Blind Abilities

In this episode of Job Insights Serina Gilbert, Sarlie Drakos and Jeff Thompson will talk about how the Résumé is an important role in one's job and career search. The résumé is designed for companies to select the best of the best applicants and having an effective résumé will increase ones opportunities for gainful employment. Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach and you can reach her at SarlieDrakos.com and inquire how she can help you land that dream job. Be sure to contact your Vocational Rehabilitation Services in your state and see what they can do for you. Be sure to check out all of our Job Insights episodes and give us a call at 612-367-6093, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected]. Thanks for listening! Episode Web Site 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 third episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Shame and how one may navigate the feelings of shame in a healthy way. Show Hosts: Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS Www.transitioningthroughchange.com You can message Beth and Robin by calling 612-367-6093 or by email. Let them know if they can use your message on the show. They are looking forward to hearing from you. Episode web site 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 much anticipated Far Out event from the Fruit Company called Apple was back on Wednesday and this group of 5 took it all in and got together in the Blind Abilities Studio to give their perspectives on the event, the new iPhone 14 line up, the 3 new Apple watches and the 2nd Generation Air Pods Pro. Serina Gilbert, Callie Gray, Seyoon Choi, Jesse Anderson and Jeff Thompson get to the core of the Apple event and dabble around the orchard with opinions, perspectives and some Apple picking. You can watch the entire Apple Far Out Event on Apple's YouTube Channel. Thanks for listening and leave us a message, give us some feedback, suggestions or just say Hi at [email protected] or give us a call at 612-367-6093, we would love to hear from you. Subscribe to the Blind Abilities Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and check out all the podcasts on the web at BlindAbilities.com. Episode Web Site 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

Sara Robberson Lentz, STEM Education Officer at AUI and COO and Head of Partnerships at Tumble media, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio with some exciting news for STEM education, accessibility and representation in STEM fields for the BVI. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $1 Million to a team comprised of Associated Universities Incorporated (AUI), Oregon State University, Independent Science (ISci) and Tumble Media. The team will study podcasts as a classroom tool to engage blind and visually impaired students, focusing on representation and accessibility in STEM fields. This initiative is a major step towards promoting inclusion for all children learning science. Education and content experts from Tumble Media will lead the development of teaching resources based on the research findings, focus groups, and testing within selected classrooms. Sara gives us an overview of the teams and how this experience is impacting the way Tumble Media is producing their popular children's podcasts. How they describe the educational storytelling to be the most inclusive that they can be. Full Transcript Be sure to check out all the Tumble Media podcasts: Tumble Science Podcasts for Kids on Apple Podcast Tumble Science Podcast for Kids on Google Podcast Tumble Science Podcast for Kids on Spotify For more information about Tumble Media and the STEM initiative go to https://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com and be sure to subscribe to their newsletter for great educational science stuff! Thank you Marshall Escamilla for all the music used in this production. You can find the sound packs in the Teacher Store from Tumble Media. Episode Web Site 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

