Podcast appearances and mentions of victor stream

Katie will present in the first half hour from 8 to 8:30pm Eastern and Barry will present in the second half hour from 8:30 to 9pm Eastern. Magical Moments Vacations Join Katie White as she talks the benefits of travel, budgeting, and planning! Katie will also be giving information on her upcoming guided group cruises to Alaska and the Caribbean. Katie is a travel agent who specializes in accessible travel, cruise vacations, all Disney destinations, and Universal Orlando Resort. Guidelights and Gadgets Barry, with an assist from KaeAnn, will be presenting a variety of their new and popular products for the holiday season. In addition to new Braille leather display and tablet cases, they will discuss the entire line of Auguste Reymond Braille watches, and offer a holiday special on their Victor Stream and SensePlayer bundles. They have also now re-manufactured the very popular titanium locking cane in 54 and 60 inch lengths, with an expanded variety of tip choices. Holiday surprises are always appreciated, and they will have three $50 mystery boxes: leather, dog grooming, and electronics. They'll make sure to cover all of the leather bags, pouches, purses, and waist packs that their customers have come to rely on. Presenter Contact Info Magical Moments Vacations Email: Katie.white@mmvagent.com Website: www.facebook.com/katiewhite.mmvagent Phone: (317) 694-4023 Guidelights and Gadgets Email: barry.scheur@gmail.com Website: www.guidelightsandgadgets.us Phone: (617) 969-7500

Lots of new and exciting things have happened at Mystic Access since we've last had the pleasure of appearing on Tek Talk. In this presentation, we'll catch you up a bit by discussing one of our most popular newer tutorials on the BlindShell Classic Ii, our bran new tutorial on the Victor Reader Stream 3 which is available to anyone absolutely free, and give you the dish about a few things that will be appearing in the near future. And, just for fun, we'll also demo a neat app, Call Annie, which features AI, and is free for download for iOS and Android. Presenter Contact Info Chris and Kim Nova Mystic Access Phone: 716 543-3323 Email: Info@mysticaccess.com Website: www.mysticaccess.com Free Bi-weekly podcast: www.mysticaccesspodcast.com Free Audio: www.mysticaccessdownloads.com

Today on the show, we tell you who has made it onto the lucky list of five winners to access the Be My Eyes Virtual Volunteer feature. Don't panic if you didn't win, as the team at Be My Eyes have told us that another round of testers will be added very soon. Also, there's more from Global Accessibility Awareness Day, including news from Google on updates to the Lookout app, Microsoft Xbox sharing news on their latest accessibility updates within their app, console and website, and Samsung updating their earbuds to be more accessible for those who are hard of hearing. And there's more of your feedback, including solutions for Rebecca, who is having trouble with getting her Audible books on the Victor Stream, and comments from Eric (also known as ET) about the accessibility of the Compass app on the Apple Watch, and another from Darren, who has concerns about the state of USB players on sale today. Get in touch with the Double Tappers and join the conversation: Email:feedback@doubletaponair.com Call: 1-877-803-4567 (Canada and USA) / 0204 571 3354 (UK) Twitter: @BlindGuyTech / @ShaunShed / @DoubleTapOnAir Mastodon: @DoubleTap YouTube: DoubleTapOnAir

Coffee Club notes for March 15, 2023 Someone asked about Bible Gateway on the Braille Sense.  Callers  talked about their favorite restaurants. Orbit Research is coming out with the Optima, a laptop running Windows 11 with a built in Braille display. The Eyes on Success podcast is doing a show on the Victor Stream 3. Chris gave a recipe for applesauce spice cake  

One caller asked about the accessibility of Garage band for the iPhone. Problems with the Victor Stream 3 and adding favorites. You have to restart the unit after you add the first favorite so you can add the next one. Chris gave a recipe for cabbage ham and potato dinner Bill played a demo of blind hams from the CT Blind Hams podcast.For more information go to: www.blindhams.com

The panel answered a question about separating the input from the output on his sound card.  washer and dryers are accessible and have phone apps that work with them.Chris gave a recipe for scalloped potatoes. Bill played a You Tube video of the unboxing of the Victor Stream 3.  

The Blind Shell Classic II now has the Zoom app. The Panel answered tech questions. humanware is taking preorders for the new Victor Stream. It lists for $495 and is supposed to have better internet for improved streaming. Mondo elite is a new internet radio with tune in and Google. Chris gave a recipe for easy beef brisket.

After the panel it was open phonelines. Polar seltzer water is flavored carbonated water with no sugar. Had discussion about the importance of braille and handwriting for sighted kids. Dave talked about repairing braillewriters. Talked about preserving the life of your Victor Stream. Suggested using magnetic cables instead of the original cable that you push into the port. The port on the motherboard can easily be broken. Chris gave a recipe for Chicken and stuffing bake.

Should you get another Victor Stream? Maybe the new Amazon Fire will fit the bill for $79.00. Walmart releasing diabetic supplies at 75 percent offf normal cost. Bill talked about some misconceptions computer users have such as can I turn off Windows updates? Should I go to Windows 11? Does my Windows PC come with virus software? Windows comes with good enough virus protection for most people. Many computers will not run Windows 11. Windows 10 supported until at least 2025. How can I tell if my computer is 64-29t or 32 bit? Chris gave a recipe for Banana sour cream pound cake. Chris and Dave did a demo of the GE Pal nuggett ice maker. It is a countertop ice maker.

This week on The Gospel Jubilee Chip and Denny play songs about the cross of Calvary where Jesus Christ suffered, bled and died for our sins.  Be sure to tune in and invite a friend to listen along as well.Go to: https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/44270882/download.mp3You can now listen to The Gospel Jubilee on your Echo device by asking the "wake word" to play the Gospel Jubilee on either Apple Podcast or on iTunes.Using the podcast app on your smart phone or on the online podcast bookshelf on your Victor Stream or Victor Trek you can also listen to The Gospel Jubilee .You can also catch The Gospel Jubilee Saturday evenings at 7:00 and Wednesday afternoons at 4:00 CDT on Praise Radio.Go to: www.PraiseRadio.netPlaylist:Artists | Song Title | Album01. The LeFevre Quartet - But for the cross - "But For The Cross"02. The Mark Trammell Quartet - Redeemer of my soul - "Full Sail"03. Gordan Mote - O, the blood - "Gordan Mote Sings Hymns & Songs Of Inspiration"04. Sisters - It was finished on the cross o- "Simply Sisters"05. The Whisnants - I love you this much - "Walk Of Faith"06. Jim & Melissa Brady - Calvary - "Promises"07. The Kingsmen - Cost of the cross - "They Don't Know"08. The Collingsworth family - At Calvary - "Part Of The Family"09. The Booth Brothers - Beyond the cross - "Beyond The Cross"10. The Anchormen - The blood will never lose its power - "Strength Renewed"11. Steve Hess & Southern Salvation - How great the debt - "God Still Delivers"12. Butler, Hughes, and Hayes - Around the cross - "Adopted"13, The Chuck Wagon Gang - At the cross - "Timeless Hymns Volume 2"14. Ernie Haase & Signature sound - Jesus, keep me near the cross - "The Favorite Hymns Of Fanny Crosby"15. Gold City Quartet - Guilty of loving me - 16. The Talleys - I love the cross - "Standing The Gap"17. Canton Junction - When He was on the cross, I was on His mind - "Every Hallelujah"18. Legacy Five - When I survey the wonderous cross - "In The Hands Of A Carpenter"19. The Lesters - Because of the cross - "Ordinary people"Send your request to:request@gatewayfortheblind.comor by calling636-428-1500

Chip and Denny count down the top 20 Southern Gospel songs for the decade of the 1990's this week on The Gospel Jubilee.  It's a program you won't want to miss.Go to: https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/43966428/download.mp3Looking back on the 1990's, the most popular Southern Gospel songs, the artists, wonderful memories and so much more, Chip and Denny bring it all to you this week on The Gospel Jubilee.You can now listen to The Gospel Jubilee on your Echo device by asking the "wake word" to play the Gospel Jubilee on either Apple Podcast or on iTunes.Using the podcast app on your smart phone or on the online podcast bookshelf on your Victor Stream or Victor Trek you can also listen to The Gospel Jubilee .You can also catch The Gospel Jubilee Saturday evenings at 7:00 and Wednesday afternoons at 4:00 CDT on Praise Radio.Go to: www.PraiseRadio.net­

Tek Talk welcomes Barry Scheur from GuideLights and Gadgets and Chris Grabowski and Kim Loftis from Mystic Access to describe and demonstrate their exciting entry into the daisy player and entertainment market with the Evo 10 player. Priced at $150 below the cost of the Victor Stream, this product IS NOT BARD COMPATIBLE. What it … Tek Talk 01/25/2021 welcomes Barry Scheur, Chris Grabowski and Kim Loftis to describe and demonstrate the Evo 10 DAISY player Read More »

Get Together with Technology (GTT) Sponsored by the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), the voice of the blind in Canada. Show Notes: October 29, 2020 Theme:  Victor Reader Stream Bookshelves Part 2 of 2 Presenter: Gerry Chevalier GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com In this 68 minute second of two presentations, Gerry demonstrates how to use the Victor Reader Stream online bookshelves to organize and play different types of Internet media. The Victor Stream is a popular digital talking book player for blind people manufactured by HumanWare. This second presentation focuses on managing online content including CELA Library Direct to Player books, Podcasts, Internet radio, and Wikipedia and   Wiktionary articles. You will learn how to: Connect your Stream to a Wi-Fi network. Configure your Stream to use the CELA Library Direct to Player service. Perform Stream multi-tap text entry. Download CELA Library Direct to Player Books comparing the Stream's automatic or manual download modes. Use your computer to search the CELA Library for Direct to Player books. Navigate the Stream Direct to Player bookshelf. Return a Direct to Player book to CELA. Navigate the Stream's Podcast bookshelf and play podcasts. Download new podcast episodes and delete episodes. Configure the Stream for manual or automatic episode download. Move an episode to the SD card. Add or remove podcast feeds. Backup your list of feeds to the SD card. Change the HumanWare suggested podcast feeds. Use the Stream's Internet radio bookshelf to listen to radio stations. Add stations to your favorites and delete stations you no longer want. Select different HumanWare suggested playlists. Create your own playlists. Backup your playlists to the SD card. Use the Stream's References bookshelf to find articles on Wikipedia and   Save articles or move them to the SD card. For more information about the GTT Program including one on one tech training contact: Phone: (613)567-0311 or 1-877-304-0968 Email: ccb@ccbnational.net Web www.ccbnational.net  

Get Together with Technology (GTT) Sponsored by the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), the voice of the blind in Canada. Show Notes: October 22, 2020 Theme:  Victor Reader Stream Bookshelves Part 1 of 2 Presenter: Gerry Chevalier GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com In this 67 minute first of two presentations, Gerry demonstrates how to use the Victor Reader Stream SD card bookshelves to organize and play different types of content. The Victor Stream is a popular digital talking book player for blind people manufactured by HumanWare. The Stream uses a bookshelf paradigm to manage content. Gerry explains the SD card bookshelves and what kind of content to place on each bookshelf folder of the SD card including DAISY books, Audible books, MP3 books, Podcasts, text files, and voice notes recorded by the Stream. You will learn how to: Use Windows File Explorer to create folders . Rename folders and place files into them. Extract book folders from Zip files that you download from CELA Library and other content providers. Unprotect a file downloaded from the Internet. Transfer DAISY books and other types of files from your computer to the Stream SD card bookshelf folders. Transfer an Access Technology Institute text book to the Stream. Organize songs by genre, artist, and album using subfolders on the Stream's music bookshelf folder. Archive Stream recorded notes by moving them to the Other Books and Podcasts bookshelves. Navigate different book types on the Stream including Microsoft Word documents and DAISY Text books and use the Stream to search within these text books. Search Wiktionary and Wikipedia using the Stream. Safely remove SD card media from your computer. For more information about the GTT Program including one on one tech training contact: Phone: (613)567-0311 or 1-877-304-0968 Email: ccb@ccbnational.net Web www.ccbnational.net  

