All Cool Blind Tech Shows

While Apple is definitely making strides toward squashing those pesky bugs in Voiceover for iOS8, the infestation around Safari still remains rather strong, especially when it comes to focus issues.

This gave Cory a mission, to find another alternative. Let's face it, a mobile device needs to be able to browse the web. What kind of a mobile device can't these days? Even though Safari works most of the time, there had to be another option for those situations when it didn't.

Cory explored several options and discovered that the Google Chrome app for iOS is extremely accessible and actually very nice to use.

The accessibility is amazing! Not only does Voiceover tend to read everything, but the browser is fast and page element navigation works fully. HTML5 multimedia content such as Youtube videos and audio content from our own podcasts play right inside the browser. Add in the Google voice search feature and you have a really nice alternative to Safari.

Check out his quick overview of a few things you can accomplish with this Cool Pick.

In this episode, James Oates reviews Microsoft Outlook for iPhone and iPad. He demonstrates the email client and calendar features. He shows us how to access files on cloud services, open them with additional apps, and send them as attachments. He then proceeds to show how to send and view messages from your contact list. Finally, he walks us through the settings for the application. This is an incredibly complex and powerful application which will prove useful for many users of iOS.

From the developer:

Why use Outlook?

 

Manage your inbox

• Outlook automatically triages your inbox for you, surfacing your most important email. Less relevant email is placed in your “Other” inbox.

• Swipe to quickly delete, archive, or schedule messages.

• Schedule emails and they will return to your inbox at a later time.

 

Your calendar built-in

• Switching between your email and calendar apps is a thing of the past. Outlook includes your calendar and notifies you with appointment reminders.

• Find available meeting times and share them in email or schedule a meeting.

 

Attachments made easy

• View and attach any file from your email, OneDrive, Dropbox, and other accounts with just a few taps.

• Send large files even if you haven’t downloaded them to your phone.

 

Find anything fast

• Filter your inbox to only show messages that are unread, flagged, or have attachments, with a single tap.

• Quickly find the right messages, people and files by typing just a few letters.

• Outlook shows people you communicate with most often, and lets you conveniently drill down to see all related emails, meetings and files.

 

In this episode, James Oates demonstrates how to stream music and play a radio station using an Xbox Music Pass subscription. He shows us how to play a movie on Netflix and pin a favorite TV show to the start screen. Finally, he reviews the accessibility of the popular Twitter client, Tweetium. Throughout the episode, James is relying heavily on Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant. Since Cortana is integrated into the Music and Netflix applications, it makes the experience quite simple.

For all of our listeners who have resolved to quit smoking this year: In this episode, James Oates talks about how to purchase the right E-cigarette. He reviews the different components of the device and how which ones are easier for a person with a visual disability to use. He emphasizes the importance of choosing a vapor liquid with the correct nicotine level.

The products discussed in this episode can be found at: Beach Side Vapors.

The new year is also a fresh look for us! With that we are launching Breaking in Windows, a show dedicated to the discussion, review and demonstration of all things Microsoft and Windows related.

What better a way to Break out our new show than to bring you what’s new with Windows 10! It’s almost straight out of Star Trek!

James Oates brings Cory Martin, a recent addition to the CBT team on board to discuss the Microsoft event and to hash out what this could mean from an accessibility perspective.

The year of 2015 is shaping up to be a very active one with some exciting changes at Microsoft, we will need to stay tuned to see how things play out and to see how the assistive technology venders will innovate to stay ahead of this ever-shifting landscape.

Finally, although holographic technology may not be useable by those of us who are traversing life in the dark, the impact on product design might hold some surprising and possibly very welcoming changes for us.

To hear us discuss this event in detail give this show a listen!

Winston Chen, the developer of the iOS app, Voice Dream Reader, sits down with the team at Cool Blind Tech to tell the story of how having been inspired by a Ted Talk podcast, his departure from mainstream tech, life on an Artic island north of Norway, and how that led to the development of Voice Dream Reader.

Introducing GoogleÕs Nexus Player, a streaming media and gaming device that displays content on your television by way of a Wi-Fi connection and a HDMI cable. In this episode, James Oates demonstrates how to perform a voice search using the remote controlÕs built in microphone. He shows us which applications come pre-installed, and how to download and install additional applications. Most importantly, he shows us how to activate and use Talkback, a built in screen reader for devices running Android.

In this episode, James Oates shows us how to add a Skype contact and make a Skype call using Cortana. He shows us how to compose a Tweet and check our timeline on Twitter. Finally, he demonstrates the functionality of the email application. Threw out the episode, he is using the built in screen reader, Narrator, on a Nokia Lumia 635 running Windows Phone 8.1.

In this episode Garth demonstrates the installation and setup of the applications Karabiner and Seil

to allow the remapping of your CapsLock key for use as the VoiceOver modifier key.

He also shows you how to set up another keyboard shortcut to enable and disable capsLock.

* Go into System Preferences, Keyboard. In the keyboard tab of the dialog, activate the Modifier Keys button. In the table, find the CapsLock key option and assign “No Action”.

* From pqrs.org, download and install the applications

Karabiner and Seil.

* Open Seil, and in the Settings tab, find the first table. In the table expand the row which relates to the CapsLock key. Activate this option by checking the checkbox. Move VO focus over to the Key Code field and VO+Spacebar on it. Now, overtype it from 51 to 110. .

* Open Karabiner. You’ll receive a system notification the first time you run the utility. You’ll be prompted to allow Karabiner to control the computer using Accessibility Features. Follow the prompt and you should be taken to the Security and Privacy pain of System Preferences where you can grant access to Karabiner.

* Back in the “Change Key” tab of Karabiner, use the search field to find the appropriate configuration in the table. You can search for blind and the list will be narrowed to the appropriate entry, Use CapsLock as VoiceOver key. Check this checkbox and you’re ready to use your CapsLock key as the VoiceOver modifier.

To setup a CapsLock key replacement, go to the “Change Key” tab of Karabiner. In the Remapping Table, find the entry, Shift+Escape to CapsLock and check it. Now you’re able to use these keys to toggle CapsLock on and off.

p>In this episode Hugo demonstrates how to scan credit cards using Safari.