Ricky Ties is a member of the Team USA Visually Impaired Judo Team. Ricky wrestled in high school and was a 2 time participant in the state tournament and was a National Highschool Coaches Association All-American. Ricky went on to college and qualified for Nationals 2 times and Regional Champion in his sophomore year. Ricky began coaching wrestling and started his own wrestling club. if that wasn't enough, during this time Ricky attained his master's degree in Sports Psychology. Once hearing about the USA Judo Team looking for former BVI wrestlers to represent USA, Ricky soon left his coaching and moved out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. With 1 Silver and3 Bronze medals, it has been quite a journey as he joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share his story and give advice to those interested in competitive sports and how adaptive sports are gaining in areas around the country. Episode Web Site 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 adds to the iPhone101 Series with this in depth, comprehensive review of blocking callers and senders of unwanted text messages and emails. Pete Lane takes us through a detailed journey covering the various processes for eliminating and reducing these unwelcome contacts in multiple Apps across iOS. From blocking unknown phone numbers in our Messages and Phone Apps, to blocking and unsubscribing from sales, spam and scam emails, collectively referred to as Robocalls, Pete demonstrates step by step techniques for getting these nagging senders out of our virtual hair. He also provides some valuable background information on this issue including details from www.FCC.gov, the web site of the Federal Communications Commission. This is the agency in the US charged with monitoring, managing and enforcing the laws and regulations governing all such communications across the country. For a step by step break down and time line, 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 guess today on Blind Abilities is AJ Croce. AJ is a singer, songwriter, a killer piano player and guitarist, who has been in the entertainment business for more than 30 years. He has 10 studio albums under his belt, and more than 20 top hits in multiple music charts covering genres such as blues, jazz, country, Americana and more! he is also visually impaired. Many of you will recognize the name Croce, as his father Jim was a huge international Star in the 1970s. He had a series of enormous hits that captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of listeners around the globe. In this interview, AJ talks about his blindness and some of the circumstances which caused it in his early childhood. AJ goes on to detail his life in the music business, which began in his mid-teens. This is a fascinating journey which you must, repeat must listen to! Full Transcript You can find all of the information you need on AJ's web site: www.AJCroceMusic.com and find him on social media: @AJCroce 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 2nd episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), what it may be and some practical coping strategies one can try. Following our last episode on Social Anxiety, Beth and Robin define and explain the difference between Social and General Anxiety and offer some strategies for coping with General Anxiety Disorder. Full Transcript Show Hosts: Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS Www.transitioningthroughchange.com You can message Beth and Robin by calling 612-367-6093 or by email. Let them know if they can use your message on the show. They are looking forward to hearing from you. Web Site 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

Jenine Stanley joins Pete and Jeff in the Blind Abilities Studio to break the news that the Aira Explorer App is now on the BlindShell Classic 2 accessible Cell Phone. Listen in as Jenine demonstrates the BlindShell navigation, the voice and of course Aira Explorer being right in the menu. With all tactile buttons, the BlindShell Classic 2 is becoming the tactile button accessible cell phone we thought we would always have and now Aira is available in the BlindShell Classic 2 app library. To learn more about the specials offered by Aira and BlindShell, checkout the Aira Announcement here. sign up for the Aira/BlindShell Webinar. Happening on August 30, 2022, at 02:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada. and join the Aira WhatsApp Group to contribute and learn about the Aira Explorer experiences. You can also check out the BlindShell Classic 2 group on Groups.io. episode web site 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

Thanks to Greg for sending me a message when he heard the App Store demo I did on the Tech Abilities showwhere I navigated the cumbersome App Store table. With this tip of using Command plus 1 through 8, one can jump from section to section. So thanks Greg! If you have any feedback or suggestions, give us a call at 612-554-2530, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at [email protected] and find us on Twitter @BlindAbilities. You can find all of our iPhone101/QuickByte Demos and much more on the web at BlindAbilities.com and be sure to subscribe to Blind Abilities, that's 2 words, Blind Abilities, wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

In this Tech Abilities episode Serina, Callie and Jeff welcome Seyoon Choi to the show. He is working on his major and undergrad simultaneously While playing Blind Hockey and working at the local fruit store. From Kardashian Beats Fit Pros, to NVDA at Texas State, Demos on the Audio Graphs in the iPhone and the Mac App Store navigation. That's just for beginners! We also dive into Fully Autonomous Vehicles, an autonomous Vehicle Assistant Being developed, Spotify acquires Book Stream company and a big summer opportunity to get on-board. Did you know that NASA is sending up an iPad to test Alexa? Sorry Seri, I'm working on that. Plus much more news and tidbits from around the 3rd rock from the sun, and all from our Blindness perspectives. Links to some of the topics covered in this Tech Abilities episode: Beats Fit Pro gets a Kim Kardashian makeover — and sells out fast The 3 new colors are: Moon (light), Dune (medium) and Earth Latest Spotify deals offer three-month free trial, or three months for $9.99 Spotify Paid $120 Million to Acquire an Audiobook Platform Find A Way an audio streaming platform that allows users to create and distribute their own audiobooks NVDA to help the blind read screens hits US NASA is sending an iPad around the moon to help test Alexa in space How AI Is Being Used To Help Blind Students 'Visualize' Graphs And Charts VEMI Lab researchers earn federal prize, invite to White House for software that makes self-driving cars more accessible

