Author: Albert Ruel

The Albert A. Ruel Road to Blindness A 21 year old man stood on the beach at the Sproat Lake Provincial Park with friends early in May of 1977, and upon gazing across the lake found the Gulf Oil sign missing from the dock-side filling station there. When this fact was shared with his companions they glanced at him with puzzled looks and said, “No Albert, the sign is still there”. That was the beginning of a road through confusion, anger, isolation, loneliness and discovery for me. It all began with a visit to a local Optometrist who could see that my vision wasn’t right, but that corrective lenses wouldn’t help. He then referred me to a General Practitioner, where I received a clean bill of health and an additional referral. This time to an Ophthalmologist. Immediately upon peering through the dilated pupils, Dr. McKerricher was able to see the problem, Retinal Vasculitis. Now, you would think that all would start to improve at this point, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You see, CNIB, from 1918 until 1985 only served the needs of people who were “Legally Blind”, a level of vision loss I wouldn’t reach until November of 1979. The words of Dr. McKerricher still echo in my mind today, “Albert, I don’t know what has caused this and nothing we’ve tried is helping to stop it, and you’re not blind enough for me to refer you to CNIB”! In the middle of this transition from 20/20 vision to “Legally Blind” came the Motor Vehicle Branch and it’s rules of the road. On August 3, 1978 I drove a car for the last time as my vision had reached the level at which operating a motor vehicle became too dangerous, further intensifying feelings of fear, isolation and anger. Sadly, through this period the only available guidance and support was through family and friends, but not the experienced professionals I needed at the time. Although these support systems are critically important they can often be smothering and facilitating, rather than encouraging and supportive. With gratitude, and some trepidation I finally was able to access CNIB services in November of 1979, and the world opened up then. There I was able to meet other blind people and receive the daily living and mobility skills required to live independently in this sighted world. I learned elementary braille and began to discover technology as necessary tools of independence. Thankfully, in 1985 CNIB’s National Board altered the course of service to visually impaired Canadians forever. They added a third prong to their Mission Statement, “To promote sight enhancement services”. This opened the door to all Canadians who were beginning to lose sight, as well as those who had a fear of vision loss to access the full range of CNIB Support and Rehabilitation Services. So now, whether it’s someone’s Mother who is experiencing Macular Degeneration, or an Uncle experiencing the affects of Glaucoma, all have the ability to seek information, guidance and support as all involved deal with the fear and anxiety that accompanies such life altering experiences. With the help of professional Rehabilitation Workers and Employment Counselors I was able to continue traveling independently within my own community, and even more remarkably anywhere in the world I desired to go. I managed to attend College in Nanaimo and New Westminster, as well as traveling to the Mayo Clinic and to doctor’s appointments in Nanaimo and Vancouver without assistance. All of this while living with some usable vision, but not yet needing a white cane for travel. During the mid 1980’s I was a stay-at-home Dad and did all that was required of that challenging work, from changing diapers to preparing meals, and from cutting the grass to maintaining our home. I even took a woodworking course through Alberni’s Adult Education program and built and restored several pieces of furniture. Of course the 1958 Chevy Impala in the garage was my pride and joy, and I devised ways to do much of the work it required. I also joined and participated in many community activities, like the local Car Club, and a disability support group that catered to the needs of people with many different disabilities. Of course, continued participation in family life remained of critical importance through this period. In 1989 a secondary condition began to extinguish the vision that remained, which set into motion a new stream of professional rehabilitation services and supports. By the spring of 1990 Glaucoma had turned out the lights completely, and the darkness I had feared so desperately was upon me. Strangely though, I found this to be a great relief rather than the tragedy I had imagined it would be. Through several professional rehabilitation sessions, and by joining peer mentoring and advocacy groups I was able to come to terms with this strange feeling, and to learn additional skills and strategies for living with no visual cues of the world around me. This is also about the time that I decided to explore CNIB as an employer, and to see if I could provide the sort of guidance and support to others that had been my pleasure to receive. Those 14 years were a wonderful experience of ongoing discovery for me, as teaching may be the best way to solidify one’s own learning. In other words, those we assist through this transition in turn help us all as we develop best practices and improved service. Following a 14 year career with CNIB I also served the blind community as the first National Equality Director employed by the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC), and as a Basic Computer Literacy Trainer with the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB). Most recently I have enjoyed coordinating the CCB’s newly launched Get Together with Technology Program in Western Canada, which brings to the fore my passion for assistive technology and the power of peer mentoring. Without sight I have continued to travel far and wide, with trips to Conventions of and for the Blind in Anaheim California and Melbourne Australia, as well as to many events and activities in Toronto and Vancouver. Of course my work has taken me to many communities throughout Western Canada, and most particularly nearly all regions of BC and on Vancouver Island. None of which would have been possible without the services and support of organizations like CCB, AEBC and CNIB. For most people blindness generates a fear of extended movement, both within one’s home and community, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Independence comes from personal desire and increased skill. Many community organizations can assist with both through their mentoring and skill development programs. I remember always that life has little to do with what happens to me and 100% what I do about/with it. There is a quote I like to use from the National Federation of the Blind in the USA, “With adequate skill development and opportunity blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance”, and nothing could be closer to the truth. Helen Keller said many years ago, “There is nothing more tragic than someone who has sight, but no vision”. She also challenged the Lions Clubs of the world to become the “Knights of the Blind, and to take up the crusade against darkness”. I too joined a Lions Club in 1992 and continue to work on the crusade that Helen Keller began in the 1920-s.

TechEase-GTT Regina Summary Notes, Accessible Devices We Can’t Live Without, January 28, 2017

Tech-Ease/ Get Together with Technology

Regina Drop-In Meeting

Summary Notes

January 28, 2017

Sponsored by Vision Impaired Resource Network (VIRN),

Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)

And the

Regina Public Library

Assistive Technology Peer Support by and for people who are blind/low vision

In Attendance Jan 28, 2017: Amber, Michelle, Doug, Linda, Wes, Donna, Camille, Nash, Anna, Jerome, Barry, Blaine, Joanne & Darlene

Today we all discussed our favourite products to make life easier:

Magnifier Built into iOS (Amber’s choice) – Turn on by going setting –> general –> accessibility –> magnifier –> turn it on by making toggle green

Then triple tap the home button to activate, use the camera on the iDevice to center a document, press the white button in the bottom middle to take a picture, you can then zoom in quite a bit, you can also adjust the contrast, brightness and colours by choosing the 3 dots button. Works almost as well as a portable CCTV and is build into iDevices for free. (You need iOS 10 and up installed)

Trekker Breeze (Michelle’s choice) – GPS device, you connect receiver & PDA to each other, walk around, it announces intersections, you can tag locations with names, even those in open space (like bus stops or garbage cans), some transit systems have uploads so all bus stops are noted. (Regina did a few years ago, haven’t updated).

Maestro Stream (Michelle’s choice) – Maestro version has PDA, notes, music player built in, had an external speaker and Bluetooth as external components. The voice reads pictures

Braille Display (Michelle’s choice) – hooks up to iPad and display text as Braille, can also input Braille as text to device

Pen Friend (Linda’s choice) – A device that comes with special stickers, you touch the “pen” to the sticker and it reads out whatever you pre-recorded on it. Good for organizing, especially things like cans, frozen goods, CDs, documents, clothes, etc.

Some tips, you can reuse the stickers (you can record on them many times) some ways to reuse the stickers are by putting them on round magnets and magnetizing to cans, putting them on index cards and securing them to a frozen food with an elastic, ironing the clothing ones onto small swatches of cotton and pinning them inside clothes with safety pins

Victor Stream, Pocket Linio Book Readers (Linda & Jerome’s choice) – can act as a voice recorder/note taker, plays .MP3 or Daisy files, newer ones can do direct to player from CELA website,

Milestone 312 (Jerome or Barry’s choice) – is a notetaker, book reader, plays mp3s, FM tuner (headphones are antenna), alarm, agenda

GoPro (Nash’s choice) – wireless video camera, straps to you in different positions to make extreme sports videos or first-person videos or as a typical video recorder, you can connect it wirelessly to your phone so you can see what it can see

Tap Memo (Jerome’s choice) – Voice Recorder, time, phone book, calendar, memo, alarm, date (talk to it and it reads things out loud)

Jerome shared an interesting podcast from Mystic Access that compared Amazon & Alexa speakers

There is an Open House for White Cane Week at the library Feb 28, 2017 at Outreach, CCB will have a display.

Connect with us:

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Accessibility Article: Screen Reader User Survey #7 Results, WebAIM Projects

*Note: This is a long read, 62 pages at 14Pt Font.

Screen Reader User Survey #7 Results

Read it online at:

https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey7/

article

WebAIM Projects

> Screen Reader User Survey #7 Results

navigation region

Article Contents

list of 19 items

Introduction
Demographics

list of 6 items nesting level 1

Region
Disability Reported
Disability Types
Screen Reader Proficiency
Internet Proficiency
Screen reader usage

list end nesting level 1

Primary Screen Reader
Screen Readers Commonly Used
Free/Low-cost Screen Readers
Screen Reader Updates
Browsers
Screen Reader / Browser Combinations
Operating System
Braille Output
Mobile Screen Readers

list of 5 items nesting level 1

Mobile Screen Reader Usage
Mobile Platforms
Mobile Screen Readers Used
Mobile vs. Desktop/Laptop Usage
Mobile Keyboard Usage

list end nesting level 1

Web Accessibility Progress
Impacts on Accessibility
Social Media Accessibility
Landmarks/Regions
Finding Information
Heading Structures
“Skip” Links
Problematic Items

list end

navigation region end

Introduction

In October 2017, WebAIM surveyed preferences of screen reader users. We received 1792 valid responses. This was a follow-up to 6 previous surveys that

were conducted between January 2009 and July 2015 (see

Related Resources).

A few disclaimers and notices:

list of 4 items

Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Total responses (n) for each question may not equal 1792 due to respondents not answering that particular question.
The sample was not controlled and may not represent all screen reader users.
We hope to conduct additional surveys of this nature again in the future. If you have recommendations or questions you would like us to ask, please

list end

Demographics

Region

North AmericaEurope/UKAsiaAustralia and OceaniaAfrica/Middle EastSouth AmericaCentral America andCaribbean23%60%

table with 3 columns and 8 rows

Region

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

North America

991

60.0%

Europe/UK

380

23.0%

Asia

141

8.5%

Australia and Oceania

3.7%

Africa/Middle East

2.4%

South America

2.1%

Central America and Caribbean

0.3%

table end

Caribbean

table with 3 columns and 8 rows

Respondent Region

Region

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

North America

991

60.0%

Europe/UK

380

23.0%

Asia

141

8.5%

Australia and Oceania

3.7%

Africa/Middle East

2.4%

South America

2.1%

Central America and Caribbean

0.3%

table end

This survey had more respondents outside North America than previous surveys, thus providing better representation of the global screen reader user audience.

Disability Reported

YesNo10.8%89.2%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,585

89.2%

192

10.9%

table end

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Do you use a screen reader due to a disability?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,585

89.2%

192

10.9%

table end

In general, we’ve found survey responses to be very similar between respondents with and without disabilities. Any notable differences are detailed below

to help us determine differences in practices or perceptions between the disability and the developer communities.

Disability Types

Disability Types (% of respondents)BlindnessLow Vision/Visually-ImpairedCognitiveDeafness/Hard-of-HearingMotorOther0%25%50%75%100%

table with 2 columns and 7 rows

Response

% of Respondents

Blindness

75.8

Low Vision/Visually-Impaired

20.4

Cognitive

2.2

Deafness/Hard-of-Hearing

Motor

1.8

Other

2.3

table end

Disability Types (% of respondents)

table with 3 columns and 7 rows

Which of the following disabilities do you have?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Blindness

1,358

75.8%

Low Vision/Visually-Impaired

366

20.4%

Cognitive

2.2%

Deafness/Hard-of-Hearing

5.0%

Motor

1.8%

Other

2.3%

table end

239 respondents (13.3%) reported multiple disabilities. 70 respondents (3.9%) reported being both deaf and blind.

The number of respondents with low vision was notably lower than in 2015. This corresponds with decreased usage of ZoomText among respondents.

Screen Reader Proficiency

AdvancedIntermediateBeginner6%34.6%59.5%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

1,039

59.5%

Intermediate

604

34.6%

Beginner

104

6.0%

table end

Beginner

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Please rate your screen reader proficiency

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

1,039

59.5%

Intermediate

604

34.6%

Beginner

104

6.0%

table end

Those who use screen readers due to a disability report themselves as more proficient with screen readers—64.2% of those with disabilities considered their

proficiency to be “Advanced” compared to only 19.8% of those without disabilities.

Internet Proficiency

AdvancedIntermediateBeginner25.3%72.9%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

1,278

72.9%

Intermediate

444

25.3%

Beginner

1.7%

table end

Beginner

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Please rate your proficiency using the Internet

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

1,278

72.9%

Intermediate

444

25.3%

Beginner

1.7%

table end

Reported proficiency on this survey was notably higher than all previous surveys, perhaps suggesting that screen reader users are becoming more accustomed

to using the internet. Those without disabilities rate themselves as more proficient than those with disabilities.

Screen Reader Usage

Exclusively audioPrimarily audio, but alsovisualPrimarily visual, but alsoaudioExclusively visual11.1%75.6%

table with 3 columns and 5 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Exclusively audio

1,311

75.6%

Primarily audio, but also visual

193

11.1%

Primarily visual, but also audio

145

8.4%

Exclusively visual

4.9%

table end

Exclusively visual

table with 3 columns and 5 rows

Which of the following most accurately describes your screen reader usage?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

I exclusively rely on screen reader audio

1,311

75.6%

I primarily rely on screen reader audio, but also use visual content

193

11.1%

I primarily rely on visual content, but also use screen reader audio

145

8.4%

I exclusively rely on visual content

4.9%

table end

Nearly 25% of respondents rely at least partially on the visual components when using a screen reader. 83.4% of those with disabilities rely exclusively

on audio, compared to only 5.3% of those without disabilities (primarily testers). This is not entirely unexpected, but does indicate significant differences

in usage between those with disabilities and those without disabilities.

