Tag: Be My Eyes

Tech-Ease GTT Regina Summary Notes, Facebook, Aira, BeMyEyes and Meet Me In The Cloud, February 29, 2020

Tech-Ease/ Get Together with Technology

Regina Drop-In Meeting

Summary Notes

February 29, 2020

 

Sponsored by Vision Impaired Resource Network (VIRN),

Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)

And the

Regina Public Library

 

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

 

Attendance: Barry, Jerome, Wes, Donna, Sarenia, Blaine D, Michelle, Amber, Patti-Lynn (RPL), Doug (via phone), Camille

 

Regrets: Linda, Blaine R, Anna, Jessica

 

Facebook Groups:

  • Explained Facebook in general
  • Types of status updated, checking in, etc.
  • Explained privacy settings generally
  • Explained pages vs. Groups
  • explained different types of groups
  • Explained public groups and private groups
  • Advantages of FB Groups
    • Nice way to make friends you’ll never meet
    • Nice to have like minded friends

 

HOW TO JOIN FB GROUPS INSTRUCTIONS (THANKS TO MICHELLE)

Joining FB group:

 

Find a Facebook group. Interest you. Type into in the search box.

 

The page will show up and if you keep swiping to the right or scroll down. There will be a “joined group” button where you can press after that is pressed the Box will turn to ” cancel join request”

 

some groups will automatically pop up two or three questions pertaining to the group that they want you to answer before your request is accepted.

Also, on that page you can look at how many posts in a day are put up on that page or how many people are in that page or how many of your friends or in the group. who the moderators or group administrators are.

 

Facebook should notify you when your request to join has been accepted by the group moderator.

 

If you want to leave the group at any time go to the group page the top right-hand corner has will be visual three dots beside the ” search” option. Is a “member tools button”

 

You will be presented with options like following options “share. ”

“Following.” “Notifications.” “Favourites. ”

“Add to home screen.” and “report” just keep swiping to the right until you hear.

” leave group button.” You will be asked if you are sure you want to leave group.

 

When you are approved to a group The General etiquette is to write a short post introducing yourself and the reason why you wanted to join the group in the first place…

 

Once you have joined the group. If you click on the title of the group name you will be presented with the group rules that are always good to read.

 

This will present you with additional information like how long the group has been running. how many members in the group how active the group is how many posts per day.

You can also see options like the group history and whether the group is private, secret, or public.

A public group means everybody can see posts in that group whether you’re a member of the group or not.

 

Private means people can find the group but only members in the group can see individuals’ posts.

 

Secret groups are groups that only members know about the group or know how to find it. Basically, with this group you have to be added by somebody already in the secret group in order to know about it.

 

Every time privacy settings are changed in a group generally group members will be given a notification sound in your regular Facebook notifications.

Members also have the opportunity to add their friends to groups. some groups have the ability for members to approve other members some it’s the moderators only that do the approving.

 

Typically, one of the rules is asking your friends before adding them to groups but interest you to make sure they are interested as well…

That’s just common sense but I thought I’d write it anyways.

 

Here’s how to find all the groups that you’re involved in…

 

Across the top of Facebook, you have “news feed”

“memories” “dating” “notifications” and then the far right-hand side of the screen there is “menu” option.

When you click on that you will have the first option is to view your personal profile. Then if you keep swiping to the right or scroll down you will have options

“Groups”

” memories”

“friends”

“Marketplace” “videos on events”

“Events”

“saved ”

“Nearby friends” “dating”

” gaming”

 

If you click on group you have an option for your groups.

If you are a moderator for any of the groups. They will show up first.

Under group you manage. Then under that will be “other groups.” and then the rest of your groups will show up in a list form.

you can also change these click on “the sort your other groups” button right next to other group button. on the right-hand side to show in alphabetical order. For most recent that you’ve posted to.

Etc. if that makes finding a specific group easier.

 

Moderators also along with you have the ability to shut commenting off on a post if the comments get to negative.

 

You click on your individual post and you have an option for turn commenting off.

 

If you would like to edit your post go to the right-hand side of your original post.

 

The right hand of your post is

” post menu”.

There you can see options like “copy link “ or “edit post”

If you edit the post more than once you can see the edit history which is a recent update with Facebook.

This is also where you can turn commenting off.

there are many different groups depending on your interest there are lots of groups for visually impaired or disability in general.  especially support groups. There are even groups like instant pot users or gardening. Funko Pop figurine groups.  Etc.

