The Canadian Council of the Blind Podcast

Before we pull back and look at the larger picture, this month’s lecture is my attempt to give you the equivalent of a quick start guide. Sighted people will typically have access to enough instructions so that they are able to start exploring and enjoying their iPhones with a minimum of fuss. They are given very basic navigation instructions and directed to the app store among other resources. Bl...

the Unseen Touchscreen online course will give the information needed by blind iPhone users to make the most out of these powerful and versatile devices. The course is based on the second edition of Michael Feir’s free e-book, Personal Power: Getting the Most From iOS as a Totally Blind User. This book can be downloaded in several formats from: Michael Feir’s Blog: at http://michaelfeir.blogspot.c...

Wayne gives us a walk-through of the voiceover settings on the Mac explaining what each setting does

Description: Two years and literally thousands of changes later, the second edition of Personal Power is now available. It is an eBook which I wrote and am giving away freely. Basically, the book takes people from setting up their iPhones to thriving in the iOS environment. It teaches how to use Voiceover, the various parts of iOS, and a whole lot of apps. . The link to the guide is: https://drive...

We all get distracted by our iPhones. The answer used to be to turn on “do not disturb”. This would prevent notifications from being announced and prevent pretty much everyone from contacting you. Apple has improved upon this with a new feature called “Focus”. That is where “do not disturb” went to hide on everyone. It is now one of several different focus modes. You can take far more control over...

Caroline has used both Apple and android phones. She joins us to present on the pros and cons and features and her decision to use an android phone at present.

As a follow-up to our presentation on using Siri a couple of weeks ago, we explore the Siri shortcuts app and show how to create your own shortcuts for Siri to use.

In this 44 minute presentation, Gerry demonstrates using Microsoft Word from the keyboard  with no mouse. Gerry explains basic keyboard navigation and screen reader commands  by demonstrating various Word tasks including: Navigate Word Views. Navigate the Ribbons. Navigate and Search document text. Apply headings. Set character attributes. Set Text alignment, and font size. Make bulleted or number...

Kim gives a walkthrough of the Siri settings explaining each one.

Join us for a presentation about Accessibuild, a Canadian building navigation system that empowers users to navigate indoor environments independently using their Android or iOS device. Jeff Godfrey, the lead developer, will be discussing how the app works and provides  a demonstration.

Thanks to the CCB GTT Edmonton team who always brings Steve Barclay to present to their group around this time, we are bringing Steve back on a national call to tell us all the exciting news from Canadian Assistive Technology. Come and learn about new products, most popular software, devices, and more. Maybe you will find that perfect gift for yourself or someone else.

A deep dive into the accessibility settings on I devices running IOS 15. Come learn about all of your accessibility settings.  Where they are.  What they do, and how to customize them.

Wayne gives a great walk-through of how to use messages on the Mac explaining which key commands he is using and giving examples and scenarios as he goes through.

Come and learn about Windows 11 and its accessibility. Dan gives us a peek at some of the differences in the new Windows 11

FROM PRINT TO VOICE: THE MAKING OF AN AUDIO BOOK, Neal walks us through creating an audiobook he talks about things ranging from audio editing to the inflection a narrator might choose to use. He shows us a clip of a book he recorded and several clips of narrators discussing how they choose to narrate

Laurie Davidson, Executive Director at CELA, updates the group on what’s happening with CELA’s work, in the area of collections, partnerships and technology. Lindsay Tyler shares information about CELA services, how to join, find out what books and magazines are available, and ways to read them. 

Wayne gives us a great Demonstration on how to use The numbers spread sheet application for the Mac.

We all can use some help keeping track of the stuff of life. The Calendar and Reminders apps are Apple’s current answer to that problem. The Reminders app focuses on tasks and projects in our lives rather than appointments and events. You can set reminders to alert you based on due dates, make them triggered based on where you are, and keep track of which steps in bigger projects have been complet...

Voxmate is a new Android app with audio-first applications that can be operated with just four gestures. With Voxmate, you can read news, listen to audiobooks, play games, chat on the Audio Forum and more by simply swiping up, down, left, and right. The app was designed from the ground up to focus on a great audio experience rather than describing what’s on the screen, and that makes the whole exp...

Using Seeing AI short text, product, and handwriting channels to identify products. Using Seeing AI short text and document channels, as well as Voice Dream Scanner to read documents.  Using Tap Tap See to identify colours. Using BeMyEyes and other visual assistance such as AIRA or Facetime video.

Sight Tech Global is the first global, virtual conference dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers on how rapid advances in AI and related technologies will fundamentally alter the landscape of assistive technology and accessibility.

The latest version of iOS has just been released. There are hundreds of changes. Michael Feir will explain some of his favourites so far. For people feeling that rotor frustration, relief is a two finger four-tap away. VoiceOver now has quick settings which make it easy to access a wide range of convenient settings without using the rotor. Notes has gotten a new organization method called tags whi...

Join Stephanie Shingle with En-vision America and learn how you or a loved one can get talking prescription labels for Free from your pharmacy! website: https://www.envisionamerica.com

Learn what to expect in the upcoming federal election.  Discuss tips and tricks for voting successfully, what tools and assistance will be available, what technologies might assist you 

Wayne gives us a talk on QR codes, what they are and how we use them. He includes two ways to quickly scan a QR code. Many great questions follow including the possibilities of using QR codes for personal use.