Blind Abilities

The gang is all here and by gosh, where are the Action Figures? Serina, Raqi and Jeff give their thoughts about the Apple Event and that Amazon Prime thing that came and went. Although, Raqi scored another set of Air Pod Pros for her ever growing stable of Air pods. Serina ordered her Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro and is absolutely stumped on her next case since the Apple MagSafe cases are not on Amazon. $49 in the Apple Store! Hmm. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Ana Sikhashvili spent a year in Minnesota attending the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind (MSAB)through a student exchange program called, Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX). Ana is definitely a leader and her future is looking very bright as she is now attending University in the Republic of Georgia. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

In the 20th episode in our series, Around the World with Covid-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we welcome back Nick D'Ambrosio, from Montreal Canada, with a special follow-up report. We first heard from Nick in Episode 5 in which he shared his perspective on life as an essential worker in his Drug Store in Montreal. Now Nick returns with a clean and fresh outlook on handling Corona, now, in October 2020. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

In our first episode of the Organizations of the Blind and Visually Impaired series, Harriet Go, President of the Keystone Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the Keystone Chapter, the NFB Philosophy and share the news of an upcoming event for all to participate. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

GoodMaps CEO, Jose Gaztambide, and Chief evangelist, Mike May, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the new app GoodMaps Explorer. An indoor and outdoor navigation application on iOS and soon to be on Android. With outdoor navigation being available through various GPS apps and Map apps, American Printing House for the Blind formed GoodMaps in an effort to take on the challenges of indoor navigation. With breakthrough technology, Jose and Mike are here to give us an overview of the technology and prospects of the GoodMaps Explorer app. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Rita Howells joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to tell us about her new Recumbent Exercise Bike, why a recumbent and how she gained access to the manual, the Electronic Screen and much more. Rita produces a column called, Rita's iDevice Advice, and monitors a Tech Group e-mail list called, iDevices... Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Kristy Viers joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and talked about her YouTube Channel Kristy Viers, her College Experience, Beta Testing Apps and Braille Screen Input on her iPhone. Kristy had a YouTube video go viral with nearly 30,000 people listening. Kristy had to shut down her notifications as every device was going off for a few days. Kristy is doing more videos with instruction and about being Blind and how she does what she does. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Gabby Mendonca joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her inspiring YouTube Channel @GabriellaMendonca, her educational journey, white and pink canes and her upcoming guide dog adventure. Listen in as Gabby explains how living in New York during the pandemic has effected her home life, education and social interaction. With a Guide Dog in her future plans, Gabby tells us about the Guide Dog Foundation and her timeline for obtaining her first Guide Dog. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Our guest today is Manique Gunaratne, who comes to us from Sri Lanka. Manique's story speaks of the situation that she and other disabled citizens of Sri Lanka experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic this year. This in itself is not unusual. All of our guests have described their experiences in this way. What makes this report different is the contrast of the successful handling of the Corona virus by the nation of Sri Lanka, at least in the traditional statistical measures we are accustomed to seeing... Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript Hilda Dunford is a mom with 3 children and with the distance learning being the virtual reality that it is, Hilda is fining more and more time to be with her children, learning, caring and growing together. I met Hilda through her @OurBlindSide Instagram account. Her Blog-like content gave me a peek into the life of Hilda, her family and her son who happens to be Blind/Low Vision. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

3 is company and we were feeling Pretty, Pretty Good once we got the iOS14 downloaded and up and running on our various versions of the iPhone. Raqi and Jeff virtually High-5 each other and Serina just shrugs. With the new iOS full of features that extend beyond the reach of the iPhone 10, there was a lot to talk about and the Time Flies event was nearly the opposite. Kind of a lack luster event unless you were waiting for the new Apple Watch Series 6 or SE or an iPad in Sky Blue. Read more Full Transcript

Justin and Cindy from the Minnesota Disability Law Center joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio for a discussion on voting rights for youth with disabilities. We also get to talk to Nate and Nikki, 2 young adults, about their experiences voting accessibly using the Auto-Mark device and completing an absentee ballot. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

In this 18th episode in our series, we hear from Paul Mugambi in Kenya, Africa. A first-hand report from Paul with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him, his family and disabled persons in general in Kenya. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Brigitte Lablache is an articulate woman with talents, drive, initiative and overall life experiences which have allowed her to rise to a position of leadership in the blindness community in Seychelles. This episode focusses largely on Brigitte's lifestyle, and how Covid-19 has affected it, despite its relatively moderate overall impact on the Seychelles as a nation. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcription John Panarese, Director and founder of Mac for the Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about what Mac for the Blind is and what services are provided. John gives a bit of background on how Mac for the Blind got started and how this year has boomed with the group sessions and more sessions for the Mac and iOS to come this fall. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

