All Cool Blind Tech Shows

What do Windows, Cars and Underwear have in common? They're all topics on this week's episode of VIP. Join Joel Ramos, Nelson Rego and guest host Hugo Gallegos as they discuss the latest in accessible technology. Don't worry, all three hosts are fully clothed for this week's recording. Topics discussed this week include the following: Windows 10 Build 15002 and its accessibility features. Olli, the World's Most Accessible Self-Driving Vehicle. New technology from the UK that may help save the sight of many around the world called Arclight. As always, the team has some great "Cool Picks" to share as well: Virtual assistants are everywhere now and Microsoft's very own Cortana is still a great option to use for reminders, information and good old fashioned fun. FreshBooks is Small Business Accounting Software That Makes Billing Painless. Struggling with swapping SIM cards between two phones? The Digits Program from T-Mobile may be something you'll want to take a look at on this week's show to help you.

This week, join Nelson Régo and Joel Ramos as they showcase some of the hottest Cool Picks. This week's "Cool Picks" Include the following : Algoriddim continues to provide incredible accessibility with their line of DJ products. The new DJay Pro for the iPhone is no exception. The video found on the page for the app highlights some great features but, sadly no descriptive video... Tired of flight simulators? Try out the SYMA Sky Thunder RC D63 Drone Runner

The New Year traditionally is about setting new goals and resolutions for improving ourselves throughout the coming year. But, at Cool Blind Tech we're all about highlighting new technology and products that improve the lives of those with disabilities no matter the time of year. This week, join Nelson Rego and Joel Ramos as they showcase some of the hottest accessible technology presented at the 2017 Consumer Electronic Show that took place in Las Vegas Nevada. Game changers this year included an innovative refreshable Braille tablet from Blitab Technologies called the BLITAB Tablet. The way this tablet presents Braille is incredible and you got to hear it to believe. Many products discussed on this week's show also received prestigious awards in the category of accessible technology and products. Some of these include the PCEye Mini which is an eye tracking device that allows individuals with mobility impairments to use a computer. The ReSound Enzo was also a recipient of an award for its Smart Hearing Aid for individuals with severe hearing loss. Nominees also included the Dring Smart Cane which packs a ton of technology into a mobility cane for individuals with physical disabilities who are prone to falling. This week's "Cool Picks" Include the following : Algoriddim continues to provide incredible accessibility with their line of DJ products. The new DJay Pro for the IPhone is no exception. The video found on the page for the app highlights some great features but, sadly no descriptive video... Tired of flight simulators? Try out the SYMA Sky Thunder RC D63 Drone Runner

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Dr. Howard Kaplan, a retina surgeon, and the developer of Spotlight Text. Spotlight Text is an app that works with Bookshare to make eBooks accessible to the visually impaired. The app displays white text on a black background, and can make the text as large as a reader needs. It works only on iPads, but can also be airplayed to a TV screen by way of a dongle or an Apple TV. This allows for much larger text than can be provided with normal magnification software. The application also works with VoiceOver and braille displays, so that anyone with a visual impairment can use it. Working in cooperation with Bookshare, the app can access more than 450,000 books, and this number is constantly rising. To ensure that students with visual impairments have access to printed materials, Dr. Kaplan has founded Spotlight Gateway, an organization that provides free access to his app, a free Bookshare membership, and a free iPad to those who are in financial need. Students need to be certified as having a visual impairment by a licensed Ophthalmologist, and they need to show that there is a financial need for the program. You can try out a light version of the application to see if it works for you.

Accessibility of the new native instruments kontakt 5.6.1. and native keys pro software working together. part 1 main features. On this episode we are going to demonstrate how the sampler Native Instruments kontakt 5.6.1 works in a joint with Native Keys pro. With Native Keys pro, visually impaired users can gain access to virtual instruments, and effects in VST and DX formats. Such instruments include: Native Instruments Kontakt5 , Spectrasonic Omnisphere, Spectrasonic Stilus, Toontrack Superior Drummer, Sylenth, Reveal Sound Spire, Serum , and many others! To find more about the project and get a list of supported plug-ins, visit the website https://www.nativekeys.mostinfo.ru/en/ We, the developers, Victor Gorelov and Vadim Lukyanchuk. If you want to test the waters with Native Keys pro and all supported plugins, please, contact us via Skype: Victor Gorelov magicsquareproject Vadim Lukyanchuk vlook1986 Please, forward your questions and queries to NativeKeys@yandex.ru

Join Jessica for this exciting spotlight interview with well-known author, tech journalist and podcaster Shelly Brisbin. Find out the latest about her very helpful book, iOS Access For All/ and her podcast, The Parallel. To get in touch with Shelly, follow her on Twitter, connect with Shelly on LinkedIn, or subscribe to her podcast feed.

The CBT Team are back with their Cool Picks of 2016. Featuring James, Jessica, Joel, Leo, Alex and Nelson with a introduction to our newest team member, Jessica Silva from Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired. Cool Picks: Sonos Echo Dot (2nd Generation Google Home speaker. Fire Tablet. Apple iPhone SE Google Pixel Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd gen).

In this episode, James Oates demonstrates how to setup Windows Calendar on a PC running Windows 10 Anniversary Update. He shows us how to create an event and send out a calendar invite. He reviews the keyboard shortcuts available in Windows Calendar, and he creates an event using Cortana. During this demonstration, James uses Narrator with ETI Eloquence for Windows. Eloquence is an add-on that can be purchased here.

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind to discuss: The purpose and history of the federation. Accessible voting. Self-driving technology. Equal access to education. Future technologies. Braille and literacy. The Marrakesh treaty. How to join the NFB. Follow Mark Riccobono and the NFB on Twitter, and visit the NFB’s website.

