Back when I was seven, many things were accessible, and if they weren’t, my grandmother would help make them so.

Not being able to see, my primary way of learning was through reading, touching objects, and listening to explanations. Of course, all my other remaining senses came into play, but hearing and touch were, and are, my primary link to the world not constructed by books.

Even though I had never heard the word Accessibility, I was an early adopter of its concept.

One day, my grandmother took me to a museum that was new in town. It was different from the ones we frequented, and I was very eager to feel exotic artefacts under my fingertips, and experience paintings through verbal descriptions given to me via headset. I eagerly speed-walked with my grandmother into the museum, my stomach full with butterflies over the soon-to-be.

When the tour started, I could sense the body heat of a dozen people beside me. I waited for my grandmother to take me to the artefact so I could explore it. She didn’t. I began to tune into the many exclamations beside me describing how wonderful the artefact was. Why was it so wonderful? I wanted to know too! I wanted to feel it and see what people were talking about. I soon began to cry, and people’s feet shuffled as they turned and stared at me. With steely resolve, my grandmother picked me up and pushed her way to the front of the crowd with my white cane dangling in my grip. When she reached the front, she ducked under the rope and placed my hand on the elegant statue carved with dynamic symbols. People started complaining that a sign said ‘Don’t Touch’. Soon, a stern sounding man cleared his throat next to me.

“Miss? I’m the manager here.”

I felt the air whoosh as my grandmother whipped around. With slicing syllables, she told the manager:

“If you tell my blind grandson to take his hands off this statue, I will take every ‘Don’t Touch’ sign down and burn them all. I will then tell the police what I did and sue you for lack of accessibility.”

nineteen years have passed since then, and I have heard and witnessed countless instances in which companies and people just don’t exert any will to include the blind and the visually impaired whatsoever, unless forced by law.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was a huge breakthrough for our inclusion, but it didn’t merge us with the sighted world. People didn’t want to include us, so often we had to go to special groups, events, and even jobs for the blind. We also had to fight for education as well. Entertainment was, and still is an issue accompanying all the other accessibility barriers.

It took a law in 2010 to make Audio Description available on television. Before the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, we couldn’t watch movies, TV shows, or any visual media with audio description as frequently as today. Audio Description is as important to us as closed captioning is for the Deaf. It opens up a whole new mode of entertainment that we’ve never been able to experience before.

However, there are still a lot of companies that don’t want to offer it, and are not forced to by law. Many of these companies reside in the internet realm, a place the law hasn’t even scratched yet. Audio Description is available on TV, and more DVDs, and even more movie theatres. The law applies to the top 25 TV networks now but will increase.

But even with all this inclusion, no Video on Demand service, such as Netflix and Hulu, has Audio Description.

I’ve wondered why Netflix won’t provide Audio Description, or even accessible interfaces so that our adaptive software can interact with their website and web player fully. I’ve examined this through all different angles, even finding out for myself the cost of describers, and other production costs. It’s not all about cost however. The BBC has shown that cost doesn’t matter when it comes to Accessibility, offering an Audio Description On Demand service through the BBC iPlayer. Many other companies and organisations also show that having audio description on the web is not hard at all. All of these can be found on our audio description on demand page.

It wouldn’t be hard at all to include Audio Description on Netflix. Two methods could be done to achieve this. Closed Audio Description, where the viewers would need to select a language track, requiring less bandwidth and less server space on Netflix’s part. There would definitely be downsides to this as well, such as that Audio Description wouldn’t be able to be available on every Netflix compatible device, such as the Nintendo Wii, as the Wii even has a hard time with closed captions.

Another way is to have a separate blind version of the same movie or TV show, like iTunes has it. But this will require that the film or TV show be uploaded twice. From a technical point of view, this would be the easier thing to do, but who knows, the servers might buckle.

For years, the blind community has asked and even begged Netflix to make their site and service accessible, with accessible web design and Audio Description, but Netflix have said “No” repeatedly, and eventually the blindness advocacy groups just give up.

I refuse to give up though. Which is why I started the Accessible Netflix Project.

Our aim for the project:

Netflix is a popular internet streaming and rental service that streams TV shows as well as movies. It also allows subscribers to rent DVDs. The Netflix platform isn’t accessible and that’s what this project aims to change. With the help of the community we will make Netflix a truly accessible place for everyone to enjoy.

The Purpose (Mission)

1. To provide accessible software and interface to Netflix users

Implement and ensure future accessibility practices and consideration

1. Ensure that relatively all types of disability are taken into careful consideration at all times

These are the targets we want to meet

1. Provide a screen reader friendly experience to all Netflix functions on the PC and mobile devices with all screen readers

Provide an easily navigable interface for the mobility impaired using adaptive technology.

1. Provide easy access to audio described content for the blind and the visually impaired on streaming services as well as DVD selection currently and in the future.

Regardless if it’s inconvenient or costly, Netflix should provide Accessibility solutions. Many blind people pay for a service they can barely use, whether they are a novice or advanced Screen Reader user.

It has been a long 2 years since I began the project. So far, they have told us “No”, directly, nine times and counting.

Determined to have the freedom to enjoy Audio Description on the Internet, a place that has become a utility for my work and entertainment needs, I decided to ask them why they said no. The first time, they said that:

“We don’t have control over the content that makes the Audio Description, so we’re not the people who you should be contacting.”

So, I started contacting studios for the next three months, often going through back door connections to get to producers, and explaining the situation. Seth MacFarlane, the producer of Family Guy, a show that has Audio Description on TV, was one of these connections. I wanted to make it as cheap as possible for Netflix, so I asked these producers if they would simply give the Audio Descriptions to Netflix at no charge. Many, including Seth, agreed to this.

I replied to Netflix with the fantastic news, and this was their response:

Hi Robert,

Thank you for being a Netflix fan and for being so passionate about making Netflix more accessible. At this point we have no immediate plans to add Audio Descriptions to our service. We continuously evaluate this and we will let you know if there’s a change, but don’t expect it to come in the near future.

I don’t understand why they’d say no. Even after contacting 56 different people in the company, they all said the same – don’t expect it anytime soon, even with the studio support.

It deeply disappoints and frustrates me that access to a service that’s so accessible to my wallet is impossible for me to use independently, simply because I require adaptive technology. I can’t even manage the site independently, no matter how many advanced keystrokes I learn or new Screen Reader tricks. Blind and visually impaired people shouldn’t be banished to outside sources to get described content. We are millions and millions strong, and our revenue would help grow Netflix. And, small aside, they’d surely be given excellent publicity for being the first mainstream company to do this.

The accessible Netflix project has grown and, with it, we have dedicated team members who will ensure equal access to entertainment simply because it should have been done a very long time ago. There isn’t an excuse anymore as to why this can’t happen. My team and I are here for entertainment equality and we will continue to be for years ahead.

The ADA was meant to include and not divide. Blind people should have reasons to spend their income. We should be able to laugh with glee with our family, enjoying an Audio-Described comedy. We should be able to proudly call ourselves a Netflix customer. My team and I will do whatever we can to ensure everybody gets past the unnecessary velvet rope and touch an accessible Video on Demand service that is accessible to everybody else. I don’t understand why Netflix doesn’t want to give us that inclusion, and I possibly never will, but I do understand one thing for certain – it should happen. It will happen, with our leadership.

I know that sounds really drastic but it is true. Why should we care though? Because, fact is, disabled people need the internet.

There are a lot of things that make me want to question all humanity, simply because it seems that common sense is becoming more and more a luxury than anything else today. Why? Today, I read an article that’s just promoting nothing more than false intentions.

I’m on twitter a lot and I read what my followers post a great deal. When I saw the article about the notion that Verizon was fighting against Net Neutrality to benefit the disabled populace, I didn’t have anything clever to say. I didn’t have a retort to utter. I didn’t even have a tweet to formulate in wake of this. Ladies and gents, there’s simply no other word to describe what they are claiming and the propositions that they claim, other than one. It’s a word that fits all, I believe, given this context and the huge array of just false debauchery that Verizon is trying to cook up.

LIES.

If you have not heard about the FCC and their latest plan to destroy the internet do a Google search for FCC and net neutrality. You will get some really interesting articles that basically outline what their new rules will entail.

It’s a proposal that would ban Internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to websites but may let them charge content companies for faster and more reliable delivery of their traffic to users.

It sounds good on paper and in a simple sentence like that. It’s not. I will briefly explain why.

Anything can be abused, including this new law. Internet service providers (ISPs), like Comcast or AT&T—believe that, as providers of internet access, they should be able to distribute bandwidth differently depending on the service.

They’d prefer, for example, to create tiers of internet service that’s more about paying for priority access than for bandwidth speeds. As such, in theory, they could charge high-bandwidth services—like Netflix, for example—extra money, since their service costs more for Comcast to provide to its customers—or they could charge users, like you and me, extra to access Netflix. They can also provide certain services to you at different speeds.

