Blind Abilities

Matthew Whitaker started playing piano at age 3 and has been studying and practicing music ever since. He plays all types of music and Jazz is the place where he likes to reside as he has the freedom to improvise. Matthew has just released his 3 rd  album, Connections, and talks about the recording process, the people he worked with and how his original songs came about. Matthew takes us through h...

Is your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch big enough? Are you constantly worrying about not having enough space on your phone to upgrade to the latest iOS update, or even download that new app you want? If so, you may be experiencing "Small Device Storage Syndrome". This is a potentially serious condition which is growing among smart phone users around the globe and you owe it to yourself to find out if...

I first heard of Megan Hale when she posted a YouTube video announcement about her upcoming  YouTube Channel, Blind Physical Education , and new right away that Megan's passion and enthusiasm would be of interests to our many listeners. Megan wants to educate Physical Education teachers about the possibilities and available adaptive techniques so more BVI students can participate beyond the level...

Welcome to another Tech Abilities episode from the Blind Abilities Studio. This episode dives into the latest news and gadgets from the world of technology with a blindness perspective. Joining Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio is Serina Gilbert, Raqi Gomez, Jesse Anderson and Lisa Salinger and of course Marlon flies in from Trinidad for a bit. If your podcast player supports chapters, t...

Blind Abilities adds to its growing library of iPhone 101 demonstrations with this in depth perusal of the ScripTalk app for iOS, coupled with an interview with Jenna Reed, Director of Marketing at Envision America . Envision America is a 25 year-old company who offers the Scriptability program, of which ScripTalk is a part.  Scriptability provides a variety of accessible labels for prescription m...

Full Transcript From Beyond Vision, Jennifer Wenzel, Stephen Gould, Diana Voigt, Michael Newman and Javier Johnson join Jeff Thomson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share how  Beyond Vision  is creating opportunities through employment for people who are Blind or Visually Impaired. This is not your Grandfather's Sheltered Workshop is a statement that rings through clearly in this conversation. Re...

The crew jumps through the hoops and then some, bringing you a wide perspective on some of the latest news and definitely some perspectives that are quite unique. Either way we see it, there is something for everyone. Join Serina, Raqi, Jesse, Lisa and Jeff in episode 31 of Tech Abilities and also podcast number 771 of the Blind Abilities library of podcasts. Marlon and Lori join the crew for a fe...

 Our guest today is Marthaniel Roberts, who goes by "Marcus: Roberts.
Marcus is a Jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and Professor of Jazz music at Florida State University (FSU). 
Marcus was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. Showing an early interest in, and a strong aptitude for music, initially with the gospel music in his family's church and later in the popular R&B sounds of his era...

Blind Abilities adds to their  iPhone101 Series  with this short and sweet demo of how to quickly share your contact information or that of a friend or colleague with someone using the standard iOS share sheet. This feature is built into the individual Contact page and facilitates the simple sharing of a Contact Card for yourself, another individual, a business or organization. Pete Lane walks us...

Blind Abilities adds to their  iPhone101 Series  demonstrations with this short and simple  walk-through of linking multiple Contacts in your iOS Contacts app. Have you ever ben frustrated to find you have created more than one contact page for the same individual, business or organization? This can be done inadvertently or as a result of creating a new contact from a new email you received, or ot...

The Tech Abilities crew just expanded their reach and now cover the 4 time zones. Serina, Raqi and Jeff welcomes Jesse Anderson and Lisa salinger to the Tech Abilities team. We started out sticking to the show notes and soon enough, they tossed me aside like an Android tablet! Ok, maybe not that bad; however, this show went on and on through the tech world and the experiences that build our decisi...

Blind Abilities adds to their iPhone 101 demonstration series library with this short but informative walk through sending audio messages using the Messages app and iOS. Pete Lane guides us through this simple, yet time-saving process which involves confirming your settings, summoning Siri, using the raise to talk and raise to listen features to enhance simplicity, and a step-by-step demonstration...