 

Aira Updates:

  • Aira equipment includes glasses (2nd generation), tether, controller (which is an Android phone w/ nothing else on it but Aira),  or you can use your phone,  and you can use a Bluetooth headphones
  • You can buddy full plans with Aira and now there’s is a 5 minute free call you can use unlimited
  • Plans: 30 min for $30 USD, 120 minutes for $99 USD, 300 minutes for $299 USD, they got rid of unlimited plan (it was downgraded to 700 minutes plan but only people grandfathered into it retina it)
  • You can fluctuate between the other plans as needs dictate, you can switch in the middle of the month and pay more or less if you go up or down in plans for remainder of the month
  • There are a lot of incentives to the plans – if you are looking for a job they will help you with job related job search tasks for 30 minutes for free added to account
  • If you are a JAWS user and a license holder of it and you call in they will help you with (or team viewer) they don’t charge for this help
  • They will help with quick books if it’s not reading well as well
  • The 5 minutes plan, someone can give someone else a referral code, which is 7 days unlimited access to play with it, the person referring gets 30 free minutes plus bonus minutes if the person buys a plan (referrer gets equal to what referee gets for free)
  • The Aira controller which is the android phone, there is a voice assistant named Chloe, she can help call an agent, check battery, she can check minutes available, etc.
  • Glasses have a connection port on them, in the middle of the glasses on the front is the camera, the camera has a 120 degree or so camera, they have frameless glasses as well if you wear glasses regularly
  • The glasses/controller are an add on for people with more than 30 minutes plans ($600 one time for the glasses/controller or $25 a month)
  • There are no controls on the glasses, only on the phone
  • Cord is a female to female cable connection
  • Glasses can see 5 feet more to each side than with phone camera, also can see further into the distance as it has a good quality camera
  • We did a demo with an agent, he said help with cooking directions, checking mail, described renaissance fair for someone, describe Super Bowl to someone, lots of different things, can call an Uber for you as well
    • Not allowed to help with anything involving nudity
    • Not allowed to comment on specific safety, can give visual info like when walking light is on, but it is up to someone to choose to cross the street

 

AIRA UPDATE (THANKS TO BLAINE & MICHELLE)

Aira discontinuing Horizon glasses and phone end of March 2020..

” Dear Horizon User,

 

The current Horizon Android smartphone no longer accommodates regular Horizon application updates. The current Horizon Android smartphone no longer accommodates regular Horizon application updates so that means our Aira tech team does not have much control to improve the experience. The model of smartphone that supports the Horizon system has been discontinued by Samsung so we must move on and find a new option.

 

As smartphones, like the latest iPhone, have transitioned away from physical buttons, finding a device to support a one-button access interface is a significant challenge. So what does that mean? It means that Aira’s smart glasses hardware solution is not meeting the Aira standard today and furthermore the Explorer experience with Horizon will continue to decline. Simply put, we need to find a new solution that better meets the demands of our Explorer community. With that, and after considerable analysis, I have decided that beginning on April 1, Aira will no longer support calls made from Horizon smart glasses. This change will allow our technical team to refocus on improving the core service. Below is a FAQ section if you want to learn more.

 

So the next question is naturally: If Horizon doesn’t meet the Aira standard, what will? We are aligning our hardware strategy with the mainstream devices that you all already use such as an iPhone, Android Smartphone and some new and emerging platforms. We would appreciate your help by sharing your thoughts on new devices and platforms, products and technologies that we should consider integrating into the Aira Explorer experience. Send them to support@aira.io and Customer Care will gather a list of potential smart glasses or other devices to utilize in our future.

 

Aira was founded on the idea of both creating and leveraging leading technology to bring you the Explorer a modern, useful and one-of-a-kind experience. Our passion for creating the leading experience has never been stronger.

 

Thank you for your continued support of Aira. Aira agents look forward to connecting with you soon.

 

We wouldn’t be here without you,

Troy

CEO of Aira”

 

Be My Eyes:

  • Specialized partners – Companies that can answer questions through the Be My Eyes app specific to their products:
    • Google, Microsoft, ClearBlue, Herbal Essence, P&G, Pantene, National Federation of the Blind, as well as some banks, but as none are Canadian I am not listing them

 

Next Meeting:

March 28 @ 2 pm

Topics: Windows 10 – the good, the bad and the ugly

 

 

ZOOM MEETING INSTRUCTIONS TO JOIN MARCH MEETING IN LIGHT OF COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS:

 

Tech-Ease Drop In/GTT is a go! We are temporarily changing the format, to accommodate social distancing and civic service closures. Below is the information regarding tech-ease for this month, so you can join us from home!

 

Q: What if I don’t have zoom on my cell phone or computer?

A: Just follow the dial in information provided below.

Q: What if I have zoom on my computer?

A: select the link for the meeting posted below, and it will take you to the meeting.

Q: are there a list of shortcuts for zoom on the computer?

A: yes, these instructions will be sent in a following email with subject line of: “Zoom Computer shortcuts”

Q: What is one touch dialing:

A: this allows you to select the phone number and is supposed to automatically dial you into the call on your IOS device to the conference line without the need to enter ID numbers. I am unsure how this works otherwise.

 

Time: Mar 28, 2020 02:00 PM Saskatchewan

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/2049759341

Meeting ID: 204 975 9341

One tap mobile

Please select one of the following Canadian phone numbers for one tap mobile access

+17789072071,,2049759341#

+14388097799,,2049759341#

Dial by your location

Please select one of the Canadian phone numbers below. Please note, Saskatchewan does not have their designated line. 1(587) is an alberta phone number if you choose to join through these numbers.

+1 778 907 2071 Canada

+1 438 809 7799 Canada

+1 587 328 1099 Canada

+1 647 374 4685 Canada

+1 647 558 0588 Canada

Meeting ID: 204 975 9341

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acqVIt5V1L

 

 

BASIC ZOOM MEETING SHORTCUTS:

Some shortcuts that would be helpful for the Zoom Tech Meetings if you are joining the meeting with your computer and using a keyboard.

 

Alt+V: Start/Stop Video

Alt+A: Mute/unmute audio

Alt+Y: Raise/lower hand

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H: Show/Hide floating meeting controls

 

 

MORE IN DEPTH ZOOM MEETING INFO CAN BE FOUND AT LINK AT END:

Meet Me Accessibly is a three-hour audiobook, written and narrated by Jonathan Mosen. It takes you from the basics of attending your first Zoom meeting, all the way to content sharing of your video and audio from a computer or iDevice.

 

Just some of the things Jonathan shows you in Meet Me Accessibly include:

 

Attending your first Zoom meeting

 

Working with and configuring the Windows client

 

Working with and configuring the iOS client

 

Creating compelling and effective online meetings of up to 100 participants for discussions or webinars

 

Using Zoom to have a sighted person take control of your computer, even a Mac user can control a Windows PC and vice versa

 

Running visually attractive presentations using PowerPoint, or by sharing the output of any application on your computer

 

Using the high-quality, low-latency audio capabilities of Zoom for one-on-one conversations

 

Holding global Internet and telephone conferences

 

Taking advantage of the exceptional audio for use in a podcast, including creating separate audio files for every participant for use in a multitrack editor such as Amadeus Pro or Reaper

 

Recording meetings and podcast interviews on your iPhone, thanks to the Zoom cloud recording capability

 

Recording top-quality tech demonstrations thanks to the easy-to-use ability for Zoom to capture your computer’s sound

 

Sharing the screen and audio from apps on your iDevice

 

Enabling stereo audio

 

Turning off Zoom’s audio processing for pure, top-quality sound

 

Scheduling meetings

 

Holding instant meetings

 

Using your personal meeting ID

 

As you can see, there’s so much that Zoom can do, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.

 

In Meet Me Accessibly, Jonathan uses JAWS for Windows, the world’s most used screen reader when working with Windows. When discussing Zoom’s mobile offerings, he uses an iPhone running VoiceOver, the screen reader built into all iOS products. But the user interface of Zoom adheres closely to accessibility standards, so even if you use a different platform or screen reader, you should still be able to glean much from the demonstrations and descriptions.

 

Download Meet Me Accessibly free

 

To help any blind person who may need to telecommute during the COVID-19 outbreak, we have made Meet Me Accessibly free to download. You may distribute it for download anywhere, as long as the files are not modified in any way.

 

When you download, you get a zip file with the book divided into 19 MP3 files to make it easy to get to the sections you want. An included M3U playlist allows you to easily play the book from beginning to end. We’ve taken care to number the files sequentially, so the book imports beautifully into Voice Dream Reader on an iDevice.

 

Download Meet Me Accessibly free.

 

https://mosen.org/zoom/

 

Connect with Tech-Ease Regina:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GTTTechEaseRegina/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techeasesk

Tech-Ease YQR YXE (@techeasesk) | Twitter

twitter.com

The latest Tweets from Tech-Ease YQR YXE (@techeasesk). Are you Visually impaired, Related to someone visually impaired, or an educator of someone visually impaired …

 

Study on the use of remote, video-based assistance

The following is a message from Envision Research Institute and Wichita State University faculty member Vinod Namboori: 

We are conducting a study on the use of remote, video-based assistance by blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals. We want to survey BVI individuals who have used mobile apps like Facetime, Skype, BeMyEyes, AIRA to receive remote, video-based assistance from a sighted person. Results of this study will help us understand how mobile apps might best offer remote, video-based sighted assistance to BVI individuals in overcoming challenges faced in performing routine tasks. 

If you are someone with blindness or low vision, and have received remote, video-based assistance in the past, we invite you to complete an anonymous short survey on your experience and preferences. Completing this survey should not take more than 15 minutes using a computer, tablet, or smartphone with reliable Internet connection. Link to survey: https://forms.gle/33NmDtFptnYTVyy26

If you have any questions, please contact Vinod Namboori at vinod.namboodiri@wichita.edu  

 

GTT Toronto Summary Notes, Seeing AI, TapTapSee, Be My Eyes and Aira, January 17, 2019

Summary Notes

 

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group

January 17, 2019

 

An Initiative of the Canadian Council of the Blind

In Partnership with the CNIB Foundation

 

The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Toronto Group was held on Thursday, January 17 at the CNIB Community Hub.

 

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

 

Theme: Seeing AI, TapTapSee, BeMyEyes and Aira

 

GTT Toronto Meeting Summary Notes can be found at this link:

 

Ian White (Facilatator, GTT)

Chelsy Moller Presenter, Balance For Blind Adults

 

Ian opened the meeting. Chelsy Moller will be presenting on recognition aps.

 

General Discussion:

  • We began with a general discussion. OrCam will be presenting at the White Cane Expo. AIRA will not. We’re still in negotiation to see if they will open up the event as a free AIRA event space. Apple will also not be there. They make it a corporate policy not to present at generalized disability events.
  • Ian raised the issue of getting a media error 7 when he’s recording on his Victor Stream. Is there a list of errors somewhere? Jason answered that perhaps it’s a corrupted SD card. A member said that there’s a list of errors in an appendix to the manual, which can be accessed by holding down the 1 key.
  • Michael asked if there’s a way to add personal notes in BlindSquare, such as, 25 steps. One recommendation was a document that you could access through the cloud. Another recommendation was to mark a “point of interest” in BlindSquare. When you do this, you can name it, so you could call it, Shoppers 25, to indicate 25 steps. Another recommendation was to make notes using the iPhone notes ap. Another recommendation was to set up geo-dependent iPhone reminders. Within a radius of the spot you want, your phone would just tell you whatever information you put in.
  • A member raised the problem of using Windows 10 and Jaws, trying to synchronize contacts email with Apple, and having duplicate folders in his Outlook email. Microsoft exchange might help.
  • Jason told the group that he has an Instant Pot smart available for sale. This is a pressure cooker that works with the iPhone, and it’s no longer available as an iPhone connectable device. He’s thinking $100, talk to him privately if interested.
  • Then he described a new keyboard he got. It’s a Bluetooth called REVO2, which he received as a demo unit. It’s got 24 keys. You can type on your phone with it, or control your phone with it. Its most useful use is when you need to key in numbers after having made a call, such as keying in bank passwords etc. Alphabetic entry works the way old cell phones did, press 2 twice for B. It has actual physical buttons. It can control every aspect of VoiceOver. You can also route your phone audio to it, so you’re essentially using it as a phone. It’s about $300. It can be paired to iPhone and Android. Here’s a link to the David Woodbridge podcast demonstrating the Rivo Keyboard:
  • A member asked if Phone it Forward is up and running. This is a program in which CNIB takes old phones, refurbishes them, then redistributes them to CNIB clients. Phone It Forward information can be found at this link.

 

Seeing AI, TapTapSee, Be My Eyes, and AIRA Presentation:

Ian introduced Chelsie, who is an Adaptive Technology Trainer, and Engagement Specialist. She’s here tonight to talk about recognition aps.

We’re going to focus on 4 aps, Seeing AI, TapTapSee, Be My Eyes, and AIRA.

  • Seeing AI is an ap that allows the user to do a variety of visual tasks, scene description, text recognition, vague descriptions of people, light levels, currency recognition, and colour preview. Each of these functions is called a channel. As a side note, Chelsie said that her iPhone10 uses facial recognition as your password. A store employee told her it wouldn’t work because it needs to see your retina, but this isn’t true; it works from facial contours.

Chelsie opened the ap. There’s a menu, quick help, then channel chooser. To get from channel to channel, flick up. She did a demonstration of short text with a book. It’s helpful for reading labels and packaging. Try to keep the camera about a foot above the text, and centred. This requires some trial and error. The document channel takes a picture of the text. It’s better for scanning a larger surface. Short text is also very useful for your computer screen if your voice software is unresponsive. Short text will not recognize columns, but document mode usually will. The product channel is for recognizing bar codes. This is a bit challenging because you have to find the bar code first. Jason said that it’s possible to learn where the codes typically appear, near the label seem on a can, or on the bottom edge of a cereal box. The person channel tells you when the face is in focus, then you take a picture. You get a response that gives age, gender, physical features, and expression. Chelsie demonstrated these, as well as currency identifier. It’s very quick. The scene preview also takes a picture, and gives you a very general description. The colour identification channel is also very quick. There’s also a hand writing channel, that has mixed results. The light detector uses a series of ascending and descending tones. Beside the obvious use of detecting your house lights, it’s also useful in diagnosing electronics. If you turn all other lights off, you can use it to see if an indicator light on a device is on.

Seeing AI is free. It’s made by Microsoft, who has many other ways of generating revenue.

  • TapTapSee is a very good ap for colour identification. This is always a tricky thing, because colour is often subjective, and is affected by light levels. TapTapSee takes a picture, and gives a general description including colour. For more accurate colour description, Be My Eyes and AIRA are better. TapTapSee is free.
  • Be My Eyes is a service in which a blind person contacts volunteers who help with quick identification or short tasks. Because they’re volunteers, the quality of help varies. You may have to wait for a volunteer. There’s a specialized help button. You can use Be My Eyes to call the disability help desk. This is useful if you need technical help from Microsoft, and they need to see your screen. This ap is also free.
  • AIRA is a paid service. Chelsie has been using it for a month. She’s very happy with it. It connects a blind user with a trained, sighted agent. This could be anything from “what is this product?” “I need to find this address,” I need to navigate through a hospital or airport. When you set up your profile, you can specify how much information you want in a given situation, and how you like to receive directions. They can access your location via GPS, in order to help navigate. They will not say things like “it’s safe to cross,” but they will say things like, “You have a walk signal with 10 seconds to go.” They’re seeing through either your phone camera, or through a camera mounted on glasses you can ware.

They have 3 plans, introductory, 30 minutes. You cannot buy more minutes in a month on this plan. You can upgrade though. The standard plan is 120 minutes at $100, or the $125 plan, that gives you 100 minutes plus the glasses. The advantage of this is that you can be hands-free when travelling. The glasses have a cord connecting them to an Android phone that has been dedicated to the AIRA function. Otherwise, you simply use your own phone with its built-in camera. This happens via an ap that you install.

The question was raised about whether the glasses could be Bluetooth, but the feedback was that there’s too much data being transmitted for Bluetooth to work.

On the personal phone ap, you open the ap and tap on the “call” button. With the glasses, there’s a dedicated button to press to initiate the call.

Chelsie spoke about how powerfully liberating it is to have this kind of independence and information. You can, read her blog post about her experience here

The third plan is 300 minutes and $190. All these prices are U.S.

Jason added that, in the U.S. many stores are becoming Sight Access Locations. This means that if you already have an AIRA subscription, use at these locations won’t count against your minutes. The stores pay AIRA for this. This will likely begin to roll out in Canada. Many airports are also Sight Access Locations. You can’t get assigned agents, but you may get the same agent more than once. If you lose your connection, the agent will be on hold for about 90 seconds so that you can get the same agent again if you call back immediately. For head phones, you can use ear buds or Aftershocks.

 

Upcoming Meetings:

  • Next Meeting: Thursday, February 21 at 6pm
  • Location: CNIB Community Hub space at 1525 Yonge Street, just 1 block north of St Clair on the east side of Yonge, just south of Heath.
  • Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 6pm.

 

GTT Toronto Adaptive Technology User Group Overview:

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

http://www.GTTProgram.Blog/

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

 

 

 

GTT Victoria Summary Notes, BrailleMe, Be My Eyes and Aira, October 3, 2018

Get together with Technology (GTT) Victoria

 

A Chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind

In Partnership with

Greater Victoria Public Library

 

Summary Notes

Wednesday October 3, 2018

 

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm by Tom Dekker.

 

Attendance, there were 15 individuals in Attendance.

 

Tom Decker welcomed everyone to the meeting and opened the session with a presentation and demonstration of a new low-cost Braille display. The item is called BrailleMe and is produced by Innovision Tech

www.innovisiontech.co/brailleme/

Tom is quite impressed with the item, especially in relation to what it can do based on the very attractive price point. The unit sells for around $575 (USD). the item can produce .BRF and .TXT files, and can read from an SD Card, but holds no internal memory. Tom went around the room with the item and let everyone have a look/test,

 

Other low-end Braille products were discussed including the Orbit, however their seams to be some serious issues with that product and people not having much luck with it, even if they are able to get their hands on one.

 

During the second half, Albert Ruel presented a demo of both the Be My Eyes App

www.bemyeyes.com

and the Aira service

www.aira.io

 

Albert is a subscriber to the Aira service and wanted people to see the differences while highlighting the unique services offered by both apps.

 

First, he demonstrated BeMyEyes. it uses the camera on your phone. You connect via the app, cost is free, and you are connected to a volunteer who will assist you with whatever vision challenge you present. Today Albert spoke to a volunteer (randomly selected by the app) in Calgary. Albert asked her to read several cards he held in front of the camera, she did so with great ease and accuracy.

 

Then albert did the same test utilizing the Aira service. Although a cell phone camera can be used, Albert used the provided Austria glasses with an attached camera that one gets when subscribing to the service. Lining up the cards was a bit more of a challenge using the glasses due to a bit of a field of vision limitation. Albert also asked the Aira Agent to provide a brief description of the clothing being worn by some of the people sitting across the room, as well as to have some of the room described.  Interestingly enough, there is a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall across from where Albert was sitting, a fact not previously known by the blind people who attend GTT meetings monthly.  Aira is a “user pay” service and there are four plans available with varying prices based on the number of minutes you wish to purchase. They also have some referral promotions if people sign up from a referral from an existing user, who is referred to as an Explorer.

 

In closing a brief discussion was held about both the province-wide October 20, 2018 civic election, and the provincial referendum on Proportional Representation that will conclude on November 19, 2018. Albert said that CNIB will be contacting clients with particulars about the braille information and templates that can be requested for the latter, seeing as it is a mail in ballot. For accessibility features available for the Civic Election, please check with your City or region to ask about their what they’ve put in place for blind and partially sighted voters.

 

Albert also provided some sense of the poor intercity bus service available on Vancouver Island, particularly for communities North of Nanaimo.  If one is travelling beyond Nanaimo the last intercity bus leaving Victoria is at 2:55 PM.  Also, the first bus heading for Victoria leaves Parksville at 9:15 AM and doesn’t arrive in Victoria until after 1:00 PM if riding with Tofino Bus, and the IslandLink Express Bus leaves Parksville at 9:40 AM and arrives in Victoria at about 12:30 PM.  Sadly, if intercity bus riders have occasion to visit Victoria from Up Island communities their work/social day will last no more than 2- and one-half hours in total.

 

Finally, a topic for an upcoming meeting was discussed, that being “how do we feel about asking for visual help and how might technology play a role in how we answer that in a changing world.  How will we maintain our independence when accessing information in our home activities, work tasks and during our recreational pursuits?

 

The next meeting will be held on November 7, 2018, and it will have us receiving a presentation from Stephen Ricci from Frontier Computing in Toronto.  They are one of the largest assistive technology resellers in Canada, and while Stephen is in Victoria attending the Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Quest the previous day he is pleased to stay one additional day to attend the GTT Victoria meeting.

 

Meeting was adjourned at 3pm

Next meeting, Wednesday November 7th, Same bat time, same bat channel. Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Meeting notes submitted by Corry Stuive

 

GTT Victoria Overview

  • GTT Victoria is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
  • GTT Victoria 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 Follow link at the bottom of that web page to enter your email.

 

National GTTSupport Email distribution 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]