Month: November 2020

1-877-304-0968 Ext 513

David Greene, CCB GTT Accessibility Trainer

1-877-304-0968 Ext 509

Corry Stuive, CCB National Program Coordinator

Attention: This blog series will end December 9, 2020. If you have an idea for a future GTT blog series email it to:

1-877-304-0968 Ext 550

Windows from the Keyboard Tips, Microsoft Excel – Auto Adjust Column Width, November 25, 2020

gtt@ccbnational.net

Hello. This is Gerry Chevalier from the GTT Edmonton Chapter. This weekly blog provides tips that I find useful as a keyboard user of Windows 10 and Office 365.

The tips in this Windows from the Keyboard series do not require a screen reader unless specifically noted. Thus, the tips apply whether you are a keyboard user or low vision mouse user. Here is this week’s tip.

Microsoft Excel – Auto Adjust Column Width to Fit Contents

Excel sets a default width for each column. If you type more text than can fit in a column, or if a calculation yields a large number that is too wide for the column, then visually the extra characters are cut off. They are not visible. However, for screen reader users the complete cell contents are still spoken, so screen reader users won’t know if some of their cells have cut off text that cannot be seen. . Note: JAWS does have a setting to control notifying you of nonvisible text and NVDA notifies you automatically.

To ensure all the data in your columns is visible to sighted readers, you will want to automatically adjust the column width to fit the contents. To do this:

Press Control+Space to select the column.
Press Alt+H, O, I and press Enter. Excel will automatically adjust the column width to fit the widest cell.

That’s it for this tip. Only 2 tips remain! Don’t forget to contact CCB if you have ideas for future blogs.

CCB-GTT Weekly Meetings, November 22 to November 28, 2020 via Zoom

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Monday, November 23, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Host, Kim Kilpatrick,

Topic, Open discussion,

CCB-GTT PRESENTATION

Wednesday, November 25, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Presenter Nolan Jenikov

Shopping online with accessibility in mind. Don’t miss out on the Black Friday Deals and just a reminder one month from today is Christmas.

CCB-GTT EVENING OPEN CHAT

Wednesday, November 25, 2020, 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific:

Host, Elmer Thiesen (the original ET), co-host Corry Stuive

Topic, Whatever is on your mind, tech or other. Why not join us for this evening session. We look forward to hearing you there!

(Note) When we held our annual “CCB GTT Program Input Session” three months ago there was strong support for having and evening open chat session (primarily for those unable to attend the daytime chats) Unfortunately attendance has been sparse and unless the participant numbers increase this call may be discontinued beyond this date.

CCB-GTT YOUTH ZOOM CALL

Thursday, November 26, 2020, 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific:

Host, Nolan Jenikov

For individuals between the ages of 16 and 25ish.

(NOTE) The meeting credentials are different for this meeting, preregistration required. For more info contact Nolan at nolan.gtt@ccbnational.net.

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Friday, November 27, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Host, David Greene,

Topic, Open discussion,

—

Security procedure remains in effect.

If you need help doing these things or learning to use zoom, please contact us and we can help you.

You can participate by phone or internet from wherever you are:

CCB is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

https://zoom.us/j/9839595688?pwd=N01yeERXQk4rWnhvNCtHTzZwdXcwQT09

Meeting ID: 983 959 5688

Password: 320119

Alberta One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+15873281099,9839595688#

BC One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+17789072071,9839595688#

Manitoba One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+12045151268,9839595688#

Montreal One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+14388097799,9839595688#

Toronto One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+16473744685,9839595688#

Direct Dial:

Alberta: +1 587 328 1099

BC: +1 778 907 2071

Manitoba: +1 204 515 1268

Montreal: +1 438 809 7799

Toronto: +1 647 374 4685

For more information, contact:

Kim Kilpatrick, CCB GTT Coordinator

1-877-304-0968 Ext 513

David Greene, CCB GTT Accessibility Trainer

1-877-304-0968 Ext 509

Corry Stuive, CCB National Program Coordinator

AccessibilityTraining7@Gmail.com

1-877-304-0968 Ext 550

Windows from the Keyboard Tips, Microsoft Excel Useful Shortcuts Part 2, November 18, 2020

Hello. This is Gerry Chevalier from the GTT Edmonton Chapter. This weekly blog provides tips that I find useful as a keyboard user of Windows. The information is for Windows10 and Office 365, although many tips still apply to older versions. The tips do not require a screen reader unless specifically noted. Thus, the tips apply whether you are a keyboard user or low vision mouse user. Here is this week’s tip.

Microsoft Excel – Useful Shortcuts Part 2

Press Applications key to open a context menu of things you can do to a cell or selection of cells such as sorting cells, inserting a cell or copied cells, or inserting a link.
Press F2 to edit a cell. This is the typical way to edit a long formula. Press Enter or TAB to finish your editing. Press Escape to exit without changing the cell.
Press Control+1 to edit the formatting of a cell or selected cells. Note this opens a multi-tab formatting dialogue where you can move from tab to tab with Control+TAB.
Press Control+; (semicolon) to insert today’s date into the current cell.
Press Control+F to search the worksheet or selected cells.
Press Control+H to search and replace within the worksheet or selected cells.
Press Alt+I, R, Enter to insert a new row.
Press Alt+I, C, Enter to insert a new column.
Press Alt+E, D, R, Enter to delete the current row.
Press Alt+E, D, C, Enter to delete the current column.
Pres Alt+H, I, S to insert a new worksheet.
Press Alt+H, D, S to delete the current worksheet.
To rename a worksheet, press Alt+H, O, R and then type the new name.
Press Control+PageDown or Control+PageUp to switch to the next or previous worksheet within a workbook.
Press Control+Shift+S to bring up a list of all worksheets from which you can arrow to select the worksheet you want to switch to.
Press Control+F3 to open the Name Manager where you can define names for cells or ranges of cells. For JAWS and NVDA users, this is where you would define special names for row and column titles that will allow those screen readers to speak row and column titles as you arrow around in the spreadsheet.
Press Control+S to save an existing workbook or F12 to open the Save As dialogue to save a new workbook.
For more info here is the complete list of Excel shortcuts.
And here is more info on basic Excel tasks using a screen reader.

That’s it for this tip. Until next Wednesday, happy computing.

GTT Edmonton Meeting Notes, Hearing Assistive Tech, November 9, 2020

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting November 9, 2020

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held November 9 7pm as a Zoom virtual meeting.

18 people attended.

IMPORTANT: Read the Additional Resources section following the meeting notes to learn about one on one telephone support, the National blog, CCB Podcast, Zoom meetings, and the support email list.

Reading Tip: These summary notes apply HTML headings to help navigate the document. With screen readers, you may press the H key to jump forward or Shift H to jump backward from heading to heading.

November Topic: Hearing Tech, CNIB Old Time Radio, Sharing Circle

Sound Booster Program for Windows

Bruce Toews (pronounced taves) from Winnipeg was our guest. Bruce is blind and has a severe hearing impairment. Bruce described a software product he purchased for Windows 10 which boosts the audio on his PC with a simple hotkey. The volume can be raised as much as 5 times the normal maximum Windows volume. The program is called Sound Booster and costs $20 per year. It will increase the volume of audio including your screen reader voice, audio files, YouTube, Zoom meetings – any kind of audio on the computer. The program is not available for MAC computers. If you discontinue the annual subscription fee, the program will continue to operate but you won’t receive further updates.

Bruce commented there appears to be a bug with audio output from the Google Chrome or Edge browsers. This would include anything you might listen to with your browser such as YouTube or web conferences. For audio from a browser to benefit from Sound Booster you must use the Firefox browser.

