AT Banter Podcast

Yes, dear listeners, it’s that time of the year again! This week marks our 5th year of shows, and no one is more surprised at our longevity than we are! Join us for this special episode to hoist a few to ourselves, look back at the year that was, and generally be our silly selves. Thank you to all that have continued to listen to us and support the show – this one’s for you! Show Transcript: https...

Rob, Ryan and Steve band together once again, celebrate Ryan’s victory over his ant problem and ponder the term “Parastronaut” before welcoming Matthew Horspool from the Braillists Foundation to the show. They discuss the state of braille in the blindness community in the UK and some of the challenges faced for organizations that work to advocate for braille literacy and teach braille. Show Transc...

This week Rob and Ryan reflect on the wonders of ant life before welcoming Stephanie Debisschop, Director of Plan Institute (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network) to the show to discuss the organization, its origins, and its mandate to help build stronger financial futures and support networks for people with disabilities through a variety of educational programs, supports, and outreach.     Show Tra...

Networks and studios these days are experimenting with text-to-speech technology to create synthetic speech that can then be used as Audio Description for different shows and movies. Today we talk with Valerie Hunter from Valerie H Productions and Melissa Hope from Descriptive Video Works and discuss this new technology and how it’s being used, the controversy it’s caused in the Blind and Partiall...

Rob and Ryan fly the show solo this week without Steve as they welcome on Laura Hayden from the Canadian Helen Keller Centre to discuss the organization and give them some insight on the types of programs and services that they offer Canadians all over the country who are deafblind. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/at-banter-podcast-episode-236-canadian-helen-keller-ce...

This week, Rob, Ryan and Steve welcome Paralympic Athlete and motivational speaker Tanner Gers to the show where they learn about his involvement in the bid to bring five-a-side Blind Soccer to the Paralympics as well as several other projects he has in the pipeline. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/at-banter-podcast-episode-235-tanner-gers.pdf Show Notes Find Tanner O...

When it comes to this week’s show, we’ve got some good news, and we have some bad news. First the good news … THERE IS NO BAD NEWS (unless your name is Pepe and you're a skunk)! That’s right, it’s been about a year since we had our last “Good News Show”, so we decided to do it again this year since we are still in desperate need of plenty of sunshine, lollipops, puppy dogs, and kittens in our live...

April is World Autism Awareness Month and to help celebrate and spread awareness, Rob, Ryan and Steve welcome Dominique Chabot from Autism Canada to the show. We discuss the details of what Autism is and how it manifests, the challenges that many families face when it comes to being diagnosed, and what services and programs Autism Canada provides. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress....

Rob, Steve and Ryan welcome Alanna Hendren from the Developmental Disabilities Association to the show this week to talk about the organization, its long history and the work it does throughout the Lower Mainland. The Developmental Disabilities Association is a community living agency that provides over 50 community-based programs and services to children and adults with developmental disabilities...

When the federal government released their 2020 Fall Economic Statement in December of 2020, it revealed its plans to withdraw the $4 million in funding that it provides to CELA (Centre for Equitable Library Access) and NNELS (National Network for Equitable Library Service) in order to provide books in alternate formats. This week we welcome Karen Mckay from CELA and Daniella Levy-Pinto from NNELS...

Things get off to a rocky start this episode with a cowbell malfunction, and things don’t get much better as the boys rant about accessibility problems with the US vaccine websites. Luckily, long time listener, Accessibility Specialist, and Senior Strategist at Civic Actions Mike Gifford saves the day and infuses the show with some much needed positivity about the work he’s involved in around digi...

Talk Description to Me is an exciting new podcast from Christine Malec and JJ Hunt where they discuss and audio describe current events and topical issues and this week they join Rob and Ryan for a spirited conversation about the show, the state of audio description and how we can innovate and expand its reach. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/at-banter-podcast-episode...

Great Scott! Drop your linen and start your grinning but whatever you do, don’t back Baby into a corner! This week we welcome Guest Host Shawn Marsolais from the Blind Beginnings Limitless Podcast to help us do something a little different in celebration of Retro Day next week (February 27th). Join Rob, Ryan, Steve, and Shawn as they don their headbands, leg warmers, and fluorescent colored shirts...

