Blind Abilities

Creator of the ReVision Fitness App, Tyler Merren, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to celebrate the release of his multi-platform ReVision Fitness App. Available on the App Store, Google Play Store and on the web at ReVisionFitness.com. Tyler talks about what inspired the app and how he went about configuring the complexities surrounding an audio based application to provide beginner, intermediate and advance exercise Full Transcript 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

Matthew Horspool from the Braillists Foundation joins Callie Gray and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share Callie's experience from the Beginners Course for Braille and Matthew gives us an overview about the opportunities available from the Braillists Foundation. From how Braille is taught, to the importance of learning Braille early on and how to get involved in the Braillists community. You can find out more about the Braillists Foundation on the web at Braillists.org. Read More.

Richard Rueda, Digital Content Manager at the American Printing House for the Blind's (APH ConnectCenter), and LisaMaria Martinez, Assistant to CareerConnect, join Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the opportunities available at the APH ConnectCenter. From the vast resources to the Job Seekers Toolkit and the Transition Hub, the CareerConnect experience has never been so ready for the future. And as students transition from high school to college and the workplace, the ConnectCenter has something for everyone. From students to families, to teachers and counselors, the APH CareerConnect is just a click, tap away on the web at APHCareerConnect.org. Find out how you can connect, learn, engage and grow. FULL TRANSCRIPT 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

Lachi is opening the door of opportunities for everyone to see the works of people with disabilities just as other works of art are being viewed. Join Lachi and Elijah Osborne, 2 artists, along with host Simon Bonenfant, as they talk about the intersection of art and disabilities. You can find out more about the Foundation at www.Foundation.app and keep up to date with Real advocacy and Real Music on Lachi's web site LachiMusic.com. (From the www.Foundation.app web site( .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

First of all, where is Serina? Hmm. Callie Gray and Jeff Thompson take over the Blind Abilities Studio to bring you another Tech Abilities show filled with news from around the World with that tech tidbit dose we all crave. Would you use a Memoji on Zoom? How's your feed on Instagram? You can change that now. Yup. You can check out the topics and links below, follow the timeline and use the Chapters feature if your podcast listening device provides the Chapter feature. Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Camp Abilities founder, Dr. Lauren Lieberman, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio where Dr. Lieberman tells us about the opportunities happening around the world at Camp Abilities. Dr. Lauren Lieberman founded the Brockport, New York Camp Abilities in 1996 and conducted the last 2 years of Camp virtually during the Pandemic. With Lauren's studies in Health and Physical Education Undergrad and Masters, she learned that she was good at teaching sports 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

Lighthouse Guild President and CEO, Dr. Calvin Roberts, and Chief Operating Officer, Paul Misiti, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share the great news about the new Technology Center at Lighthouse Guild. With the launch just behind them, Dr. Roberts and Paul explain why the Technology Center is so important to not only students and clients, but to developers as well. The Technology Center is for everybody, to learn, to assess, to help fit the right assistive technology to a need and to better understand how an assistive technology works for and may not work for the needs of the Blind, Visually Impaired and DeafBlind community. From the latest assistive technology for education, the home and to the tools that enhance one's everyday life, Lighthouse Guild's Technology Center is built for the future and for everybody. You can learn more about Lighthouse Guild and the Technology Center on the web at www.LighthouseGuild.org. Read More

Olga Mahler joins Jeff Thompson from Warsaw, Poland where she and her husband are helping accommodate visually Blind and Visually Impaired refugees from Ukraine with shelter, assistance, a bed and working with a Swedish non-profit A Demand for Action. Without knowing how she would be able to help, Olga and her family packed up some supplies and flew into Poland with determination and a will to help anyway she could... 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 Blind Abilities today is Javier Pita, CEO of NaviLens Corp. Join Jeff and Pete as they delve deeply into the latest updates of the NaviLens App with Javier, and chat about many of the other useful features of this remarkable App which could have a profound impact on how we navigate both outdoors and indoors 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

Karthik Kannan joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio in this informative episode about the Envision Glasses and the Envision AI App. Team Envision is proudly demonstrating the Envision Glasses at CSUN at booth 1011 and you can schedule an appointment and get your personal demonstration with hands-on with the Envision Glasses. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements that Team Envision are releasing at CSUN and throughout the Summer. 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 Gilbert, Callie Gray and Jeff Thompson meet up in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk Tech Tidbits and news from around the Blindness community and some Pop Culture that enhances the daily grind. Is Apple's Peek Performance just taking a peek at what performances are to come? Tricky little play on words there, Tim Cook. Uber ratings that the drivers give you are now exposed. Check out the demo to see your ratings. Callie has a new iPad mini 6th Gen... 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

