GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Google Home and General Tech Discussion, April 9, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting April 9, 2018

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held April 9 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

28 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.

April Topics –Google Home and General Tech Discussion

Google Home

Wanda demonstrated her Google Home speaker/voice assistant. The Google Home speaker is about the size of a large soup can. IT costs $179. It is a hands-free way to ask questions and get answers simply by saying, “OK Google” followed by your question. Here is some sample dialog with the speaker.

Ok Google, how do I say “good morning” in French?

Bonjour

Ok Google, when is the next Raptors game?

They’ll be back in action against Chicago tomorrow night at 7:30 PM

Ok Google, how much time is left on my pizza timer?

You have 14 minutes and 35 seconds remaining

Ok Google, play my Friday Starts Now playlist

Ok, playing your Spotify playlist called Friday Starts Now

Wanda showed how you can ask questions with longer answers such as “Ok Google. Do you have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies?” Google Home will then provide the recipe one step at a time allowing you to simply say “Next”, to have it announce each step.

You can ask almost anything since the Google search engine is powering the speaker. You can also make hands-free telephone calls. You can get the daily weather, news, sports scores, stock quotes, play radio stations. Listen to audio books, ask it to remember your appointments, remember your grocery list and more.

If you buy additional home control modules then the Google Home can turn lights on or off, set your thermostat and so on.

Wanda also showed the smaller Google Mini speaker which is the size and shape of a doughnut. IT has the same functionality but is smaller and costs only $79.

Both devices take only minutes to setup. You do need an Internet connection in your home. To link the speakers to the Internet simply use the free app that is provided.

Activate the above links to read more about both products including tech specs and other Google Home accessories.

General Tech Discussion – Finding iPhone Apps

After the demo we had general discussion on various topics including how to find accessible iPhone apps. The best way to research for an app that works well with Voice Over is to visit the AppleVIS web site. This site is managed by blind people for blind people. They have reviewed hundreds of apps for both iOS devices and for MAC computers. You can search for apps by name or by category. When you find an app of interest you can read a description of the app that includes a rating on its accessibility. In some cases, there are also podcast reviews of the app by AppleVIS contributors. Indeed, you can subscribe to the AppleVIS podcast feed using your favorite podcast app or the Victor Reader Stream to keep up to date on all the AppleVIS podcast reviews and tutorials as they are released.

Next Meeting (Monday May 7at 7pm)

No demonstration topic has been suggested 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/

To subscribe, use the 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]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, CELA Library Newspapers and General Tech Discussion, March 12, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting March 12, 2018

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

20 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.

March Topics –CELA Library Newspapers and General Tech Discussion

CELA Online Newspapers

Gerry demonstrated the free online CELA Library newspaper service that allows you to read 50 local, regional, national and international daily newspapers directly from the CELA Library website.

CELA Membership Required

You must have a CELA member online account to use the newspaper service. The CELA online account is free for those with an Edmonton Public Library (EPL) card which itself is free. For Edmontonians who self identify as having a print disability, i.e., Blind, Low Vision, Learning disability, you can register online for free CELA membership or by going to an EPL branch. Membership not only gives you access to the newspapers but also the extensive CELA collection of audio and braille books and Bookshare’s online library of over 350,000 DAISY e-books. More about public library access was provided in the February meeting notes. If you want to talk to CELA customer support, you can reach them at 1-855-655-2273.

How to Read the Online Newspapers

Once you have a CELA membership, start by going to the CELA home page. Then select the sign in link and enter your CELA account number and password. You can check to box to have your browser remember your password so that you don’t have to sign in everyday. Also, you may want to create a desktop icon to the CELA home page to quickly reach it everyday.
On the CELA home page, select the Newspapers link. A list of all the newspapers will be displayed. This page also has links to a newspaper FAQ and tutorial. Each newspaper is a link so just activate the link of the newspaper you wish to read.
Then a page will open for the selected newspaper. This page is an index of links to the various sections of the selected newspaper. Activate the link of the section you are interested in.
Then a page will open that contains links to the articles of the selected section. Simply activate the link of the article you want to read.
A screen opens with the article contents. At the bottom of each article are 3 links: the first will return you to the list of newspapers, the second to the index of sections within the current newspaper, and the third to the list of articles in the current section.

Note: Because the newspapers are just contained in a website, you can also perform the above steps on any computer or smartphone. Note also that only today’s edition of the newspapers are available. You cannot read prior issues.

General Tech Discussion

After the newspaper demo we had very good general discussion on topics such as:

Differences between Windows 7 and Windows 10
Pros & Cons of Windows browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. The general conclusion was that people should probably abandon Internet Explorer because Microsoft has already done so some years ago. Consequently, Internet Explorer does not work well with many web sites, frequently crashes, and is more vulnerable to security issues. Microsoft’s new browser called Edge is part of the Windows 10 operating system and is much more secure. However, screen readers are still not fully compatible with Edge, so, many are using Google Chrome or Firefox as their default browser.
It was asked how to set the default browser in Windows 10. Simply press the Windows key and type, “Default app”, (without the quotes) and press Enter. This will take you to the Windows 10 settings where you can see the various default programs for apps such as email, music player, browser etc. Press Enter on the browser button and you should be able to TAB through the apps available to you. Select the one you want and press Enter to set it as the default.
We discussed the importance of learning Windows keyboard shortcuts to be more productive. These shortcuts have nothing to do with screen readers and are available to all Windows users. They are necessary to learn if you cannot see to use the mouse or just to know because they are often more efficient than the mouse.
We talked about the built-in low vision accessibility features of Windows 10. To examine these features, press the Windows key and type, “Ease of access center”, (without the quotes) in the search box and press Enter. Recall that the February meeting notes provided extensive information about Windows 10 low vision access.
iPhone accessibility with the Voice Over screen reader. New member, Andrew, recommended a free app that is a Voice Over tutorial. It’s called VO Starter and can be found on the Apple app store at:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/vo-starter/id586844936?mt=8

Also, recall that the February meeting notes provided a list of 12 basic gestures to get started using the iPhone with Voice Over.

Next Meeting (Monday April 9 at 7pm)

Our member, Wanda, has volunteered to demonstrate how she uses her Google Home Voice Assistant to help simplify daily tasks at home.
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]

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]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Accessibility Features of Windows 10 and the iPhone, January 8, 2018

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting January 8, 2018

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held January 8 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

24 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.

January Topic –Accessibility Primers for Windows10 and iPhone

Windows 10 Accessibility Primer

Following is Carrie’s summary of the Windows10 accessibility primer she, Lyle, and Lorne presented to the main group. There are also links to other resources so you can research more commands and tools. The commands provided are for Windows 10. The resource links provided take you to the Microsoft pages where you can choose the version of Windows you are using.

Windows Shortcut Keys

Learning Windows Shortcut Keys is important to be Efficient: More about Windows Shortcut Keys https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12445

Windows Ease of Access Center

This is where all Accessibility related settings can be adjusted.

. TO DO THIS	PRESS THIS
Open the Ease of Access Center	Windows logo key + U

Scaling

This is a setting that adjusts the size and clarity of most items on your screen. The default is 125% but you can also customize it to what you want. Adjusting this to higher settings does require more scrolling of windows. Icons are larger, and text is larger without the stepping pixelating that often happens with magnifying things.

Right click anywhere on the desktop

Go to display settings

Scaling and Layout appear in the middle of the screen.

Magnifier

Magnifier allows you to enlarge the entire screen or sections of it. There are 3 viewing modes including full, lens, and docked. Magnifier’s application toolbar appears in the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. It may also hover a magnifying glass on your screen. Click it and see the tools like plus, minus, zoom percentage, View, and a gear for settings.

TO DO THIS	PRESS THIS
Turn Magnifier on	Windows logo key + Plus (+)
Turn Magnifier off	Windows logo key + Esc
When Magnifier is on, zoom in or out	Windows logo key + Plus (+) or Minus (-)
Zoom in and out using the mouse scroll wheel	Ctrl + Alt + mouse scroll wheel
Open Magnifier settings	Windows logo key + Ctrl + M
Pan in the direction of the arrow keys	Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys
Invert colors	Ctrl + Alt + I
Switch to full screen view	Ctrl + Alt + F
Switch to lens view	Ctrl + Alt + L
Switch to docked view	Ctrl + Alt + D
Cycle through views	Ctrl + Alt + M
Resize the lens with the mouse	Ctrl + Alt + R
Resize the lens with the keyboard	Shift + Alt + arrow keys
Quickly see the entire desktop when using full screen view	Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar

More About Magnifier https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11542/windows-use-magnifier

Mouse Enhancements

As one of the hardest things to find as a visually impaired person, the Pointer’s Size and Color often makes the difference in its visibility.