Only 1.3% of those with disabilities rely exclusively on the visual output—many of these reported having cognitive or learning disabilities. Users of ZoomText,

Narrator, and ChromeVox were much more likely to use the visual output than users of other screen readers.

Primary Screen Reader

JAWSNVDAVoiceOverZoomTextSystem Access orSA To GoWindow-EyesChromeVoxNarratorOther46.6%11.7%31.9%

table with 3 columns and 10 rows

Screen Reader

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

JAWS

811

46.6%

NVDA

555

31.9%

VoiceOver

204

11.7%

ZoomText

2.4%

System Access or SA To Go

1.7%

Window-Eyes

1.5%

ChromeVox

0.4%

Narrator

0.3%

Other

3.4%

table end

Other

table with 3 columns and 10 rows

Which of the following is your primary desktop/laptop screen reader?

Screen Reader

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

JAWS

811

46.6%

NVDA

555

31.9%

VoiceOver

204

11.7%

ZoomText

2.4%

System Access or SA To Go

1.7%

Window-Eyes

1.5%

ChromeVox

0.4%

Narrator

0.3%

Other

3.4%

table end

The following chart shows historical trends for primary screen reader usage.

Line chart of primary screen reader usage over time. In 2015, ZoomText and WindowEyes rise dramatically and JAWS falls. In 2017, ZoomText and WindowEyes

drop dramatically and JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver rise.

What happened in 2015? Essentially, the survey was distributed to a much broader audience, with many ZoomText and Window-Eyes users recruited to respond.

Window-Eyes was also offered freely with Microsoft Office before the 2015 survey, but has since been discontinued. A much broader analysis from 2015 is

available on the

WebAIM blog.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the 2015 numbers were inaccurate. They certainly are accurate of respondents for that survey, which included more low=vision

users than any other survey. 39% of respondents in July 2015 reported low vision, compared to only 20.4% on this survey. This difference in respondent

demographics accounts for much or most of the decrease of respondents using ZoomText in 2017.

In short, there are three primary players—JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver. But we should not discount the continued impact of other screen readers, primarily

ZoomText among the broader low vision community.

For survey simplicity, other specific screen readers were not offered as response options. The survey comments indicate that SuperNova was very common

among “Other” screen readers.

Respondents with disabilities are more likely to use JAWS and less likely to use VoiceOver as their primary screen reader than respondents without disabilities.

10.4% of respondents with disabilities use VoiceOver compared to 22.6% of respondents without disabilities.

NVDA users reported higher levels of screen reader proficiency than users of other screen readers.

Screen Readers Commonly Used

Screen Readers Commonly Used (% of respondents)JAWSNVDAVoiceOverZoomTextSA or SA To GoWindow-EyesNarratorChromeVoxOther0%25%50%75%100%

table with 2 columns and 10 rows

Response

% of Respondents

JAWS

NVDA

64.9

VoiceOver

39.6

ZoomText

SA or SA To Go

Window-Eyes

4.7

Narrator

21.4

ChromeVox

5.1

Other

6.4

table end

Screen Readers Commonly Used (% of respondents)

table with 2 columns and 10 rows

Which of the following desktop/laptop screen readers do you commonly use?

Screen Reader

% of Respondents

JAWS

66.0%

NVDA

64.9%

VoiceOver

39.6%

ZoomText

6.0%

SA or SA To Go

4.0%

Window-Eyes

4.7%

Narrator

21.4%

ChromeVox

5.1%

Other

6.4%

table end

Chart of screen reader usage showing recent increases in usage of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, and significant decreases in Window-Eyes and ZoomText.

See the

commentary above

regarding the July 2015 values.

Usage of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver are all up since 2015, with Window-Eyes and ZoomText significantly lower. Of note is that Narrator, which has been significantly

improved in Windows 10, was used as a primary screen reader by only 0.3% of respondents, but was commonly used by 21.4% of respondents.

68% of respondents use more than one desktop/laptop screen reader. This was up from 53% in July 2015. 36% use three or more, and 12% use four or more different

screen readers. VoiceOver users most commonly use additional screen readers, which is notable since the other screen readers run almost exclusively on

Windows.

Free/Low-cost Screen Readers

YesNoI Don’t Know11.7%10.5%77.8%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,367

77.8%

184

10.5%

I Don’t Know

206

11.7%

table end

I Don’t Know

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Do you see free or low-cost screen readers (such as NVDA or VoiceOver) as currently being viable alternatives to commercial screen readers?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,367

77.8%

184

10.5%

I Don’t Know

206

11.7%

table end

The positive perception of free or low-cost screen readers continues to increase. Positive responses to this question were 48% in October 2009, 60% in

December 2010, 67% in May 2012, 74% in January 2014, and 78% now.

Only 66% of JAWS users answered “Yes” compared to an overwhelming 92% of VoiceOver users and 94% of NVDA users. Those that actually use free or low-cost

screen readers have a much better perception of them than those who do not use them. Respondents with “Advanced” screen reader proficiency were also more

favorable of free/low-cost screen readers.

Screen Reader Updates

YesNo11.5%88.5%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,562

88.5%

203

11.5%

table end

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Has your primary screen reader been updated in the last year?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,562

88.5%

203

11.5%

table end

The vast majority (88.5%) of respondents indicated that their screen reader has been updated in the last year. This was 82.7% in 2014. 95.5% of NVDA users,

93.4% of VoiceOver users, and 85.9% of JAWS users updated in the last year.

Browsers

FirefoxIE11ChromeSafariIE6, 7, or 8IE 9 or 10Microsoft EdgeOther41%15.5%23.3%

table with 3 columns and 9 rows

Browser

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Firefox

719

41.0%

IE11

408

23.3%

Chrome

271

15.5%

Safari

184

10.5%

IE6, 7, or 8

4.1%

IE 9 or 10

4.0%

Microsoft Edge

0.5%

Other

1.3%

table end

Other

table with 3 columns and 9 rows

When using your primary screen reader, which browser do you use most often?

Browser

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Firefox

719

41.0%

Internet Explorer 11

408

23.3%

Chrome

271

15.5%

Safari

184

10.5%

Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8

4.1%

Internet Explorer 9 or 10

4.0%

Microsoft Edge

0.5%

Other

1.3%

table end

Line chart of primary browser usage showing increases in Firefox and Chrome, decreases in Internet Explorer, and Safari usage generally stable since 2009.

For the first time, IE is no longer the most common browser among respondents. Internet Explorer (all versions) usage decreased to 31.4% from 53.5% in

July 2015, 58.7% in January 2014, and 67.5% in May 2012. Firefox was used by 41% (up from 24.2% in 2014) of respondents. 31.4% represents a significantly

higher IE usage than among the overall population (most statistics place it well below 10%). Usage of IE 6 through 10 was almost non-existent (1.6%) among

those without disabilities, but remains at 8.8% among those with disabilities.

Usage of Chrome more than doubled since July 2015, but was still well below usage by the overall population. Microsoft Edge usage was very low at .5%—notably

below the overall population.

Screen Reader / Browser Combinations

table with 3 columns and 10 rows

Most common screen reader and browser combinations

Screen Reader & Browser

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

JAWS with Internet Explorer

424

24.7%

NVDA with Firefox

405

23.6%

JAWS with Firefox

260

15.1%

VoiceOver with Safari

172

10.0%

JAWS with Chrome

112

6.5%

NVDA with Chrome

102

5.9%

NVDA with IE

2.3%

VoiceOver with Chrome

1.4%

Other combinations

180

10.5%

table end

There are many combinations in use, with JAWS with IE the most common, followed closely by NVDA with Firefox.

Operating System

WindowsiOSAppleAndroidLinuxOther14.2%72.8%

table with 3 columns and 7 rows

Operating System

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Windows

1,304

72.8%

iOS

254

14.2%

Apple

141

7.9%

Android

3.1%

Linux

1.4%

Other

.7%

table end

Other

table with 3 columns and 7 rows

Operating System

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Windows

1,304

72.8%

iOS

254

14.2%

Apple

141

7.9%

Android

3.1%

Linux

1.4%

Other

.7%

table end

Operating system data above was detected from the system used to complete the survey. Respondents using iOS and Android nearly tripled since 2015. Respondents

without disabilities were almost 4 times more likely to use Apple than respondents with disabilities, whereas users with disabilities were more likely

to respond using iOS devices.

Braille Output

YesNo33.3%66.7%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

516

33.3%

1,034

66.7%

table end

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Do you use braille output with your screen reader?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

516

33.3%

1,034

66.7%

table end

Because it would not generally be expected that users without disabilities would use Braille, they have been omitted from these data. Braille usage at

33.3% was up slightly from 27.7% in May 2012. 48.7% of VoiceOver users used Braille compared to a much lower 35.1% of JAWS users and 29.9% of NVDA users.

Mobile Screen Readers

Mobile Screen Reader Usage

YesNo12%88%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,557

88.0%

213

12.0%

table end

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Do you use a screen reader on a mobile phone, mobile handheld device, or tablet?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1,557

88.0%

213

12.0%

table end

Chart of mobile screen reader adoption over time showing continual increases, with a small decrease in 2015.

The percentage of respondents using a mobile screen reader was notably up from 69.2% in July 2015, when the survey had broader distribution to a more diverse

and less technically proficient user base. 90.9% of respondents with disabilities indicate using a mobile screen reader, compared to only 65.3% of respondents

without disabilities. 94.3% of users with advanced screen reader proficiency indicate using a mobile screen reader compared to just 50.5% of those with

beginner proficiency.

Mobile Platforms

Apple iPhone, iPad, oriPod touchAndroidOther22%75.6%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

1,146

75.6%

Android

334

22.0%

Other

2.3%

table end

Other

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Which of the following is your primary mobile/tablet platform?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

1,146

75.6%

Android

334

22.0%

Other

2.3%

table end

iOS devices continue to dominate the mobile screen reader market. Android usage increased slightly, though at a slower pace than previous years. Usage

of other platforms (Windows Phone, Chrome OS, Nokia, etc.) combined represent only 2.3% of usage.

Chart of mobile platform usage.

iOS device usage among screen reader users was notably higher than for the standard population, whereas Android usage was much, much lower. Those with

more advanced screen reader and internet proficiency were much more likely to use iOS over Android.

Mobile Screen Readers Used

Mobile Screen Readers Commonly Used (% of respondents)VoiceOverTalkBackVoice AssistantMobile AccessibilityNuance TalksMobileSpeakOther0%25%50%75%100%

table with 2 columns and 8 rows

Response

% of Respondents

VoiceOver

TalkBack

29.5

Voice Assistant

5.2

Mobile Accessibility

1.9

Nuance Talks

1.8

MobileSpeak

1.5

Other

3.2

table end

Mobile Screen Readers Commonly Used (% of respondents)

table with 2 columns and 8 rows

Which of the following mobile screen readers do you commonly use? (Choose all that apply)

Mobile Screen Reader

% of Respondents

VoiceOver

69.0%

TalkBack for Android

29.5%

Voice Assistant

5.2%

Mobile Accessibility for Android

1.9%

Nuance Talks

1.8%

MobileSpeak

1.5%

Other

3.2%

table end

Since July 2015, VoiceOver usage increased to 69% from 56.7%. TalkBack increased to 29.5% from 17.8% over the same 2.5 year period. All other mobile screen

readers saw decreased usage over that period. 20.9% of respondents commonly use multiple mobile screen readers.

Mobile vs. Desktop/Laptop Usage

Which do you use most often with a screen reader?Desktop/LaptopAbout the sameMobile/Tablet34.6%11.4%54%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Desktop/Laptop

528

34.6%

About the same

825

54.0%

Mobile/Tablet

174

11.4%

table end

Mobile/Tablet

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Do you use a screen reader most often on a desktop/laptop computer or a mobile/tablet device?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Desktop/Laptop

528

34.6%

I use mobile/tablet and desktop/laptop screen readers about the same

825

54.0%

Mobile/Tablet device

174

11.4%

table end

54% of respondents use both devices about the same amount. Users are more likely to predominantly use desktop/laptop screen readers than they are mobile/tablet

screen readers. Respondents with disabilities are more likely to use a mobile screen reader than respondents without disabilities.

Mobile App vs Web Site Usage

Mobile AppWeb site46%54%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Mobile App

779

46%

Web site

916

54%

table end

Web site

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

When performing common online tasks such as banking or shopping are you most likely to use a mobile app or the web site?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Mobile App

779

46%

Web site

916

54%

table end

Respondents with disabilities are more likely to use the mobile app than respondents that do not have disabilities. Those with advanced screen reader proficiency

were much more likely to use the mobile app than those with beginner proficiency.

Mobile Keyboard Usage

AlwaysOftenSometimesSeldomNever12%26.1%38.2%21.2%

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Always

3.9%

Often

181

11.8%

Sometimes

394

25.7%

Seldom

320

20.9%

Never

577

37.7%

table end

Never

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

When using a mobile screen reader how often do you use an external keyboard?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Always

3.9%

Often

181

11.8%

Sometimes

394

25.7%

Seldom

320

20.9%

Never

577

37.7%

table end

Mobile devices are often considered to be touch-only interfaces, yet many screen reader users use a keyboard when using their mobile devices.

Web Accessibility Progress

More AccessibleNo ChangeLess Accessible40.8%18.8%40.4%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

More Accessible

711

40.8

No Change

703

40.4%

Less Accessible

327

18.8%

table end

Less Accessible

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Which of the following best describes your feelings regarding the accessibility of web content over the previous year?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Web content has become more accessible

711

40.8%

Web content accessibility has not changed

703

40.4%

Web content has become less accessible

327

18.8%

table end

Respondents have a slightly more positive perception of the state of web accessibility now than they did in 2015. Respondents without disabilities tend

to be more positive about recent progress (51.7% thought it has become more accessible) than those with disabilities (39.6% thought it has become more

accessible).