In this Spotlight interview, James Oates sits down with Kim Charlson, the National President of the American Council of the Blind and the Executive Director of the Perkins Library. The topics include: * A brief history of Perkins what the organization looks like today, The Perkins Blog(/a> Perkins Solutions * Perkins eLearning Perkins International the Perkins School * Library services including the Perkins Library the Perkins newsletter the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Info Eyes virtual reference library service BARD the application process for the Perkins Library and the Library Without Walls program, a monthly recommended reads list. * New actions taken by the Library of Congress About the Orbit Reader 20 from the American Printing House for the Blind * The current status of the Marrakesh Treaty * The mission of the ACB ACB state affiliates and local chapters the ACB Link app for iOS devices the ACB Braille Forum * Progress being made in audio described film and television distribution the success of structured negotiations with Netflix * The struggles with government agencies to enforce website accessibility guidelines and to provide accessible tactile paper currency. To learn more about Perkins and the American Council of the Blind, follow these Twitter Accounts: @perkinsvision @perkins_library @acbnational

As of this ending year of 2016, we have seen multiple and rapid developments in the choices available to those who wish to cut the cord but are reliant on speech or low-vision tools. Before, the Apple TV was the only usable choice for a long time. Google had the Nexus Player, which in its way was one of the first companies aside from Apple to implement a standard screen reader. We saw Amazon add a screen reader to the Fire stick which, while has issues of some inaccessible content providers, still can provide speech and the use of Alexa independently to the screen reader user. Today we have a new player to the game: Roku. Roku sells several streaming products, ranging from $39 US to $129 US. These also range in features. The lowest device is the Express and Express+. It is compatible with older televisions, such as those which use composite video. The stick, which starts at USD $59, offers a thumb-drive sized device which plugs into your TV directly and runs off a Micro USB cable. Both of these products also lack a remote with voice recognition, so you will have to opt for a higher-end model if you wish to dictate or use voice search. The Roku Premier and Ultra both support 4K video playback, with the premier starting at $79. The Premier Plus, for $99, gives you other features such as a headphone jack built into the remote for listening to the TV elsewhere. Finally, Roku Ultra is $129 but is fully loaded with features such as a lost remote finder. Handy,, right? Now let's talk Accessibility. All of this year's Roku line-up, along with any Roku-driven smart televisions should get a new screen reader called Audio Guide. You can learn about the feature here. By pressing the menu key four times rapidly after the streaming device has started up, a robotic voice will provide spoken feedback for all menus and screen. Or does it? Find out whether this new TV solution lives up to your standards of what accessible should be. It's worth noting: The software update, 7.5, is not yet available for all devices or has been rolled out to them. Generally, if you have a Roku with an ethernet jack, updates are checked for during the start of setup. Wi-fi only models will require sighted assistance to connect to a network and then update, if audio guide is not present that is.

Jenny Lay-Flurrie, (Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer), discusses Cities Unlocked, (Microsoft’s 3D sound scaping project), that helps the blind navigate the world around them.

Join Jessica as she demonstrates Lost Cities, a fun and exciting game for iOS using VoiceOver. From The Developer: Lost Cities by the world-renowned board-game author Reiner Knizia takes you on a journey to undiscovered countries and mythical places. Compete against a friend, a stranger or one of 4 different computer players, in what has been called a “two player Solitaire with an extra portion of suspense”. Designed and polished for the iPhone by TheCodingMonkeys, makers of critically acclaimed Carcassonne for iOS. Lost Cities is a card game played by two players. The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities (the Himalayas, the Brazilian Rain Forest, the Desert Sands, the Ancient Volcanos and Neptune’s Realm). It won a International Gamers Award in 2000. Key Features: online matches against game center friends or strangers 4 different AI players with distinct skill levels and play styles voice acted interactive tutorial and comprehensive rules beautiful full-length atmospheric soundtrack For questions and support, please contact us on Twitter or Facebook, or send us an email. For common questions check our FAQ. An electronic press kit is available.

In this demo, James Oates shows us how to setup and configure Siri on the Mac. He shows us how to enable Siri, choose a language, select a voice for Siri, enable voice feedback, select which microphone Siri will use, determine which keyboard shortcut will activate Siri, leave or remove Siri from your menu bar, enable location services, and how to allow Siri and dictation permission to access location services, Low vision viewers are encouraged to give feedback on our YouTube video so that We can determine if We are using the appropriate visual settings in the comment section blow.

In this powerful Spotlight Interview, James Oates sits down with Jenny Lay-Flurrie, (Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft), to discuss the inner workings of accessibility at Microsoft. Jenny explains the challenges facing Microsoft, the progress that has been made in Windows 10, Office 365, and cloud services. She goes on to outline Microsoft’s commitment to accessibility in all its products across all platforms. She explains the importance of inclusive hiring for Microsoft to achieve its accessibility goals. She talks about Microsoft’s past reliance on third party applications and the company’s continued commitment to work with third party providers of assistive technology. Jenny then makes a major announcement that Microsoft has not made public until this time. Cool Blind Tech is excited to bring you this exclusive story. To find out what else was discussed, listen to the entire interview. Below is a list of helpful resources that are related to the topics in the interview. Microsoft’s Accessibility Home Page. Windows 10 free upgrade for customers who use assistive technologies Office 365 accessibility webpage Inclusive Hiring for People with Disabilities Narrator User Guide. Accessibility Roadmaps. Accessibility Feedback. Disability Answer Desk. Cities Unlocked. Use Narrator on Xbox One Console. To read the transcription, click here.click here.