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

Summary Notes

GTT Edmonton Meeting February 12, 2018

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

18 people attended.

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

February Topics –Edmonton Public Library, IPhone Basics

Edmonton Public Library

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://www.gutenberg.org/

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

https://librivox.org/

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

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

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

Windows 10 Training

Russell provided One on One Training in Windows 10 with JAWS

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

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

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

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

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

Next Meeting (Monday March 12 at 7pm)

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

Meeting Location and Logistics

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

GTT Edmonton Overview

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

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

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

National GTT Email Support List

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

GTTsupport+subscribe@groups.io

[End of Document]

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

VISIONS

Canadian Council of the Blind Newsletter

February 2018

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

Photo by Tai Jyun Chang on Unsplash

Announcements

President’s Message++

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

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

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

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

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

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

Louise Gillis, National President

The New Newsletter++

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

It’s time to have your say++

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

Date and start times across Canada

Date: March 10, 2018

Times: 10:00 am Pacific

11:00 am Mountain

Noon Central

1:00 pm Eastern

2:00 pm Atlantic

2:30 in Newfoundland

This meeting will last no longer than two hours.

Moderator: Jane Blaine.

Introduction:

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

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

Let’s get it out there

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

* The present state of the consumer movement in Canada

* What if anything should we be doing to affect change

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

* Who could be involved?

* How could this be accomplished and

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

Advocacy without borders

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

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

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

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

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

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

Question one:

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

Question two:

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

Question three:

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

Question four:

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

Question five:

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

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

October 29, 2016, download here.

March 4, 2017, download here.

October 14, 2017, download here.

November 18, 2017, download here.

To register as a participant please email

TeleTownHall1@Gmail.com

And you will receive an acknowledgment of your email.

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

We thank you!

Signed

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

White Cane Week++

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCB 2018 Person of the Year Award Recipient:

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

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

CCB 2018 President’s Award Recipient:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Location: CCB Toll Free Conference Number.

Call-in Information:

1-866-740-1260

Passcode is 5670311#

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

1-866-740-1260, 5670311#

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

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

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

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

Who Should Attend:

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

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

For More Information contact:

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

Inclusion – There’s an App for That!

New Technology Improves Interior Navigation for Everyone++

Vancouver, BC, February 9, 2018.

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

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

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

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

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

Contacts:

Beacon Navigation Project

Email: partners@gnc3.com

Website: www.gnc3.com

Albert Ruel, CCB

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

David Brun, Gateway Navigation CCC Limited

Tel: 604-499-4818.

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

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

Submitted by James Hubley, Access & Awareness NS Chapter

Seeking members for the CCB Mysteries chapter++

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advocacy News++

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

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

Please send your information to:

Advocacy@ccbnational.net

Submitted by Pat Gates, Chair, CCB National Advocacy Committee

Helpful Info from the CCB National Advocacy Committee++

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

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

Submitted by Pat Gates, Chair

On behalf of the CCB National Advocacy Committee

Chapter News++

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

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

CCB Chatham-Kent Chapter

makaveli2014@live.ca 519 784 3416

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

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

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

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

Assistive Technology

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

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

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

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

Favourite Apps Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iOS Apps:

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

Top 10 PC Apps:

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

Top 8 Mac Apps:

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

Top 4 Android Apps:

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

Respectfully submitted by Albert A. Ruel, GTT Coordinator

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

Albert Ruel

1-877-304-0968,ext 550

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net

Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968 ext. 513

GTTProgram@Gmail.com

How to Use Headings to Organize a Document++

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more information contact:

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

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

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

To Use Headings when reading text with a screen reader:

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

Using the letter H for accessing Headings in MS Word:

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

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

An additional means of accessing Headings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

CNIB HUB++

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

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

The building itself includes the following features:

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

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

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

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

In the News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Susan Lazaruk

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

ccb@ccbnational.net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-30-

Media contact:

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

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

National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)

c/o BC Libraries Cooperative

Suite 320, 185-911 Yates St

Victoria, BC V8V 4Y9

Canada

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

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

January 31, 2018 admin

OTTAWA, Jan. 30, 2018 /CNW

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About CNIB

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

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

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

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

Original at

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

International Legislation about White canes, White Cane Week 2018

Legislation about White canes[

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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCB Backgrounder:

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

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

Children and White canes, White Cane Week 2018

Children and White canes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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

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

CCB Backgrounder:

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

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

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

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

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

History of the White Cane, White Cane Week 2018

History of the White Cane

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCB Backgrounder:

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

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

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

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

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

Types of White Canes, White Cane Week 2018

Types of White Canes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

An identification cane

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CCB Backgrounder:

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

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

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

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

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

What is a White cane, White Cane Week 2018

What is a White cane

Happy 209th Birthday, Louis Braille! | Inside NBP

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

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

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

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

Eli Blumenthal USA Today

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eli Blumenthal USA Today

– End of Article –

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Blind B.C. woman’s access to audio books threatened by political flap | Vancouver Sun

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/blind-b-c-womans-access-to-audio-books-threatened-by-political-flap

GTT Campbell River Summary Notes, VR Stream, January 11, 2018

Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)

Get Together With Technology (GTT) Campbell River

Summary Notes

Date: January 11, 2017

Time: 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm Campbell River Library

Attendees: Members of the GTT and/or White Cane Society. 9 people attended.