Also, if you can find your Mouse Settings in Control panel, you can adjust more mouse shapes and effects like pointer trails.

Go to Start Button

Type Control Panel

IN Search type Mouse

Then the mouse panel appears and you can choose to change the look of the mouse, how it looks when moving, and more.

More on adjusting your mouse settings https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14206/windows-7-change-mouse-settings

Cursor Thickness

In the Ease of Access Center, “Other Options” you can change the thickness of the typing cursor by using a horizontal left/right slider from a blinking vertical line to a thick blinking box. This makes finding where your cursor is much easier.

Color & High Contrast

There are many ways to change color of THE screens in Windows.

Magnifier’s invert color

Windows color filters – especially useful if someone has color blindness

Windows Themes – is a quick way to adjust all colors in every application for text, hyperlinks, buttons and active or inactive items.

I find that using a Windows Theme presents the best diversity of color especially high contrast. However, the possibility of losing information that is only represented by color is there. Take for example a web page that is not coded for accessibility may eliminate colored items if a theme is enforced. You will need to be the judge of your own experience. For working with text and email Themes work great. For someone who is always on the web and uses cues from images and color, themes won’t work well.

Use invert colors of Magnifier or similarly the Color & High Contrast Invert setting. Keep in mind certain colors have hard to read inversions like organize and green. Yellow’s invert is blue. White is black.

TO DO THIS	PRESS THIS
Turn your High Contrast Theme on or off	press Left Alt + left Shift + Print Screen
Turn your color filter on or off	press Windows logo key + Ctrl + C

Text to Speech to Read What is Magnified

There is a built-in screen reader called Narrator which I’ll mention later. For those of us who just want reading in MS Office documents there is a Speech feature you can activate. It reads aloud any text you select in the document. It can be activated by keyboard shortcut or a button in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the application. This feature is available in Microsoft Office 2013, 2016 and of course Office365.

Narrator

Narrator is a full-blown screen reading application that does just that, it reads the screen. Again, keyboard shortcuts are handy in controlling and navigating documents.

Narrator has a setting panel that allows you to customize the way narrator acts such as voice, cursor and pointer following. Narrator also lets you “highlight the cursor” which is where it is reading, a red box appears around where Narrator is reading. This is useful when I am trying to hover my mouse over text I want read.

On many keyboards, the Windows logo key is located on the bottom row of keys, to the left or right of the Alt key.

TO DO THIS

PRESS THIS

Open Narrator settings

Windows logo key + Ctrl + N

Turn Narrator On or Off

Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter for Windows 10

Windows Logo Key + Enter for Windows 7/8

More on Getting Started with Narrator https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/22798

There are several ways to read text using Narrator. The first and simplest way is to use the arrow keys to navigate text if you’re interacting with a document in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word.

If an app doesn’t support text reading commands, Narrator will say “not on explorable text.” In this case, use Scan Mode to navigate and read text. While in scan mode you need to listen for Narrator saying scan on or scan off, otherwise, the letters or arrow keys you use are actually moving in your document.

Move to the next or previous word

TO DO THIS	PRESS THIS
Turn Scan Mode On or Off	Caps lock + Spacebar.
Read by paragraph in scan mode	Up and Down arrow keys
Read by character	Left and Right arrow keys
To activate an item that you want to use, such as a button in an app, a link in a webpage, or a text box	Press the spacebar
Move to the start or end of a line of text in an app or webpage	Home and End
Move to the beginning or end of text	Ctrl + Home and Ctrl + End
Move to the next or previous word	Ctrl + Left arrow and Ctrl + Right arrow
Move to the next or previous line	Ctrl + Up arrow and Ctrl + Down arrow

To learn more about Scan Mode. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/22809/windows-10-narrator-using-scan-mode

Speech Recognition

A great feature for dictating to the computer as well as in documents. The trick to anyone using speech recognition software is to recognize when mistakes are made. You can open programs, control menus, click buttons and dictate text. First be in a quiet environment with a microphone connected to your computer. At the start menu type Speech Recognition or just speech and it will appear in the Start Menu.

More about Speech Recognition Carrie, Lyle, Lorne Facilitated a Windows10 Primer

Russell – One on One Training in Windows 10 with JAWS

Russell worked with a couple of young members, Owais and Eric, helping with Jaws and Voiceover. Some of the topics covered were changing the Jaws PC and Jaws cursor voices, creating shortcut keys to websites like Gmail to make it easier to access webmail, accessing help in both the Windows and Mac environments, and basic navigation.

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

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.

Next Meeting (Monday February 12at 7pm)

The current plan is to continue the popular sessions about accessibility features native to Windows10 and the iPhone.
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]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Canadian Assistive Technology Demonstration, December 11, 2017

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting December 11, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held December 11, at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

23 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.

December Topic – Technology Demo

We were treated to a technology demo from Canadian Assistive Technologies, formerly known as Aroga, a company with over 30 years’ experience providing assistive technology to blind and low vision Canadians. Company owner, Steve Barclay, exhibited some of the latest tech available including:

Orcam MyEye Version 8 ($4500) head worn OCR artificial vision system. Converts text into spoken word, recognizes money, products, faces. Steve also has gently used model for half price at $2250.
Jordy Headworn CCTV System is like the E-Sight but less expensive at $4995 and with a superior camera and optics.
Transformer HD ($3995), a Wi-Fi connectable CCTV with optional OCR camera. Display to iPad or Android tablets. Or direct connect to USB and HDMI TV.
BrailleNote Touch 32 ($6895) and BrailleNote Touch 18 ($4995) Android braille enabled notetakers from HumanWare.
BrailleSense Polaris, the latest Android Braille Notetaker from HIMS
Dolphin Supernova ($590) Screen Magnifier and screen Reader
KNFB Reader Enterprise Version and Hovercam Solo 5 – Super Speedy OCR for Windows/iPhone/Android. The KNFB Reader Enterprise ($110 and up) allows installation on multiple devices including iDevices and Windows PC.
To learn more about the indoor navigation beacon that Steve showed us visit the manufacturer’s web site, Right-Hear.

Steve also has some good deals at the Canadian Assistive Technologies gently used marketplace which is worth checking out.

For more information on these or any other Canadian Assistive Technologies products, you may contact Steve at:

(844) 795-8324

Or sales@canasstech.com

Steve’s team also produces a weekly assistive technology podcast which is called AT Banter. You can subscribe to it with your iPhone or Victor Reader Stream.

If you have assistive technology that requires repairs consider Steve’s partner company, Chaos Technical Services. Based in Vancouver, it offers professional repairs with quick turnaround. Contact owner, Rick Chant, at (778) 847-6840 or chaostech@shaw.ca

Next Meeting (Monday January 8, 2018 at 7pm)

Carrie and Lyle will demonstrate and answer your questions about the magnification and screen reading features native to Windows-10. Learn how these features can help low vision and blind users use a Windows PC without the need to install any special software.
Lorne, Russell, and Gerry will work with individuals who want help or to learn more about the Voice Over screen reader that comes with every iPhone and iPad to provide access to these devices by blind people.
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]

Instructions for Subscribing to the CCB Podcast Feed with Victor Reader Stream, by Gerry Chevalier

Subscribe to CCB Podcast Feed with Victor Reader Stream

By Gerry Chevalier, GTT Edmonton

To subscribe to the Canadian Council of the Blind’s podcast feed with your Victor Reader Stream new generation, follow these steps.

Press the Online button above key 2 to reach the online bookshelves.
If your Stream announces that airplane mode is on then press and hold the Online button to turn off airplane mode.
Press key 1 multiple times to reach the Podcast bookshelf.
Press the Go To key above key 1 multiple times to find the option to add a podcast feed and then press the Confirm key to the right of key 0.
Press keys 2 or 8 to reach the Title search option and then press the Confirm key.
The Stream is now in text entry mode, so you can enter the title of the feed you wish to add. Type “Canadian Council” on the number pad keys. For example, to enter “c”, press key 2 three times, to enter “a”, press key 2 once, to enter “n” press key 6 twice and so on. Don’t worry about entering uppercase. If you make a mistake, press the Rewind key once to erase the previous letter. Enter the space between words by pressing key 0. If you wish help press the Sleep key to enable a key describer feature where you can press any key to hear which letters are mapped to that key. Press the Sleep key again to return to text entry mode.
When you finish typing the title, press the Fast Forward button to the right of the PLAY key to verify what you have typed.
When the title search string is correct, press the Confirm key to the right of key 0 to start the search.
The search results will appear. Press key 6 to move through the results until you find “The Canadian Council of the Blind Podcast, CCB Program Staff”. Then press the Confirm key to subscribe to this feed.
Press the Cancel key to the left of key 0 three times to exit the search function and return to the bookshelf. Press the Confirm key to open the new CCB podcast feed.
IF you have not modified your Stream’s default podcast settings, then the 3 most recent episodes of the podcast will start to download. IF your Stream is set for manual download you will need to press Confirm to activate the option to get more episodes, then use keys 4 or 6 to find an episode, and press Confirm to download the episode.

