kestrell: (Default)
COVID-19 Resources by Accessibility Type produced by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) at Georgia Tech. Materials are available in accessible Word documents, PDF, and hardcopy braille. The project was made possible with funding from the CDC Foundation.
https://cidi.gatech.edu/covid

How GoodMaps is Revolutionizing Accessible Independent Travel
GoodMaps
https://www.goodmaps.com/
is an app which is attempting to provide not only accessible outdoor mapping, but accessible indoor mapping as well. The process uses LiDAR-based mapping (it's a much more advanced version than what's used in the new iPhones), and the tech is really fascinating.
https://www.aph.org/how-goodmaps-is-revolutionizing-accessible-independent-travel/
continued below cut )
kestrell: (Default)
I just had to leave a webinar presentation on assistive technology because the speakers--who had pre-recorded their spoken presentations--had music playing way too loud, not quite background, as they spoke.

This makes it very difficult and frustrating to hear the presentation when you have a hearing impairment. And some people don't have the best recording setup to begin with.

Also, the cheezy electronic muzak makes me cranky. I'm going to give the same criticism I give when someone in a play makes me listen to a really bad attempt at dialect: it only makes you sound more professional if you can do it with the highest quality.
kestrell: (Default)
Election day is less than one week away. The voices of people who are blind or visually impaired need to be heard in this and every election.
In Massachusetts, voters with disabilities have accessible voting options. There are accommodations, hotlines and other resources available to make sure your vote is counted.
A judgment was recently passed in Massachusetts for fully electronic voting to ensure accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. This new process will allow a voter with a disability who has been authorized to use the online portal to obtain their ballot, mark, and submit their ballot electronically.
Find out more specific information about voting in Massachusetts online here.
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm?bblinkid=244559858&bbemailid=25356467&bbejrid=1701543866

Foursquare Launches Location-Based Virtual Audio Guide for AirPods
OCTOBER 26, 2020 7:26 AM

Foursquare is releasing an audio-only virtual assistant platform called Marsbot for AirPods that will play snippets into your earbuds based on your location and let you record your own for others to hear. The idea is to add an audio guide to wherever you happen to be.
Read more at
https://coolblindtech.com/foursquare-launches-location-based-virtual-audio-guide-for-airpods/?bblinkid=244561950&bbemailid=25356467&bbejrid=1701543866


Improve Your Technology Skills with eCarroll Courses During Thanksgiving Break
eCarroll Remote Technology Instruction brings technology training directly to blind and visually impaired individuals with the convenience of attending from virtually anywhere.
Discover a few of the special courses we’re offering during Thanksgiving break below
• Format Your Word Document Like A Pro (Full-Day Course)
https://carroll.org/events/format-your-word-document-like-a-pro-ecarroll/?bblinkid=244559163&bbemailid=25356467&bbejrid=1701543866
• Zoom Short Course (Three-Hour Course)
https://carroll.org/events/zoom-short-course-ecarroll/?bblinkid=244559164&bbemailid=25356467&bbejrid=1701543866

Carroll Center Virtual Technology Fair
Nov 24, 2020 09:30 AM to 12 PM Eastern
Explore the latest technologies during live product demonstrations of assistive technology designed specifically for blind and visually impaired individuals, chat directly with your favorite exhibitor representatives in breakout rooms and find products and services you need to live as independently as possible.
Workshops include: TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF PDF ACCESSIBILITY and ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS from an accessibility perspective
Registration now open
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-3pla6KFR1WP4M8sm5dhcA?bblinkid=244569212&bbemailid=25356467&bbejrid=1701543866
kestrell: (Default)
Kes: This first link discusses advances in Microsoft's image recognition technology, which is a pretty big deal for any visually impaired person using
Microsoft's free Seeing AI app
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/seeing-ai
or the Picture Smart feature in Jaws
https://blog.freedomscientific.com/picture-smart-in-jaws-independently-selecting-your-artwork/
which has been improved in the soon-to-be-released Jaws 2021
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/JAWS/JAWSPublicBeta

Microsoft Announces Breakthrough AI Image Captioning for Word, PowerPoint, Outlook
https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/azure-image-captioning/

Web Friendly Help discusses new features in NVDA
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/new-features-in-nvda-2020-3/

Google Search Tips: Always Find What You're Looking For by Online Tech Tips
https://www.online-tech-tips.com/google-softwaretips/8-google-search-tips-always-find-what-youre-looking-for/

Using Zoom with a Screen Reader on the Eyes on Success podcast
The latest episode features Heather Thomas, author of _Getting Started with Zoom Meetings: A guide for Jaws, NVDA, and iPhone VoiceOver users_.
http://eyesonsuccess.net

1Password: Mosen at Large provides a review and demonstration of this password manager
https://mosenatlarge.pinecast.co/episode/a69030679a8d434b/review-and-demonstration-of-the-1password-password-manager