Impacts on Accessibility

Which would have a bigger impact on accessibility?Better (more accessible)web sitesBetter assistivetechnology14.7%85.3%

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Better (more accessible) web sites

1,490

85.3

Better assistive technology

257

14.7%

table end

technology

table with 3 columns and 3 rows

Which of the following do you think would have a bigger impact on improvements to web accessibility?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Better (more accessible) web sites

1490

85.3%

Better assistive technology

257

14.7%

table end

Over time, more respondents have answered “better web sites” to this question—68.6% of respondents in October 2009, 75.8% in December 2010, 81.3% in January

2014, and now 85.3% on this survey. This change perhaps reflects improvements to assistive technology. It certainly indicates that users expect site authors

to address accessibility issues.

Social Media Accessibility

Very AccessibleSomewhat AccessibleSomewhat InaccessibleVery InaccessibleI Don’t Know14.9%11.3%14.5%54.3%

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Very Accessible

253

14.9%

Somewhat Accessible

921

54.3%

Somewhat Inaccessible

246

14.5%

Very Inaccessible

4.9%

I Don’t Know

192

11.3%

table end

I Don’t Know

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

In general, how accessible are social media web sites to you?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Very Accessible

253

14.9%

Somewhat Accessible

921

54.3%

Somewhat Inaccessible

246

14.5%

Very Inaccessible

4.9%

I Don’t Know

192

11.3%

table end

Compared to responses from previous surveys, respondents are increasingly positive about the accessibility of social media sites – 69.2% find them very

or somewhat accessible compared to 55.2% in 2012 and 60.3% in 2015. 73.1% of respondents with advanced screen reader proficiency rate social media sites

as very or somewhat accessible, compared to only 62.8% of respondents with beginner proficiency.

Landmarks/Regions

Whenever they’reavailableOftenSometimesSeldomNever18%12.5%19.4%21.3%28.8%

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they’re available

307

18.0%

Often

213

12.5%

Sometimes

491

28.8%

Seldom

364

21.3%

Never

332

19.4%

table end

Never

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

How often do you navigate by landmarks/regions in your screen reader?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they’re available

307

18.0%

Often

213

12.5%

Sometimes

491

28.8%

Seldom

364

21.3%

Never

332

19.4%

table end

The frequent use of landmarks and regions has continually decreased from 43.8% in January 2014, to 38.6% in July 2015, to 30.5% on this survey. It’s difficult

to know the reasons for this. It could be due to infrequent or improper usage of landmarks/regions in pages. Or perhaps because other mechanisms are continually

better. 45.4% of JAWS users reported always or often using landmarks in July 2015 compared to only 28.5% now just 2.5 years later.

Finding Information

Pie chart of methods for finding information on a lengthy web pageNavigate HeadingsUse “Find”Navigate LinksNavigate Landmarks/RegionsRead the page14.4%67.5%

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Navigate Headings

1,180

67.5%

Use “Find”

252

14.4%

Navigate Links

118

6.8%

Navigate Landmarks/Regions

3.9%

Read the page

128

7.3%

table end

Read the page

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

When trying to find information on a lengthy web page, which of the following are you most likely to do first?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Navigate through the headings on the page

1180

67.5%

Use the “Find” feature

252

14.4%

Navigate through the links of the page

118

6.8%

Navigate through the landmarks/regions of the page

3.9%

Read through the page

128

7.3%

table end

While reliance on headings as the predominant mechanism for finding page information had notably increased between 2008 and 2014, responses to this question

are largely unchanged since

2014.

While 30.5% of respondents indicate that they always or often use landmarks when they are present, only 3.9% use this method for finding information on

a lengthy web page. Those with advanced screen reader proficiency are much more likely to use headings (73% use headings) than those with beginner proficiency

(42% use headings) who are more likely to read through the page.

Heading Structures

Heading structure preferencesSite name in <h1>Document title in <h1>Two <h1>s33.3%60%

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Site name in <h1>

6.6%

Document title in <h1>

858

60.0%

Two <h1>s

476

33.3%

table end

Two <h1>s

table with 3 columns and 4 rows

Which of the following page heading structures is easiest for you?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

One first level heading that contains the site name

6.6%

One first level heading that contains the document title

858

60.0%

Two first level headings, one for the site name and one for the document title

476

33.3%

table end

Preference for a single <h1> that presents the document title has significantly increased from 37.1% in 2010 to 60% in 2017. A single <h1> for the site

name was by far the least desired.

“Skip” Links

Skip link usageWhenever they’reavailableOftenSometimesSeldomNever15.8%16.4%18.4%21.6%27.8%

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they’re available

273

15.8%

Often

283

16.4%

Sometimes

480

27.8%

Seldom

374

21.6%

Never

319

18.4%

table end

Never

table with 3 columns and 6 rows

When a “skip to main content” or “skip navigation” link is available on a page, how often do you use it?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they’re available

273

15.8%

Often

283

16.4%

Sometimes

480

27.8%

Seldom

374

21.6%

Never

319

18.4%

table end

When compared to July 2015, the frequent usage of “skip” links has decreased from 37.8% to 30.2%. 54.9% of respondents without disabilities always or often

use “skip” links compared to only 29.6% of respondents with disabilities. This represents a very significant disparity in usage.

It is important to note that while usage has decreased among screen reader users, “skip” links still provide notable benefit for other keyboard users.

Problematic Items

The survey asked respondents to select their most, second most, and third most problematic items from a list. In giving each selected item a weighting,

the following chart shows the overall rating of difficulty and frustration for each item.

Most Problematic ItemsCAPTCHAUnexpected screen changesAmbiguous links/buttonsFlash contentLack of keyboard accessibilityComplex/difficult formsMissing/improper

alt textMissing/improper headingsToo many linksComplex data tablesInaccessible/missing searchMissing “skip” link

table with 2 columns and 13 rows

Response

Ranking

CAPTCHA

2,633

Unexpected screen changes

1,516

Ambiguous links/buttons

1,401

Flash content

1,287

Lack of keyboard accessibility

1,076

Complex/difficult forms

623

Missing/improper alt text

585

Missing/improper headings

448

Too many links

358

Complex data tables

228

Inaccessible/missing search

156

Missing “skip” link

105

table end

Most Problematic Items

In order, the most problematic items are:

list of 12 items

CAPTCHA – images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user
Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly
Links or buttons that do not make sense
The presence of inaccessible Flash content
Lack of keyboard accessibility
Complex or difficult forms
Images with missing or improper descriptions (alt text)
Missing or improper headings
Too many links or navigation items
Complex data tables
Inaccessible or missing search functionality
Lack of “skip to main content” or “skip navigation” links

list end

CAPTCHA remains the most (by a notable margin) problematic item indicated by respondents. The order and indicated difficulty for the items in this list are largely unchanged over the last 8 years, with one notable exception—”Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly”. This item has moved from 7th most problematic in 2009 to 5th most problematic in 2012 to 2nd most problematic in 2017. This is likely a result of more complex and dynamic web applications.

Respondents with disabilities were nearly twice as likely to rank CAPTCHA and unexpected screen changes as problematic items than respondents without disabilities, who generally indicated that keyboard and forms accessibility were much more problematic than their peers with disabilities. 10.9% of respondents with disabilities rated keyboard accessibility as their single most problematic item, compared to 39.6% of respondents without disabilities. This suggests some notable disparities in perception of difficulties between these two groups.

article end

Accessibility Article: Ninety-six percent of visually impaired adults watch TV on a regular basis, according to Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind

Ninety-six percent of visually impaired adults watch TV on a regular basis, according to Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind

Ashley Boucher

SFGate, February 17, 2018

The majority of people with visual disabilities watch four or more hours of television per day, which is almost as much as the general public, a new survey by Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind found.

That’s compared to a Nielsen study from 2016 that found the average person watched about five hours of television per day.

“It’s a myth to think that you can’t enjoy television just because you have a visual disability,” said Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President of Accessibility for Comcast, who was born blind.

The survey, which found that 96 percent of visually impaired adults watch television on a regular basis, was conducted by Global Strategy Group and surveyed 626 visually impaired adults, including 277 adults with “no functional vision” between Oct. 9 and Nov. 27, 2017.

The results were weighted to correspond to national data about the visually impaired population, and designed to be compatible with screen readers and screen magnifiers.

Additionally, the survey found that 81 percent watch more than an hour per day and 55 percent watch four or more hours per day.

But it’s not always easy for the visually impaired to enjoy their favorite shows: of those surveyed, 65 percent encountered problems with looking up what’s on TV, and 53 percent experienced difficulty in following along with key visual elements. Less than half surveyed were aware of assistive technologies like video description and talking TV guides.

https://www.sfgate.com/…/Study-Blind-People-Watch-TV-About-as-Much-as-126179…

Monday’s Tech Tips: the Wilson” version 6 by Donna Jodhan

February 26 2018

No need to be afraid of technology

Hi there! My name is Donna and each week I promise to come into your inbox to share some tips with you on how you can overcome your fear of technology. This is my first blog and I thank my friend Albert for giving me an opportunity to visit with you.

Many of us did not grow up in the era of technology and it is probably why we are so hesitant when it comes to interacting with it. For me, I am somewhere in between and it never ceases to amaze me how much technology can change our lives. From the most basic of technology to the most sophisticated; it does not really matter.

I want to talk about some of the most basic technology in my blogs and I’ll start with a handy little gadget called “Talk to the Wilson” version 6.

This state-of-the-art digital voice recorder is simple

to use. Record up to 12 hours of voice messages.

Note: Not Available with Quota Funds

Features:

NEW for Version 6: “Check Message”

Message Management System

LP/SP switch for Long Play or Standard Play

(shorter recording time, better sound

quality)

When memory is full, the oldest recorded

message is automatically deleted

Will store multiple messages

Easy to add or delete messages

Clips to your belt, visor, or purse

Ear piece (mono)

Use to Record:

Phone numbers

Addresses

Shopping Lists

Reminders

To-do lists

Notes

Appointments

Messages

Lectures

Directions

Audio instructions

And much more!

Measures 2 x 3 x 0.5 inches.

Requires 2 AAA batteries (not included).

Note: Not compatible with Windows 8. The Wilson

digital recorder is not related to the Wilson Reading

System product.

Downloadable Manual: The Wilson instructions are

available free-of-charge as a text file on our

downloadable manuals page. We do not sell the

manual separately. Please visit:

http://www.aph.org/manuals/index.html

The Wilson Digital Voice Recorder, Version 6

Catalog Number: 1-03993-04

Price: $39.95

Ordering page:

https://shop.aph.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_The%

20Wilson%20Digital%20Voice%20Recorder,%

20Version%206_36594896P_10001_11051

So have fun now with the Talk to the Wilson recorder and see you next week.

If you would like to become a member of my CCB Mysteries chapter you can do so for the price of $10 annually and in return you will receive unlimitted access to either of the following libraries.

Recipes –

http://www.donnajodhan.com/library-recipes.html

Audio mysteries for all ages –

http://www.donnajodhan.com/library-audio-mysteries.html

Or you can subscribe to both for the price of $20 annually.

In celebration of Freedom to Read Week, CELA Gratefully Acknowledges the Federal Government $2.5 million Commitment in the Current Budget for Production of Accessible Reading Materials

In celebration of Freedom to Read Week and on the eve of the release of the next year’s federal budget, CELA would like to gratefully acknowledge the federal government’s ongoing commitment to public library services by highlighting the $2.5 million allocated for the production of accessible reading materials in the current budget. These funds, awarded to our main production partner, CNIB, are used to produce accessible materials for the estimated 3 million Canadians with print disabilities.

CELA’s mandate to provide equitable library services through Canada’s public libraries is supported by a combination of provincial, territorial, and municipal funding. Our efforts focus on acquiring and curating library materials, facilitating and coordinating production and delivery, maintaining the CELA web site and catalogue, and supporting patron and member libraries at a national level.

CELA contracts with CNIB to perform two functions related to public library services for persons with print disabilities, both which are supported by federal funding. The first is original production based on selections by CELA staff – human-narrated audio titles that are not available commercially, braille, and accessible text files.

The second is the physical production and shipping of items directly to the patron’s home – either on DAISY CD or embossed braille. As a service that reflects the values of Canadian public libraries, CELA believes this to be an essential component of our commitment to patrons that may lack the necessary Internet access, equipment or comfort level using online services.

By the end of the current budget year, we anticipate that:

Patrons using CELA services will have borrowed, downloaded or accessed over 2.1 million items
Over 1 million DAISY CDs and close to 20,000 braille volumes will be delivered directly to the patron’s home
Over 450 libraries across Canada will carry CELA DAISY CD deposit collections so that patrons can borrow accessible collections locally or for libraries to deliver via their visiting library service
Nearly 7,000 new books, a majority of which are human-narrated audio, will be added to the CELA collection and close 100,000 additional titles will be made available through Bookshare
Close to 8,000 new titles in French will be made available through our partnership with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) to bolster our collection of French titles
Over 2,300 new patrons will have signed up for CELA services through their local public library
Nearly 500 library staff across the country will have attended webinars and other training opportunities provided by CELA staff.

For more interesting statistics about how government funding supports CELA services, watch our social media over the next few days and consider sharing to educate your patrons about the importance of accessibility.

CELA is incredibly grateful for the annual funding support we received from government at all levels. Canadians with print disabilities would see a dramatic decrease in the quantity and quality of materials available in accessible formats without it. We are also grateful to literacy partners for providing opportunities for Canadians with print disabilities to engage with our national stories and in our national conversations, and our organizational partners for supporting our funding efforts, helping to spread the word about CELA and lending their expertise to the evolution of our services. Thanks also to our colleagues in CELA member libraries for the incredible work they do in providing CELA services. We look forward to continuing to work with all funders and partners to make the dream of equitable library service a reality.

Sincerely,

Catherine Biss

Chair, Board of Directors

Centre for Equitable Library Access

Accessibility Article: Why do gyms make things so difficult for blind people? The Guardian, Feb 26, 2018

Why do gyms make things so difficult for blind people?

