Category: resource

Someone may win a free version of KNFB reader app for android or I device.

Hello everyone.

This message came to us through Lorne Webber of the Edmonton GTT group.

Sorry for the short notice but we just received this.

I am not familiar with this news letter listed below but it sounds like a great contest.

If you have an android or I device and do not have this app, it is a really great one and the cost usually is around $100.

People who subscribe (it’s free) to the Blind Perspective newsletter by visiting:

http://www.theblindperspective.com/

and jump by heading  down to the heading called “How to Subscribe”

Then click on February’s newsletter at: 

http://www.theblindperspective.com/current.htm

and move down to the heading called “Movers & Shakers”. Near the end of that article about KNFB Reader is the following directions:

“I would like to conclude this article with some great news. Sensotec has graciously offered to give one of our readers the KNFB Reader app, for either

an iOS or Android device user.

So readers if you are interested here is what you need to do:

-Answer the following question, in 300 words or less; How would a KNFB Reader make you more independent?

-Email your answer to: 

contest@theblindperspective.com

-All entries must be received by February 20 in order to qualify”

 

Excellent resource for anyone in Ontario. Very exciting development about accessing prescription information. 

With great thanks to Chris and Marie Stark who have asked me to publish on the blog.This is great and exciting news. 

Would love someone to demonstrate one of these at GTT meetings. 

If anyone else has obtained one, we’d love to hear about it. 

“New Service to Access Information on Prescription Medication Labels

Dispensed by Shoppers Drug Mart in Ontario

Reading or understanding the contents and instructions of labels on

prescription medications is a source of problems and frustration for many

people, particularly for persons who are blind and others who have

difficulty reading print material. The small print and look-alike packaging

of medicine vials can lead to confusion, non-compliance, and mistakes. A

solution to this serious issue, the ScripTalk Station prescription reading

device, developed by EnVision America, is now available at Shoppers Drug

Marts in Ontario. 

The ScripTalk works by simply pressing a button on the device and placing

the special talking label over the reader, which then speaks all the

information printed on the label including drug name, dosage & instructions;

warnings and contraindications; pharmacy information; doctor name;

prescription number and date; warnings etc. More information on the

ScripTalk technology can be found at

<https://www.envisionamerica.com/products/scripability/scriptalk/&gt; ScripTalk

| En-Vision America – Assistive Technology for the Blind and Low-vision

Community. You can also view an

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLSkkFXDWV0&gt; overview video of the

ScripTalk for Pharmacies on YouTube and an

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLRe0Z6wnzk&gt; overview video of the

ScripTalk system for customers on YouTube. 
The first step to obtain a ScripTalk prescription reader is to contact your

Shoppers Drug Mart owner/pharmacist who is responsible for initiating the

process. Information on the ScripTalk was sent, a while ago, to all

Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Ontario. Customers who are blind should

discuss their needs with their pharmacist, who can then contact their field

support teams with any inquiries regarding available options. 

Once you have decided to get the ScripTalk reader, you will be asked to sign

a program registration document required by EnVision America, who will then

send a reader directly to you. There is no cost to the customer who is

blind. 

There is, at present, a 48 hour lag time between requesting a medication at

your pharmacy, and the pharmacist sending the information to Shoppers Drug

Mart Head Office who then prepare the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

lables required by the ScripTalk device. New prescriptions requiring

immediate use will be a problem for the customers initially. Hopefully, this

lag time issue will soon be resolved, so that customers can access their

prescription information at the same time as the print ones are dispensed.

For medications that are being refilled on a regular basis, it is a matter

of planning for this lag time when renewing your supply.  

I have received my free ScripTalk prescription reader. It is very easy to

use. An instruction CD is included to help with set up and operation. The

ScripTalk labels are on each one of my medications, which enables me to read

all the pertinent information for all my medications, for the first time. 

If your Shoppers Drug Mart Store is totally unwilling or unresponsive to

your drug prescription information needs, tell them to contact Ashesh Desai,

who is the senior manager responsible for this service. If that does not

work, then contact him directly at the coordinates below. He was very

helpful to me.  