Chair: Kelvin Adams

Guest Speaker: Albert Ruel

Summary Notes prepared by: Lori Rodway

Theme: Victor Reader Stream and Talking Book Machines

Guest Speaker Albert Ruel provided an overview and demonstration of the Victor Reader Stream, which is a portable Talking Book player by Humanware that provides easy access to Direct to Player CELA Services, Bookshare, Podcasts, Internet Radio, Music, Voice Memos, etc. The VR Stream does not currently have Bluetooth capability.
Albert noted other similar types of Talking Book players, including Plextalk Pocket (he also has this player and uses it for specific purposes), and the Blaze Reader.
Albert discussed the different functions and demonstrated how the VR Stream works to access the different services. This included CELA, where he noted, that users could access and download books directly or have them added to the user’s bookshelf by CELA staff. Podcasts could also be accessed and saved. There is a search function which allows Podcasts, etc. to be found, for example he searched for Podcasts for the word “Blind”. There is a file structure within the VR Stream’s SD Card to save/download the various items. The structure is well defined and it was noted that if a specific file type is put into the wrong folder, the device will not announce it.
Internet radio is also available, unfortunately, during the meeting, internet could not be accessed for this function to demonstrate it fully.
A “notes” memo function is also available that allows for meetings to be recorded and stored, as well as quick notes like phone numbers and shopping list items. There was also a brief discussion on other research functionality available.
It was noted that the Campbell River Library can assist people with access to CELA and other services. Two CR Librarians were introduced including the new Adult Education Coordinator Gillian who sat in on the meeting and she was invited to attend future meetings as well. The CR Library has talking book players for loan if someone wants to try talking books before investing in a player like the VR Stream.
The VR Stream uses two types of storage, SD card and onboard storage (2-6 GB) depending on model. Some Files, like Podcasts and Daisy books can be moved from onboard to SD card as needed for storage and future retrieval, etc.
Albert noted that it is somewhat trial and error to get used to the buttons and shortcuts, but it becomes easier as you practice, or if you read the Owner’s Manual. One important key command to remember is the long press on the number 1, which will bring focus to the VR Stream Owner’s Manual. Repeating that key command will close the manual. Through his demos of the various functions, it showed how the key/buttons can be used to access data, etc.
Albert also described the DAISY (Digital Audio Encryption System) which was developed by a World Wide Consortium, and that is used by CELA and many Libraries for the Blind around the world. It allows for books to be accessed by section (page, chapter) etc. allowing users to move directly to a specific starting point. The VR Stream also picks up at the point where the user left off when that book/file was last accessed.
In addition, there was general discussion about GPS technology, and how the latest offering from Humanware has the VR Stream and Trekker Breeze combined into one device called the Victor Reader Trek. The VR Stream is still sold as a stand-alone unit. Albert noted how much freedom comes from the use of some of these GPS and talking book devices, as when a blind person is walking or traveling they can use the GPS apps to know their exact location by street name, and they can listen to a book while on route. Typically, accessible GPS apps and devices offer more detailed information than GPS systems such as Google Maps, but might use a lot of storage or cellular data when installed and used.

For more information:

Kelvin Adams Kelzar@Hotmail.com or 250-895-9835

Albert Ruel Albert.GTT@CCBNational.net or 250-240-2343

CCB Backgrounder:

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

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

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

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968

Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.nett

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]

Resource: How to Read Text Using Headings with a Screen Reader

How to Use Headings

Taken from:

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

End of quoted text.

Instructions Written by Albert Ruel:

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

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

For more information contact:

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

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

To access Headings when reading text with a screen reader:

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

Using the letter H for accessing Headings in MS Word:

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

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

An additional means of accessing Headings:

To access the Level 1 Headings, press the number 1 on the number row. This will take you to the first occurrence of a Level 1 Heading, and pressing it again will take you to the next occurrence. Shift number 1 will move the cursor backward through the Level 1 Headings.
Once a Level 1 Heading is located, pressing the number 2 on the number row will have the cursor landing on the first Level 2 Heading found below that Level 1 Heading.
Once the desired section of a Web Page, MS Word document or Email message is found, you can press your down arrow keys to read the text found below that Heading.
If the desired Heading is also marked as a Link, pressing the Enter key will activate the Link.

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

CCB National Newsletter: January 2018

CCB National Newsletter January 2018

Happy New Year from CCB!

Announcements

President’s Message ++

“Happy New Year to all”

As we begin 2018 chapters across the country are busily preparing for White Cane Week. I hope that stormy weather will not cause any disruptions in plans for special events.

CCB will continue our working relationships with organizations of and for the blind as well as other disability groups so that we can help in the prevention of blindness and improve the quality of the lives of individuals already experiencing vision loss so they can lead a comfortable and productive lifestyle. Working together with other groups such as (but not limited too) CELA, IFA, BMC, and CTA we are better able to get a voice to make a difference for everyone. We will continue to send support letters for a variety of Patient Groups in their efforts because many of the particular diseases they represent are diseases that our members often re battling as well as blindness so it helps the common good for all.

An example would be a letter of support for when Cannabis becomes legalized latter this year there will be a tax all products. This can be an added burden for those who will be using it through prescriptions for medical reasons, other prescription drugs are not taxable could prevent people who really need this type of pain relief to not be able to afford the prescription. While this can be a controversial issue it CCB is supporting the proper medical use of cannabis only not the recreational usage.

In February, expect to see a new look to our monthly newsletter. We hope to reach a larger population and hence increase membership.

A special Thank You to all our sponsors and donors throughout the year for aiding in promoting our programs and making it possible for more persons with vision loss to enjoy using these programs as well.

Keep well through the coming year and check out our CCB Health and Fitness program.

Louise Gillis, National President

White Cane Week 2018++

A Proclamation from British Columbia++

Thanks to the hard work of the Canadian Council of the Blind members in the British Columbia/Yukon Division the province of British Columbia has proclaimed that February 4 to 10, 2018 shall be known as White Cane Week.

CCB Blind Sports Nova Scotia Chapter Update – December, 2017++:

Tandem Bike Club

With excellent cycling weather, the Tandem Bike Club saw a high level of participation! Plenty of individuals loaned tandem bikes throughout the summer and well into October.

New stokers (riders with vision loss) rode with us, we trained new volunteer pilots and returning volunteers who were keen to help us make cycling accessible in Halifax & surrounding areas.

We had a blast getting out for a number of group bike rides, including a few rides over 40 kilometres from Halifax to the Bike and Bean restaurant in Tantallon and back.

Sighted cyclists, family & friends, also joined for the fun & outdoor exercise, and we made new friends on the trails.

Running, Walking, & Guide Bunnies

At least 10 runners & walkers with vision loss participated in events at the 13th Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon. The Blue Nose also serves as one of our chapter’s main fund raising events each year.

Stephanie Berry, a CCB Blind Sports NS member raced her first half-marathon at this year’s Army Run in Ottawa. She placed 2nd in the visually impaired category – Congratulations!

Jennie Bovard, CCB Blind Sports NS member & Communications Director and CCB NS Division Advocacy Officer, took on 5 races this season, with highlights including 6th in her division (of 60) at the Navy 5 kilometre race and 19th (of 117) in her division at the Legs for Literacy 10 kilometre road race.