This Beyond Barriers Unscripted podcast features a short conversation with former student Joe Germino. Joe is a returning college student and multi instrumentalist He is the drummer for the band Toxic Banana and a founding member of what would become the Music Support Group at Society for the Blind. We talk about Joe's experience in college and what got him into music.Please check out the podcast on our YouTube channel at:  https://youtu.be/XH_I77GI4yg BBU can also be heard on Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, TuneIn, Spotify and on the Victor Stream. Please feel free to email any questions or comments to: bb.unscripted@gmail.com Please check out the latest from Toxic Banana https://youtu.be/ttftD3UW5UY You can find the Toxic Banana YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTDVa8Sz6LNfkpm6woREOTg The TB live playlist is a set of clips from December 2019 recorded during an impromptu jam session at Society. Please check it out and don't forget to hit play. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCfZ5lPSDn57KttqnwQPtJhOCwD13RF5A Toxic Banana can also be heard on Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music. Thank you very much for listening. Please share with your friends. The YouTube channels we have set up are in desperate need of subscribers. So please, hit that subscribe button because it makes a big difference. You will have the option to receive notifications when new content is uploaded. just for clarification... The Beyond Barriers Unscripted YouTube channel has been created to support the podcast and can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBFTTsn5WB6KphGwKRmv-_g The Beyond Barriers Project YouTube channel is where you can find all of the music related stuff from our music support group and members. Please follow this link:  https://www.youtube.com/user/randylowen70

Coffee Club notes for April 8th Survey about being blind during the corona virus. What's coming for the Victor Stream? People reported frezing of GPS after they downloaded all the maps.  Live video description of the movie Sherlock on Thursday night. Marianne sending the links to Bill. To find the latest list of all the movies and tv shows with audio description go to  acb.orgstadp which is the site for the audio description project.   Altogether plus windows plus So turns off the announcements in zoom. Chris and Dave demo of changing batteries in a talking watch. Chris gave recipe for window cleaner 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol1/4 cup white vinegar1 tbsp of amonia.        

In this podcast published December 6, 2019, Alexandre talk about the application Stream what you hear (SWYH). Although this podcast is for more advanced users of technology, this application is very easy to use. This application allows you to stream the sound of your Windows computer over your network, allowing you to listen to your PC's sound on a smartphone, a new generation Victor Stream, a Victor Trek, on Sonos speakers, or any other devices that can handle audio streaming as well as accept a custom URL. Although this application offers interesting possibilities, expect a delay between the moment your PC plays the sound versus when it will be played by the device used to listen to the streaming. Here are some useful links: download the application Stream what you hear, developed by Sébastien Warin Visit the official website of the application Stream what you hear Download the XSPF template for Victor See here to learn more about the Silenzio application In addition, as a reminder, the Canadialog team can offer private or group training on request on the use of assistive technologies. Do not hesitate to contact our team to learn more about training we can offer. Visit our website regularly to be informed when new Podcast becomes available or subscribe to our YouTube channel. See how it is possible to listen to our podcasts by consulting the list of services where our podcasts are referenced and the instructions attached to them. Enjoy!

Dans ce podcast publié le 6 décembre 2019, Alexandre vous parle de l'application Stream what you hear (SWYH). Bien que ce podcast s'adresse à des utilisateurs plus chevronnés en technologie, cette application demeure très simple d’utilisation. Cette application permet de diffuser le son de votre ordinateur Windows sur votre réseau permettant ainsi d’écouter le son de votre PC sur un téléphone intelligeant, un Victor Stream nouvelle génération, un Victor Trek, un système Sonos ou tout autre périphérique gérant la diffusion de l'audio sous la forme de streaming et acceptant une URL personnalisée. Bien que cette application offre des possibilités intéressantes, attendez-vous à ce qu'un délai soit présent entre le moment où votre PC diffuse le son versus le moment où celui-ci sera joué par l'appareil utilisé pour écouter la diffusion. Voici finalement quelques liens utiles: Télécharger l’application Stream what you hear développée par Sébastien Warin Visiter le site Web officiel de l’application Stream what you hear Télécharger le modèle XSPF pour Victor Et, pour vous rafraîchir la mémoire sur l’application Silenzio, c’est par ici! L'équipe de Canadialog demeure à votre disposition si vous avez des questions ou si vous souhaitez en connaître davantage sur nos offres de formations en groupes ou en privées. N'hésitez pas à visiter notre site Web régulièrement et à vous abonner à notre chaîne YouTube pour ne rien manquer. Voyez comment il est possible d'écouter nos podcasts en consultant la liste des services où nos podcasts sont référencés ainsi que les instructions qui s'y rattachent. Bonne écoute!

Welcome to our 5th annual Blind Bargains Holiday Shopping Guide. This year, we've brought the deals straight to your audio feed. Sit back and relax as some of your favorite merchants, or perhaps some that are new to you, tell you about their latest products and services as well as some holiday deals. We'd like to sincerely thank all of the companies who were apart of this show. Below you'll find information about each company in the order they appear in the show. We hope you have a safe and fulfilling Thanksgiving weekend and we'll be back with a new episode next week. Mystic Access Mystic Access wishes to make your holidays brighter with gift ideas that educate, empower and take the intimidation factor out of learning assistive technology. We wish to make your learning journey far less stressful and way more fun. Whether you're searching for comprehensive audio documentation, one-on-one training, or accessible electronics which can be enjoyed by sighted and blind loved ones alike, we have your gift-giving covered. Our comprehensive audio tutorials are professionally recorded, produced, and created from a blindness perspective. We offer tutorials on a variety of topics, including deep dives into the Amazon Echo, Victor Stream, Apple Watch,, Google products such as Docs, Sheets and more, and many others. All of our tutorials are available as digital downloads in both DAISY and MP3 formats, and on physical media for $15 more. If hardware is more their thing, we offer several Bluetooth products, including speakers, headphones, and earbuds, most with voice prompts, and, yes, all with included audio documentation. Click here to check out our selection of hardware, and to hear samples of the tutorials. Unsure What to buy them? A virtual gift card could be the perfect way to brighten someone's holiday season. Mystic Access looks forward to supporting and empowering you. Check out our bi-weekly podcast, free downloads, free monthly free teleclasses, and contact us if you wish to order via phone, or to ask any questions. (716) 543-3323, or info@mysticaccess.com. We wish you a beautiful and safe holiday season filled with joy and love. RGA Tech Solutions For the Holidays Did Santa bring you some new tech during the holidays? Do you perhaps already have some tech from before the holidays and want to know how to use it? Or maybe, you need a few tips and tricks on how to better use your screen reader, computer, tablet, smart phone, smart TV, or smart speaker? No matter what the situation is, we can help by providing personalized one-on-one tech solutions. Technical Support. For only $20 per session, you can have up to 30 minutes of one-on-one time with a technical support specialist to help you get stuff fixed. Maybe you need a new email account added to your computer. Maybe you need help connecting a new smart speaker. Maybe you need tips and tricks on navigating the Internet with your screen reader. One-on-one tech support can be a quick and affordable way to accomplish these tasks. Want an even bigger discount? For just $150, you can have up to 10 separate 30-minute sessions. That's only $15 per session, an even better bargain. Custom Training. If you require a bit more than mere technical support, you can take advantage of one-on-one training at a more than 30% discount. $50 will get you one hour and $400 will get you 10 hours. These offers are good through February 20, 2020. Contact Stacie or Raul at 832.639.4477 or training@rgats.com if you have any questions or want to make your holiday purchase. iOS Access for All I m thrilled to announce the release of iOS Access for All: Your Comprehensive Guide to Accessibility for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch (iOS 13 Edition). It s the most comprehensive iOS accessibility resource anywhere! iOS Access for All guides you step-by-step through Apple tools designed or people with blindness, low-vision, hearing impairments, and motor disabilities. Readers also learn how to make the most of all apps installed by Apple, along with iOS. You will also find reviews of over 100 outstanding App Store apps that happen to be accessible. Visit www.iosaccessbook.com to get your copy and save 10 percent for a limited time. A. T. Guys We've started our Black Friday sale early, with some huge discounts and never before seen deals on some of our most popular items. Never be without great wireless sound when you need it with options to fit any budget. get our powerful accessible power bank at our lowest price ever. From stocking stuffers under $10 to braile displays, there's a sale to fit any budget. Check back, as new items may be added throughout the weekend. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional flash sales throughout the holidays. Go to our A. T. Guys Black Friday Page Note: Our phone lines are closed over the weekend while we indulge on turkey, but you'll still be able to place orders online via our secure shopping cart. Please E-Mail us with any questions and we'll do our best to respond as soon as possible. You may call us on Monday to place orders over the phone at (269) 216-4798. Please leave a message if we don't answer, as our lines will be busy. Thanks, and have a great Thanksgiving. Save 15% on WayAround WayTags Our biggest sale of the year. WayAround is a new system that you can use to tag the important items in your life. Mark your clothes using buttons, your food using magnets or stickers, or your office using magnets or clips. Using the free WayAround app for your iPhone or Android, simply touch your phone to the tag and easily record or hear information you have saved. Some tags, including the buttons, can be used in the laundry. Go hear to order WayAround products for 15 percent off Save on our Accessible Portable Power Bank and Battery Charger Have you heard, or rather have you felt the vibrations? The Energrid 15,000 mAh Power Bank is a powerful portable charging solution for on-the-go. It includes 2 fast charging ports and will either vibrate or beep to indicate the level of charge. For instance, 4 vibrations means a full charge, 3 vibrations for 50 to 75 percent, etc. Get yours today and never be stuck with a dead phone again. Get the Accessible Energrid 15,000MaH Battery Pack, now for $65 All Aftershokz on Sale; Trekz Air, our Lightest Bone Conduction Hedset Ever Our full line of wireless and wired Aftershokz headsets are on sale at their lowest prices ever. We've been using the Trekz Air from Aftershokz and we must say the comfort and convenience has just blown us away. These are much lighter than the bone conduction headsets from a few years ago. Check out the new Trekz Air on sale for $99.95 Browse our entire selection of Aftershokz Open Ear Headphones, all on sale High Quality Voices for your Screen Reader Love NVDA, but not the voice that comes with it? Or are you using narrator more often but wish you could have a familiar voice to go along with it? We are official distributors of the familiar Vocalizer and Eloquence voices. Either get the $69 package that gives you voices for NVDA, or choose Eloquence or Vocalizer voices which can be used with multiple screen readers. We're happy to help you find your voice, just ask. Check out screen reader voices, now on sale starting at $59 Braille Me 20-cell Braille Display - Intro price through December 31, $499 Features 20 refreshable braille cells with cursor routing, a built-in text editor with braille translation, and Bluetooth and USB support. It can connect to your iOS or Android device as well as the NVDA screen reader. SoundTrax Bluetooth Headset - Sale! $49.95 From the same company which produced the popular SoundPods speaker comes a Bluetooth stereo headset with the same great features. Wirelessly connect to your phone or play music using the built-in Micro SD card slot or a headset adapter. These comfortable on-ear headphones featured padded cups and deep bass. Works for up to 30 hours on a single chaarge. Aluminum USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac - On sale! $6 A simple way to add an additional audio device to your computer. Separate your screen reader from your music so it doesn't go out over your speakers. Tribit 360-degree Bluetooth Speaker - $69.99 360-degree sound, waterproof, and loud. Check out the speaker that has people talking. A lot of bang for your buck. SoundPods Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker - On sale! $35 One of our classics. This little speaker puts out big sound! The SoundPod by Blue Tiger is a wireless or wired heavy duty speaker with exceptional sound quality that fits in the palm of your hand. With long battery life, the SoundPOD will be putting out your tunes all day long. Also features a Micro SD card slot to play music directly from the speaker. iOttie iON QI Wireless 10W Fast Charging Stand - $44.95 If you have an iPhone 8 or newer, or a modern Android device, you can now charge it without plugging it into a cable. Keep one by your bed or on your desk for a simple charging solution. Matias Alumina Bluetooth Keyboard - Sale! $95 The Matias Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard feels just like an Apple keyboard and also includes a dedicated numeric pad and arrow keys in the familiar layout. Plus, connect the Matias to up to 4 devices at once and switch between them with the press of a key. Also, charging your keyboard all the time is a thing of the past, as the Matias features up to 1 year of battery life on a single charge. Plugable Bluetooth Keyboard - $54.95 A compact, trifold Bluetooth and USB keyboard with nearly full-size keys and great battery life. Comes with a case which doubles as a phone stand. Tactile Screen Protectors - Starting at $8 Featuring the full line of SpeedDots tactile screen overlays for iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini, and iPod Touch, including the iPhone 8 and X. Choose tempered glass for additional protection. Several styles to choose from. Type with confidence. Reversible 4-foot Micro USB Charging and Data Cable - Sale! $4.99 This ain't your standard Micro USB cable. This one plugs in both ways so you don't have to worry about breaking cables. They're compatible with many of the other gadgets we sell. Micro-Speak 8gb Digital Recorder - $59.95 Record with the press of a button and playback immediately via the built-in speaker. High Definition recordings in WAV format ensure impressive results for unlimited speaking and listening activities. Victor Reader Trek

