All Cool Blind Tech Shows

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The official Microsoft Outlook App Designed For iPhone and iPad. Jan 31, 2015

Show notes

In this episode, James Oates reviews Microsoft Outlook for iPhone and iPad. He demonstrates the email client and calendar features. He shows us how to access files on cloud services, open them with additional apps, and send them as attachments. He then proceeds to show how to send and view messages from your contact list. Finally, he walks us through the settings for the application. This is an incredibly complex and powerful application which will prove useful for many users of iOS. From the developer: Why use Outlook? Manage your inbox • Outlook automatically triages your inbox for you, surfacing your most important email. Less relevant email is placed in your “Other” inbox. • Swipe to quickly delete, archive, or schedule messages. • Schedule emails and they will return to your inbox at a later time. Your calendar built-in • Switching between your email and calendar apps is a thing of the past. Outlook includes your calendar and notifies you with appointment reminders. • Find available meeting times and share them in email or schedule a meeting. Attachments made easy • View and attach any file from your email, OneDrive, Dropbox, and other accounts with just a few taps. • Send large files even if you haven’t downloaded them to your phone. Find anything fast • Filter your inbox to only show messages that are unread, flagged, or have attachments, with a single tap. • Quickly find the right messages, people and files by typing just a few letters. • Outlook shows people you communicate with most often, and lets you conveniently drill down to see all related emails, meetings and files.

Windows Phone8.1 (Part III): Music, Netflix, and Tweetium: Jan 30, 2015

Show notes

In this episode, James Oates demonstrates how to stream music and play a radio station using an Xbox Music Pass subscription. He shows us how to play a movie on Netflix and pin a favorite TV show to the start screen. Finally, he reviews the accessibility of the popular Twitter client, Tweetium. Throughout the episode, James is relying heavily on Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant. Since Cortana is integrated into the Music and Netflix applications, it makes the experience quite simple.

Quit Smoking With The Help Of An E-Cigarette: Jan 28, 2015

Show notes

For all of our listeners who have resolved to quit smoking this year: In this episode, James Oates talks about how to purchase the right E-cigarette. He reviews the different components of the device and how which ones are easier for a person with a visual disability to use. He emphasizes the importance of choosing a vapor liquid with the correct nicotine level. The products discussed in this episode can be found at: Beach Side Vapors.

Breaking in Windows Premiere – Windows 10 and a piece of Star Trek? Jan 23, 2015

Show notes

The new year is also a fresh look for us! With that we are launching Breaking in Windows, a show dedicated to the discussion, review and demonstration of all things Microsoft and Windows related. What better a way to Break out our new show than to bring you what's new with Windows 10! It's almost straight out of Star Trek! James Oates brings Cory Martin, a recent addition to the CBT team on board to discuss the Microsoft event and to hash out what this could mean from an accessibility perspective. The year of 2015 is shaping up to be a very active one with some exciting changes at Microsoft, we will need to stay tuned to see how things play out and to see how the assistive technology venders will innovate to stay ahead of this ever-shifting landscape. Finally, although holographic technology may not be useable by those of us who are traversing life in the dark, the impact on product design might hold some surprising and possibly very welcoming changes for us. To hear us discuss this event in detail give this show a listen!