We’re extremely grateful to the Guide Bunnies, a sub-group of the White Rabbit Pacing non-profit, whose guide runners have made it possible for Nova Scotians with vision loss to participate in races alongside sighted peers & achieve new milestones. We can’t wait for next season! Check guidebunnies.wixsite.com or email pacebunnies@gmail.com to learn more about them.

Goalball’s Back

We’re elated to witness such growth in the sport of goalball throughout Nova Scotia!

The goalball season may have just begun, but we’ve never stopped holding demonstrations for at schools, universities, and community events. Through these event’s, we’ve grown awareness & participation, and inspired our sighted peers to join on the level playing field that is the goalball court.

Weekly goalball programs are up & running:

– Junior goalball programs in New Minas, Antigonish, and Halifax

– APSEA youth goalball

– Recreational goalball (all ages, all levels, co-ed) in Halifax

– Junior goalball in Halifax

– Senior men & women’s goalball in Halifax

3rd Annual Nova Scotia Open Goalball Tournament:

Thanks to the support & dedication of donors, volunteers, coaches, officials, athletes, and our community, we hosted another successful international tournament in Halifax, the only event of its kind in Atlantic Canada!

Elite and developing athletes from the USA and Canada went head to head in a well-attended, live streamed, event that saw great competition and even media attention.

Here’s how the standings shook out

1 Turnstone (USA)

2 California Crown

3 Nova Scotia

4 Quebec

5 Ontario All Black

6 Atlantic Ship Recs

Coming up…

Give Spinning a Spin

With cycling season over, the Tandem Bike Club offers a free introductory indoor spin class for anyone with vision loss. A great way to stay active during the winter months, the event will take place Sunday, December 17th and will be hosted by long-time volunteer tandem bike pilot, Jim.

18th Montreal Goalball Tournament

January 26th to 28th, 2018, the Nova Scotia men’s goalball team will compete alongside athletes from across North America.

Assistive Technology

Tech Article: Apps That Assist Beginners with Learning Voice over Gestures++:

Here are some recommendations for apps that might help new iPhone users learn the iPhone gestures.

These are four apps I think are helpful in learning the VoiceOver gestures of the iPhone. They are all free, I think.

The Blindfold Bop one is free, however limited in how many times you can use it, so I purchased it for about $6 which allows me unlimited use of the app.

Below I have provided a link to the entire list of iFocus MP3 files in my Dropbox folder. It is a Zipped file that you can download to your computer.

VO Starter, is an app that is text based and explains the Voice Over gestures well in a well organized fashion. It’s a great manual for learning what’s possible.
Blindfold Bop, is a game based tutorial that gets you to practice gestures with ever increasing speeds and complexity.
VO Tutorial, is an app that works the user through several games requiring that gestures be performed in order to work through the game. It’s great for beginners.
VO Lab, I found this one less helpful as it gets the user to turn off VO and use a self-voicing voice. It might be too confusing for beginners. I don’t like it, but it’s possible that others will learn from it so I included it.

Of course, VO Calendar is a great way to use the Calendar with an accessible and usable overlay on the native on board Calendar app.

iFocus MP3 Zipped File (nearly 3GB):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nytxnwzs544p4on/ifocus%20MP3%20Files.zip?dl=1

By Albert Ruel, GTT West Coordinator

Some Tips to help better Utilize the Safari Web browser++:

Safari for iPhone and iPad is an incredibly capable mobile web browser despite its simple, straightforward user interface. It is the browser of choice on iOS, in large part because it is the one pre-installed, but very few people know everything you can do with Safari.

Much of Safari’s advanced functionality is hidden behind “long-pres gestures” that most people do not know exist.

Long press on the Bookmarks button

On Safari for iPhone and iPad, the normal way to add a bookmark for a webpage is to press the Share toolbar button and scroll through the activity pop-up to select the Add Bookmark option. Using a long-press, you can do the same thing more quickly.

Long-press on the Bookmarks button (which tapping on normally takes you to view your bookmarks) and a new action menu appears. The modal features options to Add Bookmark or Add to Reading List. Saving to Reading List is immediate, whilst tapping the bookmark option will open the usual options view to confirm the name and Favorites folder location.

In the News

Engineers are helping the blind ‘see’ fireworks++:

It is almost that time of the year again, the moment that sees out the old and welcomes in the new, on New Year’s Eve. In the seconds that take 23:59 in 2017 to 00:00 in 2018, bursts of fiery light will appear in the night skies around the world as displays of fireworks are triggered.

Some of the world’s grandest fireworks happen on Australia’s Sydney Harbor, on the United Kingdom’s London Eye, on France’s Eiffel Tower in Paris, and on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, to name a few.

Nothing dazzles crowds quite like fireworks displays. They are, after all, a marvel of chemical engineering. There is a visceral excitement felt by many when fireworks burst into the sky as a New Year dawns.

However, for visually impaired members of our global population, enjoying a fireworks display is limited to the reverberating explosions alone. The engineers and researchers at Disney Parks and Resorts have worked to find a solution.

The company is world renowned for its firework displays; in fact they are the largest consumer of fireworks in the world. A former Product Designer at Disney Consumer Products, Ben Suarez, says Disney uses up to US$50,000 of fireworks per show at their resorts. It is estimated that the resorts collectively blow up $50 million worth of fireworks every year.

Feeling Fireworks

Researchers at Disney are developing a technology that would allow visually impaired patrons to experience the fireworks at their parks in a new way; by feeling them. A flexible screen is set up, with water jets positioned behind it. By placing their hands against the screen they feel a representation of a firework exploding outwardly.

To further improve the experience, a Microsoft Kinect camera array is set up, for the purposes of tracking users’ hands. Once a user’s hands are up against the flexible screen, the jets are activated through the Kinect sensor and a personalized ‘fireworks explosion’ is performed for the user.

Disney’s researchers are experimenting with a variety of nozzles on the water jets to produce varied patterns and thus a breadth of tactile experience. Using an Arduino-based computer, the engineers control the amount of water the pump emits and can control the direction of the nozzles. The researchers have also found that they can produce the experience inexpensively. They write:

“Our approach is low-cost and scales well, and allows for dynamic tactile effects to be rendered with high spatial resolution.”

The rise and development of haptic technology will enable an increasing number of tactile experiences in the near future. Haptic feedback is something engineers are embedding in technology to make humans feel like their interactions with technology are more genuine.

