Notes: GTT Victoria Meeting Summary, March 4, 2015

GTT Victoria Meeting Summary, March 4, 2015

On March 4^th the GTT Victoria group met with 22 in attendance at Fort Tectoria for the first time. This technology based company has agreed to host the GTT meetings through the spring time to see how our aims might fit with theirs. The new location was found to be very well situated on Fort Street between Douglas and Blanchard, and boasts a fine coffee shop as participants enter the building. They also offer a great lounge where people can gather over a cup of coffee to talk about technology, and use their super high speed internet wireless connection.

During the meeting about 10 people signed up as members of the Canadian Council of the Blind as GTT Victoria members. The next meeting will confirm a GTT Coordinator for this group, as well as a note taker and communications distribution guru.

The second part of the meeting had some people gathering in small groups to learn more about the iDevices they brought to the meeting. As this was our first time in Fort Tectoria, we did notice that the requested room configuration wasn’t quite optimum for our use. Some ideas were generated that will be implemented for the next gathering. Namely, we will allow more space around the perimeter of the room for people to more easily move about. If any of you have additional ideas to share please contact Albert by commenting on this post or replying to the email message.

Once again, let us thank over Twitter and Facebook those people who have generously offered us this fine location to meet for the months of March, April, May and June. Their Twitter and Facebook links can be found at:

http://forttectoria.ca/

Respectfully submitted,

Albert Ruel

250-240-2343

GTTWest2015@gmail.com

Notes for the GTT National Conference Call on NNELS March 11 2015.

Notes from our national conference call on the NNELS service for libraries.

March 11, 2015.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator.

More than 15 people were joined on the call by Sabina from NNELS.

NNELS stands for National Network for equitable library service.

Sabina works on the support side of NNELS. She assists people who have difficulties with the web site. She also provides training for public libraries about what NNELS is and what it does.

NNELS is for anyone who cannot read a physical book.

You can access their services yourself from their web site or ask your local library staff to assist you in getting materials.

The web site for NNELS is

http://www.nnels.ca

NNELS is currently available in the following provinces.

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia. and 3 territories.

If you live in Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI or Newfoundland you cannot access NNELS.

if y ou do want to get in touch with Sabina, you can always reach her by e-mailing support@nnels.ca

You can e-mail her and tell her that you wish to get into NNELS. She can keep these e-mails when they pitch the service to other provinces or groups..

To be eligible for NNELS, you have to have some disability which prevents you from reading regular text.

When you go to the NNELS site for the first time, you can type in home library and your home community name.

People in the provinces that are not covered yet, you can access the service but only public domain books.

You can ask your provincial libraries to open up to NNELS.

NNELS is just a year old.

They currently have around 10 thousand books. They ask publishers if they can share books. These books are usually shared in pub or rich text formats. NNELS does pay some narrators to read some books. These are mostly Canadian fiction.

The Crane library from UBC will also record books for NNELS and has given NNELS access to many of the books they have recorded.

Some people have volunteered to read books for NNELS.

Sabina told us about the librevox collection of recorded audio books. This started in Montreal The books are recorded by volunteers. There is also an app for the iPhone for Librevox. These books are mostly in the public domain as are books from project gutenberg.

You can belong to both CELA and NNELS. You can request books you cannot find from NNELS. They try to get the books for you as quickly as they can but they are a very small staff..

Someone pointed out that NNELS has excellent video tutorials on youtube.

You can open books in the iPhone app voice dream reader.

NNELS also has tutorials on their web site.

If your library staff do not know about NNELS and want to know more about the services, tell them to contact Sabina.

If you aren’t sure what formats the books come in and how to play them on your computer or device, contact Sabina.

There are only four staff working for NNELS.

NNELS does not have a relationship with BOOKSHARE.

They do not produce BRF files.

Would they scan a print book for you? Possibly.

Is NNELS a charity? No publicly funded.

They do not at the present time accept donations.

If you have a rush request for a NNELS book, let Sabina know.

They have very few books in French.

We discussed the Merikesh treaty. This would enable people who are blind or have low vision all over the world, all be able to access materials from all libraries and publishers. This treaty is through the World Intellectual, property organization.

