Student Shares His Experiences from the NFB LAW Program 2011

One of our students, Gabriel, who you may already have met through his Apex podcasts (see March, 2011), went on a wonderful trip to Washington, D.C. last month. The National Federation of the Blind LAW (Leadership and Advocacy in Washington) Program offered 25 blind/low vision students the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., "to explore the inner workings of our country’s government, its history, and its culture while staying at the national headquarters for the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland." [for more information about the NFB, visit www.nfb.org] Gabriel was kind enough to share his experiences of the trip with us through a 2-part podcast. In Part 1, Gabriel talks about the daily schedule of activities that NFB organized, and what he learned about both the history of the National Federation of the Blind, and about how the United States government works. Any of you who have already listened to Gabriel's Apex podcasts know that he presents his information clearly, in an organized manner, and with enthusiasm. Teachers, make sure you check out Part 1, and you'll definitely want to share it with your students!  Note that the file is about 35 minutes, so it may take a few minutes to download; it's totally worth the wait!!
Part 2 of Gabriel's podcast is my personal favorite, and I've listened to it twice already. I won't say much more than listen for Gabriel to really speak from his heart about what he learned about independence during this trip. I HIGHLY recommend you give it a listen (it's about 6 minutes)! Click on the links below to download and listen to Gabriel's fantastic podcasts, and please post a comment with your thoughts--I know Gabriel would love to get some feedback!
Link 1 to Part 1 of A Trip to the National Federation of the Blind
Link 2 to Part 2 of A Trip to the NFB, Gabriel's insights about independence as a blind person 

Another Student Weighs in on the Apex

Actually, our first Apex contest winner (see November, 2010), Karen from Marshall High, sent me a couple articles with her impressions of the new Apex accessible PDA a couple of months ago (sorry for the delay posting, Karen). One of the top features that our students want to learn about is how to get online with this cool braille device. Karen gives a nice description of how to use the new built-in wireless feature of the Apex to get surf the Internet. Read her article below:

After using the Apex for almost one month and a half, I have successfully connected to the internet via a wireless connection! I found that when setting up a wireless connection, scanning is the best means of finding your connection's SSID (service set identifier), or the name that identifies the network.  When I scan for example, various wireless connection SSIDs may appear such as 2WIRE740 or Organizer because several people may have wireless connections.  JAWS names the SSID when displaying how much signal strength is available, so when scanning for SSIDs, you must create a connection configuration for the name that matches that of the computer.  Therefore, if you have two bars of signal for the SSID titled Smith, use this SSID when creating a connection configuration on the Apex.  A connection configuration gives the Apex the information it needs for each separate internet connection such as how you connect (dial-up, wireless, etc) and specific information depending on which one is available.  You may need to create several configurations for home, school, etc.  In my case, I use a wireless ethernet connection at home and an ethernet connection at school; ethernet connections happen when you plug in the Apex to an Ethernet cable; the ethernet port is on the rightmost corner of the Apex when the thumb keys are facing you with the keyboard facing up.

A connection configuration is analogous to having different braille codes.  When using English braille for instance, there are certain dot combinations for you and others to understand the code, such as dots 256 to identify a period.  In this example, the SSID is English braille because this is how everyone identifies the type of braille you are using, and the 256 is specific to only this code.  In another example, Nemeth could be an SSID for the Nemeth code, and dot 2 is specific to the number 1.  Just like each code has specific dot combinations, each connection configuration needs specific information to be able to connect.