In this episode I show you a Victor reader stream that I borrowed from work.

Peter Korn, Director of Accessibility at Amazon’s Lab 126, Gives Us a Demo on the Alexa equipped Microwave Oven. Peter also goes over the brand new Echo Show 5 which comes with a 5 inch diaganol screen and Voice View built screen reading capabilities as well as Alexa all in one. Full Transcript Below Peter gives us an overview of the Amazon Fire TV Addition Toshiba Smart TV’s now available in 20 different models starting at 24 inches with a HD Screen for $150 and up to a 55 inch, 4K Ultra HD Screen and Dolby for only $450. Yes, the Toshiba comes with Amazon Fire TV technology, Voice View and Magnification Built-In to the Amazon Fire TV Addition TV right out of the box. Peter also goes over the Fire Tablets and the Braille support features as well as the newest feature called Hands Free Alexa.  Join Peter Korn and Simon Bonenfant as they make some popcorn using Alexa commands and talk Amazon devices. You can find out more about all the Amazon devices on the web at www.Amazon.com ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.   Full Transcript   While Popping Popcorn with Alexa, Peter Korn and Simon Bonenfant Talk Echo Show 5, Amazon Fire TV Addition Toshiba TVs and the Affordable Fire Tablets with Braille Support. #NFB19   Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. Here's our teen correspondent, Simon Bonenfant.   Simon Bonenfant: Hello, everyone on Blind Abilities. This is Simon Bonenfant reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada at the 2019 National Federation of the Blind National Convention. I'm in the Exhibit Hall today, and I'm at the Amazon area here. I got a chance to talk to Peter Korn. How's it going, Peter?   Peter Korn: It's going very well. It's wonderful to be here at the NFB Convention in Las Vegas.   Simon Bonenfant: That's great. Can you explain to the listeners your title and a little bit about what you do at Amazon?   Peter Korn: Sure. This is my sixth year with Amazon. I'm the director of accessibility for all of our devices, and this is my 28th year in the field of accessibility, having cut my teeth on the outSPOKEN screen reader for Macintosh and Windows back in the mid-nineties.   Simon Bonenfant: Wow. So you have a lot of good accessibility knowledge. That's great. But what kind of features does Amazon offer for accessibility?   Peter Korn: Well, every device that we make has a host of accessibility features built in. We're standing right now in front of a Toshiba television, but this isn't just any Toshiba television, this is the Amazon Fire TV addition television. So it's got all of our Fire TV technology built into it. That means it has the VoiceView screen reader built in. It has our Magnifier built in. It has Alexa built in.   Peter Korn: Being a streaming television, it also means that I can stream Prime Video, and we have nearly 600 Prime Video titles with audio description. That includes every Amazon original title that we make, plus many things from Warner Brothers and so on.   Peter Korn: You can also watch Netflix or Hulu or Showtime or HBO on this television. And it's a television, so you can plug in an antenna and you can get over the air broadcast TV. If you're in one of the 60 major metropolitan areas, you can even get one of the few hours of audio described broadcast TV and enjoy that with description on this television.   Peter Korn: This is the 50-inch model. We have 20 different models, starting at 24 inches and an HD screen for 150 bucks, all the way up to a 55 inch, 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision model for $450.   Simon Bonenfant: Very cool. You have some Alexa enabled devices as well?   Peter Korn: If we come around this way, the newest of our Echo devices, this is the new Echo Show 5. The Show 5 is one of our Echo devices with a screen. It's a five-inch diagonal screen. It's got Amazon Alexa in it. Everything you can do with any other Alexa device, you can do with this one. Plus, if you want... You're sighted. You like the idea of having a little clock by your nightstand. This is the perfect size to display a nice big clock.   Peter Korn: It has a screen, which means it has VoiceView and it has our Magnifier, because we don't make screens and expect that people can use them if they don't have a screen reader on them.   Peter Korn: So I accidentally unplugged it as I pulled it forward. It's plugged back in and it's finishing booting up. It finished booting up and that's the VoiceView turning on sound that we've just heard.   Simon Bonenfant: Very nice.   Peter Korn: It's still finishing its boot up here. Once it's finished booting up, I'm going to ask it to do some stuff.   Peter Korn: I also have right next to it-   Alexa: VoiceView ready. 2:08 PM.   Peter Korn: ... Yes, dear. I have the Amazon Basics Alexa enabled microwave.   Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, I saw that yesterday. That was pretty cool. Yeah, talk about a little about that for us.   Peter Korn: Yeah. So this is $59.99 microwave will pair with Alexa, and I can use my voice to cook. So I'm going to take this little bag of Skinny Girl popcorn, pop it into the microwave, and then say, "Alexa, microwave one ounce of popcorn,"   Alexa: Starting popcorn. One Minute, eight seconds.   Simon Bonenfant: Wow.   Peter Korn: And there she goes.   Simon Bonenfant: And I can-   Peter Korn: And in little under a minute, we're going to have some hot buttered popcorn.   Simon Bonenfant: ... I can kind of hear it and I can kind of smell it too. It's kind of cooking.   Peter Korn: It is.   Simon Bonenfant: Wow. That is really neat. Yeah.   Peter Korn: Some of the newer, well for many years now, microwaves have had the ability to do fairly complex things like defrost a pound and a half of chicken.   Peter Korn: I do this many minutes at this low power setting, and then bring up the power for a few more minutes, and bring up the power again for the last few minutes, right? That little programming there. But typing all of that in on the touch panel is really difficult, but you can just use your voice-   Simon Bonenfant: And Alexa figures out the settings and the modes it needs.   Peter Korn: ... Exactly. So you can reheat your dinner, you can pop popcorn, you can say, "This much ground beef to defrost."   Simon Bonenfant: And it does it. Wow.   Peter Korn: And it just does it. And-   Simon Bonenfant: Really cool.   Peter Korn: ... Well-   Simon Bonenfant: And there it is.   Peter Korn: ... There's my popcorn.   Simon Bonenfant: Look at that. Wow. That's really cool.   Peter Korn: Just open it up here. It's nice and smoking hot.   Simon Bonenfant: It is. Wow. I can feel that. I smell it too. Wow, that's cool.   Peter Korn: If you want some hot popcorn, reach on in.   Simon Bonenfant: I'll try a little bit. Wow.   Peter Korn: And there you go.   Simon Bonenfant: I also noticed yesterday, I was over here and you had some tablets. Talk about them a little bit.   Peter Korn: These are the Fire tablets. We've got the seven-inch model for $49.99. Has VoiceView, has our Magnifier, has large print. You can watch movies, you can read Kindle books, you can play audio books.   Peter Korn: New this year, we have what's called hands-free Alexa, where there's a special chip in this tablet that allows it to be mostly asleep, but just quietly listening with a little bit of power for the wake word. And when you say it, she then responds.   Simon Bonenfant: That's cool.   Peter Korn: And that's again $49. It also has very powerful Braille support-   Simon Bonenfant: Wow.   Peter Korn: ... built in. We've been doing a lot to make a very efficient Braille interface. These Braille displays are fairly expensive. And you pay maybe a few hundred, maybe $700 for a 20-cell display. But for the most part, they're into the thousands of dollars.   Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, that's true.   Peter Korn: So those cells are really precious. So you don't want to waste a ton of space saying, "Checkbox checked," and then the name of the checkbox. That's already off the end of your 20-   Simon Bonenfant: Right. Yeah, yeah.   Peter Korn: ... Right? So we use special non-character Braille glyphs to tell you that it's a checked checkbox. We have-   Simon Bonenfant: So it's not going to take up cells.   Peter Korn: ... It's going to take up three cells.   Simon Bonenfant: Okay.   Peter Korn: To say this-   Simon Bonenfant: So it's a lot less. Wow. Okay.   Peter Korn: ... Exactly.   Simon Bonenfant: That's great. So you're getting more Braille for your space. You're optimizing the space and the Braille.   Peter Korn: Now at the same time, you've probably seen a lot of these tablets. You have a row of icons right on the home screen. And you focus one icon at a time and you put one icon's worth of text on the Braille display.   Peter Korn: Well, if it's Kindle, that's six letters. You still have another 14 characters on that display that you're not using. So we will create a line of multiple things on the same row. Though the same idea, we use as many of those precious cells as we can to make a more efficient interface, where the bottom of the screen, you've got back, home, and app switcher. B-A-C-K, space, H-O-M-E, space, A-P-P, and then the rest of it is off the end.   Peter Korn: I've got touch cursors over each cell. So when I navigate down to back, home, app switcher, I can just touch the button over, back or home-   Simon Bonenfant: And it'll do it.   Peter Korn: ... and it'll do it. I don't have to navigate through all three. I'm more efficient. I'm more productive.   Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, that is. Wow.   Peter Korn: So that's some of the innovation that's in VoiceView Braille available on all three tablets starting at 49 bucks.   Simon Bonenfant: Wow. That's available right now.   Peter Korn: Available right now. You can go to the Amazon store in the sky from your browser or from your iPhone, from your whatever, and order it. Well, fantastic. Thank you so much for coming by. Is there anything else I can help you with?   Simon Bonenfant: No, that's all for me. That's all for you. We're good. So thank you, Peter, for talking with me today. Thank you for talking to the listeners of the Blind Abilities podcast.   Simon Bonenfant: I'm very grateful for the work that you're doing at Amazon. You're doing a lot of good work for the community, the blindness community. And a lot of good things are coming because of your vast knowledge of accessibility and your drive to make things work well. I appreciate the work you do.   Peter Korn: It's just an utter pleasure to be in this field and to be at a company like Amazon that can have such a huge impact on the lives of our customers with disabilities.   Jeff Thompson: Thank you, Peter Korn. And thank you, Simon Bonenfant. Be sure to check out all of our 2019 Convention coverage right here on Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: Enable the Blind Abilities Skill on your Amazon device just by saying, "Enable Blind Abilities."   Jeff Thompson: You can download the Blind Abilities podcast on to your Victor Stream, on to any of your podcatcher of choice. Downcast, Overcast, the Apple Podcast app in your iDevice. TuneIn radio, IHeartRadio. If you've got Siri, you've got Google, you've got Amazon, then you've got Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: Most importantly, I want to thank you, the listener. I want to thank you for listening. Hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye-bye.   [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening.