Announcing Voice Dream Writer. A Spotlight Interview. Jan 21, 2015

Show notes

Winston Chen, the developer of the iOS app, Voice Dream Reader, sits down with the team at Cool Blind Tech to tell the story of how having been inspired by a Ted Talk podcast, his departure from mainstream tech, life on an Artic island north of Norway, and how that led to the development of Voice Dream Reader. Mr. Chen describes the original intent for Voice Dream Reader, and how that later manifested into an app for educators, the blind, and dyslexic. Mr. Chen proceeds to announce the release of a new iOS word processing application which is designed specifically with blind people in mind. The new app is called, Voice Dream Writer, and is available shortly in the App Store for $9.99. Here's the iTunes description. Voice Dream Writer helps everyone write better: Text-to-speech proofreading reduces mistakes, phonetic and meaning search help you find the right words, and an active outline improves the structure of your writing. Text-To-Speech Proofreading. Professional proofreaders recommend reading out loud as the best way to catch mistakes. Like a personal proofreader, Voice Dream Writer reads your writing using text-to-speech, so you can easily spot awkward sentences, grammatical errors and typos. Also, it can read words and sentences as you type or voice dictate. This way, you can type faster because you no longer have to look up to check the text you just wrote. Word Finder. Voice Dream Writer helps you find the right words using phonetic search and meaning search. For example, search for "inuf" phonetically, and you will find "enough", and search for "Fast Africa Cat" by meaning and you will find "Cheetah." Word Finder also shows you the dictionary definition of a word as you type without you having to select anything or open another program. Outline. As you write, Voice Dream Writer automatically creates an outline of headings, paragraphs and sentences. The Outline helps you structure your document better by giving you an always-on overview. You can also quickly navigate to a section in a long document without endless scrolling. Finally, you can drag and drop elements in the Outline to organize your writing. No more selecting, cutting and pasting large blocks of text. Besides these unique features, Voice Dream Writer also comes with everything you would expect from any great writing tool:

Googles Nexus Player – An Accessible Streaming Media Device. Dec 01, 2014

Show notes

Introducing GoogleÕs Nexus Player, a streaming media and gaming device that displays content on your television by way of a Wi-Fi connection and a HDMI cable. In this episode, James Oates demonstrates how to perform a voice search using the remote controlÕs built in microphone. He shows us which applications come pre-installed, and how to download and install additional applications. Most importantly, he shows us how to activate and use Talkback, a built in screen reader for devices running Android.

Windows Phone 8.1 – Part 2 – Staying Connected. Nov 03, 2014

Show notes

In this episode, James Oates shows us how to add a Skype contact and make a Skype call using Cortana. He shows us how to compose a Tweet and check our timeline on Twitter. Finally, he demonstrates the functionality of the email application. Threw out the episode, he is using the built in screen reader, Narrator, on a Nokia Lumia 635 running Windows Phone 8.1.

Remapping your CapsLock key for use as the VoiceOver modifier keys. Oct 26, 2014

Show notes

In this episode Garth demonstrates the installation and setup of the applications Karabiner and Seil to allow the remapping of your CapsLock key for use as the VoiceOver modifier key. He also shows you how to set up another keyboard shortcut to enable and disable capsLock. Go into System Preferences, Keyboard. In the keyboard tab of the dialog, activate the Modifier Keys button. In the table, find the CapsLock key option and assign “No Action”. From pqrs.org, download and install the applications Karabiner and Seil. Open Seil, and in the Settings tab, find the first table. In the table expand the row which relates to the CapsLock key. Activate this option by checking the checkbox. Move VO focus over to the Key Code field and VO+Spacebar on it. Now, overtype it from 51 to 110. . Open Karabiner. You’ll receive a system notification the first time you run the utility. You’ll be prompted to allow Karabiner to control the computer using Accessibility Features. Follow the prompt and you should be taken to the Security and Privacy pain of System Preferences where you can grant access to Karabiner. Back in the “Change Key” tab of Karabiner, use the search field to find the appropriate configuration in the table. You can search for blind and the list will be narrowed to the appropriate entry, Use CapsLock as VoiceOver key. Check this checkbox and you’re ready to use your CapsLock key as the VoiceOver modifier. To setup a CapsLock key replacement, go to the “Change Key” tab of Karabiner. In the Remapping Table, find the entry, Shift+Escape to CapsLock and check it. Now you’re able to use these keys to toggle CapsLock on and off.

Scanning Credit Cards Using Safari. Oct 20, 2014

Show notes

p>In this episode Hugo demonstrates how to scan credit cards using Safari.

Windows10 Technical Preview – Peering into the future. Oct 17, 2014

Show notes

In this episode, James Oates tells us about Microsoft's new operating system coming in 2015. He shows us the new Start Menu, Task Viewer, and the Virtual Desktop Viewer contained in the current version of Windows10 Technical Preview.

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