Blind Abilities

Serina, Raqi, Jeff and Angie gather around to talk tech and have a conversation about Blindness, Service flying service animals and giving Guide Dogs Angel wings. Yup, you heard it here first. From the latest gems from Apple to the Mantis from APH, the crew digs in about news, releases and experience not just tech experience, life experience as well. How do you use the word Blind? Do you use Person-First? The topic heats up and guard went down as the team brings it on with the use of the word Blind... 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

Karthik Kannan returned to the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the Winter Sale on the Envision AI App available in the App Store and the Google Play Store. Now, with a new 14 day trial from Envision, anyone can give the Envision AI app a good go-around. Try out the Instant Text, Document and PDF reading features. 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 Sarah Herrlinger joins Raqi Gomez and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about accessibility and the major refresh of the Apple.com/accessibility web site. With the roll out of all the new Apple products, the Accessibility Team has been working hard to ensure that all the hardware is accessible and even enhancing the access along the way. 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 Pardy Gill joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to share with us Pardy's journey from denying and not accepting his blindness until a few incidences made him quite aware that he needed to address his low vision and face the fact that he was going to have to change his perspective on being Blind. A lot of us who are losing vision over time try to hang on as long as we can and Pardy was no different. Until some near-death experiences, Pardy was content on living a life without addressing the growing loss of 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

Raqi, Angie and Jeff gather before the start of the Holiday Season to talk tech and Jeff gets schooled a bit on how to listen to women, or at least these 2 techies from out West. From the Find My demo, to Apple's 15% break for the little developers, to 5G settings on the iPhone 12 series, we go, go, go in this Tech Abilities show. 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

Serina, Raqi, Angie and Jeff stay socially distanced and still sound great in the Blind Abilities Studio! Who invited Marlon again? Anyways, Serina and Raqi go at it in the Mac Fight of the season. Actually, they state their cases and Angie and Jeff keeps the show running with some tidbits and demos showing the People Detection feature on the iPhone 12 Pros series of iPhones. Big Sir has a new member in the Menu Extras Bar called, Control Center… Nice! We are all pert near dressed in Stitch Fix attire and maybe in an upcoming show, Angie will be sporting some Stich Fix merch herself! 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

Brittany Montgomery and Riley Robinson join Jeff in the Blind Abilities studio to share their mission to bring blind cricket to the U.S. They describe the passion for this hugely popular sport that has energized people in other countries and believe that if they can generate an awareness and familiarity in the states, then that passion would grow here as well. Listen as they show their sheer enthusiasm, not only for the enjoyment that the sport would bring to blind athletes stateside, but for the broader international possibilities such an arrangement might offer in the 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

In this 22nd episode in our series, we hear from Sammie Shipman in California, who fills in those details for us. Sammie Shipman is a college student living in the San Francisco bay area in northern California, in the US. Sammie shares her routine as a student living and active lifestyle that ranges from her daily 3-hour commute to school, to her walks around the local marina with her guide dog, fighting the smoke-filled air resulting from the wildfires which are very prevalent in the area. 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

Raqi, Angie and Jeff are in the studio while Serina gets some well deserved time off. She told me to write that, yes she did. Marlon pops in with a few One More Things and We are talking Apples, Plans, Accessible Rowing Machine, Audio USB Mixer, New Mic from Shure and notta thing about that election! 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

Kiran Kaja is the Accessibility Lead for Search, Assistant and News at Google. Kiran joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio for a conversation about Kiran's journey from a bleak outlook for education to his jobs that led him around the world and to Google. It is not by chance that Kiran made it to where he is today, he followed his passion and is excited each day that he gets to make possibilities come true through the work he does at Google. 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

Tech Abilities is back in the saddle or should I say Stagecoach? We got a full studio with Serina, Raqi, Jeff and guest, Angie Fisher. Yes, a full house and a full episode of Breaking News, Insights on the iPhone 12 Pro, HBO and Audio Description, Google Nest Speakers, Halos Tactile Icons, the MagSafe connection from Apple and just a delightful dish being served up in this episode of Tech Abilities. 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

Simon Bonenfant sat down with Laura Cornwell and Robert Hänggi from the NVDACon Planning Committee to talk about the upcoming December 5 and 6 on-line NVDA Conference. They explained how you can contribute your ideas and suggestions up until the November 14 deadline. Laura and Robert fills us in on what to expect at this year's NVDACon. Laura explains what the NVDA Screen Reader is and how you can get started using NVDA on your Windows computer. 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 on Episode 21 is Gerardo Corripio who comes to us from Mexico. Gerardo, Gera, immediately points out how important it is to first understand an overview of the political and geographic make up of his country. Mexico is comprised of 32 states, 10 of which are controlled by one of Mexico's political parties, PAN and the others which are controlled by the Morena party, of which Mexico's President Obrador is the party leader. Gera lives in the city of Tampico, located, in the state of Tamaulipas, which falls under the PAN party. In general, the PAN takes a more serious approach to dealing with the Corona virus than the Morena party. 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

Lois Strachan is a multi-talented artist and has just published her new book, "A Different Way of Seeing (Second Edition): A Blind Woman's Journey of Living an Ordinary Life in an Extraordinary Way." Lois returns to the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her decision to author a 2nd edition and what led her to take a 2nd look at "A Different Way of 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

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