Disney believes that the technology could be adapted to other industries. The researchers write:

“Beyond the specific application, the technology represents a novel and cost-effective approach for making large scalable tactile displays, with the potential for wider use.”

Disney’s investment in fireworks goes further. According to former Disney & NBC Product Designer Ben Suarez the company has invested millions into “developing new fireworks that left minimal amounts of smoke”, after the smell of their many fiery displays agitated crowds.

A festive season is, after all, for everyone. It is commendable that Disney has used their engineering expertise to ensure this gladness is spread a little more widely.

By Quintus Potgieter

OC Transpo fined $25K for failing to call out bus stops++:

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has hit OC Transpo in Ottawa with a hefty fine after enforcement officers discovered major stops were not being called out on three trips.

A CTA enforcement officer checked buses on routes 4, 7 and 62 on the afternoon of Nov. 14, following a CBC report about problems with OC Transpo’s Next Stop Announcement System, and found a failure to call stops on all three buses.

Visually impaired riders had previously told CBC that stops were not being called out consistently, a problem that was supposed to be solved by the automated system of visual and audio alerts.

The $12-million system, which CCB actively advocated for, was installed in late 2010 following a complaint to the CTA by Terrance Green, a blind user of OC Transpo who said drivers were failing to call stops as required by OC Transpo’s own policy.

Green told CBC in November that problems with the system were ongoing, but his concerns seemed to come as a surprise to OC Transpo’s director of customer systems and planning, who said he believed the system was “working consistently, for everyone’s benefit.”

Pat Scrimgeour said OC Transpo’s staff inspectors had been monitoring the system and found it was functioning properly about 98 per cent of the time.

The transit agency learned about the fine on Monday and will review what happened on those routes, according to Troy Charter, OC Transpo’s director of transit operations. He said it was too soon to say whether the agency would request a review of the decision.

“We need to gather our facts and look at what occurred,” Charter said. “We need to sit down and review our maintenance logs, look at those specific buses, see if there were operator or customer reports, review the downloads . Essentially we need to do our investigation to look at what occurred.”

If the automated system is not functioning, drivers are required to call out the stops to comply with the earlier ruling by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

But Charter noted, if the automated system is not working, drivers on busy routes with crowded buses may not be able to hear it, and so may not know they need to be calling out the stops.

The deadline to pay the $25,000 fine is Jan. 23.

CBC News, December 19, 2017

Friends help blind woman in difficult task of finding a job++:

Tepi Hughes was found as a toddler in the rubble of her famine-torn home-city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She spent 10 years in an orphanage during the Bangladesh genocide of the 1970s.

At seven, she contracted smallpox, and unlike 300 million people worldwide, Hughes didn’t die of one of the most feared diseases. She did go blind, though.

Life changed at 11 when she was adopted by a Canadian family.

Her formal education finally began when the new family registered her in Grade 4 with the W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in Ontario.

For nine years, like hundreds of other blind students — Hughes experienced abuse. A class-action lawsuit recently reached a settlement in dealing with the abundance of claims. Of larger consequence to Hughes was the school’s decision to place her in a “learning disability class” where she did not obtain literacy skills.

Hughes thinks the school’s decision was based on her limited ability to speak English and remembers that time as the moment grade school ended — with less than two years of formal education.

Hughes, in her 50s now, has spent more than 40 years in Canada. Like many working-age blind people, she lives below the poverty line. She does her best to make a home as an independent woman with a good network of friends, many from the Canadian Federation of the Blind — an organization that promotes independence. Hughes describes the CFB as: “A group of friends who travels to conferences, meets monthly, practises cane skills and enjoys each other’s company.”

“We all believe a blind person can do anything they set their mind to,” she says.

The only thing I knew about the Bangladesh genocide was that George Harrison and Ravi Shankar had organized benefit concerts. I googled and learned of an estimated three million people, brutally murdered by the West Pakistan military in what was then East Pakistan.

I wondered: How does a person heal from that foundation?

In his latest book, Waiting for First Light, former Canadian general Romeo Dallaire describes the ongoing healing process from his painful experience in Rwanda.

Dallaire is white and tall and handsome and brilliant and powerful and a trained soldier. He has position power and political power as an esteemed Canadian three-star general and senator. He is an author of three extraordinary books. He has a hard-earned international reputation and a supportive family and influential friends. And yet, even with tremendous supports, dealing with his experience of genocide nearly destroyed him, as it has done to many other combat professionals.

I am grateful to Dallaire for his courage in helping all of us to understand. But I am afraid for my friend. A small, blind woman, who grew up in an orphanage surrounded by genocide, has few such support privileges.

And yet, Hughes has an uncommon vitality and light-heartedness.

I met Hughes a few times at Christmas parties for the Canadian Federation of the Blind and remembered a jovial character. I am not a member of that community, but an ally and supporter of their work.

In the summer of 2016, a mutual friend asked me to accompany Hughes as a “sight guide” while she volunteered at the Mustard Seed Street Church’s food bank. It wasn’t until Hughes and I volunteered together that we got to know each other better. For five days we scooped rice and oatmeal and other staples out of 50-pound sacks and into little plastic bags to be distributed in family food hampers.

Hughes worked hard, kept the work space organized, and was thorough in completing her tasks — not too surprising, as she had wrapped candy for a local chocolate factory for 10 years until she was laid off.

She had an easy way of connecting with people in the busy warehouse. If someone walked by, she would call out a friendly “hello.” The next time that person went by, they would say hi, and while Hughes was sorting fruit she would jokingly ask if they wanted to have a blueberry fight.

On her last day, several co-workers said how much they enjoyed working together, and the food bank organizers thanked her for the help. I came away with a nagging feeling that Hughes was underutilized.

She told me she wanted to get a part-time, minimum-wage job to supplement a disability income. I figured that would not be too hard, and offered to help with what I thought would be a two-month search.

We arranged to meet every Tuesday morning to strategize and job-hunt.

According to the job-hunter’s guide, What Colour Is Your Parachute 2017, circulating traditional resumés nets a four per cent success rate, while forwarding a letter of introduction to specific businesses nets an 86 per cent success rate. We decided to hand-deliver 30 tailored letters to selected businesses in the first few weeks.

We reached out in every which way, and made use of local support agencies.

Potential employers at businesses or job fairs frequently saw Hughes as a blind person — and nothing more. Imagine being seen as a sighted person — and nothing more.