On this Tech Abilities show, Jeff and Serina dust off the third chair and our new co-host, Raqi Gomez, joins the Tech Abilities team in a well-rounded discussion on Apple's upcoming iPhones, Apple TV and other speculations that may or not be showing up on September 15. The Time Flies Apple Event may only be involving the Apple Watch as the name implies, and rumor has it that a new iPad may drop as well during this event. Will the 4 rumored iPhones be postponed a couple of weeks? Find out more by tuning in to the Sept. 15 Apple Event: Time flies. It's almost here. Read more Full Transcript

In this sixteenth episode in our series, we hear from Alvaro Gutierrez from Bogota, Columbia. Thus far we have spanned the globe with blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Japan. Now we hear a first-hand report from Alvaro with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Columbia. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Blind Abilities presents this special interview with Laura Wolke. Laura initially began a career as a social worker in Philadelphia, with clients who were primarily Medicare recipients, planning to get her PhD and go into counseling or become a psychologist. However she eventually grew weary of this work, saying that while she has great respect for the people who do the job, she didn't think she has the means to detach herself from the patients and their problems, something that is necessary with that kind of job. When attending a seminar at Notre Dane University on the subject of Bioethics, Laura learned about the myriad of intriguing applications for a law degree, and she immediately studied for and took her LSAT exams to pursue that path. Listen as Laura describes the tedious and seemingly unnecessary steps she had to take to take this mandatory exam, as much of it was not accessible to her as a blind student. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

This Breakout Demo was released on the latest Blind Abilities show, TechAbilities, and here is the breakdown on how-to add Alt-Text to the images you post on Facebook. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Welcome back to Tech Abilities. We ran this series a couple of years ago and seems like a great time to dust off our Tech Abilities T-Shirts and Caps and jump into the Blind Abilities studio for some tech news and information surrounding the tools, gadgets, developments and news from a Blindness perspective. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

We are excited about the Aira Gift Cards rolling out and Aira CEO, Troy Otillio, teases us with something else rolling out next month. Operations Manager, Ryan Bresnahan, gives a great explanation surrounding the 5 Minutes Free changes. This conversation dives into Aira's decision making process and how the community drives the biggest changes and how Aira is always keeping their eye on the future for the Explorers, Agents and Aira Access Partners. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Marilee Talkington, founder of the Access Acting Academy, joins Simon Bonenfant and Lisa Andrews for an in-depth look at not only the Access Acting Academy and the classes being offered, the conversation goes backstage to discover what drove Marilee to begin the revolution and bring Access Acting Academy from an idea to our reality. Read more Full Transcript we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript available. Olga Itsenko-Mahler has basically gone from one World to another when she ended up in Australia and leaving her Ukraine homeland behind. Olga did experience a peek into the Western civilization during an exchange program in Texas while in her 11th year of education. What a difference and what an impact that her travel outside Ukraine had upon her understanding of her place in society and the places she wanted to go. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