For example, perhaps your ISP might give preferential treatment to Hulu, so it streams Hulu videos quickly and for free, while Netflix is stuck running slowly (or we have to pay extra to access it). If you don’t think that won’t wrack up a huge bill, you are wrong.

How many people use cell phones and access Facebook, twitter, Netflix, ETC. This will affect everything that’s connected to the internet and they can all have a separate charge attached for that device to access websites and content.

This will also affect your tablets, game systems, ANYTHING that is hooked up to the internet. Knowing the USA, those fees can be taxed. enough said.

Imagine that Verizon or AT&T don’t like the idea of Google Voice, because it allows you to send text messages for free using your data connection. Your cellphone carrier could block access to Google Voice from your smartphone so you’re forced to pay for a texting plan from them. Or, they see that a lot of people are using Facebook on their smartphone, so even if they have the bandwidth to carry that traffic, they decide to charge you extra to access Facebook, just because they know it’s in high demand and that they can make a profit.

Obviously this will be great for people who have money spilling outa their pockets and who live in a financial bubble ignorant of the rest of us but I don’t think the FCC remembers that not everyone has money, If this rueling gets past it will ban some disabled people from using the internet. Let’s be real here.

Take SSI. How much is your internet bill per year now and how often do people on SSI rely on the internet and websites that host special content like Facebook, for social collaboration and school websites that often hold YouTube videos, which can have a steep price on it too on top of your internet bill if net neutrality is killed.

People on SSI or even SSDI won’t be able to pay all of that, given the fact that disabled people use the internet more than anything else for more than just socializing. People host teleconferences on Facebook, promote goods on blogs, the list goes on and I should not even have to point these out.

These ISP;s certainly won’t remember that not everyone has money because they want to have the money and they will want to have the money that they think they should have any way that they can get it, including charging people like you and I to use an email provider that isn’t with your default ISP like, for example, if you’re using Comcast and you look at your Gmail. Comcast could charge you to access Gmail even though Gmail is free.

The reason why blind people use Gmail is that it offers a lot of customization. For example, it offers free IMAP and POP3 access to mail clients. Yahoo does not.

This is why I say that Verizon is spewing illogical banter. There’s a stereotype about us Americans that say, frankly, we are greedy.

Verizon and Comcast really want to have this new rueling passed just so they can get more money and the fact that Verizon is using disabled people as a valuable excuse to justify why they want to kill Net Neutrality just so they can have more money really makes me, well, disappointed at my own country.

Hears the claim Verizon makes. Without a fast lane, disabled Americans could get stuck with subpar service as Internet traffic increases.

The issue that’s a constant problem isn’t even about the speed of access but, rather, the simple act of accessing something. I don’t understand how this will help us access something such as a website that isn’t designed to be accessible or obtaining some key information that’s in an accessible element on the inaccessible or partially accessible website. Since the internet often has inaccessible websites, even today, we would just turn to the phone, or, in my case, text one of my minions to look something up for me, adding a winking smiley at the end just because. The issue of speed doesn’t even culminate into a logical fit within this particular claim, if people really knew about screen readers and magnifiers and such. Instead of slower speeds dolling out a subpar service it’s the incomplete and botched content that we cannot access because developers didn’t make whatever accessible.

If there were, indeed, a way for ISPs to create two lanes of internet access, one slow, with costs to use all these demanding sites like Netflix and such, and one fast, combined with services like Facebook, it would ban a lot of disabled people from accessing some very key information all together all because of costs that would be designated by the ISP and then that would be yet another contender blind and visually impaired activists would have to constantly advocate for.

State rehabilitation will not pay for internet as is, and that’s just one monthly cost to access all websites and services. If this were to actually be enforced people with disabilities wouldn’t have access to certain sites at all because of the high costs that will, without a doubt, be determined by the ISP.

This could lead to loss of employment, fewer educational opportunities because this will affect schools too, and overall fewer productivity and would make the unemployment rate for disabled people increase because a lot of disabled people work from home, using many sites and services every day that wouldn’t be able to be accessed because, oh no! The bill is really high!

Speed is not the issue and it infuriates me that Verizon even uses that as a claim. If people know about screen readers, magnifiers, and accessibility issues with software and sites then they will see right through this fallacy. If they don’t know about disabled people and access technology it would be a simple conclusion that would make sense in their minds even though its hugely false, that speed would help us.

Access is an issue but the irony is access would be an even bigger issue, coupled with taxes and stuff, I’m sure, will be added onto these extra speed costs and costs to access content, thereby bridging the disabled homeless and otherwise on an even wider separation all because of money. Access won’t be an issue, it will morph into a barrier, one that will always be up.

This is just for work. Could you only imagine how disabled people wouldn’t have access to sites like twitter, where news is happening all day, every day? Oh my god!I don’t even want to entertain that nightmare.

I just cannot believe that Verizon would even say such a disingenuous thing. It won’t help disabled people at all. It would ban some from even using the internet, even some who are not disabled. I don’t think people who work at these companies know that not everyone works at Verizon or otherwise, but hey, in America, it’s all about the money. It’s all about the money.

It’s the sentence, “I need that.”

A dictionary has many definitions for the word need. Until October, when I decided to take up a challenge by a friend to not use any Internet for a whole month, I didn’t really understand what I needed or even why I needed it.

In September 2014, the sun speckled the ground with bursts of bright light even though the weather was cold in Chicago. I was sitting in a park with an engineer friend of mine, stealing his fries as we talked about the internship that I applied for but didn’t make. The topic nestled into the internship miss until, suddenly, he blurted out an exclamation of “oh my god, Robbie, you have GOT to read this!”

And so I did, or rather, listened, having limited vision and everything. It was an article that said that killing net neutrality would help the disabled. Verizon was saying that, if the Internet were split into a fast lane and a slow lane, disabled people would have much better Internet. Naturally, the irony wasn’t lost on me. In most cases, no matter how politically correct people wanted me to be ever since I started saying it, a good portion of the disabled populace were very poor, so the idea Verizon had was just utter nonsense.

“That’s a complete fallacy!” I spluttered, shifting my weight so my good eye could stare at Marcus full on in the face. “That’s just plain wrong!”

“I know,” he agreed, but we ranted and raved for a bit, just to make sure our thoughts were out in the open. Suddenly, though, as I was stealing a fry, he commented, “I have an idea. Why don’t I give you a challenge, you know, like a dare?” I liked the prospect of a dare so I accepted his challenge before having the intellect to ask what it was.

“Why don’t you, as a disabled person, live without the Internet for one month, and this means using Internet in schools and in libraries and the like, don’t use the Internet at all for one month.”

And that’s how it began.

Now, my memoir details my journey of living offline. Through my words and reflections, readers will know what adapting to a new kind of world is like. I was soon swept up in a different world, a world that was inaccessible to me and a world that I had to learn how adapt to, on my own since I live in an apartment complex by myself. I really did learn the difference between needing something and wanting the convenience of something.

I assumed I was going to do the everyday things that people did, such as walk outside, even though it was starting to get cold in Chicago. I thought my entries were going to be filled with sentences outlining what I did, rather than what I’d think about and declarations and observations of people. I thought that I’d write more about what I did and why I did it, rather than my observations about the Internet-less life and how it changing everything from communication to education to human interaction.

In the memoir, many aspects of life are examined. Why? Because I had a lot more free time to share with myself. The memoir is a diary that’s intimate and allows for a glimpse into the human psyche before being connected to everyone.

Living offline changed me in many ways that I didn’t even see coming. For the first few days, I needed to get online, I wanted to look up something. I wanted to type in the commands and the search strings that would get me exactly what I wanted, how I wanted it, where I wanted it. Without that power, for a few days, I was utterly lost because I didn’t know how to cope after that power had been taken away.

Even though I felt as though I was going to back down on the first few days, I gave it a shot still, and kept on with the challenge.

The fact is, the Internet is a requirement, especially for the disabled. I experienced much frustration simply because I could no longer do something so basic, such as hooking up a landline phone because I couldn’t download the manual from the website. I had to rely on the sighted population more than I have ever needed to.

This is because there isn’t as much accessible information offline as there is on the Internet. On the Internet I can look up any news I want to look up or any manual, for that matter. Take news content: Writers are not filtered by space and advertising columns so they can pepper the Web page with in-depth reporting and I could read it all.

Mainstream offline media doesn’t tell you about all the news that’s happening or the kind of topics people want to know. The fact is, people want to know. On the radio and TV everything is delegated by space and time. When you have limited options to get information, information becomes a need, not a luxury. I had to cope with losing that by asking more questions from other people and relying on their answers. Sometimes, it was effective. Other times, it left me feeling as if I was being denied information simply because I didn’t use the Internet.