To listen to an episode:

Press key 1 multiple times to reach the Podcast bookshelf.
Press key 4 or 6 multiple times to reach the Canadian Council of the Blind feed. Then press Confirm to open the feed.
Press keys 4 or 6 multiple times to find the episode you wish to listen to. You may press key 5 to hear a description of an episode. When you find the episode you wish to listen to, press the Play key.
To delete an episode, press key 3 followed by the Confirm key. You will be asked to press the Confirm key again to confirm deletion.
If you want to find new episodes press key 4 until you reach the option to Get More Episodes and press Confirm.
The list of episodes that are available for download will appear. Press keys 4 or 6 multiple times to find a desired episode and press Confirm to download it.
When you are finished looking for new episodes to download, press key 4 multiple times to find the option to show downloaded episodes and press the Confirm key.

[End]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Amazon Echo and GarageBand Demos and CNIB, November 13, 2017

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting November 13, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held November 13, at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

20 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.

November Topic – Amazon Echo and GarageBand Demos and CNIB

Amazon Echo

Erick Seed very adeptly showed off the Amazon Echo, which is a Wi-Fi connected smart speaker product from Amazon that combines voice recognition “intelligent assistant” capabilities with speaker functionality in a cylindrical speaker form factor. Amazon Echo responds to voice control by returning information on products, Recipes, music, news, weather, sports, making calls, messaging, and much more.

Echo has seven microphones and beam forming technology so it can hear you from across the room—even while music is playing. Echo is also an expertly tuned speaker that can fill any room with 360° immersive sound. When you want to use Echo, just say the wake word “Alexa” and Echo responds instantly.

The Echo has just been released in Canada at an introductory price of $100 (later $130) and the Echo Dot model at an introductory price of $50 (later $70).

The echo’s main competitor, the Google Home smart speaker, sells in Canada for about $180 at outlets such as Best Buy. Google Home works very similarly to Amazon Echo and has the power of Google search behind it. Google Home can also play music, control your TV (via ChromeCast), make phone calls and more.

Apple also has an assistant coming out in December called the Apple HomePod which works similarly to its competitors from Amazon and Google but will be more expensive at about $350 U.S.

Apple MAC GarageBand App

New member, Justin Wack, demonstrated how to use GarageBand for the Mac. GarageBand is a free DAW (digital audio workstation) that is used to successfully create anything to do with audio, from music, to podcasts, and much more. He showed how to make songs or beats using loops. Loops are short audio snippets that you can create, or you can use the hundreds of pre-recorded loops that come with the app. He explained how it is possible to play out your own melodies using the computer keyboard as a piano or other instrument. You can even use the app to learn to play music. He entertained us with examples of his own music he has created entirely with his computer and the app.

to check out more of Justin’s Work, go to

soundcloud.com/haptycmusic or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/haptycmusic.

CNIB Introduces Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta

Our guest, Matthew Kay, the new manager of rehabilitation services for Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta explained how CNIB has changed its governance to better deliver and obtain provincial health care funding for its core rehab services. The core services still include provision of assistive technology, orientation and mobility training, low vision services, and independent living skills training. However, these services are branded under the new name of Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta which is a division of CNIB. VL Rehab Alberta will still operate from the CNIB headquarters at 12010 Jasper Avenue.

Matthew explained that managing the core services separately from CNIB’s charitable foundation services allows more direct access to Alberta Health funding for home care and other rehab services. The charitable foundation arm of CNIB will continue providing services such as the tech aid store, children’s services, public education, and emotional wellness support. If you have questions or wish further information, you may contact Matthew Kay at the local Edmonton office 780.453.8318 or email him at:

Matthew.Kay@vlrehab.ca

Next Meeting (Monday December 11 at 7pm)

Steve Barcaly, owner of Canadian Assistive Technology, will join us to exhibit some of the latest new technology his company sells. Steve was the former COO of Aroga which no longer exists, but Steve has brought his 30 years of experience consulting about and selling assistive technology along with his supplier network to his new company. This marks the third year Steve has joined us in December and he always has interesting new tech to show us. You won’t want to miss this 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.

[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, All About Games, October 16, 2017

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting October 16, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held October 16at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

17 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.

October Topic – Gaming Apps

Blindfold Games Apps

Blindfold Games is an organization offering 71 games but the list keeps growing. There are card games, word games, adventure games, action games memory games and more. Some are familiar like solitaire, poker, Blackjack, Sudoku, a Scrabble variant, a Monopoly variant, a variant of the JEOPARDY TV show, action games like battleship, car racing, horse racing, bowling, football and more. The complete list is on the Blindfold Games web site. They run only on iOS Apple devices such as iPhone and iPad. All the games are free to download from the App store and try but they have limited play time. If you like a game there is an in-app purchase option to buy the game for a few dollars which gives you unlimited use thereafter. The games are 100% accessible audio based designed specifically for blind people.

Audio Game Hub

Audio Game Hub is a set of eight experimental arcade video games that use audio as their primary interface – making them accessible for both sighted and non-sighted users.

RS Games

RS Games is a web site hosting accessible games for the blind where you play online with other gamers using your web browser.

Resource – Audio Games Web Portal

audiogames.net

is a web site that exists as a community portal for all things to do with audio games for the visually impaired. Here you will find news, articles, an active community forum and a database of over 500 titles on platforms from Microsoft Windows to iOS.

Resource – AppleVIS Web Site

The AppleVIS iOS games page has a list of 408 accessible games and growing for iPhone and iPad and you may also want to review the AppleVis list of accessible games for the Mac.

Resource – AbleGamers

AbleGamers proclaims to be the world’s largest charity set up to serve as a resource for gamers with any type of disability.

Next Meeting (Monday November 13at 7pm)

Eric has offered to demo the Amazon Echo which is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, make calls, provide information, news, weather, sports scores and more. All you do is ask it.
As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
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.

[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Identification and Reading Apps, September 11, 2017

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting September 11, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held September 11 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

17 people attended.

Reading Tips: These summary notes apply Microsoft Word headings to help navigate the document. With JAWS, you may press the JAWS key +F6 to bring up a list of the headings in the document. Then you can arrow up and down this list of headings and press ENTER on any heading to jump to its location in the document.

September Topic – Identification and Reading Apps

Thanks to Carrie and Russel for demonstrating the following apps and providing the summary notes.

Seeing AI App

Russel demoed the free Microsoft Seeing AI app on his iPhone. He talked about the different channels available: short text, Document, Product, Person, and Scene Beta.

Russell then explained how the Short Text channel reads text automatically as you point the iPhone camera at text. He uses it to read things like business cards, CCB membership cards, etc. The Short Text channel can also be used to scan and read things like signs.

Russell then showed how the Document channel guides you to move the iPhone camera over a page of text, and then, after guiding the user to hold the iPhone with the page in view, advises the user to “hold steady”, and then automatically takes a picture of the page. The text can then be read by VoiceOver using the appropriate gestures. The document can then be shared by email, or text message.

Russell then ran into some issues when demoing the Product channel feature which is used to identify bar codes. The bar code was found and scanned, but the app was not able to identify the product. Upon further investigation at home, Russell found that the app worked better in the Product channel with VoiceOver turned off. This also helped answer the question Gerry asked at the GTT meeting about whether or not the Seeing AI app had a self-voicing feature. It does, and in some instances, like the Product channel, it seems to work better with VoiceOver turned off.

Russell then briefly showed the Person channel by taking a picture of Carrie. The app identified Carrie as a 36-year-old blonde lady who seems to be very happy! Carrie and Russell then attempted to do face recognition, but were not able to get this to work. If people are interested, this feature can be further researched and demoed at a later meeting.

Russell then switched to the Scene channel which is still in beta test mode. He pointed his iPhone at the members in attendance. The app announced “Group of people sitting on a chair”.

The Seeing AI app is new, but already has some great features available. It will most likely get better as time goes on.

