library relied on by popular screen reading and transcription products and services. Since 2018, RNIB and international partners have identified over 3,000 errors in the existing Unified English Braille implementation, making Liblouis unsuitable in many education and employment settings. The paper describes the steps taken to collate lists of errors; work toward implementing corrections; and collaborate with international partners for peer review. Underpinning this work is the global move to digital braille delivery, lower cost braille technology and UEB's reduced translation ambiguity. While the Liblouis UEB table remains the primary focus of this work, other braille tables, e.g. Afrikaans, refer to the UEB table for underlying symbols. The paper describes the process used to review the existing UEB tables, compile lists of errors, compare rules with dictionaries, devise new rules, test against word lists, peer review and sign in changes. Stakeholders standing to benefit from this work include, but are not limited to, individual users of screen readers and braille translation software, students, teachers, transcribers, publishers, hardware and software manufacturers and rehabilitation professionals. The paper proposes practical ways in which stakeholders can support the project improving braille translation accuracy for everyone. Dave Williams: Customer Experience Manager, Consumer Services, Royal National Institute of Blind People; Member of the Braille General Group, UK Association for Accessible Formats James Bowden: Braille Technical Officer, RNIB; Chair of the UKAAF Braille Coding Group

Lockdown has affected the lives of many blind and partially sighted people across the world, including the ability to stay fit and active.  According to a survey by the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB), two-thirds of blind and visually impaired people say they feel less independent now than they did before. RNIB Connect Radio's Paulina Kuchorew caught up with blind tennis champion Rosie Pybus to find out what playing tennis looks like now, during the so-called "new normal" of social distancing and her work on an exciting event organised by the The Lawn Tennis Association.  For more information about blind tennis visit: https://www.lta.org.uk/ (Image shows Rosie at a court and holding up her tennis racquet to the camera) 

The RNIB commissioned a survey of those with sight loss to assess how difficult life had become for them in recent weeks. Here we speak to James Adams Director of RNIB Scotland and to Kirin Saeed who is registered blind

This week we're joined by Robin Christopherson. Robin is the host of the Alexa skills podcast Dot to Dot and he’s co-host of the weekly Tech Talk show from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Robin is also Head of Digital Inclusion and part of the globally-acclaimed accessibility and tech team of AbilityNet and has spoken at numerous events in recent years. Oh yeah, he’s also blind. Robin tells us about how the advancements in technology have made such a huge difference in the lives of people with disabilities. He also explains that in the US at least, people with disabilities refer to TABs, or the Temporarily Able Bodied. He talks about th ework AbilityNet is doing in the UK to try to get accountability for companies that don't comply with the laws around accessibility. He suggested an interesting (and funny in a British uncomfortable comedy kind of way) video about Diversish: https://youtu.be/oOQYFZMglCc He's funny and fun even though we're obviously talking about a subject near and dear to his heart. You can follow Robin at his very odd Twitter handle, @usa2day.

This week we're joined by Robin Christopherson. Robin is the host of the Alexa skills podcast Dot to Dot and he’s co-host of the weekly Tech Talk show from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Robin is also Head of Digital Inclusion and part of the globally-acclaimed accessibility and tech team of AbilityNet and has spoken at numerous events in recent years. Oh yeah, he’s also blind. Robin tells us about how the advancements in technology have made such a huge difference in the lives of people with disabilities. He also explains that in the US at least, people with disabilities refer to TABs, or the Temporarily Able Bodied. He talks about th ework AbilityNet is doing in the UK to try to get accountability for companies that don't comply with the laws around accessibility. He suggested an interesting (and funny in a British uncomfortable comedy kind of way) video about Diversish: https://youtu.be/oOQYFZMglCc He's funny and fun even though we're obviously talking about a subject near and dear to his heart. You can follow Robin at his very odd Twitter handle, @usa2day.

Peter Ward from Halliwell, took up cycling last year after suffering a stroke that left him partially sighted.   To help himself get back on track and do something good, Peter undertook a challenging 180-mile bike ride from Liverpool to Withernsea to raise money for the Royal National Institute of Blind People.   Speaking with RNIB Connect Radio's Simon Pauley, Peter explains what drove him to pick up his bike again and about his participation in next year’s PrudentialRide London-Surrey 100 2020 event in support of RNIB.     For more information visit: http://www.rnib.org.uk/ridelondon  (Photo shows Peter smiling. He's wearing a red and white cycling jersey with 'PETE' written across the right side of his chest and on the other side: the RNIB logo underlined with a pink line and the words 'See differently' underneath)  

Last week the Royal National Institute for the Blind announced the closure of the Pears Centre, a children's home and school, run by the charity. The Pears Centre will shut in November after Ofsted raised significant concerns about the management of the Specialist Learning Centre. The children at the centre will need to find new placements. We get reaction from Hardeep Rai, a parent, whose son is a resident at the Pears Centre, in Coventry. And we'll find out how best to wow the audience if you're doing public speaking. We'll report from a new course being run by Blind Veterans UK designed to help servicemen do speeches and presentations - both to help in the jobs market and to act as ambassadors for the organisation. Learn more about how to engage an audience and how to make the most of your body language. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Jess Quayle.