The Sassy Bloggers, @BlindBroad and @BayAreaBlindMom, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio for an awesome half hour of laughs, divulgence, awareness and what they do living the life they want. Lisamaria Martinez is a Confidence Coach with a focus on women in the workplace, moms and even those with cats. She has worked in the non-profits surrounding the Blindness World and decided to set out on her coaching career. As a mother of three, Lisamaria finds time to share her experiences and join her long time friend Serena Olsen for a good time on The Blind Grind, a Facebook Live show every Wednesday. Serena Olsen shares her passions and culinary skills on her blog, It Starts with Quiche, with recipes and learn about her Sweep the Fridge Quiche and her murderous cats. Yes, the Quiche and Cats are separate stories, promise. You can find Serena Olsen on Twitter @Blind_Broad Her It Starts with Quiche on Facebook. Follow Serena on Instagram. Her Clubhouse profile and email sign-up.. You can find Lisamaria Martinez on Twitter @BayAreaBlindMom Her Blog at Bay Area Blind Mom You can check out the 2 Sassy Blind Bloggers on Facebook Live at The Blind Grind every Wednesday. Web Site 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 episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Social Anxiety, what it may be and some practical coping tips one can try. Show Hosts: Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS Www.transitioningthroughchange.com You can message Beth and Robin by calling 612-367-6093 or by email. Let them know if they can use your message on the show. They are looking forward to hearing from you.

In this brief episode from Blind Abilities, Jeff Thompson takes a look at the Sony WH- 1000XM4 Noise Canceling, Dual Pairing, Alexa ready Headphones he bought during the Amazon Prime Day sale. Right now you can get them refurbished for massive discounts as well. Jeff gives an overview of the Blind Abilities Podcast and where they are and what you can find in the Blind Abilities 880 plus episodes. This includes the Tech Abilities and Job Insights shows, the iPhone101/QuickBytesSeries, Success Stories, STEM, College and Careers and much more available from the Blind Abilities library of episodes. You can search and check out the category listings on the web at BlindAbilities.com. Subscribe to the Blind Abilities podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. That's 2 words, Blind Abilities. we would love to hear from you! Send us an email or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 Thanks for listening!

Blind Abilities expands its iPhone101 Series with a follow up episode on a topic which they previously touched upon, but this time they do a "deeper dive". In November of 2021, Pete Lane described the iOS Control Center, and in that review, touched on the iOS screen recording feature. This time, Pete has circled back to cover this feature, but in far greater detail. In this episode: Pete takes a thorough approach toward discussing the entire process of iOS screen recording, beginning with an explanation of what screen recording is, and why we might want to use the iOS screen recording feature. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Aaron Spelker is a Mobile Game enthusiast and writer. Aaron joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share the resources he has created and the articles he has published as well as a novel. Aaron lost his sight suddenly and picked up the pieces by learning JAWS and has not looked back. His passion for gaming led him down a dead end street so he decided to build his own platform across multiple social networks and bring awareness to accessible gaming. His efforts have bridged developers and influencers to gamers to open the conversation about accessibility. Full Transcript Here are some helpful links provided by Aaron Spelker: If you want to read long-form reviews of accessible mobile games or hear interviews with game developers and influencers about accessibility, then join the 'Apple iPhone iOS Voiceover Compatible Games' Facebook group. If you have any games or content related to accessible gaming, feel free to 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 Job Insights episode, Serina Gilbert and jeff Thompson welcome Sarlie Drakos to the Job Insights Team. We are excited to have Sarlie on our team and excited to bring back the Job Insights show after a 2 year hiatus during the pandemic. In this episode of Job Insights we will talk about how accepting ones Blindness, job readiness and confidence can play an important role in one's job and career search. The interviewing process is designed for companies to select the best of the best applicants and being prepared will increase ones opportunities for gainful employment. Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach and you can reach her at SarlieDrakos.com and inquire how she can help you land that dream job. Be sure to contact your Vocational Rehabilitation Services in your state and see what they can do for you. Be sure to check out all of our Job Insights episodes and give us a call at 612-367-6093, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected]. Thanks for listening! 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

