There has been a lot of hype lately involving Bird Box, and the Bird Box Challenge in the blind community. I’ve heard: Bird Box gives an unrealistic view of blindness, and the Bird Box Challenge is dangerous. And this is true. It is definitely not advisable to blind fold yourself and go running through the woods, or drive a car without sight. And being under a blind fold for the first time in a terrifying, life threatening situation is most...
Show Summary: Brian Fischler, from That Blind Tech Show, gives a great description and overview of the new 2018 MacAir from Apple. From ports to keyboard and Track Pad gestures, Brian runs through the paces as well as his way of setting up the MacAir with iCloud and sharing across his other Apple devices. Here are some common commands that Brian used throughout the demo: First, the VO reference is the Command and Option keys pressed down. This...
Traveling as a blind individual can be challenging. If we have attended an orientation center for blindness training, we are taught that we can do anything, and that it shouldn’t be challenging. And a lot of that is true. But what we are not taught is how challenging it can be. We are taught to use our resources whether that be city buses, subways, trains, taxi’s, Uber or Lift. We become self sufficient and comfortable using these during...
Show Summary: I wanted to bring up this audio from a couple years back that Jo Fishwick submitted to a conversation the Blind Abilities Channel on Audio Boom was having. Now, we have moved on to BlindAbilities.com yet, I went back to the channel in hopes to find Jo’s conversation on the topic of Braille. Jo talks about how she got started with Braille at age 12, and how she encourages others to learn Braille. Use it and make it part of their...
Show Summary: iPhone 101 demonstrations and reviews brings you another demo and this one is all about the Keyboard shortcut, Text Replacement. With just a couple of letters for a shortcut, you can populate the dialog box or page with commonly used phrases, names, hashtags, email addresses and anything you desire. Head on into the shortcut keyboard settings and check out Text Replacement. In this demo Jeff Thompson will “add” a phrase and a...
Listening to Podcasts is the fastest growing media market and there are plenty of ways to access podcasts of all styles and topics. As a Blind/Visually Impaired person there are some ways better than others and with accessible technology and a few tips and tricks, you can be binging on what could soon be your favorite podcast shows. Let’s start with a podcast. A podcast is like a radio show that you can digest when and where you want. You can...
Full Transcript Show Summary: Blind Abilities presents this special chat with Mike Kelly. Mike is a consonant musician, having learned to play the bass at an early age, Join Pete Lane as he tracks Mike’s musical evolution through the music industry from the 1970s, and into the present. Listen as Mike details the myriad pitfalls he encountered during his lifetime, from his ups and downs in the music business, the loss of his wife and by far...
Show Summary: Ed and Brian are back together and Jeff just keeps hanging out counting the days. That’s days until New years 2019! The boys hit the studio hard with nothing but true stories and nothing but the facts. Ed and Jeff keep Brian in-line somewhat and maybe Brian is turning over a new leaf? Well, you can decide when you listen to episode #25 of That Blind Tech Show. We cover Facebook Privacy, if there is any. Jaws, ChromeBooks,...
I recently received a request to share some more small tips and tricks that I might use to make daily life more accessible to me as a blind person. So I’ve been trying to think of different ways that I have adapted my life, such as folding the wrapping paper so I know where to cut, but it hasn’t been very easy. I’m not sure if that is because I am so used to my life, or because I don’t use very many tricks that would be different than a...
Show Summary: iPhone 101 demonstrations and reviews brings you another demo and this one is all about Air Drop. What is Air Drop? It is a feature in the Apple devices and Macs that allows you and others to share across a Bluetooth connection simply and easily by just a couple of taps. You can set yours up to limit just who can Air Drop to your device or Mac. Let’s imagine you are hanging out and around a table and you want a friend to visit a...