Welcome to April’s edition of the Blind Vet tech News Update. In this episode my co-host of the Blind Vet Tech Monthly Tech Talks, Richard, and I announce the times and dates for our calls in March, our favorite features within iOS 11.3, the new Crayon for iPads, moving towards a computer-less world, and protecting the privacy of yourself and others.

April’s Blind Vet Tech Teleconferences

If you have any questions with life with a visual impairment or methods to address barriers associated with low vision and blindness, join us on one of our Blind Vet Tech Monthly Talks. Our Monthly Talks provide visually impaired individuals the chance to learn and share information about their favorite devices. Below is a list of our calls for April and how to connect via your computers, smart phones, or landline phones. We rely on Zoom for our teleconferencing platform, which is very usable. More information may be located by clicking here.

* April 10 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly Narrator Talk

*

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* April 12 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly MacOS Talk

*

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* April 19 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly Tech Talk

*

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* April 19 – Blind Vet Tech Open Mic Night

*

* When – 1900 or 7PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

Apple’s iOS 11.3 Update

In March, Apple released iOS 11.3. Its safe to update your devices to this latest version. Our favorite aspects of 11.3 includes:

* Ability to select whether your iPhone will be throttled when you r batter health drops below a percentage

* Dynamic and bold text comes to the App Store

* Download your electronic health records to your Health app

Read AppleVis’ review of 11.3 to learn more.

Drawing with Crayons and Moving Away From Traditional Computers

Apple provided several announcements of note during their education presentation in Chicago. One of the most unexpected announcement involved the Logitech $49.99 Crayon. This excites us since its definitely something different and much cheaper than the standard Apple Pencil. Apple also announced a refresh to the iPad, which only updates the internals for the standard iPad.

The presentation possessed an underlying theme, its time to begin moving away from traditional laptops and desktops. With the goal to sell the education world on how the iPad can replace traditional computers in the classroom, its only a small step forwards to move away from traditional computers and onto tablets. Richard and I go into detail about our thoughts on this as well as what it will take before we fully buy into this

trend.

Protect the Privacy of Yourself and Others by Sharing Less

The recent scandal involving Facebook and advertisements and other platfo...

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we demonstrate how to use your iPhone to achieve your health and fitness related goals. Whether you wish to count steps, learn new exercises, or find balance in your life, your iPhone with apps like Eyes Free Fitness, Move Sum, and 3 Minute Mindfulness will aid you on your journey.

Before starting, you need to be aware of some settings within iOS. Under the Privacy setting in Settings, you have Health and Motion and Fitness. The Health menu will let you see what apps integrate with your Health information. The Motion and fitness menu is where you will see what apps actually use the sensors on your iPhone for step counting and other options.

If you wish to use your iPhone as a step counter, simply place it in your pocket and head off. There is nothing else you need. The information is stored in your Health app, which is fully accessible though some may feel overloaded by the amount of information here. This is where other apps, like Move Sum come into play.

If you are looking to do more than collect steps each day, below are the list of apps I strongly recommend you check out:

* Eyes Free Fitness is a app that provides high quality audio guided exercises that is made for the blind and integrates with Apple’s Health app.

* Move Sum features a simplistic interface to see how many steps and calories you burn each day, as collected by the Apple health app.

* 3 Minute Mindfulness offers breathing and meditation routines you can completely customize to suit your listening desires

* Strava is the leading social media app that visually impaired runners and cyclists rely on to collect their latest runs, hikes, and tandem bike rides. Its audio output allows you to hear your current time, pace, and other items based on a user selected interval.

* Nike Plus Run Club offers customized running training plans that is mostly accessible, minus a few crucial areas.

* Wahoo Fitness is the leading app and line of sensors and smart trainers many in the visually impaired tandem cycling community relies upon.

* Couch to 5k and others in this series provides nice audio guided training programs to get you up and running your first 5k to marathon.

href=”http://blindnotalone.com/zoom/”>If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here.

Welcome to the March madness edition of the Blind Vet tech News Update. In this episode my co-host of the Blind Vet Tech Monthly Tech Talks, Richard, and I announce the times and dates for our calls in March, using iOS with Microsoft apps to increase independence, and a review of smart speakers and digital assistants.

March’s Blind Vet Tech Teleconferences

If you have any questions with life with a visual impairment or methods to address barriers associated with low vision and blindness, join us on one of our Blind Vet Tech Monthly Talks. Our Monthly Talks provide visually impaired individuals the chance to learn and share information about their favorite devices. Below is a list of our calls for March and how to connect via your computers, smart phones, or landline phones. We rely on Zoom for our teleconferencing platform, which is very usable. More information may be located by clicking here.

