Kestrell

Kes: First of all, I'm embarrased at how badly I have been mispronouncing the name of this drum for the past few weeks, although I am pleased to find out that it shares the name of my favorite pub
The Bodhran by Seamus Kennedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYKArhNzjsQ&list=PLpTusYbea9pf32O4YiskFUqYKEhyy1Ne1&index=75

Bodhran Lesson How to hold and the basic stroke by the Online Academy of Irish Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y540acW6NQM

Here are a couple of MP3 instructional CDs you can purchase on Amazon:

Bodhran Practice (Slow Sets for Beginners & Practice)
Alison Boyd

The Bodhran
Mark Stone

And here is a Udemy course:

Learn the Irish Drum- Bodhrán | Udemy
Created by
Siobhan O'Donnell
All Ireland Bodhran Champion
https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-the-bodhran/

The following links are culled from the Top Tech Tidbits weekly newsletter: view the entire newsletter or subscribe at
https://www.toptechtidbits.com/

1. Availability Of Healthcare Information To Blind And Visually Impaired Healthcare Users During The COVID Pandemic
Close Date: September 30th 2021
Dear Listers, this is Sushil Oswal from the University of Washington. I am the principal investigator on a survey about the availability of healthcare information to blind and low-vision consumers during the past 18 months. This is an important survey for our blindness community because it will give us an opportunity to express our experiences of finding healthcare information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please give us as much of your personal experiences as you can so that our study could create a comprehensive picture of the healthcare information barriers blind people face particularly under pandemic conditions. We will do a small draw of ten $25 gift cards for this survey. Besides publishing in academic journals, we will be producing a report on the basis of this healthcare information survey which will be shared with as many local and state-level health departments as possible. This report will also be available to blindness community at large. To complete the survey, please click the link below. If you have any questions about the survey, or you have difficulty completing the survey, please email me at oswal@u.washington.edu ✉. Our human subjects approval includes a permission to conduct this survey over the phone if necessary. So, do not hesitate to email me privately if you face computer issues while completing this survey. My co-investigator and I will maintain your privacy in all possible circumstances:
https://uwt.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d4FBAWsGQwBwtOC

2. Make Accessibility Part Of Your Startup's Products And Culture From Day One
A Forrester survey found that 8 in 10 companies have taken their first steps toward working on digital accessibility. What's driving this change besides the increased digital interactions? Fortune 500 companies are finally starting to realize that people with disabilities make up 1 billion of the world's market. That population and their families control more than $13 trillion in disposable income, according to Return on Disability's "The Global Economics of Disability:"
https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/03/make-accessibility-part-of-your-startups-products-and-culture-from-day-one/

3. Eyes on Success 2137 Sharing Experiences with Cochlear Implants
September 8th 2021
Blind individuals rely heavily on their ability to hear in order to compensate for their lack of sight. But what happens when a blind person loses their hearing?
https://www.eyesonsuccess.net/show%20notes/show%20notes%202137.htm

4. In-Process for September 3rd 2021
We're continuing to get closer to the release of NVDA 2021.2, so let's dive into that first this week
https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-3rd-september-2021/

5. Accessing and Customizing Windows 10 Settings With Assistive Technology

( continued below cut )

From the Carroll Connector newsletter

Kes: The Braille Institute courses typically take place over Microsoft Teams, and using braille is not involved, so anyone can take these courses.
1. Braille Institute Announces More Than 200 Free Courses for Fall Semester (Desert Sun)
https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2021/09/03/braille-institute-announces-more-than-200-free-courses-fall/5690365001/?bblinkid=253728718&bbemailid=33532450&bbejrid=2073405940

2. Making Your Website ADA Compliant Webinar Recording
Taking measures to ensure your business’ website is accessible can help your organization retain and gain consumers, meet ADA and other compliance mandates while also doing good. During our recent “Making Your Website ADA Compliant” webinar, Bruce Howell, accessibility services manager for The Carroll Center for the Blind, provided an overview on accessibility, an outline of regulations, as well as guidelines and technologies with clear action steps your organization can take to optimize web accessibility. If you missed the exciting webinar, don’t worry!
View the recording of “Making Your Website ADA Compliant” here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FnZmwHtVQo

