A single portable and light weight device, Connect & Learn is
the newest way for low vision learners
to access the curriculum. Unlike many specialist VI devices, Connect &
Learn centres around a popular mainstream Windows 10 tablet – Microsoft’s
Surface Pro. SuperNova Magnifier comes included as standard, along with a large
print wireless keyboard, a folding stand and a backpack.
Place the tablet on the stand and
Connect & Learn acts as a digital magnifier. Place a document under the
built in camera and students can: magnify the document, zoom in using their
fingers on the touchscreen, add a colour scheme, rotate or lock the image. They
can even save the image to add to their work or to explore again at home.
Choose the Connect & Learn
package with SuperNova’s speech included and your student can tap the screen
and hear the words on the document read aloud. And the scan and read feature is
impressively accurate. Send the text to a Word document, move fingers to the keyboard
and Connect & Learn becomes a Windows 10 laptop complete with SuperNova’s
full set of magnification and colour enhancing tools.
Connect wirelessly to the interactive
whiteboard and low vision learners, can ‘see’ and magnify the whiteboard. Again
adjust colours, zoom in, take photos – Connect & Learn doesn’t need an
extra & expensive camera that points at the board so your partially sighted
student isn’t forced to sit at the front of the class. [We also know IT skills
aren’t always readily available in school, so we’ve recently released a free whiteboard wizard download to
help you connect to the whiteboard.]
As with all of Dolphin’s
products, Connect & Learn gives direct access to browse and download from
the RNIB Bookshare Education collection of more than 320,000 textbooks.
[Contact the RNIB to get your school’s free login.]
There are also a couple of other
Connect & Learn features that teachers tell us are worthy of note. The
Surface Pro charger connects magnetically, so it’s super easy for partially
sighted students to plug in the power. And the tablet weighs less than 2kg – so
much lighter to move between classes than your typical VI solution. It’s also
worth saying that because Connect & Learn is built on Windows 10 and uses MS
Office products, students are developing their essential IT skills for life
outside of school.
Connect & Learn is best
summarised by a young VI gentleman I recently met in year 8 at secondary school
in the Midlands. “With Connect & Learn I don’t feel different!”
SeeAbility’s specialist teams working to reduce isolation and promote education opportunities to ensure that people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss are able to access the latest technology to get connected and grow their independence.
Introducing voice activated home assistants, like Amazon’s Echo Dot, opens up whole worlds of possibilities for the people we support to live with greater independence. Using the Echo Dot is one of the easiest ways for someone with sight loss to verbally access the internet and gain immediate auditory response. It helps people do everything from turning on their favourite music to searching the internet for information and sharing ideas with others. It’s hugely empowering and gives individuals greater control in their lives.
Group activity and skills sessions at the Millennium Centre in Surrey have taken on a new energy and are far more interactive since the introduction of the Echo Dot. This new gadget has transformed everything from our music workshops to keep fit sessions.
Learning to make voice commands has taken time and a lot of support from Our Vision Rehabilitation and Speech and Language Therapy teams. At first the people we support had to learn how to ask short, factual questions that that could be deciphered by the Echo Dot. Some people may have struggled with getting their words out in time but everyone enjoys having their questions answered so they persevered.
David and Anne use an Echo Dot to choose music in their Book Club session
Sessions now offer a more inclusive experience since the Echo Dot has been embedded. In fact, our volunteers and specialist teams can engage more with the people they are supporting now that the voice activated technology is on hand to offer up answers to tricky questions. Workshops have more spontaneous interaction and people are developing confidence to lead conversations.
Anne says: “With Alexa it means you can hear lots of different types of music in the same session. We all get to request what we want on it. It’s made our music slot so much more fun.”
David, who has a love of folk and blue grass music, uses Alexa to play obscure tracks as part of his music session. He says: “Alexa helps me find rare tracks and I enjoy hearing and singing along with my favourite songs and sharing them with my friends. It brings us closer.”
As we are now well and truly in to the season of winter and approaching Christmas, I decided to discuss the Hive App and hub. The app is fully accessible for both Apple and Android devices and is relatively easy to navigate and use.
I purchased the Hive Hub back in August of this year and
although it is pricy at £300 I have found the benefits to be enormous in terms
of giving me more control and access to my heating, lighting, security and
everyday appliances in particular.
As I
have a busy daily schedule, I wanted to make the process of operating my
heating that little bit easier to manage. Until I purchased Hive, I had no way
of setting timers or controlling the thermostat when trying to warm my home up
effectively. This is now a thing of the past thanks to the Hive app and hub.
From controlling heating and hot water, switching lights on and off and even
turning everyday appliances such as the kettle on using Smart Plugs, I have
total control of my entire home using the Hive app on my iPhone at anytime,
anywhere. This has helped make my life much easier and in theory, should help
me keep my utility bills affordable.
So
how does Hive work?
Firstly,
you must have a smart meter and a reliable internet connection through your
wifi router before even considering looking into purchasing the Hive Hub. Also
important to note is that Hive is exclusive to British Gas customers.
