Top Tech Tidbits - Volume 209
The Week's News in Access Technology

Distributed by Flying Blind, LLC
http://www.flying-blind.com/

For questions and comments regarding Tidbits, please e-mail Dean Martineau at dean@topdotenterprises.com. Dean Martineau provides adaptive technology training by phone, online, and in person, with flexible arrangements, and at affordable prices.

1) Tek Talk will take a rare day off for this coming Monday holiday. Accessible World will present the first in a monthly seminar session, Living with Diabetes, the last Wednesday of each month stateside,hence in May, GMT Thursday 28 May at 01:00.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

2) David Bales has written a Jaws guide to Internet Explorer 8, the vast majority of which will also benefit users of other screen reading programs. It is available at:
http://tinyurl.com/oaveyw
Speaking of JAWS and Internet Explorer 8, the latest incremental upgrade adds some enhanced support, as well as adding support for Windows 7 and enhancing support for Access 2007:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-whats-new.asp#Enhancements

3) On this week's Innovations, hear two reports from Sight City, Europe's largest exhibition for technology and services for the visually impaired. The first is on a stand-alone optical character reader called "The Reporter" from Sensotec, and the second is on a product still under development: a braille display large enough to show virtually a whole screen-full of information, from a company called Meta AG. Remaining repeat airings of the program are GMT Friday at 14:00 and Sunday at 09:00.
http://www.theglobalvoice.info

4) Applian Technologies has a free FLV (Flash Video) player which might be useful for some people with low vision to watch these videos.
http://applian.com/flvplayer/

5) The National Eye Institute offers podcasts and vodcasts (audio and video) on eye care, preventable eye conditions, and vision research.
http://www.nei.nih.gov/healthyeyes

6) Fred's Head directs us to Access on Main Street, a site which covers mainstream products that, by chance or design, make life easier for an elder or a person with a disability.
http://www.accessonmainstreet.net/

7) This Fred's Head article discusses How to Adjust Color Contrast in Windows using the mouse and keyboard
http://www.fredshead.info/2009/05/how-to-adjust-color-contrast-in-windows.html

8) Here is an article on using bullets in Microsoft Word from a site called Internet4classrooms.com, which might lead to other interesting information as well.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/msword_bullet.htm

9) This Fred's Head article describes a stand-alone reading machine, the Plustek BookReader V100
http://www.fredshead.info/2009/05/plustek-bookreader-v100.html

10) SeroTalk Tech chat 16 discusses various tools for using Twitter.
http://serotalk.com/2009/05/15/serotalk-tech-chat-16-twitter-tools/

11) The Gw Micro blog brings us a Window-Eyes 7.1 Progress Update
http://www.gwmicro.com/blog/index.php/all/?title=window-eyes-7-1-progress-update&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

12) Version 1.4 of the window-Eyes scripts for Winamp is now available, providing a smoother user experience and fixing some bugs.
http://www.gwmicro.com/sc

13) A comprehensive exploration of Word 2007, an eight-lesson course costing $350, from Access Technology Institute, begins May 27. This four-week course also provides students with a free copy of the textbook and four live chat sessions.
http://www.accesstechnologyinstitute.com/catalog/office/word2007.html

14) EASI offers a free webinar, ARIA Accessibility of new Dynamic Web-based Applications, on GMT Tuesday, 26 May at 18:00. Pre-register to get a space and get access to the archive.
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm

15) Two items from Gizmo's Best Ever Freeware that promise some useful software: Best Free Audio / Video Format Conversion Program
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gizmosbest/~3/97lVutnWziw/best-free-audio-video-format-conversion-program.htm

16) And Lots of Commercial Software for Free, featuring older programs that no longer cost:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gizmosbest/~3/fE8xQQ52mIw/lots-commercial-software-free.htm

17) Thanks to The Ranger Station, we learn about a free 1-hour webinar demonstrating the features of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. Here's the press release:
Press Release:
http://therangerstation.blogspot.com/2009/05/press-release-webinar-for-dragon-101.html

18) Also, Dolphin Systems is releasing version 11 of their line of programs, with Windows 7 support and, more important, an easier userinterface:
http://www.yourdolphin.com/newsitem.asp?id=332

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