Posts Tagged ‘Technology’

LightHouse Tech Seminar – the December Dilemma

Listen via streaming at http://www.lighthouse-sf.org/listen.m3u

The holiday season is fast approaching, and you’re wondering what gift to get for that special visually impaired or blind friend or family member. Or maybe you have been good this year and want to buy yourself a gift.

Join the LightHouse for the next technology seminar and learn about the latest accessible high-tech goodies, in price ranges to suit a variety of holiday budgets.

When: Tuesday, November 15, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. PST
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters, or by phone or streaming audio

Assistive Technology consultant Peter Cantisani will talk to us about Apple TV. Other topics include the Braille Pen and the Pen Friend. We’ll have demos galore at Adaptations, the LightHouse Store, including “The Wilson” personal voice recorder, the SleepPhone (soft headphones one can wear in bed), and the iBill money identifier. There will be many other gift possibilities, as well.

You can participate in one of the following ways:

• Tune in via live audio stream on our website
• Dial in with our telephone conferencing service
• Attend in person and talk to the presenters after the seminar

RSVP to 415-694-7326 or rsvp@lighthouse-sf.org. Conference call and live stream instructions will be provided with RSVP.

Can You Hear Me Now? Technology Seminar October 6

Join the LightHouse for the next technology seminar and learn about cell phones that are accessible for the blind and visually impaired.

When: Thursday, October 6, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

Find out if a smartphone or a basic phone is right for you. Do you want to join the iPhone craze?  Or maybe you would prefer to use the Sprint Sanyo Vero smartphone or the Verizon Haven basic phone?

Assistive Technology Consultant Peter Cantisani and representatives from Sprint and Verizon will present and answer questions. You can participate in one of the following ways:

• Tune in via live audio stream on our website
• Dial in with our telephone conferencing service
  • Attend in person and talk to the presenters after the seminar.

RSVP to 415-694-7326 or rsvp@lighthouse-sf.org. Conference call and live stream instructions will be provided with RSVP.

Give APH Your Input on Product Needs

In 2001, the American Printing House for the Blind hosted a multiple disabilities focus group and conducted its first online survey to identify product needs for individuals who have visual and multiple impairments. The results of that survey guided APH over the last 10 years in the development of products for the visually impaired and multiply disabled population.

This year APH hosted two multiple disabilities focus groups: birth to grade 12 in March and adults in June. Each group helped create a product needs survey.

APH invites you to take the survey that addresses the specific population with whom you work or parent, or the group of which you are a member. The survey links will be available until October 1, 2011.

Children Birth to Grade 12 Product Needs Survey

Adult Product Needs Survey

ILRCSF Assistive Technology Lending Library

The Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRCSF) is happy to announce the launch of its new Device Lending Library

With support from the Department of Rehabilitation, and as part of the Assistive Technology Network, ILRCSF’s Device Lending Library offers people with disabilities the chance to come in, try out the latest technology, and even bring it home for an extended test run.

ILRCSF has a wide variety of devices available to borrow, including:

Portable ramps, handheld GPS systems, laptops and iPads with a variety of accessibility-related software, and more.

These items can:

• Make home, work and school more accessible;
• Assist in orientation and decision making;
• Serve as loaners during device repair or while waiting for funding.

Contact Derek or Amber to learn more about the program.

Main office line: 415-543-6222

Email:
Derek Zarda: derek@ilrcsf.org
Amber DiPietra: amber@ilrcsf.org

Tomorrow! Freedom Scientific Lunchtime Seminar at Adaptations

Discover the benefits of using electronic vision aids and software to improve activities of daily living at home, school, the work place or just about anywhere. Enjoy a free lunch as Adaptations, the LightHouse Store hosts an informative presentation and hands-on demonstration by Freedom Scientific and Access Ingenuity.

Participants will have an opportunity to learn about and actually use Freedom Scientifics’ new TOPAZ and RUBY video magnifiers, MAGic screen magnification software and new MAGic keyboard, JAWS Screen Reader, as well as the brand new SARA CE and PEARL Camera with OpenBook, lightning fast tools to scan and read printed materials.

Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters
When: Tuesday, June 21, 10:00 a.m. to noon, lunch included

This educational seminar is tailored for people who are visually impaired and their families, instructors and trainers, seniors and senior center staff, and vision support groups. Attendees are invited to stay for a free lunch following the seminar. There will also be a drawing for a free RUBY Handheld Video Magnifier!

For more information and to RSVP, call us at 1-888-400-8933 or email us at adaptations@lighthouse-sf.org.