Ashesh Desai Bsc. Phm |
Senior Vice-President, Pharmacy Operations and Transformation | 
Shoppers Drug Mart HQ
243 Consumers Road, Toronto ON M2J 4W8 
Tel. 416-490-2769 
Toll free: 1800-746-7737 Open until 8:00 PM and ask for him. 
Email: adesai@shoppersdrugmart.ca <mailto:adesai@shoppersdrugmart.ca> 

At present, there is no link for information regarding the ScripTalk on the

Shoppers Drug Mart website. However, Shoppers Drug Mart’s Accessible

Customer Service Practice document for Ontario can be accessed at:

<http://files.shoppersdrugmart.ca/stores/Accessibility-Standards.pdf&gt;

http://files.shoppersdrugmart.ca/stores/Accessibility-Standards.pdf&nbsp;

The ScripTalk Mobile app is also available in the Google Play Store. It

provides another way to read the ScripTalk labels prescription information

on some, but not all, Android devices. ScripTalk is not available at present

for iPhones and other Apple devices, because Apple does not allow the use of

Near Field Communication (NFC), which is required in order to read the RFID

labels being affixed on medication containers for the ScripTalk. 

I would like to thank Rob Sleath and Access for Sight-Impaired Consumers

(ASIC) for all their work on this issue in B.C. and for their help and

advice to me as I worked with my local Shoppers Drug Mart. More information

on ASIC and other drug store chains in B.C. offering the ScripTalk is

available at <http://www.asicbc.ca&gt; http://www.asicbc.ca .” 

Resource: Saving CELA/CNIB Library Zipped DAISY files to a Dropbox folder for uploading to Voice Dream Reader

Saving CELA/CNIB Library Zipped DAISY files to a Dropbox folder for uploading to Voice Dream Reader:

Note: This set of instructions was requested at the end of the discussion during the January 13 National Conference Call titled, “All About the Mac”. Strangely, these are PC based instructions related to the use of Voice Dream REader on iOS devices.

To access the two sets of instructions in this document search for ## and your word processor will take you to the start of each section.

##CELA Library search and Download instructions

1. open your favourite web browser then brows to http://iguana.celalibrary.ca/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=CELA-home&lang=eng&theme=reset
2. Scroll to the Sign-in link and press the enter key. Type your user name and password and press the enter key;
3. Press the letter E in order to access the Search edit field. Using JAWS or NVDA you will press the space bar to activate the Edit Mode, then type your search string, for example, “Chevalier, Gerry” will bring up the following result, CNIB digital library audio tutorial;
4. Use the letter H to navigate to the Heading for the second result, then use the down arrow to read about the Zipped DAISY book available for download, then continue down arrowing to the Get It! DAISY Download Zip Button and press the enter key;
5. In the resulting page down arrow to the Download Button and press the enter key;
6. With Internet Explorer you will hold down the Alt key while pressing the letter N, then Tab to the Save Button and press the space bar to actually start the download;
7. Use the down arrow button to access the Return to Search Results and press the enter key to go back as above;
8. Check your Downloads folder to see that your book has been downloaded. Allow some time for this to occur, which will be dependent on the speed of your internet service.

##To move the DAISY Zipped file to your Dropbox folder do as follows:

1. Navigate to your Downloads folder and locate the desired Zipped file;
2. Copy or Cut the file to the Clipboard with Alt X or Alt C respectively;
3. Navigate to the Dropbox icon on your Desktop, then locate the sub-folder you wish to store the Zipped file into and press the enter key to open it;
4. Paste the Zipped file into the folder with Alt V;
5. Once the Zipped file finishes loading into your Dropbox account you will have access to it from Voice Dream Reader.

##How to download a Zipped DAISY file to Voice Dream Reader from Dropbox:

1. In Voice Dream Reader navigate to the Add Button and do a 1-finger double-tap;
2. Flick right or left with 1-finger to access the Dropbox icon and do a 1-finger double-tap to open it;
3. Flick right with 1-finger to locate the file, or the folder where the Zipped DAISY file will be found. If it’s in a folder a 1-finger double-tap will open the folder, then flicking to the right or left with 1-finger will allow you to navigate to the desired file;
4. Once the file is located do a 1-finger double-tap to start the download process. Flicking right and left with 1-finger will access the progress bar for the download and loading processes. Flick to the OK Button once done and do a 1-finger double-tap;
5. This will land you back in the Dropbox folder, so flick right or left to the Done Button and do a 1-finger double-tap to return to the main Voice Dream Reader screen;
6. Flick right or left with 1-finger to access your stored material to find the book just downloaded and do a 1-finger double-tap to launch it.