* March 13 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly Narrator Talk

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* March 8 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly MacOS Talk

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* March 15 – Blind Vet Tech Monthly Tech Talk

* When – 1300 or 1PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

* March 15 – Blind Vet Tech Open Mic Night

* When – 1900 or 7PM CST

* Dial – (646) 876-9923,,7854091838#

* URL – https://zoom.us/j/7854091838

How marrying Apple’s iOS with Microsoft’s Accessibility Apps Enhance Blind Independence

If you told me 10 or even 5 years ago my life would revolve around a touch screen phone made by Apple, I would have not believed you. Now if you added that this is made possible by pairing the iPhone with apps from Microsoft to explore and recognize the world around me, I would have flat out laughed. For the history of Microsoft, a rather hands off approach and reliance on third party solutions influenced how the blind accessed Windows. Since Narrator’s inception, its been a joke, until Windows 10 brought about a renewed focus on making it on par with JAWS and NVDA. Alongside this, Microsoft, through its accessibility initiatives, have developed amazing iOS apps, like Seeing AI and Sound Scape. These apps, along with the standard Microsoft Office apps on iOS continues to advance the notion that an iPhone or iPad is a multi-functional tool and computer replacement for the blind.

Review of Smart Speakers and Digital Assistants

The leading digital assistants for the home includes Apple’s Siri through iOS and HomePod, Amazon Alexa through Echo and other smart speakers, and Google Assistant. Each possesses the ability to control compatible smart home devices. Richard has developed a smart home system that relies on both Siri and Alexa to preform separate functions, like geo fencing automatic actions through Siri and relying on Alexa for entertainment.

Richard powers his smart home through the Sonos smart speakers througho...

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we demonstrate and review Microsoft’s Soundscape. If you are looking for a simple to use app to explore your surroundings, Soundscape is perfect. Its minimalistic design makes it a snap to quickly know where you are and nearby items. The Revolutionary aspect stems from how binaural or 3d audio informs you of the direction of your destination or nearby points of interest. This means you need to possess stereo headsets, like Apple’s AirPods to fully enjoy the app. Here are the basic menu options to get you started:

* Call Outs are user selected items Sound Scape announces as you approach locations, intersections or periodically

* Beacons are user selected locations on the main screen where Sound Scape provides a continuous tapping sound towards the location

* My Location provides basic information about where you are

* Around Me identifies all items in a set radius around you

* Ahead Of Me only announces those items directly in front of you, based on the direction you are holding your iPhone

Overall, I like Microsoft’s Soundscape and feel it is worth the time to learn how to use it. This can serve either as a replacement or backup to Blind Square, based on the feature sets you desire. The major draw backs involve the inability to input addresses as a beacon or reference point. Second is the inability to drop a place marker at a destination.

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here. All of our podcasts and other information related to Veterans, blindness, acceptance of a disability, and other resources may be found at BlindNotAlone.com

Don’t miss another Blind Vet Tech teleconference, click here to see a list of our teleconferences and others we support.

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we continue our “getting Started with Narrator” series. This series enables one to learn how to use Microsoft Narrator by following along with the “Get Started with Narrator,” located on the Microsoft Support Pages. This series is our companion series to our Monthly Narrator Talk, which occurs on the second Tuesday of the month at 1300 CST. To learn how to connect, click here. To follow along, you will need Windows 10 Fall Creators Edition or later, since earlier versions of Windows 10 do not have many of the same key combos or functions as newer versions of Windows. Anyone with Windows 8 or older will not be able to follow along on their computers, since Narrator was very limited in these versions.

Chapter 2 focuses on navigating around Windows 10 with Narrator by using some very basic keyboard commands and shortcuts. These includes pressing tab and using the arrow keys to maneuver around the Desktop. After this, one learns how to use the Narrator Key or Caps Lock key, with the arrow keys and other keys to quickly navigate around the screen to controlling different aspects about Narrator. This series would to be possible without Microsoft’s Get Started with Narrator Series, and strongly recommend everyone navigate to Chapter 2 of their guide to follow along with this episode.

