In this session, we’ll cover some of the new features and changes that Apple has introduced in iOS 26. Besides less impactful changes for blind users like liquid glass, there are a bunch of new accessibility features. These include Braille Access mode, updates to VoiceOver, changes to numerous apps, and more. While this won’t be an exhaustive exploration of each feature, the hope is to make people aware of the newly added features and provide enough knowledge to start exploring any that interest you for yourselves.

In part two of our discussion about productivity apps on iPhones, we take a whirlwind tour of possibilities. A wide range of apps to help with everything from task management, cooking recipes, scheduling events, recording music, and many more activities will be briefly covered. While I’ll offer some explanations of how to use various apps, the main goal is to make people more aware of the possibilities for getting things done and managing your work using your iPhone. Beyond apps, we’ll also briefly discuss features included in your iPhone which may prove helpful.

Your iPhone can help you get things done and be productive. In the first part of our look at productivity related apps and capabilities, we’ll get an overview of this. A good grasp of aspects of VoiceOver is vital. We’ll explore those aspects and also take a deeper dive into apps related to writing and office work.

One of the most powerful ways an iPhone has changed my life is through making books accessible and portable. This month’s lecture is all about how to acquire and read eBooks and audiobooks using your iPhone. Accessible digital libraries, small publishers, and large outlets such as Apple and Amazon make books available in digital form. Apps on your iPhone like Kindle, Audible, Voice Dream Reader, and others let you take full advantage of these books. While it’s impossible to cover everything, I’ll attempt to give you an idea how things work and give you an idea of the lay of the land. Just in time for a Summer of portable and accessible reading.

Your iPhone is a great device for listening to podcasts and internet radio. There are thousands of radio stations which broadcast over the internet. Many of them are run by people who are blind. Besides great shows to listen to, you can interact and be a part of a community by using social media and email. Podcasts are another area where blind people have gotten involved. There are podcasts about pretty much everything and most are free to listen to. In this cession, we’ll discuss these forms of entertainment and community. You’ll learn about different apps used to hear internet radio stations and podcasts. We’ll also discuss how you can participate all from your iPhone.

In our modern lives, mental and physical health is an increasing concern. Using apps and sensors on our iPhone and in accessories we can connect it to, there are many ways in which your iPhone can assist you. iPhones can count the steps we take as we carry them with us. Workout apps can offer training and encouragement to keep ourselves fit. They can give us an outlet to journal our thoughts. Recent additions include mood tracking and mental health assessment questionnaires which assess our danger of anxiety or depression. Meditation apps like headspace can provide numerous mindfulness tools. There are also books and podcasts which our iPhones can help us find and access. We’ll take a whirlwind tour of all of these and hopefully provide enough information to get people started.

The first lecture on accessible games focussed on good games for beginners and exploring different types of games. In this second lecture, we look more closely at the economics behind what games are available. We talk about why some great games have disappeared from the app store and what keeps some old favourites viable. I’ll talk about some of the deeper more complex games available and why they’re some of my favourites. Also, we’ll look beyond apps to how your iPhone can help you participate and play other kinds of games like physical board and card games. We’ll also touch on how your iPhone can help you play tabletop roleplaying games with friends both online and in person.

The GTT program is excited to have a representative from Innosearch.ai Visiting us to introduce an innovative accessible shopping page!

We learn best when we’re busy having too much fun to realize that it’s happening. With their power to engage us, games can teach us lessons about ourselves, each other, and the technology we use to play them. Text adventures built of words, statistics and story can motivate us to learn typing and how to review the screen. Other games might improve our reflexes or show us the consequences of taking risks. Games of chance played with others might help break the ice so those others become friends. This week, we’ll begin a two part tour of the kinds of games which blind people can obtain and play using their iPhones. From story adventures to board games, strategy simulations and arcade audio action, there’s a lot of fun to be had. The lectures will focus on giving people a sense of what’s available. For live demonstrations of some games suitable for beginners, people can join us on the third Wednesday in February and March for cessions focussed on helping participants understand how to actually start playing games particularly good for beginners.

The camera on your iPhone is a tremendously useful addition for Blind users. Combined with the internet, human sighted volunteers and artificial intelligence, the right apps can do a whole lot of good. We’ll discuss the apps which harness these capabilities to help you read printed documents, identify items, find lost things and tell you what is around. We’ll also discuss some of the implications of these tools and the economics making it all possible.