How do you set up a wireless connection? First, enter the options menu (space with O) and press C for the connectivity menu which consists of several items such as "create a new dial-up or lan connection" and "active connection details" which gives you information about the connection such as signal strength and whether or not you are connected to the network; use this option AFTER you have made a configuration.  Signal under -81 is very low; from -81 to -71 is average signal; between -71 ed -67 is good signal; and excellent reception is between -67 and -57.  From the connectivity menu, there are different ways to create a connection.  You can either choose "create a new dial-up or lan connection" which gives you more flexibility in choosing the type of connection, or "configure a new wireless connection" from the "wireless ethernet" menu if you know you will create a wireless connection.  Choosing either option opens the list of inputs; in this example, I use "create a new dial-up or lan connection." Under "connection configuration name," choose a name for the connection that makes sense to you; my connections for my house and Marshall are called Home and School, respectively.  Under device to use, press space with dots 3,4 to go through the different connection options such as wireless ethernet connection or ethernet network connection.  Going back to the braille example, the options under device to use are like specifying what equipment you are using to make braille such as a slate and stylus or brailler.  Depending on which connection type you use, the options after this step differ.  Assuming you choose wireless ethernet, most of the options can be left the same except for the ones explained below.  Type in your SSID if you know it; if not, you can scan for it, which is explained later.  The options "use WEP" and "use WPA-Psk" are asking you what kind of security your connection has.  According to Ms.  Schindler, WEP is an older security type that is hardly used anymore, so enter no. [Note: although WEP is an older protocol, it is still being used, especially in our schools around the LAUSD, so this may be an option for some Apex users when setting up their wireless connection.] For WPA-PSK, enter yes; the pre-shared key prompt is asking you to enter the password for the connection.  Now, press space with E followed by Y to add the record.

To scan for your SSID, turn on wireless ethernet from the wireless ethernet menu in the connectivity menu, and press S.  Choose the correct one from the list, and press enter to create a configuration as described above.  The difference between creating a connection this way is that only the fields relating to wireless connections are displayed.  Scanning is also helpful after a configuration is created because the Apex tells you whether or not which connections are available depending on where you are.  When at an airport, you could scan for a connection, create a configuration, and be online before you know it.

How do you connect to the internet? From the main menu, press I, and type in the web address.  When prompted for the connection configuration, the one you just created will be the default if only one configuration has been created.  Once you choose the configuration, you will be prompted to wait while the page loads.  Enjoy!

Back Up Your Important Files on World Backup Day

As a great reminder to us all that computers crash sometimes--and how sad if you were just finishing up your greatest term paper or had just made that wonderful digital family photo album when it happened--comes:

World Backup Day

"On March 31, as part of the global data-saving initiative, you are encouraged to back up all of your cherished photos and videos, and important documents. If you've ever had a hard disk fail, and not had a backup to fall back on, you'll know that it's a bit like losing a sizable fragment of your soul. If you've never backed up your important files -- or if you only back up sporadically -- do it on World Backup Day!" from the website http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/march-31-is-world-backup-day-2011/
Whether you use a usb drive, an external hard drive, or back up to the 'cloud', use tomorrow as the day to save your photos, music, and documents somewhere other than on your computer. Forewarned is forearmed.

Review of the Braillenote Apex by Gabriel

Gabriel has provided us with another great podcast about Humanware's Apex, the newest model of their accessible PDA/braille notetaker. This time, Gabriel talks about a lot of Apex's new features, and he compares the Apex to its previous model, the mPower. Click on the title to download the file and give it a listen!

Apex Exploration Podcast

One of the questions I asked of our students who wanted to be the first students to win the use of the Apex braille notetakers (See my November, 2010 post for more information on the contest):
"How will you 'give back'?". In other words, how would these contest winners, as premier users in the Los Angeles Unified School District of Humanware's newest accessible PDA, help other students learn about the features, advantages, and ways that using the Apex can help them in their school career? Well, Gabriel, one of the winners, is creating a series of podcasts on how the Apex can be a wonderful (and fun) tool to complete school assignments, read digital books, and even use as a GPS device! Here is the first of his podcasts. If you click on the title/heading of this blogpost, Gabriel's podcast will start downloading to your computer. I apologize to Gabriel for taking so long to get his first show posted, but I had a learning curve to figure out how to post an mp3 file to my blog. See, teachers learn new skills every day, too! So, enjoy Gabriel's first Apex podcast--I think he did a fantastic job!--and check back for another of his podcasts soon, as well as the comments from another of our Apex contest winners.