3. Boom, bang, pop: WSU app developers get $100K to help visually impaired read comics - Wichita Business Journal
https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2021/08/26/wsu-vizling-app-visually-impaired-comics-graphics.html?bblinkid=253728613&bbemailid=33532450&bbejrid=2073405940

4. Behind the Bow with a Visually Impaired Archer (Fox Illinois)
https://foxillinois.com/news/local/behind-the-bow-with-a-visually-impaired-archer?bblinkid=253728673&bbemailid=33532450&bbejrid=2073405940

5. How Vision Loss Can Affect the Brain (The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/well/live/vision-loss-brain-health.html?bblinkid=253728704&bbemailid=33532450&bbejrid=2073405940

6. Join us at the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) Virtual Job Fair
on Friday, October 1 at 9:00 A.M. EST which will be held via Zoom.
Meet with employers who are committed to interviewing and hiring qualified individuals who are blind and visually impaired.

If you would like to request an ADA accommodation, please contact MCB ADA Coordinator Kamilia Drogosz at 617-279-3332 or kamilia.drogosz@mass.gov.
Kes: The registration form has a field to upload your resume.
Register for the MCB Virtual Job Fair here.
https://massgov.formstack.com/forms/mcb_job_fair_for_individuals_with_visual_impairment?bblinkid=253728185&bbemailid=33532450&bbejrid=2073405940

Did you know you can find all sorts of free classes through EventBrite? I only just discovered this, so I can't say how accessible many of these courses are. Registering through EventBrite itself can be kind of fiddly at times.

The courses have a wide range: it reminds me of those community newspapers I used to see that advertised free and inexpensive community classes, some of them with pretty eccentric topics. These also include lots of classes and activities for kids.

Anyway, not sure how accessible it is, but this sounded like a good basic course if you are looking to learn how to create your own webpage and get it onto GitHub. (If you are a screen reader user, I wrote a help doc on how to upload your webpage on to GitHub--leave a comment and we'll figure out how to get it to you.)


https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-2-week-software-developer-virtual-prep-course-texas-tech-university-tickets-134657162197?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

Kes: I've really been enjoying all the web development courses I've been taking this year, and occasionally flirt with learning a programming language, but then get discouraged when I try to find a course that doesn't use inaccessible interfaces or methods of teaching.

So, I was all ready to take a perverse pleasure in reading this article, positive that I would, by the end, have proof positive that I wasn't meant to learn programming.

Well, damn. They should have just boiled it all down and asked at the beginning: "Are you a Hermione? Well, okay, then, go for it."

Also, I will note here that, if you are looking for tech-related courses on Coursera, the University of Michigan is really committed to making their courses accessible, at least in the two instances I experienced. More about that in a later post.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-signs-meant-programmer/?utm_source=MUO-NL-RP&utm_medium=newsletter

Flatten Inaccessibility Report Illustrates Impact of COVID-19 on Blind and Visually Impaired Adults
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) recently announced the release of the Flatten Inaccessibility research report, which was the culmination of survey findings from 1,921 U.S. participants who are blind (65%) or have low vision (35%).
The survey investigated the experiences of these participants during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine how they were affected in areas including access to transportation, healthcare, access to food and supplies, employment, education, and voting:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-foundation-for-the-blind-announces-flatten-inaccessibility-report-illustrating-impact-of-covid-19-on-blind-or-visually-impaired-adults-301140476.html

CNN: Assistive Technology That is Changing Lives
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/world/gallery/assistive-technology-spc-intl/index.html

NVDA 2020.3 Released
https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2020-3/

AppleVis: A Beginner's Guide to Using iOS with VoiceOver
https://www.applevis.com/guides/beginners-guide-using-ios-voiceover

Instructional Courses for Anything Apple by MacForTheBlind
https://blindabilities.com/?p=6220

Mosen at Large Recapping Apple's October 2020 Event From a Blindness Perspective
https://mosenatlarge.pinecast.co/episode/73fefed3e78848b3/recapping-apple-s-october-2020-event-from-a-blindness-perspective

Apple Insider: How To Use Siri's New Queries in iOS 14
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/29/how-to-use-siris-new-queries-in-ios-14

Alexa can now ask for clarification on your requests
https://www.wired.com/story/alexa-own-questions-you/
( continued below cut )

I had the second poetry workshop class on Wednesday, and it was just as amazing as the first. The instructor, Toni Bee, shares so much knowledge, passion, and encouragement in each class.