Therefore, if you are with an alternative energy supplier you will need to
contact them directly to find out if they have a similar option.
You then
need to have the hub installed by a qualified engineer. Once this has been
achieved, you can manage and setup your smart thermostat, plugs and lights
straight from the Hive app on your smart phone. The Hive thermostats allow you
to monitor the temperature in your house, set heating timers and even set the thermostat
to a target temperature so that if it falls below the set degree, the heating
will turn on automatically.
The
Hive Smart Plugs can make energy use more efficient by enabling electrical
appliances in the home to be turned on and off or by setting schedules. So for
example, if I am walking my guide dog and returning home, I can turn the kettle
on using my iPhone and it will be ready to pour as soon as I am through the
door. The use of smart plugs also gives the added benefit of allowing me to
switch off appliances I might have accidentally left on even though I am not
actually in the house. So they basically can help take the stress out of my working
day because I can monitor everything on the go. The Hive smart light bulbs work
in essentially the same way as the plugs meaning you can schedule timers so
they will be switched on when you are out of the house which is really good
from a security point of view. The additional advantage of being able to
connect all of your Hive appliances and heating to a smart speaker such as a
Google Home or Amazon Echo means that you have the opportunity to control
everything just by using your voice.
In summary, finally going down the route of making my home
“smart” gives me total control of almost every appliance, heating and security,
all through the use of an app. It makes my life far easier and definitely gives
me peace of mind for the future, both in terms of monitoring my utility bills
and also for security reasons. In my personal opinion, for those of you who are
smart phone users and are reasonably tech savvy, this kind of technology could
be a game changer for you in the future.
Over the last few years it is fair to say that there have
been some extremely exciting, innovative and life changing apps which have been
developed which increase the independence of people with all kinds of visual impairment.
Once again, I am delighted to bring another of these to your attention. This
time it’s an indoor navigation app called Clew.
Clew is a free
iPhone app that records a user’s path and then guides you back to your starting
point. Clew was created to help visually impaired people to remember a location
such as returning to a seat in a room. Designed to work indoors, Clew uses
the camera on your iPhone to record a video of landmarks along your route. It
will then save certain points such as stairs, turns etc and guide you back to
your initial starting point.
How to use Clew
Hold your phone
upright in front of you with the camera pointing straight ahead. Press the “record
path button”, then walk the route you want the app to remember. It is worth
stating that at this stage, it is recommended that when recording a route, you
ask for sighted guide if possible. Press Stop Recording at the end of the
route. When ready to return, Press the “Start Navigation Button” and Wait for
Clew to convert the information. Clew will then provide verbal, haptic and
visual feedback as you reverse the route. Visually, the screen shows an image of
the next part of the route with a red
pin indicating where to go. If the user veers off the path, the red pin
disappears off the edge of the screen. When walking along the desired path, a
clicking sound is heard; the clicking sound stops to indicate when the traveler
has veered. A whistle tone indicates a turn; the app also verbally announces
which way to turn. The route is available until the app is closed from the app
switcher. According to the website, Clew works best with short indoor routes
and it is not advisable to use the app when outdoors because of varying
lighting conditions and possible glare from sunlight which could interfere with
the video recording.
First impressions
I have been hoping for an app like Clew for years to assist
with travelling independently when an indoor environment. I have mainly tested
the app in familiar areas such as our centre and so far, I am delighted to say that the
experience has been fantastic. I recently used it to create a route from my
upstairs office to the downstairs kitchen as sometimes I still get confused
with this route as I don’t do it very often. The app then guided me almost
flawlessly back to my office from the kitchen and only stopped giving me
directions when I was back at my chair. It even told me when I was coming up to
stairs and where to turn when I had reached the first landing and needed to go
up another flight. Sometimes the app does get confused if you have to make a
lot of left and right turns in quick succession, but for the most part it is
extremely reliable and has really increased my confidence when using it. I
think the technology used within the app is also extremely interesting as
everything is achieved by video. There is no GPS or internet connection
required to use the app which means you can use it in any indoor environment
you choose. Please note that this app is still in it’s early stages so it will
be a case of trial and error when using. The developers are planning to update
the app regularly though and have lots of great ideas for improving it’s
capabilities. Also, as always with these apps, please remember that they are
not designed to be a replacement for a Cane or Guide Dog. It is designed to
work alongside your mobility aid and you will need to depend on your mobility
and orientation skills when using this app.
At the beginning of March, Microsoft released a new and extremely
innovative app designed to assist people with a visual impairment to navigate
and understand their surrounding environment. The app is called Microsoft
Soundscape and is free to download and use.
Note: At this stage, the app is only available for iPhone users.
Overview
Soundscape uses 3D audio sound to give you a full audio map of what’s
around you when you are out and about. It is designed to help you navigate
independently and encourage you to be more confident in exploring streets and
getting to destinations. The app announces streets and points of interest such
as shops, cafes etc. in 3D so that you actually hear the exact direction in
which the place is located. To use Soundscape accurately, you need to use a
pair of either bone conducting headphones or Apple AirPods. As soon as you put
the headphones in your ears and start walking, the app will begin telling you
what is in your surrounding area.