Thinkerbell Labs CPO, Shivam Agarwal, joins Simon Bonenfant in the Exhibit Hall to talk about Polly, the new Braille device that makes learning Braille fun! Polly is an electronic Wi-Fi enabled device that will assist users in learning and reinforcing braille concepts. With many components for both input and output, Polly can provide practice and gamify the braille learning process for students. In addition to learning phonics, letters, and braille contractions, students can practice typing on the keyboard and writing with the electronic slate during games. Reading and writing games include Letter Race, Balloon Pop for spelling, games for practicing dot location with different input methods, and the many Explore categories provide free play with the device for our youngest learners. The speaker and headphone jack provide auditory instructions and allow the device to be used in any environment. You can get on the waiting list today. Find out more about Thinkerbell Labs 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 Thanks for listening!

our guests in this episode Come to us from BlindShell USA and are here to talk about the latest update to the BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone Classic 2. Bari Azman, President and CEO, and Diane Ducharme, Senior Program Director join Jeff and Pete to explore the latest iteration of this smart phone, the original of which intrigued many blind and visually impaired individuals due to its practical smart phone features, its tactile keypad and simple, accessible layout. The BlindShell Classic 2 is available in two colors, Cardinal Red and Midnight Black, and there are numerous locations where the Classic 2 can be purchased, a list of which is available on the website, www.BlindShellUSA.com: Join Jeff and Pete as they discuss a variety of topics with Bari and Diane, including the recent partnership with Aira to provide the Aira application on the BlindShell Classic 2 accessible Cell Phone, including those existing users, and is offering three months of free Aira service to new purchasers.. The BlindShell Classic 2 Accessible Phone is a hybrid blend of modern smart phone capabilities and tactile buttons, and could be an appealing alternative to a standard Apple or Android smart phone for both a newly blind and existing user who just isn't interested in the flat screen device. and it has a battery life of up to 96 hours. 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 Thanks for Listening!

Christy Pruitt-Haynes joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to announce her new book, "I Have to Pay for This $H!T?" Pre-orders are open and the book is officially being released on August 2nd, 2022. This is Christy's first family focused book and after meeting her, I am looking forward to reading this book about the excitement and emotions of becoming an Empty Nester as her daughter leaves to fulfill her college goals. Christy's impressive background includes being a TEDx speaker and a Nashville Emerging Leader Award recipient. She has held executive positions at Infiniti Americas/Nissan, CMT, and the Memphis Grizzlies. Founder of Christy Pruitt-Haynes Consulting, she and her team offer innovative speaking, training, and coaching to help organizations excel with diverse talent. Christy is visually impaired and takes us through her experience with Blindness and how she lives the life she wanted and helps others live the life they want as well. Christy gives some great advice to students and her story will resonate with the listeners as her words speak the realities faced and placed upon the Blind and Visually Impaired and how she enhances the opportunities for corporations to realize that diversity is an asset. Her book is a great read for everyone from students to parents, so be sure to check it out yourself. You can order her new book at IHaveToPayForThis.com and you can find out more about Christy Pruitt-Haynes Consulting on the web at ChristyPruitt-Haynes.com. You can follow her on social media at www.instagram.com/christypruitthaynes and https://www.facebook.com/ChristyPruittHaynesConsulting Episode Web Site 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, Callie and Jeff cool down in the Blind Abilities Studio and dive into Clusiv, PC/Mac, Google Workspace, Fruit Freshness and expiration dates. Twitter's Alt Text reminder launched and a lot more Tech Tidbits and news from around the scorching planet Earth. Hopefully, you are staying cool and enjoying this latest episode of Tech Abilities. Here is a list of some of the topics and links mentioned in the show: Is Clusiv the answer to Vocational Rehab? A Twitter test will remind you to add alt text to images Braille Berries and freshness and Expiration in your home. Bringing on the PC for Microsoft and Google Suites. Sharing Zoom Links through the Calendar. Back Tap Double Tap Job Insights is Back! Bose SoundLink Revolve 2 Speaker Sony Bluetooth Headphones WH-1000XM4 TV mount or not? Web Site 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 Team from Magnifying America which makes the Patriot brand of AT products joined Simon Bonenfant outside the Exhibit Hall at the NFB2022 Convention. John Palmer, President and Founder of Patriot Vision Industries, along with his team give us an overview of the new OCR Scanner, the LyriQ Assistive Reader. This is a camera operated flat folding device that is portable, fast and accurate. Within seconds the LyriQ is reading without fuss about aiming the camera as the design of the LyriQ makes for ease of use and the simple operation is all by design. Listen to the demonstration and audio description of the LyriQ and decide for yourself. The Patriot Pro is overviewed and has the Patriot software baked into an iPadPro, combining great accessibility and the Patriot software for an incredible experience for low vision users. The Patriot ViewPoint is another low vision device that allows one to watch TV,, read and write and much more. This wearable device allows for hands-free viewing near and far. 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