You can learn more about this app on the iTunes website at the following URL…

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/seeing-ai-talking-camera-for-the-blind/id999062298?mt=8

You can learn more about Seeing AI and watch some video tutorials on the Microsoft page at…

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/seeing-ai/

Carrie demoed the following iOS apps.

VocalEyes

This is an app for iPhone/iPad. It uses your Apple devices camera to view information and interpret what it is. Created at MIT, VisionEyes proprietary algorithm can read text, recognize objects, detect logos, and observe facial expressions, ALL in less than 3 seconds! Unlike other applications, with confusing buttons and modes, VocalEyes has one button. One button for everything! Text, Facial, Object, and Logo, all in one so it’s easy.

Requires iOS 9.2 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

More information: http://vocaleyes.ai

iTunes Store to get it:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/vocaleyes-talking-ai-camera-for-the-blind/id1260344127?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D8

VocalEyes – Talking AI Camera for the Blind on the App Store

itunes.apple.com

Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots and learn more about VocalEyes – Talking AI Camera for the Blind. Download VocalEyes – Talking AI Camera for the Blind and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Be My Eyes app for iPhones/iPads. Soon to be for Android.

Be My Eyes is a FREE mobile app designed to bring sight to the blind and visually impaired. With the press of a button, the app establishes a live video connection between blind and visually impaired users and sighted volunteers

Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

More info:

http://bemyeyes.com/what-is-be-my-eyes/

iTunes Store to get it:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/be-my-eyes-helping-blind-see/id905177575?mt=8

Be My Eyes – Helping blind see on the App Store

itunes.apple.com

Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Be My Eyes – Helping blind see. Download Be My Eyes – Helping blind see and enjoy it …

Near Sighted VR Augmented Aid for Apple and Android Smart Phones

These apps are used with a virtual reality goggle like the inexpensive Google Cardboard ($17). It can give you a sort of electronic monocular. You must cut out a piece of the Google cardboard box so the camera can view outside of the box, attach the head straps to hold it on your head, and get the free app which controls the zoom of the camera in a stereoscopic manner. You need to take the phone out of the Google cardboard box to adjust the zoom. But for the $17 cost of the VR goggles I think it a viable low vision hands free viewing option. The one I showed was cardboard so not real rain friendly. A couple of down sides is the apps zoom is not huge and when viewing a television, I need to have a light on near the tv so the image is not washed out. Otherwise, I’m impressed for the price of this hands free and relatively light weight, clear magnified image. If you want to try it again ask me to bring it to GTT.

Get it for Android Smartphones:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.NearSighted&hl=en

Near Sighted VR Augmented Aid – Android Apps on Google Play

play.google.com

NearSighted -VR Augmented Aid Are you legally blind? Do you have low vision or can only see things up close? Then this app might be for you. NearSight is …

Get it for Apple iPhone or iPod Touch where it is called Myopia VR Glasses:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/myopia-vr-glasses/id1086689603?mt=8

Myopia VR Glasses on the App Store

itunes.apple.com

Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Myopia VR Glasses. Download Myopia VR Glasses and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Google Cardboard VR Googles at BestBuy.ca

Prizmo Go – a cloud OCR and Text Reader

Prizmo Go lets you quickly grab printed text with the camera. After text is recognized in a blink of an eye, you can interact with it in many useful ways. Read it aloud with its built-in text reader, share it, copy and paste it and for a small free app it’s not too bad.

Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

More information:

https://creaceed.com/prizmogo/specs

Get it on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1183367390?mt=8

Prizmo Go – Instant Text Capture on the App Store

itunes.apple.com

Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Prizmo Go – Instant Text Capture. Download Prizmo Go – Instant Text Capture and enjoy it …

OrCam MyEye

This is a unique, portable and wearable device which consists of a tiny, yet powerful smart camera, attached to an ultra-mini speaker that is clipped onto any pair of eyeglasses, and is wired to a very small sized battery packed base unit (the size of a large iPhone).

Convenient, mobile and easy to use, you will witness how OrCam will instantly and discreetly read any digital text and printed text from any surface – including books, magazines, newspapers, computer & smartphone screens, restaurant menus, street signs with only a gesture of a finger point at the text.

http://www.orcam.com/

CNIB Edmonton is hosting an Orcam demo. You need to RSVP.

When: Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Where: CNIB Edmonton – 12010 Jasper Avenue – Edmonton, AB

RSVP to: Monica Enica, her email is

monica.enica@cnib.ca

phone 780-488-4871

Next Meeting (Monday October 16 at 7pm)

Since the second Monday of October is Thanksgiving Day, we will meet October 16.
As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
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.

[End of Document]

CCB-GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Accessible Library Apps and Bluetooth Devices, June 12, 2017

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting June 12, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held June 12 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
21 people attended.
Note: this was the final meeting before summer break. Our next meeting will be September 11, 2017.

June Topic – Library Apps and Blue Tooth Devices

Hoopla App
Lorne demoed the free Hoopla app on his iPhone, also available as a website, which allows members of the Edmonton public library, (and other libraries from across the world), to get access to movies, music, audio, and eBooks. The app is very VoiceOver accessible, and get’s it’s audio books from the same professional publishers as places like Audible, etc. You loan out your book for 21 days, and then it automatically returns if you don’t return it manually. When listening to an audio book, you have controls for skipping forward and back by 30 seconds, 5 minutes, or the standard scrub controls for going 10% at a time. You can also set bookmarks, and there’s a sleep timer.
You can find out more information here:
Edmonton Public Library Hoopla Resource

and here is the link to download the app from iTunes:
iTunes Hoopla App

and here is a list of all the amazing free online resources like Hoopla that you get access to with an Edmonton Public Library card:
Edmonton Public Library Resources

as well as a list of the Edmonton Public Library Assistive Services for clients with disabilities:
Edmonton Public Library Assistive Services

New Dolphin EasyReader App for CELA Library Books
Russell gave a brief introduction to the new Dolphin app, EasyReader on his iPhone. He played a book he downloaded through the CELA library, but explained that it may be several weeks before CELA books are available for everyone to use through the EasyReader app. He encouraged people to go ahead and download the app now as Bookshare materials are available through the same EasyReader app providing you have a Bookshare membership.

Find out more about the EasyReader app at…
Dolphin EasyReader App

Use Blue Tooth to Extend Life of Older Stereo/TV Equipment
Carrie demonstrated two inexpensive Blue Tooth devices to enhance her older TV and stereo systems. Below is Carrie’s summary of how she uses them:
To make my old tech wireless I purchased 2 pieces of Bluetooth equipment.
First an OT Adapt Bluetooth Receiver which I plug my old computer speakers or headphones into and they become wireless.
And second, the Indigo 2 in 1 Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver which converts my old picture tube television or stereo into a Bluetooth audio sending device. In the end, the combination of these two devices allows me to play music from my old stereo component to my old computer speakers on the deck. Or, listen to the old picture tube TV in private via headphones while I’m in the kitchen making dinner. The OT Adapt receiver by itself can receive audio from a Bluetooth enabled device like my iPhone to listen to audiobooks or if connected to my stereo auxiliary input it can pipe my electric piano through the home speaker system. Both devices plug into the standard 3.5mm audio jack or a digital audio jack and make the devices wireless. This saved me having to buy Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth speaker system, Bluetooth enabled stereo components or a Smart TV with Bluetooth. Approximately $125 for both from London Drugs. Now I notice they are available on Amazon. You do not need both so if shopping around, have a good idea of what you want to make wireless. A good salesperson will help you out. Remember one device must transmit and one must receive. Most Smartphones, laptops and Smart TVs already transmit a Bluetooth audio signal, it just must be turned on in the device settings.

Next Meeting (Monday September 11 at 7pm)
• As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

Guest Post: How to Re-Arrange App Icons on your iOS 10 Device

Dear GTT Members,

Thanks goes out to GTT Edmonton member, Owais, who has written a tutorial on arranging iOS app icons that he would like to share with us. See his email below.

Subject: Arranging Apps In Ios 10

Hello Gtt. I have prepared a Tutorial that demonstrates how to Arrange Applications in iOS 10 since Apple has made it very easy to do this. In this tutorial I have prepared all the steps to arrange apps with a Braille Display and without a Braille Display. I hope this helps everyone.