If you have any questions about the above please be in touch with Albert Ruel at GTTWest@CCBNational.net or 1-877-304-0968 Ext. 550.

Transferring CNIB/CELA library books on your IOS Device into voice dream reader. 

Several people have asked me for this information. 

By Kim Kilpatrick 

Putting a book from CNIB/CELA library into voice dream reader. 

Some people have found that the direct to player app which CNIB created for I Devices, is not working well and consistently. I have had many problems with it myself. 

It often suddenly declares a service error. And sometimes will only read part of a book. 

So, I still use voice dream reader to read CNIB/CELA library books. 

It has more features in my opinion and is much more stable. 

Voicedream reader can also do many other things. 

With it, you can link it directly to your dropbox and bookshare accounts and pocket or instipaper if you use those services. 

Voice dream reader also allows you to have very high quality text to speech voices. 

It is not a free app, usually costing about 10 dollars. 

Here is its link in the app store. 

Voice Dream Reader by Voice Dream LLC

https://appsto.re/ca/kiXKD.i

There is also an app now called voice dream suite which gives you voice dream reader, voice dream writer (a word processing app) and two very high quality voices for 22 dollars. 

Several people have asked me how you get books directly into voice dream reader. 

I have tried several ways but, so far, this is the easiest one I have found. 

In your IOS app store, download the voice dream reader app listed above and also download the google chrome web browser. 

 Chrome – web browser by Google by Google, Inc.

https://appsto.re/ca/NVp8F.i

Open chrome and in the address field put in the cnib or cela library address. 

http://www.cniblibrary.ca&nbsp;

or 

http://www.celalibrary.ca

Sign in to your library account. 

Search for the book you wish and make sure the format is daisy zip. 

Double tap on the get it link. 

Double tap on the download link. 

You will then see a page telling you the download size. 

Double tap on the download button and your download will start. 

Near the top of your screen just to the right of a button saying menu, it will tell you the percentage of download completed. 

When it is finished, you will find there download complete. 

It may not beep or make a noise so you need to keep checking that field. 

Now, near the bottom of your screen, you will notice install google drive. 

Just to the left of that is something that says open in. 

Double tap that and choose voice dream reader. 

Note: voice dream reader needs to be installed on your device before you try this. 

Now double tap that and it will open voice dream and put your book there. 

If anyone has other ways in which they move daisy books from cnib or cela library to voice dream, I’d love to know them. 

A few more tips about voice dream and daisy books, you can add bookmarks, you can also move around by headings or percentage. 

To turn on the sleep timer double tap and hold the play button and it will open. 

If you would like me to help you with this, call me at 1-877-304-0968 

Or email 

gttprogram@gmail.com 

You are invited to a teleconference hosted by Braille Literacy Canada on January 9 2016. 

You are invited  Teleconference – Braille In The 21st Century
Join Braille Literacy Canada for a teleconference on Braille in the 21st Century!

 

Are you currently learning, or thinking about learning braille? Are you an avid braille reader, or perhaps you use braille for specific tasks such as labelling household items? This workshop is for you! Listen to a panel of braille users discuss different themes related to “Braille in the 21st Century”, and learn what is new and exciting in the world of braille.

 

When: Saturday, January 9th, 2016 at 10 AM (Pacific), 1 PM (Eastern). The workshop will run for one hour.

Who: Both braille users and those learning braille

Where: By telephone. To register, write to info@blc-lbc.ca before January 4th, 2016, and we will send you the information to join us.

 

This workshop will be moderated by Betty Nobel, Past President and current board member of Braille Literacy Canada. Speakers will cover the following topics:

1. “A Toolbox of Solutions: Braille and Low Vision” (Jennifer Jesso): Do

you

have low vision and are wondering how braille can complement print, what braille might offer to someone with low vision, and how to use braille alongside magnification and other tools? Jennifer Jesso, a braille user with low vision who also uses magnification and a screen reader, will be discussing how braille fits into her toolbox of solutions and her experience as a braille user with low vision.

 

2. “What Braille Means to Me: Ideas for Braille in Daily Living”

(Marilyn Rushton): Listen to one longtime braille user (and teacher of students with visual impairments) talk about the role braille continues to play in her life, and why she says it is not obsolete, even in an ever-increasing technological world. As a user and educator, Marilyn will draw on her own experiences to provide tips and examples of how you can use braille in your daily life. Whether you are an avid reader of books, simply require a way to identify household items, or are thinking about learning braille, you’ll love the experiences and resources she has to share!