Celebrate Mardi Gras by Visiting the Bookshare Blog!

Well, it's Mardi Gras, laissez les bons temps roulez! Did you know that Bookshare has a blog? Check out their recommendations for some great New Orleans reading at http://blog.bookshare.org/
They have so many great resources on their website, check out the Training link for more information about how to use their wonderful service!

Another Honor for One of Our Apex Winners

Karen A., the Marshall High student who was a winner in our "Win the Use of an Apex" contest has just received another award. Congratulations; I'm so excited for her. I'll let Karen tell you about it (read on):

"After my GEARUP counselor informed me about the Questbridge National College Match Program, I applied. The Program assists "high-achieving low-income" high school seniors in gaining admission and full four-year scholarships at some of the most selective universities. Questbridge's thirty partner colleges include Princeton, Yale, and Stanford, as well as Amherst College, Scripps College, and the University of Southern California. Not only are the Questbridge application and the schools' application fees waived, but Questbridge also has a national Quest Scholars Network for its students to mentor one another while in college.
"In order to apply, I had to fill out an online application, including a number of written questions allowing me to give a fuller picture of myself than I could have otherwise done in a typical college application. This is because the Questbridge application asks open-ended questions such as how applicants spend their weekend; another asked what inspires students in life. Students must also rank up to eight of Questbridge's partner colleges. Finalists are then selected, and we had to send additional information to each of the schools we ranked. After a few weeks, finalists are either matched with a school, or those that are not can forward their Questbridge applications and apply to Questbridge partners through regular decision.
"I am very humbled and thankful for being awarded a Questbridge scholarship to the University of Southern California!"
For more information, please visit:
http://www.questbridge.org/students/program.html

November Keyboard Shortcut

Well, November is ending, but here's a keyboard shortcut that can carry you into December and beyond:

Quitting/exiting an application/program--for the Windows user, press and hold Alt, then press the F4 key. This works for most applications, including Type to Learn, Zoomtext, and browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox.
On a Mac, the shortcut to quit applications is Command-q. Try them out, they can help students and teachers work more efficiently on the computer by not having to search for that mouse cursor!

Congratulations to the Winners of Use of the Apex Accessible PDA!

Well, it was a difficult choice, but the winners of the "Be the First LAUSD student to Use an Apex" Contest* are: Karen A. from Marshall High School and Guadalupe G. from Nobel Middle School. We also have a runner-up, Gabriel L. from Irving Middle School. Gabriel will be assigned a special Apex that has the Sendero GPS software, maps and blue-tooth receiver while he is being trained by one of our Orientation and Mobility Instructors. All three students wrote terrific essays in response to questions I posed. Their responses are presented below. Congratulations to all the winners, and to the other 6 students who submitted essays to the contest, you will be placed in the queue to be the next students to upgrade your mPowers as we purchase new Apex accessible PDA's. Thanks to all the students who participated in our contest!

*PLEASE NOTE: the winning essays entitle each of the winners to trade up their mPower BrailleNote to the new Apex while they are students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Visually Impaired Program.

WINNER 1: KAREN A., MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL, GRADE 12
QUESTION: We seem to be moving more and more toward digital files (electronic books as .brf or DAISY files). If you had the choice today, would you choose an embossed hard copy of your books, or would you prefer an electronic file to use on your braille notetaker? Why? Would you prefer certain types of books in one format or the other? Explain your preferences.