Example:
As you walk along a street, you may suddenly hear directly in your right ear, “McDonalds, twenty five metres.” This means that there is a McDonalds restaurant not too far away from you, immediately to your right. Then if you wish, you can actually tell the app to direct you to McDonalds by setting a beacon. This will then give you constant audio information and feedback to let you know if you are heading in the direction of McDonalds or if you are going off course.
Operating the app
Soundscape offers three modes – ‘My Location’ tells you the direction
you are facing and the streets and intersections which are closest to you,
‘Around Me’ gives you places of interest which are near you in all four
cardinal directions, and ‘Ahead of Me’ provides the names of five places of interest
which are nearest to you and directly ahead of you. It is also worth mentioning
that the app is fully accessible and that VoiceOver does not have to be enabled
in order to use the app. So basically, anyone with a visual impairment can use
this app.
First impressions
I was actually a tester for this app when it was under development and
have been impressed with it from the very start. I find the app extremely easy
to use and another great feature of the app I haven’t mentioned yet is that it
is compatible with Apple Watch. This means that I don’t have to keep stopping
in the street and taking my iPhone out of my pocket when I want to use the app.
I can just tap the relevant button from my Apple Watch which is constantly on
my left wrist.
I think my favourite feature of the app is definitely the beacon
feature. I used the beacon feature once when it was snowing very heavily and I
wanted to get to my local Co-op. I became disorientated, but once I had told
the app to direct me to the Co-op, it kept me on track the whole way and always
kept me heading in the right direction. In fact, the app only stopped giving me
information when I was outside the door of the store. I felt very reassured
after this experience I now actually use Soundscape almost every day when I am
walking with my guide dog.
Important additional note!! The app is designed to be used in tandem with your usual mobility aid, such as a cane or guide dog. Do not use this app on its own when you are travelling outside. Also, to use this app, a constant internet connection is required, so a 3 or 4G mobile data plan is essential.
Seeing AI is a Microsoft research project that uses Artificial
Intelligence features to deliver an intelligent app, designed to assist
visually impaired people with performing everyday tasks such as reading text,
recognising people’s faces, identifying products, and identifying your
surroundings. This app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and magnification
features on iPhones.
How it works:
The app has nine different ‘channels’, which you can use for performing a specific task. Below is a brief description of each of the channels.
Short text:
Simply point the camera at text and it will be read aloud. Very useful for reading signs, text on noticeboards or even on food tins etc.
Document:
Hold the phone camera over a document such as a magazine, newspaper or letter and the app will automatically take a picture of the document and read it aloud to you. It will also try to format the document for you as well, so you have an idea of how the page is laid out.
Product:
Hold the camera over the barcode of a product and the app will scan it and then tell you the name of the product. You can also find additional information about the product such as cooking instructions or ingredients. Barcodes are sometimes difficult to locate on certain products, but a really cool feature of the app is that audible beeps are given to help with the locating and scanning of barcodes.
Person:
This channel allows you to take a picture of a person’s face and the app will then attempt to work out the age of the person and tell you what they look like. Note that you can also train the app to recognise people’s faces as well, so if you point the camera towards them, the app will actually tell you who they are.
Currency preview:
Point the camera at different types of currency such as Euro, Dollar and Pound to hear their values.
Scene preview:
Simply point the camera in front of you and take a picture. The app will attempt to describe everything in the view of the camera. Note that the Scene channel is still being developed, so is not always accurate in describing certain things. Hopefully it will improve over the next few months though.
Colour preview:
Just point the camera of your phone at any object and its colour will be announced. Note: lighting conditions are a factor.
Handwriting preview:
This experimental channel allows you to take a picture of handwriting and the app will attempt to recognise it and read it to you. Note: the text has to be the right way up for this channel to work.
Light detector:
The camera on the phone will detect the amount of light around you. This works by using pitch sounds. The higher the pitch, the more light there is.
First impressions
I have used this app for around two months and am really enjoying most
of its features. The barcode and text reading facilities along with the facial
recognition features are extremely accurate most of the time. The colour,
handwriting and light detecting features also have huge potential, as does the
scene preview mode. To be honest though, I am a little unsure about the currency
feature, as now that plastic notes are being printed, all £10 notes have
Braille in the top left corner. On the whole though, I really feel that this
app has made a big difference in terms of increasing my independence on a daily
basis. Now I don’t need to depend on friends or family to read my mail or find
products in my freezer for me. The fact that all these features are available
in one easy to use app is fantastic!
Price:
Seeing AI is free to download and use.
Note: This app is currently only available for Apple products and requires a constant internet connection.
I have been working with Sarah Jones and the team at Create Education regarding 3D scanning and printing developments. Create Education have a 3D Printing loan scheme that may be of interest to the network.
