Blind Abilities Podcast

The iPhone101 Series is growing and now we are adding Quick Bytes to the ever growing series. In this Quick Byte we have 3 quick demos broking into Chapters: Battery Health. 00:44 Seeing AI with Siri Shortcut made easy. 03:55 Threading Apple Mail Messages. 06:06 Battery Health:  Settings Battery Battery Health Seeing AI with Siri Shortcut  made easy Open Seeing AI Menu Settings  Siri Shortcuts Mail Message Threading Settings Mail Organize by Thread (on/off) Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. Contact: You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-9063 we would love to hear from you! Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, th

The Tech Ability Team is in full force and we begin to show how we differentiate when it comes to styles, use factors and preferences. From buying out-right or on the trade up program, to Direct Touch Typing and using the Apple Watch, we all stand by our own way and we do get it that what works for you, works for you. Raqi talks about her Ipad Mini purchase and her use factor, Serina dives deep into Direct Touch Typing, and the entire team gets up front and personal about the Apple event, California Dreaming. We do as we do and sometimes, not as we say. (Jeff snickers as Serina crosses her arms and looks away.) What the heck is this Hero App from Ayes? Do we need a Hero? And how about Facebook and Ray Ban launching 20 styles of smart glasses? Or, are they really all that smart? Join the team from Tech Abilities in the Blind Abilities Studio and give us some feedback and/or suggestions by calling 612-367-6093. We would love to hear from you! Be sure to note that we use chapters so you can jump from topic to to

Feather Chelle has just released her 4th book and joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the activities, poems and lessons she brings to this wonderful book. Of which you can receive free by sending an email with the word Subscribe in the subject line.  The Colors of Darkness  is a great addition to any classroom, group and brings awareness to the spectrum of abilities people have in a fun and interactive way.  Feather was on earlier this year and talked about her Blindness journey, family, kids and much more. You can check out Feather’s previous podcast episode on Blind Abilities: Author Feather Chelle Has So Many Interesting Chapters in Her Life, I just wanted to keep turning the Pages. And Her New Book, Stranded, is a Page Turner as Well! To receive your free copy of The Colors of Darkness Click on this email link and Subscribe will already populate the subject line and you will soon be enjoying Feather’s latest book. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you

The Tech Abilities Crew took on some tough conversations and a lot of good information was laid out on the table. Will there be a Mac vs PC showdown this month? We actually went at it a bit and stay tuned when Raqi and Lisa return to the Blind Abilities Studio to balance out the battle royal. Jesse, Serina and Jeff brought a great perspective on the tools for education and gave some great tips from their own educational journeys.  Check out the list and links below for all the tech tidbits and news covered by the team. You can use the chapter feature in your podcast player to jump to the topics you want to listen to first, then 2nd and so on.  Be sure to subscribe to the Blind Abilities Podcast with your favorite podcast player. That’s 2 words, Blind Abilities.  Thanks for listening. Introduction. 0:00 It’s Show Time! 0:41 Cane sale? What’s the Adaptation Store got this month? 6:13 Apple Event Tuesday September 14, 10 Pacific, 11 Mountain, 12 Central and 1 PM. Eastern Time. 6:32 Comply Air Pod Pro foam Tip

Adding to the iPhone101 Series, here is another iPhone101 demonstration, In which Pete completes his romp through the remaining screen effects embedded in the iOS Messages app. Listen as he updates us on two more effects, the Happy Birthday and Emoji Replacement features. be sure to join Pete as he adeptly navigates the step by step processes for using them both, with his typical humor, sound effects and musical flair which make listening to the iPhone101 Series so enjoyable. The first of these screen effects allows you to generate full animated screen images easily automatically by merely typing or dictating a short, common phrase, such as Happy Birthday, congratulations or happy new year. The latter involves a somewhat more tedious process of using the emoji action on your Rotor to find and substitute emojis in lieu of words in your text message. Both features are fully available and accessible to Voiceover users of iOS. Pete suggests checking a couple of settings in order to get optimal results from these