When smartphones, TVs and even washing machines are set up for visually impaired people to use, why isn’t exercise equipment?

Amar Latif

The Guardian, Feb 26, 2018 07.00 GMT Last modified on Mon 26 Feb 2018 12.18 GMT

If, like me, you want to keep fit and healthy, your first port of call is usually your local gym or health club. However, if, like me, you are also blind, keeping active can be a minefield of inaccessible technology, awkward conversations and frustrating barriers. And mine is hardly a rare issue:

more than two million people in Britain are living with sight loss, and the RNIB predicts this will double by 2050.

When I was four years old, doctors broke the news to my parents that by my mid-to-late teens, I would become incurably blind. I remember waking up one morning, aged 18, and not being able to see the poster at the end of my bed.

I was walking around crashing into things. By this time, my mother had already banned me from riding my bike – though that didn’t stop me – until I rode headfirst into a skip, somersaulted and landed in the rubbish. As I was flying through the air, I realised it was probably best to call time on my cycling career.

Throughout my life, I have had to learn to overcome barriers. People told me I couldn’t become an accountant because I was blind, but I ended up overseeing a team of sighted employees as a management accountant for BT.

People told me I couldn’t travel as a solo blind traveller, so I set up Traveleyes, a travel company that pairs up blind and sighted travellers to explore the world together. I lead a lot of these trips as a blind tour manager, often the more active and adventurous ones, so I need to keep fit.

If on a trip, I am going to be taking a group cycling for 50km or spending eight hours walking through the Bulgarian mountains, I need to be in good shape.

Exercise is therefore very important to me, as it is with so many of us. But it’s harder for blind and visually impaired (VI) people to walk and exercise freely; jogging in the park or cycling outdoors is impossible on your own.

That’s where gyms should come in. Sadly, however, they are often woefully inaccessible and can be daunting for those with sight loss. Let’s start with

equipment: exercise tech nowadays is incredibly advanced. All-singing, all-dancing machines can be found in most gyms and they track everything from heart rate to calories burned. Clearly, millions of pounds and thousands of hours have gone into their development and production. And yet it would appear that not a second thought has been given to users with sight loss. Touch screens, inaccessible buttons and lights are all commonplace.

Great for you light-dependent folk, but for us VIs, it’s a struggle.

‘It wouldn’t be hard to put some braille on the buttons.’

And there really is no excuse – all manner of tech these days, from iPhones to TVs, calculators to washing machines have accessibility built in, so why not exercise machines? It wouldn’t be hard to put some braille on the buttons or have a headphone slot or Bluetooth compatibility for audio, like on most cash machines. Indeed, the simplest solutions are often the best.

But the tech is just the start. Getting from one machine to another, selecting weights and getting proper instruction are all barriers for the blind gym-goer. Not to mention yoga, pilates and spin classes. My sister is taking legal action against her gym for not allowing her to take a class because of her blindness.

Lots of gyms offer a free pass to someone, usually a friend or relative, who can assist you during your workout. This is all well and good, but I can’t always find someone willing to come with me. It’s not fair on me, or my potential guide, to have to compromise on times and dates.

For me, exercising is a very personal thing. I like to listen to music and let my mind wander on a treadmill, or when lifting weights. According to the Royal College of Physicians, if you keep active, you are less likely to be depressed or anxious and more likely to feel good about yourself. And this can be even more pivotal for those with sight loss. A study in 2016 found that more than four in 10 people attending low-vision clinics had symptoms of clinical depression. But inaccessible hurdles leave lots of VI people unable to use the gym to its maximum potential. It’s no surprise that an RNIB survey in 2015 found that 31% of blind and partially sighted people felt moderately or completely cut off from people and things around them, and 50% felt they were frequently limited in the activities they could take part in. Yet nearly two-thirds said they would like to do more physical activity.

At Traveleyes, we are constantly busting myths about what blind people can do. From skiing in the Alps to climbing mountains, sailing and skydiving, we challenge these preconceptions. One initiative we use to help us achieve this is our international schools programme. We take students, aged from 14 to 17, from large schools across the world, and partner them up with our blind travellers to be their sighted guides. This gives them a first-hand experience of blindness, will help to challenge any stereotypical views they may have and hopefully take this experience into later life.

I’m stubborn, though. My philosophy is that if things aren’t accessible, don’t wait until they are. So I roll up my sleeves and work until I’m in a place where I can help change the system. When it comes to fitness, I often work out with a friend who is at a similar level to me, and I also work out at home – expensive equipment is all very well, but you can just add some weights or cardio to your routine.

Working out and keeping healthy works best when it’s also fun, so if you are struggling to keep to an exercise schedule, try something a little bit different, such as paddle boarding or boxing, or take part in a group activity or challenge, to give you that bit of motivation you need. We all live busy lives, but I learned that it is easier than you think to fit exercises into your daily routine. And if there are any gyms or health clubs out there that want pointers on how to be more accessible, or any VI people who want to talk about exercise, working out or keeping active, I am always happy to talk.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/26/why-do-gyms-make-things-so-difficult-for-blind-people?utm_source=Traveleyes+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3e9aee5391-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2b96ae54c9-3e9aee5391-137598537

GTT Toronto Summary Notes, Accessible Gaming, February 15, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group

February 15, 2018

An Initiative of the Canadian Council of the Blind

In Partnership with CNIB

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Toronto Group was held on Thursday, February 15 at the CNIB Community Hub.

*Note: 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.

February 2018 Topic – Accessible Gaming:

GTT Toronto February 15, 2018 Meeting Summary Notes can be found at this link:

Summary Notes:

Ian opened the meeting. Tonight’s topic is accessible gaming. Our schedule of topics has slid, so let’s open things up for suggestions from the group. Topics raised included transit aps, Google Glass or low-vision and sight-enhancement aids, GPS solutions, the basics of assistive tech for new-comers to sight-loss, entertainment streaming, and lifestyle aps.

Jason introduced himself, as well as his fellow presenter Mike Feir, who joined us via Skype. Mike asserted that games offer an easy way to learn technology; “We learn best when we don’t realize we’re learning.” He’s interested in what visually impaired people can do to live richer, better lives.

Jason said that www.appleviz.com is a great place to look for accessible games to play on your phone. You’ll also find reviews and instructions. It’s a website run by volunteers, and it’s a place for visually impaired people to find important resources related to the iPhone.

Jason began with the simplest accessible games. You can still get braille or tactile versions of chess, monopoly and playing cards. 64 Ounce Games is a company that combines braille embossing, laser art and 3d printing to make packages to add on to existing games, to make them accessible. You have to buy the original game first, then 64 Ounce Games will sell you a package with braille cards or overlays to make them usable by blind people. You need some sighted help to put it all together. Prices are U.S. and range around $10 to $30. A member asked about an accessible chess game. A member said that www.blindmicemart.com has them, or Maxi Aids or the Braille Superstore in the U.S.

Jason continued on to talk about PC games. Accessible computer games are quite new. Until very recently, there was nothing truly rich and engaging. Now, you’re starting to see game developers giving it some energy. This is partly an awareness issue, partly a computing power issue, and partly a new recognition of the great things you can do with audio. www.audiogames.net is a site that specializes in games for blind people that are computer or phone-based. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of Android games. This site has reviews, forums and information. Jason introduced a game called A Heroes Call. The founders are gamers and programmers who used to be sighted, and began a campaign on Kickstarter to develop games for the blind. They’ve gotten a lot of attention in sighted gaming circles as well, because their Kickstarter campaign was so successful. The game uses voice actors, symphonic music, and is extremely professional. It’s widely available. It’s currently exclusively audio at the moment, but the creators are planning to add graphics. Although it’s only audio, sighted people are playing it because it’s so rich. It’s $20 to buy, which Jason calls a bargain considering the quality. The game is only available on Windows right now.

Jason ran a demonstration of Heroes Call. He said that if you’re not using a screen-reader, it has its own built-in audio. Using a combination of its own audio and the screen-reader, the game invites you to answer questions establishing your character, as most role-playing games will do. The game initially gives you tutorial information. You really want to have headphones, because the audio feedback is directional. Jason and Mike concluded that this is the current pinnacle of audio games. It’s hard to make a living making these games, and they’re not exactly coming out all the time, or being updated.

Mike pointed out Code7 as another PC game that’s quite good. Mike said that he does a segment on Kelly and Company on AMI every Thursday from 4:15 to 4:30, on audio entertainment, including gaming.

A member asked about games that don’t require keyboard input. Jason answered that the Amazon Echo has some games available that work based on speech. Yes Sire and Captain Stalwart are two, and there’re lots of trivia games. The best way to find them is to go into your Amazon Echo ap, double tap on skills, and sort by category for games. Being an audio product, all the Echo games are accessible. An Echo dot is about $60, and the ap comes with it. The Google Home has a few games but not many.

A member asked for blogs or podcasts with content about blind-friendly games. There are YouTube channels devoted to this topic. Some examples are:

Liam Erven’s Youtube channel

Playing Killer Instinct as a blind person on XBox

Jason then began to talk about XBox. It’s a game console that attaches to a computer or TV, for the purpose of playing games. Now, game consoles allow you to do other things too, like watch movies, or communicate with other gamers. Recently, Microsoft has become extremely active around accessibility. They have put Narrator, their text-to-speech solution, on the XBox. To activate Narrator on a game controller, hold down the top middle button (also called the Guide or Xbox button) until the controller vibrates, then press the menu button which is the right hand button below the guide button. You can also plug a keyboard into the USB port on the Xbox, then press Windows+Enter to activate Narrator.

Narrator allows you to navigate through the system, but it doesn’t mean the games themselves will be accessible. This next step has to be up to the game developers. Currently, there are some mainstream games that have enough audio cues in them already, that they’re playable by blind people. In these games, your character and your opponent are on opposite sides of the screen, and opposite sides of stereo headphones. Blind players have been able to win in gaming tournaments against sighted competitors. Blind gamers have become much more vocal. They’ve begun attending gaming conventions and encouraging game developers to make their games accessible. You’re starting to see developers adding audio cues as an extra layer you can enable if you want to.

With the XBox, in Windows, there’s an XBox ap that allows you to stream to your monitor. You might want to do this because it allows you to use optical character recognition features in your text-to-speech software to read menus that aren’t readily accessible. Both Jaws and NVDA have optical character recognition functions that allow you to pull information off your monitor.

Narrator allows you to change the voice or the speed. Jason did a demonstration of interacting with the XBox using Narrator. When you start dealing with mainstream games, you realize how big they are. Killer Instinct is 47 gig. If you want more space, you can plug USB drives into its ports. It’s USB3 so it shouldn’t slow things down much. When playing, you can choose to have the music track turned down in order to hear the voice and audio cues more clearly. It’s not completely simple to get it going, but it’s totally doable. It’s not all about direct violence. There’s another game called Madden NFL18. It’s a football game that already had a lot of verbal commentary. Someone got motivated to add accessibility cues to it. If you do a search for Madden NFL18 accessibility, you’ll find a Readit post talking about how to play the game as a blind person.

Playing in the Dark is a Europe-based multi-player racing game that’s free. Heroes Call developers and XBox people are talking, so there may be some movement toward each other.

Another dimension of accessible games are smaller-scale games for your phone. A company called Blindfold Games has about 80 phone-based games that are less complex. They include word games, music games, puzzles, and pinball etc. Another popular one is called Diceworld. It’s an ap with about 6 dice-based games. There are accessible versions of chess, sudoku, and word games. Many are free, and most are $5 or less.

Looking around on www.audiogames.net would be the way to find accessible PC games. RS Games is usable on PC or phone, it’s free, and has some conventional games like Monopoly. These can be multi-player, so that you can play with others on-line.

Upcoming Meetings:

Next Meeting: Thursday, March 13 at 6pm
Location: CNIB Community Hub space at 1525 Yonge Street, just 1 block north of St Clair on the east side of Yonge, just south of Heath.
Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 6pm.

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group Overview:

GTT Toronto is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
GTT Toronto promotes a self-help learning experience by holding monthly meetings to assist participants with assistive technology.
Each meeting consists of a feature technology topic, questions and answers about technology, and one-on-one training where possible.
Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting even if they are not interested in the feature topic because questions on any technology are welcome. The more participants the better able we will be equipped with the talent and experience to help each other.
There are GTT groups across Canada as well as a national GTT monthly toll free teleconference. You may subscribe to the National GTT blog to get email notices of teleconferences and notes from other GTT chapters. Visit:

http://www.gttprogram.wordpress.com/

There is a form at the bottom of that web page to enter your email.

GTT Toronto Summary Notes, Android Phones and Tablets, January 18, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group

January 18, 2018

An Initiative of the Canadian Council of the Blind

In Partnership with CNIB

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Toronto Group was held on Thursday, January 18 at the CNIB Community Hub.

January 2018 Topic: Android Phones and Tablets:

GTT Toronto January 18, 2018 Meeting Summary Notes can be found at this link:

Summary Notes:

Ian opened the meeting. He introduced Shane to talk about Android.

Shane began his talk by discussing the difference between Android and Apple. He disclosed that he typically uses Apple, but trains on Android. The Pixel is his favourite Android phone. He had one, which he passed around. He asked around the room, and only one out of a dozen people are regularly using Android with accessibility.

Shane said what he likes best about Android is the Google Assistant. He finds the voice dictation interface better than Apple. Android is partially open-source, which is one advantage over Apple. Apple tends to be more stable and refined, but Android is catching up quickly. Apple accessibility is still preferable, but Talkback is getting better. The navigation is a bit awkward. A member contributed that getting a Google phone is a good idea because you’ll get updates quicker, this includes the Pixel and the Nexis. Other companies will take longer to push out the updates by a few weeks or so. Another member said he thought that lately, updates are more cosmetic then substantive. Members agreed that the Nexis isn’t in production any more, and that the Pixel is among the most expensive. The Motorola phones are cheaper but still good. Lower-end phones like HTC or OnePlus do work from an accessibility standpoint. Always try to test a phone before you buy it, because you can find a situation where a phone manufacturer has tinkered with something basic like the home screen, and disrupted the accessibility functions.

