Full Transcript
Speaker 2:
If you’re blind or have low vision,
Speaker 3:
Be My Eyes is a must have tool.
Speaker 2:
No matter where you are
Speaker 4:
Or what language you speak
Speaker 5:
You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds.
Speaker 3:
In seconds.
Speaker 6:
From a pool of more than two million volunteers
Speaker 3:
Two million volunteers
Speaker 6:
And the best part is
Speaker 7:
It’s completely free.
Speaker 3:
It’s completely free.
Speaker 7:
No matter how many times you use it
Speaker 6:
No matter how much you use it
Speaker 5:
Completely free.
Speaker 7:
Besides the option to call volunteers
Speaker 8:
You can also use Be My Eyes’ new feature
Speaker 5:
Specialized Help
Speaker 3:
To get quick, high quality
Speaker 2:
Video custom service
Speaker 6:
Directly from companies like Microsoft
Speaker 7:
And Google
Speaker 4:
All within the Be My Eyes app
Speaker 5:
On Android
Speaker 3:
Or iOS.
Speaker 7:
Join the community
Speaker 2:
Join the community
Speaker 7:
Today
Speaker 2:
Today.
Speaker 5:
On the web at www.bemyeyes.com.
Speaker 9:
Enable the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying enable blind abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson and I’m at the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind Conference in Washington DC. I’m out here at the booth of Vispero and I’m talking to Douglas . How are you doing?
Douglas Gerry:
I’m doing very well Jeff – thank you.
Jeff Thompson:
Douglas, we are here with all the Executive Directors from the agencies across the nation. One of the important things is transitioning students. Transitioning from high school to college to the work place. But there is also seniors and everybody else and you have a lot of products here through Vispero that they can utilize.
Douglas Gerry:
Yes. We are Vispero and we are multiple companies now. Freedom Scientific, AI Squared, Enhanced Vision and Optelec. So we have a wide breadth of products from blindness to low vision. For seniors or students or working professionals.
Jeff Thompson:
So with transitioning students. They want to transition right into college and the work place. One thing that I’ve noticed is that a lot of them are using Apple products. Nothing wrong with that but, in the work place and in college, a lot of it is based on Microsoft products.
Douglas Gerry:
I travel around the country a lot. I speak to a lot of colleges, community colleges and universities and consistently I get the same message – that there are many students coming in who are blind or vision impaired, who don’t have Window skills and they don’t have computer skills. They are good with their iPads or their iPhones but typically, in an academic environment or a vocation or at work, Windows is the product that is being used mostly. So what is happening is, students are coming into the colleges without those necessary skills and they are already behind the curve. They are having to learn those skills, while they are trying to take their classes and it can be overwhelming and a lot of students – from what I understand – end up dropping out to go and get those skills, so they can return to college and be more competitive with the other students.
Jeff Thompson:
With the combination of all the companies that Vispero now represents, you have a lot to offer from low vision to JAWS screen readers. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Douglas Gerry:
We are actually introducing in May – or shipping in May – a brand new product called the ElBraille.
Douglas Gerry:
The ElBraille is a Windows-based notetaker that is docked with a Focus 14 or 40 cell braille display. ElBraille can be undocked from it and carried around separately but, once it’s docked, it is a Windows-notetaker and is an i5 processor and 8GB of RAM and it works just like any computer that you would use – or laptop that you would use – but it is in a notetaker format. You can install your JAWS on it. You can use OpenBook with it. It has an HDMI port. It also has expandable memory. There is even a SIM card slot so you could put in a SIM card and use it as a phone or navigate the internet.
Jeff Thompson:
That’s the ElBraille.
Douglas Gerry:
It’s the ElBraille. You can put your JAWS on it and use it with JAWS.
Jeff Thompson:
Really.
Douglas Gerry:
It is literally a Windows computer in a notetaker format.
Jeff Thompson:
Speaking of JAWS – you’ve got a nice new program that rolled out.
Douglas Gerry:
We do. It’s called our Home Use program. JAWS is $90 for a year and ZoomText is $80 for a year. So, if you have a copy of JAWS and that JAWS is older, instead of spending the money to update it, you could simply go to our website and purchase a year of JAWS for only $90. If you don’t have JAWS, it’s an easy way to get access to JAWS on your own – if you’re not part of the services or if you’re in between college and high school. You can go there and it is only $90 for the year, $80 for ZoomText and that’s for a year.
Jeff Thompson:
That’s a great deal. For people with low vision you also have a whole line of products here.
Douglas Gerry:
We do. As you know we are Enhanced Vision and Optelec but we are also introducing a new product called the Jupiter.
Douglas Gerry:
Jupiter is a fully collapsible, integrated battery CCTV. It’s a 13 inch. It’s available through American Printing House. It’s also available for Federal Quotas Funding. Soon we will be releasing a 15 inch version which is called the ClearView Go and that will be available through any of our Freedom Scientific, Optelec and Enhanced Vision dealers.
Jeff Thompson:
When you talk about ‘quota fundings, you are talking about purchases for something for a student to use in classrooms.
Douglas Gerry:
Actually, Federal Quota Funding is specifically for K through 12 and it’s an allotment of money that is available for students with disabilities, that the schools can use to purchase the Jupiter through APH.
Jeff Thompson:
Well that’s great. That’s a great partnership. So Douglas, is there anything else you would like to share with the listeners?
Douglas Gerry:
Well, we have dealers throughout the country. We have our regional dealers so, no matter where you are, we have somebody that can demonstrate these products to you. We are also going to be at all the shows. The summer show in Rochester ACB and the summer show in Las Vegas. The NFB will be there in full attendance. We have presentations and products and many of our staff are going to be around so, if you want to meet any of us, we will be there too.
Jeff Thompson:
All right. Thank you very much Douglas .
Douglas Gerry:
Thank you Jeff. Appreciate your time.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
For more podcasts with the blindness perspective:
Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities
Download our app from the App store:
‘Blind Abilities’; that’s two words.
Or send us an e-mail at:
Thanks for listening.
Contact:
Thank you for listening!
You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities
On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com
Send us an email
Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.