On FSCast 245, a demo of how PictureSmart just got smarter thanks to the new chat feature. Then Alice O'Reilly, Chief of the Collections Division, and Tamara Rorie, head of Patron Engagement at NLS, talk about the array of free services and devices available to people living in the United States. Plus, we'll get to know Gordon Legge, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Minnesota Laboratory for Low-Vision Research.

On FSCast 244, we'll meet Ana Gonzalez Arean. She'll talk about growing up in Venezuela and becoming a language professor at two universities, but then needing to move to Spain to start a new life for herself. Then, Cathy Miller and Nicky Gillies from the Louisiana DeafBlind project discuss some of the challenges of identifying deafblind kids young and helping them to achieve their potential.

On the archive of the March FSOpenLine, people share their favorite things to do with PictureSmart AI, including how to use it with FaceInView to describe what's in the background. And of course questions on a variety of other topics including why JAWS place markers sometimes lose their place, why Thunderbird speaks incoming email notifications multiple times, and how to quickly find out who has hands raised in Zoom.

On FSCast 242, we'll put the newly released Picture Smart AI through its paces, and you'll hear the detailed descriptions it can generate for everything from a bar chart to a frame from a YouTube video. Then, a visit with longtime blindness advocate Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind. Transcript available at blog.FreedomScientific.com

On FSCast 241, guest host Mohammed Laachir introduces us to the world of accessible gaming. He'll visit with Jesse Anderson, who runs the IllegallySighted YouTube channel, to talk about some of the games that you can play if you're blind or low vision. Then Mohammed talks with NightBlade, who runs an annual Game Jam to get sighted developers excited about accessibility.

Links and transcript available at blog.FreedomScientific.com/FSCast.

On FSCast 240, we're joined by screen reading pioneer Doug Geoffray. We'll hear about the development of Vocal-Eyes, Window-Eyes, and Doug's eventual transition to Microsoft, where he helps ensure that their new products are accessible. Then, a deep dive into password managers, two-factor authentication, and a demo of using the Bitwarden password manager with JAWS. Transcript available at blog.FreedomScientific.com/FSCast

On the archive of FSOpenLine from November 2023, some Freedom Scientific developers and testers offer an inside look at our process for developing and refining new features. We also take your calls on a variety of topics including: the accessibility of the new Outlook interface and how to enable or disable it, how to use the Quick Access bar to get to frequently used commands in Microsoft Office apps, regressions with JAWS access to the Game Bar in Windows 11, and a request to be able to automatically switch between voices from different synthesizers.

On FSCast 238, the finals of our November 14 Next Big Thing contest. You'll hear a presentation of the top three ideas, questions from our panel of four judges, some great entertainment, and of course, the person selected as the winner.

Transcript at blog.FreedomScientific.com

On FSCast 237, a visit with Pete Torpey. You probably know him as the co-host of the Eyes on Success podcast, but prior to that, he had a distinguished career as a research fellow at Xerox. Then, Space Camp for interested visually impaired students. We'll get all the details from Group Coordinator Dan Oates and Space Camp Vice President Robin Soprano.

Transcript available at blog.FreedomScientific.com/FSCast.

On FSCast 236, we're joined by Catherine Getchell, Director of Disability Resources at Carnegie Mellon University. We'll hear about her path to the job at CMU and what motivates her to do this kind of work. Then, to celebrate October as Disability Employment Awareness Month, Lori Scharff and Richard Rueda from the American Printing House for the Blind's CareerConnect program.