Blind Abilities

Latest Episodes:

Clusiv: Accessible Learning Platform - The Future of Work Just Got Accessible! Meet Clusiv Founder and CEO Lukas Simianer. Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

Lukas Simianer joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to introduce us to Clusiv, an all-new platform for learning the skills needed for new employment. Learn about the extensive courses that were built to enhance your opportunities for employment and help build your skill set for a lifetime of rewards.

We have not experienced Clusiv or it's program but listening to Lukas makes us wonder why this has not been developed earlier? You can find out more about Clusiv and what they can offer you on the web at https://clusiv.io

From the web:

YOUR PATH TO THE MODERN WORKFORCE

Many jobs that were once in-house have moved to remote work. IDEA Hiring (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) is not a fad, but an essential way for companies to attract and retain talented workers. In the past, visual impairments may have separated you from meaningful and highly rewarding employment. We've built our program to be 100% accessible so you can learn the skills you need to pursue new employment opportunities. With Clusiv, there are no barriers separating you from the content you need to prepare for the jobs you want.

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we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Student Seminar Alert! The Atlantic Student Seminar is August 12 through the 14th! Register Now! Meet Nanahil Jafri and Logan Stenzel from the National Association of Blind Students (NABS). Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

Announcing the 2022 in-person Atlantic Seminar! Reflect, Reequip, Reimagine: Raising the Bar for Blind Students!

The National Association of Blind Students (NABS) and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland invite you to the 2022 Atlantic regional seminar, a fun-filled weekend brimming with opportunities for professional growth, confidence building, and mentorship from Friday, August 12 (6:00 PM) – Sunday, August 14 (12:00 PM) at the Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley by Marriott.

Nanahil Jafri and Logan Stenzel join Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the details and events happening during this in-person student seminar. Be sure to register now as the closing date is July 28 and just around the corner so register now!

You can find out more about the Atlantic Student Seminar on the web at https://nabslink.org and register here.

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we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Sarlie Drakos - Disability Employment Coach: Helping people get past their limiting beliefs and get their dream jobs. Jul 16, 2022

Show notes

Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach helping people around the world reach their employment goals. Not just finding them any job, but teaching them how they can pursue their dream job.

Sarlie has experienced losing a job through sight loss, and the limited expectations people around her put onto her resulted in her becoming a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and fighting harder to better her situation. Since losing her vision, Sarlie has successfully landed a job as a rock climbing instructor, copywriter, and disability employment consultant. She then continued to enhance her skills to start her own company coaching others with disabilities. Sarlie draws from her experience to fulfill her passion to coach people how to strengthen their resumes, explore careers, conduct mock job interviews and increase their odds in landing the job they want. Through well planned modules and workshops the positive feedback and results are keeping Sarlie motivated and doing her dream job while helping others reach theirs.

Join Sarlie Drakos and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to learn more about what Sarlie does and offers through the services she provides. You can find out all the details on Sarlie's web site at SarlieDrakos.com and inquire how she can help you land that dream job. Book in a call today!

Episode Web Site

we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Tech Abilities: To Delve or Not to Delve, Aira Announces Lots, Apple Fever, Mobility and Guide Dogs, Text Selection,, 3 Finger Quadruple Tap. and the Rotor Organization Demo! Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

Serina, Callie and jeff dig into some news and tech tidbits that have been getting a lot of attention. Callie delves into the Guide Dog dream and is mobility going to be the ice breaker? How about Blind Pride, hmmm, to each at their own time probably,

We got a lot of topics through out this episode and some really good tips on copying text and arranging your rotor actions for efficiency.

Here are just some of the topics and links from this Tech Abilities episode:

Apple products trade in drops as the new line-up of iPhones, macs and more new release approaches.

Jennine Stanley came onto Blind Abilities to talk about Aira announcements.

The BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone

Apple Watch Series 8 will reportedly be able to detect if you have a fever

How to use App Library on your iPhone and iPad

Humanware announces the all new Stellar Trek.

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we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Thanks for listening!

Blind Boys of Alabama - Meet Ricky McKinnie, and like he says, Don't Miss It When the Boys are Back in Town! Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

Our guest today on Blind Abilities is Ricky McKinnie. Ricky is a longtime member of the iconic gospel singing group, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Winners of five Grammy awards and the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award. They have also been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and performed at the White House for three different presidents

The Blind Boys of Alabama have the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators.

. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s, the band has persevered through seven decades to become one of the most recognized and decorated roots music groups in the world.

we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Thanks for Listening!

Breaking News: Aira Everywhere! Aira for the Desktop, Aira on the BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone Classic 2, Aira on the ARX Headset and Aira on the Envision Glasses! Oh, the Possibilities are Coming! Jul 04, 2022

Show notes

Aira Director of Communications, Jenine Stanley, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and hits us up with some news breaking announcements.