Here are some links to youtube videos about this.

http://www.worldblindunion.org/English/resources/Documents/MARRAKESH%20TREATY%20for%20Blind%20-WBU%20FAQ%20sheet%20-eng.doc/

http://youtu.be/_82iqYZ7cuU

Our next conference call will be held on Wednesday April 8 and the topic will be BOOKSHARE.

Notes: GTT Victoria Meeting Summary, March 4, 2015

GTT Victoria Meeting Summary, March 4, 2015

Resources from Top TEch Tidbits and CSUN conference 2015.

Here are a list of resources for those interested in the CSUN conference, exhibits, and new products.

At CSUN in California every year, new products are showcased and discussed. I have never been to one of these conferences. I would love to go to one some time.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at top tech tidbits, here are a set of podcasts and blog posts about this year’s conference and highlights.

For those who wish to keep up with what went on at the recent CSUN conference, we open this week with a wealth of means by which you can do so:

1A) Blind Bargains has the most usable audio coverage, with more than 20 interviews with exhibitors, provided individually so that one can easily listen to those of interest:
http://blindbargains.com/audio/

1B) Serotalk offers four packages of CSUN interviews, with each recording containing several interviews, making it more difficult to zero in on a particular interview, but their packages contain interviews with exhibitors not included within the Blind Bargains listing:
http://serotalk.com/

Meanwhile, AFB’s Crista Earl authored two informative blog posts:

1C) “Cameras for Everybody”
http://www.afb.org/blog/afb-blog/csun-2015-cameras-for-everybody/12

1D) And “3D Printing Is Coming to People Who Are Blind”:
http://www.afb.org/blog/afb-blog/csun-2015-exhibit-hall-3d-printing-is-coming-to-people-who-are-blind/12

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick GTT Coordinator

Using microsoft word with I Devices.

As usual on a Thursday morning, I am reading the latest edition of Top Tech Tidbits. If you have not subscribed to it, it is a most valuable resource. Recently, microsoft has made some of their products more accessible for I Devices. They used to be totally inaccessible. I have been playing with microsoft outlook and now microsoft word. You will find the following link helpful especially if you are using word with an ipad and/or bluetooth keyboard. I have not played with it using a braille display yet but plan to do that. http://support.office.microsoft.com/client/Use-VoiceOver-in-Word-1387428a-5eaf-4eb3-a2a9-230b60462654

Article: Accessible Voting in Canada

A recent Town Hall Meeting was hosted in Toronto by Accessible Media Inc and the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC) that featured Elections Canada talking about what we can expect during the upcoming Federal election. Please check out the summary by following the below link, or visiting http://www.blindcanadians.ca:

http://www.blindcanadians.ca/participate/blog/2015/03/election-accessibility-town-hall-report-what-expect-2015-federal-elections

Article on a new navigation tool.

Tools that help with navigation.

See below article

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT coordinator

It seems that very regularly thee days, products are tested and developed to help people who are blind or have low vision to get around.

However, sometimes these products are developed without consulting people who are blind to know what they exactly need and would like in a product.

I find this happens most with navigation apps and tools.

What is it we want to know when traveling outside?

How much is too much distraction?

How much information do we need?

What format do we want it in?

This project seems to be testing many people who are blind or have low vision. This is always a good sign.

They also seem to be testing travelers who use canes, guide dogs, some with less and some with more vision.

Also, they seem to be asking the testers what else they might use the device to do.

This is very interesting reading.

See below.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator

Putting SUNU to the test
Perkins students, staff take award-winning navigation tool for a spin

Rob, a Perkins student, uses the navigational wristband SUNU to locate
doorways during a testing session for the device.
December 30, 2014
Byline: Alix Hackett
No one likes waiting in line at the bank, least of all Perkins teacher Kate
Katulak. Because she is visually impaired, Katulak sometimes has trouble
keeping tabs on the person in front of her, which can lead to some awkward
moments.

“With a guide dog you have to constantly ask people, ‘Excuse me, are you
moving up?’” she explained. “And if I say ‘forward’ to my dog she’s going to
lead me right around people… so I cut a lot of lines.”

Enter SUNU (formerly known as Ustraap), a wristband that uses an ultrasonic
sensor to detect obstacles and vibrate as they come closer. Someone wearing
SUNU while waiting in line can feel the vibrations lessening as the person
in front of them advances, prompting them to move forward themselves.