Arranging Apps In iOS 10 With A Braille Display:
Note: This tutorial assumes that the user is already connected to a Braille Display.
Step 1. First locate on your Home Screen of the iOS Device to an app. It will help if your at the very top of the Home Screen.
Step 2. Press Spacebar and Dot 6 to go to your options of your current Rotor Settings. Try to find Arrange Apps.
Step 3. Click or Double-Tap on it with your Rotor Keys. The Braille Display and Voiceover will announce Arranging Apps.
Step 4. Scroll up or down once and then back to the app you were previously on. You will then read the App’s name and the word “Editting” beside it.
Step 5. Be careful here because Double-Tapping on this may Delete the App however you will get an Alert Pop-Up.
Step 6. Locate to the app that you wish to move and swipe up by pressing Spacebar and Dot 3. Look for Move the specific app for example Messages.
When you swipe up your Ios Device should say Move Messages.
Step 7. Double-Tap and a Pop-Up should be seen spoken to choose a Destination.
Step 8. Now anywhere on your phone locate to an app on your phone that you would like the currently moved app to be with.
Step 9. When you have found that app swipe up by pressing Spacebar and Dot 3 again. You will see place Message in this case before or after or the current app. Another option you will have is to Create a folder with the following 2 apps. Select the option you want and press the either of Rotor keys to Double-Tap. Your app will then be mrved.
Step 10. To end the Editting Mode press the Home Button or do the same steps if you wish to mrve other apps.
Step 11. When you create folder with several apps the iPhone may name it randomly according to the Category of apps they fit in. You may change the App’s name by going into the Folder and putting your Ios device in Editting as explained above as you want to move an app.
Step 12. Instead of mrving apps go to the very top of the folder. You will see Clear Text and when your Ios Device has focused the Braille Display on the Folder’s Title, a Pop-Up comes saying “Double-Tap to edit text field.”
Click on it using the Braille Display Rotor keys and simply enter the Title you wish to give this Folder. Press Spacebar and E when your done.
Step 13. End your Editting as described above.
Note: When you have completed formatting your Ios Device’s Layout place your Rotor Setting option to Activate Default since if it’s focused on Arrange Apps, your phone will go back into Editting Mode as soon as you Double-Tap on the app to use it or when you press Enter.

Arranging Apps Without A Braille Display:
Step 1. Swipe Up or Down on your Ios Device’s screen and Double-Tap on Arrange Apps. Swipe to the right/left and then back to your current app you would like to move and Voiceover will announce for example Messages Editting.

Step 2. Be careful here and don’t Double-Tap since that may lead you to Deleting your app. Please note that if you click on this button here as well Voiceogher will alert you telling you that your about to delete an app.
Step 3. Swipe up to find move Messages for example and Double-Tap on it.
Voiceogher should announce Choose A destination.
Step 4. Locate to the app you wish to move the current app before or after.
Step 5. Swipe up or down and you will get options to place Messages after or before or even create a folder with the following 2 apps. Select the one you want.
Step 6. Now your app has been moved and your done. Press the Home Button if your done formatting your Screen Layout or follow the same steps to mrche your other apps.
Step 7. When your folder in a folder and wish to change the folder’s name in which your apps are located do the follow things.
Step 8. Proceed to the very top of the folder and put your Ios Device back into Editting Mode.
Step 9. You will hear Voiceover announce the folder current name in addiy to a Pop-Up saying Double-Tap to edit the Text Field.
Step 10. Double-Tap and use your Touch Screen to enter the Title you wish to give your folder.
Step 11. Double-Tap on done and your all done.
Note: Make sure your screen is focused on Activate Default instead of Arrange Apps when your done since this will do the same thing as described in the note with the Braille Display above.

Best Regards,
Owais

Please send your questions and comments to,
GTT.Edmonton@Gmail.com

CCB-GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, iPhone demos and Training, May 8, 2017

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting May 8, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held May 8 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
16 people attended.

May Topic – iPhone demos and Training

UBER App
Russell demonstrated how to use the Uber app with VoiceOver on his iPhone. He first showed how to book a trip for pick up right away by tapping on the “Where To” button, and then choosing the pickup and destination addresses, and then tapping on the “Request UberX” button. He talked about how the app shows the ETA as well as the amount the trip will cost.
Russell then demonstrated how to schedule a trip for a later date by tapping on the “Schedule a ride” button, choosing the date and time from a “Picker” list, choosing the button to “set” the date and time, and then tapping a button to schedule the trip.

The Uber app allows you to contact the driver once the trip has been booked either by phone or text message. This is helpful to let the driver know that you are blind and will need assistance to the vehicle. There is a “Menu” button that gives options to change your profile information, change your payment method, and view past or upcoming trips. There is also a button on the main screen that gives access to more content and actions like sharing coupons with friends and ordering food through Uber Eats.

The app is accessible with VoiceOver.

For more information on Uber go to:
https://help.uber.com/h/5a9e5cd6-88f4-4597-b29a-4feb67d407c2

Yellow Cab App
Lorne demonstrated the Yellow Cab Edmonton (Y C Edmonton) app with VoiceOver on his iPhone.
From the main screen, you can start the booking process by tapping on Book a Taxi, or by tapping on one of your frequent addresses (they call them Favorites).
the next screen is where you enter all the details of your trip, such as the pickup address, destination address, type of taxi (regular sedan or van), scheduling the trip for now or some date in the future, as well as giving any info you want the driver to have, such as asking for a call upon arrival, etc.) When choosing your pickup address, you can do so either by using your phone’s GPS (which isn’t always exact), or by typing it in, or choosing one of your phone’s contacts.
All the buttons in this app are labelled with what they do, but some of them don’t say Button, so a VoiceOver user might not know to tap on them, such as when you’ve finished entering all the trip details and you’re ready to send it off. You must tap where it says Book, but it won’t say button.
If you enter a destination address(optional), it will give you an estimate of the cost, however this is just an estimate, and the final price may be more. This is one of the major differences between this app and the Uber one, Uber charges you as soon as the trip starts, based on the calculated distance. If your cab driver gets lost, etc., then your trip might be more expensive.
This app advertises the ability to set up a credit card and pay from within the app, however that feature either has since been removed, or perhaps must be set up through contacting the company.
This app shows a map on screen when the cab is on its way to you, however that part is not accessible with Voiceover, however it does tell you the 3-digit number of your cab, which might be useful if you ever get denied because of your Guide Dog, etc.
One of the biggest advantages of using an app instead of just calling their dispatch centre like in the past, is the app will send you notifications if your cab is late, and you can send and receive updates back and forth to the driver. no more wondering if your cab is still on the way, etc.
Here is more info about the app from the app store:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/yellow-cab-edmonton/id717512908

Training
Gerry provided training on basic iPhone usage was presented to 2 people who are considering using and iPhone or iPad to help them with everyday tasks.

Next Meeting (Monday June 12at 7pm)
• As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to the meeting.

Tutorial Resource: How To Connect a Refreshable Braille Display to iDevices

Hello GTT members across Canada:

For those of you who are blind and may be thinking of connecting an electronic braille display to your iPhone or iPad the following are tips from one of our GTT Edmonton student members, Owais Patel.

Thanks to Owais for sharing his experience.

Hi Gerry.

Here are the important things that I would like you to share with all of our Gtt members regarding using a Braille Display with your iOS device. Finally I have completed them now. Thanks for sharing them for me.

Note: These instructions apply to the iPhone but for most of the part are same for all iOS devices and the following instructions apply to the Braille Sense U2, however make sure with the Tech Team of your Braille Display that these instructions also apply to you. Most likely they should be the same.

How To Connect a Braille Display to iDevices:

Locate to Utilities and Terminal For Screen Reader on the Braille Sense and select Bluetooth Serial Port, press F1 and then F4 which will put you in a mode where all of your display will be blank.
1. Now on the phone locate to Settings, General, Accessibility, VoiceOver and then Braille. Find the Heading labeled Choose A Braille Display and scroll down once. Here your Braille Display’s name should appear. Double-tap and you will be placed in the Text field of entering a 4 Digit Pin Code. If you want to remember it easily try to keep one number repeated 4 ts. Quickly
do this and click on Pair Button. Now on your Braille display you will have a Pop-up saying Pin Code. Here enter the code which you entered on the phone quickly and press enter. You should be now connected.