While at the NFB2019 Convention Jeff Thompson met up with RTB Safe Traffic Director of Sales, Olivia Harden. Interested in the sounds stemming from the RTB Safe Traffic booth, Jeff inquired about the Audio Pedestrian Signal device and Olivia filled his cup to the brim with some great information. Full Transcript Below She is very passionate about her work and the products RTB Safe Traffic are creating and has taken the message across the States to all the Department of Transportation personnel to educate them on the practicalities of installing and needs for audio pedestrian signals. Not just to push her line of product, but to bring awareness and value to the decision making by people who make the decisions for safe traffic crossings. You can find out more about RTB Safe Traffic on the web at www.RTBSafeTraffic.com. And be sure to voice your concerns and needs in your city, your county, about having RTB Safe Traffic educating your department of transportation. ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.   Full Transcript   Creating Safe Traffic Crossings with Audio Pedestrian Signals – RTB Safe Traffic is Crossing that Road for All of Us. #NFB19   Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. While in attendance at the National Federation of the Blind Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada 2019, I was in the exhibit hall and I met up with Olivia Harden and she is from RTB Safe Traffic. They do audio pedestrian signals, and these are what you install at crossings so that you can audibly hear what the location of them and the timing when to step off the curb.   Jeff Thompson: I thought it was really neat device and I like her approach. She spends 80% of her time talking to the Department of Transportation in cities across the United States, educating the personnel on why an audio pedestrian signal is needed and how it helps and assists more than just the visually impaired, but everyday people navigating traffic crossings.   Olivia Harden: I'm Olivia Harden. I'm the director of sales for RTB safe Traffic and we are a manufacturer of pedestrian push buttons and acoustic units. And we're really approaching this market quite differently by actually looking at accessibility as a whole. And we're really tackling some main challenges. First of all, we really believe in ease of activation of the ped button. We utilize sensor technology that allows persons to activate the button with any part of their body. If you're traveling with a cane in one hand and shopping in another, you can just lean against the button and it will activate through your clothing or you can activate with your hip or the back of your hand.   Olivia Harden: Secondly, we really believe in providing true directional information and that's done by having an arrow that's located under the button where as we know a lot of intersections are not beautifully perpendicular, so we can actually rotate that arrow 360 degrees so that if a crosswalk is on an angle, we can actually place the arrow on an angle and give you true directional information.   Olivia Harden: And the final thing is, we really try and tackle the issue that we're facing in the community where these systems have been deployed. Existing technology is quite noise polluting, and as a result, residents are not living in harmony with these systems and they're complaining to the cities. What we're typically seeing is traffic technicians are going and turning them down, which really strips the integrity out of these systems and defeats the whole point of them being deployed in the first place.   Olivia Harden: The first thing we tackle is how do we manage volume controls of the locator tone? Which is really critical for finding the pole. We've got a smartphone app that you can download for free on your phone. All you need to do is activate it and then put your phone away in your pocket. And then within 10 meters of approaching a pole that has our equipment on it, we will automatically detect you and immediately turn the locator volume up to the volume that you should have had in the first place, giving you 100% integrity every time, you approach an intersection.   Olivia Harden: And the final thing is, we utilize a beacon that's located up a pole. A lot of manufacturers now are building the loud speaker and the microphone into the push button and deploying it at push button height, which basically means that if pedestrians are surrounding the pole, it's actually covering and masking the audible signal. We believe in having a beacon that's located up a pole that points into the crosswalk for actual true beaconing and we actually control the sound waves by utilizing three speakers in a horizontal row.   Speaker 3: And what that does is create a forward penetrating sound vortex into the crosswalk. Existing infrastructure does 360-degree orientation of the acoustics, which means that for a walk guide signal, it's just blasting sound waves all the way through an intersection. And what we're actually doing is we're actually creating a very strong forward penetrating stream of sound waves so that you're not just hearing noise over there. You can actually get a very acute alignment and orientation to the pole and it also mitigates a lot of the sound pollution that's affecting residents and causing these systems to be turned down.   Jeff Thompson: That's really neat that it's really focused like that because that could be a concern to people dining or something around an intersection or something.   Olivia Harden: Absolutely. We're really tackling the root issues with very, very strong design and technology. And we've come up with this because our company owner was an O and M in the 80s, obviously training his clients with existing infrastructure at the time was very difficult. He partnered with the German Blind Association and his clients to create the system that we have today. And our Look ID smartphone app was actually designed through a research project that was done with the University of Hamburg in Germany in collaboration with the German Blind Association. Everything that we have here has been designed fully by advocates in the community as well as the German Blind Association that has firsthand knowledge of the challenges that this community faces with complex navigation issues of traffic intersections.   Jeff Thompson: Well I think this is really great technology and it's something that's needed and you've been traveling around to all the departments of transportation advocating for this.   Olivia Harden: That's right. I would say 80% of my job currently is going around meeting with traffic engineers that are responsible for designing these intersections, as well as traffic technicians that are responsible for the procurement and deployment of these systems. And I'm not going in for an hour talking about why my product's better than the others. I'm actually taking the opportunity to discuss exactly how this community navigates complex intersections, the challenges that you're facing and how we as manufacturers can do better by creating smarter technology to make this easier and to remove the anxieties.   Olivia Harden: And I really do this because I believe that the only way we can change the current situation is by invoking empathy and compassion with these traffic technicians that are responsible for deploying massive traffic intersections and they're just looking at audible signals as just another thing to tick off their list. But I'm going in and saying, "No, when you actually deploy these systems or when you think about procuring them, we need to be finding solutions that are really tackling these major challenges that are still existing with current infrastructure."   Jeff Thompson: I thought what was really neat is when they employ these, they can actually monitor them from headquarters basically.   Olivia Harden: That's right. If they do go down for whatever reason, say a car runs into a pole and we lose a button and acoustic unit it will actually send an alert back to the central office and actually tell a city and that's a huge part of maintenance issues. I'm sure there have been many situations. I've had a lot of advocates yesterday telling me that they've gone to intersections and buttons don't work. This is just further technology that helps aid cities in being able to maintain these systems that might be deployed all over their city.   Jeff Thompson: They would know in real time when something's wrong.   Olivia Harden: Exactly. It will send them an alert by email and they might integrate them into their current monitoring systems and they might get a red alert on their traffic screen.   Jeff Thompson: Could we get some sound from it right now?   Olivia Harden: Sure. I'll just plug this in for you. You currently hear the locator tone and then I will activate the audible signal.   Speaker 3: Wait.   Olivia Harden: It's just running through a cycle right now and then I'll activate again.   Speaker 3: Wait.   Olivia Harden: The audible signal will go off soon.   Jeff Thompson: Then you can cross.   Olivia Harden: This is the walk guide signal to tell you when you can step off the curb.   Speaker 3: Two, one.   Olivia Harden: And this particular countdown is the audible countdown that sighted persons see in the clearance phase. We would be seeing numbers that would count down anywhere from 30 downwards and we are actually doing an audible version of that.   Jeff Thompson: Some departments of transportations and counties or cities could actually have one of these installed for a needs base.   Olivia Harden: Absolutely. We're typically throughout America, seeing these being deployed on a needs case basis. Obviously members in the community might put in a request, they send someone out to evaluate the intersection and determine whether this is an intersection that needs this system. And then they have to obviously find budget to be able to do it. But we're typically seeing them being deployed on a needs case basis. We have some state departments like Virginia Department of Transportation have now created a rule that for any new construction, so any new intersection that's being deployed, these are automatically included in the design. And so they actually get deployed from the get go on a new construction intersection.   Jeff Thompson: Well that's really interesting. This is really good stuff. Sorry, can you tell people where they can find out more information?   Olivia Harden: Yeah, so we have a website. It's www.rtb, that's Roger, Tango, Bravo, safetraffic.com. My name's Olivia Harden. I will also be available by email at sales@rtbsafetraffic.com.   Jeff Thompson: Thank you very much and I'll get this out to everybody and you have a wonderful convention.   Olivia Harden: Thank you. Thank you so much for your time.   Jeff Thompson: It was a great time meeting up with Olivia and hear about RTB Safe Traffic and her work with audio pedestrian signals. And if you want to find out more about RTB Safe Traffic, check them out on the web at www.rtbsafetraffic.com and remember to check out the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying enable Blind Abilities. You can also listen to Blind Abilities on the Victor Stream and on any pod catcher out there. Just type in Blind Abilities. That's two words, Blind Abilities. And most importantly, I want to thank you, the listener. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed. And until next time. Bye Bye.   [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening.