Katulak was able to try the product for herself during a recent two-day
testing session run by SUNU and Perkins Products to gather feedback on the
wristband, which is still in the prototype phase. Perkins Products staff
formed a makeshift line, and Katulak practiced moving forward an appropriate
distance behind them. On the first try, she was able to mirror the movement
of the person in front of her.

“The band pulsated, and the pulsation kept getting lighter and lighter so I
moved toward you,” she said. “That’s pretty cool.”

SUNU touts itself primarily as a navigational device, designed to help
people who are blind avoid low-hanging tree branches or find doorways in a
room. But during testing, SUNU’s chief strategy officer Fernando Albertorio
was interested in hearing what other uses people came up with after wearing
the wristband for the first time.

“To be honest with you, this is a use we hadn’t even thought of,” he said,
referring to standing in line. “These two days are really about learning as
much as we can in order to make improvements to the product and inform our
launch and how we market it.”

SUNU and Perkins have been working together ever since SUNU (then known as
Ustraap) won the Perkins Technology Sidecar Prize as part of MassChallenge,
a Boston-based competition for entrepreneurs. Once a prototype of the band
was developed, Albertorio tapped Perkins Products Director Joe Martini to
recruit testers for the device who might use it in different ways.

“It hadn’t been tested with people who use guide dogs, individuals with low
vision, or people who are deafblind,” said Martini.

During testing, each user donned a SUNU band and practiced using the
vibration feedback to gauge distances, avoid obstacles and locate doorways.
In one exercise, Albertorio held a plastic tree branch out at eye level, and
asked testers to stop before walking into it. Perkins Products technology
specialist Joann Becker, who uses a cane to navigate, said walking into
stray branches is one of her biggest pet peeves. During the test, she strode
quickly toward the branch, but stopped just inches away from it.

“Wow,” she said. “I could feel that it was there all of a sudden. I knew if
I kept going, I would hit it.”

Perkins trainer Milissa Garside, another tester, wasn’t as worried about
hitting things at eye level. “I’m short, so I don’t run into a lot of that,”
she said, but like most people who tried SUNU, she had ideas for other uses.

“I would love to use this to locate a (traffic) light pole when I want to
press the ‘walk’ button,” she said. “This would be so helpful, you have no
idea.”

article: The future of braille.

Article on Braille. Is it becoming outdated?

Is braille less relevant now? I really hope not.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator

I learned braille when I was six years old.

I could not wait to do that!

Having others read to me was interesting but not totally satisfying as I wanted to read for myself.

Braille was wonderful.

I could read and write by myself.

I could read in the dark and not get caught.

I could read in moving vehicles and not get sick.

But, braille was bulky.

Huge books, braille machines that were noisy and heavy to carry.

For GTT, I have been able to play with several braille displays.

I’d like to thank the people from Aroga Technologies and from canadialog who have been letting me play with braille displays.

I have tried out the focus displays, braille note from humanware, braille edge, and braille sense.

It is such a pleasure to be able to read and write braille any time with my I devices.

I prefer it to anything else.

I have also started playing with the braille screen input mode built into IOS 8.

I am getting more used to it.

If any of you are using it or other braille displays and products, I would love to hear all about it.

So, I was delighted to read this article.

it is from June 2014 and I share it with you.

Braille isn’t [quote] embattled–we’re on the cusp of a golden age for blind
people

Far from heralding the death of a great medium, technology may be ushering
in a new era of access and greater independence

Ian Macrae, The Guardian (UK)
Thursday, May 22, 2014.

[photo caption:] A cash machine keypad with Braille: ‘Braille has gone
digital.’

Imagine a situation where you walk into your favourite restaurant and ask
for the menu, only to be told it isn’t available. Chances are it wouldn’t
stay your favourite for very long.

As a braillist–someone who uses braille–the dream for me is when the
opposite happens. A small number of chain restaurants offer menus in
braille; sometimes, they’re even up to date.

It is difficult to over-express the sense of liberation at being able to
browse and choose your preferred pizza independently. And in Co-op
supermarkets, where some of the own-brand labels feature braille, there is
pride in being able to identify a bottle of wine from a label that few if
any other people in the store are able to read.

All too often, though, finding anything in shops is a matter of random
selection, peering in earnest, or asking for help. And just when it seemed
the situation couldn’t get any worse for braillists, along come headlines
suggesting the end is nigh for braille, that this communication lifeline is
about to be cut off.