Facebook Mobile with Chrome and Edge: the mbasic interface is actually the older m.facebook.com interface
https://mbasic.facebook.com/

Jeopardy Makes Online Test Accessible to the Blind
https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/jeopardy-makes-online-test-accessible-blind

RNIB Creates Accessible Pregnancy Test Prototype to Raise Awareness of Accessible Design
In 2020 there is still no fully accessible pregnancy test, meaning that blind and partially sighted women must ask for help to read their tests, and are therefore never the first to know what is happening to their own bodies. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has unveiled the first accessible pregnancy test prototype that allows women with sight loss to know their results privately for the first time. The groundbreaking test allows the user to feel their results, producing raised nodules to indicate a positive result. Learn more at:.
https://www.dexigner.com/news/33351


A Day in The Connected Digital Life on Tek Talk will discuss Apple products.
GMT Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 00:00
https://zoom.us/j/839935813

Most of these links are culled from the Top Tech Tidbits weekly newsletter: you can view the entire newsletter or subscribe at
https://toptechtidbits.com/
kestrell: (Default)
On his latest podcast, Jonathan Mosen discusses Libro.fm, which is an online bookshop that sells DRM-free audiobooks and supports indie bookstores
https://mosenatlarge.pinecast.co/episode/94ad284a845143fb/listener-reflections-on-audiobooks-and-introducing-libro-fm-for-access-to-over-150-000-drm-free-audiobooks

Blind Bargains has a new podcast, and one notable item is a discussion of Zoom's new accessibility settings, which allow screen reader users to control notifications and announcements. Find it here
https://blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=22003

I've previously mentioned Doug Lee and his Jaws-related scripts for improving the accessibility of various applications such as Microsoft Teams and Discord, and now he's written a new set of scripts called ListTbl, which make it easier to navigate columns in listview controls for managing files and tasks
https://dlee.org/listtbl/

NVDA has developed an add-on for Zoom to control the speaking of notifications and other announcements.
https://addons.nvda-project.org/addons/zoomEnhancements.en.html

WebFriendlyHelp has a blog post which discusses these enhancements
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/zoom-accessibility-enhancements-for-nvda/

WebFriendlyHelp also has this post on new Features in JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/new-features-in-jaws-zoomtext-and-fusion-2/

NV In-Process, the newsletter for the free screen reader NVDA, often includes news items relevant to blind users and software developers, outside of news related to NVDA. The most recent issue includes items about an accessible space station RPG, and also tips for ensuring accessibility when developing your own software.
Read the new In-Process newsletter at
https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-7th-september-2020/

NVDACon website
https://www.nvdacon.org/#content
where you can join the announcements list and listen to sessions from previous conferences.

Many of these links have been culled from Top Tech Tidbits. You can subscribe to the newsletter or read the entire newsletter online at
https://www.toptechtidbits.com/
kestrell: (Default)
Zoom resources for screen reader users
First of all, it is recommended that you
download
https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting
and install
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207373866-Zoom-Installers
the free Zoom app onto whatever device you are going to use, such as your Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, etc. This will not only give you access to additional features, but make joining meetings easier.

If you are comfortable exploring Zoom on your own, you can find the list of
Zoom Hot keys and keyboard shortcuts here
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205683899-Hot-Keys-and-Keyboard-Shortcuts-for-Zoom

Two of the most useful keyboard shortcutsare:
F6, which navigates between Zoom panes/popup windows, and
Control+Alt+Shift, which moves the focus to Zoom's meeting controls.
These two shortcuts are useful for the most common question for blind users, which is "Which window am I in?".

Whether you are an expert user or a novice, however, I recommend that you download and listen to the following audiobook, which is being made freely available by the author.
Jonathan Mosen audiobook _Meet Me Accessibly: A Guide to Zoom Cloud Meetings from a Blindness Perspective_
https://mosen.org/zoom/
Once you unzip the downloaded file, you will find a list of MP3s, each of which describes an individual topic in Zoom. This means that you can listen to the "Introduction" and "Attending Your First Meeting" MP3s first, and then come back later to the more complicated sections such as configuring the client windows for Windows, iOS, or the online website. The audiobook also explains about sharing your screen, and recording meetings.
Note that you can record meetings and also get automatic transcripts. Read more
Zoom Accessibility FAQ
https://zoom.us/accessibility/faq

Another resource for learning to download, install, and get started with Zoom is
Perkins School for the Blind Zoom 101
https://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/blog/zoom-101-basic-steps-using-zoom

There is a second book available on Zoom for visually impaired user, but this one is not free.
_Getting Started with Zoom Meetings: A Guide for Jaws, NVDA, and iPhone Voiceover Users_
by Heather Thomas, Accessibility Services Associate at the Carroll Center
Price: $18
This is a step-by-step text-based guide for screen reader users.
Topics covered include: Initial setup on the PC and iPhone; the basics of participating in meetings; scheduling meetings and inviting participants; strategies for hosting meetings and managing participants; and other useful features like sharing your screen, chatting, and making recordings. A list of important keyboard shortcuts is also included.
Read more at
https://carroll.org/product/getting-started-with-zoom-meetings/?bblinkid=220991595&bbemailid=21485714&bbejrid=1483340570