In this fifteenth episode in our series, we hear from Chelsie Reid in New York City with her uniquely fascinating perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her in the states. Chelsie is a college student living in New York City. Her studies, her life and her well-being were interrupted by the Corona virus. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Today we hear a first-hand report from Hiroyuki Shinagawa. Konichiwa with yet a different perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Osaka, Japan. Hiroyuki is a massage therapist in Osaka, and shares with us the impact of Corona and Covid-19 on the Japanese people, inside and outside Osaka, including a unique insight into the Japanese culture which we have previously not seen in this series. Hiroyuki speaks of the progression of the coronavirus over recent months, giving his insight into the role of the Japanese people, and the effect which the virus has had on the citizens of Osaka, and the blindness community as well. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Director of Research at American Foundation for the Blind, Dr. L. Penny Rosenblum, Joins us in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the two recent surveys, Flatten Inaccessibility and Access and Engagement to Education. The full reports will soon be published, and you can sign up to be notified they are available and stay up to date with AFB's future research projects. Find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting educational services for children birth to 21 years of age and their families. Discover how TVIs and O&M instructors are meeting students' educational needs. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Program Director Jon Marin joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about the Career Discovery Project and his upcoming book release of, "See Us". With his new book due out soon Jon talks about students and employment and the opportunities created through the Career Discovery Project and the awareness that his new book, See Us, will bring to people around the world. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Talk Description to Me Christine Malec and JJ Hunt Where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashed out in description-rich conversations. J.J. Hunt is an innovative Audio Describer and a natural-born storyteller. Christine Malec is a perpetually inquisitive member of the blind and partially sighted community who's always wondering about something. In Talk Description to Me, their discussions plunge into current events and topical issues to explore the content of important images, and help place vivid descriptions in their cultural context. Lively, hard-hitting, witty, vibrant, and fun, this is conversation with a view! Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Ilse, Head of Growth and Marketing at Envision, joins Scott and Jeff in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about Envision Glasses, the EnvisionAI app on iOS and Android, and what may be coming down the line from the hard working team at Envision. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Today we hear a first-hand report from Tim McIsaac with yet a different perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Winnipeg, a city in Manitoba, a sparsely populated province in Canada. Here the Corona virus hasn't taken quite the toll as it has elsewhere in Canada and the world, partly because of its size, but partly a result of the commitment of its citizens to social distancing and other precautionary measures imposed by their government. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript Today we hear a first-hand report from Jo Fishwick in England with her unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her and her family. Jo Fishwick lives in Teignmouth, in Devin, a seaside town on the southwestern coast of England. She is a guide dog owner, married with an 18-year-old daughter and Speaks about working in an eye clinic in Exeter, and her transition to working from home at the outset of the pandemic. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript In this episode, we hear a first-hand report from Michael with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him and his family in one of our western-most states. Michael is a production Assistant living in Coquille Oregon. He joins Blind Abilities to share his perspective on how the Corona virus and COVID-19 have impacted Oregonians, his employment, and subsequent furlough from a company that owns multiple radio stations in his area, and his recent experience with collecting unemployment benefits from the state and federal governments. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript In this tenth episode in our series, Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we hear from Jeff Bazer in South Carolina in the US. Thus far we have spanned the globe with blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the united kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada. Now we hear a first-hand report from Jeff with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in the states. Jeff Bazer is the South Central Regional Sales Director for Vispero Freedom Scientific and lives in South Carolina in the US. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Apple Accessibility has never been better and the team at Apple has delivered again. In the studio today we talk to Sarah Herrlinger, Apple Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, and Dean Hudson, and engineer on the Apple accessibility team. Learn about the new features coming to the latest iPhones and join in the excitement as we roll through the Apple Orchard and pick a few apple features to highlight. There is much more deeper in the orchard and you can find out more about what is new for iOS14 on the web at www.Apple.com. You will find some resources to help schools, teachers and parents create engaging learning experiences from home. Check out, Teach and Learn from Any Distance. And share with your community. Read more Full Transcript we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

On this show we got the developer of the Downcast App talking about accessibility and the importance of providing access by developers. George Cox joins Brian and Jeff in the studio to talk about the Downcast App and how the app has progressed and what may be coming in the near future. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Jeff Bazer returned to the Blind Abilities studio to share with us the latest news out of Vispero Freedom Scientific. Jeff gives us a quick look at the Optelec Compact 10 and the L-Braille with all the specs, bells and whistles. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcription In this ninth episode in our series, Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we hear from Lori Thompson in Minneapolis Minnesota. Thus far we have spanned the globe with blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the united kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada. Now we hear a first-hand report from Lori with her unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her in the states. Lori Thompson lives outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. As an essential worker for the state of Minnesota... Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcription In this eighth episode in our series, Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we hear from Sherry Molengraft in Jacksonville, Florida. Thus far we have spanned the globe with blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the united kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada. Now we hear a first-hand report from Sherry with her unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her in the states. Sherry lives in Jacksonville,, in the northeast corner of the state of Florida. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

The Gang of 4 return to the studio to take a good look at the news and happenings around the technology world with a blindness perspective. From Aira stating the Free 5 minute policy clearly to Bose and Microsoft Stores closing for good. Oh, yes, the Bose Frames are still pumping out the sound but the Virtual Reality gets put on the shelf and may not be a reality in the Bose labs. Twitter goes audio with Tweets, or at least, the feature is rolling out but without accessibility? What? Access may be coming. But, is Audio Description getting yanked around? What about Brian's new Ultra-Violet Wand? Yes, he is lighting up his world! We hope it is a cleaner world when he is done. Believe me, we do.... Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript In this seventh episode in our series, Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we hear from Brian Fischler. Brian comes to us from New York, the City that never sleeps. but we may have witnessed an exception to that age-old moniker as New York has been through an ordeal that almost brought the Big Apple to its knees… into a deep sleep! But as in the past, the big city seems to have bounced back and is rallying in recent weeks. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