Personal Listening Systems

Bruce described the system he uses for conversation within his home and for listening in groups such as a church service or meeting. The system consists of a pair of FM transmitter and receiver units that clip to your belt or clothing and transmit a mono audio signal between each other using the 2.4GHz FM analog band. You connect headphones and a lavalier microphone to these units. When one person speaks into the microphone the other person can hear them in the headphones.

The range is very impressive. Bruce and his wife, Caroline, live in a high-rise condo building. Bruce was able to have a conversation with Caroline while he was down on the first floor of the building and she was on the 12^th floor.

When Bruce attends a group presentation such as a conference or church service, he gives a transmitter and microphone to the presenter or pastor and can hear the presentation from anywhere in the room. You can learn more about this personal listening system from Harris Communications.

Old Time Radio

For those of you who are fans of old time radio shows from the 30’s through 50’s, Bruce is the program manager of Mushroom Escape which is a channel of the MushroomFM Internet radio station that features blind DJs playing music from the 50’s through 80’s. If you wish to contact Bruce about his hearing assistive technology or his Mushroom Escape radio program you can reach him at:

Bruce@mushroomfm.com

Caroline Toews and Sharing Circle Zoom Group

Caroline who is also blind and an expert with technology, invited members of our meeting to join her in the CNIB Zoom meeting called the Sharing Circle. It is a community social peer mentoring group that meets the first Wednesday of the month to discuss a wide variety of topics. The upcoming meeting is December 2 from 10 to 12noon Central. It will be a discussion of cooking and recipes. Caroline is very excited to provide information about her favorite accessible website that she uses to find recipes, do meal planning, and even generate her grocery shopping list. The web site is called Plan to Eat. Learn all about it at the December 2 Sharing Circle. You can register directly for the session by contacting Joanne Fabian at CNIB

Joanne.fabian@cnib.ca

If you have questions for Caroline, you may reach her at:

Caroline.toews@shaw.ca

Next Meeting (Wednesday December 9at 6pm)

We will combine our December GTT Edmonton meeting with the CCB National Zoom call. Steve Barclay, owner of Canadian Assistive Technology, will be the guest. Steve will present some of the latest tech his company offers. The meeting link will be included in the agenda which will be emailed in early December.

Additional Resources

Telephone Training and Support

Contact the CCB national office GTT coordinators to book one on one telephone training.

Kim: 877-304-0968 Ext. 513

Email: GTTProgram@Gmail.com

David Green 1-877-304-0968 Ext. 509

GTT Blog and Regular Zoom Meetings

CCB sponsors more than a dozen monthly Zoom meetings on technology, lifestyle, and open chat socialization. You may wish to read the GTT blog to find email notices of the Zoom meetings and other information such as the weekly Windows from the Keyboard Tips. If you would prefer to receive the blog posts in your email inbox, then you may activate the Follow link at the bottom of the blog web page to enter your email. IF you have difficulty contact Kim or David for assistance.

CCB Podcast

CCB sponsors a podcast feed. Use your favorite pod catcher app or the Victor Reader Stream book playing device to subscribe to the feed. Search for “CCB” (Canadian Council of the Blind). You will find episodes on technology as well as general interest topics such as CELA Library, NNELS Library, WBU, and more.

GTT Email Support List

CCB sponsors a GTT email support list to provide help and support with technology for blind and low vision Canadians. To subscribe to the email list, send an empty email to:

GTTsupport+subscribe@groups.io

GTT Edmonton Overview

GTT Edmonton is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
GTT Edmonton promotes a self-help learning experience by holding monthly meetings to assist participants with assistive technology.
Each 2 hour meeting consists of a feature technology topic in the first hour and a general tech discussion in the second hour. If you know someone in the Edmonton area who would like to be a part of our group, simply ask them to email their full name and vision status (blind, low vision, sighted) to:

Gtt.edmonton@gmail.com

-End of document-

CCB-GTT Weekly Meetings, November 15 to November 21, 2020 via Zoom

You are invited to the CCB’s GTT Zoom meetings where we focus in on the technology needs and concerns of Canadians who are blind or low vision. The calls will take place over the accessible Zoom Conference system, which will allow participants to dial in using their landline phones, smart phones, or computers. You will find the Zoom link and phone numbers below the meeting listings. Please pay special attention to the “(NOTE)” notation after some of the meeting listings. Different zoom platforms are used for different meetings and some require preregistration.