Full Transcript Charlie Seligman joins Jesse Anderson from Illegally Sighted YouTube Channel and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio for a great conversation about how Charlie got started developing games and how accessibility became part of his passion. With a community behind him all the way, Charlie is living his dream as the popularity of his adventure Role Playing game (RPG) has exploded among the Blindness community. Although Swordy Quest is for both sighted and visually impaired users, Charlie has taken to accessibility for all the right reasons and he is engaged and making friends within the community now known as Swordy Questors. You can follow Charlie on Twitter @SeligmanVenture and join the SwordyQuestors on the Facebook group. Charlie leaves tips and announcements as well as polls to keep Swordy Quest developing in the way that the community desires and advises. Charlie wants to hear from you! You can find and subscribe to Jesse Anderson’s YouTube Channel IllegallySighted and stay up to da

Blind Abilities adds to their iPhone101 Series with this brief and fast paced trip through the iOS Messages app. With this visit Pete Lane reviews how to send iMessages with special screen effects. with a minor change to your ”send” gesture, from a simple double tap to a double tap and hold. You can add animated visual and audio effects to a text message,  adding some entertainment and fun to an otherwise drab piece of text Pete describes how to generate a message with either full screen effects, of which there are eight available, or bubble effects which are a little less elaborate, but possess some flair as well. he also shows us how to add visual graphic images when replying to an incoming iMessage via  use of the react button in the messages app. all of these effects are simple to generate, but they can add so much to your text communications. Check out this quick romp through the messages app as Pete typically enlists the use of his own sound effects, music and humor to make these demonstrations more e

The Tech Abilities Team kicks off with a Back to School Sale from the Adaptation Store and then some Flick Type battle with the Apple Store. Braille Screen Input is the keyboard choice of many and Disney announces Adaptive Costumes for Halloween. While some of us are Beta testing iOS15, one of us went back to 14 and tells us how. Better foam tips for Air Pod Pros and an inexpensive Loop for the Apple Watch. HBO is getting revamped and accessibility on the iPhone App is going well while HBO on Apple TV is not needing some choices to stick. Accessible gaming is getting some attention and of course, Swordy Quest gets it’s mention once again and again. Join in this delightful journey through the latest tech tidbits and news from around the world of accessibility, Blindness and life itself. Wow, that went deep, didn’t it? Here is the timeline and links related to the topics mentioned in the episode: Episode Introduction. 00:00 Let the Show Begin! 00:56 10% Off Back to School at the Adaptation Store. 3:50 Flick T

Blind Abilities adds another episode to their expanding library of iPhone101 Serieswith this 20 minute walk-through of the iOS Reminders app. Reminders is a native Apple app which comes on all iPhones, iPads and iPod devices. Reminders provides a convenient and effective means for scheduling and tracking tasks, creating Shopping and To Do lists,  and generally manage your plans for day to day activities in the future.  Join Pete Lane as he embarks on a 2-part approach towards Reminders, by first walking through the app “interface" manually using Voiceover and navigating element-by-element, typing task and list titles and becoming familiar with the power of the app. In part 2 he uses Siri to perform all of the same activities, an approach which is clearly simpler and more convenient, particularly for Voiceover users. Here are some of the Reminders functionalities you will learn: How to create a Shopping or Grocery list to ensure you have all the ingredients for that special meal. How to create To Do list on

Show Summary: 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 3rd album, Connections, and talks about the recording process, the people he worked with and how his original songs came about. Matthew takes us through his arrangements, time shifts and his instruments surrounding him in his studio. Matthew also stresses how he does not let his Blindness hold him back. From rock climbing, skiing  to touring the world and entertaining people with his music, Matthew always finds the time to take a break and we caught him at just the right time for this interview. His 2nd year at The Juilliard School and his 3rd record now complete, Matthew joined Jeff and Pete in the Blind Abilities Studio. Learn about Matthew’s musical journey, his passion for music and his wide range of musical instruments  that fill his studio. Most impo

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 you are afflicted by this ailment. Ask yourself the following questions: Did you spring for the 256 Gb model? Or maybe the 512 Gb model when you have only used 50 Gigs on your last three iPhones?  Have you already decided on the larger phone the next time you upgrade, even though you just bought the latest model? Will you justify buying the largest model available, even though it will cost $200 more than you are paying in rent?  Do you panic Whenever your available storage space dips under 200 Gigs? Do you instantly delete each and every message in your Messages app or What’s App as soon as you read it? Answer key:

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 of low expectations. Megan attended Camp Abilities and was given the opportunity and adaptive techniques for full participation in the sports along with other Blind and Visually Impaired attendees. This experience changed her perspective and now Megan is parsuinga career to change the perspectives of the Physical Educators and get the other Megan's out there off the bench and onto the playing field. Megan is working with Microsoft and the Soundscape App to create an outdoor experience with Trail orienteering. Learn more about, this and her goals in this educational episode from Blind Abilities and be sure to check out

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, then you can jump to the topic of your liking at any time, however, this episode was designed to be taken in in one giant bite, but go ahead and nibble away if you desire. Here is the chronological list of topics covered by the team: Podcast Guy Skit. 0:00 Episode Introduction. 1:38 It’s Show Time. 3:21 Short cuts for skipping next track and adding to playlist. 9:04 How is the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack? 14:32 ‘Laundry Lens’ for iOS reminds you there’s an app for everything, including doing your laundry. 17:58 Audio Description for the Olympics experience. 21:17 Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials afte

iPhone101: Script App  Demonstration and a conversation with Envision America’s Director of Marketing, Jenna Reed   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 medications, including  booklet-style, large print (known as ScriptView), dual language and Controlled Substance Safety Labels that attach securely to the medicine bottle. It also encompasses braille overlay labels, and talking labels (ScripTalk), which involve an RFID digital label affixed to the bottom of your pill bottle. In this iPhone 101 demonstration, Pete Lane focusses on using the free iOS ScripTalk app, also available for Android, which reads the RFID labels on the iPhone. Join Pete as he first

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. Michael and Javier work int the machine shop and shipping and receiving departments while Jennifer, Stephen and Diana are in the front office with hiring and marketing responsibilities. Learn how they came to work at Beyond Vision and how they are enhancing the  career opportunities, building awareness in the communities and building relationships with some of the top businesses through providing a quality product and service. You can find out more about Beyond Vision on the web and see how you can become part of the growing team. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Se

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 few moments for some lite humor. Here are the topics, links and times of each as you can search or use the Chapters feature if your podcast player supports chapters. Introduction. 00:00 Lori Who?  1:25 Pre-Show Ramble 2:50 Official Show Start 13:52 Mag Safe Battery Pack from Apple. 5w and 15w charging with pass-through feature.  $99. Can also be used to charge air pods! 16:42 Alexa finally gets a masculine-sounding voice option 23:41 Magnifier in Control Center.  Go to Settings, Control Center and Add Magnifier. 26:43 iOS 15 Beta 3 has new feature for setting Text Size. Settings, Control Center and add Text Size. Y

 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, he first ran across the chords of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and the captivating sounds of  Jazz music while scanning the local FM radio dial  at a very early age. He was given his first piano by his parents at the age of eight, and never looked back. Marcus attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (FSDB), in St. Augustine where he learned more  about music and the discipline it would take to truly excel in the art.. He  went on to FSU, where he honed his piano skills under the tutelage of classical pianist, Leonidas Lipovetsky. This is a special interview to which you should be sure to Listen-in

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 through the process quickly and nimbly with concise and understandable guidance of each simple step along the way.  As an added bonus, Pete shows us how to eliminate or hide what is often a lengthy list of friends or colleagues with whom you can share links, articles, videos or yes, your Contact information within the standard Share Sheet found universally throughout iOS. For some of us, this list of names and apps can clutter our process for sharing our chosen information. Pete shows us a simple and quick setting to change that will eliminate this list. Pete adds sound effects to enhance the demonstration and ad some

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 other correspondence, but it can cause somewhat of an inconvenience when later searching for that Contact.  Well there’s a quick and simple way to consolidate those contacts, merge added information into a single new Contact page and remove any duplicate information. Join Pete Lane as he takes us through the easy step by step process that may save you time and effort in the future. Here is the linked to the related Contact demo: iAccessDemo: Reviewing The Contacts App For IOS Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Trans

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 decisions on what we like and do not like. Most of all, we realize not one of us use our devices like the other and our opinions vary, so keep that in mind as we speak our minds and try to give an honest evaluation. With that said, this episode has chapters and the times are written below for easy navigation. A shoutout to Marlon for his vocal contributions and eating all the cookies.  Enjoy the podcast and thanks for listening.  The Cookie Drama by Jeff and Marlon 1:25 Introductions: Jeff, Serina, Raqi, Jesse and Lisa 3:55 Dynamic Tactile Device: The development of a groundbreaking multiline braille tactile reader that