Rejections were always, nice, polite, gracious and swift.

With an outgoing personality and disarming charm, Hughes would make a great receptionist, I thought. But I also knew I would not likely convince anyone of that truth.

Fifteen months later, Hughes still does not have a part-time, minimum-wage job that would provide some small income and some large sense of purpose as a working person. Luckily, at the start of our job-hunting saga, we agreed on a “never give up” motto.

We were in a coffee shop on Foul Bay Road recently when two construction workers came in.

“I remember you. You’re Tepi,” one said. “I worked on your street last year.” Hughes listened and then said: “You guys did an amazing job of fixing that sidewalk. People who use wheelchairs in my building are safer now.”

It was a scene I have witnessed frequently. She might not have received a formal education, but Hughes has a PhD in the art of being friendly.

These days, Hughes, another CFB friend, Doris Belusic, and I meet on Tuesday mornings for breakfast, a good chat and, always, a laugh. Beth Cowin, an employment counsellor at Phoenix Human Services is also a supporter and equally determined to help Hughes find a paying job. It is taking longer than she expected, but Cowin is tenacious and not prepared to give up, either.

We are learning that in 2017, many employers in Canada still see blind applicants as helpless and dependent. Hence the 90 per cent unemployment rate for working-age blind people. What a crazy waste of talent!

As ridiculous as it sounds, after surviving genocide, smallpox, blindness, a childhood in an orphanage, a scandalous education system in Ontario and decades of financial challenge while managing a poverty-level existence, Hughes’ biggest challenge of all might be to find an employer in Victoria who will recognize possibility in her strengths — and hire her.

And then her friends will throw a party.

By Thelma Fayle, for Times Colonist

A Gifted Artist Finds Success, Despite Being Deaf and Blind++:

For years, Kelly Brown sat in the corner of a dimly lit Wynnewood warehouse stuffing envelopes. Doing bulk mailings was typical of the work at Lower Merion Vocational Training Center and other state-supported programs for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Deaf and blind from birth, Brown performed the simplified, repetitive tasks assigned to her and her co-workers. She didn’t complain; she was paid a stipend, and the steady job gave structure to her days.

Brown was considered unremarkable-except for the ropes. Somewhere along the way, she learned to crochet, and during her breaks, she made long, thick, multicolored ropes. Brown did this so often that the ropes crowded her workspace. Not having any use for them, the staff put the ropes in trash bags and stashed them in a spare room. That’s where Stephanie Petro found them years later. From the black plastic bags, she pulled crocheted rainbows of pink, blue and yellow yarn. Petro didn’t see trash. She saw art.

A former social worker with a B.F.A. in painting, Petro was part of a team assembled by Lori Bartol in 2009 to transform the mail house into the Center for Creative Works. Working under the auspices of Pennsylvania’s Resources for Human Development, the center still serves people with intellectual disabilities. But Bartol doesn’t focus on providing traditional therapies.

“We make art,” Bartol says. “We’re not here to fix anyone. We’re here to mentor and support them. Your identity isn’t your disability. Your identity is that of an artist.”

It’s tough to say what Brown thought her identity was, or if she thought about it at all. But Petro had a hunch that Brown was filled with creativity. “I gave her a box of fiber materials, each with a different feeling, and off she went,” Petro says.

“Everything I put in front of her-rubber bands, tape, coffee filters, feathers-she turned into art.”

It was slow going at first. Deaf-blind people like Brown communicate through touch sign language. A branch of American Sign Language, touch sign is also called tactile sign or hand-over-hand sign. The deaf-blind person places their hands over those of the person making the signs. Movements can be felt; words can be spelled.

This is how Helen Keller learned to communicate with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, the woman who brought her out of darkness and silence to become one of history’s most inspiring role models.

But Petro didn’t know sign language. On her own time and dime, she took classes to learn sign language and touch sign.

Next, she gave Brown clay, then a loom, then a wide variety of textiles.

Petro scoured flea markets, yard sales and dollar stores for lampshades, metal frames, colored beads, leis made of plastic flowers, tinsel, and acres of yarn. Most of these objects are used, discarded or on sale because no one sees uses for them.

They may be sitting in dark corners of attics, garages and stores, waiting perhaps for someone to bring them to life.

Brown has done just that, resurrecting the materials into upcycled art. Her vividly colored, multi-textured pieces of fiber art have been displayed and sold at the St. Louis Outsider Art Fair, Grounds For Sculpture in Trenton, and galleries in and around Philadelphia.

Bartol wants that kind of success for all of the 85 artists at the Center for Creative Works-and they are making progress. In the past three years, their pieces have netted more than $50,000 in sales.

“My teachers are really good at recognizing things that are technically part of [the artists’] disabilities, but turning them into the informing piece of their art,”

Bartol says. “Kelly’s tapestries are so textural. The first thing you want to do is touch them. That comes directly out of the fact that she works as a blind person.”

Fame itself doesn’t matter to Brown or Petro or Bartol. What they need, Bartol explains, are sales of art to keep the Center for Creative Works running. For each piece sold, the artist gets 60 percent and the center retains 40 percent. Bartol uses that money to provide a never-ending supply of materials for artists who are as creatively voracious as Brown.

To boost sales, Bartol wants to open a small retail space that would function as the center’s gallery and a community space where artists could teach classes. Bartol already made headway with that concept. Last fall, six of the center’s artists taught at Moore College of Art & Design. “They have the necessary skills,” Bartol says. “But no one ever considered putting them in front of a class to teach.”

Everything the center does jibes with Bartol’s philosophy that the center’s studio residents are artists first and foremost.

“What may be a disability for life is not a disability for artwork,” she says. “It just happens to be who you are, so run with it.

Make art with it. If you’re in a room with people who have no disability at all and take a poll to see how many have artistic sensibilities, the answer is probably none at all. Art isn’t tied to an IQ or intellect. It comes from your soul.”

To learn more about Brown’s work, visit

http://www.centerforcreativeworks.org<http://www.centerforcreativeworks.org

By Melissa Jacobs

This is the Year: Making Big Things Happen at the American Printing House for the Blind

This is the year: Making big things happen

by Craig Meador, President, APH

As another year unfolds, the world anticipates with eagerness — or maybe some trepidation — the changes that lie ahead. Here at APH, we’ve been talking a lot about change for the last 18 months. You might feel like it’s been a lot of talk, but we’ve been hard at work preparing to implement changes that will make APH a stronger organization and give people who are blind or visually impaired even more innovative tools to achieve their full potential.