Joining us on Blind Abilities is the owner of a voice that many of us will recognize from reading our favorite Talking Book selections from BARD or other NLS platforms: none other than Ray Foushee. Ray has been a Talking Book narrator at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), for almost forty years and has read more than 1000 titles in virtually every genre, ranging from True Crime and Mystery to Romance, Science Fiction thrillers and even nonfiction. 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 Micheal Hudson, Director of the Museum for the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). The APH Museum, located in Louisville, Kentucky, comprises more than 3,000 Square feet of space and multiple exhibits which present the history of blindness, and the role that the APH played in that history. Jeff Thompson and Pete Lane sit down with Micheal Hudson, an articulate and well-versed expert in anything and everything related to the museum. He takes us on a journey through a variety of topics, such as the Helen Keller archives, recently acquired from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). 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

Brendan Lewis joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and gives an overview of the RealSAM Pocket. The RealSAM Pocket is the easy to use Mobile Phone, especially designed for people with Sight Loss. RealSAM Pocket is able to Make Calls, Read Messages, listen to Books or Newspapers and get Assistance just by Using your Voice. No need to learn a complicated touch screen or struggle with reading small buttons; just Press one button and talk. Pocket can also connect directly to other Bluetooth devices, including hearing aids. Join Brendan Lewis and Jeff Thompson to learn about the RealSAM Pocket and how you can be notified upon the release and stay up to date on all the RealSAM Pocket news! Follow RealSAM Pocket: • On the web at www.RealSAM.US Read More

In this iPhone101/QuickByte from Blind Abilities, Jeff Thompson takes us through the Punctuation System Groups and Creating Custom Groups. You can determine if Voiceover reads aloud Some, none or All punctuation. Imagine your email reading back like this: Hi comma Everybody comma How are you all question mark I am fine period This can be annoying unless you are proofreading a paper, legal document or maybe you like it that 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

Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Blind Students (PABS) gathered in the Blind Abilities Studio to announce the 2nd Annual virtual Piano Bar Fundraising event. Happening on Wednesday, February 16 from 6 PM Eastern, 5 PM Central and 3 PM Pacific Time. This 3 hour virtual event will showcase college students playing piano and singing songs and engaging with the participants. President of the Pennsylvania Association of Blind Students, Simon Bonenfant, introduces the performers as they unveil‑ their songs of choice and the dedications and tributes that you will be able to hear by registering for the Piano Bar event at www.NFBP.org/Piano-Bar. The cost is only $5 and the PABS members thank you for all your support. If you are interested in joining an Association of Blind Students, check out these links to the Student Associations at NFB or ACB and see how you can participate and learn, share and contribute to the body of like-minded students engaging in their educational journeys. Read more

The Tech Abilities crew gathered in the Blind Abilities Studio to cover news and tech tidbits from a Blindness perspective. Serina, Callie and Jeff are joined with Jesse and they cover a lot of topics from the new Gucci Bag for the Air Pod Max Headphones for only $980 Microsoft 11, Aira and the Puppy Bowl Webcast, getting a pet dog as a Blind person, Instagram and Accessibility and much more. Marlon and Tre make a Toast Master thingy. Check out the links and timeline of topics below. Chapters Available You can listen using chapters if your player allows and jump to the topic of your choice. Links and Topics from the Episode Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Join Pete Lane for this short iPhone101 demonstration of this available and time-saving new feature in iOS. Be sure to check out the entire iPhone 101/QuickByte series on Blind Abilities. Apple has made available a new feature in the Messages App which puts all links into a single, sequential list. So if you are looking for a photo, video, article, Tweet, song link ore pretty much any other link, you can engage this feature and quickly locate the item. 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

Sree Roy is an Engineer by education, training and profession. Immigrating to the US in 1976 at the age of seven. Sree's vision loss began in his late 30's, well after he had completed college and entered into a high-tech career as an engineer specializing in call center support and technology. In this intriguing interview, Sree discusses his journey through vision loss, how he learned from his brother's and sister's experiences a few years earlier, each of whom had very different approaches towards adapting to, and living with Retinitis Pigmentosa. 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 Tech Abilities crew slid into the Blind Abilities Studio to bring you another episode of news and happenings from of course, a Blindness perspective. Covid Test and N95 masks are available and so a set of MagSafe chargers from Mophie on the Apple Store. Did you know Siri can fast forward and bring up Audio Description on Apple TV? Yup, and by the way, Happy B-Day Serina! Orcam wins at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with the Orcam Read. The Direct Typing feature for VO is now fixed with iOS 15.2 Beta 2. Aira has a Covid promotion you may want to use... Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Zack Afridi joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about Vision Buddy, a revolutionary device to assist people with Low Vision. Vision Buddy is the world's first ultra-simple TV watching system designed to assist the visually impaired in performing day to day tasks. 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 Tech Abilities Studio Serina and Jeff are joined by Callie Gray straight out of Miami. The crew starts the year talking about eh latest gadgets and news released from the Holiday season and even have a few items they acquired. Tre jumps in and lets Jeff and Marlon have a little piece of his mind. From MagSafe Battery Pack to an affordable headset that sounds great to some new Aftershocks, the crew has some goodies to share. Audio Description gets a good share of chat and what is it about Theater popcorn? Really? Is the Air Pod Pro 2 going to light up the lives of those seeking some LossLess sound and a case that makes noise? We will have to see. Do you use your Apple Air Tags in a creative way? And Find My is very helpful. Yes, it is. And, How about that Audio described Rose Bowl Parade? Delicious! Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Christine Malec and JJ Hunt from the Talk Description To Me Podcast, join Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk Blind Hockey. Coming off a week of Talking Hockey Christine and JJ are ready to hit the rink and talk Blind Hockey specifically. Jeff Thompson is a member of the Minnesota Wild Blind Hockey Team and has played alongside Team USA in various events. Explanation of the game, the passion for hockey and how no matter what people may think, once that puck is jingling and then dropped, it's Hockey! 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

