The Week’s News in Access Technology
A Flying Blind, LLC Publication
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Greetings,
We start this week with NVDA happenings:
News
1A.) NVDA 2015.3RC1 Released
NVDA 2015.3RC1 has just been released. This is a release candidate, which means that unless any critical issues are found, this will be identical to the final 2015.3 release. Highlights of this release include initial support for Windows 10; the ability to disable single letter navigation in browse mode (useful for some web apps); improvements in Internet Explorer; and fixes for garbled text when typing in certain applications with Braille enabled:
http://community.nvda-project.org/blog/NVDA2015.3rc1Released
1B.) NVDA with Windows 10 Audio Tutorial
If you want to hear how this version of NVDA works with Windows 10, here is an audio tutorial:
http://www.nvda-kr.org/en
1C.) NVDA Add-On Internals
And finally, the most recent entries in Joseph Lee’s blog consist of the first installments in a series for programmers and developers entitled “NVDA Add-on Internals:”
http://joslee22590.blogspot.com/
2.) The Blind Perspective Newsletter
The Blind Perspective is a monthly email newsletter in which they “Aim to keep you informed & entertained.” It consists of blindness-related articles written by blind people. To subscribe send a blank message to:
theblindperspective+subscribe@groups.io
3.) Smartphones and Apps Are Liberating the Blind
This San Jose Mercury News article is entitled “Smartphones, Apps are Liberating the Blind and Visually Impaired:”
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28641561/smartphones-apps-are-liberating-blind-and-visually-impaired
4.) Here comes the Facebook July 2015 Accessibility Update
https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-accessibility/july-2015-accessibility-update/956916544352071
In keeping up with the flood of news about Windows 10:
5A.) Complete Guide to Windows 10
This is Paul Thurott’s “Complete Guide to Windows 10,” which he promises to update and enhance as new information comes to light:
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/5213/complete-guide-to-windows-10?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
5B.) Dolphin offers some Windows 10 Tips
http://www.yourdolphin.com/dolphinfull.asp?id=742
5C.) From the 22 Point Blog comes “Windows 10, 15 Days In:”
https://22point.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/windows-10-15-days-in-also-big-book-announcement/
5D.) Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade Scenarios
The Ai Squared Knowledge Base Article on Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade Scenarios has been recently updated:
http://www.gwmicro.com/Support/Knowledge_Base/?kbnumber=GWKB2066
5E.) NFB on Windows 10 Accessibility
And the National Federation of the Blind does not give Microsoft high marks on its handling of accessibility in Windows 10:
https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/installers-beware-microsoft-drops-ball-accessibility-windows-10
6A.) Debunking Common Myths About VoiceOver on the Mac
From the AppleVis blog, the article “Debunking Common Myths about VoiceOver on the Mac” has been recently updated:
http://www.applevis.com/blog/apple-mac-os-x/debunking-common-myths-about-voiceover-mac
6B.) On Siri, Voice Control and How the Blind Use iPhones
And the article “On Siri, Voice Control, and How the Blind Use iPhones” has a good number of comments:
http://www.applevis.com/blog/ios-apps-opinion/siri-voice-control-and-how-blind-use-iphones
7.) KNFBReader Update with Try Before You Buy
The KNFBReader iOS App is due for an update sometime this week, perhaps as early as today, and one new feature will be a try-before-you-buy option. This and other features of the update constitute the podcast “AppleVis Extra #33: James Gashel and What’s New in KNFBReader Version 2.0:”
http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/applevis-extra-33-james-gashel-and-what-s-new-knfbreader-version-20
Other interesting podcasts are also available this week:
8A.) BlindBargains Cast 27
BlindBargains Cast 27 is out, with another one probably coming after this issue of Tidbits hits the web:
http://blindbargains.com/b/13306
8B.) Robert Carter has a new Tech Doctor podcast
8C.) And he also is the guest of Less Than or Equal
http://www.lessthanorequal.com/episodes/53
From AppleVis Podcasts:
8D.) You can learn to control lights or appliances from your iOS device
8E.) Rich Audio Content with Bossjock Jr.
And how to produce rich audio content in real time with Bossjock Jr.:
http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/quickly-produce-rich-audio-content-real-time-bossjock-jr-ios
8F.) Episode 33 of the Blind Inspirationcast is an introduction to audio description
8G.) Eyes on Success #1534 concerns cross-country skiing
8H.) Behind the Scenes of the Serotalk Podcasts
And listen to what goes on behind the scenes of the Serotalk podcasts:
http://serotalk.com/2015/08/17/serotalk-behind-the-scenes-edition/
9.) Free System Access for K-12 Students
Speaking of Serotek, they still offer their System Access screen reader free for K-12 students, and they are extending price reductions on the DocuScan OCR program through 7 September 2015:
http://www.serotek.com/blog
10.) Making the iPhone Camera Accessible for the Blind
It seems that there is a gradual increase in the amount accessibility is discussed in mainstream publications. So iMore offers us the article “Making the iPhone Camera Accessible for the Blind:”
http://m.imore.com/making-iphone-camera-work-blind
11.) LaTeX: What Is It and Why Do We Need It?
Those who need to create or access math or scientific texts may want to learn LaTeX, and the article “LaTeX: What Is It and Why Do We Need It?” will offer background and resources in this regard:
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr31/2/fr310212.htm
12.) BG Draw Dominoes and BG Fives Dominoes
Ian Humphreys of Spoonbill Software has released two new free self-voicing Windows games: BG Draw Dominoes and BG Fives Dominoes. To receive either or both by email write to:
games@spoonbillsoftware.com.au
13A.) Stream It! Music, Movies and More with Apple TV
Jonathan Mosen talks about his book “Stream It! Music, Movies, and More with Apple TV and VoiceOver” on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 25 August at 00:00:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2
13B.) Mushroom FM Is Re-Launching
And the Mushroom FM Internet radio station that Jonathan Mosen launched and then silenced is now re-launching with many plans:
http://www.mushroomfm.com/node/26
14.) Vision Loss Resources
Vision Loss Resources looks like a site that could be useful to many:
https://visionlossresources.wordpress.com/
15.) CAVI will offer a short course on PowerPoint starting in Mid-September
http://wiki.cucat.org/index.php?n=Main.Powerpoint
Here are some resources for web developers regarding accessibility:
16A.) SSB BART Group offers a course on Mobile Accessibility for Testers
http://go.ssbbartgroup.com/TKiBC0K01000LKp30w4LxF0
16B.) Visual ARIA Now Available
Visual ARIA is now available. This is a cascading logic program primarily constructed using CSS that allows any sighted person around the world to literally see ARIA usage on any webpage, or to download the source code and embed it within any development project. This too is fully interactive and changes accordingly for all dynamic widgets that map to ARIA 1.1:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/visual-aria-now-allows-anyone-sight-see-how-works-from-garaventa
16C.) Check out “7 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about Accessibility:”
17.) Phone Calls with Siri
Visit Hadley’s YouTube Channel to find the new iFocus “Phone Calls with Siri: Instructional Video at:
https://youtu.be/s0NM4393h1E
18.) Bartimaeus Bible Institute Courses
Bartimaeus Bible Institute’s courses are accessible, and fall semester is coming soon. For information, write to:
Stewart@BartimaeusInstitute.org
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