Lukas Simianer joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to introduce us to Clusiv, an all-new platform for learning the skills needed for new employment. Learn about the extensive courses that were built to enhance your opportunities for employment and help build your skill set for a lifetime of rewards. We have not experienced Clusiv or it's program but listening to Lukas makes us wonder why this has not been developed earlier? You can find out more about Clusiv and what they can offer you on the web at https://clusiv.io From the web: YOUR PATH TO THE MODERN WORKFORCE Many jobs that were once in-house have moved to remote work. IDEA Hiring (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) is not a fad, but an essential way for companies to attract and retain talented workers. In the past, visual impairments may have separated you from meaningful and highly rewarding employment. We've built our program to be 100% accessible so you can learn the skills you need to pursue new employment opportunities. With Clusiv, there are no barriers separating you from the content you need to prepare for the jobs you want. Episode Web Site 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

Announcing the 2022 in-person Atlantic Seminar! Reflect, Reequip, Reimagine: Raising the Bar for Blind Students! The National Association of Blind Students (NABS) and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland invite you to the 2022 Atlantic regional seminar, a fun-filled weekend brimming with opportunities for professional growth, confidence building, and mentorship from Friday, August 12 (6:00 PM) – Sunday, August 14 (12:00 PM) at the Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley by Marriott. Nanahil Jafri and Logan Stenzel join Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the details and events happening during this in-person student seminar. Be sure to register now as the closing date is July 28 and just around the corner so register now! You can find out more about the Atlantic Student Seminar on the web at https://nabslink.org and register here. You 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

Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach helping people around the world reach their employment goals. Not just finding them any job, but teaching them how they can pursue their dream job. Sarlie has experienced losing a job through sight loss, and the limited expectations people around her put onto her resulted in her becoming a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and fighting harder to better her situation. Since losing her vision, Sarlie has successfully landed a job as a rock climbing instructor, copywriter, and disability employment consultant. She then continued to enhance her skills to start her own company coaching others with disabilities. Sarlie draws from her experience to fulfill her passion to coach people how to strengthen their resumes, explore careers, conduct mock job interviews and increase their odds in landing the job they want. Through well planned modules and workshops the positive feedback and results are keeping Sarlie motivated and doing her dream job while helping others reach theirs. Join Sarlie Drakos and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to learn more about what Sarlie does and offers through the services she provides. You can find out all the details on Sarlie's web site at SarlieDrakos.com and inquire how she can help you land that dream job. Book in a call today! Episode Web Site 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, Callie and jeff dig into some news and tech tidbits that have been getting a lot of attention. Callie delves into the Guide Dog dream and is mobility going to be the ice breaker? How about Blind Pride, hmmm, to each at their own time probably, We got a lot of topics through out this episode and some really good tips on copying text and arranging your rotor actions for efficiency. Here are just some of the topics and links from this Tech Abilities episode: Apple products trade in drops as the new line-up of iPhones, macs and more new release approaches. Jennine Stanley came onto Blind Abilities to talk about Aira announcements. The BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone Apple Watch Series 8 will reportedly be able to detect if you have a fever How to use App Library on your iPhone and iPad Humanware announces the all new Stellar Trek. Web Site 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 Thanks for listening!

Our guest today on Blind Abilities is Ricky McKinnie. Ricky is a longtime member of the iconic gospel singing group, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Winners of five Grammy awards and the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award. They have also been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and performed at the White House for three different presidents The Blind Boys of Alabama have the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators. . Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s, the band has persevered through seven decades to become one of the most recognized and decorated roots music groups in 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 Thanks for Listening!

