Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, May 31, 2012 - Volume 355
The Week's News in Access Technology

A Flying Blind, LLC Publication
http://www.flying-blind.com/

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Greetings,

1) An item where fast action will be needed: A survey discussing the accessibility of free conference call services will remain open until Saturday the 2nd of June.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NBDX7GK

2) Here is information about the free VizWiz Social iPhone app, an app that allows blind users to receive quick answers to questions about their surroundings.
http://vizwiz.org/details.php

3) This video, from The Blind Film Critic, discusses how blind people write Braille.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj51UuxwjaE

4) The latest tech doctor podcast is entitled "From Apple to Law School" with Shane Jackson
http://www.dr-carter.com/?p=115

5) Forums on the AppleVis site that you might want to follow include:
Using iPhone with a Braille display as a notetaker:
http://www.applevis.com/applevis-forum/braille-users/using-iphone-braille-display-notetaker
Whats better, Windows with JAWS or a Mac with VO?
http://www.applevis.com/applevis-forum/os-x-mac-app-discussion/whats-better-windows-jaws-or-mac-vo
Mac for college:
http://www.applevis.com/applevis-forum/os-x-mac-app-discussion/mac-college
Also, the Voice Book social networking app has generated a lot of discussion:
http://www.applevis.com/ios-app-directory/social-networking/voice-book-vo

6) This opinion post from PM's World Blog is entitled "Why I think twitter clients specifically for blind people are something which should go away", and gives good information about past and present access to Twitter.
http://pmsworld.tdrealms.com/blog,3

7) The Ice Cream Sandwich from an Accessibility Point of View page has 14 podcasts and counting.
http://www.jjhof.com/android/ics/

8) In more Android news, Braille support is now available on Android by means of Mobile Accessibility from Code Factory.
http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415

9) Dodge City Desperados for Windows is a free computer game just released by Rich De Steno. Send a request for it and any of his other free games to:
ironrock@verizon.net

10) The Cisco Academy for the visually Impaired offers fairly regular lecture/discussion sessions on topics related to their classes, or of probable interest to the students. The one given on 21 May concerns how best to use a scanner to read print documents.
http://www.cucat.org/class_notes/CaviCasts/2012/20120521_optimize_scanning.mp3
This link leads to the page where you can access all the CAVI Casts for the last six years:
http://www.cucat.org/class_notes/CaviCasts/

11) Free JAWS scripts have been written for the Zello communication program; one of the script commands gives help on how to use the program.
http://www.dlee.org/zello/

12) A new podcast from the Serotalk Podcast Network is High Contrast, with a focus on low vision. Here is the first episode's program page.
http://serotalk.com/2012/05/11/high-contrast-episode-1-three-ipads-for-three-hosts/

13) While we're with that organization, Jamie Pauls wrote a blog post on the Power of Braille:
http://serotalk.com/2012/05/18/the-power-of-braille/

14) And finally, the seventh episode of the iOS-related Triple Click Home podcast is ready.
http://tripleclickhome.com/2012/05/29/triple-click-home-episode-7-speaking-of-electric-sheep/

15) The Daisy Consortium has written a guide for using screen readers on their forums. The article is a good refresher on using a windows screen reader on the web.
http://www.daisy.org/daisypedia/screen-reader-users-guide-daisy-forums
 
16) Version 10 of J-Say has been released, supporting Jaws for Windows 13.0.718 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 11.5. New features include a custom menu, more responsive support in Word and the ability to select a phrase in a document by simply saying the phrase.
http://www.tandt-consultancy.com/pages/whats_new_in_j-say_v9.php

17) Learn about the forthcoming accessible FM/HD Radio, The Narrator, produced and marketed by Insignia and Best Buy, on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 5 June at 00:00.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

18) A new blog, "Making it on the Playground of Life", is geared toward parents and teachers of blind children.
http://makingitontheplayground.com/

19) From HowTo Geek, we glean 47 Keyboard Shortcuts That Work in All Web Browsers
http://www.howtogeek.com/114518/47-keyboard-shortcuts-that-work-in-all-web-browsers/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=21051220
And "How to Share CD & DVD Drives Over the Network on Windows"
http://www.howtogeek.com/114254/how-to-share-cd-dvd-drives-over-the-network-on-windows/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=180512

20) With the forthcoming release of Windows 8, here's what one avid Mac user thought when he tried an early version:
http://www.macworld.com.au/blogs/a-mac-users-take-on-windows-8-55517/

21) The Access Wizard podcast has been launched, with rants about bugs in iOS 5.1. This was formerly the VoiceOver On podcast, but the presenters have backed away from their previous exclusive focus on Apple.
http://www.voiceoveron.com/

22) LookTel Recognizer Documentation, an app for the iPhone, is now available via the following link:
http://www.looktel.com/blog/looktel-recognizer-documentation

23) The list of iOS apps that have been developed specifically for the blind or people with low vision, intended to assist with everyday tasks, increase independence and generally make things easier, is quite long:
http://www.applevis.com/apps/ios-apps-for-blind-and-vision-impaired

24) The Hadley School offers 4-5 free online seminars per month, some related to technology and some not. On Wednesday, 7 June at 16:00 GMT, the topic will be NLS/BARD: Downloading Done Easy. You can always keep track of these on the Upcoming Seminars Page at:
http://hadley.edu/SeminarUpcomings.asp
And archives of years of previous ones can be found on the re-organized Previous Seminars page at:
http://hadley.edu/PastSeminars.asp

25) Recent AppleVis podcasts include:
Revisiting the WeatherBug: Accessibility Fixes and New Features:
http://www.applevis.com/podcasts/episodes/revisiting-weatherbug-accessibility-fixes-and-new-features
Achieving the Optimal Twitter Experience on iOS:
http://www.applevis.com/podcasts/episodes/achieving-optimal-twitter-experience-ios
Quickly and Easily Create Disposable Email Addresses With Trashmail - Spam Protection:
http://www.applevis.com/podcasts/episodes/quickly-and-easily-create-disposable-email-addresses-trashmail-spam-protection
SayHi Translate: A Real-Time iOS Translator for Travel, Business and Learning:
http://www.applevis.com/podcasts/episodes/sayhi-translate-real-time-ios-translator-travel-business-and-learning

26) The Gizmo website of the Week was Discover Magazine, a lively general-audience magazine covering science, technology and medicine:
http://discovermagazine.com/

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