Here are a couple more guides to help get you started, produced by WebFriendlyHelp.com:
Joining Zoom Meetings
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/joining-zoom-meetings/#content

How to Host Your Zoom Meeting
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/how-to-host-your-zoom-meeting/

Double Tap has this podcast which demonstrates how to send a Zoom meeting invite on an iPhone and then join the meeting on a PC.
A Quick Guide To Using Zoom Cloud Meetings
https://doubletap.online/zoom-cloud-meetings


And, finally, Zoom has a feature called Zoom Backgrounds, which can be used to provide a fun look to your video, or it can be used to hide the room or people behind you.
Explore Zoom backgrounds
https://zoommeetingbackgrounds.com/

Discord resources for screen reader users

the official list of Discord keyboard shortcuts.
https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/225977308--Windows-Discord-Hotkeys

Accessibility for blind users
https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360032435152-Discord-Accessibility-for-blind-users

Discord with NVDA
https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/29729/tutorial-how-to-use-discord-with-nvda-on-windows/

Changeling’s Guide to Discord for Screen Reader Users: Servers and Channels
https://www.starshipchangeling.net/changelings-guide-to-discord-for-screen-reader-users-servers-and-channels/

This is the third in a series of posts that explains how to use the Discord service if you are also a screen reader user. If you are unsure of what Discord is, whether or not you wish to use the service, or both, please see
the dedicated page for this guide
https://www.starshipchangeling.net/discord/
for more information.

A WisCon Guide to Discord
https://wiscon.net/a-wiscon-guide-to-discord/

Finally, if you are comfortable installing and using scripts, Doug Lee has created scripts that work with Jaws to improve accessibility
https://www.dlee.org/discord/
kestrell: (Default)
Here are more technology-related links from this week's Top Tech Tidbits. You can
subscribe and read the entire newsletter online at
https://www.toptechtidbits.com/tidbits2020/07022020/

Top Tech Tidbits is conducting a poll on their Facebook page asking their readers how many use more than one screen reader
https://www.facebook.com/toptechtidbits/app/126231547426086/?app_data=%7B%7D

TTT has a disclaimer regarding malfunctioning Zoom links from last week's newsletter, and offers the following advice:
you can circumvent this behavior currently, on any device, by opening up the Zoom Meeting App directly (or visiting https://zoom.us/join), pasting in the Zoom Meeting ID number, and then clicking the "Join" button. The Meeting ID number should always be the series of numbers immediately following the letter "j" within the Zoom Meeting link that you've been provided.
If you still have questions, this free one hour and twenty one minute course from LinkedIn Learning, which provides professional grade audio and video, as well as complete transcripts for each course, may provide answers:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-zoom/stay-connected-with-zoom-meetings

NV Access is looking for testers for the forthcoming NVDA version 2020.2 as they develop support for a new braille display, support for 1Password and improved performance with Windows OneCore voices
https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-25th-june-2020/

WebFriendlyHelp has added accessibility directions to Dropbox's help on
Request fiels from anyone via Dropbox
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/request-files-from-anyone-via-dropbox/

Freedom Scientific has upcoming webinars which include a Q&A on low-vision devices, how to access FS training without using a computer, and an introduction to technology for teachers who are teaching blind and low-vision students.
https://www.freedomscientific.com/training/freewebinars/?utm_content=130235926&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-2382446636

Blind Bargains Cast 211 has a plethora of links to more info about iOS accessibility features
https://blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=21985
kestrell: (Default)
Bookshare has compiled a collection of books on anti-racism for readers of all ages
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/collection/377670?limit=100

Intro to NFB Newsline Zoom webinar to be hosted on GMT Thursday, June 18, at 23:00
https://bit.ly/3e3KZrC

NFB Newsline is a free audio news service for anyone who is blind, low-vision, deaflind, or otherwise. It provides access to major newspapers, some magazines, and much more, including breaking news about Covid-19. You can access it on the web, on Alexa, on your smartphone, or through old-school phones with number pads. Find out more at
https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/nfb-newsline#main-content
Note: The new NFB-Newsline 3.0 beta includes a free basic KNFB Reader. Learn more by going to the NFB Newsline web site and searching for
"How to access NFB-NEWSLINE 3.0 Beta with the KNFB Reader Basic"

This post on WebFriendlyHelp.com describes Windows 10's most recent improvements to Narrator, Windows built-in screen reader, along with improvements to the text cursor and magnifier.
https://webfriendlyhelp.com/windows-10-gets-text-cursor-magnifier-and-screen-reader-improvements/#content

and Illegally Sighted offers this Youtube video on the same subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45kNG4mXiHo
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