Gill Beeri from Orcam tells us about the latest updates to the Orcam MyEye 2. Gives us a great overview of the features and uses. Announces breaking news about the partnership with NFB and ACB and how NFB and ACB members can get a 10 percent discount on the Orcam MyEye 2. Full Transcript Below Orcam was a huge sponsor at the NFB convention in Las Vegas and we want to thank them for supporting not only the convention, we want to thank them for their innovative solutions and hard work at bringing the Blind Community a tool that empowers us and enhances our independence. Thanks Orcam. You can find out more about Orcam on the web at www.Orcam.com/en And WorldWide at www.Orcam.com. Stay up to date with all the breaking news on the Orcam Facebook Page. Follow Orcam on Twitter @Orcam   ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.   Full Transcript:   Orcam MyEye 2: The Most Advanced Wearable Assistive Technology Device for the Blind and Visually Impaired, that Reads Text, Recognizes Faces, Identifies Products and More. #NFB19 {Music} Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. All in attendance at the National Federation of the Blind Convention 2019 held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sin City. I ran into Gil Beeri from OrCam. I met up with Gil a couple of years ago, so it was really nice to meet up with him once again and talk about the MyEye 2. It's had some updates, some new features, and Gil's just ready to talk about it and let us all know the new features and what the OrCam team is up to.   Jeff Thompson: I'd really like to thank OrCam for being such a big sponsor at the convention. It's nice that they support the convention. They've been out there for four years now. OrCam's come a long ways, so thank you, OrCam.   Jeff Thompson: Their booth was right up front and it was quite busy, so I really want to thank Gil Beeri for taking the time away from the booth a little bit just to share with us all a little bit about the OrCam MyEye 2, and announcing some special partnerships with NFB and ACB and some discounts just for you. So let's head into the exhibit hall, over to the OrCam booth and talk to Gil Beeri. We hope you enjoy.   Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. I'm at the NFB 2019 convention in Las Vegas, and I came up to the OrCam booth and I'm talking with Gil Beeri. How are you doing?   Gil Beeri: I'm great. How are you doing, Jeff?   Jeff Thompson: I'm doing great. Nice to see you again. It's been a couple of years.   Gil Beeri: Yeah, exactly.   Jeff Thompson: So OrCam, you've been around for a few years, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about it?   Gil Beeri: Yeah, we were here for our fourth time already, and very proud sponsors for the NFB convention this year. We have special news for this convention this year. We signed a collaboration agreement with the National Federation of the Blind, which will, first of all, offer members of the federation a special 10% discount buying an OrCam MyEye or an OrCam MyReader through OrCam. And we also join hands with the National Federation of the Blind on seeing where development goes on assistive technology and our product in particular. So we're very excited about that. Just last year we've came up with a few updates to our new MyEye 2 device adding an app that you can use the app for basic menu set up and operating the device. We also came up with voice commands.   Jeff Thompson: I like some of the gesture bases. You just pretended to look at your watch and all of a sudden it just told you the time.   AI: The time is 9:01 AM.   Gil Beeri: Another way to get time is by using voice commands. I would double tap on the device.   Gil Beeri: Tell time.   AI: The time is 9:01 AM.   Gil Beeri: More than 20 voice commands that will make operation of the device much easier for the user and that would [inaudible] to the new Bluetooth connection and other things that came out with the MyEye 2 when we came out with it a little bit less than two years ago.   Jeff Thompson: So I could use the OrCam with my Bose frames?   Gil Beeri: Yes, you can. I actually tested that and they worked perfectly with it.   Jeff Thompson: That's great. Now this is something that someone could just be in the comfort of their own home and just point at the newspaper magazine and just have it read to them.   Gil Beeri: Exactly. The whole idea behind OrCam was to make the usage as intuitive as possible. There are a lot of man hours that are put in the design of the device to make it as easy to use as possible.   Gil Beeri: Now, using artificial intelligence is not always very easy and we understand that, especially for a person who is blind or visually impaired, it's not very easy learning about technology. So this is why we put a lot of hours in design of the comfortable and relatively easy user interface.   Jeff Thompson: One thing that's really unique about the OCR that you have, it's all done internally. It doesn't go up to the web or anything. So the privacy of what you're actually scanning is contained.   Gil Beeri: Yeah. Well this is a great question, Jeff, because privacy is an important thing today, not only in your day to day life, but also in your workplace. We know that employment is a huge challenge. Using OrCam at the workplace enables the user to read information without sending any of it up to the cloud, which then exposes that information to third parties that you do not want to have that ability. So everything is done, the whole process is done, on board on that tiny little device, which is the size of a finger basically and weighs less than an ounce.   Gil Beeri: This is one of the advantages we see for using OrCam at the workplace.   Jeff Thompson: And it just clips right onto your existing glasses?   Gil Beeri: Yeah. There's a magnetic mount. A tiny magnetic mount that connects to your glasses. Basically any frame will do. Basically it doesn't matter if it's sun glasses or regular glasses, as long as they're not those little tiny wire frames. Almost any frame you can put the mount on and the device clicks magnetically on that mount, ensuring also that it's in the right direction.   Gil Beeri: You cannot put it on the wrong direction. The camera cannot go pointing backwards. It only can only point forward because the mount won't take it because of the magnetic fields. So it won't stick.   Jeff Thompson: If someone has hearing problems, they could switch to one ear or the other?   Gil Beeri: Yes, exactly. Can go now on both sides. The old device was mounted only on the right side, but this device can go on both sides, no problem.   Jeff Thompson: So what else can they do? It can do OCR.   Gil Beeri: Well it does OCR, facial recognition. It recognizes products, recognizes barcodes, money notes, colors. Basically that's it. But you ... regarding barcodes, colors, and facial recognition, you can also program the device to recognize either your friends and loved ones, your preferred products in the grocery store, or if there's a barcode on a product that is not stored in our about million barcodes that are on the device, you can program that barcode and it will announce it on your own voice the next time you scan that barcode.   Jeff Thompson: The first time I experimented with OrCam, it was in Minnesota Convention and it said Monty. Hey, it knows you. Monty?   Gil Beeri: Yeah. Well, I think we've made a few steps forward since then. OrCam now is a device that is sold in 42 different countries all over the world and 25 different languages. By the way, the device in the US for example, comes already on board with reading capabilities in Latin Spanish and Canadian French. So you can use the device if you are a multilingual speaker, you can use that device to read in Spanish, to read in French, whatever you prefer. In other countries, we have other sets of languages. Again, 25 different languages in 42 different countries and they're all localized to that specific country, meaning that on that device you'll read the money notes of that country, the barcodes of that country.   Jeff Thompson: So that's really great. You mentioned members of the NFB do get a discount? You're also at the ACB convention and you made that announcement there too, right?   Gil Beeri: Yes. Well, both ACB members and NFB members will get that special 10% discount. Right here on the NFB convention and valid only for the convention, we have a special exclusive convention deal. So not only that you will get the 10% discount. You will also get a package of accessories from OrCam valued at $300 that we have with that.   Gil Beeri: Part of it is this tiny little thing I'm showing you here, which is a special designed charger for the MyEye device that has a belt clip on it and it's like a cradle that you put the device in it. It can sit on your belt and if the device has about one hour and 30 of consecutive work, this will add four times that time of usage.   Jeff Thompson: Oh, wow.   Gil Beeri: So you can actually hold the whole day using that cradle. You can put it up and down from your mount into this cradle and it will charge it when you're not using it.   Jeff Thompson: And that's just about the size of a pack of gum.   Gil Beeri: Yeah. That's right about it.   Jeff Thompson: Yeah, that's really neat.   Jeff Thompson: Well, Gil, thank you very much for taking the time out of your day here at the convention and sharing everything with the Blind Abilities listeners.   Gil Beeri: Thanks Jeff. It's always a pleasure and I hope the next time I see you will be less than two years.   Jeff Thompson: All right.   {Music}    Jeff Thompson: Always a great time talking to Gil. Always a great time at the OrCam booth and always a fun time at the Exhibit Hall of the NFB Convention. So, if you want to find out more about or camp, check them out on the web at O-R-C-A-M. That's orcam.com. Follow them on Twitter @Orcam and on their Facebook page at OrCam Tech.   Jeff Thompson: And be sure to check out blindabilities.com or the Blind Abilities app or on your podcatcher of choice, Blind Abilities. That's two words. And you can find all the convention coverage from the summer of 2019. And be sure if you got a Victor Stream, check us out on the suggested list. You can listen to the Blind Abilities podcast right on the Victor Stream and you can enable the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying, "Enable Blind Abilities." And most importantly, I want to thank you, the listener, for listening to the show. We hope you enjoyed. And until next time, bye bye.     [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening.