Keystrokes To Use With The Braille Display:

When you are connected to a Braille Display you don’t need to touch the screen of your phone and everything becomes even faster but everything you do also changes.
In the situation of a Braille Sense your Home Button is the Function Key 2.
To scroll up and down you may use the Scroll keys on the sides of the U2/.play. If these keys don’t appear there, use Space bar and Dot Dot 1 to go up or to the previous item and Space bar and Dot 4 to go Down or to the next item.
Press Space bar and Dots 1 2 4 5 to toggle between the Braille codes in which the stuff from your iPhone is displayed on your Braille Display.
Although this is different when you write because this code doesn’t apply to the Output of the phone onto your Braille Display.
To manage this code press Space Bar and Dots 2 3 and 6. To swipe up poess space and dot 3 and to swipe down press space and Dot 6.
To Delete something in a Text Field press Space and D.
To write something from the Writing field of the Braille Sense into the real iPhone field press Space and E. For example when you trying something in search field and you you write “Weather Today”
to paste this into the Search field press space and E. This can also be used to insert a blank line in a document. It works like the enter key on your Qwerty keyboard.
To go to the very top of the screen press space and Dots 1, 2 and 3. To go to the very bottom of the screen press Space and dots 4, 5 and 6.
To Double-Tap using the Braille Sense use the Cursor Keys.
To open the help menu to see what each keystroke does press Space and K, or a 4 finger Double-Tap. When you’re here you can do any keystroke to see what each does for you. Don’t worry because Voiceover will speak each keystroke’s action or the the spoken words will pop up text on the display. Although the real keystroke in this section will perform its action.
Once you would like to close this don’t press space bar and K, instead you will have to do the 4 Finger Double Tap on the iPhone screen.
To activate Rotor options press Space bar and Dots 5:6 to go forwards and Space bar and dots 2 and 3 to go back. Then swipe up and down to select and deselect text.
Press Space bar and S to see all of your bars Battery Remaining Etc.
When your done with this do the keystroke to go to the top of the screen and this will take you back to the home screen or where you were before you activated this Status Bar Screen.
To go out of a Window on your Phone or go back to something press space and letter B.

Voiceover Braille Display Short Forms:

When you just use Voiceover to use the phone you will not notice the short forms which Voiceover uses to label things in several places on the iPhone, because Voiceover just speaks the original phrase or words directly.

Firstly the short form used for Heading is Hd. The short form of Button is B.T.N. These are the main ones only. Hope they help.

Important Notices:

There are several places on iOS devices where Pop-ups happen. As a result if your a slow reader you may not be able to read what was on your screen before the pop-up happened. A tip for this is to wait for the pop-up to disappear and then read without moving up or down what’s on the Braille Display. To refer back to the Pop-up scroll down-up and go back to where the pop-up appeared.
You can adjust all the Braille Settings based on your opinion in the Settings and this will really help.
Sometimes the doesn’t connect to the Braille Displays we use. It’s a great idea to reset both devices and then retry. If it still doesn’t work try turning your Bluetooth on your iPhone off and retry. Hopefully this will help.
Sometimes when entering a password or a Username it may be a problem to enter it because of the Braille Code translation. However if this happens. Use your screen to type for this time only and you should be all right.
It’s a great idea to turn the Speech Off when you’re using a Braille Display with your Ios device because the speech slows everything down. For example if you on an app title, Voiceover will still speak the title even though your at the next app on your Braille Display.
Whenever you’re in any Text Field it is a great idea to do the keystroke Space bar and Dots 2, 3 and 6. It’s a great idea because it might mess up your writing in my experience.

Contact Info:

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you face any problems. I will try my very best to help. My email address is written below.

Email:

owaisipatel@gmail.com

Also using a Braille Display with all of the MacBooks is extremely accessible as well. To get all the keystrokes regarding the use of Braille Displays with the Mac please contact Kim the Gtt Coordinator in Ottawa.

Email:

gttprogram@gmail.com

Kind Regards,

Owais

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Object Recognition Apps, April 10, 2017

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting April 10, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held April10 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.

14 people attended.

April Topic – Object Recognition Apps

Lorne and Russell demonstrated the following iPhone apps that help identify objects.

Barcode Scanning

SeeWithMe

From the iTunes App Store

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/see-with-me/id1118710695?mt=8

Description

Blind or visually impaired? This app was developed for you! It allows you to simply move your smartphone over a product’s barcode, and the product name will be read out loud to you. Use it at home or at your grocery store. A connection to the internet (either Wi-Fi or cellular data) is required.

Most products from Save-On, Overwaitea and PriceSmart locations may be scanned by this app (excluding items packaged in-store, such as the deli and bakery). We’re working to add more stores soon!

Have some personal items at home that you need help identifying (e.g., CDs, medication)? You can print custom barcodes for them too, just visit our website at seewithmeapp.com

Digit-Eyes

From iTunes App Store

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/digit-eyes/id376424490?mt=8

Description

Best. Barcode. Reader. Ever! Scan UPC / EAN codes and hear the names of over

37 million products! Make your own QR code labels on the Digit-Eyes website and print them on inexpensive address labels. These barcoded labels may contain text that VoiceOver reads aloud or they can be used to record audio on your iPhone or iPad that is played back whenever the bar code is scanned.

Blind? Dyslexic? Having problems reading? Digit-Eyes is for you! With Digit-Eyes, you can

– Record your own labels. Visit the Digit-Eyes web site to print specially coded quick-response (QR) digital code labels, apply one to your calendar or a box of leftovers, scan, and record a message. To listen to the recording, just rescan the label. This is how Nancy keeps track of her appointments; how Jeanette labels her canning and how Randy keeps the fridge clean.

– Make text-based labels. Visit the Digit-Eyes web site to type up to 250 characters per label, print the specially coded quick-response (QR) barcodes on address labels on your local printer and apply them to your file folders or CDs. To listen to the text, scan it with the Digit-Eyes application on any iPhone or iPad. This is how Will’s secretary labels his folders and how Ana snoops through her friends’ CD collection.

– Buy pre-printed washable labels. Sew them into your clothing and record whatever you want to about the garment: color, fabric care or what it should be worn with. Even when the labels have been washed, bleached, sent through the dryer or dry-cleaned, you’ll still be able to scan them with the Digit-Eyes app on your iPhone or iPad and hear what you recorded about the garment.

This is how Davey makes sure he is wearing matching clothing and how Elizabeth can easily sort the laundry.

– Use the manufacturer’s product code to find out what the item is.

Digit-Eyes includes a feature that enables you to identify many groceries, CDs, and other consumer goods by scanning the UPC and EAN codes on the products. Just point the camera of your iPhone, Pad or iPod Touch 5g at a package label, scan the code, and wait for Digit-Eyes to call our database and tell you what the item is. This is how Deborah picks out her yarn, how Kevin finds the beef stew, and how both get ready to record their audio labels.

– Read standard inventory tags in code 39 or code 128 format. This is how Michael knows which printer is which at work and how Ben does the shelf stocking in his store.

– Print labels directly from your iPhone on your Bluetooth-connected printer;

– Create and read QR vCard format business card information and add the content to your contacts. This is how Digital Miracles gets information from customers at conferences and how we share our own contact information;

– Create lists of code that you’ve scanned; edit them, type additional information and share them with others. This is how Robbie notes what items are getting used up and tells Gary what to buy at the store;

– Use Digit-Eyes with any blue-tooth connected laser scanner, integrated as a single unit. This is how John is able to work at a grocery store reading the shelf tags to find where to stock the product.

Use of the free Digit-Eyes website comes with the product. The website contains extensive tutorial material designed for users of the iPhone and iPad who are not sighted. The product purchase also includes free online support and tutoring.

Digit-Eyes is available in English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish.

Digit-Eyes

www.digit-eyes.com/

Remote assistance apps

Be My Eyes: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/lifestyle/be-my-eyes-helping-blind-see

Connects to a human helper who can see through your camera to tell you what they see.

The following 2 apps Take a picture and within a minute, return a description of what it is by a person, either in text or an audio description or both

Tap Tap See: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/utilities/taptapsee-blind-visually-impaired-camera
BeSpecular: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/utilities/bespecular-help-blind

Real Time object recognition

(a computer is doing the object recognition, so it will probably be faster, but perhaps less accurate then the above apps) Aipoly Vision: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/utilities/aipoly-vision

Third Eye: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/medical/thirdeye-empowering-blind-and-visually-impaired-object-recognition

Identifi: https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/utilities/identifi-object-recognition-visually-impaired

Talking Goggles:

https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/productivity/talking-goggles-camera-speech

Educational Materials for our Chapter

All e-textbook and audio tutorial training materials have now been purchased and the links to download them have been emailed to those who requested the materials. If you have not received your download link please let us know at

Gtt.edmonton@gmail.com

Training

At the April 10 meeting, we also provided basic Victor Reader Stream training to one person.

Next Meeting (Monday May 8 at 7pm)

As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
There is also 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.

[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, CSUN Report, Educational Materials, and Training, March 13, 2017

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting March 13, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held March 13 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
12 people attended.