Winning Essay: With technological advances, I still consider embossed braille books very important. Embossed Math and Science books provide readers with proper use of the Nemeth code. Because my Calculus book is only available in audio format (CD), I have no idea on the more advanced nemeth symbols for characters like ' and Greek letters like θ. Consequently, I have low scores on standardized mathematics tests because the only time I ever see these symbols is on tests unless the problems I am solving are transcribed for me. Most of the time, I must write and solve these problems in computer braille on my mPower so my teacher can see my work in print, and because computer braille only uses the numbers from the Nemeth code, other Nemeth symbols for characters like π must be assigned on the keyboard and braille display so that they print out accordingly. Because my classes move so quickly, it takes too long to do my homework on the brailler and have someone overwrite it. I also prefer embossed science books for the same reason. In this case however, my chemistry and physics books are available electronically; both of them are very difficult to read because of the extra characters added in the files. In my Physics book for example, a problem when translated in computer braille may look like:
frac (m/s) over s/frac = frac m over s/frac × frac 1 < over s/frac = frac m over s^2/frac
because of the HTML code used for computers
In grade 2 [contracted] braille, the same problem looks identical except the less-than is spelled out. It is so much easier to simply look at the problem in an embossed book where it WOULD look like:
(m/s)/s=m/s*1/s=m/s²
Physics is already hard enough to understand with the book in front of you; students do not need the extra confusion of trying to decipher example problems which are meant to help you, NOT frustrate you.
On the other hand, I prefer electronic books for books with more text such as English and History books. First of all, electronic books allow me to access multiple books instantaneously on my mPower WITHOUT having to search for the correct volume, flip to find the page, etc. Rather than having to read one volume of a history workbook to copy the questions and through another embossed textbook to find the answers, I can access both these books with the press of a button. Secondly, obtaining an already available electronic book is much easier than accessing an embossed book which can take months. All I do is either download or request the book from Bookshare [www.bookshare.org] or WebBraille [www.loc.gov/nls], open the book file, and find the chapter or section with the find command. Although I do take the extra time to find and replace the dashes in front of page numbers, this demands much less energy than having to carry three or more volumes of the same book home. Plus, electronic books allow each person to have his or her copy of the book without having to share one volume. Thirdly, I love having novels for English electronically because it facilitates my ability to take close reading notes, which involve analyzing citations throughout the novel. If I were reading a book such as Heart of Darkness in embossed braille, I would have to literally copy the quote word by word out of the book, whereas with an electronic book, I copy and paste the quote into the file containing my notes. Despite the pros and cons of embossed and electronic books, I will continue using both to my advantage depending on what is available.

WINNER 2: GUADALUPE G., NOBEL MIDDLE SCHOOL, GRADE 8
QUESTION: How will you ensure the longevity of your Apex; in other words, how will you care for it? Write a list of at least 5 precautions you will take to keep your Apex safe and in good working order.

Winning Essay: I came to Nobel [Middle School] from Blend, Mr. Pouliot taught me to use the BrailleNote and then I was given an mPower, I have had the same mPower for the last three years it has never had to go in for repair since I have had it, I would like to be one of the first students to have an Apex to use. My mPower has been my best friend and has helped me to be a good student. ... I have always taken good care of my mPower. I don't download stuff to it, or mess around with it. I use my thumb drive, and I am always careful when I put my thumb drive in or take it out. I always try to be careful when I print to not jam the cable in or pull it out too hard. I only use the charger that came with my unit and I always charge it at home. Last week, Mrs. Tomlinson taught us a few new things that will help keep our mPower working longer. Please consider me for an Apex, I will be a responsible user and take good care of it.

RUNNER-UP: GABRIEL L., IRVING MIDDLE SCHOOL, GRADE 8
QUESTION: Being the first to receive the newest technology brings with it some responsibility. Write an essay on how you would benefit our program by being one of the first students to receive an Apex. How will you share your experiences and knowledge of learning to use this new braille notetaker? Why do you think it is important to share your knowledge?