Do you sometimes receive texts in your iOS Messages App where you are among one or more others in a group of recipients? Have you wondered how to create such a group to make it faster and easier to share messages with your friends and family? Pete will show you how to do just that. 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 iPhone101 Quickbyte, Pete Lane takes us through the Messages App and shows how to Pin a person or group to the top of the messages list. When using the iOS Messages App your list can become cluttered with individuals and groups which makes it difficult to locate someone in your ever-growing list of recipients. A convenient way to prioritize this list is with the use of the "Pinning" feature which allows you to permanently place those people whom you contact frequently at the top of your list, making them easier to find. Let's walk through the steps to do this: 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 iPhone101 Quickbyte, Pete Lane takes us through the Messages App and shows how to speed up a YouTube Video if you so desire. Are you wondering why you can't speed up the playback speed of a YouTube video like you can with one of your audio books? Well you can, and it's simple and fast. Here's how to do it: 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

Joining Lisa Bryant and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio is En-Vision America's Director of Marketing, Jenna Reed. En-Vision America has just celebrated their 25th anniversary and has not stopped one bit. Announcing a new partnership with the Hy-Vee chain and adding 25 languages to the line of ScriptAbility Solutions available at a growing number of pharmacies across the United States and Canada. Jenna gives a brief history of the beginnings of En-Vision America, the ID Mate and a clear focus on the direction En-Vision America is headed. 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

From the Blind Abilities studio from the Tech Abilities Team, Marlon and Jeff bring you a little something of r you and well wishes to all. Happy Holidays and may you all have a safe and wonderful New Year! The Tech Abilities Team Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Blind Abilities presents another installment in its iPhone 101 series with this review of several popular video and audio streaming Apps, in which we explore ways to set up methods to reduce the amount of your cellular data you use while streaming or downloading their products. We already know that it is more cost effective to stream audio and video services while connected to your Home WiFi network as it's cost is generally lower than that of your cellular data plan, but we may not be aware of howe to take advantage of the app settings that will actually use less data. 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

Itto Outini's self-determination has carried her from halfway around the World to living her dream. From a journey less desired, her constant zest for knowledge and learning proved to be the ticket out of her circumstances and onto her realizing her dream of working for the United Nations and becoming an activist for human rights and an advocate for accessibility. 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 Ayes team joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about Ayes, an Artificial intelligence company form to assist the blind and visually impaired in navigating intersections using traffic signal imagery and algorithmic computation and relaying the data to the user through audio and haptic feedback Five months ago, Ayes began working on algorithms and an app called, "OKO". Through the camera's lens, the user can identify the traffic signal information available to sighted people and also will develop into a more robust app when object recognition and GPS navigation is incorporated into the OKO 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

In this iPhone101/QuickByte demonstration from Blind Abilities, Jeff Thompson will Add the Battery Widget to the Today View and then move the Battery widget to where he wants it located on the screen. With a few swipes and flicks, you can pick the widget, choose the size of the widget and move the widget to the location that suits your needs. Let's start on the home screen: 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 MagSafe Battery Pack will not overheat your iPhone and will reverse charge with the iPhone when charging. The MagSafe Battery Pack may not be that mega charger that makes a hero out of itself when you forget to charge your iPhone the night before, however, using the MagSafe Battery Pack will ensure you have juice for an extended period of time. It just works and it works smart. 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 iPhone101 QuickByte demonstration, Jeff Thompson shows us how to change how vvoiceover pronounces words that just don't sound right. You can also change the word completely, the choice is yours. Do you have an App or particular word or name that gets mis-pronounced by your VoiceOver voice? You can change that in just a few quick steps. 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 iPhone101 QuickByte Jeff Thompson will show you how one can set up a Sleep Focus to ensure a peaceful night sleep and only Allowed Notifications will come through. And, setting up weekday and Weekend settings for the times of your choosing. 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