March Topics – CSUN Report, Educational Materials, and Training
California State University at Northridge (CSUN) Conference Report
A new GTT member Stu Starkey returned from last week’s CSUN Assistive Technology conference in San Diego California and gave us a rundown on some of the hot products and new technologies he had a chance to see.
OrCam
OrCam Technologies presents the world’s most advanced wearable assistive technology device for people who are blind, visually impaired, or have a reading or other disabilities. OrCam MyEye instantly and discreetly communicates visual information by utilizing a small, intuitive smart camera mounted on the wearer’s eyeglass frame. The breakthrough artificial vision device reads any printed text – from any surface – recognizes faces and identifies products
and money notes. OrCam gives independence.
Website: http://www.orcam.comm

Aira – Visual Interpreter for the Blind
Aira offers an innovative, on-demand service designed to help blind and low-vision users gain mobility and independence via live streaming and wearable technologies. It provides personalized assistance from orientation and mobility experts who can be trained Aira Agents, family members, or friends. Our experts, backed by state-of-the art technology, serve as visual interpreters and navigators for our users, helping them accomplish a wide range of daily tasks and activities.
Website: https:// aira.io/

Second Sight Medical Products
Second Sight Medical Products is the developer and manufacturer of the Argus II® Retinal Prosthesis System – the first and only approved long-term therapy for people living with advanced Retinitis Pigmentosa in the U.S. Argus II is designed to restore some level of vision to people who are profoundly blind and provide them with increases in orientation and mobility skills and is intended to increase their independence and quality of life by restoring their
ability to see objects and motion.
website: http://www.secondsight.com
Video describing one person’s experience with the Argus II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhYe6REdljw

Orion I
For those who are not suitable candidates for the Argus II, Second Sight has developed a new product called the Orion I. it is described as a wireless Visual Cortical Prosthesis. instead of implanting electrodes on the Retina, this bypasses the optic nerve and directly stimulates the brain’s visual cortex. Here is their press release from their recent successful proof of concept clinical trial:
http://investors.secondsight.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=995211

More About CSUN 2017
most of the above descriptions are taken from the CSUN website, you can find much more information about these, as well as all the products and sessions at their website:
https://www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2017/rebooking/index.php/public/exhibitors/index/page:3

Educational Materials for our Chapter
We thank the Edmonton Blind Curling Club who have generously provided us a grant for training purposes. We used some of the grant to purchase a total of 29 audio tutorials and e-textbooks. These materials have been distributed via download links. The 6 most popular choices were:
• 4 x Mystic Access audio tutorial for Google Suite of products
• 4 x NV Access Basic audio tutorial for NVDA
• 3 x Mystic Access audio tutorial for Victor Reader Stream
• 3 x Access Technology Institute Word 2016 with JAWS textbook
• 3 x Access Technology Institute Excel 2016 with JAWS textbook
• 3 x National Braille Press Getting Started with the iPhone and iOS 10 text book

One-On-One Training
• The donation from the Edmonton Blind Curling Club also allowed us to provide another training session at the Norquest computer lab on March 2. Two people had basic training on Zoomtext and 3 others on JAWS. We are delighted that the 3 JAWS trainees were junior high students!
• At the March 13 meeting, we also provided basic Victor Reader Stream training to two people.

Next Meeting (Monday April 10 at 7pm)
• As usual, we will provide one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Regina, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Google Classroom and Computer Training, February 13, 2017

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting February 13, 2017

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held February 13 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
23 people attended.

February Topics – Google Classroom Demo and Education/Training

Google Classroom Demo
Owais, a junior high school student member of our chapter, demonstrated how he uses the Google Classroom app on his iPhone in conjunction with his BrailleSense. Google Classroom was designed together with teachers to help them save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students.
With this tool Owais can keep track of his assignments, post them for teacher review, his teacher can return with edits, and Owais can formally turn in the completed assignment. He can do all the work in braille both creating documents and reviewing them. Owais showed us the remarkable capability of young blind students who are both braille and technology literate.

JAWS Screen Readers and Students
After Owais finished his demo a discussion ensued whether students need to also learn Windows computers with screen readers such as JAWS or whether they can continue their education and employment using only braille notetakers such as the Braillesense or BrailleNote. The consensus from our blind team is that both are needed and students should aim to be familiar with Windows and Microsoft Office during high school and certainly before entering college/university. Also, Windows computers with Office are the most prevalent computers used in business and industry so mastering the Windows environment is essential for future employment.

Funding for JAWS
A question was posed about funding assistance for JAWS. Two possibilities:
1. CNIB. CNIB clients may qualify for the CNIB STEP program funding. If so, the STEP program would pay 75% of the JAWS purchase price which is currently $1185.
2. ASVI. the Alberta Society for the Visually Impaired (ASVI) Northern Alberta Chapter offers funding to provide assistive technology equipment and software for members ages 18 and under, if a qualified professional has recommended it, such as the student’s vision consultant. ASVI is only able to provide this funding through the generous donation of time and effort by its board, parents, and volunteers. Interested parents and individuals are asked to consider helping by volunteering their time by serving on the Executive, or helping at the ASVI fundraisers. More information about the application process can be found here:
http://www.asviedmonton.org/funding.html
P.S. ASVI is seeking volunteers for their upcoming casino fundraiser on March 16-17. Please email info@asviedmonton.org

Educational Materials for our Chapter
We thank the Edmonton Blind Curling Club who have generously provided us a grant that we may use to purchase educational materials and help with training. We will use the grant this year and next to purchase technology related tutorials and text books. Soon we will send a list of possible tutorials and text books to those listed on our email list. You may look through the email and respond to let us know which tutorials or text books might help you. Watch this space!

One-On-One Training
The donation from the Edmonton Blind Curling Club also allows us to provide another training session at the Norquest computer lab. This will happen on March 2. At the February 13 meeting, we registered 3 people for JAWS training and 2 for Zoomtext. We are delighted that the 3 JAWS registrants are all students!

Next Meeting (Monday March 13 at 7pm)
• Currently we have no volunteer demonstrations.
• We will focus on one-on-one training especially iPhone and DAISY players. If you have other training requests email your interests to us so we can try to accommodate you.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to the meeting.

GTT Edmonton Team
• Carrie Anton is visually impaired and is the accessibility specialist for Athabasca University.
carrie.anton@hotmail.com
• Gerry Chevalier is blind. He is retired from HumanWare where he worked as the Product Manager for the Victor Reader line of talking book players.
GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com
• Heather MacDonald is a career and employment specialist with extensive experience helping blind and visually impaired people find employment.
• Russell Solowoniuk is blind and works with alternative formats and assistive technology at Grant MacEwan University.
rsolowoniuk@gmail.com
• Lorne Webber is blind and is the accessibility specialist for Norquest College.
lorne.webber@gmail.com

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 will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, ZT and JAWS Training with Outlook, January 9, 2017

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Training Session January 9, 2017

On January 9, a 3 hour training session for JAWS and Zoomtext was provided to 5 members of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter at Norquest College computer lab. Our students were Sonia, Irene, Bob, Bruce, and Claude. Trainers were Carrie, Lyle, Russell, Lorne, and Gerry. Thanks to Lorne who arrange the session at Norquest and did all the software setup on the computers. Thanks also to Heather and Hazel who helped as sighted guides.

All students were enthusiastic about the information they obtained and the exposure to the Zoomtext and JAWS programs. The team believes we should do another training session. We will discuss this at the February meeting.

*Note: A zipped file containing the handouts for using Zoomtext and JAWS in Windows and Outlook referred to below can be found at this Link.

Carrie prepared some handouts for using Zoomtext and JAWS in Windows and Outlook. These handouts are attached to this email. To save all the attachments using Outlook follow these steps:
• While reading this email press Alt+F to reach the file tab of the Outlook ribbon.
• Press down arrow until you reach the Save All attachments item and then press ENTER to activate it.
• A dialog will ask you to confirm that you want to save all the attachments. Press the space bar to activate the OK button.
• A second dialog will open where you can type the path to the folder where you want to save the attachments. Type the folder path or, alternatively, you can Shift+Tab twice to reach a list of folders where you can arrow up and down to select the destination folder. Either way, press Tab until you reach the OK button and then press space to activate it. The five attachments will be saved to the folder you typed or selected.