Today Penguin Random House UK has launched a new partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) by signing up to two of the charity’s programmes - RNIB Bookshare and Talking Books. Red Szell and Robert Kirkwood discuss some titles ... and please note, all of the titles won't be immediately available but will be added to RNIB's collection over a number of months. Read more at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk/media/news/2018/august/penguin-random-house-launches-partnership-with-the-rnib--making-/#wdhLbbOXyHm5y2sA.99

When Paul Ryb lost his sight he thought his love of sports had come to an end. He played football, rugby and tennis when he was younger, while winning a host of go-karting trophies. Paul lost much of his vision in 2007 but was inspired by a presentation from Odette Battarel of the London-based Metro Blind Sport Group, encouraging participation in visually impaired tennis. Since then he has won multiple British Visually Impaired Tennis Champion awards. The retired investment banker also now sits on the board of two major sight-loss charities – RNIB (the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Macular Society. Paul spoke to RNIB's Jill Barkley and his life after sight loss.

What does carrying a white cane or using a guide dog actually signify? Does it say to people that you're partially sighted, or completely blind? A new film by the Royal National Institute of Blind People tries to explain to the general public what it's like to be visually impaired, and all the different varieties of sight-loss. Also, why making a recording of your benefit assessment interview is fraught with difficulties. And if you're applying for a job, when's it appropriate to disclose your eyesight problem: on the application form or in person at an interview. Presented by Peter White Producer Siobhann Tighe.

The Marrakesh Treaty was designed to make the sharing of books more seamless between countries, and therefore make more literature available to people with visual impairments. It needed 20 countries to ratify it, and this was achieved at the end of June. Dan Pescod from the Royal National Institute of Blind People tells Peter White what happens next, and what it could mean for readers in the UK. Meanwhile. three guests give their suggestions for absorbing summer reads, and talk about the devices they use to read their books. They are: BBC Washington Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, author Tanvir Bush and avid reader, Adrienne Chalmers. Adrienne Chalmers's choices: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke published by Bloomsbury The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields published by Fourth Estate Gary O'Donoghue's choices: The Lonely City by Olivia Laing published by Canongate Books Hotels of North America by Rick Moody published by Little Brown and Company Tanvir Bush's choices: Good Kings, Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum published by Oneworld Publications Sight Unseen by Georgina Kleege published by Yale University Press Presenter: Peter White Producer: Lee Kumutat.

This interview with Professor Roberta Pearson and Elizabeth Evans from the Institute of Film and Television Studies shatters the idea that TV is bad for you. They have just completed a report for the Royal National Institute of Blind People on the quality and quantity of Audio Description for the visually impaired. In this interview you’ll hear what they discovered.

Sonja Lewis was born in a small town in the United States and now lives in London, England with her husband. A former journalist, she also has extended experience in public sector communications with the American Red Cross, The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Habitat for Humanity International, The Royal National Institute for the Blind and others. The Barrenness is her first novel.She is a member of the Society of Authors and English Pen. The Barrenness: This debut novel intrigues with an element of surprise that keeps the reader captivated until the very last page-a story about whether you can truly be fulfilled as a woman without being a mother. When Georgia peach Lil (pronounced Lille, France) embarks upon a campaign to have a child, she expects her most formidable opponent to be her biological clock. After all she is 39, her childless aunt, Mamie Lee, reminds her. Nonetheless, when Aunt Mamie dies suddenly, Lil finds herself up against a cadre of obstacles, including a battle with her aunt's stepson over the family's land and a relationship with a congressman who doesn't want more children and possibly can't have them anyhow. She also faces a major crisis at her high-powered job. The most unsettling of all her adversaries, however, turns out to be her own mind, filled with conventional notions about this illusive tie in between motherhood and womanhood. An emotionally captivating story, told with skilful pacing that makes it hard to put down. Blog: http://www.sonjalewis.com/