A more traditional BBQ awaits those who download the episode this week. J.J. and Joe return with news and thoughts on Ridesharing trips to busy places. Shelly Brisbin, this time in prerecorded interview form, has an interview about the new ZoomText 11. Plus we have words for the "Last Word". Throw in a tip about Apple TV, audio mix well, and let sit until fully downloaded. Served best in stereo. Enjoy!
Shout out to APH this week for the kind retweets. They just recently updated their Braille Badges for iOS. You can find out more about them by visiting this link.
In The News:
Watch a Video of DISH Accessibility Features on the Hopper 3 DVR
Mike May Sets his Destination as Seattle Lighthouse President
The Apex of Price Cuts: BrailleNote Apex from $1,995 from Humanware
Applicants Accepted for The Holman Prize, a $25,000 Aspirational Awarde
No excuses, Uncle Sam is Accessible with Hundreds of IRS Tax Forms
The Hashtag you have Reached, #CSUN17, has been Changed. The new Hashtag is #CSUNATC17
Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Mini
All heads are not created equal. That's why we have added mini versions of our popular Aftershokz Trekz Titanium bone conduction headsets to the A T Guys store. They have the exact same features and sound as their bigger cousins; they're just about 2 inches shorter. They're available now in slate grey or hot pink. You can check out all of the Aftershokz products at A T Guys.
Interview: Scott Moore Talks ZoomText 11
Shelly Brisbin brings us audio from ATIA 2017. She sits down with Lee Huffman, Access World, and Scott Moore, VFO-Ai Squared, to discuss the new features found in the recently released ZoomText 11. Geometric Smoothing, a newly updated User Interface and compatibility with JAWS are just some of the improvements mentioned in this conversation. To learn more about upgrades to version 11, or if you would like to take on a 60 day trial, visit https://www.zoomtext.com/
Tip: Go Home Again With Apple TV 4th Generation
The recent tvOS update added this new thing called the TV app. Joe notes that the new app might help with staying up to date on your fave TV series, however, he missed the old behavior of the Apple TV Remote's Home button. To revert the Home button back to the way it used to be, go to Settings, then move down to "Remotes and Devices". Flick down once to land on the toggle for Home Button behavior. The current default is now to take you to the TV app when you press the Home Button. But if you activate the toggle, hitting the Home Button will take you back to the Home Screen. You can still access the TV app by using Siri or by hitting the Menu Button once to land focus back to the top of the Home Screen.
Sound Off:
Our first email is from Greg Porch who wanted us to expand on ridesharing tips.
"Hi Guys, On the latest podcast Shelly and Joe both talked about having a text template to send to uber and lyft drivers so they can spot you more easily. Maybe its because I'm an old fart but I don't know how to do this, and for me at leas, it would be a great thing to learn if you care to do it as a tip.
thanks, Greg"
Joe and J.J. note that they dictate descriptions of clothing, where they are in relation to the pickup area and any other useful information that might help a driver locate them. An app can change their layout at any time, so once you have a ride on the way, explore your screen to find the Contact Driver" section in order to send a text. It is up to the Rider if they wish to state they have a Service animal with them. There are several schools of thought about that, and it is something that may take a little experimentation before you decide on a use case that works best for you.
Next, we have two Listener updates. First from Carla;
"Joe, I thought I would let you know that I have been using my Kindle Firestick and it s pretty accessible. The voice is not that great (very robotic sounding), but it gets the job done. I can speak to Alexa, and it will find whatever I am asking for. The main menu is also easy to navigate.
Thanks for responding to my note about this issue.
Carla Davis"
And Lastly from Harry Brown about Windows 10...
"Hi guys,
In 2015, I wrote you to tell you that I was not going to upgrade to windows 10. Well, in 2016, I did, from windows 7, and I'm so very glad I did!
Narrator is improved in Windows 10, and, the biggest thing is, you can use voice recognition, that's built into windows, to read documents, read web pages, launch programs, and close them, just by using narrator! I cannot speak for using it with NVDA, because I only have 2 USB ports and my microphone and my thumb drive, where I have my portable version of NVDA, are right next to each other, so I cannot have them both plugged in at the same time.
In the next build of Windows 10, coming out later this year, we will be able to install windows 10 on computers with no version of windows on it, just by using Narrator!!!
So, is it worth upgrading to windows 10? Absolutely it is!!!
Harry"
Great to hear, Harry, and we're happy it worked out well for you. the next version of Windows 10, set for release in April 2017, is looking like an even better experience for those who use Narrator and Braille Displays. More on that over the next few months.
Last Word:
Ride Hailing and verbosity take the stage in this week's edition.
5 Stars
2017 wasn't bad enough, so Merriam-Webster added all these cringeworthy words to the dictionary
Another regular format show arrives with episode 91 next week. Then 92, and then, well. We'll see. Because our CSUN 2017 coverage is less than a month away! We've got a special treat for audiobook fans and historians next week, so stay tuned.
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Category: ShowsThis is Joe from the hopper review. I loved it guys thanks been listening for a long time.
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