Winning Essay: One way I would love to give back to the VI program after winning the Apex is to create audio tutorials in mp3 format that explain how to use the Apex from beginning to end. One of the things I liked when I got my Victor Reader Stream were the tutorials that were on the Stream. The thing that made these tutorials so special from all the other ones is that you can clearly hear what is going on with the Stream as the person explains it step by step. I've always loved to record things, so I have a lot of technology I can use to make sure that all the BrailleNote prompts are heard as I explain them on the tutorial. I think that audio tutorials are much more helpful to a person learning how to use any new piece of technology because when something is being read on the computer, often times it is difficult to understand. However, if you have real person going through it step by step, and allowing you to hear what the BrailleNote is doing or saying, it'll be much easier for someone who does not have much experience with this piece of technology to quickly get the hang of using it.
Another thing that I think would be very beneficial for the VI program is someone who can work with people who are learning how to use the Apex over the phone or in person. I can be that person. Often times, people who are listening to a tutorial get it right away, but sometimes people still have questions. This is where working with the person who made the tutorial over the phone or in person is helpful. I'm always reachable via my cell phone, and I am more than willing to take the time to work with people using the Apex over the phone for as long as necessary, or until they understand it. I think that this would help out the program a lot, because there might even be less BrailleNotes sent in to Humanware for repair.

Scholarship Money Available to Legally Blind College Bound Students

I got this information in an email and thought I'd pass it on to interested high school students who are college bound and legally blind.

The National Federation of the Blind Scholarship Program application is now available online. This national scholarship program is available solely to persons who are legally blind and living in the United States or Puerto Rico. There are 30 awards, from $12,000 to $3,000. In addition, each winner will be assisted to attend the NFB Annual Convention for 2011 in Orlando, Florida. The annual contest begins the first week of November 2010; all documents required from the applicants must be postmarked by the March 31, 2011, deadline. Applications and full details are available online at http://www.nfb.org/scholarships.

Questions may be emailed to scholarships@nfb.org.

Bookshare Training Help Resource

Click on the title of this blogpost to get to Bookshare's great training support page. Watch or listen to webinars and online learning guides.

Narbonne Students Present Tanzania Outcry

The visually impaired students from Narbonne High/Carnegie Middle School were determined to get the word out this summer about the mutilation and murder of visually impaired people with albinism in Tanzania, Africa. Students Celia, Triana, Tina, Natalia, Myrachele, Ana, Ashley, Chaneece, and Chelsea decided to use a multimedia approach: they researched this atrocity on the Internet, made flyers to alert other students in their school, made several oral presentations to high school students at Narbonne High. To continue to spread the word and broaden their audience, they used GarageBand on the iMac to create a podcast. Check out the podcast here (note: the music playing in the background is A Song for Peace by Teresa Jennings)

This project was spearheaded by Mrs. Stokes, one of our fantastic Orientation and Mobility instructors. The final project included the support and encouragement of Mr. Sakamoto and Mrs. Cook (teachers), Mrs. Ascencio, Mrs. Flora, Mrs. Fuentes, Mrs. Paredes, and Mrs. Shahin.

For more information about how you can help stop albino slaughter in Tanzania, Africa, click the link below:

www.sas.albinism.org

If you'd like to learn more about albinism, visit NOAH, the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation. [Thank you, Shirley Kirk--our amazing program coordinator--for bringing the information back from the NOAH conference--you got the ball rolling!]

Student Supports Teacher

Our school district (Los Angeles Unified), is going through tough times, as are many other districts in California and around the country. Some wonderful teachers are getting RIF (Reduction in Force) letters, for no reason other than that they are new teachers. As a teacher, I feel powerless to do much to change this situation. Just when I become pessimistic about what's happening in education, along comes a terrific student to remind me that nothing is accomplished if you don't try to make change happen.
Gabriel is a 7th grade student at Irving Middle School, and he recently found out that one of his favorite teachers got a RIF notice. Instead of sighing and being sad, he decided to become an advocate on behalf of his teacher. I'm so proud of Gabriel for standing up and speaking out. I want to share some of the impressive letter he wrote to our district superintendent in support of his teacher.
I've included a portion of Gabriel's letter below. His V.I. teacher told me that Gabriel came up with the idea of writing a letter, and emailed other students in his class to have them write letters on his teacher, Mrs. Tovar's, behalf. Whether or not Gabriel's letter, and those of his classmates, can help save Mrs. Tovar's position, Gabriel has succeeded in becoming an advocate. Change doesn't happen without effort, but can begin with one voice. Read on ...