This is the year we’re going to deliver. We’re ready to make big things happen in 2018, and I’m excited to tell you about the bold steps we’ll be taking.

This is the year when BrailleBlaster makes it possible for unprecedented numbers of people to use braille — at work, at school, and at home. This revolutionary software tool translates text into braille quickly and accurately, so students can have braille learning materials on the first day of class along with their sighted peers, instead of weeks or months later. But it’s not just students who will benefit. BrailleBlaster is free and easy to use, making printed materials more accessible at work, at home, and in our communities. With the broader availability of braille materials, we think we’ll see even more people of all ages taking advantage of the literacy benefits only braille can provide.

This is the year when Graphiti will change the way the world thinks about accessible graphics. The device — which uses 2,400 movable pins and image software to create tactile displays of any image — will revolutionize lesson plans and classroom experiences. Students who are blind or visually impaired will finally have real-time graphics alongside their sighted peers, closing another educational gap. People of all ages will be able to experience graphics with Graphiti, including maps, charts, graphs, photos, and drawings.

This is the year when APH expands Indoor Explorer and Nearby Explorer to communities beyond Louisville, which is leading the way in creating accessible cities. In sites across the city, including Louisville International Airport, the Indoor Explorer program places low-power Bluetooth beacons in public buildings, which feed information about amenities and points of interest to APH’s Nearby Explorer app and its new Indoor Explorer feature, which turn a user’s smartphone into an audio guide. Indoor Explorer empowers people who are blind or visually impaired to find their own way to ticket counters, boarding gates, baggage claims, emergency exits, restrooms, and more, when used with a white cane or dog guide.

This is the year when the Orbit Reader 20 becomes the lowest-priced refreshable braille device on the market. APH partnered with Orbit Research to develop a rugged, low-cost display that allows information from a variety of digital sources to be displayed as mechanical braille, generated by computer-driven pins. We’re proud to have dramatically decreased the cost of braille access to electronic files, which is essential to literacy in the digital age.

This is the year when we’ll see more companies committed to accessibility so they can harness the vast potential of a diverse workforce that includes people who are blind or visually impaired. We’re better prepared to be part of that revolution than ever before thanks to technologies like BrailleBlaster, Orbit Reader, and Graphiti.

This is the year when APH will unveil our new brand identity and website that reflect our proud history, but also demonstrate that we’re a forward-thinking organization that’s breaking down barriers to accessibility in every area of life. In addition to being more informative and easier to navigate, our redesigned website will be more accessible than ever before.

Throughout 2018, APH will be introducing new products and innovations. I’m enthusiastic about what lies ahead for APH and the people our products and services benefit, because I know what we have in store — and I know what we’re capable of doing, along with our partners.

At APH, we’ve spent the last 18 months laying the groundwork and implementing our plans, and 2018 is the year we’re going to make big things happen. We’ll keep our partners and supporters informed as these things unfold, because we could not achieve our ambitious goals without you.

This is the year when APH takes a giant leap into the future of our organization, and we are proud to have you with us every step of the way.

CCB-GTT Top Ten iOS Apps for 2017 with Long Descriptions 2018Jan05

The Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)

Get Together with Technology (GTT)

Top Ten iDevice Apps of 2017 With Long Descriptions

Here are the Top Ten iDevice Apps of 2017 as surveyed late in the year through the GTTProgram Blog, GTTSupport Email List and GTTProgram Facebook Group participants. This was not a scientific survey, so might be considered by some to be a “Fake List”. Be that as it may, your friendly GTT Group has likely had a hand in the results, and all of you are encouraged to submit your favourites for the 2018 list as we roll into November/December. In order to do so, please stay in touch and participate with GTT groups where ever they gather throughout 2018 by following us at,

www.GTTProgram.WordPress.com.

Of course, none of the below apps are usable by blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted iDevice users if the screen reader (Voice Over) and/or magnifier (Zoom) apps aren’t mastered first.

The Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired offers free access to a series of videos called iFocus, which provides independent tutorials for learning the accessibility features of Voice Over and Zoom.

https://www.hadley.edu/InstructionalVideos.asp

Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iDevice Apps:

1. Seeing AI, a free app By Microsoft Corporation.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/seeing-ai/id999062298?mt=8

Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you. Designed for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world and describe nearby people, text and objects.

Optimized for use with VoiceOver, the app enables you to recognize:

Short Text – Speaks text as soon as it appears in front of the camera.
Documents – Provides audio guidance to capture a printed page, and recognizes the text, along with its original formatting.
Products – Scans barcodes, using audio beeps to guide you; hear the name, and package information when available. (works with iPhone 6 and later)
People – Saves people’s faces so you can recognize them, and get an estimate of their age, gender, and emotions.
Scenes (early preview) – Hear an overall description of the scene captured.
Currency – Recognizes currency notes. (Requires iOS 11)
Color – Identifies color.
Handwriting – Reads handwritten text like in greeting cards
Light – Generates an audible tone corresponding to the brightness in the surroundings.
Images in other apps – Just tap “Share” and “Recognize with Seeing AI” to describe images from Mail, Photos, Twitter, and more.

Seeing AI is built to help you achieve more by leveraging the power of the cloud and artificial intelligence. As the research progresses, more channels may be added.

2. Native iOS Mail, a free email client built into every Apple device.

Mail (also known as Apple Mail or Mail.app) is an email client included with the operating systems macOS, iOS and watchOS by Apple Inc. Originally developed by NeXT As NeXTMail, a part of their NeXTSTEP operating system, it eventually became Mail after Apple’s acquisition of NeXT.

3. Voice Dream Reader, a paid app By Voice Dream LLC.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/voice-dream-reader/id496177674?mt=8

Featured as Best New App in 81 countries including the United States and Apple App Store Permanent Collections in Education.

“This app is one of the best educational finds of my entire career.” – Forbes

“As a user myself and as a mother of a child with dyslexia, I am blown away by the features of Voice Dream.” – Quartz

“Voice Dream Reader is hailed by many as the best mobile text-to-speech (TTS) app.” – Examiner

Supported Document Formats

– PDF, Plain text, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, RTF, and Google Docs.