For more information and how to apply please visit the Loan agreement page on the Create Education website: https://www.createeducation.com/loan-scheme/
The website also contains lots of information and resources to help prepare people that are looking to develop their 3D Printing and Design skills.
Should you wish to get involved please let me know and I will connect you with Sarah who will help you to find out more.
Dawn Green Karten Network and Development Co-ordinator
Over the summer we hosted a series of training sessions
called the Sight and Sound Summer School. We realise that for many people,
accessing training can be difficult and costly, so we made it as easy as
possible by delivering the sessions online, using the very popular Zoom
meeting platform.
Over the course of 5 days, we covered a range of
solutions, with sessions on JAWS and keyboard shortcuts, ZoomText, RUBY
magnifiers and Braille displays. Finishing with a surgery style session, where
the attendees had the chance to ask us any questions about the Sight and Sound
product range.
With August being the prime time for summer holidays, we
made sure that we recorded each session in both audio and video format for
people to catch up on. You can find the details for these sessions below:
Is there something else you’d like us to cover or did you have a question that wasn’t quite answered in these sessions? We’d love to hear from you! You can email you suggestions or questions to carla.barker@sightandsound.co.uk
Stuart Beveridge, the Assistive Technology Trainer at
seescape has provided an expert review of the following products.
Victor Reader Trek
Last November, the company Humanware released their latest product called the Victor Reader Trek. This is a combination of two of Humanware’s most popular products, the Victor Reader Stream and the Trekker Breeze. The product is basically an audiobook player and GPS system compacted into one small and easy to use device. There is so much more to this product though as it can also be used to play podcasts, listen to radio stations and record voice memos. To put it simply, it is an entertainment and navigation system, all rolled into one. It is small enough to actually fit into a jacket pocket and can be operated one handed. This is made possible because of buttons which are all differently shaped and have easy to distinguish tactile markings which make them easy to locate by touch alone. The trek also has built-in bluetooth which means you can pair it with a set of bluetooth headphones for ease of use. In addition, the trek has an update feature which means that it is almost certainly a future proof device as additional content can be added in the coming years. There will also be frequent map updates, so that you have the latest information about your surrounding area curtesy of the TomTom map system which is fully supported within the device.
How does Victor Reader Trek work?
The victor Reader Trek has three different modes which you can switch between at the touch of one button. These modes are:
Offline bookshelf mode,
Online bookshelf mode and orientation mode.
Offline bookshelf
Within this mode you are able to listen to audiobooks, daisy
and other forms of text books which you can load onto the Trek via an sd card.
This mode also allows you to record voice notes such as memos, shopping lists
and can even in some cases be used to record lectures if you are a student.
Online mode
Within this mode, you can listen to radio stations through
the internet, download and play podcasts, search wikipedia for facts and update
the product to the latest version.
Orientation mode
This is the GPS orientation system. You would use this mode
when travelling either on foot or by vehicle. When in this mode you are kept up
to date about your current surroundings. Streets, interesting locations around
you and a detailed description of upcoming intersections are all announced.
There is also a fantastic feature which allows you to landmark areas which are
important to you and when you approach them in the future, they are announced
to you. You are also able to plan and get turn by turn instructions for
speciffic roots both when in a vehicle or when walking.
Please note that the orientation mode should be used
alongside another mobility aid such as a cane or guide dog.
First impressions
I have been using this product now for around serveral months and am really enjoying almost all of it’s features. I think it’s main appeal for me is the fact that you can easily toggle between the three different modes at the press of a button. This means that the potential of the product is huge because while you are using public transport, you can be listening to an audiobook or podcast while at the same time have full knowledge of the streets around you at all times. The fact that the product also supports bluetooth means that you can also use bone conducting (aftershock) headphones, which means that your ears are completely free to focus on traffic when crossing roads. The battery life of the product is also much better than expected.
Price
The Victor Reader Trek currently retails at £545. If you
would also like to purchas the Trekz Titanium Aftershock Headphones, which are
also supplied by Humanware and come highly recommended, they are an additional
£80.
Dyson 360 Eye
Tired of hoovering every day or missing chunks of dirt, dust
and possibly other mess such as pet hair? I certainly was, and solved this
solution by purchasing a Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner.
This self-navigating dirt destroyer is designed to clean every floor of your house at the simple touch of a button. It’s powerful enough to clean well on all floor types and surfaces, smart enough to navigate efficiently from room to room on one level and simple enough for anyone to use. Setting it up is also a breeze. Just plug in the pleasingly small and discreet charger/docking station, place.
The already assembled robot hoover on it and, when it’s
charged, hit the button on its top to start cleaning. It’s as simple as that.
Note that for best results you do need to make sure your floors are tidy, but
if there is enough room for the robot to successfully navigate, you have
nothing to worry about.
So how does it work?
The Dyson Eye 360 is small, compact and runs on rubber
tracks rather than wheels. It gets its name from the tiny 360-degree camera which sits on top and it’s
this camera that is the key.