Tab provides a degree of navigating around the screen to major items or various form fields

* Arrow Keys will enable one to navigate around the apps on your desktop and some menus within Windows 10

* Caps Lock and Up or Down arrows enables you to change Narrator’s view so you can easily navigate amongst elements on a page, characters, words, lines. Form fields, landmarks, headings, and much more

* Caps Lock and Left and Right arrows allows you to actually navigate by the selected Narrator View you set with Caps Lock and Up or Down arrows

* Caps Lock and Spacebar enables Scan mode

* Caps Lock and Minus or Plus decreases or increases Narrator’s rate of speech

* Caps Lock and T reads off the current application or window’s title

* Caps Lock and 1 enables Input Learning Mode so you can test out any key combination

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here. All of our podcasts and other information related to Veterans, blindness,

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we review the three major iOS money reading apps for US bank notes, EyeNote, Money Reader, and SeeingAI. Wile many in the blindness community advocate for the US to adopt tactile bank notes, there is absolutely nothing stopping one from simply integrating one of these three amazing currency recognition apps into their lives. Here are the three and our general thoughts:

* EyeNote by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing

* Version 3.0, December 2017

* The official app from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing updated Eyenote to support the 64bit requirements for compatibility with iOS 11. The result is a very quick and smooth US currency recognition app that detects and announces the denomination and which side is facing up. The only draw back involves the lack of support for other currencies.

* Nant Mobile Money Reader (aka Money Reader) by IPPLEX

* Version 2.6, October 2017

* Long touted by the blindness community as the best currency recognition app on the App Store despite numerous name and developer changes, Money Reader still preforms admirably. The identification occurs rapidly through your Voice Over’s voice. It also continuously announces the denomination of the note as long as you hold it under your iOS device’s camera. Additionally it identifies most every major bank note in the world.

* SeeingAI by Microsoft

* Version 2.0, December 2017

* Microsoft continuously expands upon the sheer awesomeness of SeeingAI. The recent addition for currency recognition occurs flawlessly. Similar to Money Reader, it will continuously announce any currency you have under your device’s camera, relying on speech settings you selected within its settings under menu. At this point, SeeingAI requires you to select the type of currency you use under Menu, Settings, Currency, and is limited to US, UK, Canadian, and Euros.

… and the winner is… It depends.

SeeingAI will remain my main solution since its capable of recognizing more than just currencies. The multifunctional aspects of it promotes my willingness to integrate it into daily life. I do not do international travel, so being able to recognize multiple currencies is not a big deal. The ability to set currency recognition within the 3d Touch menu only makes it that much easier to access this feature.

The updated version of Eyenote is a very close second and would not dismiss it. If anything, its a great backup and its abilities to inform you which side is facing up aids those Type A folks who need things in a certain way.

If you require the ability to identify multiple currencies, then Money Reader will be the best app to rely on. I have used it during international travels and found it very accurate and simple to use.

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements through the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews blog and podcasts.

* Subscribe via iTunes by clicking here

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream,

After the maelstrom of news and concerns we covered in January’s Blind Vet Tech News Update, we are happy to provide hope and optimism for February. First an administrative note. We will continue to post the Blind Vet Tech News update here on the main Blind Not Alone blog. Followers will now receive all of our content when they subscribe here at Blind Not Alone. Secondly this action enables us to evolve the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials podcast into the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast channel. This enables us to advance our mission bringing you more relevant content to assist you in bridging the technological divide we each face when living with a visual impairment. Now time for the news.

February’s Low Vision Awareness Month

did you know February is Low Vision Awareness Month? Low Vision encapsulates a very broad set of visual impairments. The World Health Organization describes Low Vision as an individual with a visual impairment impacting normal functioning even after corrective lenses or medical treatment and is able to use, residual vision for the planning and execution of a task. The American Academy of Ophthalmology describes common low vision symptoms as blurriness, night blindness, restricted fields of view, hazy vision, glare, or blind spots. These are commonly noted in age related conditions like Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, or Macular Degeneration; childhood and adult conditions like Retinitis Pigmentosa, or Stargardt Disease; or trauma to the lens, cornea, retina, optical nerve, Traumatic Brain Injuries, or strokes.

Low vision symptoms serve as the canary in the coal mine alert for blindness. Early diagnosis and treatment may stop and even reverse the progression of the disease. For this reason, we each need to be aware of what Low Vision is and trust in a hope for a brighter future.