There’s an App for That. Booklet Lists Nifty Picks for Blind iPhone Users.

Alameda resident and longtime LightHouse friend Peter Cantisani has long been a champion of finding off-the-shelf technologies that work for blind people.

Peter has just finished a volume on iPhone apps he’s found that can be helpful and extremely affordable. “Twenty-six Useful Apps for Blind iPhone Users” is available for $9 in Braille, eBraille, DAISY and Word formats. Order it here.

This Friday – Invitation to Comment on the Accessibility of Technology for People with Disabilities

Accessibility in this digital world is critical – just as are ramps in the physical world. It is impossible to ignore the changes and challenges in technology for persons with disabilities, whether with personal computers, Internet web sites, or smart phones.

The Department of Rehabilitation would like you to know about an upcoming federally sponsored “listening session” where we – as agencies, organizations, individuals and private companies – can share our needs and ideas on what the Federal government can do to improve accessibility of technology for people with disabilities. Participation is in person only. The listening session will be held on Friday afternoon, 1:30 to 5:00 pm on June 17, at Stanford.

Stanford University
Hewlett Training Center
Auditorium Hewlett 200
370 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA 94305

Please click here to RSVP and see more details: http://ssa.gov/open/listening-session.html

Sendero Group GPS Demonstration

GPS has become one of the essential options in a blind person’s access technology tool box. Learn about all the current GPS solutions available, and the pros and cons of each system.

Jaime Adams of Sendero Group will be at the LightHouse in San Francisco on Wednesday June 22 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. for this demonstration – she will also be available after the demonstration to meet with you individually. Some of the GPS products that will be on display include the BrailleNote GPS, Sense Nav for the BrailleSense and VoiceSense, Mobile Geo, Sendero Maps for the PC, and the Sendero Lookaround Application for both the iPhone and Android Phones.

Where: San Francisco office of Lighthouse for the Blind
When: June 22, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

If you are interested in meeting with Jaime individually, please make an appointment for a half hour segment between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. To sign-up, please contact Kathy Abrahamson at 415-694-7336 or kabrahamson@lighthouse-sf.org.

Free App Helps Identify U.S. Currency

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has developed a free, downloadable application (app) to assist the blind and visually impaired denominate U.S. currency. The app is called EyeNote.

EyeNote is a mobile device app designed for Apple iPhone (3G, 3Gs, 4) and the 4th Generation iPod Touch and iPad2 platforms, and is available through the Apple iTunes App Store. Research indicates that more than 100,000 blind and visually impaired individuals currently own an iPhone.

EyeNote uses image recognition technology to determine a note’s denomination. The mobile device’s camera requires 51 percent of a note’s scanned image, front or back, to process. In a matter of seconds, EyeNote can provide an audible or vibrating response, and can denominate all Federal Reserve notes issued since 1996. Free downloads will be available whenever new U.S. currency designs are introduced.

The EyeNote app is one of a variety of measures the government is working to deploy to assist the visually impaired community to denominate currency, as proposed in a recent Federal Register notice.

These measures include implementing a Currency Reader Program, whereby a United States resident who is blind or visually impaired may obtain a coupon that can be applied toward the purchase of a device to denominate United States currency; continuing to add large, high-contrast numerals and different background colors to redesigned currency; and possibly adding raised, tactile features to redesigned currency, which would provide users with a means of identifying each denomination via touch. More information is available at www.eyenote.gov.

Access to 9-1-1 Survey

All Americans need to be able to call 9-1-1 in an emergency. This survey asks questions to help figure out the best ways for Americans with disabilities to call and get help from 9-1-1 services.

Under the new 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the “Emergency Access Advisory Committee” (EAAC) to work on 9-1-1 accessibility issues. The EAAC is now conducting this survey to better understand how people like you use 9-1-1 services now and how you want to access these services in the future.

In the future, access to 9-1-1 will be changing. Callers will still be able to dial 9-1-1 using voice telephones. But a new “next generation 9-1-1 system” will also allow you to call 9-1-1 using text, video, and other kinds of devices. Some of these devices will use the Internet. This survey is to help figure out which of these devices and communications services are needed so that you have access to the new 9-1-1 system.

The survey should only take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. To participate, please respond by April 24, 2011. Your answers are kept confidential. We will not distribute any of your personal information to anyone.

Please only answer this survey if (1) you are 13 years or older, (2) have a disability or a senior, and (3) live in the United States.

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact: EAAC@fcc.gov or call (202) 418-2285.

Thank you very much for your participation. Your input is extremely valuable and will help us to shape a better 9-1-1 future.