iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.

Helpful links from today’s program on NvDA.

Download the current stable version of NVDA at 

https://www.nvaccess.org/download/

We mentioned it a little bit, but we are currently in the Beta period for NVDA 2025.1.  

Some of the key updates in NVDA 2025.1

- NVDA Remote built in

- Speech responsiveness and other features for, SAPI4, SAPI5, and OneCore

- Improvements to add-on store auto updates

- New commands to manually refresh ocr

- Native selection in Chromium and Edge (Press NVDA+shift+F10 then copy as normal to copy text with formatting)

- Default input & output braille tables based on language

- Added a general setting to prevent the display turning off during say all or reading with braille. This option is enabled by default, but may result in increased battery depletion. 

- Braille works with say all config profiles

Add-ons:

Braille Extender, developed by André-Abush Clause and contributors

https://github.com/aaclause/BrailleExtender

Many features including Switching between displays or tables with shortcuts, and additional commands and support for a range of features.

PC Keyboard Braille Input

NVDA Spanish team (Available from the NVDA Add-on store)

Type Braille using six keyboard keys as on a perkins

Still on Braille, we published a lot of recent and upcoming features in a special edition of our In-Process blog back in October: 

https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-23rd-october-2024/#datavalidation

And you can subscribe to that blog, and to all our announcements, updates, releases etc, via email at: 

https://eepurl.com/iuVyjo

Our training material is all available from our shop: 

https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/

We recommend starting with Basic Training for NVDA, which you can get as:

- Electronic text (Word, Text, ePub and HTML formats) for $35: 

https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-ebook/

Human-read MP3 audio for $52: 

https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-downloadable-audio/

UEB Braille for $71:

https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-braille-hard-copy/

Community links:

NVDA user group: 

https://nvda.groups.io/g/nvda

Add-ons group: https://nvda-addons.groups.io/g/nvda-addons/

NVDA Developer Guide: 

https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/developerGuide.html

Contact us:

Web: https://www.nvaccess.org/

Email: [email protected]

Social Media - most of our users are on Fosstodon: https://fosstodon.org/@NVAccess

In this webinar, Andrew and Peter from HumanWare discuss and demonstrate the latest enhancements to the Monarch software and a few other points including:

the new Email app,

Web browsing with Ecosia,

eBraille version of Treasure Island, and

a demo of the Wing It app to allow drawing on the Monarch tactile display from the iPhone.

Contact [email protected] for more information, Andrew or Peter or myself in Australia David Woodbridge at HumanWare Australia.

In this demo, I show you how simple it is to connect your Mantis Q40 QWERTY keyboard and Braille display device to your Mac.

Enjoy

Woody

Demo of how easy it is to connect your Brailliant BI20X or BI40X to your Mac using VoiceOver with Bluetooth.

In this demo, I talk about the importance of accessing the accessible QR code to learn how to use the BrailleDoodle fully, which then leads me on to my next point, and that is the amazing function of the BrailleDoodle where you can practice each character displayed on the back of the BrailleDoodle as well as having an example to work with for each character.

Also, happy to say BrailleDoodle is now available from the Vision Australia Vision Store:

https://shop.visionaustralia.org/brailledoodle.html

Have fun.

Woody

If you ever wanted a manual way (yes no battery or power required) to learn Braille, do some tactile drawing or even do some quick notes, then have a listen to this demo of the BrailleDoodle from the Touch Pro Fundation.

Amazed what you can do, and don't forget there is a lot of info on the back of the BrailleDoodle, not just the front fun face.

Enjoy.

Woody 

In this demo, I take you through the features of the Mantis Q40 leather case which gives you proper protection of the Mantis Q40 QWERTY keyboard, thumb keys, and the SD card slot.

One of my must have cases. If you've spent over four thousand dollars in Australia on a device, then spending $180 is a great way to protect your investment.

The case that comes with the Mantis Q40 doesn't offer any protection at all. It really just stops the device from slipping on a desk.

Go to https://www.humanware.com to find out more or to order.

Enjoy.

Woody

In this demo, I show you how easy it is to crate an image file on the computer, and then have it displayed on the Monarch.

When your device or software for that matter isn't behaving in the way it should from Humanware in Au, Arthur is your go to person.

You can ring 02 9686 2600 (4 then 4) or email [email protected].

I can be contacted as usual at [email protected] or check out our excellent website at https://www.humanware.com (and yes, it'll change depending on what region your in smile).

Woody

A bit of a chat episode from me on a number of points of why I find the Meta Ray Ban glasses so helpful.

I’ve had mine now for about 3 Months, and for me, they work fine for such AI things:

Spot reading (what is this bit of paper or thing in the mail box),

What is the main text on this jar or packet,

Is my computer screen on (is there anything on the screen),

Where are my bins (garbage truck drops them in random spots some times),

Taxi number (good for drivers that want to take off and not take my Guide Dog),

Is there a train in front of me (when you have a noisy goods train on the opposite track),

Is there a seat (taxi, bus or train station seat),

Is my phone showing anything or has the speech stop working,

Is there any cars for me crossing the road (I think I heard a car pull up but?),

What does the sign say on this shop,

Are there stairs, a lift or escalator in front of me?

Are there any people near me,

What does this park, building, house etc look like,

Can you see my Guide Dog (dog) in the back yard,

And so on.

As far as usual voice assistance, you can also do:

Play Music,

Answer/hang up a phone call,

Send and read back a message,

What is the time date,

What is the weather,

Calculate numbers,

Convert stuff,

Ask more in-depth questions about a topic,

etc.

However the big big one is the connectivity with Be-My-Eyes where via the glasses connected to the Be-My-Eyes app on the phone, you can get a sighted volunteer to see through the glasses you are waring and get sighted assistance.

Also of course, NOA Chat for extra O&M info via WhatsApp, and the Chat GPT text function also via WhatsApp.