Techstravaganza Afternoons

Key Takeaways

• The session was a tutorial on using the Native Mail app on Mac with VoiceOver, held on Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
• Topics covered included adding/removing email accounts, reading and navigating messages, composing, replying, forwarding, and attaching files.
• A notable discussion arose around Hotmail/Outlook's aggressive spam filtering, which persists even after users set rules, add senders to contacts, or mark emails as "not junk."
• A practical tip was shared: copying a file in Finder and pasting it directly into an email body is a universal and easy method to attach files across all email clients and platforms.
• Gmail's 15 GB storage limit was discussed, with advice to open additional accounts or delete unused emails to manage space.

• ​To learn more about the workshops, please visit techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletters so you never miss topic lists, updates and workshop uploads.

Key Takeaways

• The session was a Techstravaganza workshop held on Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, focused on demonstrating the Humanware Brailliant BI40X braille display.
• Ali Moosa demonstrated how to switch between connected devices, navigate the device menu, and explore settings including speech and voice options on the Brailliant BI40X.
• A key recommendation was made to keep the speech feature enabled on the braille display for extra confirmation, particularly when entering complex usernames and passwords.
• Challenges were identified with entering numbers and special characters in Braille when logging into online services such as CELA Direct to Player.
• Palmer's issue with setting up an Outlook.com account in the native Mac Mail app was explored; the Outlook app was identified as the recommended workaround.
• Braille table and language profile configuration was discussed for both the Brailliant BI40X and the Mantis Q40, with guidance provided on selecting the correct Braille grade and translation tables.
• NVDA was noted as providing cleaner Braille output compared to JAWS, though navigation limitations with the Brailliant's thumb keys under NVDA were identified.
• Upcoming sessions were announced: a Techstravaganza Evenings session on August 13thcovering iPhone setup from scratch, and a session on August 19th covering the native Mac Mail app.

To learn more about the workshops, please visit, techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletters so you never miss topic lists, updates and workshop uploads. If you have any questions or topic suggestions, feel free to reach out to the team at [email protected]

• The session was a "Techstravaganza" workshop focused on iPhone troubleshooting and factory reset procedures, hosted by Siena and Ali.
• A bug in iOS 27 Beta was identified where VoiceOver activities revert to the default "Samantha Compact" voice instead of the user-set "Alex" voice.
• The recovery mode button sequence changed in iOS 27: it is now Volume Up → Volume Down → Hold Side Button (previously Volume Down → Volume Up → Hold Side Button).
• A factory reset was successfully demonstrated directly from the iPhone via Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings.
• The session was declared Part 1 of a two-part series; Part 2 (setting up an iPhone from scratch) will be covered at the next Techstravaganza Evenings on Thursday, August 13.
• Siena announced a vacation from approximately August 26 to October 7; during that period, sessions will be hosted by Ali, Macara, Ashlyn, and Lily, and will be conducted on Google Meet instead of Zoom.
• A Techstravaganza Extra on Friday will demonstrate the Google Meet platform.
• iCloud backup best practices were discussed: automatic daily backup is recommended, and backing up over cellular data is generally discouraged.

To learn more, please visit techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletters so you never miss topic lists, schedule updates and the uploads of the workshops. If you have any questions or topic suggestions, feel free to reach out to the team at [email protected]

The session was a live tutorial held on July 29, 2026, focused on using the Mac Finder and Dock with VoiceOver accessibility.

Siena demonstrated how to navigate the Dock, add and remove applications, use keyboard shortcuts, and manage files and folders within the Finder.

Participants asked questions throughout, contributing tips and clarifications, including a helpful ergonomic keyboard shortcut suggestion from Roueida.

The originally planned tutorial on the HumanWare Mantis Q40 Braille display was postponed; the next session (August 5) will cover setting up an iPhone from scratch using VoiceOver.

An announcement was made that Techstravaganza will remain on Zoom, though a Google Meet tutorial is planned to keep participants informed of that platform's improvements.

To learn more about the workshops, please visit techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletter so you never miss topic updates, schedules and workshop uploads.

The session was a Techstravaganza workshop held on July 22, 2026, focused on using the iOS Mail app to add email addresses and phone numbers to contacts.

Siena demonstrated step-by-step how to add a sender's email address to a new or existing contact directly from the Mail app on iPhone.

Ali noted a shortcut: simply activating (single double-tap) the From field achieves the same result as a double-tap-and-hold.

The process of copying an email address to the clipboard and manually pasting it into a new contact was also demonstrated.

Siena demonstrated how to copy a phone number from an email (using double-tap-and-hold on the linked number) and paste it into a contact, noting that iOS automatically formats North American numbers with hyphens.

Participants discussed limitations of the Gmail app for adding contacts compared to the native Mail app.

To learn more about the workshops, please visit techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletters so you never miss schedule, topic and workshop updates.

* The session was a Techstravaganza tutorial held on July 15, 2026, focused on navigating the iPhone home screen using VoiceOver accessibility features.

* Topics covered included opening and closing apps, navigating the App Switcher, using the Control Center and Notification Center, moving apps between pages and folders, and deleting apps.

* Participants were encouraged to ask questions during designated Q&A segments.

* A practical workaround was shared for the VoiceOver edit mode timeout issue when dragging apps across multiple pages.

* The session concluded with a reminder that support is available at [email protected].

To learn more about the workshops, please visit, techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe to the newsletters so you never miss workshop updates and schedules.

* The session was a Techstravaganza workshop held on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, focused on a tutorial of the Goodreads app using VoiceOver on iPhone 15.

* Siena led a comprehensive walkthrough of Goodreads, covering the Home tab, My Books tab, Discover tab, Notifications, account creation, and adding friends.

* The team confirmed that Zoom will remain the platform of choice for all Techstravaganza sessions going forward.

* Upcoming events were announced: Techstravaganza Evenings (Thursday, July 9) covering the Zedge app, and the introduction of the new Techstravaganza branding structure (Afternoons, Evenings, and Extra).

To learn more about the workshops, please visit techstravaganza.ca. While you're there, subscribe so you never miss out on workshop updates.