I was so glad when Satauna Howery joined me in the Blind Abilities studio this time to talk about her journey, her work as a Voice Artist and to converse about blindness and bits and pieces of life. Satauna has been doing professional voice work since 2013 and her voice can be heard around the world on TV, movies, commercials, promotions, audio books and anywhere a client needs a voice. As her slogan says, My Voice, Your Message, Bullseye, and from what I've heard, Satauna hits the bullseye every time. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript In this sixth episode in our series, Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we hear from Brooklyn Rodden Kelly from California. Thus far we have spanned the globe with Blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the united kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada. Now we hear a first-hand report from Brooklyn with her unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her in the states. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript In this 5th episode in a series, we hear from Nick D'Ambrosio. Nick hails from Montreal, Canada, located in the province of Quebec in the eastern part of the country. With ten provinces in three territories the impact of COVID-19 varies greatly across this vast country, but Nick points out some basic precautionery measures which are in place nationwide. Listen too as Nick also describes a program offered by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) called Virtual Vision Mate, to help BVI citizens get groceries and other things they may need during the pandemic. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcript in this fourth episode in a series, Marlon Parieaho reports from the caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. With a relatively small population of 1.3 million people, T&T has about 29 positive cases of COVID-19 as of early June 2020. Marlon explains that T&T demonstrated similar behavior early-on to that seen in recent weeks around the globe, including panic buying, (KFC in the case of T&T), which he attributes to "Covid Idiots" and pointing out that T&T is a party country and may be having COVID parties, Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcrip in this second episode in our series, Steve Wicketts, a professional entertainer relays his experiences with the coronavirus in England. We learn about the effect on his business with cancellations at his shows, and the broader impact that Corona has had on blind individuals: will supermarkets provide phone or online assistance, "click and collect service," or delivery. We hear that Steve is awaiting a decision whether he will benefit from the British government's widely popular "wage compensation" assurances, since he is self-employed. We wish him luck! Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcrip in this second episode in a series of reports, Chee Chau relays his experiences with the coronavirus in Malaysia. We learn about the Movement Control Order which restricts who can go out and for what; how NGOs rather than neither the government or other organizations provide any degree of training to its disabled citizens in assistive technology,, including that needed for monitoring news and crucial COVID-19 updates, and we also hear of the kindness of the Malaysian people who offer much-needed help to their blind neighbors. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

3 is company but 4 is more and Ed is back with the gang at TBTS. Covering an immense amount of information, news and techniques that I even took notes. We dance with the bears, trip on through WWDC, hit on the iPhone SE, dive into Instagram and Alt Text, answer the most asked question this side of Greeneville, Tennessee, What is the difference between iCloud and iCloud Drive? Autonomous cars get noticed and some whacky spying through light bulbs is tossed into the recipe that makes this concoction of this That Blind Tech Show taste and feel so so good. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Full Transcrip Every day we are inundated with reports about COVID-19: statistics, new cases, and worse. Every day we hear of how the coronavirus has impacted people all over the world, but have we heard specific reports of its effect on blind and visually impaired individuals? In this new series from Blind Abilities, we hear from blind citizens from Around the world about how they have experienced and adapted to COVID-19. from Australia and Malaysia, to the united Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and the United States, we will hear firsthand reports with their unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected them as blind citizens. in this first episode in a series of reports, Elise Lonsdale relays a personal experience with the coronavirus in Australia. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Barbara Hinske joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about the new release of her book, Guiding Emily A Tale of Love, Loss and Courage. Barbara tells us how her visit to the Foundation for Blind Children in phoenix, Arizona inspired her to support the foundation by doing what she does best, write a book and donate half the proceeds to the Foundation for Blind Children. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Christine Malec joins us in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about the Listen Party from the Luminato Festival in Toronto Canada. You may know Christine from her Curious Minds segment on the Kelly and Company show on AMI Audio. Be sure to check that out as well. Christine gives us a bit of Luminato Festival history and tells us about the 2 Listen Party events being put on Live for anybody around the world to join in and actively participate in the pre and post show events. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093