– Web articles.

– EPUB eBooks. (DRM-free books only. Kindle and iBooks are not supported.)

– Bookshare Books.

– DAISY text-based books and audiobook.

– Audiobooks in MP3, MP4 or zipped MP3 format.

– Experimental rich text and image support for all documents.

Text-to-Speech

– One premium Acapela voice of your choice free with the purchase of the app.

– 36 built-in iOS voices in 27 languages are also available for free.

– 200+ additional premium voices in 30 languages from Acapela, NeoSpeech and Ivona available through in-app purchases.

– Correct pronunciation with your own pronunciation dictionary.

– All voices work offline and play in the background even with the screen locked.

Reading Styles

– Tee-up a list of articles and play while you drive, walk or run.

– Spoken word is highlighted to improve comprehension and retention.

– Auto-scrolling and full screen, distraction-free mode to help reader focus.

– Finger reading. For beginners to read by at running a finger under each word.

– Pac-Man. Harvard and MIT developed speed-reading method for everyone to read at 2x speed with no loss of comprehension.

– High contrast and large font size for low vision readers.

– Optimized for VoiceOver, Braille and switch control.

4. Nearby Explorer, a paid GPS app By American Printing House for the Blind (APH).

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/nearby-explorer/id1095698497?mt=8

Nearby Explorer is a full featured GPS app designed for use by people who are blind. Instead of just providing directions, it describes the environment in ways comparable to reading signage or observing road characteristics.

It uses onboard maps, so a data connection is not required, but if you have one, Nearby Explorer supplements the on board map data with crowd collected locations from Foursquare or Google Places. It includes complete maps for the United States and Canada which contain millions of points of interest. The onboard maps are over 4GB in size, so be sure the device you plan to use has enough available space before purchasing.

Nearby Explorer works with any device running iOS version 9 or later, but if the device does not contain its own GPS receiver, like most iPads and iPods, you must use an external GPS receiver. All iPhones contain GPS receivers.

Nearby Explorer works by letting you select from several different location related options about what to announce as you move. These include both typical items like street name and address and specialized options like approaching streets, intersection configurations, and nearby places and the distance and direction to them. (All announcements are optional.) All of this information is shown on the home screen and is available at any time, but typical use is to adjust the level of announcements, then lock the screen and put the device away. This keeps both hands free and let’s your preferred voice speak the characteristics of the environment as you move.

You may also use the devices position and orientation to obtain additional targeted details such as pointing the end of the device to scan for businesses, even in a moving vehicle, or tilting it vertically to function as a compass, including a listing of streets in the indicated direction. This all works with the device locked, so one need not fuss with the touch screen while moving. You may even mark a point, then use the position of the device to get haptic feedback about that point’s location.

Nearby Explorer includes a transit feature that provides detailed mass transit schedules for over 60 metropolitan areas in the U. S. and Canada. It treats transit stops just like favorites and points of interest by announcing their name and relative position as you move, but in addition, transit stops add next vehicle stop time, direction of travel, and route name to the announcements. You can use the transit schedules to look up times or even follow a route.

You may virtually move to any area in the U.S. or Canada and explore the road network, search, or use the transit maps for that area.

For complete details about Nearby Explorer, see http://tech.aph.org/ne

5. TuneIn Radio, a free app By TuneIn.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tunein-radio/id418987775?mt=8

Listen to your favorite radio stations for free with TuneIn Radio. With over 100,000 radio stations, TuneIn has the largest selection of sports, news, music and talk radio from around the world.

With the free TuneIn Radio app:

-Stream real radio stations from around the world live.

-Listen to your favorite talk shows and podcasts live and on demand.

-Enjoy live coverage of sporting events, concerts and more.

Get even more with TuneIn Premium.

-Get live play-by-play from every MLB, NFL and BPL game, all season long.

-Let your imagination run wild with access to a library of over 40,000 audiobooks.

-Enjoy exclusive access to over 600 commercial-free music stations

-No banner ads!

Listen Anywhere:

-Enjoy TuneIn anywhere you go with Apple Watch.

-Try out TuneIn for CarPlay when you’re on the go.

-Enjoy TuneIn Radio at home with your Google Chromecast.

6. Native iOS Reminders, a free app built into every Apple device.

Reminders is a pretty great “getting started” app for those new to to-dos. You can use Reminders to make shopping lists or packing lists or to keep work and home organized. You can set reminders for specific times or specific locations, so you can remember to take medication when you need to, and stop by the store when you leave the office.

7. Transit, a free app By Transit App, Inc.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/transit-bus-train-times/id498151501?mt=8

“You won’t realize how much time you can save planning until you use this app” – LA Times

“Killer app” – WSJ

“MBTA has a favorite transit app — and it’s called Transit” – Boston Globe

Transit is your real-time urban travel companion. Navigate your city’s public transit system with accurate real-time predictions, simple trip planning, step-by-step navigation, service disruption notifications, and departure and stop reminders… all presented in a clear, bold interface. Public transport not cooperating? Easily request an Uber, reserve a car2go, or grab the closest bike share.

10 GREAT THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH TRANSIT:

1) See real-time arrivals for nearby buses and trains instantly upon launch.

2) Watch your transit vehicle approaching on a map in real-time*

3) Compare options with powerful A to B trip plans using real-time data.

4) Launch GO for step-by-step navigation when you’re on an unfamiliar route or want to nap/read/space out.*

5) Receive departure alarms and stop notifications as well as prompts to pick up the pace in GO.*

6) Get push notifications if service disruptions will affect your commute.

7) View transit schedules and route itineraries—even when you’re offline!

8) Locate bike share stations, see the number of bikes available, pay for passes, and unlock bikes (in select cities).

9) Check ETA (and surge) for nearby Ubers, and book in two taps.

10) View availability and book cars with car2go and other local car-share services.

8. VO Calendar, a paid app By Devista B.V.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/vo-calendar/id508386832?mt=8

NOTE: Can only be used together with VoiceOver (for blind and partially sighted people).

VO Calendar is a weekly calendar specifically designed to be used with VoiceOver.

The result of this VoiceOver-only design is not only a smoother navigation through the app. It also makes it possible for the VoiceOver speech to give smart summaries depending on the context. This prevents you from having to go through each event Individually.

Existing events are automatically synchronized. If you prefer not to type, you can record voice memos instead.

