Tek Talk welcomes Kim Loftis, Mystic Access’s Director of Product Development, to discuss Amazon Fire tablets. Kim will share the options available when choosing a Fire tablet, the features you’ll find, navigation tips, and more. And, of course, answer your questions.

Are you new to touch screen devices and curious to learn, but aren’t sure you want to invest in a device over $400 as a beginner? Are you searching for a new resource for books which can be read with superlative text to speech voices? Do you want a small but powerful replacement for everyday computing tasks, such as checking email, browsing the internet, and even using a voice assistant?

Meet the Amazon Fire Tablet. It’s fairly small (about the size of an iPad Mini or slightly bigger, depending on the model you choose), includes Ivona text to speech, and brings the world of Amazon’s Kindle books to your fingertips, literally. And yes, it includes its very own screen reader, VoiceView.

Presenter Contact info:

Email: [email protected]

Website: HTTPS://www.mysticaccess.com

Tek Talk welcomes Julian Vargas, a Mobile Access Technology Specialist, to discuss the latest developments in the world of mobile devices from Apple’s recent hardware announcements and updates to IOS to recent significant improvements to Google’s TalkBack screen reader for Android devices, including new multi-finger gestures. He will also talk about some of his favorite apps and of course, answer participants’ questions. Julian will also briefly talk about his newly re-launched empowerment discussion group, that meets virtually for now, for people in the Los Angeles CA, and Cape Coral/FT Myers FL areas. Julian believes that mobile devices are fast becoming the personal computer of today. Empowering blind and low-vision users to better understand and harness the full potential afforded by both specialized and mainstream technologies to help us live fuller and richer lives is his passion. As a trainer he teaches people how to use many of today’s popular mobile solutions such as the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and the many powerful apps that are available to increase independence and productivity. Through consultation he helps people make informed choices that will best serve their individual and specific needs.

Bio Info

Presenter Contact info:

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.techjv.com

Tek Talk welcomes Jeff Bishop and Larry Gassman to talk about podcasting. What is a Podcast? How do you find a podcast? Quite a bit of time will be spent looking at the iOS platform because most of us listen to podcasts using smart phones. We will discuss the podcasting applications available and the pros and cons of each. Since 83% of listeners use the Victor Reader Stream, we will definitely devote some time to podcasting using that device. We will also leave time for questions at the end of this presentation.

Tek Talk welcomes Chris of Mystic Access to discuss and demonstrate the use of Chromebooks.

He will also discuss Chrome box and Chrome base using the ChromeVox screen reader.

Presenter Contact info:

Website: www.mysticaccess.com

Tek Talk is delighted to welcome back one of our own Tek Talk planning team members.

Jeff Bishop is a product manager for Microsoft, and will be with us to talk about several key features in the May version release of Windows 10 including Windows Narrator.

Jeff will also speak to us about new items in Windows 10 for those who are blind and use a screen reader. He is also on the Windows accessibility team, and will be happy to answer questions from the audience.

[email protected]

Clubhouse is literally taking the world by storm. It’s an all audio International social media platform currently for iOS and very popular amongst blind people. Jeff Bishop, John and Larry Gassman among others will participate and of course questions, comments, and experiences with Clubhouse are welcome from the Tek Talk audience.

Presenter Contact info:

John Gassman: [email protected]

Larry Gassman: [email protected]

Nathan Tech is Nathan’s personal website which he founded back in 2013. Since then it has gone through several evolutions from Audio games, to Multi-User Dungeons and now to where it is today, software and tutorials. It should be noted straight off that the website still supports Games and the Multi-User Dungeon, however the main focus these days is the accessible software and tutorials. In the presentation he will begin by summarising just what software he offers, ranging from Educational, to Utility, to Media Player and Podcatcher. He hopes to delight us by expanding then into the Software Archive and tutorials on offer, before swooping us back round for a more in-depth look into one of the biggest projects to date which is Calliope. Calliope is the most accessible out of the box media player designed at blind screen reader users on the market with a simple, yet feature packed interface which aims to suit as many needs as possible.

Contact info:

https://nathantech.net

Are you legally blind or print disabled? Do you miss reading the newspaper, your favorite magazines, and other information? Learn how you can read hundreds of up-to-date newspapers, over 70 magazines, job listings, TV listings, store circulars, and more in an accessible format with NFB-NEWSLINE®. Liz Wisecarver, NFB-NEWSLINE® Texas Coordinator, will demonstrate this free electronic information service using the telephone, iOS app for iPhone and iPad, and on the Amazon Alexa speaker. For more information and to register for NFB-NEWSLINE®, visit www.nfbnewsline.org.

Contact info:

NFB-NEWSLINE Texas

281-968-7634

[email protected]

It can be scary to have your screen reader die on you, but a few preparation steps can save you a world of hassle. Deborah Armstrong will show you how to set up your Windows PC to cope when this occurs.

Contact info:

iBUG Today, Inc. is a non-profit organization promoting the individual independence, social integration, and educational development of the blind and visually impaired community across the country through accessible technology training. iBUG (iBlind Users Group) endeavors to transform the blind community through accessible technology training so they can live extraordinary lives full of independence, productivity, communication and social integration in a world where everything is within the realm of possibility.

Contact info:

Michael McCulloch, President and CEO

832-453-7139

Sandhya Rao, Vice President – Training & Special Events, Secretary

713-208-3278