Part 6 Adding a brand new Gmail account to the iPhone, going into the Google.com web site, choosing an email address, and adding it to the phone. Enjoy this peppy and informative presentation in which Blind Abilities offers another educational gem in its iPhone 101 library of demonstrations. Step-by-Step Process: 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

Parts 4 and 5 introduction to the process of deleting an email account from an iOS device. Specifically, Part 4: Using his Gmail accounts as an example, going into the Settings App and deleting it. 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

Part 3: The Mail Preview feature in iOS. The Mail Preview allows us to preview - read - a portion of an email while it is unopened in your Inbox. The portion of the email that can be previewed can range from none and up to five lines and is set by you in your Settings App. This can save you time in processing your emails and make you more efficient in using your Mail App. In fact, you may even be able to scroll through the majority of your Inbox without even having to open a single email. 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 new iPhone101 series provides five individual demonstrations aimed at giving you the tools to effectively manage your email in an organized and efficient manner. Pete Lane walks us through each step of these processes in a snappy and thorough presentation. 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 to another iPhone101 QuickByte from Blind Abilities. In this QuickByte, Jeff Thompson shows how to turn on Emergency Bypass for those specific contacts for specific moments when you need that call or text. 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 iPhone101 QuickByte, Jeff Thompson takes us through the native Weather App and demonstrates how to add locations such as cities or airports to the location list. How to arrange the locations in a preferred order and how to change from Fahrenheit to Celsius or Celsius to Fahrenheit. Join in and learn how to add family, friends and points of interests to your location list in the native Weather 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

In this iPhone101 Quickbyte, Jeff Thompson takes us through the Message Notification Repeat settings and Banners, Sounds, Badges and Announcements. The main serving in this QuickByte is the settings for repeat alerts. However, along the way, Jeff shows us what he has the settings set as and gives us a little insight on the reason behind his choices. 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 iPhone101 Quickbyte, Jeff Thompson dives into the App Store Refresh and then tours the App Store Settings. While Apple does not push the updates to the App Store as much as some of us would like, doing a refresh gesture can maximize the app updates that are available. 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 Alex Cohen co-founder of Accessible Pharmacy, a company which provides a multitude of services, but first and foremost it is a comprehensive medication management healthcare company specializing in services for the visually impaired community. 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

News Flash: The book is now up on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats! Dr. Arielle Silverman joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and introduces her new book, Just Human: The Quest for Disability Wisdom, Respect and Inclusion, is a combination of a memoir divided into chronological segments with lessons learned and for others to take from and learn themselves. Arielle brings us front and center as well as taking a look into the future through the glass of research and experience. Dr. Arielle Silverman is a Research Specialist at American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and has conducted research studies for the last 10 years. Her passion has remained and we are all looking forward to her work with AFB. 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 adds to the iPhone101 Series with an in depth review of how to create a screen recording in iOS using Voiceover. Pete Lane shows us how to retrieve the screen recording element from the Settings app and place it in the desired location in your control center, but that's not all he covers in this jam-packed 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

Sarah Caltieri jumped across the pond to join Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and talk about her new song, Yesterdays, her songs in general and about bringing awareness to Blindness. Her songs give us a glimpse of her life experiences and the journey into Blindness as well. Sarah and Jeff dive into a variety of topics including, is societies limited expectations any different in the U.K. than in the U.S.A? We may be oceans apart but we share a lot of common ground. Especially in the public sphere. 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 3 Mac-a-teers, Ok, Jeff and those two PC users, talk Mac, Mac, Mini and a Pod from last weeks Apple Unleashed event. They then trip the light fantastic on tech tidbits and news from around the Blindness Sphere. Serina, Jesse and Jeff bring their workplace experiences, their passions and assistive technology know-how to the table and dig down into some really interesting perspectives. Read more Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!

Qudsiya Naqui has experienced losing sight, transitioning from reading to listening to audio, learning about the White Cane and advocating all along the way. Qudsiya is aa Lawyer and reflects back about her journey, her advocates, her way of choosing a college and how Tandem Biking and Running has opened up communities where she is thriving. Qudsiya has a lot to say about her experience transitioning into Blindness and the experiences Qudsiya shares are lessons we can all take from. 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 episode of the ever-growing iPhone101 series from Blind Abilities focuses on exactly that, the Voice Memos app. This app has become significantly more sophisticated and robust in recent years, including with the advent of iOS 15. However, the interface and operation still remains very simple, quick and convenient. You can capture your thoughts, your guitar riffs, melodies, that phone number or email address, or any other thought that might cross your mind with a few short gestures and taps! Voila! You have it saved for posterity, or at least fame, fortune or celebrity! But, as we mentioned a moment ago, This app is capable of much much more! 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