This week, Dr Matthew Rubery, curator of an exhibition on alternative
methods of reading for blind people, described braille as [quote] embattled.
He went on to say its biggest threat [quote] is computer technology, which
makes it much easier not to have to learn it. A lot of people fear braille
won’t survive because it will be read by so few people. The use has declined
and there are concerns about funding to keep it going.

This seems to me a rather glass-half-empty view, although there is some
evidence to support his argument. Anecdotally, it is claimed blind children
are no longer being taught braille. This is said to be owing to sighted
teachers who believe computer technology, and in particular synthesised
speech, has rendered it redundant. Therefore, the teachers don’t need to
learn braille either.

If this is true, and no other factors were to come into play, then the
outlook might really look bad. But, like print, braille has gone through a
process of evolution. It started out in classrooms as the equivalent of the
slate – my five-year-old hands punched out each dot individually through a
sheet of thick manilla paper. We learned to write it backwards and read it
forwards.

Then Harold Wilson’s [quote] white heat age of technology ushered in the
mechanical era. Classrooms echoed to the deafening collective rattle of 15
or more braille machines – the Stainsby, the Perkins, the Lavender –
pounding away at dictation or composition.

And now, like print with its tablets, Kindles and touch screens, braille has
gone digital. And it is my belief that this could well mean it becomes more
widely available and infinitely more useful. This is important because it
means all children in future will be able to enjoy the same degree of
literacy, not to mention the same levels of liberation and pleasure, as I do
now.

Think of this: I am writing and editing this piece on an Apple computer
using braille from an electronic display that drives pins into the correct
shapes to form a line of braille text. Once the piece is published I will be
able to go to the Guardian website on my iPhone or iPad, use Bluetooth to
connect up a portable braille device, and read it along with you. The main
problem currently is the cost of the braille-reading equipment: the cheapest
is 900 [pounds].

But, fellow reader, we are now in the age of the app and of haptic
technology, which communicates through vibration and touch. It is already
possible for me to download an app that will create on my touch screen a
virtual braille keyboard on which I can compose texts, emails, tweets and
Facebook updates in braille.

Meanwhile, the search is already on for the holy grail of braille–a means
of creating dots without using expensive mechanical cells that make the
shape of braille characters using pins. Then the world would truly be at our
fingertips.

What is needed is an app that would turn digital text on your device into
electronic impulses in the shape of braille characters, transmitted by the
screen of your iPad or other tablet, to be read by touch. To go back to my
restaurant quandary, all I would need to do would be to call up the menu
online, put it through my haptic braille app, and read it on my screen.

Add into that mix a scanning app, and I could point my device at what was on
the supermarket shelf and have the haptic braille app produce the package
information.

And if you think this is hopelessly optimistic pie in the sky, it’s worth
remembering that less than five years ago 96% of all books produced would
never be turned into forms accessible to blind people. But with the advent
of e-books and existing technology, I am now able to read pretty much any
book I want to in electronic braille.

So rather than seeing the end of braille, we could be entering a golden age
of access and communication. Here’s to more pizza, more wine, and more
braille.

from:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/22/braille-golden-age-blin
d-people-technology

CCB Newsletters: CCB BC-Yukon Division Spring Newsletter is now available

Hi Blog followers. Please access this link to read the Spring Division Newsletter as an MS Word file. If you can’t access the file and still want to read it please contact me with your preference. I can be reached at;; GTTWest2015@Gmail.com

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26343363/ccb%20bc-yukon%20division%20newsletter%20spring%202015.docx

Fascinating article and video on possibilities for travel in the future.

This is a fascinating article and video.

If some of these things happen, travel for people who are blind or have low vision could be very different and enhanced.

I think we are already noticing this.

With apps like blindsquare for I devices, near by explorer for android, and more, travel even in new locations is getting much easier..

Any device that enhances the tools in our tool box is always welcome.

See article and video below..

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator

Visionary – International Guide Dogs Federation magazine February 2015.

Cities Unlocked

exploring the world using 3D Soundscapes

John Shelton, – Cities Unlocked Program, Manager , Guide Dogs UK

Background
In 2013 Guide Dogs and Microsoft created a film called A Family Day Out to
demonstrate technology concepts that could greatly enhance the quality of
life for blind and visually impaired people.
Following the launch of the film, Guide Dogs and Microsoft teamed up with
Future Cities Catapult to research and pilot some of the concepts; the
programmed of work is called Cities Unlocked.