"... Let me tell you about my experience as a 7th grade student in Mrs. Tovar's English/history class. Mrs. Tovar is the kind of teacher that you can just tell really loves her job and cares about how her students do in her classes. A lot of teachers lack the energy needed in the classroom to get students to want to learn. She makes me want to learn. I've never walked into her class with a negative attitude. I've always loved learning from her for several reasons. The first reason is that she relates to us in a way that some teachers can't. She knows how each individual student learns best, and if she doesn't, she works hard to figure out how we do. Once she knows how we learn best, she will teach us in a way so that we can be more successful in school. Also, Mrs. Tovar makes learning fun. She doesn't just give us the textbook and make us read and answer questions. She gives us assignments that allow us to work in pairs, groups, and even sometimes as a class. She actually makes the 7th grade standards fun for us. That is something that a lot of teachers can't do, and if the student doesn't like the teacher or doesn't want to learn from that teacher, students are less likely to pay attention. If students do not pay attention, they will not be able to be successful in school. ...
"Another thing I forgot to mention is that I'm blind. I'm not the only blind student who is in her class. She has one more student who just entered her class in the middle of the year. Now I know it isn't easy to work with blind students. I mean now Mrs. Tovar has to remember to get everything transcribed into braille, figure out how to modify those visual assignments that she has, make sure all the maps get raised up so that we can feel them, figure out a way for her to raise up the homework calendar and show us exactly what stamps we get, how to explain visual pictures to us so that we can see it in our head, and more. I mean that deserves some credit. I have to honestly say that Mrs. Tovar is so far the best teacher I've had as far as working with us is concerned. The only other teacher who does better is the Visually Impaired teacher. I think that it is important to give Mrs. Tovar a lot of credit for the extra things she has to do for us. She is very efficient in doing all the things listed above, and I've never had a problem in her classes. ...
"I could probably cover three more pages arguing for Mrs. Tovar to retain her position. As Superintendent of LAUSD I know you make important decisions everyday. I'm asking you to do the right thing and make one more. Thank you for your time and understanding in this matter.
Sincerely,
Gabriel L., Irving Middle School

In Celebration of National Poetry Month (April) ...

As I was looking back at some of my emails, I found a wonderful poem written by one of our students. I wanted to sneak in this poem before April ended. Her name is Laura, and I posted one of her poems toward the end of last school year. Rereading some of her poems, this one just hit me (with all of the wars and war-like behavior I've been reading about in the news lately, Laura's poem struck a chord). Laura uses her mPower (an accessible PDA for braille reading and writing), daily and enjoys writing. She is in high school now, and I hope she continues to share her thoughts and insights with us. Enjoy:

AT THE BLOODY FIELD
by Laura D.

As I peer at the bloody field
and see comrades dead
they shout at us
"This is war and war is hell."

I shout back
"war is hell"
but if war is hell
and you cause us hell
we'll return the favor

and so
doing so
we are giving hell to the world.

Accessibility of the Mac--CTEBVI 2010 Workshop

I'm here at the California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired, our state conference held once a year. This year it's in Los Angeles, at the LAX Marriott. I'm presenting a workshop on the accessibility of the Mac computer. I've been a Mac person for many years, but have spent the last couple of years exploring Apple's newly accessible hardware/software for people with visual disabilities.
I'm lucky to know a wonderful former student (she graduated from high school in June, 2009), who agreed to be my 'guinea pig' to test out a Mac Mini with OS 10.6--Snow Leopard. Paola worked with the Mac in the computer lab with me, and then took it home to see what she could do on her own. I asked her to write her initial reactions of trying to use VoiceOver to do what she's used to doing on a Windows computer. Here's the short article she wrote a couple months ago. As you'll see, Paola had some successes and some frustrations, but I think this is an evolving option for computer users who have limited vision or are blind. Enjoy her review, and if you post a comment or question for Paola, I'll make sure to pass it along.