Aira Everywhere starts out with Aira for the Desktop. Now Aira will be available on the Mac, PC and on the iPad as a web based app where you can be hands free and use Team Viewer, Google Remote and much more. This will be open to a limited Public Beta at the end of July and you can sign up now on the web at Aira.io/choice. Be part of the Aira Beta Team and help break down barriers to access together.

Aira on ArxHeadset:

With a camera and bone-conduction speakers, the ArxHeadset will now have Aira loaded up and ready to explore. Look for this around the end of July.

The BlindShell Classic 2 Accessible Cell Phone:

A limited beta will be out at the end of July and soon Aira will be an option on the BlindShell Classic 2 Accessible Cell Phone.

Aira on the Envision Glasses:

Hands free and this may become a reality later this summer around August. Talks are on-going and Aira wants your exploring to be the best it can be so stay tuned on the web at Aira.io.

Be sure to check out Aira on the web at Aira.io and stay up to date with all the breaking news, products and services . And, if you want to be part of the Limited Public Beta Team, sign up at Aira.io/choice.

From the web:

Get Live, On-demand Access to Visual Information

Aira is a visual interpreting service. Live, on-demand access to visual information. It's an accommodation or productivity tool that connects you to actual humans to simplify your daily life.

Contact Your State Services

If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Pre-ETS Program and Transition Services Manager Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.

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we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Tech Abilities: It is HOT, and the Tech Tidbits are Fast and Furious, and VR as a Vehicle explained. News from a Blindness perspective from around the globe and the outhouse, too. Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

Serina, Callie and Jeff, dive deep into the pool of news stemming from Uber, Lyft, Microsoft, and you can check out the links and topics below. The TA Team take a journey into their Vocational Rehab experience and explain how VR impacted their destiny and how it is differed a bit for each of us.

When an iPhone drops into an outhouse or even a toilet, there seems to be an urgency beyond our reach. Wow, where we ended up was a gas!

Join the Tech Abilities Crew and keep up with the latest news and Tech Tidbits from around the globe and always with a Blindness perspective. Everyone has a perspective, and we know we are not always seeing things the same way, so, let us know your perspective and give us a call at 612-367-6093, we would love to hear from you.

Links and topics from the show:

we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Audiom: Audio Maps for the Blind. Welcome back Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute Engineer, Brandon Biggs and Meet Christopher Toth, Blind Applications Engineer. Jun 25, 2022

Show notes

Jeff Thompson is joined in the studio by Brandon Biggs, inclusive designer and Engineer with The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKI), the foremost organization for vision research in the U. s. and Christopher Toth, an Applications Engineer.

Audiom is the solution for "glancability" of a map to give an idea of location of objects, places and relationships to each other as a map does for a sighted person. Using audio soundscapes, stereo location design along with map coordinates , one will be able to mind map out a venue, park, mall through audio maps.

Christopher Toth was hired on to build the application and you can find demos and give the application a try on the web at www.Audiom.net.

Brandon Biggs and Christopher Toth talk about the development process and where they see Audiom in the future. Be sure to give the Beta a try and how your feedback can help make maps more accessible to us all.

Web Site

we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

When the iPhone Itch Comes Calling: Upgrade or not? Plus, iPhone101/QuickByte: Battery Health, Peak Performance and Optimizing Battery Charging Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

Do you get that feeling of urgency to upgrade to a new iPhone every time a new one comes along? I have and I am finally coming to terms with waiting and making the best out of what I already have, own and utilize perfectly well. I have upgraded on the Apple Upgrade Plan, did the 2 year upgrade cycle, and today I am going to keep my iPhone 12 Pro Max another year and I will tell you why and how I am going to keep my iPhone in peak performance for the next year.

I will also demo the Battery Health, Peak Performance and Optimize Battery Charging. Hope you enjoy.

Web Site

we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Tech Abilities: Pump It Up! iOS16 Beta Surprises or I Thought We Had That? Amazoning, Intersection Crossing, Pop Culture, Tech Tidbits and News with a Blindness Perspective Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

Tech Abilities: Pump It Up! iOS16 Beta Surprises or I Thought We Had That? Amazoning, Intersection Crossing, Pop Culture, Tech Tidbits and News with a Blindness Perspective

Serina, Callie and Jeff kind of sorta in a way talk about that WWDC event from Apple, but same as it ever was, same as it ever was, these Talking Heads jump the tracks and yes, they do find there way back through the weeds and negotiating intersections from mobility, movie going, Amazoning and many perspectives on interpreting the newly announced upcoming iOS 16 for the iPhone and the Mac OS Ventura. A bit on the Watch OS but for times sake, we actually fartleked through this episode. Yes, Fartlek is like interval training, so we did some of this and then some of that and back to this and that. Nice.

You can find out all about the Apple WWDC event at www.Apple.com and let us know what you think of all the latest coming from the Apple tree, give us a call at 612-367-6093 or email us at info@BlindAbilities.com - we would love to hear from you.

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