Aira Director of Communications, Jenine Stanley, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and hits us up with some news breaking announcements. Aira Everywhere starts out with Aira for the Desktop. Now Aira will be available on the Mac, PC and on the iPad as a web based app where you can be hands free and use Team Viewer, Google Remote and much more. This will be open to a limited Public Beta at the end of July and you can sign up now on the web at Aira.io/choice. Be part of the Aira Beta Team and help break down barriers to access together. Aira on ArxHeadset: With a camera and bone-conduction speakers, the ArxHeadset will now have Aira loaded up and ready to explore. Look for this around the end of July. The BlindShell Classic 2 Accessible Cell Phone: A limited beta will be out at the end of July and soon Aira will be an option on the BlindShell Classic 2 Accessible Cell Phone. Aira on the Envision Glasses: Hands free and this may become a reality later this summer around August. Talks are on-going and Aira wants your exploring to be the best it can be so stay tuned on the web at Aira.io. Be sure to check out Aira on the web at Aira.io and stay up to date with all the breaking news, products and services . And, if you want to be part of the Limited Public Beta Team, sign up at Aira.io/choice. From the web: Get Live, On-demand Access to Visual Information Aira is a visual interpreting service. Live, on-demand access to visual information. It's an accommodation or productivity tool that connects you to actual humans to simplify your daily life. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Pre-ETS Program and Transition Services Manager Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. Web Site 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, Callie and Jeff, dive deep into the pool of news stemming from Uber, Lyft, Microsoft, and you can check out the links and topics below. The TA Team take a journey into their Vocational Rehab experience and explain how VR impacted their destiny and how it is differed a bit for each of us. When an iPhone drops into an outhouse or even a toilet, there seems to be an urgency beyond our reach. Wow, where we ended up was a gas! Join the Tech Abilities Crew and keep up with the latest news and Tech Tidbits from around the globe and always with a Blindness perspective. Everyone has a perspective, and we know we are not always seeing things the same way, so, let us know your perspective and give us a call at 612-367-6093, we would love to hear from you. Links and topics from the 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

Jeff Thompson is joined in the studio by Brandon Biggs, inclusive designer and Engineer with The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKI), the foremost organization for vision research in the U. s. and Christopher Toth, an Applications Engineer. Audiom is the solution for "glancability" of a map to give an idea of location of objects, places and relationships to each other as a map does for a sighted person. Using audio soundscapes, stereo location design along with map coordinates , one will be able to mind map out a venue, park, mall through audio maps. Christopher Toth was hired on to build the application and you can find demos and give the application a try on the web at www.Audiom.net. Brandon Biggs and Christopher Toth talk about the development process and where they see Audiom in the future. Be sure to give the Beta a try and how your feedback can help make maps more accessible to us all. Read more Web Site 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

Do you get that feeling of urgency to upgrade to a new iPhone every time a new one comes along? I have and I am finally coming to terms with waiting and making the best out of what I already have, own and utilize perfectly well. I have upgraded on the Apple Upgrade Plan, did the 2 year upgrade cycle, and today I am going to keep my iPhone 12 Pro Max another year and I will tell you why and how I am going to keep my iPhone in peak performance for the next year. I will also demo the Battery Health, Peak Performance and Optimize Battery Charging. Hope you enjoy. Web Site 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: Pump It Up! iOS16 Beta Surprises or I Thought We Had That? Amazoning, Intersection Crossing, Pop Culture, Tech Tidbits and News with a Blindness Perspective Serina, Callie and Jeff kind of sorta in a way talk about that WWDC event from Apple, but same as it ever was, same as it ever was, these Talking Heads jump the tracks and yes, they do find there way back through the weeds and negotiating intersections from mobility, movie going, Amazoning and many perspectives on interpreting the newly announced upcoming iOS 16 for the iPhone and the Mac OS Ventura. A bit on the Watch OS but for times sake, we actually fartleked through this episode. Yes, Fartlek is like interval training, so we did some of this and then some of that and back to this and that. Nice. You can find out all about the Apple WWDC event at www.Apple.com and let us know what you think of all the latest coming from the Apple tree, give us a call at 612-367-6093 or email us at [email protected] - we would love to hear from you. Web Site

Christine Malec, co-host of the Talk Description to Me podcast, returns to the Blind Abilities Studio to bring us the news about the Luminato Festival Toronto Access Hub, The Chandra X-Ray Observatory Sonifications and descriptions from images from deep within our Universe and highlights some of the Star Trek and other topics from the over 106 Talk Description to Me episodes. Learn about how STEM possibilities are being made in science and how you can tune into some amazing art creatives attending the Luminato Festival Toronto from June 9th to June 19. With 6 hours of Worldwide broadcasting every day of the Festival from the Access Hub, there is something for everyone. Here are some helpful links: Talk Description to Me podcast https://talkdescriptiontome.buzzsprout.com/ Chandra X-Ray Observatory text and visual descriptions of Chandra images https://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/podcasts/description_audio.html Luminato Festival Access Hub https://luminatofestival.com/access-hub/ 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