 

3. “Where We’ve Been and Where We Are: Evolution of Braille

Technologies” (Diana Brent): The ways in which we access and interact with braille have, in some cases, drastically changed over the past few decades

alone: from a time when the slate and stylus and Perkins brailler were the only tools available to those who use braille, to the present when technologies can provide instant access to braille on both your computer and mobile devices. Diana, a braille user and technology expert, will draw on her own experience to discuss how braille and technology can work together, and will give us a tour of braille technologies over the years. Join Diana to hear all about it!

 

4. “Looking Ahead: Future Innovations in Braille Technology” (Natalie Martiniello):

The future for those who read braille is limitless. In the past two years alone, numerous new technologies currently in development or at the prototype stage are gaining greater attention, and will revolutionize the ways in which we access braille. From smart braille watches to affordable multiline braille displays – you won’t believe what is coming in the future of braille! Join Natalie as she discusses all the new and exciting tools that you will want to keep a finger on in the world of braille! Both a braille user and educator, Natalie will discuss how such new technologies can enhance both the ways in which we learn and use braille.

 

To register, write to info@blc-lbc.ca by January 4th, 2016 

special holiday deals from canadialog

Holiday Deals

Canadialog would like to thank our loyal customers with a big sale for this Holiday Season. We are pleased to offer discounted pricing during December on our most popular products.

These offers are valid from the December 1st to December 31st 2015.
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Email: info@canadialog.com
 

Useful resource for everyone all about labelling on the GTT national call last week.

All about labeling, and identification. 

November 11, 2015. 

There were 20 participants on this very lively and useful conference call.

I am always amazed and really enjoy all of these calls with all of the wonderful information that comes to us from all across the country.

Sometimes the blind/low vision community seems small and scattered but it feels larger and much more unified when we all Get Together.

I want to thank everyone for all of your participation and ideas.

Wherever you have a GTT, (Whether in person or on a call) thank you for all you give and share with others.

A huge thank you to Lorne from the Edmonton GTT group.

He provided me with many e-mail resources on this call which I include in the notes below.

Lorne Weber is blind. He is the accessibility specialist for Norquest College and a volunteer on the GTT Edmonton team.

Also Donna Jodhan sent along a blog post about locator dots which I have incorporated into these notes as well as it is very relevant to this topic.

Once again, thank you all for your sharing and generosity.

 

 

Albert talk about the Orcam. 

OrCam optical character recognition, face recognition head mounted device. 

The web site is 

www.OrCAm.com

Camera is on the right arm of the glasses.  Behind it is a bone conducting speaker. Just around your right ear. There is a processing unit 6 inches long, a inch wide. 4 hours of continuous use.  One trigger button, up and down volume and power. 

Can set up menus with trigger plus volume. 

Face recognition.  Pretty accurate with face recognition. It was tested with the same person wearing and then not wearing glasses and it still picked them up.

It cannot pick people up from a distance. 

It is Light dependent and people have to be within 5 or 6 feet of the person in order for it to recognize them.  It cannot recognize them as they come into a room or across the room and your face/orcam would need to be pointing directly at them.

  If there is a certain  product you want to identify regularly,  take picture of it and every time that product is there, it will identify it. You can hold a book or piece of paper in front of you and it reads. Albert did a demonstration.  Can read books.  Cannot save the file and read later.  If want to read part of a sheet, hold your finger near your face point it at the sheet it will hopefully read.  

It was able to Read text of buttons  on a washing machine. 

Can it pick up text on a screen. Yes it does and on the iphone screen.  

Does KNFB reader work on a screen? Yes. 

how does the weight feel?  The weight is not heavy but the cable coming off the back is bothersome. 

There was talk about Google glass and possible similar products.

Google glass was banned for privacy reasons because people did not like others taking pictures of them without their knowing it.

It is interesting to think about this in relation to people who are blind and needing to take pictures of things in order to identify them.

 

Google glass has a head phone jack. 

We talked about how expensive iphones are and talked about people being able to now use ipod touches for almost everything.

The new ipod touch which came out in the summer has a camera which is as good as the iphone 6.  Also the processor is as good as the iphone 6 as well.

This means that for much less cost, you can now use an ipod touch for almost everything and you don’t need to incur the monthly fees of a cell phone.