We live, however, in a world that needs the Internet. I learned that the hard way when I didn’t get hired for a job because I couldn’t use the Internet. It really has shocked me how it’s turned into an unclassified utility. Sure, apartment owners are saying it is a utility but not the government, not the people higher up. It should be. Why? Because I know what it’s like, as a disabled person, to live without the Internet for one month. A disabled life without Internet is not a completely independent world. The Internet breaks down barriers, even if we can’t see them.

Buddy Brannan recently had the opportunity to attend the 100-year celebration of the existence of ARRL–the American Radio Relay League–in Hartford, Connecticut. He brought back back a lot of great audio, and this is just the first of several SPN specials to come out of this event.

Among other things you will hear in this special, Buddy gets to play a phonograph machine from 1905 courtesy of the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut.

Then, he learns about the Morse Telegraph club and the history of Morse Code.

Next, Elecraft makes an appearance and Buddy talks about all the ameture radio equipment he has owned, currently owns and would like to eventually own.

After that, the president of AMSAT talsk with Buddy about the past, present and future of amateur radio as it relates to satellites.

Finally, the public relations director of the American Radio Relay League talks about the past, present and future of the organization.

This month Rodney, Maurie, Byron and joe talk television and movies. A recently released NBC series has both Low Vision and Blind groups taking notice of the portrayal of its lead character who plays someone with Low Vision. Our team has thoughts about the initial episodes and if they believe some of the humor is universal or if it’s just way off the mark entirely. We’ll also discuss the rise, fall and rise again of Solo DX. At the time of the show’s initial recording the app was fine. Then after the show was edited the app was shuddered. And now, as you read this, the app has new life. Oh how 60 days can be like 7 years in internet time! Find out more about Solo DX in our discussions and stick around for joe’s app review.
Learn more about “Growing Up Fisher” by visiting the official NBC page

Joe noted that NBC canceled a show last year with a Blind character in it, and Matthew perry from “Friends” was in there too, called “Go On”.

Rodney mentioned another show that has featured a Blind character recently is “Covert Affairs” on the USA network.

Take a listen to SeroTalk 179 and hear the interview recorded at the launch of the Solo DX app

Disability Need Not Be Barrier for Moviegoers

Read more about the transition for Solo DX to its new home with Accessibility Hound

App Review: Umano

Since you happen to be reading show notes for a podcast at the moment, chances are you like to hear news and stories read to you by people with nice voices. Umano, both for Android and iOS, is today’s top headlines [and more] read by professional voice artists. Both versions of the apps have their own hang ups with their own screen readers, the app is pretty bright and needs a night mode… but still. If you want to read lots of news with real voices of current news, you can’t go wrong with Umano.

Our Sponsor

We didn’t cover it in this episode, however, be sure to catch joe’s interviews with some up and coming Video magnifiers from our SPN CSUN 2014 coverage. HIMS, our coverage sponsor, released a Video Magnifier that connects to an iPad or an Android tablet. To learn more about eBot, listen to our SPN CSUN Special.

How can you find out what our hosts are up to outside the podcast?

Follow Maurie Hill on Twitter

Check out Maurie’s writing on the AI Squared Zoomed In Blog

Follow Rodney Edgar on Twitter

Check out Rodney on the Tech Access Weekly Blog and Podcast

Follow Byron Lee on Twitter

Check out Byron’s LowVisionRants.com Website

Feel free to send your feedback on this show to resources@serotalk.com

You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast Network

using iBlink Radio for your iOS device or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

Thanks for listening!

Welcome to another round of interviews from the convention floor at CSUN 2014. Our thanks to HIMS Inc. for sponsoring this year’s coverage. Please visit the Websites of the companies represented in these interviews to learn more about their products. Included in this special are:

VisionAid

LS&S

GW Micro

Freedom Scientific

Braille Edge Interview by Jamie Pauls

Welcome to another round of interviews from the convention floor at CSUN 2014. Our thanks to HIMS Inc. for sponsoring this year’s coverage. Please visit the Websites of the companies represented in these interviews to learn more about their products. Included in this special are:

Discover Technologies

En-Vision America

Capti

EnableMart

Optelec

Reinecker

Sight Enhancement Systems

Do-It

Enhanced Vision

Triumph Technology

Replay the Accessible Event archive of the show

About Our Presenters

Luis Arellano is an instructional assistant for California School Districts and a regular, helpful participant in the SAMNet Community. He enjoys comparing, contrasting, and demonstrating various mainstream technology solutions. To hear some of these comparisons and keep up with his other activities, you can follow him on Twitter.

Mainstream Tech

Comcast Deal Seeks to Unite 2 Cable Giants

WhatsApp: the Bomb That Hit Silicon Valley

Forget the iWatch, Apple’s next big thing is health

Samsung Galaxy S5 made official: 5.1-inch HD screen, fingerprint scanner, and heart rate monitor in tow

Community News

FDA clears first drug for blindness sleep disorder

The New Generation Stream: Wireless access to over 36,000 radio station + Rich Media Content

Indian American 7th Grader Develops Braille Printer with Legos

Buddy Brannan’s interview with Braigo’s developer in SeroTalk 188

Results of the 5th Screen Reader Survey from WebAIM Released

Summary of survey results

American Foundation for the Blind Announces 2014 Access Award Winners

About Our Presenters

Erin Edgar is a lawyer currently working for Legal Aid, which is a non-profit lawfirm that assists low-income clients with various issues. She and her husband, Rodney, co-host a podcast called Tech Access Weekly which focuses on news and events  in assistive and mainstream technology. She also co-hosts the Book Hoarders Annonymous Podcast, which is dedicated to book lovers of all persuasions. Follow her on Twitter, or reach her via email.

Jason Meddaugh is a cofounder of BlindBargains.com, one of the most popular deals and news websites for the blind and visually impaired. He also manages A T Guys, a website featuring low-cost tech gadgets and accessories. He is also a cohost on That Android Show. Follow him on Twitter.

Jamie Pauls, [Producer and host of the SeroTalk Podcast, plays keyboard professionally, and has shared the stage several times with current X Factor winner Tate Stevens. He is a music therapist who has worked with both the elderly and children, and teaches a music Appreciation class one evening a week at a community college. In the current setting, he is best known for his work as Content Director for Serotek. You can follow him on Twitter.

Joe Steinkamp is cohost of the SeroTalk Podcast as well as several other SPN podcasts. You can follow him on Twitter, and can read his personal Top Ten list on his blog.

Top Stories — 6-10

Story 10: X+Y = Math Access

SeroTalk Podcast, including an interview on the T84 Calculator

Story 9: A Tasty Google Treat

That Android Show

Story 8: Real Potential in Access to Set Top Boxes

Comcast Website

Stories 7 and 6: A Tie! Between two A T Giants

Victor Reader Stream: Second Generation

Sendero GPS

This Year at Serotek

Introducing Our New, Redesigned Website

Serotek Ambassadors’ Club is Launched

Serotek Podcast Network Reaches Highest Listener Count Yet

Serotek Launches the Newly Updated Socializer

The Top Five Stories

Story 5: You Down with UEB?

Unified English Braille to become official code in 2016

Story 4: Love Em or Hate em, Apple Gets People Talking

Apple iOS 7 Page

Triple Click Home

Story 3: The Tap Tap See Controversy

Tap Tap See Review

Triple Click Home Interview

Story 2: The Holy Grail of iPhone Apps

Story 1: Amazon Helps and Fights A T in the Same Breath

Kindle Fire HDX Product Page

Kindle Fire HDX: Usable By the Blind At Last?

As the clock races toward Christmas day, are you still frantically racking your brain to figure out what to buy for that special person in your life? Once again, the Serotek team comes to the rescue with our annual holiday review special. As you listen to the podcast, be sure to follow the links below to learn more about the respective products discussed in this podcast–and Merry Christmas!

Lisa Salinger starts us off with a discussion of the FitBit One

She also mentions MyFitnessPal which has become more accessible of late.

Joe Steinkamp reviews the Keurig K75 Platinum Brewing System

The K 75 is a great gift for the person who wants a brewing system if, and this is a big IF!, they don’t mind memorizing menus and buttons. The unit sports a blue backlit screen with hard to see text. And it has a menu system for changing things like cup sizes and the like. Yet, for the package as a whole, it comes with lots of accessories and it has 72oz of coffee or tea at the ready. Its kind of big too, possibly due to the built in K-Cup tray underneath, so you can’t hide it behind the toaster. All and all, it’s a great gift to give someone [especially if you find it for under $149] but you may just want to stick with the Travel Keurig models if you want to avoid all the frills, menus and memorization.

He also recommends Lola Savannah Coffee – Cozy Winter’s Night (Whole Bean)

Next, Ricky Enger discusses four devices that will make your life easier in the kitchen.

Polder 6631-75 Stainless-Steel Sink Strainer with Extending Rubber-Grip Arms

Artisan (2 pk.) Non-Stick Silicon Baking Mat Set. 16 5/8″ x 11″

Edge of Glory Knife Sharpener

Alton Brown Salt Cellar

Buddy Brannan interviews the developer of The Bradley Braille Watch

Matt Campbell helps us be more productive with the Asus Transformer Book T100.

Richard Wells introduces us to Lee Oscar harmonicas.

Finally, Jamie Pauls reviews the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker.

They say “all good things must come to an end” and that is true, as this is our fith of five HIMS-sponsored SPN Specials featuring interviews from the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind 2013 National Conventions. And we go out with a blast as we have interviews with Braille Watch Dogs. No wait, that should have read Braille, Watches and Dogs. Yep, that’s better. Join Jamie, Ricky, Joe, Patrick and the unstoppable force Derek Lane as they comb the Exhibit Hall for the best of what Orlando and Columbus had to offer. Please be sure to visit the links below and mention that you heard about the goods and services offered from us and these very podcasts from SPN. Also, we extend our thanks out to our 2013 Summer Convention Sponsor HIMS Inc. for assisting us in bringing you all of the audio you heard in these SPN Specials.

Colorado Center For The Blind

Perkins Products

Freedom Scientific

Braille Design

HIMS Inc.

Enabling Technologies

Independent Living Aids

National Braille Press

Philmore Productions

Guiding Eyes

Duxbury Systems

Seeing Eye

Welcome back to the second of five SPN Specials, sponsored by HIMS Inc, featuring interviews from the NFB and ACB 2013 summer Conventions. Jamie, Ricky, Joe, Patrick and Derek traveled to Florida and ohio to brave the insane prices of hotel food, oh and to bring you some fantastic interviews as well. Be sure to visit the links below to learn more about the wonderful companies and organizations we spoke to in this Special.

Duxbury Systems

Dolphin Computer Access

ACB Students Homepage

NLS National Library Service Homepage

Ebay

Optelec

The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Hadley School for the Blind

Welcome to the first of five specials from both the 2013 National Federation of The Blind convention from not so sunny Orlando, and the American Council For The blind Convention from ruckus Columbus Ohio. This year we have an all star cast with Jamie, Ricky and Joe, joined by our production team, Derek and Patrick, who were temporarily liberated from their audio dungeons for this event. Together, along with our sponsor HIMS Inc, we bring you the most audio coverage we have ever released in the history of SeroTalk for a single event. We hope you enjoy this and the other four specials to come. And be sure to visit the links below to learn more information about those we spoke to at the Summer conventions.

Dolphin Computer Access

Bookshare

Capti Voice Web Reader

31 Gifts

Lutheran Braille Workers

Optelec

Deque Systems

Project Ray

School of Technology for the Blind

Welcome to another SeroTalk Guycast. This time around, Jamie Pauls is joined by Rodney Edgar, Peter Bossley and Mike Calvo. Can anyone guess what story Mike wanted to talk about? Here’s a hint. Mike doesn’t appear until we begin talking about news in the world of assistive technology. As much as you might want to, don’t skip ahead because you won’t want to miss any of our stories this week.

Internet advertisers kill text-based CAPTCHA

Find the McDonald’s/Burger King hack funny? Just imagine full-blown corporate cyberwar

Google warns of an increase in attempted account hijackings

Google Stock Hits $800 For First Time Ever

Google Stores: Google to open retail stores in 2013

Surface won’t dominate but it’s a ‘real business,’ says Ballmer

Bill Gates ‘not satisfied’ with Microsoft’s innovations

Wozniak warns Apple must stay ‘cool’ — or else

Samsung struggles to block iPhone function for the blind

After his Samsung rant, Jamie urges Mike to relax, have an Espresso and listen to some calming music on his Bose SoundLink mobile wireless speaker.

State of Touch Typing – Fleksy goes free

 Window-Eyes 8.1 is now available!

Sendero CSUN Sessions are posted – Seeing Eye GPS demos, product releases and more.

Sacred Texts: Where to Get Them in Alternate Media

Microsoft now has a support desk for people with disabilities

New Database Helps Employers Find Employees with Disabilities

QCast: Easy accessible podcasts

Low Vision Shopping Woes – Can You Relate?

Roundabout

A sensational breakthrough: the first bionic hand that can feel

LivesOn: Twitter ghost keeps tweeting when you’re dead

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

Replay the Accessible Event Archive of SeroSpectives: This Month in Tech for August 2012

About Our Guests

Rich Cavallaro is a computer information technology major at Hofstra

University graduating in December 2012. Technology has been a passion

of his since a very young age.  He has been an instructor for the

Technologically Empowered College Students (TECS) program for students

in New York since 2009. With his vast knowledge of both mainstream and

assistive technologies, he assists in developing the webinars to

ensure that TECS participants have the most accurate, up-to-date, and

accessible web resources available. During the weekly conferences,

Rich facilitates the discussion, answers questions, troubleshoots

technology and most importantly, shares his experiences and unique

perspective on life as a college student.  Besides technology, audio

is also something Rich enjoys.  He broadcasts quite frequently on his

college radio station, WRHU (We’re Radio Hofstra University).

He can be contacted either via email

or by following him on Twitter.

Luke Leiby, from New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, is fifteen years old

and in 10th grade. He is interested in music, especially production,

recording, and engineering. He writes: “To me, technology is growing quickly day

by day, and I like to keep up with the latest and the newest, and see

what technology the visually impaired can use.”

Estin Talavera is the Assistive Technology Specialist for the Envision

Vision Rehabilitation Center. In addition to assessing and training

patients on assistive technology, Estin is also one of the instructors

for the annual Envision Assistive Technology Camp for middle school and

high school students with vision impairments and a podcaster for the

YouTube Assistive Technology podcast “Tips, Tricks. .” Estin is

Also currently seeking a degree from Wichita State University in general

studies with emphasis in communication sciences and disorders,

psychology and sociology.

In the News

How to upgrade your Hotmail email address to @outlook.com

Windows 7 poised to topple XP as leading OS

SeroSpectives Special: Mountain Lion

Apple’s $1 Billion Win Over Samsung: Q&A

5 reasons the Apple Samsung Ruling is Good for Everyone

New iPhone’s Bigger Screen to Have 5th Row of Homescreen Icons?

iPhone 5 not likely to support NFC, says new report

This iPhone app reads your heart rate in seconds by staring at your face

Watch live TV on your phone! No, really

Amazon’s cloud music service gets scan and match

Blind and visually impaired fastest growing iPhone market

Verizon launches accessibility app for visually impaired

Ten Affordable Screen Readers

Super Egg Hunt Plus is now live.

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Complete 300K Miles Without Accident, Deemed Ready For Commuting

Will the elderly ever accept care from robots?

Welcome to yet another episode of the SeroTalk Podcast where Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp take a look at the news stories of the week. After the news, Jamie visits with Mark Marvel of Blind Ambitions Groups about Blind Ambitions Magazine, a new publication dealing with various blindness-related issues.

News stories discussed in this episode of the podcast include:

General Tech

Apple’s $1 Billion Win Over Samsung: Q&A

5 reasons the Apple-Samsung ruling is GOOD for everyone

Apple-Samsung verdict shows that Microsoft thinks different

Apple Stores reportedly still face budget cuts, unhappy workers

Samsung Ativ S officially announced: 4.8-inch 720p display, Windows Phone 8

iPhone 5 not likely to support NFC, says new report

Looks Like T-Mobile’s Not Getting the iPhone… Again

Mark your Microsoft calendars: Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 launch dates revealed

Inkjet printers, take a bow: Lexmark exiting the business next year

AT

Doing It To Win: Veterans Raise Bar At Paralympics

Documentary Film “Going Blind” To Have September Capitol Hill Screening for US Legislators

A Brief History of Early Talking Books and Players

New NT Art Gallery Exhibit Helps Visually Impaired

Roundabout

Will the elderly ever accept care from robots?

How your tweets may prove you’re a psychopath

Please take this screen reader user survey and help spread the word about System Access.

Joe Steinkamp and Richard Wells recently had the honor of representing Serotek at the 2012 convention of the Blinded Veterans Association. Here is the audio from the opening ceremonies of the convention. Our thanks go out to the Blinded Veterans Association for allowing us to bring this content to you.

Welcome back to another episode of the SeroTalk Podcast. Here are the stories that Jamie, Ricky and Joe discuss on this week’s show:

The cloud is still the safest place to be for small-to-medium businesses

Netflix’s new feature makes TV show marathons easier

YouTube Re-Imagined: 505,347,842 Channels on Every Single Screen

Amazon’s 10-inch Kindle Fire caught sailing through FCC certification

RealPlayer for Android exits beta

Windows 8 and Surface: Why has Microsoft gone so quiet?

RIM chief: BlackBerry 10 could be licensed to handset rivals

Apple

Apple Retail Stores Seeing Significant Layoffs of Recent Hires?

Apple is in danger of being boring

Judge urges Apple, Samsung CEOs to talk settlement

iPad Mini? Nah, here comes the iBook

Computers stolen from Steve Jobs’ home

AT

ClaroRead for Mac

Anywhere, Everywhere: That’s Accessibility

iOS or Android for the visually impaired revisited: Jelly Bean or iOS?

Where to go phone app for finding relief areas at airports.

Humanware is offering $200 off of the Trekker Breeze until August 31

Roundabout

Illinois allows mini horses as service animals

Michael Lauf’s ATIA 2011  interview with Cheryl of Jacksonville, Florida about her guide horse

Learn about Serotek’s SAMNet Vets program

London 2012: Isobel’s story – YouTube

Please take this screen reader user survey and help spread the word about System Access.

Join us live on Accessible Event this Thursday, August 23, beginning at 9 PM Eastern.

Welcome back to high Contrast the Summer Show Wrap up Extravaganza Edition! The crew sits down and discusses some of the bigger notables from both mainstream and the traditional Blind and Low Vision conventions with even a few surprises to boot.

Keynote Craziness:

WWDC – In June and July the tech world went nuts with tons of new product announcements. We take a look at some of the bigger news from the “Summer of Tech 2012”.

How the Retina Display MacBook Pro Handles Scaling

Apple to release iOS 6 this fall with the release of a possible new iPhone

Our sister show here on SPN covers even more of the news we discussed on the show. Check them out at their official site.

Google I/O – Google also had lots of things to talk about too. Here are a few things we discussed on the show.

Google introduces the nexus 7 tablet

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean released

There were also a whole lot of accessibility changes in Android’s Jellybean. Our sister podcast “That Android Show” covered a lot of them. Check out that show’s official page to learn more

VISIONS 2012 –

Maurie was on the road in Minnesota for the Foundations for Fighting Blindness’s convention. She was very impressed with the talks at the convention and she discusses it further on her recent post to the “Zoomed In” blog.

To learn more about the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, visit this site

NFB and ACB 2012 – Joe and Jeremey were at the NFB Convention in Dallas. SPN’s own Jamie pauls attended the ACB show in Louisville. Together, they and SeroTalk’s Ricky Enger, brought us hours and hours of audio coverage. Here are some highlights that you can listen to if you want to relive these summer shows.

Jeremy Curry’s Windows 8 Discussion from the NFB 2012 Assistive Technology Trainers Division Meeting

SPN’s own Jamie Paul’s takes us on an audio tour of the American Printing House for the Blind

SPN’s NFB/ACB Interview Special part 1

SPN’s NFB/ACB Interview Special part 2

SPN’s NFB/ACB Interview Special part 3

Also check out our Summer Convention wrap up discussion on SeroSpective’s “This month In AT: July Edition”

App Review: King’s Corner

One of Joe’s best ways for killing time when waiting in line, when watching a pot boil or when just needing a few minutes to chill out is to play King’s Corner on his iOS device. This program is VoiceOver friendly but it also sports a few visual customizations for those with Low Vision as well. It’s a variant on Solitaire that is just 99 cents in the iTunes App Store and its one of Joe’s favorite apps.

How can you find out what our hosts are up to outside the podcast?

Follow Maurie Hill on Twitter

Check out Maurie’s writing on the AI Squared Zoomed In Blog

Follow Rodney Edgar on Twitter

Check out Rodney on the Tech Access Weekly Blog and Podcast

Follow Jeremy Curry on Twitter

You can also check out GW Micro on Twitter.

Feel free to send your feedback on this show to resources@serotalk.com. You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast Network using iBlink Radio for your iOS device or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

Thanks for listening!

Please take this screen reader user survey and help spread the word about System Access.

Jamie Pauls, Lisa Salinger and Buddy Brannan sit down together and discuss this week’s top news stories. Among other things, here are the main stories covered:

Apple

132-page internal document shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone pixel by pixel

Apple vs. Samsung: Influence, or Copying?

Apple freezes AppleID password resets requested over the phone

An in-depth discussion of the above story can be heard on Security Now Episode 364

New iPhone’s Bigger Screen to Have 5th Row of Homescreen Icons?

Why a longer iPhone 5 screen needs to happen

General Tech

Verizon divulges high data plans under ‘Share Everything’

Starbucks aims to take Square, digital payments mainstream

Microsoft Office 2013: Goodbye to adds-in, bring on the apps

Online Radio Service TuneIn Comes To Tesla’s Model S, Now Available On 200 Platforms

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Complete 300K Miles Without Accident, Deemed Ready For Commuting

AT

A Ride in a Cab That’s Optimized for the Blind

Finding and Hiring a Driver

SeroSpectives Special: Mountain Lion

Super Egg Hunt Plus preordering is now live.

Christine Ha: MasterChef Contestant, Writer, and Cook

The Blind Cook – Sightless adventures of gastronomical proportions

Using your feedback to make Narrator work better with touch

A new version of Fleksy is out.

Roundabout

NASA: Your smartphone is as smart as the Curiosity rover

iPhone app aims to help visually impaired

Listen to SeroTalk Podcast 117: My Little Phony

There was no shortage of topics for Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp to discuss on this week’s podcast. We look forward to your reactions to this week’s episode of the show. Stories up for discussion this week include:

Mountain Lion

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review

Mac Blog: Microsoft Confirms Office 2011 and 2008 Compatibility with OS X Mountain Lion

Why should I, a Windows user, care about Mountain Lion anyway?

Listen to a discussion of Mountain Lion on ACB Radio’s Main Menu

David Woodbridge’s Mountain Lion podcasts from AppleVis available on iBlink Radio.

General Tech

Redbox and Verizon’s Netflix competitor goes into alpha test

4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook may debut this month

NTP settles e-mail patent suit with Google, Apple, Microsoft and others

Jeff Bezos Hijacks Amazon.com to Announce Education Initiative

Staples Executive Outs Six New Kindle Fire Tablets

Nokia to make carriers partners on Windows Phone, report says

Scott Thompson gets new CEO gig

iOS

New iPod Touch could match taller size of new iPhone

iPad Mini to debut in September, says analyst

Is there really ‘unprecedented’ demand for iPhone 5?

Report: iOS 6 won’t ask for password to download free apps

AT

SPN Special: A Discussion of Windows 8 by Jeremy Curry from NFB 2012

Accessibility gestures for Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Download a free 14 day trial of Georgie online here

Roundabout

Here is a link to RNIB’s new fund-raising ad.

Play your tunes through a toilet

All who regularly listen to the SeroTalk Podcast Network have come to expect extensive convention coverage each summer. This year, we went the extra mile and brought back something extra special from this year’s ACB convention. Jamie Pauls had the privilege of touring the American Printing House for the Blind with museum director Mike Hudson. Not only did Jamie take the tour, but he recorded the event. The result is over 90 minutes of audio that will take you from the 19^th century to the present day and even into the future. The only way this experience could be any better is if you were there yourself. If you ever get the chance, we urge you to take the APH Factory and Museum tour in person. You won’t regret it!

The SeroTalk Podcast Network is pleased to bring you audio which was recorded at the National Federation of the Blind’s Assistive Technology Trainers Division and features Jeremy Curry discussing the usability of Windows 8. Our thanks go out to The National Federation of the Blind and GW Micro for allowing us to bring this presentation to you. Please visit the links above to learn more about the respective companies, organizations and products mentioned here.

One of the misconceptions about Serotek is that we are a traditional software vendor. that is partially true. Our cloud-based screen reading technology, OCR package, webinar platform and social network are features that have each disrupted the way traditional assistive technology manufacturers meet and mingle with consumers, but for us, it was never enough to drop products into a supply and demand chain to feed our bottom line.

Serotek was launched in response to the elite class system that existed at the outset of the 21st century. If you could spare $1,200 in 2002, you could buy a copy of a screen reader, minus the cost of a software maintenance agreement. If you could fork over almost $1,500 more, you could buy the computer systems that worked best with the expensive screen reader. We rejected the idea that access had to come with a price tag, and we set out to build a line of products that would be equally attainable for all blind people regardless of their income status. It never made sense to us that the only people who could afford to keep their products up-to-date were those with well-paying jobs or active cases with their states’ rehab agencies. Ten years later a number of people continue to agree with us.

Our model of grassroots enterprise has propelled Serotek to a position of leadership in the assistive technology industry. We build products we ourselves use in our personal and professional lives. The fact that the majority of our staff is blind is key in that we know what our customers are looking for and understand what they can reasonably afford.. When we plant new products, we cultivate them with an eye to the community’s reaction, because our community was as responsible for our creation as it continues to be for our mutual success.

Our products are constantly evolving with emerging technology. What is relevant today may be forgotten next week. We count on our examination of breaking developments through our SeroTalk Podcast Network and feedback from you to tell us where we need to pull back and where we need to concentrate our efforts. That is the essence of a community-driven operation.

Today we are excited to see so many choices in how we approach daily tasks. There are several ways to read newspapers, listen to music, chat with friends, and play games alongside our sighted peers. It is now possible to walk into an Apple store and walk out with a fully accessible operating system, and for people who choose not to buy into Apple products, that’s okay because this too is your choice. Now, in a continuing effort to keep pace with the times, we want to give you one more option.

Serotek is a company by the people for the people, and that mentality took us back to the drawing board to think of an even better way to bring you the products you need at a price you can afford.

Consider this: How much will you get for $21.95 these days? Well, you may score a Friday night date to the movie theater if you skip refreshments. You could swing a nice dinner if the restaurant is not too nice and your date agrees to go Dutch. You could maybe buy a gift online for that special occasion, if free shipping is included. These days it seems our transactions are ruled by conditions, but at Serotek, we are going to give you the kitchen sink without sacrifices.

For $21.95 a month, or $240 a year, how would you like all the benefits of DocuScan Plus, System Access, and SAMNet? What would you say if we told you that this incredibly low price will see you through all future upgrades with absolutely no interruption in your service? And, what kind of 21st century operation would we be without these products coming to a mobile device near you?

When we speak of accessibility anywhere, we literally mean it is possible for you to take these tools on the go and have instant access to e-mail, documents, movies, your music library, and social networks from any available computer. Whether from a thumb drive or from the convenience of logging into SA to Go, you have as much access to the information you need as your neighbors. Gone are the days of paying a premium price for access that should by all accounts be affordable to the students, professionals and everyday consumers who demand instant access to online content, where ever they are..

Why step back from conventional pricing structures? Two reasons:

First, your time is valuable. When you call or write, you do not want half a dozen variations. You want a simple price and a compelling list of features to make that price worthwhile.

Second, we want to thank you for making us a leader in assistive technology. With so many choices, you have chosen to invest in our mission of putting cutting edge technology into the hands of as many blind consumers as we can reach. $21.95 a month grants you unlimited access to three competitive products and gives you a stake in the future course of a company devoted to keeping pace with emerging technology. We believe you deserve a permanent place at the table where innovative minds are busy bringing universal access one step closer.

At home, in school, at work, and on the streets, Serotek is working day in and day out to make accessibility anywhere a tangible reality. Will you join our thriving community of thinkers and doers? Visit this link to get started.

Despite various Internet woes, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp manage to discuss this week’s news stories.

Smartphones

RIM unveils BlackBerry Screen Reader for people with visual impairments

HumanWare Announces Changes to Non-Visual Access Software for BlackBerry Smartphones with discontinuation of Oratio for BlackBerry

Skype killing Windows Phone: Nokia responds

How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone

Apple

Why Mac Computers Are Becoming More Favorable Among the Blind

Apple may launch $799 MacBook Air this year, claims report

Who wants an iPad Mini? About one buyer in two

Apple HDTV rumor roundup

Apple releases iOS 5.1.1

General Tech

Microsoft angers users by cutting Media Center out of Windows 8

Microsoft SkyDrive vs. Apple iCloud and the folly of cloud poaching

Microsoft developing Kinect-like controller that uses sound waves

4 Ways Your Business Can Avoid Being a Menace on Twitter

Social Security Administration starts providing online statements

For anyone in the US, tell me will be discontinued on 1st June of this year.

AT

There is a new Tech Doctor podcast with Anna Dresner discussing her new iPhone book.

Important notice of future SPL Studio script development         

AccessTalk has a new RSS feed (as of podcast 5)

Victor Reader Stream updated to version 3.5

Mailbag

First we hear from Kevin Barry in the following email.

Both of the Directv IOS apps are completely accessible.

That means completely. No funny workarounds etc.

The iPhone app allows you to program a dvr from anywhere (very useful when halfway around the world or closer) and the iPad app allows that plus direct control over networked boxes plus even some live playback.

I wonder where Joe heard the DTV apps weren’t accessible?

Then we hear iReports from Veronica and Randy Shelton.

Roundabout

Paralyzed Woman Finishes London Marathon

After the news, stay tuned for an interview about the Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired. Jamie Pauls talks with Joshua Loya and Kerry Hoath.

Welcome to “High Contrast”, the newest offering on SPN, a show that features conversations on topics about living with Low Vision. In this show we introduce ourselves and give you and idea about the visual accuities we have amongst the team. Then we move on to talk about exercise, the new iPad and more.

Running For Fun… And Your Life?

It is easy to be overwhelmed or intimidated by the thought of running for lots of reasons. However, we find out that its easier than you think and there is even an App for that.  

Two legally blind runners to run in Columbia SC races

New England Regional Ski For Light

NPR The New Running Game Where ‘Zombies’ Chase You

What we thought came out of CSUN

Meet The Flick Camera

Video Magnifiers with Vinnie Rappa of Humanware

Talking Video Magnifiers with Enhanced Vision

A Discussion with Brian Smith of Magnisight

You can always find more CSUN12 coverage at the main SeroTalk page

And be sure to check out Blind Bargains as well for their audio coverage of CSUN 2012

The New iPad Is Here! What’s In Store For Low Vision Users?

We know its crazy to think that some out there may not know there is a new iPad in town, however, not everyone knows that there are some key features that are compelling for those with Low Vision. We go In Depth in the podcast about many of the new aspects of Apple’s latest iDevice and below you will find just some of our thoughts on what makes this a good buy.

The New Camera

The original iPad required you to connect a strange add on Camera kit for taking pictures and the iPad 2’s camera wasn’t anything special. But the new iPad sports a 5 MB camera on the back and this opens up a lot of options for picture taking, reading and more.

Here’s Rodney’s thoughts on using the new ipad as a handheld digital camera replacement:

“Rodney has had pretty good success taking still pictures. “You really have to be steady while the iPad tries to focus and remain stable. Using the iPad as a view finder works pretty well for me. I was able to read whiteboards off at a distance pretty clearly. Anytime you zoom, the focus it will get a little blurry in spots because the sensor isn’t like using a DSLR camera. I guess your mileage may vary.”

To zoom you have to spread two fingers like you would on a webpage, i.e. opposite of a pinch or the “multi-touch” gesture. Once you do that move the slider shows up on the bottom of the screen like in other devices.

Viewing from a Distance

Check out Maurie’s “Zoomed In” blog post, entitled “Viewing From A Distance”, from October 2011 to get an idea of how the iPad 2’s camera works for reading and seeing objects from further away.

The RETINA DISPLAY

Of course the biggest new feature of the new iPad is its amazing display. The device now supports 1080p video and even higher resolutions for displaying text with HD quality video. Here are some thoughts about the new iPad’s nifty visuals from maurie.

“The text  is clear and crisp, and some photos are more vivid depending on the photo’s resolution.

Screen text in message containers (i.e. Mail App – the message body; text in Notes text messages in Message App is better, but not drastically better than the iPad1 and ipad2.

HOWEVER, Screen text (5X) outside of message containers (i.e. Inbox list in Mail App, street names in Maps App, web pages in Safari App) is very noticeably crisper on the NEW iPad.  For example, in the Maps App, I pinched to zoom to the maximum level and then used the highest full screen ZOOM level (5x).  The street names were very easy to read.  On the iPad1 and iPad2, it’s readable but fuzzy, making your eyes work harder, like wearing glasses of the wrong prescription.”

To sum up…

Original iPad1

Most notable is that it does not have a camera, so taking photos, and videos is not an option.  Even if you’re not interested in taking photos, the lack of camera will prevent you from seamlessly taking advantage of some apps such as OCR apps, Vision Assist, or object recognition apps.  But, you can take photos and videos from other devices and view them on the original iPad1. The speaker is off to the side of the device while iPad 2 and 3 have the speakers placed on the back of the tablet. You can always use an external speaker dock, or a Smart Cover from Apple, to allow you to hear sound beter on the 2 or 3 though. 

iPad1 and iPad2

Visually, they both have similar screen display quality, for example, magnified text looks about the same (that is to say that text can look a bit fuzzy against the display of the new iPad). But if you use VoiceOver, and the Large text in message containers, this may not be an issue.  But if you want to use it as a large screen GPS, the NEW iPad is the best choice.

NEW iPad

The Retina display, a  good camera and more power under the Gorilla Glass will allow you to take advantage of many apps for the sight impaired, And it’s the best choice for GPS and magnifying maps.

So, the sight impaired are big winners in the release of the NEW iPad, even for the fact that the original iPad and iPad2 are more affordable.

the Vision Assist app for iOS allows you to snap an image of text or an object then scroll, zoom in or apply optional color filters similar to those found with handheld Video Magnifiers.

Rodney and the gang mentioned a GPS app called “MotionX”. To learn more about it, visit their official site. Important Reminder: In order to use GPS apps on any iPad, you will need to skip the WiFi only models as the devices with wireless connections are better for those apps.

App Review: jetpack Joyride

joe Steinkamp takes us on a tour of this addicting free app that allows you to enjoy the power of flight and collect lots and lots of pretty things. From the makers of “Fruit Ninja”, Halfbrick Studios makes a game that is easy to learn and even easier to see if you have Low Vision. Be sure to listen carefully to joe’s Pro Tip for how to earn coins faster and buy up all those crazy Jetpacks!

Keep Up With Our Hosts

How can you find out what our hosts are up to outside the podcast?

Follow Maurie Hill on Twitter

Check out Maurie’s writing on the AI Squared Zoomed In Blog

Follow Rodney Edgar on Twitter

Check out Rodney on the Tech Access Weekly Blog and Podcast

Follow Jeremy Curry on Twitter

You can also check out GW Micro on Twitter.

Feel free to send your feedback on this show to resources@serotalk.com. You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast Network using iBlink Radio for your iOS device or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

Thanks for listening!

Once again, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp settle in for a discussion of what was by all accounts a slow news week. Never fear, though. The gang found plenty to talk about, anyway. The topics discussed in this week’s podcast include the following:

Tablet Computing

Microsoft and Barnes & Noble settle patent dispute; create new subsidiary

An Accessibility Review of the Amazon Kindle 3 by Ricky Enger

For Windows 8 tablets, a weak forecast

Target will yank Kindles–why?

20 improvements I’d like to see in iOS 6

Smartphones

RIM Launches Blackberry 10

BlackBerry 10: Best feature nobody’s talking about

Samsung leapfrogs Apple as top smartphone vendor worldwide

iPhone 5 launching with 4-inch screen, new Dock connector?

Security

Facebook users: What? Facebook has privacy settings?

iTunes users griping about Apple’s security questions

General Tech

Twitter pumps up Discover feature with social signals

Hulu’s possible future: A playground for cable subscribers

AT

Global Accessibility Awareness Day Home Page

Skype 4.0 released and claims improved accessibility

EyeRing: Wearable Camera That Detects Objects For The Visually Impaired

Robot sensing and smartphones help blind navigate                                                      

Mushroom Escape – For the Best in Radio Drama and Comedy

Take the WebAIM screen reader user survey

Technology for Blind & Visually Impaired Viewers Debuts in UK

Mailbag

This week, we bring you an iReport from Blinky X. We trust that you will enjoy his comments as much as we did!

Roundabout

Feature Writer Alena Roberts – Think a Blind Man Can’t Be a Fashion Designer? Think Again

I’m here today to talk to you about the New iPad, or the iPad III, or whatever Apple is calling it. I got it on Release Day, so I was camping out at my front door and waiting for FedEx. I unboxed it about an hour before I left to attend a conference with my wife. The first thing I noticed is that it is a little thicker than the previous one, but not by much. You can’t tell visually, but you can feel the difference. It is also slightly heavier. I wanted to see if I could set it up without having to connect to iTunes. I turned it on, waited a bit, and was able to triple-click the Home button, which started VoiceOver. From there, I was able to sign in and configure it. Now, if I want to get iPods for my kids or iPads for my parents or in-laws, I can set them up.

iOS, and the iPad in particular,  has been one of the most flexible platforms for seniors ever, but they had to have a computer, which is backwards. Now, setup can be done right from the device with iOS 5.1. I took some time to play with my  first generation iPad running iOS 5.1, in preparation for giving it to my mother-in-law. I noticed that it’s running significantly slower than the iPad II or the new iPad. Still, for someone who wants to use it for Facebook and email, it’s still a perfectly adequate solution.

The new iPad has one GB of memory, as opposed to the 512 MB memory the iPad II has. It also has a wonderful, although useless to a blind person, retina display, which everyone agrees looks amazing. It has the same A5 dual core processor that is in the iPad II, but it does have quad core graphics. This is why the new iPad gets a little warmer than the earlier ones did. I don’t use graphics, and I use screen curtain, so I haven’t experienced this very much. LTE makes connection speeds much faster. The iPad can also be used as a hot spot, but I already have plenty of options to connect to the Internet, so this is not particularly compelling to me personally. Battery life is also good on the device, and I can use the same case I used for my previous iPad..

If I were sighted, the new retina display would convince me to buy the iPad. LTE and dictation are also convincing reasons to buy, for blind and sighted users alike. The current generation iPad is definitely a content-production device. You can use it to take high deffinition video, and the camera and iPhoto are amazing.

Apple sold over a million iPads on the first day alone, which brings me to a reminder to blind people. Many have referred to Apple as “a flash in the pan.” I don’t feel that hundreds of millions of devices are a flash in the pan. It is exciting to know that these mainstream devices are accessible and readily available to all.

You are welcome to send email to resources@serotalk.com, leave a comment on the Blab Line, at (866) 997-blab or 2522, or send us an iReport on iBlink Radio.

In our final SeroTalk special from CSUN 2012, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp conduct interviews with representatives from the following companies:

Perkins

Humanware

Sendero

AFB

Click and Go Maps

Dolphin Guide

GW Micro Windows 8

Look Tel

Optelec

Stepp

In part two of our three-part special, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp continue their interviews from CSUN 2012.

 Switch Equipment iPad

Book Share

Optelec

Design Science

Magnisight

HIMS

Job Accomodation Network

Isist

Learning Ally

Joe Steinkamp and Ricky Enger attended this year’s CSUN convention and conducted many interviews with other participants in the conference.  “In part one of our three-part special featuring interviews from CSUN 2012, we here from the following companies:

 AI Squared

APH

Clarity

Bones

Dolphin

Enabling Devices

Chicago Lighthouse

Humanware

Ideal Tech

Welcome to part one of our three-part series featuring our interviews from ATIA 2012 in Orlando, Florida. After some initial greetings from Jamie Pauls and Joe Steinkamp, we hear Jamie’s interview with Lary Skutchan of American Printing House for the Blind. Next, Derek Lane tells us all about BookShare. Joe follows with an interview featuring low-vision products from Ash. Derek brings us information about Click and Go Maps. Jamie learns about two stand-alone reading devices from Abisee. Next, Joe tells us about another video magnifier from the Low Vision Store. Derek tells us about several turnkey solutions from Compusult. Wrapping up our first episode, Jamie visits with Patrick from Learning Ally.

About our Presenters

Hai Nguyen Ly is a Technical Support Specialist for KNFB Reading Technologies, INC. He loves the adventures that come with being the father of a toddler, which is a second full-time job. If he can find some down time, you can usually find him reading and tweeting about the latest and greatest innovations in technology.

Dean Martineau is an access technology trainer and long-time producer of the popular Top Tech Tidbits Newsletter, which is well-known to many. He is also recognized for his collaboration on the book Getting Started with the iPhone, and for his work on producing Sound Computing Magazine.

Wade Wingler is the Director of Assistive Technology with the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana, and was instrumental in starting Assistive Technology Radio.

In the Community

Ariadne GPS and iBlink Radio inducted into the Apple Vis Hall of Fame

Blind Bargains 5^th Annual Access Awards (Voting Round)

GW Micro Announces Release of GWConnect (Formerly GWSkype)

Blind Bargains Poll on Note Taker versus Laptop and iPhone

Books

Mainstream Access to E-Books–What Works, What Doesn’t, and What Is Still Unclear

More than half of Americans think we’ll never go paperless (survey)

What you won’t see at CES: Ebook readers

Braille

Project to create open source Braille display

Hims Announces the Braille Edge

Humanware expanding line with new 80 cell Brailliant

Tech

XP still top OS but Windows 7 hot on its trail

Kurzweil Educational Systems Releases firefly: a Universally Accessible Web-based Literacy Solution

Firefox 10 arrives with  new dev tools and full-screen API

Apple

iPhone is 5 Years Old Today

Accessible Firefox on Mac OS X – things are ramping up

Everything you need to know about the Apple Education Announcement from Gizmodo

Misc

Is Stephen Hawking’s voice music to the ears?

Thank you for joining us for SeroSpectives. If you’d like to continue the discussion of this topic, please join us in the SAMNet Tech Chat Room. If you are not a member, you can obtain a free, seven-day trial by visiting http://www.satogo.com/.

SeroSpectives is made possible through technology from Serotek Corporation.