Show Summary: Joel Zimba, Blindness Products Specialist for Humanware, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the new Braille Trail Reader LE. This new Braille Display was developed in partnership with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) for and fits right into the APH  line of Quota  Fund available products. The Braille Trail is built off the Brailliant BI 14 Braille Display which is available from Humanwareand while the two devices are very much similar, the Braille Trail has a few specific student/teacher software features added to this bite size braille display. Joel and Jeff also talk about the podcast possibilities built into the Victor Stream devices and how easy it is to follow your favorite podcasts. For more information about the Braille Trail Reader LE, check out the www.APH.org web site and to find out more about the Brailliant BI 14 Braille Display, go to Humanware.com. You can also reach Humanware by phone at 800-722-3393.  You can contact Joel Zimba by email. Be sure to stop by the Humanware exhibit at the NFB and ACB conferences coming up in July! Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Show Summary: (Full Transcript Below) Screen readers, Refreshable Braille, Magnification, Audio Books, Computers and Smart Devices are just a few of the Tools for Success that are available to the Blind/Visually Impaired community. From education to the workplace, Assistive Technology enables people with a visual impairment to do just about anything they want to and apply for the jobs and the careers that they want. State Services for the Blind has a technology Unit that makes assessments and help clients determine what assistive technology would best suit their needs as they set their educational and career goals. Jesse Anderson is an Assistive Technology Specialist at State Services for the Blind (SSB) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In this podcast, Jesse will take you through the assessment process and how assistive technology choices are made and individualized for each person and their educational and career goals.  Jesse admits he is a nerd and loves technology. Jesse loves Accessible Gaming and Advocates for accessibility in the gaming industry. You can find out more about Jesse and accessible gaming on his YouTube Channel, Illegally Sighted. If you want to find out more about State Services for the Blind. You can call (651) 539-2300 Find them on the web. Outside of Minnesota, search for your state agency/Vocational Rehabilitation Services in your state and find out what they can do for you.   Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Full Transcript Full Transcription: Jeff Thompson: Be sure to check out the blind ability scill on your Amazon device. Just say, "Enable Blind Abilities." {Music} Jesse Anderson: We're not just looking at, okay, how can we get you through your classes that you're currently in. We're actually looking at more of a long-term goal. Jeff Thompson: Meet Jesse Anderson. Jesse Anderson: They use Windows PC's typically in many office environments. Jeff Thompson: Assistive Technology Specialist from State Services for the Blind in Minnesota. Jesse Anderson: Mac is in a lot of the more artistic areas, so maybe audio, video production, maybe some web design. It's good for people to learn that experience as well, to kind of know how to find ways to fix problems. If you are low vision, how would you do that? If you are blind, how would you do that? Well, I might take my phone and use it as a magnifier. Or if I am blind, I might take my phone or my laptop, and snap a picture of it and have it read aloud with my Bluetooth headphones. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I am Jeff Thompson. Today we're going to be talking about assistive technology. About the tools for success. The tools that will help you level the playing field in the job market, in employment, and in education. We'll be talking about the services that your state agency can provide to you, and how your participation is vitally important towards your success. So be sure to check out your state agency, your voc rehab, your state's services for the blind and see what they can do for you. Jesse Anderson: Have the technology skills and knowing those skills well I think is just a really good thing to do, no matter what you are going to be doing in your employment or education. If you are low vision, you may be a Zoom text user, but you know what? It might be a great idea to learn Windows Magnifier, because a. It's free, b. It's built into Windows. Jeff Thompson: If you wanna find more podcasts with a blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, and check out our extensive library. From job insights, TVI Toolbox, iPhone 101, and our tech show, Tech Abilities, where we cover the latest developments, the latest innovations and the technologies that will enhance your opportunities for success. Jesse Anderson: I am into a little bit of everything but I am definitely still a nerd. Jeff Thompson: Please welcome assistive technology specialist, Jessie Anderson. We hope you enjoy. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I am Jeff Thompson and today I am at State Services for the Blind in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I'm talking to assistive technology specialist, Jessie Anderson. Jessie, how are you doing? Jesse Anderson: I'm doing pretty good. Thanks for having me on today. Jeff Thompson: Great. Jessie, I wanna thank you for taking the time out of your day to come on the Blind Abilities and share with our listeners the services that you provide here at State Services for the Blind as an assistive technology specialist. Jesse Anderson: Yeah, there are actually five assistive technology specialists at SSB and we all work out of the St. Paul office. How it works is we are assigned to specific counselors who cover specific areas of the state. For instance, I do cover the [inaudible] Cato area, and then you have all the other tech specialists covering the different other parts of the state. And the last couple years, my role has changed a little bit because I am starting to work a lot more with transition age students, and that's a little bit more statewide. So I do a lot of metro, but I am traveling around the state a fair bit as well. So I will do assistive technology assessments. Meet with students in the schools or at SSB or wherever we need to. And there's a lot of stuff going on with the transition program. Jeff Thompson: Well that's a good age, 14 to 21. Students that are transitioning from high school to college where they really wanna hone in on some accessible technology to gain employment. Jesse Anderson: Yeah. During one of the ... when I meet with a students, it could be anyone between eighth grade on up in school, and like I said, if they are in the area, sometimes they'll meet here at SSB and if they are local, that is really helpful because we do have quite a few more types of devices in our technology lab or our resource center here. But I do go on the road a lot especially to greater Minnesota. So a lot of times, we'll set up a meeting to meet in the student school during some time that they can meet either during study hall or something, like that. And when I meet with people, some of the things we look at ... we're not just looking at, okay, how can we get you through your classes that you are currently in? We're actually looking at more of a long-term goal. So even if you're eighth, ninth grade, we're still going to kind of be looking at, well maybe you want a summer job. Maybe you want to work a little bit after school, or maybe you are participating in some transition related activities through SSB or other organization. Jesse Anderson: And then moving onto maybe what are you thinking after graduating high school? Are you going to go to college? You kind of maybe have an idea what type of degree. Maybe you wanna work with computers or people or animals. Maybe you don't wanna go to college and maybe you just wanna look for work right away. So those are the kind of things that we look at and then what types of technology would kind of best work to meet those types of education or employment goals based on their vision. Jeff Thompson: Covers a wide spectrum of low vision to totally blind from whether it's their braille, or if they are going to be using a lot of brail, to if they are using more audio. You do a full assessment of what would probably work best for those type of goals that they are seeking. Jesse Anderson: Absolutely. We work with people who are blind, who are low vision, who are deaf-blind, and I have met with people of all those groups. Blind, deaf-blind, and low-vision. And it could also be an accommodation thing. You may have a low-vision user who has some usability vision but honestly, it's much more affective for them to primarily listen to audio and maybe they even know braille. So, instead of maybe you have a very, very limited field of view or very, very low-vision and so visual is just not practical. So we may still look at brail displays. We still may look at a lot of audio. Yeah, it could be anywhere from computer software to smartphones, tablets, braille displays, note takers, portable devices, CCTVs. Any kind of number of things. Jesse Anderson: And so when we get a referrals from the counselor and just kind of get an idea of the person's vision and kind of what they are thinking of doing, then we can kind of help them identify what would work best for them. Jeff Thompson: And that's great because people are coming in. They're probably trying to set up an employment program. And so they are working with counselor and then you have a transition team, and your part of this is when it comes to technology. So what is an assessment? When someone does in come for that assessment, how long do you spend with them? And where do you start? Jesse Anderson: Well, when we do an assessment, usually I tell people that I kind of schedule things for, I would say, between an hour and a half to two hours. I usually block off a two hour block of time, and then even have a little bit of extra time after, if needed. Because I always let people know that if we go through things quickly and end early, or if we go a little bit longer, that's totally fine. My main thing is, I don't want to rush people through everything. We're going to cover a lot of different topics. A lot of different types of technology during that assessment as it is, and so I wanna give people enough time to ask questions, try out some of the technology and not rush through everything. We'll have the information from the counselor's referral and I'll just kind of ask some general questions. What is your vision? Is it stable? Because we also wanna look at, maybe your vision is like this, but oh, maybe it was a little bit better six months ago. And is it stable or is it expected to deteriorate over time? Jesse Anderson: And so we want to look at if that is the case, you may be able to use some large print now, but you may also kind of want to look at using more speech or gradually, especially if someone is not used to it, getting used to using more audio and maybe braille or something like that. Because as their vision changes, they'll need to do that. We look at what their needs are. How they like to best process information. Are they a visual learner? Do they have to physically read it either visually or tactilely through braille? Or do they prefer audio? What's most efficient? If we're looking at employment, we're looking at even things like, yes, okay, I might be able to read visually, but it's not really that fast and if I was in a fast-paced work setting where I had to get my job done quickly, maybe I am talking with customers on the phone. I need to access client information at a customer service job, maybe print isn't the fastest and you do have to look at audio because you also have to look at level of productivity that makes sense. Jeff Thompson: My experience out in the work force and businesses and corporations and all that, it seems like a lot of companies are PC based or they are Microsoft based through their databases. I see a higher percentage of people using JAWS or NVDA on their computers that are in the workforce. I mean, Apple is good with voiceover and your phone. A lot of people use that, and the Androids. But predominately in the workforce, I see Microsoft based computers. Jesse Anderson: Yeah. That's actually what we see a lot too. It's actually really interesting in education because in high schools and stuff right now, we have a pretty good mixture. I'll meet with some students and some schools will use iPads a lot, especially for special education. You'll see some schools that try to use Chromebooks which, they do have accessibility built into them. I don't have a lot of experience with it. I really need to get my hands on a modern Chromebook to play with that a little bit more. But, a lot of people do find even though they do have accessibility built in, they find it a little bit more restrictive. So they would like to either use more of a PC or a Mac, but you have some schools, it'll have PC. Some will use Mac. Some will use iPads. And it's just a wide variety of things. Jesse Anderson: And then when you get To college, it's kind of a free for all, because everybody has their own way to take notes or write reports. You can use your Mac. You can use your PC. But like you said, in the work world, and this is even if somebody is in high school and if they are like, "Oh, I wanna be a psychologist", or, "I wanna work in an office", or, "I wanna work in some type of setting like that", I do let them know that, like you said, they use Windows PC's typically in many office environments. The main place where I would see Mac is in a lot of the artistic areas. So maybe audio, video production. Maybe some web design. But that could go either way. Jesse Anderson: So I mean, we do recommend some Mac packages. Or if somebody is maybe you do have a technical position but maybe somebody is wanting to ... they are a programmer and they need to develop for Mac or iOS. You have to pretty much have a Mac to do that. So there are cases where we do recommend, but yes. In a lot of business settings, I would say, I can probably count the number of actual office settings on one hand that would use a Mac, as it's all been pretty much Windows. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Well that's the unique thing about what you do here at State Services for the Blind, is you develop programs for individual for their needs. What works best for them to succeed. Jesse Anderson: Correct. Jeff Thompson: So Jessie, say someone does acquire a piece of equipment and it's working for them, but they wanna learn a little bit more about it. What do you suggest to them to do at that point? Jesse Anderson: Well, when we meet with people during the original assessment, we'll kind of also look at what their computer skills are. Not just computer skills, but how well they use the computer. If they are using an iPhone or an iPad, Android device, or whatever technology that is that they need or are currently using, and we'll let them know that we do have a couple of on-staff trainers that can work with them for some tasks and then we also have some certified contracted trainers that we work with throughout the state who can meet individually, one-on-one, with people for technology training. And that can happen at SSB. That can happen at the client's home. That can happen at the job site. Like I said, in addition to assessments, we will also go ... let's say somebody gets a job offer, and the company says we're using this software. Is this going to work with JAWS, Zoom Text or NVDA? Something like that. Jesse Anderson: And so we can work with the user and we can work with the business and we can set up a time to go to that business and get the demo of JAWS, or Zoom Text, let's say, installed on those machines, and have somebody at the job who knows what that position requires, and then they'll walk us through kind of what that person would be required to do, and then we can test how that assistive technology works with their software. Are there any problems? And if there are, what kind of things can we do to get around them or fix them? Yeah, there's a lot involved. With training, or with assessing job sites. All kinds of different things. Jeff Thompson: So they are not alone. Jesse Anderson: No, no. And if somebody has ... we got some equipment for them, or they have equipment already. Like I said, there is a training part of it, and then let's say somebody gets ... receives some technology with the assistance of SSB. We give them an assistive technology resource guide, and that's kind of a long document that has all kinds of helpful information. It'll have all of their device information. Their serial numbers of their devices. It'll have some common tips for different things. A lot of times we have a few cheat sheets for some programs like using some of the built in accessibility features of Mac and Windows. And then there's also in this resource guide, we also provide contact information for a lot of the common types of devices that we recommend. So be it a computer, a brail display, Zoom Text or JAWS. Something like that. Jesse Anderson: And we do encourage them. Yes, we are definitely there to help but we also do encourage them to contact ... let's say they have a computer program. Their computer just died, or they have a weird JAWS behavior problem or they have whatever issue. To also encourage them to learn how to contact some of the manufacturers and get some of their technical support too, because some of the really strange bugs, maybe some things that even we can't quite figure out. Or maybe there's a hardware issue, where they will have to kind of send it in. And so it's good for people to learn that experience as well to kind of know how to find ways to fix problems. Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah. And that's a life-long skill because all the way down to your job, career, whatever you are doing, you're going to come across problems and develop advocating for assistance, help, maintenance, whatever it is, pays off in the long run. So, Jessie, you've talked about going to college but employment seems to be the big thing. For people who are looking for employment, what suggestions would you have for them in regards to technology and maybe an employer not understanding what AT, assistive technology, is? Jesse Anderson: There are a few things that I will kind of tell people are as we are discussing things during the assessment or as we we're meeting in general. When we're talking about transition, the common sort of issues is that, well, this assistive technology is cool, but I don't really wanna look different. Like okay, I've got this CCTV or I've got this brail display and people are like what the heck is that? And we all know. I mean, I went through it. You went through it. Kids can be mean. When you're in high school, junior high, high school, kids can do some really mean things. And so they are kind of worried about looking different or standing out. And we just try to encourage them to ... if this makes your life a lot easier, like if you are really struggling to read that assignment, if you are really struggling to see the white board at the front of the room or to write that report or whatever it is for school, yeah, you might look a little bit different. But everybody uses technology in the room now. I mean, you've got people using their smartphones and tablets and laptops and things. Jesse Anderson: So you might have a few little bit different things, but if it's going to make your life a lot easier and more efficient, speed up what you're doing, and spend half an hour instead of three hours on an assignment, don't worry about it. And when you get to college, not only will people not care, but that's actually a really interesting conversation starter, because then people go, "Oh, dude, what's that?" And then you can show them stuff. Then they also get more of a positive impression of, "Oh, okay. You are going to college. You are going to look for work." Kind of gives them more of a positive impression on blindness or low-vision as well. Jesse Anderson: One of the other things that I would talk about is that when you are at that employment stage, I think it's just really important to treat the job search as a full-time job in itself. You know, I mean, a lot of people might kind of expect, "Oh, well SSB is here and they are going to help, or they are going to find me a job. Oh, they are going to get a job for me." No, we're definitely here to help you, but you definitely have to do your part as well. I'm speaking from experience, I got my undergrad degree and after that, I was unemployed for three and a half years. But that wasn't for lack of trying. I basically set aside anywhere between six, eight hours a day on weekdays, and sometimes weekends if I found a good job lead. And I would apply for jobs. I would look for jobs. Jesse Anderson: I had a whole jobs folder where I would have several types of templates for resumes and cover letters, where maybe I am applying for help desk jobs. Maybe I am applying for a web design job or a customer ... Any type of job, so I could just quickly get those out there. And then I would even have Excel workbooks, because I was applying for so many jobs, it's so hard to keep track. And so I would put, okay, I applied for this business, this position. I applied for it on that date. Did I get a response? Did I get an interview? What are the things [inaudible], because otherwise, I was not going to remember it. In that three and a half period, I got so many rejection letters, I jokingly would tell people that I could wallpaper my apartment with them. So it's just you really do have to put in the work and treat the job search as pretty much a full-time job to really get good results. You really gotta put in, especially since we have to prove ourselves. Hey, we're blind or vision impaired, or deaf-blind, but we can do things too. Jesse Anderson: The other thing that I would ... I kind of recommend as far as technology goes that can be really helpful is, okay, so you get an interview, and I didn't do this right away but what I found to be helpful as I started doing later on, was I would bring some ... not everything, but I would bring a couple of commonly used items with me to that interview. It could be my laptop in a laptop bag. It could be my ... now it would be my iPhone and you'll be doing the interview, and by that time, they will probably know that you have a vision impairment and they may ... employers will have concerns. "Oh can you do this part of the job?" Or, "How would you do this part of the job? Can you do it quickly enough?" And not only bringing the technology to the interview, but even having some documents on your laptop ready or some tasks in mind that you could do, so someone says, "Okay, we're in a meeting and we need to hand out these memos that we want people to read and we're going to discuss. Okay if you're low-vision, how would you do that? If you're blind, how would you do that?" Jesse Anderson: Well, I might take my phone and use it as a magnifier. Or if I am blind, I might take my phone or my laptop and snap a picture of it and have it read aloud with my Bluetooth headphones. How do I access the Internet? Well, let me bring up my phone or let me bring up my laptop and go to a website that you know, go to something fairly complex so that they can see that you are using the sites that everybody does. Go to Amazon. That's a pretty complex. There's a lot of information there. Pretty complex site. And just kind of showing them some of those things, offer to kind of show them so that way they think, "Oh, okay. Not only can you do it, but you can do it well." And know your assistive technology. That's the other thing. Know your assistive technology. Jeff Thompson: That's a good point. Because sometimes you may get the equipment, but you don't know how to use it and that takes a lot of time to get familiar with it so you can use it efficiently. And that's a great point when you're at a job interview because that person there, their internal monologue is wondering, can they do this? They're not saying it, but their thought bubbles are, I don't know if they can access a computer. So you're actually breaking that ice and it's showing them and just opening the door for the possibilities like, wow I didn't know that. Because a lot of people don't know what we can do with assistive technology. Jesse Anderson: Absolutely. And I would say that a lot of people really underestimate. That's one thing that I see in education. That's one thing that I see in employment. Just kind of everywhere. A lot of it isn't the ... as long as we're doing everything that we can, we're capable. But there's a lot of low expectations or just people just don't know that, oh ... I've had people ask me, actually it was very recently. I was getting my, I think I was getting mail and somebody at my apartment complex was like, "Oh so do you work?" And I'm like, "Yeah." "Oh, okay. That's interesting." I said, "Yeah. Not only do I work, I work full-time and I do this and I do that." It's just kind of even people that kind of see me around, they're like, I didn't know really what you could do. So yeah, we encounter that a lot. It's just a lot of low expectations. But something like that can help a lot. It's just being prepared. Jeff Thompson: That's the great thing about state services for the blind, because when you're in the predicament, maybe you just lost some eyesight or maybe you've been blind and you are looking towards transitioning to college to the work place, you can come here, get a counselor and you'll meet up with someone like Jessie, an assistive technology specialist, to find the tools for success that'll help you level the playing field basically. Put you on an even keel with everyone else. And like Jessie mentioned, employment. They have employment specialists as well that can help you look for jobs, teach you how to look for jobs, teach you some skills of resume building. Jesse Anderson: Mock interviews as well. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). There are so many services here that you can get at state services for the blind. Your state agency, your vocational rehab, wherever you are, check them out and Jessie what advice would you give to someone who is transitioning from college to high school to the workplace? Jesse Anderson: Really, it's just kind of a matter of look at what you wanna do. I've had people come in and say, "Well, what are some blind jobs I could get?" And yeah, there are certain things. I'm not going to become an airline pilot or a driver or something like that, but if you wanna work on mechanics, if you want to work in an office, if you wanna do ... work in education, there's probably ... especially with all of the services and all of the technology and different things, there's probably a way to make it happen. So don't pigeon hole yourself into necessarily like, oh, these are ... I can do customer service, or I can do tuning pianos or I don't know if that's even a thing anymore, but you know? And like I said, knowing your technology. Learning those technology skills as early as possible I think is really helpful because not only just for employment but I mean, for independence, I mean, just being able to look things up on the Internet. I mean, Amazon Prime is wonderful and evil at the same time, because it's so easy to buy things but I can research products and shop. Jesse Anderson: I can pay my bills. I can do all kinds of things with my phone or my computer. Whatever. So just having the technology skills and knowing those skills well, I think is just a really good thing to do no matter what you are going to be doing in employment or education. Jeff Thompson: Great. Jessie, on a daily basis, what tools do you utilize? Jesse Anderson: In my job, I use a lot of different tools myself, because I am indeed legally blind. I have some vision, but I am legally blind. So, I actually use a combination of magnification and speech. I find myself using Windows Magnifier actually, quite a bit. Especially in Windows 10. Windows 10 has Windows Magnifier built in. It also has some high contrast features that I've been ... especially in the latest October update. They've really fixed some things and added some things so it's worked better. But I'll use Zoom Text from time to time. But honestly, I use a screen reader. I use speech a lot. I use NVDA a lot. I do still use JAWS sometimes. But NVDA and even System Access, I really like the way System Access works on the Internet. So NVDA, System Access, JAWS, those are things I use all the time. I also use my phone. Jesse Anderson: I have an iPhone and I use the built in magnifier to read short little documents or serial numbers. Things like that. I use other magnification apps. I will use things like Seeing AI, or Prismo, or KNFB Reader to OCR a document really quick. I use Voice Dream Reader and BookShare books, and BARD, and I mean just reading books for recreation or even part as my job, I wanna keep up on technology and things like that. So I read a lot of technology related books and information. So there's all kinds of apps I use on my phone, but that's probably one of my most used tools is my phone. Jeff Thompson: And in the world out there, especially in the job market and having more tools in your tool box, [inaudible] that's a catchall phrase, but having different angles of attacking at certain solution problem is a screen doesn't read to have a couple things that you could draw from is probably a good skill to have. Jesse Anderson: I'm really glad you brought that up because I totally forgot about that. That is absolutely what we recommend as well. So if you are low-vision, you may be a Zoom Text user but you know what? It might be a great idea to learn Windows Magnifier because a. It's free, b. It's built into Windows. It doesn't cost anything, but you're not always using your computer. Maybe you go to a library, a computer lab, a friend or family's place and they don't have Zoom Text installed. You can still have magnification if you are a speech user, you may be a JAWS user, but guess what? NVDA is free. It runs on a thumb drive. You can use that. You might be able to get by with using Windows Narrator and of course Apple has its voice over for a screen reader. You have Zoom built into the Mac and iOS both. Yes, knowing more than one screen ... I regularly, professionally, I regularly switch between multiple tools. Like if one OCR app doesn't work, I'll use a different one. I might visit a website with JAWS and it doesn't work, and so I use NVDA or NVDA doesn't read something and JAWS does. So absolutely knowing more than one tool, especially nowadays with the way things move so quickly. Absolutely important. Jesse Anderson: It's really interesting being an assistive technology specialist right now, because things move just so much faster. Back in the day we had, maybe you had Magic and Zoom Text or you had JAWS and WindowEyes and now you've got the Windows stuff. You've got Mac. You've got iOS. Android. And then that's not even getting into people ask about smart appliances like Google Home and Alexa or the Amazon Echo. There's so many different platforms and they all can have good uses for them, but there's a lot to keep track of. Even we can't keep up with it all. I mean, I try to. I am a nerd, and I'm into that kind of stuff, but I can't even learn everything. Jeff Thompson: Especially, I'll go on my wife's PC and I'll hit the VO keys. Well there are no VO keys on that, the PC laptop, so it's kind of fun that ... going back and forth, for me, I can do it but I have to think about it for a little bit and staying up to date with stuff. So I'll use a Mac. I can use the PC. I can use a couple of other things and that's an asset that I do. But, it does take a little bit of work to get my brain wrapped around it again. Jesse Anderson: Yeah. Definitely. I want to say, especially if you are totally blind or if you are a speech user, magnification, you can kinda figure things out because the interface might be a little bit different, but you can kind of, oh I can click around and stuff. But me being a long time PC user and just learning Mac a few years ago, I'm still not a great Mac user, I'll admit it. But I know enough to kind of get around and do some damage. Yeah. The way that you would think of navigating a Windows screen reader is kind of a bit different with voice over and that took me a lot of time to kind of get used to. So people go, "Well I wanna use a Mac because I've heard it's good for blind people." Or, "I'm using a Mac and maybe I gotta learn [inaudible] a PC", and some people might have the mistake and impression, oh, well they are both speech. You just learn a few commands and you go. Yeah. Some can take a little more time to transition because some of the way you navigate and stuff can be a bit different. Jeff Thompson: Now in your position, a lot of us out here, we have friends in the community and stuff. We get to sample things once in a while. Try and kick it around the block a little bit here and there. Now, in your position, you probably go to conferences or events where they are displaying stuff or people want to show you stuff. Vendors and all sorts of stuff, so you probably get a whole onslaught of different tools and accessible devices to sample. Jesse Anderson: We do work with quite a few of our vendors. We do have vendors who come into SSB and show the tech specialists news devices or updates to new devises, but we also do periodically have events that are opened to the public where you'll have a vendor come by and they'll show their devices and device demonstrations and we've had people come in to do that. People come in to watch that as well. We also do, if we can, we will sometimes try to get down to the CSUN conference in California. Usually it's in March and that is kind of the premier assistive technology conference. You do have things like closing the gap in ATI, but those don't really focus on blindness as much, I think as they used to. I've gone to CSUN now twice and absolutely love it. They are actually going to be in a new hotel or a new venue this year. So that'll be interesting. I'm not going to be going to that unfortunately this year, but it's a fantastic conference if you're into assistive technology. If you're a tech specialist. If you're a user. Whatever. It is pretty fun. It's pretty informative. Jeff Thompson: So Jessie, this is your day time job. What are some of your hobbies that you do? And what's your interest in? Jesse Anderson: Well, I'm into a little bit of everything, but I'm definitely still a nerd. Like I said, I still do some technology stuff at home. Technology, gaming, I like music. I'm trying to teach myself the drums. Mess around with the guitar a little bit, that kind of a thing. But I do, like I said, I still do some technology and even game accessibility stuff in my spare time. For the past several years, I do run a YouTube channel called Illegally Sighted, and that's going pretty well. And I'm really trying to advocate, like I said, everything ... my day job is all about work, but there's more to life than just work and especially video games and VR. Virtual reality, augmented reality. Those things are all becoming quite popular in the mainstream world, and blind and low-vision users would like to be included in some of that, too, and so as I've been doing the YouTube channel, it's kind of turned into this ... I've really started working more with advocating for game accessibility and I have a VR headset at home. Jesse Anderson: So I've been trying to use that as a way to like hey, approach developers. We don't have standards yet for virtual reality officially, because everyone is still trying to figure it out. So if we can get someone in there to say, "Hey, you're trying to figure things out. Let's get accessibility as just one of those standards from the beginning because it's much easier to do it from the beginning than it is to bolt it on later." So I've been trying to advocate for that and as part of that, I did a presentation in fall of 2017 that's archived on my channel. I did a presentation for #id24, Inclusive Design 24, on VR accessibility for low-vision users, and in March of this year, I was actually invited to be a presenter, part of a panel, at the third annual game accessibility conference. GACon, as it's kind of referred to online and on Twitter. And you can go to gaconf.com and it's a one day conference that's held in San Francisco and I was able to get things lined up and working so I am going to be going down to that conference for the first time this year and be a panel speaker, and hopefully I'll be able to meet some developers, and a lot of the people that I have been kind of socializing with on social media, on Twitter and things like that. Jesse Anderson: So I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully it can result in just getting another voice out there and making more developers and stuff realize, hey, it may not be as difficult as you think it is, but blind people, low-vision people are a market too, and we do have money to spend and we wanna do, we wanna participate in games and such as well. So, that should be really fun to see how that goes. Jeff Thompson: Jessie, thank you for being an advocate for everyone, because I know a lot of people out there that want to hang onto that or have the possibilities of playing games. It's a big market out there, and thank you for doing what you are doing. Jesse Anderson: Sure. No problem. Jeff Thompson: Great, well Jessie Anderson, I wanna thank you very much for coming on to Blind Abilities. Taking the time out here at SSB. That's State Services for the Blind of Minnesota. Thank you very much. Jesse Anderson: All right. Thank you. Jeff Thompson: Be sure to check out your state services, your state agency, your vocational rehab, and see what they can do for you. And be sure to check out the Blind Abilities scale on your Amazon device. Just say, enable Blind Abilities. And you can listen to the Blind Abilities on the Victor Stream. Just go to their favorites list and find Blind Abilities. There you go. You can search for Blind Abilities in any of your favorite PodCatchers. Just type in, Blind Abilities. That's too words. Blind abilities. And you can always download the free blind abilities app from the Apple store, or the Google Play store. And like I said, it's two words. Blind abilities. Jeff Thompson: I want to thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed and until next time. Bye-bye. [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes... [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence] ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