Essentially, it means that the hoover can see in
every direction simultaneously, which helps it to not only map out where it’s
going, but also to avoid obstacles. It still bumps into things now and again, particularly
items below its camera line, but the Dyson knows where it’s going in relation
to where it’s been.
In terms of its approach to cleaning, it’s methodical,
calculating and efficient meaning that it covers as much of your floors as
possible. It picks its starting point and slowly works its way outwards in
squares, each time overlapping a little with its previous path so it doesn’t
miss anything. The fascinating thing about it is that when it is running out of
charge, it goes back to its docking station, recharges, and then remembers all
of the places it had previously cleaned and just carries on hoovering the rest
of the house. There’s really no limit to where the robot can clean, just close
your doors on any of the rooms you don’t want it to go and they will be
avoided.
The Dyson Link app
You also have the ability to connect your Dyson robot to an
app on your smart phone. The app which is fully accessible for iPhone users,
Allows you to use your phone to perform useful features. At
the point of writing this article, the app is also available for Android users
however I have been unable to thoroughly test it so am unsure how accessible it
actually is with the TalkBack screen reader. The app allows you to start and end cleaning sessions remotely,
control the cleaning schedule, and view what your robot did in each session.
That’s it.
Let’s finally discuss how I feel it performs and give my
conclusion.
I send the 360 Eye out every day before I leave the house
for work. It cleans the whole of my one bedroom bungalow meticulously covering
every available space. The one drawback of it is that it doesn’t clean skirting
boards, so you will still need a manual hoover of some description, but on the
whole, my life is made so much easier with the Dyson robot in it. Another small
consideration is the 360 Eye works best in daylight or decent artificial light.
Since it relies on a camera to navigate, the Dyson is more sensitive to changes
in lighting as it cleans. It has two infrared “headlights” to help combat
low-light areas, but it still works best when it can see clearly.
Now for the “big but”, price. Eight hundred pounds is a lot to spend on anything. However, the benefits out way the cost. It is, without doubt, a luxury. But it delivers and does so with minimum fuss and from my point of view is life changing.
In Your Pocket
In February this year we acquired a new gadget which is ideal for anyone who struggles to use either push button or touch screen mobile phones. The In Your Pocket is a fully Voice Activated mobile phone which allows you to make and answer phone calls, send and read text messages, create contacts, listen to newspapers and audiobooks, get weather information, tell the time, hear your current location and streets around you and much more. All of this is achieved entirely by using your voice. This is a solution for anyone who would just like technology that is simple and easy to use with hardly any learning required.
How it works
The phone is operated by simply pressing a tactile button
found at the bottom of the screen. After you press the button, you simply speak
to the phone naturally and give it a command. So for example, some basic voice
commands include:
Phone Seescape”, “send a text message to Stuart”, “create a
new contact”, “What is the date”, “read the Guardian, “what is the weather
forecast”, “Where am I”etc.
Pricing
The In Your Pocket runs exclusively on the O2 network and if
you purchase the phone you would be subscribing to a fixed contract over two
years at £22 per month. This price plan gives you three GB of data and
unlimited calls and texts to any number. If you run out of mobile data, don’t
worry, it will just renew the next month and you will not incur any hidden
charges as the price plan is designed so that you will never go over your
allowance. Note that you can also connect to Wi-Fi which should save you using
a lot of mobile data.
Future plans
Later this year, the developers are planning to add even
more features to the phone which will be installed automatically as soon as
they become available. These include enhanced weather information, as well as a
personal diary function and the ability to set alarms.
OptiGrill
As we are approaching the festive period, I would like to
draw your attention to a new gadget I recently bought myself. Using this
device, I can now cook confidently and independently without the risk of either
burning or under cooking food. This new revolutionary product is the OptiGrill
and is made by the company Tefal.
The Tefal OptiGrill is an electrically heated
grill similar to the George Foreman grill. However, unlike the George Foreman
grill, the OptiGrill is a smart grill! It will cook meat, poltry, fish and even
sea food, vegetables and toasted sandwiches. Another great feature of this
grill, is that it will also cook food from frozen as well.
How does it work?
The OptiGrill’s controls are found on the handle. From left to right there’s the On/Off
button and dedicated programmes for cooking specific food such as defrost, burgers, chicken, bacon, sausage,
steak, and fish. There’s also a manual mode and finally an OK button when you
are ready to start cooking. Right at the end is the LED cooking indicator that
uses different colours of lights to represent stages of the cooking process.
When you open the llid you’ll find the
removable non-stick plates. The bottom plate is slightly angled so any grease
or oil can run down into the dripping tray, which means healthier eating.
To cook, first turn the grill on and then select the type of
food you want to cook. Then press the ok button, and the grill will begin
heating up. When it is ready, it will give a series of beeping sounds. You can
then lift the lid and place the food on to the grill and then close the lid.