Wherever there is a wifi connection you can use the ipod touch.

Use it for everything except making calls or GPS.

Fongo gives you a phone number for Ipod touch.

It is voice over internet calling service.

You can make free calls as long as you are within range of your wifi.

You can also use it for text messaging if you pay a small fee.

You can have a voicemail box too and it gives you a phone number.

Note: Kim signed up for fongo.  The app itself is accessible but the sign up process is not very accessible.  There are captias that are not accessible and also a few check boxes that were not readable with voiceover on the I device.

Kim is contacting the company to point this out to them.

The new ipod touch also reads well with KNFB reader but KNFB reader costs over 100 dollars.

 

Voice is a free alternative to KNFB reader. 

fopydo provides a fairly inexpensive stand to use with your phone or device for scanning pages and products.

http://fopydo.com 

My fitness pal app for iphone is not necessarily designed to read bar codes but it does a good job for bar code reading.

Crowdvis is a new IOS app that is similar to bemyeyes in that it puts you in touch with people who can give you descriptions of things.

It is an app that is similar to a facetime or skype call in that you  are using your video camera and hearing audio of the other person who is helping you.

 

Pen friend is used for many purposes by many people on the call.

They include:

 

Labeling Seed packets and also labeling the markers for what is growing in your garden.

Use pen friend also for labelling food items.

Put a label on the top of a spice jar and keep the lid each time you replace the spice.

PUt Put the label on a card before putting it on something in your freezer.

Put a label on a magnet before sticking on a can.

For clothes Can buy water proof ones last up to 70 washes. 

Pen friend labeller can also label chords, label cd’s, and anything around the house, also labelling medications.

Possibly use double sided tape to stick braille labels on plastic bottles such as medications.

 

We talked about locator dots.

Futureaids has a pack of locator dots that come in all different shapes and sizes.

Donna Jodhan told us that she has used them for many purposes.

CNIB sells them.

www.cnib.ca and look for the shop.

Futureaids has them very inexpensively and seems to have more variety.

http://www.futureaids.ca

 What do people  use the different shaped ones for?

One option is for marking stoves or appliances where there are arrows.

Use the triangular ones to mark the up and down arrows.

If you are at the gym or other place where you would regularly need to place locator dots on a machine that others use, (examples washers/dryers in  an apartment building, equipment at a fitness facility, etc, you might be able to create or have someone with sight create a sheet of plastic built with locator dots  so that you could put it over the panel. 

We talked about colour identifyers and colour identification apps.

The Colorino Color identeifyer unit has also a light detector and some said it is very good and easy to use and has lasted a long time.

Another person had the Colour reader by cobalt. 

There are a few apps that can work well but are not fool proof.

Aid colors is the one Kim uses.

She also uses the app called light detector for determining whether or not lights are on.

We talked about labelling clothes as colour identifier apps and systems do not always work well.

One good way of labelling clothes is to use Brass safety pins. They have to be Good quality. 

We talked about labelling stove tops and how some of the flat stove tops are not as accessible.

Someone suggested using a template to put over the stove top.

Solid state stove top is easier to feel. 

WE talked about the speed dots screen protectors for I devices.  No one on the call was using these.  Some people like them and others not so much.

Here are the excellent resources from Lorne Weber.

Additional Resources

GTT National Conference Call

November 11, 2015

 

iPhone technology that will puff out tactile buttons on the screen of your phone and then will flatten out again once the keyboard disappears is from a company called Tactus Technology,

they’re offering it in the form of a case you put your phone into (currently sold out), and it’s called Phorm (spelled with the PH). you can find out more

information if you go to the following website and go to the 4th heading down from the top where they have a frequently asked questions section:

http://www.getphorm.com/

 

A free app you can get that will give you a free local inbound and outbound Canadian phone number + voicemail, and will let you make unlimited long

distance calls across Canada is called Fongo, you can download the app here:

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/fongo-free-calls-+-free-texts/id473770452?mt=8&ct=fongo_web

 

However be warned, if you sign up using the app on the phone there is a CAPTCHA. if you opt to sign up for the free pc or Mac option, then you can fill

out all the information on your computer using Jaws, etc., so you could use Firefox and the Web Vism plugin for solving CAPTCHAS.

https://www.freephoneline.ca/accountRegistrationStepOne

 

Another app I suggested as a free alternative to the KNFB Reader app is called Voice – Take Pictures & Have Them Read/Spoken In Many