To bring the concepts imagined in the film to life, we conducted an in-depth
analysis of current technology and transport issues affecting intermodal
journeys made by people who are blind or partially sighted. This research
identified the key stress points in their journeys and possible solutions to
alleviate them. We then set about designing and developing prototype
technologies that, with a little training and practice, dissolve into the
background of the user experience to enhance but not hinder cognitive
ability. The pilot technologies are moving us closer to Social Computing –
whereby places, points of interest and objects are aware of each other, and
are contextually aware of us and our social interactions.

How the technology works
Crudely speaking, there are three aspects to the technology:

A ‘Cities Unlocked’ smartphone app that can be used with just one hand ..A
bone-conducting headset containing a Gyro, GPS and Accelerometer to place
information in 3D space relative to the direction the user is facing ..A
boosted environment using GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth Low Energy beacons to aid
orientation, navigation, transport and retail experiences Once user
preferences have been set and a route selected, the phone can be stowed in a
pocket or bag, leaving the user free to go about their business whilst
receiving useful information through the headset in a unique 3D Soundscape.
Additional buttons mounted on the headset, allow the user to access more
information on the move without needing to take the phone out of their bag
or pocket.

Here are examples of some of the features:

If the user is facing in the wrong direction they hear a clip-clop sound
coming from the direction that they should be facing ..The user rotates
towards the clipclop sound, and when they are facing in the right direction
they will hear a gentle ping sound ..The ping sound plots the route, so the
user simply follows the ping whilst using their guide dog or cane ..Along
the route the user receives navigation information e.g. “turn left in
20 metres”

They also receive contextual information e.g. “dropped curb approximately 3
meres” or “caution, this street regularly has cars parked on the pavement”

Points of interest, shops and street furniture are also announced in 3D
Soundscape – it sounds as though the announcement is coming from the
direction of the point of interest. If the user changes direction the
announcement automatically changes direction accordingly.

Bus stops, bus timetables, and when the next bus is approaching are
announced. On the bus journey the technology continues to announce
approaching stops and points of interest that the bus is passing. It also
works in a similar fashion on train journeys.

Results from our user trials We conducted a trial with 8 participants and
used data collection tools to assess mobility and quality of life factors
while the participants undertook a long, complex and unfamiliar intermodal
journey without the technology. This provided a baseline measure against
which to measure any positive or negative effects when traveling the same
journey some weeks later using the technology.

The illustration shows the improvements across 17 wellbeing measures in six
areas; physiology, orientation skills, cognitive/conceptual skills, mobility
skills, safety skills, and use of residual vision (for those that had some).
The pink area shows results using their normal mobility aid, the blue area
shows the improvement when the technology is used alongside the mobility
aid.

The results show that the concept is a success in helping VI people’s
mobility. Importantly, none of the markers showed a negative impact, and the
results indicate that the technology is a complement to traditional mobility
aids.

Next steps
Recognising that the solutions need to be sustainable on their own merit,
otherwise they will raise expectations and lead to disappointment, we have
now started planning for Phase 2 to incorporate the lessons learned into a
bigger and more ambitious project.

We know that what we are doing is important globally – but we must all
remember that what we are doing isn’t really about the technology; it is
about people and the user experience.

Watch the Cities Unlocked film with audio description:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949D1IhKKYs

Notes: Nanaimo GTT Meeting Summary, February 7, 2015

GTT Nanaimo Summary of the February 7, 2015 Meeting:

On February 7 about six Nanaimo GTT members attended with one new person checking us out for the first time. Amber has recently moved to Nanaimo from Alberta to attend VIU. Welcome Amber.

The gathered group started out discussing the new gadgets found under the Xmas Tree, like blue tooth keyboards for the iPhone, talking book machines with wireless capabilities and battery packs to keep all those things running when away from a plug-in. Also discussed at length were some of the strategies we individually use for GPS navigation, audio and electronic book enjoyment and generally how to get the most out of the iPhones we currently use.

The Blind Square GPS app was talked about, as was Voice Dream Reader to the point that some of the group have since purchased these iPhone applications based on these discussions.