Now the magic part, the grill will do the cooking for you. There are sensors
inside the grill to measure the weight and the thickness of the food you are
cooking. You can cook food to rare, medium and well done standards. The grill
will give audible beeps to indicate each cooking stage. Just cook it to your
liking.
As I eat a lot of meat and fish, I am loving the OptiGrill.
I use it everyday, and the thing I really like is the fact that all the guess
work is taken out of cooking. Also, the grill is easy to clean as you can
remove the plates and clean them either in the sink or by putting them through
the dishwasher. I also love the fact that the food doesn’t dry out. Food such
as steak and chicken still retain a lot of their juices and moisture, even when
cooked to well done standard. The fact that the device has a massive stick out
handle for using to lift the lid is another added bonus. The risk of burning
yourself is seriously diminished, although I would advise some caution to begin
with.
Price
There are two types of OptiGrill. The small version is
priced at £110 and the larger version is currently £120. Depending on your
family circumstances, it would be up to you which one you prefer.
Please also note that while we don’t actually have an OptiGrill
at our centre, I would be more than happy to discuss this technology with you.
Also note that if there is enough interest in this device, we will
purchase the OptiGrill to demonstrate to
clients at our premises in Wilson Avenue in the future.
In August Google’s security research taskforce, Project Zero announced that they had discovered there was a “sustained effort” to hack iPhones over a period of at least two years.
The Project Zero researchers found that attackers were exploiting 12
separate security flaws in order to compromise iOS devices. Most of these flaws
were within the native iOS browser, Safari.
These security flaws meant that if a user
visited a compromised website code would be implanted in the iOS device. The
malicious code could access an enormous amount of data, including contacts,
images, apps a person was using e.g. Instagram, WhatsApp, and GPS location
data. It would relay this information back to an external server every 60 seconds.
This flaw existed in almost every version from iOS 10.
While this was a real and valid threat, it was sensationalised by
the world’s media as iOS devices are notorious for their high level of
security. In reality, this sophisticated attack was mainly targeted at a
particular group in China. Android devices were also affected by a similar
exploit. Apple released a security patch which fixed all the issues at the
beginning of February, six days after they were informed by Google about the
issue.
While we can only speculate why the story made news headlines six
months after the issue had been identified and fixed. It highlights the
importance of ensuring that operating system updates get installed on a regular
basis. Should you require guidance or help to do this
please feel free to contact me.
Action Blocks
Lorenzo Caggioni, a Software Engineer at Google set up Project DIVA.
This project was developed to help Giovanni’s brother who has multiple
disabilities to listen to music and watch movies independently. The Project
DIVA proved to be the starting point for Action Blocks. These can be used by the Google
Assistant to make it easier for people who have disabilities to use Android
phones and tablets.
With
Action Blocks, (similar to Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12 and later) you add a string
of commands to Google Assistant and then create a custom image/icon to your
home screen, that acts as a visual cue. This allows for the complexity of tasks
to be reduced.
For
example, a seemingly simple operation on your phone, like booking a taxi
involves a number of steps. To do this, you need to unlock your phone, find the
right app, type in your pickup location and book the taxi. A process that also
requires you to read and write, remember your selections, and focus for several
minutes at a time. Now, potentially this
can all be reduced to a single icon that
you simply need to tap.
The
Mobile Technology Resource (MTR)
Near
the end of 2015 I created and launched the Mobile Technology Resource (MTR). This
private website contains a collection of resources related to the use of mobile
technology throughout the Karten Network. The primary reason for creating the
MTR was to encourage and facilitate sharing – so doing help to reduce
reinventing the wheel and promote good practice.
There
is a wealth of knowledge and expertise throughout the network, and many of the
resources are items that would get produced anyway – e.g. How many
organisations have lists of apps?
We
took the decision when creating the MTR to keep it a private resource to create
a safe space for resources to be used and shared. As such you will need a
Karten Network website account, these are free and there is no limit to the
number of accounts per organisation. There are currently 209 users registered
on the system. If you have an account and have forgotten your password you can
reset it by visiting: https://karten-network.org.uk/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword
If you require accounts please send me an email with the
email addresses and names of people needing accounts.
To access the MTR please visit the Karten Network
website and login. The MTR can be found under the “Resources” tab. If
you are not logged in and click on that link it will prompt you to login.
Four years later we are relaunching the MTR, with an updated look and a full review and update of the content. My hope when I created the MTR is that it will be a living resource. One that is driven and shaped by the network with my support.
In this spirit I would like to extend a special note of
thanks to seescape’s Stuart Beveridge who has contributed the reviews of the
apps below. As well as a list
of all apps designed to help blind and partially sighted people that has been
incorporated into the MTR.
I hope that you will find the MTR helpful. If there is
something that you would like to contribute, a feature you would like, or need
help, please contact me.