As part of the Musician's Spotlight series, we are proud to bring you Brian Snowman Powers. Brian is a sound Engineer, Teacher and Professional Sax Musician. Here is our interview with Brian Snowman Powers from 2018: Brian powers grew up with the challenges of bullying and being just a bit different. Brian has Albinism and is legally Blind. From his days in K-12 to his journey into the music indus...

Blind Abilities gets back to its iPhone 101 series with a comprehensive review of a multitude of tasks aimed at helping us better understand what Apples much-maligned personal assistant, none other than Siri, can do for us, and what he or she cannot do for us. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-3...

As the times seem to be looking like we may be headed back to the office, meetings and possibly conventions, we find ourselves getting more opportunities to socialize and stretch our distance from home. This last 18 months has been a new experience for us all and with the "opening up" of travel, although limited, we put together some personal and social tips that may be of help to some of you and...

Blind Abilities presents another epic podcast featuring an in depth interview with an amazing guest. Johnny Hiland is a highly successful and well-respected musician, a fantastic country guitarist who is widely recognized as one of the fastest "chicken pickers" in the world. But his musical expertise is not limited to the country arena. No, Johnny has mastered rock, blues, swing, medal and almost...

In the first part of our Musicians Spotlight Series, we bring you John Kay from Steppenwolf Fame which brought us such great hits as Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, The Pusher and 50 years of John Kay music and his work with NGOs helping Elephants survive as they, too, were Born to be Wild. John Kay: from Rock Star to Elephants, We Were All Born To Be Wild #Steppenwolf to #MaueKayFoundation Sh...

Timothy Spuck from Associated Universities Inc.(AUI),, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio, and talks about his involvement with the IDATA Project.  The chief component of the project is theirå new and improved software, AfterGlow Access,  that aids  individuals without sight  by converting astronomical images into soundscapes which can be heard by blind and visually impaired (BVI)fo...

In the Blind Abilities Studio, Hannah Harriman sits down with Jeff Thompson to talk about her academic and employment journey. From her early days and her Individual Education Plan (IEP) In Grade School to her Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) as she attended the Summer Transition Program, MN State Academy for the Blind and went off to college to her two current jobs, Hannah is excited about he...

Open up your native Music App on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, MacBook or even on Apple TV, and play a song. Open the mini-player to show the now playing screen and tap on the Lyrics button down near the bottom. With VoiceOver on, you will hear the lyrics just before the singing starts. You can employ Air Play and play the song on your speakers or Apple TV system while VoiceOver remains in your d...

Blind Abilities adds to the iPhone101 Catalogue with this short, but informative demonstration of how to navigate your way out of a long list. Have you ever found yourself way, way down in your mail Inbox, processing your email, but when finished, you can't get back to the top without having to flick through those endless emails, one at a time? How about the same scenario in your Messages app, or...

Learning Ally's  College Success Program  coordinator, Abigail Shaw, gives us a history of Learning Ally and dives deep into the College Success Program. Mentor, Rachel Grider, and Mentee, Gabi Mendonca, explain how the  College Success Program  works from their experience as a Mentor and a college student perspective. You can get all the details on the web at  College Success Program Read more we...

Full Transcript Show Summary: Thomas Reid lost his sight back in 2004 and found podcasts as a way back into learning and getting his message out to the world. Coming from the IT sector, Thomas found technology and screen readers as a way back to the workplace and never looked back. He now host the Reid My Mind Podcast, is a Voice Artist and an advocate and voice for the Blind and African Americans...

Full Transcript Show Summary: It was a typical day for  Robert Tarango , working in the kitchen of the  Helen Keller National Center . That is until his boss summoned him to another building on the center's campus. Not given any further information, Robert imagined a host of mostly ominous reasons for the sudden meeting.   The last thing he considered was that he would be auditioning for the lead...

Serina, Raqi and Jeff are all doble jabbed and on their way for full vaccination. And the crew went deep into some topics, deep into the weeds as they say. Marlon joins Jeff to bring Audio Drama to life on the Blind Abilities show. Here is a chronological list of the topics we dug into and we hope you enjoy! We 3 got our 2 shots each, but separately. Read more Send us an email at info@BlindAbiliti...