"To be honest, I am only a recent Mac user. I was introduced to the Mac when I started helping Ms. Schindler at Frances Blend on Fridays so I have only been using it for a few months. Still, it is enough time for me to notice several pros and cons about the Mac.

"One of the good things about having a Mac is that it already comes with a built-in talking program so you don't really have to buy any extra programs like JAWS or Serotek. Voice Over has a very human sounding voice that is easy to understand and you can adjust the speed and pitch very easily. There are also other voices besides the main voice which is Alex. I myself prefer Alex, but you can take your pick. Another thing I enjoy about the Mac is that you can navigate websites that are not always accessible with JAWS. Sometimes on websites, there are links and when you press enter on them with JAWS, they make a little clicking sound and don't open. On the other hand, the Mac opens these links quite easily. One example of a website like this is Fanfiction. When I went on this website with JAWS, I had a hard time accessing my account. However, when I tried it with the Mac, I got through quite easily. Yahoo mail is another thing that's easier with the Mac. It's becoming a little bit less accessible with JAWS these days. Since I have a yahoo email account, this was not good news for me. With the Mac however, I could check my messages and reply quite easily. Those are just some of the good things I have discovered about the Mac.

"Although the Mac does have its good points, there are also some things that may need some work. For example, sometimes when you go to certain web sites, voiceOver will say "Safari busy" and refuse to read anything even those the website clearly appears on the screen. No matter what key you press, the computer will only say, "busy" over and over again. One website where VoiceOver does this is Gmail. That is one glitch that in my opinion, needs to be checked out. Another thing I've noticed is that I can't navigate the internet as quickly as I did with the pc computer. Still, as I am a recent Mac user, I may just not know all the commands yet. When I'm on a website on the Pc, I can go to links list, press the letter of the link I want until I find it, and press enter. This gets me where I want to go much faster. With the Mac however, I have to go through all the links until I find what I'm looking for. Like I said though, my problem may only be that I don't know all the commands.

"In conclusion, I think that the Mac is a very good piece of assistive technology for the visually impaired and a lot of people would benefit from it. I know I have a lot to learn and I look forward to exploring more about the Mac world."

Search Engine With Option for Low Vision Users

I just read about a new search engine developed by a young woman to help her grandfather. The site, www.good50.com has an option to click below the search field that changes the contrast to white on black, and enlarges the text you type in the search field. Want to get directly to the low vision version? Try this link: http://www.good50.com/index2.html
Incidentally, I got the lead to this resource from Steve Bass; he ran the Pasadena IBM User's Group for many years, wrote for PC World magazine, and now has a wonderful online newletter called TechBite. He always has some great tips, mostly for Windows users, and some fun waste-of-time links. You can subscribe to his free online newsletter by going to www.techbite.com
Incidentally, the story behind the creation of the low vision search engine is from The Washington Post Online.

Tips to Keep Your Windows Machine Running

This week, our "Malware Maven," Anita, gave a great demonstration of a couple of ways to keep Windows computers running smoothly. Here are two tips she gave us at our meeting:

1. Install CCleaner (free download from http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/ ). Here's the description from CNET's website: "CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner." Think of it as a house cleaning for your computer.

2. Run the Defragmenter program that comes with Windows. You can find it by pressing the Windows key--then P for Programs, A for Accessories, S for System Tools, and D until you get to Disk Defragmenter; then press Enter. Choose the Analyze button, and Disk Defragmenter will evaluate whether you need to defrag or not. See the screenshot below:

Thanks so much, Anita, for working your magic to keep the computers in the V.I. classrooms running!

Got Fonts?

Here's a link to a great resource for fonts for your computer (Windows and Mac). Most of them are free (or free for personal use), and there are directions on the website explaining how to download and install them on your computer. There are tons of fonts, everything from school to handwriting to holiday fonts. Thanks to Venessa for sharing the site with me! I took a quick screenshot of just a few of the fonts you can download.