App
Reviews – Stuart Beveridge
Seeing AI
Seeing AI is a Microsoft research project that uses Artificial Intelligence features to deliver an intelligent app, designed to assist visually impaired people with performing everyday tasks such as reading text, recognising people’s faces, identifying products, and identifying your surroundings. This app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and magnification features on iPhones. How it works: The app has nine different ‘channels’, which you can use for…Read the full Seeing AI review
Soundscape
At the beginning of March, Microsoft released a new and extremely innovative app designed to assist people with a visual impairment to navigate and understand their surrounding environment. The app is called Microsoft Soundscape and is free to download and use. Note: At this stage, the app is only available for iPhone users. Overview Soundscape uses 3D audio sound to give you a full audio map of what’s around you when you are out and about. It is designed to…Read the full Soundscape review
Clew
Over the last few years it is fair to say that there have been some extremely exciting, innovative and life changing apps which have been developed which increase the independence of people with all kinds of visual impairment. Once again, I am delighted to bring another of these to your attention. This time it’s an indoor navigation app called Clew. Clew is a free iPhone app that records a user’s path and then guides you back to your starting point. Clew was created to…Read the full Clew review
Hive
As we are now well and truly in to the season of winter and approaching Christmas, I decided to discuss the Hive App and hub. The app is fully accessible for both Apple and Android devices and is relatively easy to navigate and use.
I purchased the Hive Hub back in August of this year and although it is pricy at £300 I have found the benefits to be enormous in terms of giving me more control and access to my heating, lighting, security and everyday appliances in particular.
One of the strengths of the Karten Network, lies in the name – a network of people doing some incredible, innovative and inspiring work. Through this network we can collaborate, exchange knowledge and support each other. One way we try to facilitate this is through our website. I have recently invested a lot of time and effort into improving and upgrading the website. A lot of this work was focused behind the scenes. This work has resulted in an improved search facility – content previously omitted is now being included in the search index.
Additional
meta data has been added to the Karten Centre Pages. These include information
on technology specialisms, service provision, disability, age groups and centre
setting (e.g. education, social care, etc.) This was done in an effort make the information
already contained on the centre pages more useful. It is now possible to click
on one of the meta data items and get a list of Karten Centres with similar areas
of interest.
A new feature
has been added too, the “Karten Centre Search”. This allows you to create very
specific searches based on a host of easily selectable criteria, including only
showing centres within a certain number of miles of your or a specified location.
This means it would be possible to search for all centres doing printing within
a 30 mile radius of Manchester for example.
Centre pages now display the centres location on a map. While this feature existed elsewhere on the website it had, until now not been included on centre pages. Centres now also feature the option to upload your logo, with the option to upload photos to the page coming soon.
My hope
is that these improvements and upgrades (with more coming soon)
will make the website more useful to you. However, for all these features to truly
work, we need your help. If you are a Karten Centre manager, please logon to your
centre page and update the information.
To do this (once logged in), navigate to your centre page, and click on
the “Edit Centre
Information” link below the page title. This will take you to form where you
can update and add information.
Should you require any assistance, have questions or suggestions please feel to contact me.
Newsletter
As
some of you may have noticed we have changed the format of the newsletter – we hope
you like it. The changes however, go beyond mere formatting. Newsletter
articles are now available as individual items too, meaning they are not longer
confined to a newsletter. This makes it possible for a list of all news letter
articles to appear on your centre page. Currently, only articles from this and
the previous edition of the newsletter are in this format. However, I hope to
port some of the old articles to this format too soon.
WWDC 2019
Apple’s
annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) took place at the beginning of
June. WWDC gives thousands of developers from around the world a chance to meet
up with Apple engineers and attend workshops, it is also where traditionally
Apple makes major announces of what is new and what is to come. Some of these
were updated versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. All of which gain new
features and capabilities. As well as the introduction of iPadOS, a separate version
of iOS specifically for the iPad.
iOS
13, expected later this year, is the next iteration of Apple’s mobile device
operating system. iOS13 has had a major overhaul making it faster and more
efficient. It is reported that these improvements make Face ID 30 percent, and apps
launches 50 percent faster. App update times have also been improved as well as
reducing app download sizes.
A new systemwide
Dark Mode option has been added. This changes the entire look of the
operating system from light to dark. You have the option to have Dark mode permanently
enabled or come on at sunset or on a custom schedule.
Apple’s Photos
app has been improved with a new photo library feature in an attempt to intelligently
organise your photos and videos. Editing tools have been revamped too.
A new “Sign In with Apple” feature has been added, allowing a convenient way to log into apps and websites. While this is a similar feature to those offered by Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter it is reported that the enhanced privacy feature means that your logins won’t be tracked, unlike other services. Your Apple ID will be used to authenticate your account via Touch ID or Face ID, and developers will see a unique random ID rather than your real information. Apple are able to even generate single-use randomized email addresses, so you never have to use your real email address. Two-factor authentication has also built into this feature to give you even more security.
Apple’s Maps have received another upgrade and now also include
a “Look Around” feature similar to Google’s
Street View.
Siri has been given a new, more natual sounding voice. Siri Shortcuts have also been improved with the new “Suggested Automations” feature that suggests personalised shortcuts you might want to create.