Talkback, the Android accessibility platform, works in similar ways to Apple’s VoiceOver. The swiping gestures are the same, and Apple rotor functions are accessed by swiping up or down.

There are three types of gestures, back and forth, up and down, and diagonal. If you want the first item on a page, swipe up then down without removing your finger from the screen. There are lists of Android commands available.

There are no screen dot protectors for Android because there are hundreds of different models of phone.

You can set up Google Assistant to respond by voice, by saying “ok Google.” Everyone who had an opinion, agreed that Google’s voice recognition and web searches are much more efficient than Siri. This is particularly relevant for someone with difficulties using a keyboard or making gestures. Siri will display web results, but Google will dictate the information. Another advantage is that Google works off-line.

Jason raised the issue of the Doro phone. It’s an Android phone being marketed by Bell. It has a software overlay that turns it into a much more menu-driven interface. It greatly simplifies the learning curve. The problem is that the company who designed the software is now out of business. This means there will be no updates to the software. It’s worth considering if you’re looking for something simple. It’s particularly useful for seniors. Shane said he has a Doro phone available for later testing if anyone’s interested. Jason said that he’s heard from bell, that they’re not concerned with Claria, the software company being out of business. As far as Bell is concerned, the phone does what they say it will. It’s also true that no matter what phone you have, you’ll probably upgrade it in a few years anyway. It costs about $300 off contract. Blindshell and a few others are similar, but they’re only available in Europe.

Samsung phones have their own built-in voice Assistant, which doesn’t do quite as much as Talkback. It’s good for people transitioning from Apple, because the gestures are more similar to Apple gestures. Voice Assistant also has trouble working with Firefox.

Lazarillo GPS for the Blind, is a GPS ap that’s quite similar to BlindSquare, and works on Android. The difference is it doesn’t support beacons, but it’s free. Nearby Explorer is a paid ap that allows you to download maps, so you can use it without data.

Other aps for Android include Spotify, Youtube, Google Sheets, which is a spreadsheet ap, and many others, which can run on both Android and Apple.

Iris Vision is a pair of Samsung goggles that low-vision people can use to magnify things or bring things like signs closer. It’s a much cheaper option than something like E-Sight. It uses the Android phone as its basis. Because Android is open-source, it’s more adaptable for innovation. Developers will often start with Android for this reason. Apple has a lot of restrictions on what you can do with their hardware.

Be My Eyes, and KNFB Reader are available on Android. The Seeing AI people say that it will eventually be available on Android, but they won’t say when.

A member clarified that Android is the name of the operating system, equal to Apple IOS. As software, it can run on any phone that isn’t an Apple. It’s the phone equivalent of Windows; it can run on many platforms.

Another advantage of Android is that, as well as the phones being cheaper, they’re also more flexible in terms of replacing batteries, having an SD card etc.. It gives you more choice about your hardware.

As a trainer, Shane approaches clients with the question, “What problems do you have that technology can solve?” Google Assistant can often offer solutions.

You can do wireless file transfers to Android phones, mediated by various aps. With Apple phones, you’re restricted to using iTunes.

You can swap sim cards between Apple and Android phones.

The topic was raised of the difference between Seeing AI, and Be My Eyes. Be My Eyes puts you in touch with a real person who will look through your camera and give you information. Seeing AI uses optical character recognition to give you text to speech. Be My Eyes works on both platforms; Seeing AI is only available on Apple.

A few years ago, Apple was way out in front where accessibility is concerned, but that’s not true any more. The playing field is much closer to level now. In general though, Android does require more tinkering or configuring to make it work the way you want it to. The National Braille Press has a very good book on Android.

Out of the box, with many Android phones, you can turn the phone on, hold two fingers on the screen for about five seconds, and Talkback will turn on.

A member contributed that, world-wide, 85% of all phones are Android.

www.inclusiveandroid.com is all about Android accessibility. It’s a good resource for researching models of phones.

Another advantage of Android is that you can keep an older operating system and just update aps as you go. Apple aps will almost always say you have to have the latest version of the OS.

Upcoming Meetings:

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 13 at 6pm
Location: CNIB Community Hub space at 1525 Yonge Street, just 1 block north of St Clair on the east side of Yonge, just south of Heath.
Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 6pm.

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group Overview:

GTT Toronto is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
GTT Toronto promotes a self-help learning experience by holding monthly meetings to assist participants with assistive technology.
Each meeting consists of a feature technology topic, questions and answers about technology, and one-on-one training where possible.
Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting even if they are not interested in the feature topic because questions on any technology are welcome. The more participants the better able we will be equipped with the talent and experience to help each other.
There are GTT groups across Canada as well as a national GTT monthly toll free teleconference. You may subscribe to the National GTT blog to get email notices of teleconferences and notes from other GTT chapters. Visit:

http://www.gttprogram.wordpress.com/

There is a form at the bottom of that web page to enter your email.

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Edmonton Public Library and iPhone Basics, February 12, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting February 12, 2018

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held February 12at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

18 people attended.

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.

February Topics –Edmonton Public Library, IPhone Basics

Edmonton Public Library

Lorne covered free online options for how blind and low vision Edmontonians can get two kinds of books, human narrated, also known as regular audio books, as well as eBooks, which can be read out loud using Text to Speech and/or Braille.

First, everything starts with a free Edmonton Public Library (EPL) card, you can go to any EPL branch to sign up for one. If you have trouble getting out to a branch, or if you have questions, visit the following webpage that details all of EPL’s epl2you assistive services:

https://www.epl.ca/epl2you/

There is contact info on that page for EPL’s CELA coordinator, Connie Hargreaves, to talk to if you have further questions.

your card will have a 14-digit barcode which is your EPL account number, and a 4-digit pin which is your password. you can use this to log in for the following services available to all Edmontonians through EPL, not just those with blindness/low vision.

EPL offers a number of places to get both protected Audio and protected eBooks, and most of them have 2 ways to consume their content. you can either log into them through a web browser on your computer or laptop or download an app to your apple or Android device. For eBooks, the most accessible way to read them is to download the book to your computer and use a program called Adobe Digital Editions to open the eBooks. You would then use your screen reader or screen magnifier to read the book.

Here is the list of places to get audio books through the EPL:

https://www.epl.ca/resources-types/audiobooks/

and here is EPL’s list of places to get eBooks:

https://www.epl.ca/resources-types/ebooks-resource/

For Edmontonians who self identify as having a print disability, (i.e. Blind, Low Vision, Learning disability, etc.) you can sign up for more exclusive libraries that offer more than 750,000 unprotected books in a variety of formats.

This gives you access to the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), and the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS). You can sign up yourself for either of those by visiting the first link for the EPL2You website, or by going to an EPL branch.

through CELA, you can also sign up for Bookshare, on online library that has over 350,000 eBooks.

In addition to all of the above, there are many online places to get free audio and eBooks. Two of these are Project Gutenberg,

https://www.gutenberg.org/

which has thousands of older eBooks which are public domain, and a similar resource for audio books is Librivox,

https://librivox.org/

Lorne Also discussed some of the computer software, mobile apps and hardware devices that you can use to play books from the above places:

Built in or third-party Screen Readers and Screen Magnifiers will allow you to read protected eBooks using Adobe Digital Editions.
Specialized apps like QRead, Dolphin Easy Reader, and Voice Dream Reader can read books out loud and have direct access to many online libraries such as CELA and Bookshare.
Specialized devices like the Victor Reader Stream/Stratus, Plextalk desktop and pocket, etc., can play the audio and eBooks out loud, and most can connect through WIFI to download the books from CELA and Bookshare without using a computer.

There are many other accessible online places to get audio and eBooks, such as Audible or Kindle, however those services are for the most part not free. The above options will work for residents of Edmonton, however many will also be available to most Canadians via your local public library, depending on which services they have subscribed to

Windows 10 Training

Russell provided One on One Training in Windows 10 with JAWS

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

Gerry demonstrated to a small subgroup the basic gestures to navigate iPhone apps using the built-in VoiceOver screen reader. The following table lists only 12 gestures that allow you to do almost everything on an iPhone without being able to see the screen.

Use this Gesture	To DO This
Single finger touch	Select the item under your finger. VoiceOver will announce it.
Single finger double tap anywhere on the screen	Activate the selected item
Single finger flick left or right.	Move to previous/next item.
Single finger flick up or down	Move to previous/next item using rotor setting.
Two finger rotate left or right.	Select previous/next rotor setting.
Two finger double tap	Start and stop the current action such as answering or hanging up a phone call, playing/pausing music, or video, sstart and stop the timer etc.
Two finger flick up	Read page starting at the top.
Two finger flick down	Start reading at selected item to end of screen.
Three finger flick left	Scroll right one page.
Three finger flick right	Scroll left one page.
Three finger flick down	Scroll up one page.
Three finger flick up	Scroll down one page.

Under Settings/General/Accessibility/VoiceOver there is a gesture practice screen. Perform any gesture on this practice screen and VoiceOver will confirm your gesture and explain what it does. Double tap the Done button in the top right of the practice screen to close it.

Note that these gestures work only when VoiceOver is turned on. Sighted people who might share your phone use different gestures. The phone will not respond to the gestures sighted people are accustomed to unless you turn off VoiceOver.

Next Meeting (Monday March 12 at 7pm)

No topic has been set for this meeting yet.
As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to the meeting.

Meeting Location and Logistics

Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 – 83 Street NW, Edmonton.
We meet in the basement hall. There is elevator access.
Enter the church from the back door. There is parking at the back and drop off space for taxis, DATS.
Meetings are every second Monday of the month at 7pm.
If you have someone helping you your assistant is welcome to remain for the meeting.

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 meeting consists of a feature technology topic, questions and answers about technology, and one-on-one training where possible.
Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting even if they are not interested in the feature topic because questions on any technology are welcome. The more participants the better able we will be equipped with the talent and experience to help each other.
There are GTT groups across Canada as well as a national GTT monthly toll free teleconference. You may subscribe to the National GTT blog to get email notices of teleconferences and notes from other GTT chapters. Visit:

http://www.gttprogram.wordpress.com/

There is a form at the bottom of that web page to enter your email.

National 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

[End of Document]

CCB Newsletters: Visions, February 2018 Canadian Council of the Blind National Newsletter

VISIONS

Canadian Council of the Blind Newsletter

February 2018

“A lack of sight is not a lack of vision”

Photo by Tai Jyun Chang on Unsplash

Announcements

President’s Message++

As you receive this message everyone will be busy working on White Cane Week events. The fact we live in Canada with very changeable weather it is difficult for some events to take place on their scheduled day so please don’t let that deter you. This is one week that we place emphasis on our “ABILITIES not disabilities” which we live with all year and so should our events.

As persons living with vision loss we are capable of great accomplishments. Some of us are not as able as others, and that is when we can offer support and guidance to assist those in need in reaching their goals. Programs such as GTT and CCB Health & Fitness are great examples of this type of peer support and mentoring, while at the same time learning new technology, exercise, eating better and therefore leading a much happier life. When the community sees people with vision loss becoming more active it often encourages them to improve their lifestyle.

CCB is very active with many other organizations across Canada and internationally as I have mentioned before. We will continue working with these groups for some time well into the future.

One of the major undertakings for this year will be to ensure our By Laws are in compliance with the Canada Not for Profit Act. Our committee will be busy reviewing and getting the changes made as needed with input from the membership.

As we begin this New Year we will work together in a positive way to make Canada a more accessible country for everyone. In August the IFA 14th Global Convention on Ageing will be held in Canada. CCB will be presenting a paper on Eye Health and the importance of eye exams/care which is an important example of working with other groups to improve care and prevent illness – all part of our mandate.

Enjoy the many articles of interest in this edition of the CCB Newsletter.

Louise Gillis, National President

The New Newsletter++

Welcome to VISIONS our exciting new newsletter. I’m sure you’ve noticed this has a very different layout to what we were doing before. We are now accepting pictures with your article submissions. Not all pictures will be published in the newsletter, but they are very welcome. If you do submit pictures, please let us know who is in them so we can have accurate alt text and captions. The headings in word will be done the same as they have been recently to make everything as readable as possible. Word and pdf versions will be emailed out and on our website. Thank you all for your help as we move forward with this beautiful new format.

It’s time to have your say++

On March 10, 2018 the Tele Town Hall organizing team will be hosting its fifth and final Tele Town Hall. Like the previous four; this will be open to participants across Canada.

Date and start times across Canada

Date: March 10, 2018

Times: 10:00 am Pacific

11:00 am Mountain

Noon Central

1:00 pm Eastern

2:00 pm Atlantic

2:30 in Newfoundland

This meeting will last no longer than two hours.

Moderator: Jane Blaine.

Introduction:

In the summer of 2016, we the Tele Town Hall organizing team embarked on a journey to facilitate a number of Tele Town Halls across Canada with the mission to give participants an opportunity to share their views on a variety of topics related to the current state of blindness rehabilitation and consumerism in Canada.

As a non-biased team, we felt strongly that we were in a position to facilitate these Town Halls and at the end of it all to present a report to participants and other stakeholders.

Let’s get it out there

Our first two Tele Town Halls held at the end of October 2016 and in early March 2017 invited participants to share their views on the following:

* The present state of the consumer movement in Canada

* What if anything should we be doing to affect change

* What would be a logical and reasonable path to pursue if change was desired?

* Who could be involved?

* How could this be accomplished and

* What mechanisms could be used in order to accomplish this?

Advocacy without borders

Our third Tele Town Hall held in October 2017 gave participants an opportunity to hear about how rehabilitation services and consumer movements operate in New Zealand and Australia thanks to two guest speakers who shared their views with us.

They were Martine Abel Williamson; treasurer of the World Blind Union and well known advocate from New Zealand and Fran Cutler; a well-known advocate who works both in Australia and Canada splitting her time equally between both countries.