If your vision is not correctable, talk with a low vision clinic, like state blind rehab services, Department of Veterans Affairs eye clinics, ophthalmology or optometry clinics, or Lighthouses for the blind. These entities may discuss with you some rather simple low tech solutions to innovated technological devices. If your field of view is restricted, as with central field loss or blind spots, prism lenses to the eSight glasses will aid in expanding your sight. If you struggle with reading things up close or seeing distant objects, magnifiers and telescopes offer simple ways to focus on newspapers or signs. Alternatively digital magnifiers, Cyber Eyez smart glasses, or the JORDY will enable you to watch your favorite team or read a wonderful book. IF you are tethered to a computer, integrated accessibility options will allow you to increase the size of the text, reduce glare, and improve contrast. If you require screen magnification, Windows users will wish to check out ZoomText, while Apple MacOS users rely on Zoom. Similar items may be found on any

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we embark upon our “getting Started with Narrator” series. This series enables one to learn how to use Microsoft Narrator by following along with the “Get Started with Narrator,” located on the Microsoft Support Pages. This series is our companion series to our Monthly Narrator Talk, which occurs on the second Tuesday of the month at 1300 CST. To learn how to connect, click here. To follow along, you will need Windows 10 Fall Creators Edition or later, since earlier versions of Windows 10 do not have many of the same key combos or functions as newer versions of Windows. Anyone with Windows 8 or older will not be able to follow along on their computers, since Narrator was very limited in these versions.

This first chapter focuses on how to activate Narrator. This may be accomplished by doing the following:

* Press Windows Key plus Control, Enter while on any screen

* Press Windows Key, Control, “N” to bring up Narrator’s settings and press Spacebar

* Press Windows Key and “U” to bring up the Ease of Access Center, press tab, and then Enter

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here. All of our podcasts and other information related to Veterans, blindness, acceptance of a disability, and other resources may be found at BlindNotAlone.com

Don’t miss another Blind Vet Tech teleconference, click here to see a list of our teleconferences and others we support.

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we demonstrate how to listen to the latest news through a simple Siri command. Apple recently rolled out a stealth update to Siri that enables you to quickly listen to a current news podcast from sources like NPR, CNN, Washington Post, and Fox. This update occurs behind the scenes, so you do not need to update anything, outside of ensuring Siri is able to run and access Apple’s podcast app. To use this feature, try the following Siri Commands:

* Hey Siri, play the latest news

* Hey Siri, I want to listen to the latest news

* Hey Siri, switch to the Washington Post

When using this, keep in mind that Hey Siri does not always work if something is already playing in the foreground.

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here. All of our podcasts and other information related to Veterans, blindness, acceptance of a disability, and other resources may be found at BlindNotAlone.com

Don’t miss another Blind Vet Tech teleconference, click here to see a list of our teleconferences and others we support.

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we guide you through the basics of iOS’ 3D Touch. 3D Touch is a method to interact with iPhones and iPads by firmly pressing into the screen to bring up a contextual menu, preview of a linked item, and so much more. Voice Over users may require a couple of attempts to get the hang of it, since it requires you to first locate an item through explore by touch and then press into the screen. This is very different from the standard swiping, flicking, and other gestures commonly used with Voice Over, though its similar to the double tap and hold gesture.

iOS offers individuals a couple of settings to customize 3D Touch and a limited practice area. You may find these items by navigating into Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D Touch. Here are the three options in this menu:

* 3D Touch on/off toggle

* Sensitivity ticker with Light, Medium, and Firm settings

* Practice mode button, which may be difficult for Voice Over users to activate as the podcast demostrates

3D Touch may be used on the Lock Screen, Home Screen, and in various locations within apps. Here are a few of the ways I use 3D Touch:

* Clear away notifications on the Lock Screen

* Find the notification by exploring the screen with a finger

* 3D Touch on the notification

* Swipe to the left or right to locate the desired button, like clear or complete buttons

* Quickly interact with apps on the Home Screen to compose messages or make a call

* Find the desired app by exploring the screen with one finger

* 3D Touch on the app to bring up a contextual menu consisting of buttons for dismissing the menu, sharing the app, composing a new message, calling a favorite person, viewing recent activities, or starting a workout

3D Touch possesses many more exciting functions based on the app. To aid in learning how 3D Touch works, share your favorite ways to use 3D Touch below.

If you enjoy the Blind Vet Tech Podcast series, we invite anyone interested in assistive technology for the blind to join us on our monthly tech teleconferences. Click here to see a list of our calls and how to connect via Zoom.

Stay Informed

Stay up to date with the latest news and announcements from the Blind Vet Tech team, by doing one of the following:

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech News and Announcements podcast on iTunes

* Subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials on iTunes

* Follow the Blind Vet Tech podcasts on your Victor Reader Stream, Hims Blaze, or podcasting app by searching for Blind Vet Tech in the podcast section

* Receive an email about any posts by subscribing to our blog

If you have any questions, comments, or requests, feel free to send us an email here. All of our podcasts and other information related to Veterans, blindness, acceptance of a disability, and other resources may be found at BlindNotAlone.com

Don’t miss another Blind Vet Tech teleconference, click here to see a list of our teleconferences and others we support.