Next Meeting (Monday February 13 at 7pm)
• At the February meeting Owais has volunteered to demonstrate Google Classroom app.
• We will also discuss the possibility of another training session with Zoomtext and JAWS.
• Then we will continue our one-on-one training with iPhone and DAISY players.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to 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 will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton Summary Notes, Aroga Tech Demo, December 12, 2016

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting December 12, 2016

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

December Feature Topic – Aroga Tech Exhibit
We were joined by Steve Barclay from Canada’s premiere assistive technology company, Aroga Technologies, who demonstrated and answered questions on 3 assistive devices for blind and low vision people:
• Transformer HD portable magnifier with Wi-Fi and text-to-speech,
• HumanWare’s new Braillenote Touch Android tablet notetaker,
• NuEyes Easy Glasses electronic magnifier
Steve announced that Aroga now has a new financing program for items over $500. More information is available at their web site. Steve also explained that Aroga provides a consulting service for people who need one-on-one assistance with technology in their home. The fee is $90 per hour . For more information you can contact Aroga’s Calgary rep, Arlene Hansen, at:
Toll Free: 1-800-561-6222
Email: ahansen@aroga.com

Next Meeting (Monday February 13 at 7pm)
• As the January meeting time will be devoted to a training session at Norquest computer lab, we will not meet again until February. The students for this training session were selected at the November meeting.
• At the February meeting Owais has volunteered to demonstrate Google Classroom.
• Then we will continue our one-on-one training with iPhone and DAISY players.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to 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 will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton: Summary Notes, One-On-One Computer Training, iPhones and Talking Book Machines, November 14, 2016

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting November 14, 2016

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held November 14 at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
12 people attended.

November Feature Topic – One-On-One Instruction
It was requested that meetings devote more time to one-on-one assistance especially with computers, iPhones, and DAISY players.

Computer Instruction
We spent the first half hour discussing how we could do more instruction with computers. Since most people could not bring their computers to the meeting we agreed to rent the computer lab at Norquest College downtown and provide 3 hours of instruction in 3 areas:
• Introduction to JAWS and Zoom text
• Basic web browsing with JAWS and Zoomtext
• Introduction to Microsoft Outlook using JAWS and Zoomtext
This instruction at the lab will take place January 9 2017 starting at 6pm and will be in place of the January GTT meeting. There are a limited number of workstations at the lab and we filled them with the attendees present at the November meeting. If this initial session goes well, we will consider a second computer training session perhaps in March or April. We will discuss that at the February meeting.

Touch Typing Resources
It was emphasized that those wishing to learn about the JAWS screen reader at the January 9 Norquest session must be able to touch type. Two books and one software download were suggested as resources to learn to touch type. The 2 books, both available from CELA are:
• College keyboarding: fourth Canadian edition by Ober, Scot
• Touch typing in ten lessons: a home-study course with complete instructions in the fundamentals of touch typewriting and introducing the basic combinations method by Ben’ary, Ruth
Those 2 books teach typing on a typewriter rather than a computer keyboard but the fundamentals of home row positioning and finger movements are the same. You should also be familiar with the number pad keys which are used extensively with JAWS.
• A demo of a self-voicing software typing tutorial called Talking Typer for Windows is available from American Printing House for the Blind. To learn more and download the free demo visit:
Talking Typer Demo

If you like the demo you may purchase the program for $89 USD.

For the remainder of the meeting we broke into two groups to discuss iPhones and DAISY players

iPhones
• Discussion about basic accessibility features.
• Some useful apps were discussed.
• Differences between older and newer iPhones were explained.

DAISY Players
The two people in the DAISY player group were both considering purchasing a Victor Reader Stream so a thorough overview of the Stream was presented to them including playing Talking Books, MP3 books, podcasts, music, text files, and recording voice notes. Victor Stream online features were also demonstrated including podcast search and download, Bookshare books search and download, listening to radio, and downloading/listening to CELA Direct to Player books.

Next Meeting (Monday December 12 at 7pm)
• We will be joined by Steve Barclay, Aroga COO, who will provide an exhibit of Aroga’s blind and low vision assistive technology products. This was a very popular exhibit at our last December meeting. We thank Steve for once again offering us a chance to see and learn about a wide variety of technology.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to 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 will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

GTT Edmonton: Summary Notes, Dolphin Guide, October 17, 2016

Summary Notes
GTT Edmonton Meeting October 17, 2016

The most recent meeting of the Get Together With Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held October 17at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
16 people attended.

2017 Membership Dues
Thank you to those who paid their CCB 2017 $10 membership. We would appreciate if new or existing members can pay in November as we are required to submit our dues by the end of November to qualify for a 50% refund back to our chapter.

Research Project
Dean Kozak joined us briefly to explain his Master’s degree project to research the activity levels of blind and visually impaired people. Dean needs volunteers to survey for his research. We agreed Dean will construct a letter about the research which we will email to our members so those who wish to participate can contact him directly.

October Feature Topic – Your Needs and Dolphin Guide Software

Your Feedback
Carrie surveyed attendees so we could all hear what technology they use and what topics they would like to learn more about. Members wish to continue the demos of technology but they also want more one on one help with the basics including:
• Using computers especially Windows PCs with both JAWS and Zoomtext.
• Using DAISY players and downloading books to them.
• Basics of iPhone including iCloud and useful apps.

Several people would like a home visit by a technician to deal with computer issues. One person could benefit from a volunteer to take him on errands to acquire or repair technology. Most people have desktops they can’t bring to the meeting so we will look into whether some laptops could be borrowed for use at our meetings or we could rent a computer lab to teach people one on one. We will continue the discussion regarding your needs in the next meeting.

Guide Software from Dolphin
Lorne demonstrated the Guide software program from Dolphin that can be purchased and installed on your Windows PC.
• Guide replaces Windows for many basic computer functions such as writing letters/documents, email, finding/downloading/listening to audio books including those from CELA and Bookshare, listening to radio and podcasts, managing appointments and contacts, browsing the Internet, making Skype calls, even playing games, and more.
• Guide is self-voicing and has built-in high contrast magnification so you do not need a talking screen reader or screen magnifier.
• Guide reduces everyday tasks to simple menus that direct you to press 1 for this, press 2 for that etc. much like using an interactive telephone system.
• When you select a function such as sending an email it leads you through the process with simple spoken directions such as “type the email address you wish to send to”, “now type the subject line”, “now type the email body”.
• It has its own file format for documents so you don’t need to learn a program like MS Word or know how to manage document files. However, it can produce or read MS Word if needed.
• All functions work the same way so unlike Windows programs there is no need to memorize keyboard shortcuts or different interfaces for different programs.
• It could be a viable solution for people using a Windows computer for the first time or those who have difficulty remembering the steps to follow or keys to press for different programs.
• Cost is $1169 CDN.
• Dolphin is a UK company but the Guide program is available in Canada from Frontier Computing. For more information contact Frontier Computing at this link. A free 30 day trial is available. On the above web page there are additional links for product reviews and YouTube demos.

Next Meeting (Monday November 14at 7pm)
• We will try to identify the next steps to provide more one on one assistance especially with respect to using computers, DAISY players, and iPhones.
• No demo is yet planned. We will confirm on the agenda.
• Send your meeting topic ideas to GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com.
• As always, for help with technology bring your devices and/or questions to 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 will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• 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 in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also 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.
[End of Document]

April Topics –Google Home and General Tech Discussion

Google Home

General Tech Discussion – Finding iPhone Apps

Next Meeting (Monday May 7at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

March Topics –CELA Library Newspapers and General Tech Discussion

CELA Online Newspapers

CELA Membership Required

How to Read the Online Newspapers

General Tech Discussion

Next Meeting (Monday April 9 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

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

January Topic –Accessibility Primers for Windows10 and iPhone

Windows 10 Accessibility Primer

Windows Shortcut Keys

Windows Ease of Access Center

Scaling

Magnifier

Mouse Enhancements

Cursor Thickness

Color & High Contrast

Text to Speech to Read What is Magnified

Narrator

Russell – One on One Training in Windows 10 with JAWS

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

Next Meeting (Monday February 12at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

December Topic – Technology Demo

Next Meeting (Monday January 8, 2018 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

@GTTProgram

November Topic – Amazon Echo and GarageBand Demos and CNIB

Amazon Echo

Apple MAC GarageBand App

CNIB Introduces Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta

Next Meeting (Monday December 11 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

@GTTProgram

October Topic – Gaming Apps

Blindfold Games Apps

Audio Game Hub

RS Games

Resource – Audio Games Web Portal

Resource – AppleVIS Web Site

Resource – AbleGamers

Next Meeting (Monday November 13at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

@GTTProgram

September Topic – Identification and Reading Apps

Seeing AI App

VocalEyes

Be My Eyes app for iPhones/iPads. Soon to be for Android.

Near Sighted VR Augmented Aid for Apple and Android Smart Phones

Prizmo Go – a cloud OCR and Text Reader

OrCam MyEye

Next Meeting (Monday October 16 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics