The Canadian Council of the Blind Podcast

108. Using the Voiceover help features on the Mac

In this podcast, Wayne Antle walks us through using the powerful voiceover help features available on the mac. 

107. Oran McAllister from NaviLens

NaviLens is a new and exciting cutting-edge technology which has been developed to provide blind and visually impaired people with more accessibility and autonomy in their everyday lives. Oran McAllister, Client Engagement Officer at NaviLens, gives a presentation about the NaviLens Codes and the amazing features of this technology. He gives a short introduction to the NaviLens code, how it came about and how it works, additionally he speaks about the many use cases of the technology around the world, from transportation infrastructure wayfinding to product packaging, as well as validation from many users and associations from across the globe. Furthermore, Oran speaks about how NaviLens can be used in the home, in associations, and in schools using the free NaviLens kits, in addition to telling us a little more about the future of NaviLens.
For more information, http://www.navilens.com/ 
https://www.rnib.org

 

106. The Dexcom 6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring Device with Heather Walkus

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. On this special evening meeting we are pleased to welcome Heather Walkus, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), who is a user of the Dexcom 6 continuous glucose monitor system. Heather will present to us her experiences about its accessibility and usability for our community.

More info, https://www.dexcom.com

105. Freek van Welsenis, Co-founder of Hable One

Using a smartphone with a visual impairment can sometimes be frustrating and difficult. At Hable, we like to make this easier for you. The Hable One is the easiest Braille keyboard to control your smartphone.

Do you use Voiceover or Talkback on your smartphone and struggle with swiping gestures? Or do you find on-screen typing cumbersome and takes up a lot of energy? Then the Hable One is probably of interest to you.

104. Unseen Touchscreen course session 3

This week, Michael Feir focusses on hardware. He will explain what differentiates one iPhone from another and why it matters to you. From microchips, cameras, memory, and storage, we will talk about what is under the glass. Michael will also discuss accessories you may wish to acquire for your iPhone. From cases to keyboards to chargers, we will talk about how to shop for them and what to be careful of when you do.

103. Unseen Touchscreen course session 2

Before we pull back and look at the larger picture, this month’s lecture is my attempt to give you the equivalent of a quick start guide. Sighted people will typically have access to enough instructions so that they are able to start exploring and enjoying their iPhones with a minimum of fuss. They are given very basic navigation instructions and directed to the app store among other resources. Blind people lack such resources which take their very different experience into account. This lecture will attempt to provide enough knowledge about key aspects of iPhone use to allow you to start doing things. Topics such as Voiceover, typing on your iPhone, setting up an iPhone totally blind, obtaining the iPhone user guide from the Books app or on the web, and much more. People may wish to read the Quick Start section of the Personal Power eBook before attending the lecture.

102. Unseen Touchscreen course introduction

the Unseen Touchscreen online course will give the information needed by blind iPhone users to make the most out of these powerful and versatile devices.
The course is based on the second edition of Michael Feir’s free e-book, Personal Power: Getting the Most From iOS as a Totally Blind User. This book can be downloaded in several formats from: Michael Feir’s Blog: at
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2022/04/
People who have trouble downloading the book in the format of their choice should email Michael directly at: Michael.feir@gmail.com

101. Exploration of the mac voiceover utility with Wayne Antle

Wayne gives us a walk-through of the voiceover settings on the Mac explaining what each setting does

100. second edition of Personal Power with the author, Michael Feir

Description: Two years and literally thousands of changes later, the second edition of Personal Power is now available. It is an eBook which I wrote and am giving away freely. Basically, the book takes people from setting up their iPhones to thriving in the iOS environment. It teaches how to use Voiceover, the various parts of iOS, and a whole lot of apps.

. The link to the guide is:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-1GAc2-HM1drA0GEj4fEBgQxIh4bHSKC

99. Using the focus mode on IOS with Michael Feir

We all get distracted by our iPhones. The answer used to be to turn on “do not disturb”. This would prevent notifications from being announced and prevent pretty much everyone from contacting you. Apple has improved upon this with a new feature called “Focus”. That is where “do not disturb” went to hide on everyone. It is now one of several different focus modes. You can take far more control over what apps can disturb you. and who can contact you when you are busy. There is more of a learning curve which comes with this increased flexibility. Together, we will explore how to customize and even create your own focus modes. We will also learn how to take control of this new addition to iOS.