Visit the SeroTalk.com Blog and Podcast for the Latest Access Technology Information

Email Resources@SeroTalk.com Your Comments, Suggestions, and Ideas for Future Podcast Segments

Download iBlink Radio, Free App for Android and the iPhone, with Radio Stations and Podcasts Created by

the blind, Radio Information Service and audio Tutorials!

DocuScan Plus Afordable and Powerful OCR Solution

Serotek Corporation – System Access Screen reader, SAMNet, docuScan Plus, Remote Incident

Manager, iBlink for the iPhone, and Accessible Event

Try a Free Fully Functional Seven Day Trial of System Access and SAMNet Today by going to

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AccessibleEvent Makes Meetings and Webinars Accessible to the blind, Deaf, and Deaf-Blind

© 2012 Serotek Corporation – All Rights Reserved.

What delights the senses more than leftover fruitcake, is more exciting than freezing in Times Square, and will change your life more than another batch of New Year’s resolutions? It’s This Year in Technology. Come join our guests: J.J. Meddaugh of Blind Bargains fame, as well as Joe Steinkamp and Jamie Pauls from Serotek, as they count down the top ten technology-related events that shaped 2011, and reveal their choice for Number One!

JANUARY

show notes page from TMIAT Jan 2011

Stories

Zoom Reader

Hope for Pandora

NVDA needs your help to continue on

Kindle for PC

FEBRUARY

Show notes page for Feb TMIAT

The Cobra Screen Reader emerges

MARCH

Show notes for March TMIAT

ATT to buy T Mobile

Mobile Accessibility for Android released

Launch of Android Access.net

Horizons for the Blind and A T Guys Join Forces to Launch Cutting Edge Product Information using Bar Codes

Here are some additional technology Top Ten Lists for your enjoyment.

The most popular stories of 2011 from Ars Technica

Mashable’s Top Ten iOS apps of 2011

ZDNet’s Top 10 Security Stories in 2011

8 Jokes, Memes and Parady Accounts of 2011

The best and worst of Sci Fi TV in 2011

APRIL

Show notes for TMIT

Mozilla launches the Aurora Channel for new Accessibility features

MAY

Show Notes for May TMIAT

Microsoft dials up Skype

DocuScan Plus launches for the Mac

Bureau of Engraving launches money reader app for iOS

Chromium OS has built in screen reader

JUNE

show notes for June TMIAT

Here come the Chromebooks

JULY

Show notes for July TMIT

code Factory releases the Accessible Browser and Music Player for Android

The BookSense 2.3 update includes Voice Recognition

Blio for iOS released

NVDA gets grant from Mozilla

Apple unleashes a Lion to the Mac App Store

Google Labs shutting down

AUGUST

Show notes for July TIMT

Steve Jobs Resigns

Google Plus Keyboard Accessibility

ACB/Google Survey on computer usage

Nuance acquires Loquendo

SEPTEMBER

Show Notes for September TMIAT

Microsoft talks Windows 8

Facebook launches major redesign

Here is a list of the Top Five things that Serotek has done this past year.

5 DocuScan Plus launches for the Mac

4 iBlink Radio for Android makes Apple Vis Hall of fame

3 SAM Vets Program

2 The launch of SPN, new shows and some guy as a new host of a little old show called SeroTalk

1 The community! It sounds silly but its true. Either you guys passing around the April Fool’s GTO Notetaker announcement, the 13 days of Christmas with matt and the Guide Dogs or the wonderful way people tell other people about our convention coverage or the Rose Bowl parade. The community is at the heart of it all and we sincerely thank all of you!

OCTOBER

Show notes for October TMIAT

Tribute to Steve Jobs

Siri and the iPhone 4s

Kindle Fire, down in flames!

NOVEMBER

Show notes for November TMIAT

OCR add on for NVDA

Robot Guide Dogs?

Google releases Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich

DECEMBER

AT&T withdraws bid for T Mobile

GW Skype

Top Ten list

10 Chrome OS includes ChromeVox ScreenReader
9 Ipplex Releases $1.99 LookTel Money Reader for iOS Devices

8 Google unleashes Android Ice Cream Sandwich with Explore by Touch and other accessibility improvements

7 NFB Blind Driver Challenge
6 GW Skype Released, controversy abounds over ads in software

5 Steve Jobs dies
4 Code Factory Releases Mobile Accessibility for Android
3 Apple to launch iPhone 4S simultaneously with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint
2 Demise of Qwitter accessible Twitter client, replacements emerge
1 Amazon Kindle Fire released, completely inaccessible

If you would like to share your thoughts with us, leave us a message in iBlink via iReport, or drop us an email resources@serotek.com

On this week’s podcast, Jamie Pauls interviews three guests. Our first guest is Dan Aranoff, a blind food critic from New York City who began his writing career by blogging about things that frustrated him and eventually turned his writing into a passion for food.

Our second guest is Michael Barnes, a gentleman who was frustrated with the difficulty he was having in playing some old DOS games by Rich De Steno on his Windows 7 computer and ended up co-developing an iOS app that allows the playing of these games on an iOS device.

Our third guest is Russell Rowland, a student who was initially reluctant to go to college but now embraces the experience and encourages others to make their dreams come true.

Finally, Serotek’s own Lisa Salinger explores some of the more confusing aspects of Microsoft Security Essentials available from Ninite.com among other places and demonstrates how to use the program effectively with any screen reader.

What do all of these stories have in common, you may ask? Each of our four guests saw a problem or a a challenge and tackled it head on. They didn’t take no for an answer and they didn’t let obstacles detour them from their goals.

We trust that this podcast will both entertain and inspire you as you listen.

View show notes for Serospectives: This Month In Assistive Technology For November 2011

Play Accessible Event archive of Serospectives: This Month In Assistive Technology For November 2011

On this issue of SeroSpectives, Lisa Salinger is joined by Alena Roberts, a private
contractor and feature writer for the Matilda
Ziegler Magazine, Michael
McCarty, Director of Social Media at The American
Printing House for the Blind, and Serotek’s
own Mike Calvo to discuss the top
stories in technology for November, 2011.

In the Community

The NLS Materials
Development Division Modifies the Digital Talking Book Management Software

From blastbay Studios: audio
demo of our upcoming game, Perilous Hearts!

NEW FAQ on Code Factory’s
Noke Screen Reader

Qwitter replacement
in alpha testing called Twit Monger.

A user has modified Qwitter
4.5.1 to use the new API, so it can now receive direct messages and mentions
streaming.

Another Qwitter spin-off: The Qube

Kudos to Qwitter, the program that proves once and for all, that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

NVDA 2011.3rc1
released!

OCR plugin for NVDA:

Japanese
Company Develops Robot Guide Dog

Serotek Conquers a New
Frontier for Blind Veterans:

Braille

NFB
– National Federation of the Blind Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy

Top Braille

More information
on Top Braille

If you use Braille with your iPhone, iPad or iPod, there’s a
Braille User Group on AppleVis to connect
with others

Cell Phones

From CNETNews: A Windows 8
smartphone could be coming next year

Google unleashes Android Ice
Cream Sandwich Coming Nov. 17

iOS

Oregon Puts iPad Voting on
the Map

http://t.co/sLF5LZ3yUpdated
information on obtaining a refund for inaccessible iOS apps

From Yahooaccess: 10 things
blind people can teach us about Apple’s #Siri on the #iPhone 4S. From macstoriesnet: Apple Releases GarageBand for
iPhone

http://t.co/xIiJa3VPA
Comprehensive Audio Demonstration of Siri

Microsoft

More Accessibility maybe?
Office 365 updates begin to percolate through Microsoft’s line-up Windows 7 continues to roll as XP fades away

http://t.co/3R4YBdKWMicrosoft
Internet Explorer 10 to add spell checking, auto-correct

Apple

Apple confirms Siri isn’t
coming to any other devices as of now

MacBook
Air supplies almost one-third of Apple notebook sales

Conclusion

SeroSpectives is made possible through technology from Serotek
Corporation.

Visit the SeroTalk.com
Blog and Podcast for the Latest Access Technology Information

Email
Resources@SeroTalk.com Your Comments, Suggestions, and Ideas for Future Tech
Chats and Podcast Segments

Download
iBlink Radio, Free App for the iPhone, with Radio Stations and Podcasts Created
by the blind, Radio Information Service and audio Tutorials!

DocuScan Plus
Afordable and Powerful OCR Solution

Serotek Corporation –
System Access Screen reader, SAMNet, docuScan Plus, Remote Incident Manager,
iBlink for the iPhone, and Accessible Event

Try a Free Fully Functional
Seven Day Trial of System Access and SAMNet Today by going to www.satogo.com

AccessibleEvent
Makes Meetings and Webinars Accessible to the blind, Deaf, and Deaf-Blind

© 2011 Serotek Corporation – All Rights Reserved.