The next GTT Nanaimo Meeting will be moved to Saturday, March 14, 2015 so that Albert can attend.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Donna or Albert as indicated below:

Albert Ruel

250-240-2343

albertruel@gmail.com

Donna Hudon

250-618-0010

iamdonnahudon@gmail.com

NOtes on CELA from our national teleconference on February 11, 2015.

More than 20 people attended this conference call.

We welcomed Margaret and Lindsay to tell us about the CELA service.

Margaret told us about the history of cela.

CNIB had been lobbying for many years to have accessible library service delivered through public libraries.

Other organizations of canadians who are blind or have low vision have also wanted this to happen.

It is a right for all Canadians to access library services in their communities..

Coming to a charity to obtain library services was inappropriate.

Many studies were conducted.

In the end, the federal government asked CNIB to organize this service.

A report was produced called Reading Reimagined.

The report said that this service that should come through local public libraries.

In April of 2014, CELA (Centre for equitable library access) was launched.

As of February 2015, this service is available through over 600 public libraries in 1600 service points.

Most of these libraries are in Ontario, Alberta, and PEI.

There are also libraries in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and some in BC.

Libraries contribute funding to help the CELA service.

The list of participating libraries has been growing.

There were 25 thousand CNIB library clients prior to April 2014. they are still able to use the service through

http://www.cniblibrary.ca

They are encouraged to join CELA if they wish to do so.

They would then benefit also from services from their local public libraries.

The aim of CELA is to meet the needs of users across the spectrum of technical abilities and interests. They can get Cd’s in the mail, download their own books, choose their own books, or get help choosing and selecting books.

There are currently 300 thousand titles in the collection.

90 thousand are from CELA.

200 thousand are through bookshare.

When you join CELA, you get an automatic membership to bookshare.

To find out more about bookshare itself, go to

http://www.bookshare.org

5000 titles were added to CELA in the last fiscal year.

The formats offered through CELA and bookshare include:

human narrated audio

hard copy braille

electronic braille

print/braille

described video

electronic text

bookshare offers books in:

synthetic speech

electronic braille

and text

Delivery options available

direct to player (this will allow books to go directly from the library to supported players.

At the time of this blog entry, (February 2015) the players include:

plextalk players

sold in CAnada by aroga technologies

http://www.aroga.ca

Victor stratus and victor stream second generation (sold by Humanware)

http://www.humanware.ca

Braille electronic (you must download these to a device or computer with braille display or talking book player that can support the brf format

hard copy braille

books on CD delivered through the mail

Download from a web site.

How to sign up for CELA

CELA is available to Canadians with a broad range of disabilities.

Any disability (learning, or physical) that makes it difficult for someone to read print can be eligible.

You would sign up through your local public library.

The books you access through CNIB and CELA are the same collections.

Local library staff have had some training about CELA.

If the library has questions or does not know about CELA, they should visit the CELA web site at

http://www.celalibrary.ca

To register for CELA, you need a public library card, proof of your address, fill out a registration form, and declare that you have trouble accessing or reading regular print. You do not need a doctor’s form.

CNIB staff can also assist you with finding out about CELA.

CAnnot search books from public library, CELA, or bookshare all in one place.

You must go to each site for their collections.

Some libraries are starting to enter CELA records into their catalogs.

In future, they might integrate all services into one place.

Every existing CNIB library client before april 2014 is also now a CELA client.

How can people advocate for their libraries to come to CELA?

Someone mentioned there is a good presentation about CELA on youtube.

In Ontario and Alberta, CELA funding is provided provincially for all of its municipal libraries.

CNIB will still be creating books in braille and audio formats. CELA will not do that.

Here are some apps for I devices and android that work well with bookshare and CNIB library books.

For Iphone, the app voicedream reader which costs about $10 CAnadian is excellent and allows you to search and download bookshare books directly into the app.

It also works well with CNIB library books.

If people want, Kim could do a conference call on how to download these books to your iphone.

There is also an app called read2go which is about $20 and works with bookshare books.

On androi there is a free app called goread which allows you to download bookshare books directly onto your device..

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator

CELA contact info.

Contact info for CELA from our national conference call last week.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

GTT Coordinator

We had a very successful conference call on February 11 2015.

I will be posting more detailed notes to this blog about the call very soon.

Lindsay provided contact information below and I know some of you on the call were very interested in getting it.

Stay tuned for more.

