Top Tech Tidbits - Volume 214
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) If you have some vision, you can help solve enormous barriers to online access by the blind by joining the legion of volunteers to the Solona project. There is no commitment of time or frequency; simply, if you are willing, sometimes while you're on the computer, to take 30 seconds or so to anonymously solve a captcha barrier for an equally anonymous blind user somewhere in the world, you can play a key role. To look into it, e-mail
mysolona@gmail.com
or fill out the form at
http://solona.net/learn/contact.php

2) On GMT Tuesday, 30 June at 00:00, Larry Lewis, President, Flying Blind LLC, will take the Tek Talk audience on a virtual tour of Mobile Geo, the world's first accessible GPS solution developed for Windows Mobile, and Windows Smartphone
devices.
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

3) Freedom Scientific announces that beginning in July, they will ship the new Focus 40 Blue braille display, which is more streamlined than earlier Focus displays and ofers Bluetooth connectivity, for $4,495.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/news/pressroom/2009/Focus-40-blue-Announced.asp

4) Bay Area Digital is now a registered agent for Royal National Institute for Blind Persons and will carry their product line, making it much easier for US customers to buy their products, some of which are quite interesting. You can get the catalog here:
http://rnibcatalog.blinkweb.com

5) Speaking of RNIB, they have produced a guide to accessing pdf documents:
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp#P53_3631 <http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_accessingpdf.hcsp

6) You can read the National Federation of the Blind's response to the criticisms of the Braille Monitor review of the Voiceover screen reader for the Mac here,
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=447
and read an editorial taking issue with that reaction here:
http://www.lioncourt.com/the-nfbs-review-of-voiceover-and-its-aftermath/

7) SeroTalk Podcast 17 Discusses and Demos the New iPhone 3G S. Links given here also lead you to two other podcasts on the iPhone as well as to documentation:
http://serotalk.com/2009/06/23/serotalk-podcast-17-discusses-and-demos-the-new-iphone-3g-s/

8) Serotek Tech Chat 21 discusses the New NLS digital TalkingBook Player and also the OverDrive Book Service which many public libraries use to provide downloadable audio books.
http://serotalk.com/2009/06/19/tech-chat-21-new-nls-digital-talkingbook-player-and-overdrive-book-service/

9) This week's broadcast of Innovations concerns several demonstrations from Sight City of mobility aids, braille devices and a new screen reader from Baum. Innovations is first heard on GMT Tuesday at 17:00 with repeats on Thursday at 00:00, Friday at 14:00, Sunday at 09:00 on the Global Voice.
http://www.theglobalvoice.info>.

10) Back to Serotek again: Serotek has released Accessible Event, an online platform that makes group meetings ,webinars, lectures and other events accessible to the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind. It works with presentations designed in the Microsoft® Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint® or Adobe® Acrobat®, with those featuring displays in Microsoft Outlook®, or web pages in Serotek SAMNet™, Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7 or higher, or Mozilla® Firefox®, and with online meeting services such as Cisco WebEx, Citrix® GoToMeeting® and GoToWebinar®, Adobe Acrobat Connect®, Microsoft Live Meeting and more.
http://serotek.com/promotions1

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