Marty Shultz from Objective Ed joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about all the new developments happening at Objective Ed. ObjectiveEd's mission is to provide students with disabilities, and the parents and professionals dedicated to their education, digital curriculum and integrated performance monitoring and reporting tools that will help the students achieve their best educational outcomes. ObjectiveEd has achieved recognition by winning the Louis Braille Touch of Genius award from the National Braille Press, the American Council of the Blind Annual Award and the Florida Association for Education and Rehabilitation for Innovator of the Year. Through interactive games and innovative software programs, teachers can teach and students can learn skills, retain skills and all in a fun way through Objective Ed's program. You can learn more about Objective Ed on the web at: https://www.objectiveed.com 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

Two is company as Callie takes a break from the Blind Abilities Studio this week and Serina and Jeff pick up the tech tidbits and news. From accessibility to losing sight, they dash through the latest and bring a perspective of experience and usability. Join the 2 out of 3 ain't bad crew and check out the list of topics listed below. But, believe us, there is a lot between the lines! List of topics from the episode: Home pod mini update Precipitation alerts on the weather app How to block text on iPhone in a few taps. Apple employees get surprise pay raise as union pressure grows iPhone SOS, here is how to set it up. FCC fines Twitter 150 million for deceptive ad targeting Way Map app guides the VIP through the Washington subway systems. We own the City with audio description Clipboard and saving the clips in a list using JAWS Thanks for listening! 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 quick yet handy demonstration can be useful in many applications. If you need to use a password elsewhere and the password is a jumble of characters, numbers and symbols, then this method will do you well. Go to settings, swipe down to Passwords and then to the particular password you want to grab. Expose the bullets and an option to copy pops up and boom, you can paste wherever you want. This will also show you the actual characters of the password as well. Check it out and then check out all of the QuickBytes and iPhone101 demonstrations in the iPhone101/QuickByte series. Web Site 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

Tony Gebhard returns to the Blind Abilities Studio and third time is a charm! Tony has just dropped his 2nd album of 2022 and is making change a constant as he keeps growing in his pursuit of improving towards his highest potential. Tony has always worn his heart on his record sleeve and Guided, his latest album, is a refreshing look at Tony's outlook at life and his happiness in the choices he has made. From teaching assistive technology and coordinating the Transition Program for the Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Tony is reaching for more as he will also be part timing with Tech Vision and striving to become a Life Coach as well. Tony has graduated from World Services for the Blind and has settled in Anchorage Alaska and is now engaged as he shares his life with the one who stole his heart. Learn about Tony's teaching, his music and how he is taking control of his destiny and absolutely loves what he is doing. You can find out more about Tony Gebhard on the web at www.TonyGebhard.com and all his social networks, his music and resource page. Be sure to give Tony a shout and follow his blog, his bandcamp and try to keep up with Tony where the only constant is… change!

In this QuickByte demo, previously published in the Tech Abilities episode, Jeff takes us through the process of hiding and unhiding a Screen page on the iPhone. When you have a lot of apps and widgets filling screen pages and want to clean up the experience, you can hide the pages and still be able to access the apps through the Library, the Library search and with the Siri assistant. Just double tap and hold on the page number and then select the page you want to hide or unhide and single finger double tap. And lastly, Tap on Done and there you go! Web page 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, Callie and Jeff roll through the toughest of weather situations to bring you the latest Tech Tidbits and News from around the Tech World with that special Blindness perspective that they bring to every show. Check out the 2 demos, Hiding Screen Pages on your Apple device and Putting a Widget into place, and so much more from the Tech Abilities Crew! Here are links to some of the topics from the episode: 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

Author and Advocate, Stephanie Duesing joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share her journey into Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) - The Leading cause of Blindness in the Developed World. Her son Sebastian was finally diagnosed at age 15 after numerous Doctors from across the States offered no explanation for her son's condition. Learn about their journey and how CVI is now the leading cause of Blindness in the developed world, yet probably the least understood, 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