In this episode we begin by sharing some important news for those on our teleclasses mailing list. As a result of some changes we've made, you can now subscribe to our teleclasses list not only from the teleclasses page,but also during checkout and from our contact page. Speaking of classes, we have two exciting ones coming up soon. Our free monthly teleclass for March is Read All About It, where we'll be sharing high and low tech methods for discovering accessible books, magazines and more. The class will be held on Thursday, March 22. For all the relevantjoining info, please subscribe to our teleclass list from the Teleclasses Page link above. In April, Chris and Kim are excited to be holding a class on cutting the cord for those who are blind or have low vision. It will run for three consecutive Tuesday evenings beginning April 24. For all the information and to register for $39, please visit this page. We have a very important announcement for those who access our podcast using a second generation Victor Stream. Some of these listeners running firmware version 4.86 or earlier may not be receiving our latest episodes. Humanware can provide you with pre-release firmware that will resolve this issue. Please use this link to find the Humanware contact info for your country. If you run into problems, please call or email us and we'll be happy to help. If you know someone who may not be receiving our podcasts, please pass this info on to them. We want everyone to be able to access our fun and informative episodes. We have two demos in this episode. First, Kim shares the first part of her MysticAccess.com tour. If you've ever been frustrated, confused or lost when viewing our website, this thorough tour will help. This is the first part... the second part of the tour will be in our next episode. Finally, if you detest having to go to the grocery store as much as Chris does, he may have found a wonderful solution for you. It's called Instacart, and Chris shows us how it works and why he thinks it's so cool. We hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks for listening.

