Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday, March 10, 2016 - Volume 551
The Week's News in Access Technology

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

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Greetings,

1) Window-Eyes 9.4, with improved interaction with ZoomText and many bug fixes, has been released:
http://blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=14904

2) This post asks the question: "Stitch Fix Blind, Can an Online Personal Stylist Work for a Visually Impaired Shopper?"
https://lifeinbraille.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/stitch-fix-blind-can-an-online-personal-stylist-work-for-a-visually-impaired-shopper/

3) F123 Access is free software, running on Firefox, which reformats website pages so that they are more accessible to blind people. It enhances the use of Facebook, Web, WhatsApp and YouTube, as well as some newspaper sites and others:
http://f123access.com/what-is-f123-access/

4) In "War Stories: My Journey From Blindness to Building a Fully Conversational User Interface," Chris Morey tells his story about vision loss and about the company he created to strive to develop some better technological alternatives:
https://backchannel.com/war-stories-my-journey-from-blindness-to-building-a-fully-conversational-user-interface-5ffb74a74c6d#.ibaet0m6u

5) Codex is a free program that makes conversion of Kindle books into alternative file formats very easy. Version 2.1 makes it even easier:
http://jscholes.net/project/codex/

6) In Blind Bargains Qast 54, besides lots of other news, hear about the versatility of the Amazon Echo. Right after they recorded the podcast, Amazon came out with two new Echo devices, and there's a link to the news story about them:
http://blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=14891

7) The Blind Bargains crew has again produced "The Blind Bargains Guide to Attending #CSUN16 on a Budget:"
http://blindbargains.com/

8) Two options are now available for those wanting to learn more about iOS. Shelly Brisbin has released her $20 book, "iOS Access for All: Your Comprehensive Guide to Accessibility for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch (iOS 9 Edition.) Besides the EPUB and eventually PDF editions available from the site below, the book is also in iBooks:
http://iosaccessbook.com

9) Beginners with the iPhone or iPad may want to invest $595 in the Freedom Scientific training bundle, ten hours of audio instruction provided on a Plextalk DAISY player:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/Blindness/AppleiOSTrainingBundles

10) Learn about the upcoming NVDAcon and about the newest in NVDA on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 15 March at 00:00:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

11) We learn about cataract surgery in developing countries in Episode 1610 of Eyes on Success:
http://eyesonsuccess.net

12) Visit Hadley's YouTube Channel to find the New iFocus Setting "Do Not Disturb" Instructional Video at:
https://youtu.be/GpZ3JFqKu0o

13) The latest update to the Dictation Bridge project is here:
http://dictationbridge.com/2016/03/01/dictationbridge-coming-soon-to-a-screen-reader-near-you/

14) Guardian Circle is a peer-to-peer Personal Safety Network. Developers are apparently interested in promoting VoiceOver accessibility. This very clear video explains the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLb3DMX8DDk

15) For $24.97, you can purchase an audio tutorial on the TW Blue accessible Twitter client:
http://www.mysticaccess.com/index.php?crn=208&rn=569&action=show_detail

16) The Microsoft Accessibility Feedback Forum shows some 43 suggestions you can vote on, as well as adding your own:
https://microsoftaccessibility.uservoice.com/forums/307429-microsoft-accessibility-feedback

17) There's also a Microsoft Accessibility Feedback Survey:
https://survey2.securestudies.com/wix/p273342712.aspx

18) In case you've been wondering "How To Stop Skype from Crashing with Talkback:"
http://inclusiveandroid.tk/content/how-stop-skype-crashing-talkback?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

19) Apple Launches Support Account on Twitter With Tips, Tricks, and Customer Service:
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/03/apple-launches-twitter-support-account/

20) What issues do people with accessibility face when using search engines? Survey open now at:
http://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SSHQVB9

21) The Portset keyboards from England are Braille keyboards that can be attached to Windows, Mac and iOS devices:
http://macfortheblind.com/?p=2065

22) This Cool Blind Tech podcast concerns playing interactive fiction on iOS:
https://www.coolblindtech.com/frotz-for-ios-interactive-fiction-at-your-fingertips/

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