You can use VO Calendar with the VoiceOver gestures you are used to.

However, there is an even faster way. With the screen being split into two halves you can scan the right half of the screen with your right thumb. A single tap with your left thumb then is enough to activate the concerning function. After getting used to you will find out this helps you to browse through your calendar even quicker.

The left bottom always contains the ‘Return’ button so you can still reach it with your right thumb (being an L-shaped layout). At the top left you can always find a summary of the current screen content. In case you are left-handed you can swap left and right.

Note: If you have multiple calendars configured, VO Calendar will show all concerning events. New events will be assigned to your iPhone’s default calendar. Change the default calendar in: Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Default Calendar.

VO Calendar is developed in cooperation with Royal Dutch Visio, Centre of Expertise for blind and partially sighted people (www.visio.org).

9. Bank, free apps by a variety of Canadian Banks. IE., TD Canada by TD.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/td-canada/id358790776?mt=8

The TD app for iOS provides quick, easy, secure access to your TD chequing, savings, credit, and investment accounts. By clicking “Get”, you consent to the installation of the TD app provided by the TD Bank Group* and to any future updates/upgrades. You are also acknowledging that you understand that the TD app and any future updates/upgrades will/may perform the function described below. You may withdraw your consent at any time by deleting or uninstalling this app.

The TD app is free to download, however standard wireless carrier message and data rates may apply.

BANKING BENEFITS

Get fast access to our most-used banking functions with Quick Links, and check account and Rewards balances without logging in by using Quick Access.
Make TD Credit Card Account payments in fewer steps and use your Rewards to help pay down your balance.
Send, request and receive money with INTERAC e-Transfer®.
Make Canadian and submit U.S. bill payments. (Subject to eligibility requirements and applicable fees. Foreign exchange costs may also apply. Customer must register for the U.S. Bill Pay Service and set up payees in EasyWeb first. A U.S. dollar cheque will be mailed to the payee.)
Access your personal banking and investing information from your Apple Watch.
Keep track of your spending and receive real time notifications with the TD MySpend companion app.
With TD for Me you can receive branch information, local events, offers, tips and reminders.

INVESTMENT ADVANTAGES

The TD app allows you to monitor the market, research investment ideas, and trade everything from stocks to options wherever you are!

Act quickly on market opportunities – trade stocks, ETFs, options and multi-leg options, as well as mutual fund while on the go.
Help protect your portfolio from market loss with stop orders.
Stay on top of your investments with real-time holdings, balances, orders and activity.
Keep tabs on your favourite securities with watchlists, now synced with WebBroker.
Set mobile push notifications to receive real-time price alerts for stocks, ETFs and mutual funds.
Make informed investment decisions with comprehensive real-time quotes and advanced charting with technical indicators available in the landscape mode.

10. CBC Radio/News, free apps by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/cbc-radio/id325946767?mt=8

Listen to your favourite CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio programs and podcasts on your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. Enjoy Radio One and Radio 2 live streams, as well as more than 80 of CBC Radio’s most popular programs and podcasts on demand. Listen to our featured stories, curated for you every day. Browse through 12 categories, including News, Politics and Comedy. Check out archived episodes, save and download your audio for later listening. Build a playlist of your favourite clips and play them beginning to end. Sort by episode or segment. Find the local frequency for your favourite CBC Radio broadcast channel, and see what’s playing on any CBC Radio network. The CBC Radio app allows for in-app search, which allows you to search for any CBC Radio One audio from 2013 to the present. You can also continue switching to a different device and pick up your listening where you left off.

Respectfully submitted on January 5, 2018 by,

Albert A. Ruel, GTT Coordinator

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

Albert Ruel or Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550 1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net GTTProgram@Gmail.com

CCB-GTT Top Ten iOS, Android, PC and Mac Apps for 2017

The Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)

Get Together with Technology (GTT)

Top Ten Apps of 2017

www.GTTProgram.WordPress.com.

GTTSupport+Subscribe@Groups.io

Favourite Apps Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iOS Apps:

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

Top 10 PC Apps:

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

Top 8 Mac Apps:

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

Top 4 Android Apps:

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

Respectfully submitted on January 5, 2018 by,

Albert A. Ruel, GTT Coordinator

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

Albert Ruel or Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550 1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net GTTProgram@Gmail.com

February Topics –Edmonton Public Library, IPhone Basics

Edmonton Public Library

Windows 10 Training

Gerry – iPhone Accessibility Primer

Next Meeting (Monday March 12 at 7pm)

Meeting Location and Logistics

GTT Edmonton Overview

National GTT Email Support List

@GTTProgram

VISIONS

Canadian Council of the Blind Newsletter

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

Announcements

President’s Message++

The New Newsletter++

It’s time to have your say++

Date and start times across Canada

This meeting will last no longer than two hours.

Introduction:

Let’s get it out there

Advocacy without borders

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

Question one:

Question two:

Question three:

Question four:

Question five:

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

To register as a participant please email

White Cane Week++

CCB Celebrates its 15th Annual White Cane Week++

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

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

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

CCB 2018 Person of the Year Award Recipient:

CCB 2018 President’s Award Recipient:

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

Inclusion – There’s an App for That!

New Technology Improves Interior Navigation for Everyone++

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

Seeking members for the CCB Mysteries chapter++

Advocacy News++

Helpful Info from the CCB National Advocacy Committee++

Chapter News++

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

Assistive Technology

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

Favourite Apps Listed according to the votes submitted:

Top 10 iOS Apps:

Top 10 PC Apps:

Top 8 Mac Apps:

Top 4 Android Apps:

How to Use Headings to Organize a Document++

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

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

To Use Headings when reading text with a screen reader:

Using the letter H for accessing Headings in MS Word:

An additional means of accessing Headings:

CNIB HUB++

In the News

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

@GTTProgram

@GTTProgram

@GTTProgram

Legislation about White canes[

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB National Office

@GTTProgram

Children and White canes

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB National Office

@GTTProgram

History of the White Cane

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB National Office

@GTTProgram

Types of White Canes

CCB Backgrounder:

CCB National Office

@GTTProgram

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

Tandem Bike Club

Running, Walking, & Guide Bunnies

Goalball’s Back

Weekly goalball programs are up & running:

3rd Annual Nova Scotia Open Goalball Tournament:

Here’s how the standings shook out