Tek Talk

Latest Episodes:

Tek Talk welcomes Adi Kushnir, Venkatesh Chari, and Andre Polykanine of AccessMind to discuss their first product the Optima Braille laptop computer. 08/07/2023 Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

The below is a direct quote from Adi’s email: “It has been a long time dream for many of us to change the landscape of assistive technologies produced for blind and visually impaired people. We want to get products that are truly innovative, match the 21st century, always connected, and upgradable. Products that really return the best value for the prices we all pay as consumers, instead of having products that rely on legacy technology, which are not driven by us, the users, they are mostly driven by various business decisions that do not always match our expectations. Some of this technology, in its current form, limits us when we want to grow further, to get a job, to have a professional degree, etc. It has been a long time issue that was bothering Adi Kushnir, an Israeli blind assistive technology user and developer, since he couldn’t find the best device for him to use for his personal and professional life. Adi approached Venkatesh Chari, and together, with Orbit Research’s strong engineering capabilities and Adi’s knowledge of the industry and strong product vision, the duo have decided to build AccessMind, a company that will re-define the assistive technology landscape by producing products that combine the latest mainstream approaches, while keeping our specialized accessibility needs, strongly in mind. IN this presentation, we will learn about the companies first product, the Optima Braille laptop computer, that is going to introduce something new and fresh to the all-in-one Braille device industry, currently dominated by products that are traditionally called notetakers.” Presenter Contact Info 1. Adi Kushnir, co-founder and director of product development, AccessMind LLC. Email: adi@accessmind.net 2. Venkatesh Chari, co-founder and CEO, AccessMind LLC, and president and CEO, Orbit Research. Email: v.chari@orbitresearch.com and v.chari@accessmind.net 3. Andre Polykanine, CTO, AccessMind LLC. Email: andre@accessmind.net

Tek Talk welcomes participants to share their suggestions and requests for future Tek Talk programs. 07/31/2023 Aug 13, 2023

Show notes

As we all know, technology changes continuously with a multitude of new products and accessibility features available. Please bring your suggestions and requests for topics you want discussed in future Tek Talk programs. Presenter Contact Info Open forum

Tek Talk welcomes a panel of convention attendees to discuss their experience at the recent national conventions. 07/24/2023 Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

A panel including Michael Babcock, Steve Bauer, Brad Snyder, Mary Beth Metzger, Larry Gassman, and Mike Tindell will discuss their experience at the recent national conventions. Audience participants who attended will also be invited to share their experience. Presenter Contact Info Not available

Tek Talk welcomes Mike Tindell and Damian Pickering of Dream Vision Group to discuss the new braille display with built in note taking from Help Tech the Activator. 07/17/2023 Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

Join Mike Tindell and Damian Pickering with Dream Vision Group for Tek Talk on Monday July 17th. We are very excited to bring to the Tek Talk community a brand new device released by Help Tech the Activator. Join us to learn more about this revolutionary and innovative braille display with built in note taking capabilities. Control computers and Iphones with the Activator in ways never been seen before. Join us on Monday to find out how this is done. Presenter Contact Info Dream Vision Group Mike Tindell and Damian Pickering Email: info@dvg-llc.com Phone: 512-662-1629 Website: https://www.dvg-llc.com/

Tek Talk welcomes Barry Scheur and Lisa Salinger, GuideLights And Gadgets, Inc. and Venkatesh Chari, Orbit Research, Inc., to introduce the new Orbit Speak. The Best of Then with the Future of Now. 06/12/2023 Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

We are excited to have the opportunity to make the initial presentation about the Orbit Speak on TekTalk. For those of us who remember the excitement of using our first speech based notetaker those many years ago, that time has come again. The Orbit Speak is a Braille bluetooth keyboard notetaker, book reader, and personal manager equipped with Google voices. It brings all of the power of the Orbit Reader 20 Plus, including forward and back Braille translation without the Braille display at an affordable price. We will describe the layout of the device and demonstrate a number of its powerful features, while also describing the two different models that will be available. Since the release and shipping date is still between 3 and 4 months away, there is still some fine tuning to do, but the unit is in operating condition and we are thrilled to be in the final pre-production stage of a much anticipated release. Of course, we will leave sufficient time for questions. Presenter Contact Info Barry Scheur GuideLights And Gadgets, Inc. Address: 1597 Suncrest Drive, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 Phone: (617) 969-7500 Email: barry.scheur@gmail.com Website: www.guidelightsandgadgets.us

Tek Talk welcomes Michael Janssen, founder and CEO of AYES Inc., to discuss OKO, the revolutionary new pedestrian crossing app. 06/05/2023 Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