Would you like to access online content with Victor Stream new generation or Trek and you don't know how to do it? In this podcast, Alexandre shows you how to connect to a Wi-Fi network using the virtual keyboard on the Victor Reader Stream new generation. He shows you both methods available to enter text. Alexandre also instructs you how to subscribe to the Canadialog podcast feed, how to listen radio as well as how to download Daisy books from the CELA library which is a popular Canadian service for persons who can't access printed material. Please note That these procedures also work with the new Victor Reader Trek. Visit our website regularly to be informed when new Podcast becomes available or subscribe to our Youtube channel. Also, please note that our podcasts are now available on iTunes as well as on Victor Reader. In addition, as a reminder, the Canadialog team can offer private or group training on request on the use of Victor Reader or any other assistive technologies. Do not hesitate to contact our team to learn more about training we can offer. Enjoy!

Update for the Seeing AI app from Microsoft   The Seeing AI app has been recently updated with 4 extra channels: currency, Colour, hand writing, and Light. I have updated my podcast on the Seeing AI app to include these channels.   JAWS2018 Update   The latest JaWS2018 update includes to interesting features: Speech On demand and Screen Shade. To toggle Speech on Demand: JAWS+Space+S. To toggle Screen Shade: JaWS+Space+Print Screen. If you are using a MacBook keyboard with Windows 10, then the keyboard command for Screen Shade is: JAWS+Space+Fn+Shift+F11.   A Play Around with a New device - Sensivo Sky   This device allows you to control your Air Conditioner as the device emulates your remote, and via the app you can control and monitor your Air Conditioner.  In addition, you can link the device account up to Google Home or Amazon Echo and turn the temperature up and down, change to cool to heat, and check temp or humidity readings on the AC.   Different ways of Catching Up with Talking Tech or Vision Australia Radio over the Summer  You can catch the show via Vision Australia I-Access with the VA Connect app for iOS or Android, listen to it on the Victor Stream, or any pod catching app. As vision Australia Radio is online, you can listen via Tune-In Radio or even say something like on Google Home: Ok Google play Vision Australia Radio Melbourne.   Microsoft and Apple's Accessibility Support phone numbers for the Christmas New Year Holiday Period Apple: 1300 365 083. Microsoft: 1800 280 300.   Where to watch Audio Described Content Over the Summer iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime video. Also accessible cinemas. Keep an eye out for the BAMDescribe iOs app, exciting times may be ahead.   Where to Access Books Over  the Summer Vision Australia I-Access via Va Connect app, Audible, Kindle, Google Play Books.

In this podcast, Chris Kim and Lisa talk about new and upcoming products from Mystic Access. They even announce the new lowered price of the Victor Stream tutorial. Visit the Tek Talk archives by clicking here.

In this podcast, Chris Kim and Lisa talk about new and upcoming products from Mystic Access. They even announce the new lowered price of the Victor Stream tutorial. - Visit the Tek Talk archives by clicking here.

In this podcast, Chris Kim and Lisa talk about new and upcoming products from Mystic Access. They even announce the new lowered price of the Victor Stream tutorial. Visit the Tek Talk archives by clicking here.

In this podcast, Chris Kim and Lisa talk about new and upcoming products from Mystic Access. They even announce the new lowered price of the Victor Stream tutorial. Visit the Tek Talk archives by clicking here.

Greg Stilson from HumanWare talks about the latest update 4.7.2 and how to get your favorite podcasts to automatically download onto your Victor Stream. Be sure to get the latest update and enjoy getting your morning paper auto-magically, as Greg puts it. Join Jeff Thompson and Greg Stilson as they converse about the retro feel yet the tech of today found in the Victor Stream. You can find more about HumanWare and their products on the web at www.HumanWare.com Follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities Pete Lane @Lane7625 Cheryl @MoeLucie Jeff Thompson @JThompson6835 Get the Free Blind Abilities App from the App Store@MoeLucie.  

MainMenu is packed with information you do not want to miss... thanks to Freedom Scientific MainMenu is rebroadcasting the FSCast August 2013 podcast from Freedom Scientific and hear Johnathan Mosen and Eric Damery start their review of the new features and changes coming in Jaws For Windows version 15. This week we hear part two of this presentation. And, Derick Lane from the SeroTalk Podcast Network interviews the product manager for The Victor Stream about the new Victor Reader Stream from Humanware. You will not want to miss the information and interesting content in this show for this week. So join us and be a part of what is going on on MainMenu.

Mary Emerson starts off this week with a review of the second generation Victor Reader Stream. Though we have already reviewed this device extensively in previous shows, Mary gives us her experiences with the differences between the original and second generation Victor Stream. Mary also discusses using Wi-Fi on the second generation Stream in a bit more detail. David Woodbridge from Vision Australia demonstrates the Open in Safari feature of Read2Go to read a DAISY book. Mary Emerson returns with her popular demonstrations of the new features in the version 8 upgrade for HIMS Sense note takers. This week, Mary demonstrates both the Dropbox application and the YouTube player application. Finally, David Woodbridge returns to demonstrate the Logitech Solar k760 Bluetooth Keyboard. You are sure to find this show useful no matter which type of technology you use!

It's a week for highlighting the newest in the area of assistive technologies for the blind this week on MainMenu. Executive producer Chase Crispin starts off the show with a interview with Michael Tindell from Humanware about the new Victor Stream. David Woodbridge from www.visionaustralia.org follows with a review and demonstration of the new iOS app Brailletouch. And, finally, Chase returns with a interview with Scott Hagley from Hims Inc. about the latest firmware release for Book Sense. These are the new items you'll be talking about and considering over the coming months, and we covered them right from their release here on MainMenu!!!

Lire dans le noir de l'enfance au mp3 Ces livres qu'on peut télécharger Ouiza a toujours aimé lire. Des polars, des classiques, des livres érotiques, des nouveautés. Elle a lu grâce à des disques, des cassettes, des cd, des mp3. Elle lit maintenant grâce à des appareils miniatures comme Victor Stream et ses voix synthétiques, grâce à une association comme Sésame. Aveugle de naissance, Ouiza Ouyed raconte sa vie en lectures. Enregistrements : avril-septembre 09 - Mise en ondes & mix : Samuel Hirsch - Réalisation : Ouiza Ouyed

Tek Talk welcomes Barry Scheur from GuideLights and Gadgets and Chris Grabowski and Kim Loftis from Mystic Access to describe and demonstrate their exciting entry into the daisy player and entertainment market with the Evo 10 player. Priced at $150 below the cost of the Victor Stream, this product IS NOT BARD COMPATIBLE. What it offers, however, is extremely high quality speech through the use of Joey and Sally Ivona voices. It plays Bookshare Daisy titles with excellent fidelity and clarity, and also has a wide variety of entertainment options, including FM Radio Internet Radio Podcatcher Calculator Compass Alarm and sleep timer, along with a reminder alarm Ability to record from FM and Internet radio 16 GB internal memory. And best of all, it comes with the best in the industry detailed audio tutorial from Mystic Access. Contact info: Barry Scheur bscheur@scheur.com (617) 969-7500 www.guideLightsandgadgets.us Mystic Access contact info: info@mysticaccess.com (716) 543-3323. www.mysticaccess.com