Blind Bargains

Audio Player Blind Bargains Qast 144: Oreo Praline Puff Pastry

Blind Bargains Qast 144: Oreo Praline Puff Pastry

Joe is back from MSU and he could not wait to talk to a BBQ Crew member with the letter J in his name. Since J.J. was at Google I/O this week, Joe reached out to Jamie Pauls for assistance in the unpacking of both Microsoft and Google Keynotes. J.J. pops in with a short live report from the bird-filled Google Keynote amphitheater, we have a tip plus an Android name themed Last Word . This one has a ton of info. So you may want to hit pause and pace yourselves accordingly.

Sponsor: Aira

Aira is a service which connects a low vision or blind user with a highly trained live agent to provide real time access to any visual information, when and where it is needed.

The demonstration, herd in this episode, explains a useful feature of the Aira service, which enables an agent to take a picture of anything the Aira Explorer asks for, and label that picture with a written description that appears directly in the Aira app. These descriptions can be as short as tagging a receipt for expense reporting or as long as copying content from a white board or slide deck in a classroom or meeting. Those descriptions will be read immediately upon the user tapping on the photo in their Aira app.

For more information please visit www.aira.io.

In The News:

KNFB Reader v3.0 for iOS brings ePub support, landscape scanning, removal of the batch scan limit and much more

ID Mate Database adds Right Way stores along with data submitted from users

The latest Access World is now online

Xbox One adds independent volume controls for Narrator along with other access features

Discussion Topic: Microsoft and Google Keynotes

Jamie and Joe condense 4 hours of Developer Keynotes into a much shorter timeframe. Here is some of the content covered in this look into what Microsoft and Google had to offer this week.

Microsoft:

Microsoft Build: AI for Accessibility [AUDIO DESCRIPTION]

[Learn more about the 25 million dollar pledge from Microsoft at the official page for AI For Accessibility

The six biggest announcements from Microsoft Build 2018

Microsoft's AI cone recognizes faces and voices during meetings

Microsoft calls desktops/laptops a second screen for phones

Google:

Lookout: an app to help blind and visually impaired people learn about their surroundings

Be My Eyes takes home the Best Accessibility app from the 2018 Google Play Awards

Google I/O 2018 keynote in 14 minutes

The 10 biggest announcements from Google I/O 2018

The 5 most important Android P updates

What is Google Duplex? The world's most lifelike chatbot explained

Google s Duplex Assistant phone call blew my mind!

Google Duplex might look cool, but don t believe the hype

Tip: You Can Now Set Your Android Phone s Assistant Default to Use Alexa Instead of Google Assistant

Microsoft opened up the door to allow Cortana to take over from the Google Assistant if you so desire. However, what if you are more of an Alexa fan? Well, the steps for having her take over are the same as you can tell from this article. Just wander into your Android settings, head to the Voice Assistant area and select Alexa. You must have the Alexa app installed in order for this choice to be visible though.

Sound Off:

Jim Denham sends this in about how important the recent changes to Windows 10 are for him when it comes to computer setup tasks.

   Greetings:

After listening to JJ and Shelly's discussion in episode 143 of new

accessibility features in Windows 10, I wanted to briefly comment on
the Windows 10 out of box experience. This is the experience of buying
a new computer and turning it on for the first time. As an AT
Specialist, I have to set up new computers for my clients on a regular
basis. In the past couple versions of Windows 10, I have noticed that
this out of box experience is becoming really good. Between Cortana
accepting spoken input and using Windows Narrator for tasks like
selecting a WiFi network, the whole process is totally accessible and
very intuitive. I would add my kudos to the Microsoft Accessibility
Team for making this once daunting task very accessible and kind of
fun.
Keep up the great podcasts.

Last Word:

Android is known for food-related names. This section is known for food. What a perfect combination!
Behold the Oreo Cookies and Kreme Doughnut

Next week, J.J. is back with audio from the big Google event. Be on the Lookout for that and more in episode 145.

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