Hello Kim,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with your group last night. It was a pleasure to speak with such an engaged group of readers and technology enthusiasts.

I’m following up to provide my contact details and summary of CELA as we discussed yesterday. The CELA website address is www.celalibrary.ca. My contact information is in the signature block below.

Here’s the text from the bookmark that Margaret mentioned which summarizes CELA services nicely:

Do you or someone you know have difficulty reading print?

Your public library offers a collection of over 230,000 books and more for people who have trouble reading print due to a learning, physical or visual disability.

• A choice of formats including audio, braille or accessible e-book

• Bestsellers, award-winners, classics, self-help, business and more

• Books for kids, teens and adults

• Download books or receive home delivery by mail

Ask at your public library

Best regards,

Lindsay Tyler

Manager, CELA Member Services

Centre for Equitable Library Access

T: (416) 486-2500, ext. 7746 or 1-855-655-2273 press 2

F: (416) 480-7700

GTT Victoria, NNELS Support Contact Info

National Network for Equitable Library Sservice (NNELS) Support

As a follow up to our January presentation on the above noted accessible Library service I offer you the following contact person. Sabina was very helpful when I struggled to get connected.

Sabina Iseli-Otto / NNELS Support

support@nnels.ca

Direct line: 1-855-383-5761 Ext. 1031

General help: 1-888-848-9250 (option 5

Thanks again to the people at Blind Bargains, developing a full page braille display.

A full page braille display?

Is it really approaching?

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

Thanks again to the people at Blind Bargains for this article.

Many of us (if we are lucky enough to be able to afford one) have used refreshable braille displays with our computers and smart phones.

These displays are wonderful.

They allow me to read in braille what is on my computer or device.

If anyone wants help learning to use their displays, I am able to provide training with the following displays and notetakers.

Braille note

Braille sense

Focus braille displays

braille edge

Although these displays are wonderful, they only display one line of braille at a time.

For some things, this works well.

However, for math, for times when you need to touch the whole page at once to feel the lay out, skim over a schedule, etc, having more than one line of braille would be wonderfully helpful.

The refreshable braille cells are extremely expensive.

See the article below for a possible new development in this field.

Austrian Researchers Tackling Full Page Braille Display Challenge with BLITAB

A team of researchers has recently raised over $10,000 to create an alpha prototype for BLITAB, a full-page braille display project which has been in development for three years. The claim on the project’s page as the “world’s first tablet for blind people” is perhaps a bit misleading, but the project itself has some lofty goals. The BLITAB would include braille translation features as well as a GPS and support for obtaining information from NFC tags.

The project’s Indiegogo crowdfunding page describes the technology like this:

BLITAB is a next curve Braille device for reading and writing that displays one whole page Braille text, without mechanical elements. It is like an e-book which instead of using a screen displays small physical bubbles. They rise and fall on demand, composing a whole page in Braille code without any mechanical elements.
The project has received support from some major corporations including T-Mobile, Volkswagen, and 3M. The full-page braille display is a challenge that many have tackled, but to this point, no devices are available for retail. Perhaps the BLITAB will be the one to buck the trend.

Source: BLITAB
Category: News

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http://www.blindbargains.com/b/12308

Thanks to the people at Blind Bargains. New voices for NVDA screen reader.

New voices for NVDA screen reader

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

I really love what the people at blind bargains are doing.

They have many interesting podcasts and interviews from technology exhibits for people who are blind and have low vision.

They also have a great app and very interesting articles.

Below is a great one I found from them about NVDa and some new voices you can get for it.

For those who don’t know NVDA, it is a free screen reader for windows computers.

Their web site is

http://www.nvda.org

Here is the article.

Acapela Adds its Voice to the NVDA Screen Reader, Available Starting at 59 Euros

Acapela Adds its Voice to the NVDA Screen Reader, Available Starting at 59 Euros – Blind Bargains

Blind Bargains

Users of the free NVDA screen reader now have another option for obtaining enhanced voices. Acapela Group is now offering two voice packages, which both include a variety of voice styles and languages and work on up to three computers.

The basic package, which costs 59 Euros or about $67 in U.S. Dollars as of this post, includes what Acapela calls the Colibri voices, which are slightly more robotic but better at higher speech rates. Upgrading to the 99 Euro package ($112 USD) adds higher quality voices which may be more suited for reading books and longer passages.