Our fourth Tele Town Hall held in November 2017 gave participants an opportunity to hear from guest speakers from the United States. In similar fashion to our third Tele Town Hall; we featured high profile speakers who shared their views on the state of rehabilitation services and consumer movements in the United States.

They were Mitch Pomerantz; A past president of the American Council of the Blind and an active advocate in the development of the Americans with disabilities Act, and John Panarese; a well-known trainer in Apple products and an active advocate in helping others to gain equal access to training opportunities.

Now it is time to have your final say in this series

The fifth and final Tele Town Hall will give participants an opportunity to have their say and in so doing to help shape the future of our consumer advocacy movement in Canada. Based on comments and suggestions garnered from previous Tele Town Halls, many participants do not believe that living with the status quo is a viable option. Accordingly, we would like to preface the discussions of this final Tele Town Hall with a list of questions meant to help you formulate some thoughts before attending. Also, reading the notes taken during the previous 4 Tele Town Hall meetings might help us all chart a path, and those links are found below our list of “thought provoking” questions.

Question one:

How well do current blindness/low vision rehabilitation service organizations in Canada serve your needs, or how do they not serve your needs as the case may be?

Question two:

How well do current blindness/low vision advocacy/social/support organizations in Canada serve your needs, or how are they not serving your needs as the case may be? IE, are you personally happy with the existing consumer advocacy and support movements in Canada?

Question three:

If not, what will make them more responsive to blind Canadians needs, and flexible enough to move with emerging societal demands

Question four:

What strategies are required if we’re to strengthen the voice of blind Canadians with Governments, employers and communities? IE, do blind Canadians need one single strong voice in order to advance our needs?

Question five:

What strategies can blind Canadians employ to amplify their voices in order to be better heard within Canadian organizations “of” and “for” the blind? IE, do blind Canadians want to be more involved in driving the organizations that provide rehabilitation services in Canada?

All Four Sets of Tele Town Hall Notes can be downloaded from:

October 29, 2016, download here.

March 4, 2017, download here.

October 14, 2017, download here.

November 18, 2017, download here.

To register as a participant please email

TeleTownHall1@Gmail.com

And you will receive an acknowledgment of your email.

An electronic copy of the rules of engagement will be sent to you during the week of March 04.

We thank you!

Signed

Donna Jodhan, Richard Marion, Robin East, Anthony Tibbs, Albert Ruel, Louise Gillis, Pat Seed, Jane Blaine, Melanie Marsden, Kim Kilpatrick, Leo Bissonnette, Paul Edwards

White Cane Week++

Get ready for another fun and exciting awareness week from February 4 to 10. Events include our annual AMI Canadian Vision Impaired Curling Championship and countless local activities. Please visit the CCB website to keep yourself updated on the many exciting events that will be taking place this year across the country. And stay tuned for reports on events in upcoming newsletters!

CCB Celebrates its 15^th Annual White Cane Week++

This year marks the CCB’s 15th annual celebration of White Cane Week (WCW). Each year, during the first full week of February, the Council recognizes the ability of Canadians who are blind or have low vision through a week long, national celebration. This celebration, WCW, aims to bring awareness and an appreciation to issues of accessibility, health and inclusion.

Across Canada, there are WCW initiatives on both the local, provincial and national levels. CCB Divisions and Chapters plan, promote and deliver WCW event activities within their communities. There are sports competitions, hands-on demonstrations, open houses, an Expo and tours, amongst other events, taking place to promote and raise awareness of the White Cane as a symbol of “ability not disability”. Each event is unique to the chapter and community where it is being held. Each is built around a framework of promoting chapter activities, membership, and to raise awareness of the chapter, the CCB and its programs within these local communities.

Some White Cane Week Highlights: February 4-10, 2018

CCB Toronto Visionaries Chapter Holds 3rd Annual ‘Experience’ Expo:

This year’s, ‘Experience’ Expo is being held, from 10am to 4pm, on Saturday February 3, at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, at Bloor and Spadina, in downtown Toronto. Improving on last year’s event, ‘Experience’ Expo 2018 is already an incredible success, with sold out floor space and a 35% increase in exhibitors.

‘Experience’ Expo is in its third year and is Canada’s only expo dedicated to the blind and those with vision loss. A hands-on, interactive exposition in which exhibitors share their ‘experience’, providing creative, adoptive solutions to all aspects of life with vision loss. Through interactive demonstrations and activities, visitors can ‘experience’ new ways to overcome barriers, gain independence and live a full rich life. So come out to ‘Experience’ Expo and explore the possibilities.

Please visit our website at http://www.ccbtorontovisionaries.ca/WCW.php

CCB’s AMI Canadian Vision Impaired Curling Championship; (CVICC)

This National Championship takes place each year in Ottawa, at the historic Ottawa Curling Club. The curling event brings together teams, from coast to coast, for the 5 day, tournament. The CVICC runs Monday through Friday of WCW. The Championship final will take place at 1:00pm, Friday February 9th followed by closing ceremonies by way of the CVICC Awards Banquet that evening. Here participating curlers are recognized, as champions, as all-stars and are rewarded with their hard fought and well-earned medals.

3 Brian Lechelt from Team Canada (Kelowna) throws his rock while Team Ontario watches

CCB 2018 Person of the Year Award Recipient:

The Canadian Council of the Blind is extremely pleased to announce its 2018 Person of the Year is the Honourable Dr. Asha Seth. The retired Senator, Dr. Seth will receive her Award on Friday, February 9th at the Councils award dinner at the Ottawa Curling Club.

The honourable Dr. Seth is a visionary leader, trail blazing a path for many to emulate. Through it all, it is her commitment to helping others that shines brightest among her accomplishments. Please refer to the full story in White Cane Magazine available, in digital form, on the CCB website at www.ccbnational.net

CCB 2018 President’s Award Recipient:

The Canadian Council of the Blind’s President’s award is given annually to an individual or organization that, in their work or service, with or for the blind and partially sighted, have made a real; difference in improving the quality of life of our community in Canada.

This year’s recipient is the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) in recognition of its hard work on behalf of patient advocacy. Dr. Jane Barratt, Secretary General of the IFA, will attend the awards dinner, at the Ottawa Curling Club, on Friday February 9th and receive the President’s Award, on behalf of the Federation. The full story can be found in White Cane Magazine available, in digital form, on the CCB website at www.ccbnational.net

GTT Prince Edward Island Meeting Invitation, General Discussion and Brainstorming Session, February 28, 2018++

You are invited! Blind and low vision GTT participants meet monthly to learn about and share their experiences using assistive technologies in their daily lives at home, school, or at work.

Agenda for the first Prince Edward Island Conference Call GTT Meeting:

Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Prince Edward Island Time.

Location: CCB Toll Free Conference Number.

Call-in Information:

1-866-740-1260

Passcode is 5670311#

Smart Phone users can tap on the below number to have the passcode dialed automatically following the toll free number:

1-866-740-1260, 5670311#

Theme: •Brainstorming for the first, and future meetings of GTT and the CCB Assistive Technology Program on Prince Edward Island.

Albert Ruel and Sandra Poirier will lead a brainstorming session regarding future content and format for GTT Newfoundland meetings

Some are curious about the kinds of topics or technologies that may be discussed in future meetings. Here are a few potential topics:

Talking books, talking book machines and accessible Libraries: How do I get started; where do I ask my questions; what do I do to find books I will like?
What types of magnification technology will help me access vital text in my home?
How can we who are living with Low and no vision get access to vital information?
Smart phones, which one is best, how much are they and who will help me learn how to use one?
Is a computer actually needed in my life, and if so who’s going to help me pick one out or learn how to use it?
Is the internet a safe place to get information I need?
Hey Google, Alexa, what are these smart speakers we keep hearing about, is that something I need or want?

Who Should Attend:

Any blind or low vision person who is interested in learning how assistive technologies can help them lead more independent lives.

Anyone interested in contributing to the future of the Prince Edward Island GTT group by sharing ideas for future meetings to discuss other blind or low vision assistive devices.

For More Information contact:

Sandra Poirier : SandraPoirier@EastLink.ca or Albert Ruel Albert.GTT@CCBNational.net

Inclusion – There’s an App for That!

New Technology Improves Interior Navigation for Everyone++

Vancouver, BC, February 9, 2018.

As part of CCB White Cane Week and in collaboration with the Vancouver Central Library, Right-Hear Accessible Solutions from Israel and Canadian Assistive Technology, the CCB and Gateway Navigation CCC Limited are pleased to present the first indoor audio navigation experience of its kind in Canada. Corry Stuive, representing the CCB and advisor for the Beacon Navigation Project, explains, “Accessibility and inclusion is not just about putting braille on signs, but giving the blind the equal opportunity to hear the information in the same way a sighted person can read them. This technology creates real inclusion and independence.”

Steve Barclay, President, Canadian Assistive Technology, describes how the BLE (Bluetooth low energy) beacon was deployed at the Vancouver Central Library, “We placed nine of these beacons at decision-making points such as entrances, stairs and elevators around the Vancouver Central Library. This created nine accessibility zones that provide orientation information. The technology builds an audio road map that any individual with a smartphone and the free Right-Hear app can use to orientate themselves to their immediate surroundings and assist them in navigating the indoor venue independently. The service can be accessed in multiple languages.” Right-Hear

Jim Taggart, Director of Gateway and advocate for social sustainability within the architectural profession, summarizes the Project’s focus, “We are dedicated to improving the accessibility of interior spaces for members of the blind and visually impaired community in Canada. Just as smart phone-based GPS has made exterior navigation easier for everyone, so Gateway imagines a wireless, technology-based network that will make complex buildings, such as airports, transit hubs, shopping malls and public buildings accessible to all those who cannot read signage or interpret other wayfinding cues.”

Mike May, recently appointed Executive Director at Envision, Inc., will be adding his vast experience and knowledge to the panel to discuss the importance of creating accessible and inclusive smart cities. The American Foundation for the Blind recognizes Mike’s past and current contributions as a pioneer and leader in the accessible technology sector. Mike describes one of his current projects at Envision, Inc., “One of the many exciting projects being undertaken by Envision is using proximity beacons to create smart and accessible bus stops. This will help to connect people with real-time digital technology supported by location based services that will assist all commuters, including blind or visually impaired to travel safely and independently.”

David Brun, Founder Gateway Navigation CCC Limited, reflects, “Working in banking for twenty-years and a life time adjusting to sight loss has reinforced to me the importance of accessibility, inclusion, training and employment so that visually impaired people can fully engage in our society. That has become both Gateway’s mission and its passion. Over the last several years, Gateway has participated in discussions with many individuals and organizations to implement the proximity beacon technology into public buildings and spaces in Canada. We are extremely excited to be launching the Beacon Navigation Project in Vancouver and are committed to promoting accessibility, inclusion, training and employment for blind and disabled people.” For more information visit www.gnc3.com

Contacts:

Beacon Navigation Project

Email: partners@gnc3.com

Website: www.gnc3.com

Albert Ruel, CCB

Toll Free Tel: 1-877-304-0968 Ext. 550

David Brun, Gateway Navigation CCC Limited

Tel: 604-499-4818.

CCB Access & Awareness NS Chapter – Three Members Receive Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards++

On December 8, 2017, Access & Awareness NS Chapter members, Barry Abbott, Barbara Legay (posthumously) and Chapter Chair Pat Gates, who were three members of a group of approximately 20 people with disabilities, were presented with Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards at a celebration held in Halifax. They were part of a group called the “Bill 59 Community Alliance” which worked closely with the provincial government to bring about accessibility legislation for all Nova Scotians. Bill 59: “An Accessibility Act” was proclaimed in September 2017 after several months of hard work by all involved. Nova Scotia is proud to be the third province in Canada to have accessibility legislation and our Chapter is proud to have three of our members play a role in bringing this legislation to our province.

Submitted by James Hubley, Access & Awareness NS Chapter

Seeking members for the CCB Mysteries chapter++

How would you like to be a part of a brand new chapter whose mission is to plan dinner mystery evenings where audiences get to help catch the killer and pronounce sentence as well?

Affordable, filled with excitement and fun and you never know what comes next? Please read on.

We invite persons from coast to coast to join! We plan to hold these events in cities across Canada and here is where you can be a part of the action!

Our first event is taking place in Toronto on February 23 and doors open at 5:45 pm.

A dinner, game show, mystery, and o yes! door prizes!

Want more info? Email info@sterlingcreations.ca or call 416 491 7711.

Advocacy News++

The CCB National Advocacy Committee has taken on the project of promoting the use of Script Talk by both our members and pharmacists across Canada. We hope that our advocacy work will ultimately result in all pharmacies adopting a uniform, accessible and equitable system across the country.

An important step in this process is to learn information about the pharmacies you are using in your home area. With this information we will then contact the major chains to provide information on Script Talk and to work towards the adoption of the Script Talk system.

Please send your information to:

Advocacy@ccbnational.net

Submitted by Pat Gates, Chair, CCB National Advocacy Committee

Helpful Info from the CCB National Advocacy Committee++

The CCB National Advocacy Committee, at the request of a CCB member, undertook to write to the Federal Government Minister responsible for passports regarding a concern about accessibility at a Federal service location in the member’s area. While renewing his passport, he noted that a blind person or someone with low vision would not know when their number was shown on the screen and therefore might miss their turn at the service desk. There was no audio announcement of numbers for those waiting in the queue. We asked the Minister what could be done at any Federal service location to make it accessible.

The response from the Minister’s Office stated that any Canadian requiring adaptive services at a passport office should make themselves known to a representative in that office immediately upon arrival and let them know that they require personalized assistance. Persons requiring adaptive service would be given comprehensive, personalized assistance in order to remove any barriers.

Submitted by Pat Gates, Chair

On behalf of the CCB National Advocacy Committee

Chapter News++

The CCB CK (Chatham-Kent, ON) Chapter held a successful trivia/potluck day on January 27^th. Also, the chapter now offers a peer support program, which takes place every third Wednesday of every month at 1:30 PM until 3 PM at the United Way building of Chatham Kent.

