The Canadian Council of the Blind Podcast

Wayne Antle reviews the features and how to use finder on the mac. finder is like file explorer for windows.  It has many powerful features and uses.

Apple has long been associated with music and creativity. Your iPhone can give you access to millions of songs, curated playlists, radio stations, and even some live events. This month, we’ll dive into the enjoyment of music and go over the Music app and the Apple Music Plus service in detail. This is one of the easiest ways for beginners to start truly enjoying their iPhones.

Your iPhone is constantly checking for new information. Apps running in the background can interrupt you with notifications. So can calls and messages from people. Thankfully, Apple has provided tools to help deal with this effectively. We will discuss notifications settings in detail. These let you decide whether and how apps can inform you of things in normal circumstances. Meanwhile, focus sett...

The Voice Control feature allows people to control their iPhones entirely with spoken commands. Designed with sighted people in mind who have motion difficulties making use of the touchscreen difficult, the system can be used in conjunction with VoiceOver. This final lecture for 2023 will give a basic tour of how Voice Control works. This completes the many different ways there are of controlling...

Nolan Jenikov gives us a brief demonstration of the iPhone application perplexity.

For many blind people, Braille is vital. They prefer to type in Braille and read in Braille rather than using a touchscreen and synthetic speech. This is quite possible using VoiceOver on your iPhone. Apple offers extensive support for using their products with Braille displays. This week, we’ll focus on what’s possible when you connect a Braille display via Bluetooth to your iPhone. We’ll also di...

We store a lot of information on our iPhones. Apple does a lot to help keep that information secure. In this part of the Unseen Touchscreen course, we examine these security measures and the things we can do to safeguard our information while still making the most of our iPhones. The relevant section of the book is called Digitally Defending Yourself.

The topics for this session will include a brief tour of Siri. This digital assistant can be very helpful especially to beginners. We’ll discuss what Siri is designed to do and what it can’t do. Also, we’ll discuss how iOS handles sound. This is an area where iOS can present some challenges for blind people who aren’t aware of sound related decisions that Apple has made.

ScripTalk talking prescription labels help a variety of people who cannot get their prescription information in traditional ways. Talking prescriptions help people with vision impairment, they help people who are print impaired or have other neurological limitations. The challenge, as we focus our efforts on bringing ScripTalk into more Canadian pharmacies, is to get you  to speak with your pharma...

The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) has recently introduced a new option to its talking book player line up. This is the Envoy connect player available for purchase through the CNIB smart life store. In this  presentation about CELA’s new service supporting the Envoy Connect audio book player, we will cover the basics of the Envoy Connect player, basics of the associated CELA Connect so...

In part two of our tour of settings, we review the mental mapping of the settings discussed in part one. We then continue our journey through the settings exploring the security, Apple, and third party apps areas. Combined with what has been covered in prior cessions, this should leave everyone in good shape to enjoy and continue to master their iPhones over the Summer break. In the Fall, we’ll pr...

The settings app is what you use to configure your iPhone so it best suits your needs. You can do everything from choosing how bright your display is to adjusting security options and enabling accessibility features. There are hundreds of settings inside various branches of options. This cession will be the first of a two part exploration of what settings are available. The focus will be on overal...

In this lecture, we’ll continue our tour of various aspects of the iOS operating system. Topics will include the powerful spotlight search feature, the app library and home screens, how to organize and move apps on your iPhone, how files are stored, when to use the iPhone storage settings area, the files app, the philosophy behind iOS, and current developments.

Now that you understand what the VoiceOver screen reader does and know some basic gestures, it’s time to learn about the iOS operating system. We’ll take a tour of its main points of interaction with users. These include the home screens, notification centre, control centre, dock, status bar, today view, widgets, and spotlight search. We’ll also discuss what iOS does for its users behind the scene...

In part 2 of our exploration of Voiceover, Michael Feir will continue discussing various gestures and techniques for getting the most out of Voiceover. We will learn how to reach the home screens and other key parts of iOS. There are also a good many settings which can help you customize Voiceover to suit your particular needs. Features such as navigation styles, quick settings, rotor settings, an...

Wayne Antle describes how to move contacts to different apps using drag and drop with voiceover. 

The key to a blind person being able to effectively use an iPhone is the Voiceover screen reader. This provides a means of controlling an iPhone without sight as well as feedback via speech or Braille. This lecture will discuss various aspects and concepts of Voiceover. The rotor, navigation by units, screen exploration and important gestures will all be discussed. This course is based on the seco...

When you start using an iPhone, you’re entering a carefully crafted ecosystem of hardware, software, and services. Apple tries to make its customers feel valued at the same time as they seek to profit from them. There are many implications of this. It’s far easier, for example, to purchase and read books using the Books app included on your iPhone than it is to obtain books from other vendors like...

In this podcast, Wayne Antle walks us through using the powerful voiceover help features available on the mac. 

NaviLens is a new and exciting cutting-edge technology which has been developed to provide blind and visually impaired people with more accessibility and autonomy in their everyday lives. Oran McAllister, Client Engagement Officer at NaviLens, gives a presentation about the NaviLens Codes and the amazing features of this technology. He gives a short introduction to the NaviLens code, how it came a...

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. On this special evening meeting we are pleased to welcome Heather Walkus, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), who is a user of the Dexcom 6 continuous glucose monitor system. Heather will present to us her experiences about its accessibility and usability for our community. More info, https://www.dexcom.com

Using a smartphone with a visual impairment can sometimes be frustrating and difficult. At Hable, we like to make this easier for you. The Hable One is the easiest Braille keyboard to control your smartphone. Do you use Voiceover or Talkback on your smartphone and struggle with swiping gestures? Or do you find on-screen typing cumbersome and takes up a lot of energy? Then the Hable One is probably...

This week, Michael Feir focusses on hardware. He will explain what differentiates one iPhone from another and why it matters to you. From microchips, cameras, memory, and storage, we will talk about what is under the glass. Michael will also discuss accessories you may wish to acquire for your iPhone. From cases to keyboards to chargers, we will talk about how to shop for them and what to be caref...