The boys are all together again as Steve returns to the show after a bit of an absence, just in time to get geeky with a rousing discussion about the used Assistive Technology market before welcoming Matt Campbell and Pneuma Solutions CEO Mike Calvo to the Anti-Gloom Zoom Room to talk about some exciting new features of Scribe, their digital document remediation product. And if that isn’t enough f...

Rob and Ryan are thrilled this week to be joined by local author Jessica Wegrzynowski and her care aid and friend Misty into the Anti-Gloom Zoom Room to talk about her new book, My Spring Fling: Young Love and Living Life to the Fullest. Jessica discusses how the book came about, some of the challenges she faced writing it, and what she hopes readers will take away from it. Show Transcript: https:...

White Cane Week happens every year during the first week of February and this week we welcome Canadian Council of the Blind’s President, Louise Gillis, to discuss what White Cane Week is, fill us in on all the events happening, and the CCB’s year round mandate to help support and advocate for blind and partially sighted Canadians. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/at-ba...

These days it might seem like no news is good news, but Rob and Ryan do their best to drum up some of the latest Assistive Technology news that 2021 has to offer so far, including discussing an article about the problem of the cost of AT devices and some news about accessibility that is being built into new TVs. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/at-banter-podcast-episod...

It’s the first episode of 2021 and Rob and Ryan are not only well rested from the Holidays, but optimistic that 2021 is going to be a great year! After a mini- discussion about Braille in celebration of World Braille Day, the boys welcome Pramit Bhargava as the first guest of 2021 to talk about his new app, Louie, which add voice control functionality to Android based smartphones. Show Transcript:...

It's that time of year again, and time for our annual episode where we discuss all things Christmas and the Holidays! It's a little bit different this year and a departure from our originally planned Christmas episode (thanks a lot 2020), but we pushed through technical difficulties to bring you a little Yuletide audio cheer. Thank you to all our listeners and guests for your support over the year...

It’s a momentous occasion in the Guitar Dungeon this week as Ryan flies solo and spreads his wings as he interviews Marc Arneson, Director of Brand Development/ Community Learning at Hadley, one of the longest running and largest educators of Braille and related subjects for blind or partially sighted individuals in North America. Show Notes Hadley https://hadley.edu/ B.C.'s COVID-19 income and di...

Nothing can stop us now! Rob, Ryan and Steve welcome the aptly named Unstoppable Tracy, aka Tracy Schmidt, to the Anti-Gloom Zoom Room where we learn about her background and how she gained such an enthusiastic and positive attitude and how her condition as a quadruple amputee informed it. We manage to talk about a few of her many accomplishments, but only scratch the surface of what this amazing...

Given the year that 2020 has been, it’s not surprising to think that Mental Wellness is a growing concern among many people, both at home as well as the workplace. This week Rob and Ryan welcome Megan Lawrence, Sr. Accessibility Technical Evangelist at Microsoft to discuss the topic of Mental Health and how COVID has changed the way we discuss it and how companies are participating in the conversa...

This week the Anti-Zoom Gloom room has a new silky smooth vocal presence as Rob, Ryan, and Steve welcome award-winning Voice-over Artist and Audio Describer Roy Samuelson to talk all about his work as an Audio Describer and advocate. Show Notes  Roy Samuelson on the Web https://roysamuelson.com/ Audio Description Discussion Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/AudioDescriptionDiscussi...

This week Rob and Ryan sit down with best-selling author, motivational speaker, and advocate Michael Hingson to discuss a wide range of topics around Blindness, from his experiences growing up to his early experiences in the Assistive Technology field to the importance of Braille Literacy. Show Notes ‘The Witches’ Faces Backlash From Disability Community https://deadline.com/2020/11/the-witches-ba...

(Rebroadcast) Three guys, a girl and a pumpkin walk into a basement .. Nope, this isn’t the start of a wildly inappropriate joke involving a gourd, it’s our Annual Halloween episode! Yes, the episode no one has been waiting for, Rob, Ryan, and Steve are joined by friend of the show Colleen Connor from BlindInspirationCast as they discuss some spooky Halloween topics as Steve attacks a defenseless...