Languages with Fast OCR, and it can be found here:

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/voice-take-pictures-have-them/id903772588?mt=8

 

and here is Applevis’s excellent page describing it:

http://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/productivity/voice-take-pictures-have-them-readspoken-many-languages-fast-ocr

 

and there is even a demonstration of it from Applevis:

http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/take-picture-anything-has-text-it-and-have-text-read-you-within-few-seconds-voice

 

We discussed the Six Dot Braille Labeller, a  new cheaper alternative to a full Braille Embosser for making braille labels, this is it:

http://www.aroga.com/6dot-braille-labeller/

 

it seems the PenFriend Labeller is quite popular with GTT groups.  CNIB is selling it for $199 here:

https://shop.cnib.ca/ProductDetail/liv0513210002_penfriend2-talking-labeller

 

And here are some demos of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePE0-U73Ajc

and:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXqBZvLfiLY

 

During the call we tried to remember the name of the cheaper alternative to the PenFriend labeller that Aroga sells. It’s called the AnyBook Reader, made by Franklin

Electronics, for $40, more info is here:

http://www.aroga.com/anybook-reader-15-hour/

Follow up to an item at the  Otawa evening GTT meeting in October.  CRTC hearings on accessibiity.  

The note below is provided  by Wayne  and if anyone wants to be in touch  with him about this please contact me at 

gttprogram@gmail.com and I will put you in touch with him. 

Hi everyone. I am just following up on he item I mentioned at our last GTT Ottawa evening meeting.
I am a member of the Telecommunications (CRTC) Committee. This committee is composed of the following members; Leo Bissonette, John Rae, and me from AEBC and Lui Greco from CNIB. The committee has been very active in making several submissions to the CRTC on a variety of issues concerning the delivery of telecom services including cell service and television. If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact me or Leo Bisonette. We would welcome any new members who have an interest in these issues.
This committee will be making a presentation to the CRTC on November 4th on the process for making complaints related to accessibility concerns with respect to the delivery of telecommunications services. It will focus on the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), which is the vehicle used by the CRTC to handle most complaints. You may visit the following link to read this committee’s submission to the CRTC on this issue.
Submission by AEBC and CNIB – CRTC 2015-239: Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services
In order to support the Committee’s presentation, you are encouraged to attend the hearing. While only Committee members will be able to speak at the hearing, your presence will help support the importance of this issue for blind and partially-sighted Canadians. 
In order to facilitate the transportation and other logistics for people wishing to attend, Lui Greco has reserved a room at the CNIB Office for November 3rd from 2:00 to 3:00 PM to discuss the arrangements for getting to the meeting. If you cannot attend this meeting in person, you can dial in at the following number: 1 (866) 783-7393 participant code 16975769. The tentative plan is to have transportation arranged from the CNIB Office to the CRTC Hearings at 7:30 AM on November 4th and returning to the CNIB at 4:00. However, once our presentation has been confirmed by the CRTC, I will share this information and you are more than welcome to proceed directly to the CRTC hearings in Gatineau. The address is: 
Conference Centre

Phase IV

Outaouais Room

140 Promenade du Portage

Gatineau, Quebec.

If you are planning on proceeding there directly, pleas let Lui Greco or Christine Robins know. Lui can be reached at hiss cell number; 403) 629-3522. Lui and Christine will be at the entrance at 8:30 AM to help people navigate the maze to the conference room. I will share the hearing time once it is confirmed. If you plan on arriving later, please let Lui know.
Business attire is recommended for attendees.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Thanks.

Updated link for the Huffington Post article on facebook shortcuts. 

Hello everyone. 

I had several emails letting me know that you could not open the link on the post about facebook shortcuts.  I have looked up the article again. 

In case some of you are not able to open the link I will paste below, if you go to the Huffington post web site and search for  technology articles, you should find it there. 

Here is another link, hope it works. 

Glad you are all reading and following the  blog. 

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/562692e4e4b0bce347028bd2

Useful resource of shortcut keys for facebook. 

Many of our GTT groups have talked about facebook. We have also discussed it during a national GTT conference call. 

I did not know about any of these. I have not 

tried any of them yet but would be happy to hear any thoughts from anyone who does.  
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/562692e4e4b0bce347028b

Resource:  talking timer. 

Hello. 

Below find another  blog post from Donna Jodhan. 

This post talks about timers. 