For more information, please contact Markus McCracken, Co Coordinator,

CCB Chatham-Kent Chapter

makaveli2014@live.ca 519 784 3416

International Federation on Aging (IFA) Calling for Additional Abstracts++

Due to the demand to present at the IFA 14th Global Conference on Ageing (https://www.ifa2018.com) additional rooms have now been confirmed to facilitate additional abstract submissions. In order to balance the program, the IFA is highly interested in abstracts under the themes/subtheme: Combating Ageism; Toward Healthy Ageing; and Addressing Inequalities.

Further abstracts under the theme of Age-Friendly Environments are also welcome. The new deadline for additional abstracts is 6 April 2018.

With a conference program that will stimulate, educate and inform, join us in Toronto in August 2018 and take a few extra days to explore our city and region (https://www.ifa2018.com/location/about-toronto/)

Assistive Technology

Get Together with Technology (GTT) Top Ten Apps of 2017++

Here are the Top Ten Apps of 2017 as surveyed late in the year through the GTTProgram Blog, GTTSupport Email List and GTTProgram Facebook Group participants. This was not a scientific survey, so might be considered by some to be a “Fake List”. Be that as it may, your friendly GTT Group has likely had a hand in the results, and all of you are encouraged to submit your favourites for the 2018 list as we roll into November/December.

In order to do so, please stay in touch and participate with GTT groups where ever they gather throughout 2018 by following us at: www.GTTProgram.WordPress.com

Of course, none of the below iDevice, Android, PC or Mac apps are usable by blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted users if the operating system, screen reader and/or magnifier apps aren’t mastered first. To learn more about how you might gain the skills you need for mastering the above, get involved with a GTT group or conference call near you and ask your questions. You can also sign up for the GTTSupport email list for this very purpose by sending a blank email message to, GTTSupport+Subscribe@Groups.io

Favourite Apps Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iOS Apps:

Seeing AI, a free app By Microsoft Corporation.
Native iOS Mail, a free email client built into every Apple device.
Voice Dream Reader, a paid app By Voice Dream LLC.
Nearby Explorer, a paid app By American Printing House for the Blind (APH).
TuneIn Radio, a free app By TuneIn.
Native iOS Reminders, a free app built into every Apple device.
Transit, a free app By Transit App, Inc.
VO Calendar, a paid app By Devista B.V.
Bank, free apps by a variety of Canadian Banks.
CBC Radio/News, free apps by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Top 10 PC Apps:

MS Office, a paid word processing, email and spreadsheet suite of apps by Microsoft Corporation.
Audacity, a free, open source multi-track recording and editing app.
Firefox, a free open source web browser by Mozilla.
Humanware Companion, a free VR Stream companion app by Humanware.
JAWS, a paid screen reading app by Freedom Scientific.
Notepad, a free Native app by Microsoft Corporation.
NVDA, a free screen reading app by NVAccess.
Openbook, a paid scan and read app by Freedom Scientific.
Chicken Nugget, a paid Twitter app by Accessible Apps.
GoldWave, a paid audio editing, recording and conversion app by GoldWave Inc.

Top 8 Mac Apps:

Amadeus pro, a paid Audio editor / sound and voice recorder app by HairerSoft.
Dropbox, a free cloud based file storage app by Dropbox.
Facetime, a free iOS communications app by Apple.
Skype, a free communications app by Microsoft Corporation.
Twitterrific, a paid Twitter Client By The Iconfactory.
Native Mail app, a free iOS email app by Apple.
Twitter for mac, a free twitter client By Twitter, Inc.
Audacity, a free, open source multi-track recording and editing app.

Top 4 Android Apps:

Aqua mail, a free email client by MobiSystems.
Amazing mp3 recorder, a free memo and call recorder by StereoMatch.
Nearby explorer, a paid app By American Printing House for the Blind (APH).
Podcast addict, a free Podcast player by Xavier Guillemane.

Respectfully submitted by Albert A. Ruel, GTT Coordinator

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

Albert Ruel

1-877-304-0968,ext 550

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net

Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968 ext. 513

GTTProgram@Gmail.com

How to Use Headings to Organize a Document++

Taken from: http://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/word/

Using good heading structure helps people without eyesight to understand how the document is organized. Screen reader and Braille users can also jump between headings, which makes navigation much more efficient than if there are no headings.

Making text larger and bold does not make it a heading. In order to convert text to a heading in Microsoft Word, you must use the built-in Heading styles like “Heading 1” and “Heading 2”, available under Styles in the Home tab of the Ribbon in Office versions 2010 and higher.

Headings should form an outline, using the “Heading 1” style for the main heading, and “Heading 2” for sub-headings. If there are additional levels of headings within the document’s outline, using “Heading 3”, “Heading 4”, etc.

Instructions on How to Add Headings to a Document, by Albert Ruel:

To create section headings in your documents, do the following:

Highlight the text you wish to turn into a Heading. Note, the entire paragraph will be turned into a Heading if the text you wish to use isn’t on its own line. For example: The Contacts Section of a document might be created as follows;

For more information contact:

Sally, Sue, Bill or Jack at 1-888-555-1234.

If the names of the individuals were left on the same line as the Heading, it too would have been marked as a Level 1 Heading. For screen reader users it is cumbersome to hear an entire paragraph read as a Heading, so keep those bits of text short.

To create a level 1 Heading with the selected text, hold down the Alt and Control keys and press the number 1 on the number row. Conversely, levels 2 and 3 can be created as above, and Levels 4, 5 and 6 Headings can only be created by accessing the Styles Sheet in the Ribbons.

To Use Headings when reading text with a screen reader:

To list all the Headings in a document or email message, hold down the Insert key while pressing the F6 key.
Arrow through the list to read each Heading, or use First Letter command to locate a specific Heading. Note, your screen reader will announce after each Heading the corresponding number of the Heading.
Press the Enter key on the Heading you wish to access and your cursor will be placed at that location within the document, web page or email message.

Using the letter H for accessing Headings in MS Word:

Hold down the Insert key while pressing the letter Z to turn Quick Keys on. This action takes you out of edit mode and allows you to press the letter H to move from one Heading to the next, or Shift H to move backward from Heading to Heading.
Once you have located the desired Heading and want to return to edit mode you will hold down the Insert key while pressing the letter Z again to turn Quick Keys off.

Note: pressing the letter H will navigate all the Headings in a document in the order they appear, and using Shift H will have you accessing them in reverse order.

An additional means of accessing Headings:

To access the Level 1 Headings, press the number 1 on the number row.

This will take you to the first occurrence of a Level 1 Heading, and pressing it again will take you to the next occurrence. Shift number 1 will move the cursor backward through the Level 1 Headings.

Once a Level 1 Heading is located, pressing the number 2 on the number row will have the cursor landing on the first Level 2 Heading found below that Level 1 Heading.

Once the desired section of a Web Page, MS Word document or Email message is found, you can press your down arrow keys to read the text found below that Heading.

If the desired Heading is also marked as a Link, pressing the Enter key will activate the Link.

Note: Don’t forget to hold down the Insert key while pressing the letter Z to turn Quick Keys off and return to edit mode. Quick Keys is only needed in MS Word or when creating an Outlook email message. It is not needed on the web or when reading an email message because edit mode is not turned on when doing those functions.

CNIB HUB++

In June 2017, CNIB opened a Community Hub in Toronto – the first of its kind in the province – for people that are blind or partially sighted. Located at 1525 Yonge Street (just north of St. Clair) The Hub is an innovative, accessible space where community members with sight loss can come for social and emotional support, learn new skills, take part in exciting Foundation Programs and thrive in an engaging space.

The space was designed and developed in close consultation with our program participants, volunteers and staff. Considerations ranging from the colour of the chairs (multi-coloured) and walls (white) to the accessibility of the furniture all went into the design of the space.

The building itself includes the following features:

Custom made furniture by Carol Kaifosh & Siobhan Allman at POCKIT Studio. The furniture was designed to be durable, collapsible, portable and accessible.
An accessible kitchen (donated by Mattamy Homes and The Brick) with tactile pieces and braille signage
Wayfinding floor strips and photo luminescent stair/handrail markings from Kinesik Engineering Products Inc.
Plexiglas panels under the stairwell to prevent dog paws and white canes from getting caught
An elevator and accessible washroom
Tactile artwork on the walls with braille created by Kate Ramos
A graffiti wall mural created by artist Leyland Adams
A virtual reality room and tech hub where community members, both those with sight loss and with full vision, can simulate various situations with sight loss and learn more about assistive technology
A Doggy Bar where “K9 staff,” volunteers and guides can enjoy a tasty treat
A “No-Office” community space where staff and volunteers can create and share ideas in an inclusive atmosphere

Design considerations are ongoing as we continue to grow in our space and learn from our staff, volunteers and program participants.

The Hub offers specialized life-enhancing programs designed to help people with sight loss smash barriers in many areas such as access, employment, education, leadership and research & technology.

For more information about Community Hub and to check out our programs, please visit: http://www.cnib.ca/en/ontario/gta/Pages/default.aspx

In the News

Blind B.C. woman’s access to audio books threatened by political flap++

A woman who is legally blind has launched a petition to try to get the provincial government to fund an online audiobook library that she will no longer have access to at the end of this month.

Taeshim Youn, 31, has collected 100 signatures at change.org to try to maintain access for her and other print-disabled British Columbians to a collection of 540,000 audiobook titles at the Centre for Equitable Library Access.

That includes The Books of Pellinor fantasy series that she’s listening to, her form of literary entertainment since she lost her sight after being paralyzed by an autoimmune disorder in 2006.

“I usually listen to it at night and sometimes during the day,” said Youn. “I’m bed-bound and I don’t go out as much. And when I do, I get around by wheelchair.”

Listening to books read by professional narrators is “is like watching a good movie, but better because there’s so much to it.”

Youn also wrote a letter to her Port Moody MLA, the NDP’s Rick Glumac, urging him to ensure B.C funds the national service that all provinces, except for B.C., Manitoba and Nunavut, pay for.

“You, as part of my B.C. government, have a responsibility to fund library services for people with sight loss, just like you do for sighted citizens,” she said in her letter.

“Someone has to speak up,” said Youn by phone. “I’m hoping this will help.”

CELA was formed as a non-profit, publicly funded organization in 2014 to provide the books, magazines and newspapers the Canadian National Institute for the Blind had for years provided by license to public libraries.

CNIB gave up control of the library because it was more appropriate for the government as opposed to a charity to be providing an audio library for the print-disabled, said CELA executive director Michael Ciccone.

Almost all provincial and territorial governments agreed to fund the library, but in B.C. the support came instead from public libraries. In B.C., 17 libraries in heavily populated parts of the province pay for CELA, providing access to 80 per cent of the population, said Ciccone.

CNIB had agreed to pay for access for the users in the remaining 20 per cent of the province until public funding could be secured. There are about 2,500 users of the service, he said.

The bridge funding for the service expires at the end of this month, leaving about 240 users, including Youn, without access to CELA. The library in Port Moody, where she lives, is one of the libraries that doesn’t fund CELA.

Ciccone said CELA is in talks with the provincial education ministry and is hopeful it will be funded before the end of January.

But the education ministry, in an emailed statement, said the province already funds a competing audio library called the National Network for Equitable Library Services, available through every public library in B.C.

Annual funding for NNELS in B.C. is $115,000, it said.

Ciccone said its requesting $132,000 a year to fund CELA.

NNELS, which was also formed in 2014 through the B.C. Libraries Co-operative, has 30,000 titles.

Former NNELS executive director Ben Hyman said print-disabled citizens, which includes those with vision disabilities as well as those with dyslexia or those with difficulties holding books, are better served by the two services because it offers them choice.

NNELS’s collection is growing and it will attempt to obtain special-order books, said Hyman.

He also said NNELS, which is funded by eight provinces (excluding Ontario and Quebec) has a different approach to its collection, choosing not to pay for “big-batch licensing deals” as CELA does.

He said NNELS is run through a “different philosophy,” which will enable it to build a sustainable collection that will be broadly available to what’s expected to be a growing proportion of print-disabled users.

By Susan Lazaruk

www.ccbnational.net 1-877-304-0968

ccb@ccbnational.net

$1M in Federal funding expands the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)

Today, the BC Libraries Cooperative is very pleased to announce the receipt of $1Million to dramatically expand the impact of NNELS for readers with print disabilities! This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program – Disability Component, and will deliver the following outcomes:

• Established and strengthened partnerships among organizations active within Canadian print disability and alternate format communities;

• Canadians with print disabilities are provided with access to an increased number of reading materials in alternate formats through public libraries and the nnels.ca website;

• Increased capacity to produce alternate formats of reading materials through: publishers publishing accessible material, volunteers recording books in public libraries and, persons with disabilities trained to produce books in accessible formats;

• Improved access to information in a variety of alternate formats for all Canadians with print disabilities; and,

• Improved participation and integration of persons with disabilities in the library community, and by extension, Canadian society, with respect to social inclusion.

Only four years old, NNELS has successfully modeled and scaled a service built on principles of choice, inclusion, partnerships, capacity building and open-source technology. NNELS not only gets books into the hands of readers who have been traditionally underserved, but actively engages with Canadians with perceptual disabilities to select and produce the titles in its national repository.
“We gratefully acknowledge this support from the Government of Canada, and thank the partners, publishers, consumers and students who are working with us to grow NNELS for the benefit of eligible Canadians” said BC Libraries Cooperative Board Chair, Baharak Yousefi.

The BC Libraries Cooperative is a 200-member national cooperative, providing libraries and related organisations the services, cost savings, and support they need to do great work in Canadian communities. An enterprising non-profit and a technology leader, the Co-op is the proud home of NNELS. Please visit bc.libraries.coop for more information.

The National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) is a digital public library of downloadable titles for Canadians with perceptual disabilities, supported and fuelled by a growing network of readers, community organizations, librarians, publishers, and accessible format producers in Canada and abroad. NNELS is funded and supported by the provincial and territorial governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, and is available to any public library user with a print-disability in Canada. Please visit nnels.ca for more information.