Here are some more classes being offered in the near future, but there are many more listed on the bpl.org website.

Introduction to Medicare
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/5f204a6f1f2b40240038d76d?_ga=2.152888057.1742762898.1599821814-384611941.1563635994
Food vs. Mood: Eating for Your Physical and Mental Health
https://www.beaconhillvillage.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=332658&item_id=1275778

A Gentle Introduction to SketchUp (3D design)
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/search/fq=types:(5cb75a7a902580b8773d23e4)&fq=is_virtual:(true)/event/5f3e902128d72f2400e1895a

Kes: Some of the classes are offered through the Kirstein Business Library, which offers many career development classes. More info below.
The Kirstein Business Library
& Innovation Center offers events and resources to job seekers, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and small businesses.
As a branch of the Boston Public Library, all of our services, workshops, seminars, and events are offered free of charge to Massachusetts residents with a BPL library card.
Events include career skills, locating grants, Medicare Explained, 3D design
Need more information about KBLIC and the services we offer?
Email ask@bpl.org
or call 617.536.5400
Website
https://www.bpl.org/services-central-library/kblic/#content-start

Last night I had the first of three online poetry writing classes being offered through the Boston Public Library.

Perhaps it's all the technology-related blogging and documentation I have been writing lately, but I've felt the need to start writing poetry again.

Remember when you used to write poetry and songs just for fun, without thinking of it as something that required a lot of preparation and effort and, most of all, seriousness, just to begin? Or maybe you used to draw, or sing out loud, or play guitar, or whatever, just for fun? There's a phrase: "just for fun." For pleasure. For enjoyment. "Enjoyment" is what you get when you mix entertainment and joy.

And then, one day, you don't remember when, the invisible adult critic showed up, staring at you, judging, and the joy went out.

Okay, maybe that's just me, but I want to get back to the place before the invisible critic, and just write.

Then, while browsing the BPL's website a couple of nights ago, I found an online class titled "Just Writing," so I registered (it's a Zoom class).

IT WAS AMAZING! I didn't think I would be able to write anything, but we had free writing exercises and off I went.

I promise not to share my poetry with you, but I wanted to share just this first poem I wrote (don't worry, it's short).

The word we were given was "miss" and everyone else wrote about what they are missing during the pandemic, but that never even occurred to me. What hit me immediately was things I miss about being sighted, which I never allow myself to talk about, so sharing this with strangers was really jumping into the deep end.

I miss feeling brave.
I miss walking with nowhere to go.
I miss sunlight, the changing ocean, birds wings.
Most of all, I miss your face.

Words do, literally, have very different meanings for different people, and that's one of the main things that poetry plays with, so poets are word tricksters. I've been reading poetry by Albert Goldbarth and Billy Collins, because they *definitely* go for being word tricksters.

So this is me, encouraging you to find an online class in something you love doing and rediscover enjoyment.

Kes: It starts later today, but recordings will be archived

Are you a teacher of the visually impaired or an assistive technology instructor? Are you looking for training that will help you gain an understanding of the software and technology your students use every day?
Join us Thursday, August 20 at noon Eastern for our live webinar, “An Introduction to Technology for Teachers of Blind or Low Vision Students.” We’ll introduce you to a new training series created just for you, plus tell you how to access it.
During the webinar, we’ll introduce you to the training series and discuss:
• Why JAWS is important
• What sets JAWS apart from other products (contributed by Eric Damery)
• Accessible typing tutorials
• Tips for teaching students keyboarding skills
• Navigating documents with JAWS
• Additional training resources
Register for this webinar
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qR8PQSY7S-ySsYJ6q6eVjw

I'm currently taking a free online course from Web Aim about creating accessible documents Course
https://webaim.org/training/docs/#maincontent
The course is free to people with disabilities. Read more aboutcourse dates and further info at
https://webaim.learn.usu.edu/

The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, which is part of the New York Public Library, is also offering a free course on accessible web design.

This is a call for both students and volunteers to attend a Web Development Workshop and Study for screen reader users interested in learning how to create websites! The workshop will be held between 2:30pm and 5pm, on Saturdays between August 22nd and October 10th (8 sessions in total). All sessions will be held remotely, using Zoom.
( more info below cut )