AYES Inc. is developing an AI service to assist the blind and visually impaired to explore cities effortlessly. They have developed a mobile application, called OKO, that assists blind and visually impaired people to receive the status of the pedestrian traffic light and helps you with not veering off when crossing the street. OKO doesn’t require any additional infrastructure to be installed so every traffic light becomes accessible. OKO helps you cross the street with more ease and confidence. Presenter Contact Info Michael Janssen: founder and CEO of AYES Inc. Website: https://www.ayes.ai/oko

Tek Talk welcomes Daniel Lubiner, CEO of Touch Pad Pro Foundation, and Matthew Bullis, Chief Experience Officer, to discuss The Braille Doodle. 05/22/2023 Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

To describe this product, the BrailleDoodle has an array of hundreds of holes, and each hole contains a smooth metal ball that can be pulled to the surface by a magnetic stylus. A tiny spring under each ball holds it up with just the proper force, and the user simply pushes the balls back down to erase what’s been written. On the Doodle side, there is plenty of room to enjoy what some call “The Etch-a-Sketch for the blind.” It’s also a place where, unlike any other product, graphs can be made and manipulated. The Braille side has examples of letters, numbers, and words, with plenty of space to practice Braille writing. As a teacher and long-time Braille reader, this device interested Matthew, so he reached out to Daniel, the CEO. They have had several hours of insightful conversations, and Matthew has now been appointed the Chief Experience Officer of The TouchPad Pro Foundation. Their innovation, the BrailleDoodle, hopes to enhance education, and make learning fun at home or at school. The price of $75 is unheard of for a device with these capabilities. Anyone can preorder one or more for themselves, their organization, or as a donation. After years in development, the Foundation launched the BrailleDoodle Pre-sale Kickstarter on May 2nd, which was National Teachers’ Day. This low price ends on June 18th. The TouchPad Pro Foundation is a registered non-profit, and all donations are tax-deductible, even on Kickstarter. Creating access to tactile art and making learning fun puts children on the path to a successful education, and therefore, a better future. For more information, visit The TouchPad Pro Foundation Web site. Presenter Contact Info Daniel Lubiner, Founder and CEO of The TouchPad Pro Foundation Email: daniel@touchpadprofoundation.org Matthew Bullis, Chief Experience Officer of The TouchPad Pro Foundation Email: matthew@touchpadprofoundation.org Website: www.TouchPadProFoundation.org

Tek Talk welcomes Michael McCulloch and Advanced iBUG member Hershi Trivedi of iBUG Today, Inc. 05/15/2023 May 30, 2023

Show notes

for an update on everything iBUG has to offer. Presenter Contact Info Website: https://ibugtoday.com/

Tek Talk welcomes David Kingsbury, an Assistive Technology Instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind, to discuss his new book the Second Edition of The Windows Screen Reader Primer: All the Basics and More. 05/08/2023 May 23, 2023

Show notes

Below is the information on the second edition of this resource copied from this Carroll Center website:

https://carroll.org/the-windows-screen-reader-primer-all-the-basics-and-more-second-edition/

The second edition of The Windows Screen Reader Primer: All the Basics and More is now out. We are making it available to you for free in Word and ePub formats. It is authored by David Kingsbury, an Assistive Technology Instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind. The book is meant to help JAWS, NVDA, and Windows Narrator users work more effectively with the most important PC applications—like Microsoft Office, email clients, and web browsers. These applications include the Windows operating system, the four primary Office Suite applications (Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint), and the three most commonly used web browsers (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox). Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive for Desktop, the three most popular cloud-based file-sharing programs, are also covered. So too is Adobe Acrobat Reader for accessing PDF files. A new chapter on participating in, scheduling, and hosting Zoom meetings is included in this second edition. So too is an appendix on using academic style guides for formatting Word documents. A glossary with over 100 definitions of computer-related terms and a set of practice exercises are also included.

The book is intended for both beginners and intermediate users. While all the basics are covered, those already possessing a fair amount of experience using screen reader programs in the Windows environment will find useful tools and techniques to further enhance their skills. Presenter Contact Info Email: david.kingsbury@carroll.org

Tek Talk welcomes Janet Dickelman, National Convention Coordinator, American Council of the Blind, to discuss the topic: “The 2023 ACB Convention.” 05/01/2023 May 16, 2023

Show notes

Want to know about the 2023 ACB National Convention? Join Janet Dickelman, ACB convention coordinator, Saint Paul, MN to find out. Learn about the General Sessions, the Affiliate presentations, the exhibit hall, and the tours. If you can not be there in person, learn how you can listen as a part of The ACB Media Network. There will be time for questions. Presenter Contact Info Email: janet.dickelman@gmail.com

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