The voices are available for a 15-day free trial and delivered as an NVDA ad-on.

Source: Acapela TTS Voices for NVDA
Category: News

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http://www.blindbargains.com/b/12311

Using Voiceover screen reader and braille display.

Sent from my iPhone

Very interesting device that is still in development.

Very interesting device being developed for bone conduction through sunglasses.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

This article came from a very useful list I am on called LV Ottawa (it is a blind and low vision list for people in Ottawa Canada)

The person who sent it got it from another list.

I paste below.

I can see many interesting ways this could be used by the blind and low vision community.

For people with low vision, they could put their lenses in and have bone conduction head phones and glasses all in one.

For those of us who have light sensitivity and need to wear sunglasses anyway, these would be great.

Enjoy.

Here’s an interesting piece that was on another list I’m on.

Get this through your skull: Ditch the earbuds. That’s more or less the
message from a startup called Buhel, which is aiming to radically change the
way you take calls — from inside your head.

Sound a little crazy? Let me explain.

The company has concocted a pair of Bluetooth 4.0 sunglasses — aptly named
SoundGlasses SGO5 — that pump the sound of music and calls into your inner
ear through your cranium. It’s kind of a head trip.

Buhel says the intra-cranial aural magic happens through the wonders of bone
conduction technology. Small, soft speakers tucked into each lightweight,
polymer arm of the sunglasses (the parts that hug the sides of your head)
let users listen to calls, tunes, videos and more from connected iPhone,
Android and Windows mobile devices through their skulls, hands-free and
ear-free, too.

Without earbuds muffling surrounding sounds, SoundGlasses free users to hear
noises around them. In other words, taking and making phone calls while
driving, biking or running can be a lot easier and, more importantly, safer.
For ski bunnies, Buhel also offers similar ski goggles. They’re called
Speakgoggle G33 Intercoms and they allow you to talk through your nose
bones.

You can’t make this stuff up.

To chat on calls, SoundGlasses wearers need only speak. A bi-directional
noise-cancelling mic embedded in the nose bridge of the shades picks up and
transmits their voices. To place and end calls, Buhel says users simply push
a button on the glasses. The button also controls volume and activates
interaction with Siri and Cortana, Apple’s and Microsoft’s respective voice
assistants.

If you have an eye for fancy lenses, Buhel has you covered. Depending on how
much you spend, you can choose from a variety of scratch-resistant lenses.
Or you can even add your own prescription lenses. The shades’ lithium-ion
battery juices approximately three hours of talk time and recharges via a
USB cable/wall charger combo.

Some obvious questions: How clear will the audio be when vibrated through
your inner ear? And, um, what about cloudy days? You don’t wear sunglasses
in the dark.

Buhel’s parent company Atellani recently launched the high-tech specs on
Kickstarter. The campaign is the company’s second stab on the crowdfunding
platform and has already exceeded its $80,000 funding goal, with 36 days to
go. A set of these bad boys will put you back a pledge of $160. Shipping is
slated to start in May.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242589

Using Your Screen reader to Extend the functionality of the Windows Clipboard

Thoughts from David Goldfield

Most computer users are familiar with using ctrl-C to copy selected text to the Windows clipboard for later pasting with ctrl-V. Under normal circumstances, pressing ctrl-C overwrites or erases text which was previously placed in the clipboard. Today, screen readers can take this capability and, to quote a popular chef on television, kick it up a notch.
First, let’s discuss JAWS from Freedom Scientific. JAWS includes a rather nifty feature known as the Freedom Clipboard, allowing you to append rather than copy text to the clipboard. Here is how it works.
Find some text you want to copy to the clipboard.
Select or highlight it the normal way, using the shift key along with appropriate navigation keys, such as shift-insert-right arrow to highlight the next word at the cursor.
Press ctrl-C to copy the text to the clipboard, as you usually do.
Now, move your cursor to another block of…

View original post 349 more words

VarioUltra braille display review.

Thanks to the NFB and a review of the varioultra braille display.

I read this review great To Tech Tidbits newsletter.

Thanks to them for this.

Enjoy.

Posted by Kim Kilpatrick

https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/varioultra-overview

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Austrian Researchers Tackling Full Page Braille Display Challenge with BLITAB

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Acapela Adds its Voice to the NVDA Screen Reader, Available Starting at 59 Euros

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