Go to www.dafont.com

Great Web Resources for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments

Well, the Best in Tech 2009 was a fantastic event (thank you NFB and Center for the Partially Sighted)! I came away realizing how much I need to learn about the newest technologies for people with visual impairments. It's hard to keep up with all that's available, but thanks to the efforts of many visually impaired computer users, you can listen to some great online mp3 podcasts.

Here are a few links to try out with lots of great listening articles:

www.blindcooltech.com Learn more about the iPhone and Mac accessibility, audio information about the healthcare bill, directions on how to make a braille picture of a pumpkin, and so much more! I'm still discovering all the podcasts on this page--there's really something for everyone.

www.blind-geek-zone.net Here's where you'll find Joseph Lee's great podcasts about all things related to the BrailleNote. For anyone thinking about diving into the world of the Mac with a less expensive Mac Mini, there are two extensive podcasts that go over all of its features, by a blind user who has never used a Mac before. This is a great podcast series, because it includes all of the stops and starts of setting up a Mac computer for the first time (including the frustrating moments when the Mac doesn't start--turns out it wasn't plugged correctly). Oh, those IT people are saying, "Told you so!"

http://www.serotalk.com Try Tech Chat 41 – Assembling a Portable Computer, Screen Reader and Reading Solution for Under $1,000, Tech Chat 42 Self-employment and Working From Home, or Tech Chat 39 Twitter 101 (maybe this will help you understand what "tweeting" is all about (in 140 characters or less).

http://blindworldblog.blogspot.com/ Shane Jackson's blog has lots of audio podcasts, as well; mostly Mac accessibility related. He has a great step-by-step podcast on installing Snow Leopard. Shane has been such a Mac proponent for blind computer users that he is now working in an Apple Store in Alabama. He is the go-to person when ANYONE comes in the Apple Store wanting to know about the iPhone or the MacBook.

Think we work in a low incidence field? You may not think so after checking out these two websites (they have an unbelievable number of links about or for people with visual impairments):

http://www.airsla.org/cat_vision.asp (this site has links to many great podcasts by Dr. Bill Takeshita--look for the link "Low Vision Technology"

Well, these should keep you going for awhile--Happy Holidays and enjoy browsing and listening!

The Best in Tech 2009 Workshop

Thanks to Dr. Bill Takeshita for helping to organize what looks to be a great tech workshop! It's being presented jointly by The Center for the Partially Sighted and the National Federation of the Blind, San Fernando Valley Chapter. I'm really looking forward to the event, and best of all--it's free!

The Best in Tech 2009

Speakers include:

• Bob Sweetman will tell you which are the best GPS Systems
• Louis Herrera will talk about the i-phone
• Robert Stigile will compare the Book Sense and the Victor ReaderStream
• Julian Vargas will describe why he chooses to have the KNFB Mobile Reader and his Nokia N82 cell phone
• Racquel Decipeda will explain why she chose to have Talks telephone software over the Mobile Speaks
• Marc Gerberick will tell you why he likes the Mac computers and Voice Over
• Stephanie Rood will talk about the ABISee Twix and Eye Pal Solo
• Dr. Brett Nagatani will tell you the most popular video magnifiers chosen by his patients
• Ken Metz will tell you why he uses the Voice and Braille Sense note takers
• Keith Christian will talk about System Access for students
• Dr. Bill Takeshita will tell you which desktop video magnifiers his patients most often choose

Vendors will include:

A.B.I.See, the makers of the Eye Pal, California Telephone Access, Enhanced Vision, Eye Tech Low Vision, Freedom Scientific, Humanware, Leo Drell and Help with Vision, Magnisite, Optelec, Sweetman Systems, Your low vision store

Come and learn from actual users of the most popular adaptive technology devices for people with low vision. Vendors will be present to allow hands on experience with the devices and you may purchase items at special discounted prices.


WHEN: Saturday November 21, 2009
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

WHERE: Radisson Hotel
6161 W. Centinela Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230

RSVP at NFBEvents@gmail.com or call Robert Stigile (818)419-5331