There are many ways to access timers. 

There have been braille timers. 

Also, there are some commercially available ones at kitchen stores that can work.  

Also, microwaves  usually have a timer feature. 

Of course, smart phones and I pod touches have this feature too.  You can even ask Siri to set a timer for you. 

Here is Donna’s post. 

Meet the talking timer

 

Hi there! It’s Donna and thank you for allowing me to come into your inbox. As mentioned in my previous blog, I would like to concentrate on the lower levels of technology and today I’d like you to meet the talking timer.

 

Ah yes! The talking timer and over the years this precious commodity has both shrunk in size and cost. There was a time when the talking timer was not very portable and it was also extremely clumsy and clunky in shape. Today however, the talking timer has shrunk in both size and cost and it is now possible for you to stuff one in your pocket or purse.  

 

The cost of a talking timer has also dropped dramatically and you can now buy one for about $20. The nice thing about the talking timer is that there is a variety of styles and sizes for you to choose from. Some talking timers come with a talking clock add on while others do not. I have both.  

 

You can get a talking timer for your kitchen or have one that clips on to your belt. I have a talking timer/clock that gives me the option of choosing different sounds for when the timer goes off and I also have one that does not give me the option. They are both very 0ortable and I can clip them onto my belt.

 

You’ll have to find the one that best suits you. Just make sure that the one you want is the one you end up with. The talking timer is a very nifty little gadget to have. Use it to time your cooking and baking. Use it when you wish to time yourself on your exercising equipment or use it for anything else. The ones that I have work with triple A batteries.

 

Here are a few places for you to contact if you are interested to learn more.

CNIB – toll free = 1800 563 2642

Frontier Computing – toll free = 1-888-480-0000

Or visit http://www.futureaids.ca

You can also call them at 1-800-987-1231

 

So have fun now with your talking timer and see you in two weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving to you.

 

If you like audio mysteries and are looking for some affordable ones then visit my online store at http://www.donnajodhan.com/store.html

Or maybe you would like to join my bullying campaign at http://www.jodhanmysterybook.club

 

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan

And like me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/donnajodhan

and at http://www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

 

Have a super day

Donna

Talking bathroom scales!  Resources! Guest blog post from Donna Jodhan with input from Kim Kilpatrick

Below see a blog post from Donna Jodhan. I too have had talking bathroom scales for many years. 

They are very useful and helpful even for weighing some items including my guide dogs. 

September 28 2015

Meet the talking bathroom scale

 

Hi there!  It’s Donna and thank you for allowing me to come into your inbox.  As mentioned in my previous blog, I would like to concentrate on the lower levels of technology and today I’d like you to meet the talking bathroom scale.

 

Now, I’ll state up front that I bought this nifty piece of technology many years ago and I am not sure who sells it today but I can give you some contact info to check out.  

 

When I bought my first talking bathroom scale, I was lucky enough to have my friend Maria bring it to me from the United States as she had purchased it for me at a convention.  However, I am hopeful that someone in Canada would be selling it today and I’ll share my contact info with you at the end of my blog.

 

The talking bathroom scale is really a very simple device.  It is larger than the regular scale and when I bought it the cost was quite a bit more than the regular scale.  It works through the use of a square battery and you can insert the battery into a small compartment at the bottom of the scale.  So you’ll have to flip it over in order to locate it.

 

My present talking bathroom scale can announce my weight in either pounds or kilos and I can choose my preference of announcement by tapping the bottom right hand corner of the surface of the scale with my foot.  Note from Kim: The scale I have, you have to press a button on the scale to get it to talk. Back to Donna. Each time I tap with my foot the scale announces what I have chosen.  The voice is in a clear male tone with a somewhat British like accent.  

 

To use the talking bathroom scale; I first place it on a level floor surface.

Next I stand on the scale and I  place each foot on either side of a large round button which is located towards the top left hand corner of the scale.  

Within seconds you’ll hear a voice that says “please step off.”  

When you step off the voice will then tell you your weight in whichever format you have chosen.

At this point you could tap the bottom right hand corner to change the format of your weight and the scale will announce it to you.

 

So for example:  I stand on the scale placing my feet in the position indicated above.

The scale asks me to please step off.

It announces my weight to me in pounds.

I tap the bottom right hand corner of the scale with my foot and it then announces my weight in kilos.

 

The next time I stand on my scale it will announce my weight in the format that I previously chose.  