-30-

Media contact:

Laurie Davidson, Project Manager, NNELS SDPP-D Project.

1.855.383.5761 x 1007 | laurie.davidson@bc.libraries.coop

National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)

c/o BC Libraries Cooperative

Suite 320, 185-911 Yates St

Victoria, BC V8V 4Y9

Canada

Assistive Tech Article: CNIB Calls for Senate of Canada to Include Strengthened Requirements to Accommodate Canadians With Sight Loss

CNIB Calls for Senate of Canada to Include Strengthened Requirements to Accommodate Canadians With Sight Loss

January 31, 2018 admin

OTTAWA, Jan. 30, 2018 /CNW

CNIB is calling on the Senate of Canada to make amendments to strengthen requirements to accommodate Canadians with sight loss. As the Senate resumes

sitting at the end of January, they will continue their study of Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act. CNIB supports the passage of this important piece of legislation, specifically the creation of an airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

Canadians with sight loss have difficulties travelling in Canada independently, especially when travelling on an airplane. Problems exists in all facets of airline travel: from booking tickets, to navigating airports, and providing sufficient space for passengers with sight loss and their guide dogs.

“Flying in Canada and internationally is often difficult. I can’t independently book my own ticket online,” said Diane Bergeron, CNIB Vice President, Engagement and International Affairs. “Canadian airline websites fail to meet basic usability guidelines, which makes travel planning nearly impossible. When I’m lucky and I can book my flights, I’m often told to call someone because I have a guide dog.

We want this Bill to be amended so that accommodations for Canadians with sight loss are enshrined in the Passenger Bill of Rights. Canadians with sight loss continue to encounter unnecessary barriers when travelling by air, and many of these simply do not need to exist.”

The Senate has two options: pass the Bill as is or send it back to the House of Commons with amendments.

“The legislation isn’t bad, in fact, Canada needs a Passenger Bill of Rights,” said Thomas Simpson, CNIB’s Manager of Operations and Government Affairs. “The problem CNIB has is there is no disability lens on Bill C-49. No one took the time to think about problems that exist for Canadians with disabilities who travel, and how this piece of legislation can help alleviate these problems.

I’d like to think in 2018 that the Government of Canada would think about persons with disability when drafting all legislation.”

Fran Cutler, a Canadian with sight loss who often flies when travelling, has often experienced barriers to her independence when flying, most recently as a result of the attendant call buttons.

“The flight attendant call button is no longer accessible for me and for hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have sight loss,” said Cutler. “The familiar physical call buttons have been moved to the touchscreen on many refurbished aircraft models. Imagine how helpless you would feel if you could not see the screen and you were ill or being harassed by another passenger!”

Bill C-49, known as the Transportation Modernization Act, seeks to modernize Canada’s Transportation Act and several other associated pieces of legislation. Bill C-49 seeks to create a Passenger Bill of Rights to create standards for how national airlines treat Canadian passengers.

About CNIB

CNIB is a registered charity, passionately providing community-based support, knowledge and a national voice to ensure Canadians who are blind or partially sighted have the confidence, skills and opportunities to fully participate in life.

Founded in 1918, we’re entering our 100th year of operation and celebrating a century of changing individual lives and society as a whole.

Throughout our history, advocacy has been a key focus of our work. To learn more, visit http://www.cnib.ca or call 1-800-563-2642.

For further information: please contact: Matisse Hamel-Nelis, Communications Specialist, CNIB, (416) 486 2500 ext. 8355, MediaRelations@cnib.ca

Original at

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cnib-calls-for-senate-of-canada-to-include-strengthened-requirements-to-accommodate-canadians-with-sight-loss-671745623.html

International Legislation about White canes, White Cane Week 2018

Legislation about White canes[

To commemorate White Cane Week in 2018 I will post daily articles giving readers some insight as to the types, history and importance of this vital tool used for mobility by blind citizens of the world.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_cane

While the white cane is commonly accepted as a “symbol of blindness”, different countries still have different rules concerning what constitutes a “cane for the blind”.

In the United Kingdom, the white cane indicates that the individual has a visual impairment; with two red bands added it indicates that the user is deafblind.

In the United States, laws vary from state to state, but in all cases, those carrying white canes are afforded the right-of-way when crossing a road. They are afforded the right to use their cane in any public place as well. In some cases, it is illegal for a non-blind person to use a white cane with the intent of being given right-of-way.[13][14]

In November 2002, Argentina passed a law recognizing the use of green canes by people with low vision, stating that the nation would “Adopt from this law, the use of a green cane in the whole of Argentina as a means of orientation and mobility for people with low vision. It will have the same characteristics in weight, length, elastic grip and fluorescent ring as do white canes used by the blind.”[2]

In Germany, people carrying a white cane are excepted from the Vertrauensgrundsatz (de) (trust principle), therefore meaning that other traffic participants should not rely on them to adhere to all traffic regulations and practices. Although there is no general duty to mark oneself as blind or otherwise disabled, a blind or visually impaired person involved in a traffic accident without having marked themselves may be held responsible for damages unless they prove that their lack of marking was not causal or otherwise related to the accident.

CCB Backgrounder:

The CCB was founded in 1944 by a coalition of blind war veterans, schools of the blind and local chapters to create a national self-governing organization. The CCB was incorporated by Letters Patent on May 10, 1950 and is a registered charity under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The purpose of the CCB is to give people with vision loss a distinctive and unique perspective before governments. CCB deals with the ongoing effects of vision loss by encouraging active living and rehabilitation through peer support and social and recreational activities.

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

The CCB understands in many instances vision loss is preventable and sometimes is symptomatic of other health issues. For the 21st century, the CCB is committed to an integrated proactive health approach for early detection to improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

Children and White canes, White Cane Week 2018

Children and White canes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_cane

In many countries, including the UK, a cane is not generally introduced to a child until they are between 7 and 10 years old. However, more recently canes have been started to be introduced as soon as a child learns to walk to aid development with great success.

Joseph Cutter and Lilli Nielsen, pioneers in research on the development of blind and multiple-handicapped children, have begun to introduce new research on mobility in blind infants in children. Cutter’s book, Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children, recommends a cane to be introduced as early as possible, so that the blind child learns to use it and move around naturally and organically, the same way a sighted child learns to walk. A longer cane, between nose and chin height, is recommended to compensate for a child’s more immature grasp and tendency to hold the handle of the cane by the side instead of out in front. Mature cane technique should not be expected from a child, and style and technique can be refined as the child gets older.

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

History of the White Cane, White Cane Week 2018

History of the White Cane

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_cane

Blind people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries, but it was not until after World War I that the white cane was introduced.

In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.

In 1931 in France, Guilly d’Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people. On February 7, 1931, Guilly d’Herbemont symbolically gave the first two white canes to blind people, in the presence of several French ministers. 5,000 more white canes were later sent to blind French veterans from World War I and blind civilians.

In the United States, the introduction of the white cane is attributed to George A. Bonham of the Lions Clubs International.[8] In 1930, a Lions Club member watched as a man who was blind attempted to cross the street with a black cane that was barely visible to motorists against the dark pavement. The Lions decided to paint the cane white to make it more visible. In 1931, Lions Clubs International began a program promoting the use of white canes for people who are blind.

The first special white cane ordinance was passed in December 1930 in Peoria, Illinois granting blind pedestrians protections and the right-of-way while carrying a white cane.

The long cane was improved upon by World War II veterans rehabilitation specialist, Richard E. Hoover, at Valley Forge Army Hospital. In 1944, he took the Lions Club white cane (originally made of wood) and went around the hospital blindfolded for a week. During this time he developed what is now the standard method of “long cane” training or the Hoover Method. He is now called the “Father of the Lightweight Long Cane Technique.” The basic technique is to swing the cane from the center of the body back and forth before the feet. The cane should be swept before the rear foot as the person steps. Before he taught other rehabilitators, or “orientors,” his new technique he had a special commission to have light weight, long white canes made for the veterans of the European fronts.[11]

On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of the Congress, HR 753, was signed into law authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as “White Cane Safety Day”. President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation.[12]

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

Types of White Canes, White Cane Week 2018

Types of White Canes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_cane

An identification cane

Long Cane: This “traditional” white cane, also known as a “Hoover” cane, after Dr. Richard Hoover, is designed primarily as a mobility tool used to detect objects in the path of a user. Cane length depends upon the height of a user, and traditionally extends from the floor to the user’s sternum. Some organisations favor the use of much longer canes.[1]

Guide Cane: This is a shorter cane – generally extending from the floor to the user’s waist – with a more limited mobility function. It is used to scan for kerbs and steps. The guide cane can also be used diagonally across the body for protection, warning the user of obstacles immediately ahead.

Identification Cane (or Symbol Cane in British English): The ID cane is used primarily to alert others as to the bearer’s visual impairment. It is often lighter and shorter than the long cane, and has no use as a mobility tool.

Support Cane: The white support cane is designed primarily to offer physical stability to a visually impaired user. By virtue of its colour, the cane also works as a means of identification. This tool has very limited potential as a mobility device.

Kiddie Cane: This version works the same as an adult’s Long Cane but is designed for use by children.

Green Cane: Used in some countries to designate that the user has low vision while the white cane designates that a user is blind.[2]

Mobility canes are often made from aluminium, graphite-reinforced plastic or other fibre-reinforced plastic, and can come with a wide variety of tips depending upon user preference.

White canes can be either collapsible or straight, with both versions having pros and cons. The National Federation of the Blind in the United States affirms that the lightness and greater length of the straight canes allows greater mobility and safety, though collapsible canes can be stored with more ease, giving them advantage in crowded areas such as classrooms and public events.

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

What is a White cane, White Cane Week 2018

What is a White cane

Happy 209th Birthday, Louis Braille! | Inside NBP

https://nationalbraillepress.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/happy-209th-birthday-louis-braille/

Apple’s HomePod gets FCC approval, hinting at upcoming launch

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/01/19/apples-homepod-gets-fcc-approval-hinting-at-upcoming-launch?utm_content=buffer1b5d2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Update will put iPhone slowdowns in users’ hands, Eli Blumenthal USA Today

Eli Blumenthal USA Today

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced fix in works after news of ‘batterygate’ was met with flood of outrage

Don’t like your iPhone slowing down to protect your battery life? You soon will be able to turn the feature off.

Speaking with ABC News following the company’s announcement that it would bring back billions of dollars in profit stored overseas, Apple CEO Tim Cook said a new iOS developer update will arrive next month that will allow iPhone users to see their battery’s health.

It also will give them the option to turn off the throttling feature the company instituted last year to prevent older devices from shutting down when batteries became too weak.

“We don’t recommend it,” said Cook, stressing that the company took the actions it did in order to help users prolong the battery. “Our actions were all in service of the user … maybe we should have been clear at a point in time, but our actions were always the purest.”

Cook says the update will also give notifications to users before it starts throttling their phones’ performance due to weak battery health.

Developer updates, or betas, are how Apple tests out new features and software updates before broadly rolling them out to the public. While no timetable was given for when the public update will be released, the fact that Apple is planning to test it so soon suggests that it isn’t far off.

The “batterygate” issue has been met with outrage from users. Apple has since apologized and announced it would be dropping the price of replacement iPhone batteries from $79 (U.S.) to $29 throughout 2018.

But that has not done enough to quell the public criticism or stop dozens of lawsuits from being filed against the company. Several U.S. lawmakers have also sent letters to Apple seeking answers on the issue.

Cook seemingly addressed the issue in his ABC News interview, stressing the company’s apologetic tone.

“If anybody out there believes we did something nefariously, we apologize for any kind of thing we did or did not do,” Cook said.

Eli Blumenthal USA Today

– End of Article –

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Tech-Ease/ Get Together with Technology

Summary Notes

Connect with us:

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Summary Notes

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group

February 2018 Topic – Accessible Gaming:

Summary Notes:

Upcoming Meetings:

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group Overview:

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Summary Notes

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group

January 2018 Topic: Android Phones and Tablets:

Summary Notes:

Upcoming Meetings:

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group Overview:

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February Topics –Edmonton Public Library, IPhone Basics

Edmonton Public Library

Windows 10 Training

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

Next Meeting (Monday March 12 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

VISIONS

Canadian Council of the Blind Newsletter

“A lack of sight is not a lack of vision”

Announcements

President’s Message++

The New Newsletter++

It’s time to have your say++

Date and start times across Canada

This meeting will last no longer than two hours.

Introduction:

Let’s get it out there

Advocacy without borders

Now it is time to have your final say in this series

Question one:

Question two:

Question three:

Question four:

Question five:

All Four Sets of Tele Town Hall Notes can be downloaded from:

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White Cane Week++

CCB Celebrates its 15th Annual White Cane Week++

Some White Cane Week Highlights: February 4-10, 2018

CCB Toronto Visionaries Chapter Holds 3rd Annual ‘Experience’ Expo:

CCB’s AMI Canadian Vision Impaired Curling Championship; (CVICC)

CCB 2018 Person of the Year Award Recipient:

CCB 2018 President’s Award Recipient:

GTT Prince Edward Island Meeting Invitation, General Discussion and Brainstorming Session, February 28, 2018++

Inclusion – There’s an App for That!

New Technology Improves Interior Navigation for Everyone++

CCB Access & Awareness NS Chapter – Three Members Receive Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards++

Seeking members for the CCB Mysteries chapter++

Advocacy News++

Helpful Info from the CCB National Advocacy Committee++

Chapter News++

International Federation on Aging (IFA) Calling for Additional Abstracts++

Assistive Technology

Get Together with Technology (GTT) Top Ten Apps of 2017++

Favourite Apps Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iOS Apps:

Top 10 PC Apps:

Top 8 Mac Apps:

Top 4 Android Apps:

How to Use Headings to Organize a Document++

Instructions on How to Add Headings to a Document, by Albert Ruel:

To create section headings in your documents, do the following:

To Use Headings when reading text with a screen reader:

Using the letter H for accessing Headings in MS Word:

CCB Celebrates its 15^th Annual White Cane Week++