I wanted to grab some text from a document and decided to use 3 of my favorite OCR apps on my iPhone. The 3 apps I chose were: Seeing AI Envision AI Voice Dream Scanner What I found was that all 3 apps gave me really good OCR and I could copy the text and paste into an editor of choice. I chose Notes on my iPhone. The two apps that stood out for me were Seeing AI and Voice Dream Scanner with the ability to use the Text Selection feature in my rotor to grab the exact text I wanted, thus in Envision AI I selected all and used Text Selection in the Notes app. This is not a game breaker as the end result was successful with all 3 apps. 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

Dr. M. Leona Godin talks about her new book, There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness. Gives advice to new writers and talks about her personal journey through Blindness and how her book and people's actions today can begin to change the perception that the sighted have for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 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

Serina, Callie and Jeff share some tech tidbits and news from around the World and on this Wellness Month we dig into lost independence just a bit. Here are some links from this episode of Tech Abilities, Hope you enjoy. 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

Wellness Wednesday is a positive movement to help people through their journey, the week, day or moment. Take from it what you want, what you need and share the positivity with your family, friends and acquaintances. Today Wellness Wednesday's message comes from Robin Ennis, a licensed Social Worker in Colorado. Hope you enjoy! 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 www.BlindAbilities.com

Joining Jeff Thompson and Pete Lane in the Blind Abilities studio once again today is Dan Parker. This is Dan's third visit to the Blind Abilities studio, this time to share his ultimate achievement: winning the Guinness world land-speed record for a car with a blind folded driver. Dan tells his most recent, remarkable story about how he designed and built a state of the art race car which he took to Spaceport America, in southern New Mexico, at the end of March and proceeded to drive the vehicle at a World record speed averaging 211 mph. Dan speaks of his numerous grueling hours, days and months raising attention, funding, and practicing for this event, learning to use a sophisticated audio guidance system to help him stay on track along the runway, his... Read more Full Transcript Check out Dan Parker's web site: 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 www.TheBlindMachinist.com.

Podcast Summary: Full Transcript Mark Miller has been teaching Blind and Visually Impaired students to play piano for nearly 20 years. Distance learning is nothing new to Mark Miller and his students as he began teaching through just audio phone calls using his ears. Now with Skype and Video calls, Mark has brought his teaching abilities around the world. Through chord patterns and minimum movement Mark's students learn songs and music theory. You can find out more about Mark's piano lessons and contact him through his web site at: https://blindpianolessons.com Give him a call or text 847) 401-1721. Start learning or enhance the skills you already have through Mark's piano lessons today from the convenience of your own home and a time that works for you. Contact Mark today and bring music into your life. Web Site 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 crew gathered in the Blind Abilities studio and covered a lot of ground in the tech tidbits and news from around the accessibility community and more. Jeff does 3 demos on Twitter Blue, Twitter Alt Text and Twitter Shortcut keys. Callie changes her ID, or did she really? And working from home, or not? Join us for this episode of Tech Abilities and be sure to give us some feedback and suggestions by calling 612-367-6093 or drop us an email at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you. 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 another episode in their iPhone101 Series. Today, Pete Lane walks us through the process used to arrange our iOS Settings to allow for the "manual" updates of apps in the App Store. 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

Eager to think about plans for summer? Are you between the ages of 14-21? There are so many opportunities for youth to connect, learn, and have fun! Learn about summer student programs and the opportunities available for in-person and virtual experiences. Please share with high school students and their families. We look forward to hearing from you! you can find out about all the programs by contacting yourSSB counselor or by contacting Sheila Koenig: Sheila Koenig, M.Ed. Pre-ETS Program and Transition Services Manager Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development State Services for the Blind Full Show Notes and Podcast Web page. If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Pre-ETS Program and Transition Services Manager Sheila Koenig by phone at 651-539-2361. 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

April 6 , 2022 is Assistive Technology Awareness Day, and on this day we have Arielle Silverman, Research Specialist from the American Foundation for the Blind, in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about AFB's Workplace Technology Survey that completed in January of 2022. You can find out more about AFB and the Workplace Technology Survey on the web at AFB.org and AFB.org/WTS Read More Full Transcript