The Canadian Council of the Blind Podcast

Thanks to the CCB GTT Edmonton team who always brings Steve Barclay to present to their group around this time, we are bringing Steve back on a national call to tell us all the exciting news from Canadian Assistive Technology.
Come and learn about new products, most popular software, devices, and more.
Maybe you will find that perfect gift for yourself or someone else.

A deep dive into the accessibility settings on I devices running IOS 15. Come learn about all of your accessibility settings.  Where they are.  What they do, and how to customize them.

Wayne gives a great walk-through of how to use messages on the Mac explaining which key commands he is using and giving examples and scenarios as he goes through.

Come and learn about Windows 11 and its accessibility.
Dan gives us a peek at some of the differences in the new Windows 11

FROM PRINT TO VOICE: THE MAKING OF AN AUDIO BOOK, Neal walks us through creating an audiobook he talks about things ranging from audio editing to the inflection a narrator might choose to use. He shows us a clip of a book he recorded and several clips of narrators discussing how they choose to narrate

Laurie Davidson, Executive Director at CELA, updates the group on what’s happening with CELA’s work, in the area of collections, partnerships and technology. Lindsay Tyler shares information about CELA services, how to join, find out what books and magazines are available, and ways to read them. 

Wayne gives us a great Demonstration on how to use The numbers spread sheet application for the Mac.

We all can use some help keeping track of the stuff of life. The Calendar and Reminders apps are Apple’s current answer to that problem. The Reminders app focuses on tasks and projects in our lives rather than appointments and events. You can set reminders to alert you based on due dates, make them triggered based on where you are, and keep track of which steps in bigger projects have been completed. We’ll examine the Reminders app in detail and go through all of the features it contains for reminding you of what needs doing in your life.

Voxmate is a new Android app with audio-first applications that can be operated with just four gestures. With Voxmate, you can read news, listen to audiobooks, play games, chat on the Audio Forum and more by simply swiping up, down, left, and right. The app was designed from the ground up to focus on a great audio experience rather than describing what’s on the screen, and that makes the whole experience uncluttered, intuitive, and worth your time. Katja, the co-founder of Voxmate, introduces us to the app and  talks about future iOS plans.

Using Seeing AI short text, product, and handwriting channels to identify products. Using Seeing AI short text and document channels, as well as Voice Dream Scanner to read documents.  Using Tap Tap See to identify colours. Using BeMyEyes and other visual assistance such as AIRA or Facetime video.