Note:  When you first stand on the scale, it beeps before it asks you to please step off.  

 

Simple and easy and here is the contact info that I can share with you.

Note from Kim: I looked up talking bathroom scales and found one on the Future Aids/braille book store site for 42 dollars. 

Their web site is 

http://www.braillebookstore.com/talking-bathroomscale.1

Frontier Computing does not appear to have these any more. 

The CNIB store may have them but Kim was unable to find one in their list. 

From Kim: If anyone has products they would like us to know about that you use around the house all of the time, please send an email to 

gttprogram@gmail.com 

Back to Donna: 

If you like audio mysteries and are looking for some affordable ones then visit my online store at http://www.donnajodhan.com/store.html

 

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan

And like me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/donnajodhan

and at http://www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

 

Have a super day

Donna

 

 

finding talking microwaves

Hello everyone. 

It has been brought to my attention, that the talking microwave discussed in a previous post  is not available at future aids.  They do not sell these.  Some very kind and eager readers have offered to go on a search for these microwaves and send appropriate links to me.  Thanks so much.  Just goes to show that our community is engaged, interested, and always willing to help each other.  Stay tuned for more information.  If anyone has additional resources to share about talking microwaves or anything else, please send along to gttprogram@gmail.com 

Guest blog post about talking microwaves

This is another guest blog post from Donna Jodhan all about talking microwaves.

September 14 2015

Meet the talking microwave

 

Hi there!  It’s Donna and thank you for allowing me to come into your inbox.  As mentioned in my previous blog, I would like to concentrate on the lower levels of technology and today I’d like you to meet the talking microwave.

 

I am happy to tell you that just a few years ago, I got introduced to the talking microwave and since then I have used this gem every day in my kitchen.  The model that I bought was by Hamilton Beech and I am sure that since then there have been additional improvements and other companies manufacturing and selling talking microwaves.  

 

So what can I do with this talking microwave model?  Well, I can do such things as:

Cook or warm food at specified times.

Cook or warm specific foods.

Defrost frozen foods.

Cook and warm food by weight.

Set my timer.

Set my clock.

 

I can warm and or cook anything from frozen to fresh vegetables, potatoes, soups, popcorn, a dinner plate, pizza, and beverages.

 

Here is a brief layout of this model.  The buttons are located towards the right hand side of the front of the microwave.

 

First off, there are buttons that go down the front of the unit vertically and each button represents the numbers that you can choose to cook for; from one to five minutes.

I can also choose the number of minutes that I wish to cook for if it is more than five minutes.

 

There is a big round knob to the left of these buttons that allow me to cook for 30 seconds at a time when you press it in.  Turning the big round knob clockwise also enables you to select what you wish to heat up; from frozen vegetables to potatoes and pizza and more.  You can hear the choices as you turn the knob.

 

I can clear or stop the microwave and all of these buttons mentioned here emit voice output when pressed.  I can even choose the voice level that best suits me.  There are three additional buttons at the bottom of the front of the microwave and going from left to right they are:

 

Press once and you can stop the microwave.  Press twice and you can clear the time completely.

The middle button is for choosing the voice level.  

The right most button is for setting the kitchen timer.

 

When I bought the Hamilton Beech microwave, it came with a cassette but I am sure that by now their manuals would either be online or in other alternate formats.  Of course, there are always improvements to be made and I am sure that the folks at Hamilton Beech are quite mindful of our needs.

 

If this is not the case then I would love to hear your comments.

 

That’s my talking microwave and I hope you will go out there and make friends with it. 

If you would like to learn more about this product then you could visit www.futureaids.com and ask them to help you out.

 

If you like audio mysteries and are looking for some affordable ones then visit my online store at http://www.donnajodhan.com/store.html

 

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan

And like me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/donnajodhan 

and at http://www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

 

Have a super day

Donna

Excellent resource to explain the importance of making apps accessible.

Thanks to Gerry Chevalier who has started our GTT group in Edmonton for this excellent resource.

Please share widely and feel free to share with anyone you are trying to convince to make their apps accessible.

 

This is an excellent post by the developer of Blind Square GPS. Of course it has some self promotion but mostly he is encouraging Other app developers to think of accessibility and why they should do so for good business reasons. He also gives useful links at the end. 

 

http://blindsquare.com/2015/05/why-making-your-apps-accessible-is-just-the-right-thing-to-do/