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Monday, November 16, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Host, Kim Kilpatrick,

Topic, Open discussion,

—

CCB-GTT NORTHERN ONTARIO AND RURAL CALL

Tuesday, November 17, 2020, 7:00 PM Eastern/4:00 PM Pacific:

The topic will be GPS apps that are accessible. Google Maps will be the highlight, with step by step instructions on how to use it. Brian Bibeault and Albert Ruel will be our speakers and then we will go on to other accessible GPS apps. Everyone across Canada is welcome.

—

CCB-GTT PRESENTATION

Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Presenter, Kim Kilpatrick,

Topic, What is your IOS rotor? How to configure and use it.

—

CCB-GTT All ABOUT ANDROID

Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 7:00 PM Eastern/4:00 PM Pacific:

Tracy and Matthew have put this group together to share their experiences navigating Android devices. We welcome the input from users of all experience levels so we can learn together. This meeting will be the last session on how to get started with your Android device. Please identify yourself when registering with your proper name and zoom screen name.

(NOTE) Registration required, Email: aaug.canada@gmail.com

—

CCB-GTT YOUTH ZOOM CALL

Thursday, November 19, 2020, 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific:

Host, Nolan Jenikov

For individuals between the ages of 16 and 25ish.

(NOTE) The meeting credentials are different for this meeting, preregistration required. For more info contact Nolan at nolan.gtt@ccbnational.net.

—

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Friday, November 20, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

host, David Greene,

Topic, Open discussion,

—

Security procedure remains in effect.

If you need help doing these things or learning to use zoom, please contact us and we can help you.

You can participate by phone or internet from wherever you are:

CCB is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

https://zoom.us/j/9839595688?pwd=N01yeERXQk4rWnhvNCtHTzZwdXcwQT09

Meeting ID: 983 959 5688

Password: 320119

Alberta One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+15873281099,9839595688#

BC One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+17789072071,9839595688#

Manitoba One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+12045151268,9839595688#

Montreal One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+14388097799,9839595688#

Toronto One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+16473744685,9839595688#

Direct Dial:

Alberta: +1 587 328 1099

BC: +1 778 907 2071

Manitoba: +1 204 515 1268

Montreal: +1 438 809 7799

Toronto: +1 647 374 4685

For more information, contact:

Kim Kilpatrick, CCB GTT Coordinator

1-877-304-0968 Ext 513

David Greene, CCB GTT Accessibility Trainer

1-877-304-0968 Ext 509

Corry Stuive, CCB National Program Coordinator

https://zoom.us/j/9839595688?pwd=N01yeERXQk4rWnhvNCtHTzZwdXcwQT09

1-877-304-0968 Ext 550

Windows from the Keyboard Tips, Microsoft Excel Useful Shortcuts Part 1, November 11, 2020

Microsoft Excel – Useful Shortcuts Part 1

Note that an Excel document contains a single workbook which in turn, may contain multiple worksheets (spreadsheets). Each worksheet contains rows and columns of data. The intersection of a row and column is called a cell. Rows are numbered 1, 2, 3 etc. and columns are labelled A, B, C etc. So, the cell in the third column and fifth row would be referenced as C5. The top left corner of the worksheet is cell A1.

To open a new workbook (Excel document) press Control+N.
To move around a worksheet, just use arrow keys. You can also use TAB and Shift+Tab to move to the next or previous cell within the row.
TO enter data into a cell, just type in the cell and press Enter to finish and move down to the next cell or, press TAB to finish your cell entry and move right to the next column.
To enter a formula into a cell, begin with an equal sign.
Press Delete to clear a cell’s contents.
To jump to a specific cell, press Control+G, then enter a cell reference such as H23, then press Enter.
To jump to a specific cell, and select all the intervening cells , press Control+G, then enter a cell reference, then press Shift+Enter.
To sum a row or column, position to the blank cell at the end of the row or bottom of the column. Then press ALT+H, U, S and then press Enter. This puts the Auto Sum formula into the cell to provide the total of the cells above or to the left.
Press Control+Space to select a column.
Press Shift+Space to select a row.
To select multiple columns or rows, select the first column or row, and then while holding down the Shift key, press the appropriate arrow key to select adjacent columns or rows.
To reach the last cell with data in any direction press Control+Arrow key or, End key, arrow key. For example, to jump to the last cell with data in the column, press Control+Down arrow or, End key, Down arrow. To reach the next nonblank cell in a row press Control+Right arrow or, End key, Right arrow. If you add the Shift key while performing these shortcuts, then the intervening cells will be selected.
If you are positioned on a blank cell, then the Control+Arrow keys will instead find the first nonblank cell in the given direction. This is a good way to find any cells in a column or row after what you think is the last cell. If there are no more cells in that direction, you will reach the bottom or right edge of the worksheet space. In that case, return to where you were by pressing Control + the reverse arrow. If there is an unexpected cell with data, you will be positioned on it.
For more shortcuts here is the complete list of Excel shortcuts.
And here is more info on basic Excel tasks using a screen reader.

That’s it for this tip. Until next Wednesday, happy computing.

CCB-GTT Weekly Meetings, November 8 to November 14, 2020 via Zoom

You are invited to the CCB’s GTT Zoom meetings where we focus in on the technology needs and concerns of Canadians who are blind or low vision. The calls will take place over the accessible Zoom Conference system, which will allow participants to dial in using their landline phones, smart phones, or computers. You will find the Zoom link and phone numbers below the meeting listings. Please pay special attention to the “(NOTE)” notation after some of the meeting listings. Different zoom platforms are used for different meetings and some require preregistration.

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Monday, November 9, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

Host, Kim Kilpatrick,

Topic, Open discussion,

—

(NOTE) With respect, there will be no meetings on Wednesday November 11th, 2020. We encourage everyone to take some time to reflect upon the past and honour those that have given so much, that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today. This would include, and is not limited to those that were blinded in war times. Through their powerful strength in working together, they created the road to equality that we continue traveling and working on today, for the good of us all. Remembrance Day, lest we forget……

—

CCB-GTT YOUTH ZOOM CALL

Thursday, November 12, 2020, 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific:

Host, Nolan Jenikov

For individuals between the ages of 16 and 25ish.

(NOTE) The meeting credentials are different for this meeting, preregistration required. For more info contact Nolan at nolan.gtt@ccbnational.net.

—

CCB-GTT OPEN CHAT

Friday, November 13, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific:

host, David Greene,

Topic, Open discussion,

—

Security procedure remains in effect.

If you need help doing these things or learning to use zoom, please contact us and we can help you.

You can participate by phone or internet from wherever you are:

CCB is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Meeting ID: 983 959 5688

Password: 320119

Alberta One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+15873281099,9839595688#

BC One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+17789072071,9839595688#

Manitoba One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+12045151268,9839595688#

Montreal One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+14388097799,9839595688#

Toronto One tap mobile for Smart Phones:

+16473744685,9839595688#

Direct Dial:

Alberta: +1 587 328 1099

BC: +1 778 907 2071

Manitoba: +1 204 515 1268

Montreal: +1 438 809 7799

Toronto: +1 647 374 4685

For more information, contact:

Kim Kilpatrick, CCB GTT Coordinator

1-877-304-0968 Ext 513

David Greene, CCB GTT Accessibility Trainer

1-877-304-0968 Ext 509

Corry Stuive, CCB National Program Coordinator