Accessibility has been improved and expanded with a new Voice Control option that enables you to operate your iPhone or iPad entirely with your voice. There is also a new swipe-based QuickPath keyboard option for quicker text entry.
I have only touched on some of the long list of
changes and new features and there are even more reported for the iOS 13 version
for iPad, iPadOS.
iPadOS has been primarily designed with extra features specifically for the iPad’s larger display. iPadOS will be supported by, All iPad Pros, iPad (5th & 6 generation), iPad mini (5th generation), iPad mini 4, iPad Air (3rd generation) and iPad Air 2.
Amongst a whole host of improvements and
new features, perhaps one of the more exciting additions is mouse support. For the first time you will be able to connect
a USB mouse to an iPad. This has the protentional to open up another set of
access options. Mouse support is currently considered an accessibility feature
and will need to be enabled within the Accessibility settings.
Google IO
Google’s
developer conference, Google IO which took place in May also feature a host of
announcemts, including the new version of Android, Android Q. As well as the
new Google Pixel phones and new Nest Hub Max; improvements to Google Search, Google
Lens, Google Duplex, Google Assistant and more.
Perhaps
the most intriguing was Project Euphoria. This project aims to use Google
technologies to give people with speech impairments their voice back. It is
reported that this new software suite and features, powered by machine learning
will coming to Android. It is not clear yet when, how or even if this will
happen, but it’s certainly going to be interesting to see what develops
As always, I am interested to hear about how you are using mobile and
other smart technology in your centre. I am also available to support and help
where I can.
Martin Pistorius Karten Network Mobile Technology Advisor
Often the basics get overlooked when purchasing PCs so I’ve put together a short guide of what needs to be considered when purchasing PCs. If a user can’t even turn a PC on, how can we expect them to be independent?!
This might be something you to consider when ordering new PCs.
Built in Technology Resource is a fabulous FREE resource which TechAbility’s Fil McIntyre has produced for the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).
The resource comprises approximately 20 short videos designed to show the people we support (and staff) how to get the best out of the built-in settings on devices they already own or use.
EyeControl is a social innovation company, founded to improve the quality of life
for locked-in individuals in home and hospital settings. The EyeControl is the first wearable, simple to
use, and screenless assistive communication device, enabling communication anytime
and anywhere.
AI-powered, eye tracking technology enables
locked-in individuals, such as those suffering from ALS/MND, brain injury or
stroke, as well as ventilated patients, to communicate solely using eye
movements. The EyeControl device can be worn overnight, upon waking, while in
the bathroom and during travel. Restoring the ability to communicate socially
and/or for emergency purposes is life-altering.
EyeControl has a growing base of customers, is
CE marked, FDA listed, ISO certified and is included in the Israeli “Health
Basket” and the UK NHS Supply Chain. The device has also been granted reimbursement
codes for Medicare/Medicaid in the USA.
Tania Suares,
EyeControl’s VP of Operations and Product recently relocated to the UK to
support the product and first users in the region. She has met with 19 Augmentative
and Assistive Communication hubs throughout the UK and demonstrated the
device at innovation and research centres, as well as with actual users. “The
most rewarding part of my work here,” says Tania, “is the opportunity to interact
directly with individuals that benefit from the EyeControl and witness how the
ability to communicate can make a huge difference.”
The EyeControl device for hospital and medical
facility use, is currently undergoing clinical trial at Israel’s Sourasky Medical
Center ICU and is scheduled for an expanded trial at Emory Hospital in the US. The
EyeControl will revolutionize the way locked-in patients communicate inside ICU
departments.
“The company founders
all have personal experience with locked-in loved ones,” says Or Retzkin, CEO
and Co-Founder of EyeControl. “It is deeply moving to help people in the same
situation communicate with those dear to them, who benefit from our work”.
The EyeControl is currently
being sold in the UK and Israel, and will soon be available in other regions as
well. For more information, please contact us: hello@eyecontrol.co.il and/or register to receive our monthly
newsletter and stay updated on our progress: https://www.eyecontrol.co.il/contact.
Sight and Sound Technology’s latest Getting AT Ready event was a great success with a keynote from University College Dublin, a panel discussion featuring the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and workshops from Industry experts that encouraged thought provoking, engaging dialogue from the Higher and Further Education delegate audience.
This year the event was run in conjunction with the Karten Network and Strathclyde University – two organisations who champion best practice in the world of disability.
Feedback from the day was enormously positive and we were excited to hear how inspired people had felt, being able to match the many practical solutions on show at the AT exhibition, to what our speakers had to say. To see the full line-up, workshop leaders’ presentations and much more please go to www.atready.co.uk for more information.
Scanning pens are neat and effective devices to support people who have reading difficulties or dyslexia. They help people to access text discretely and are exam-legal.
Ayrshire College has three campuses across the councils that make up Ayrshire; East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock campus, South Ayrshire, Ayr campus and North Ayrshire, Kilwinning campus. This college has students ranging from 16 to mature students of any age. We also have school students who attend twice a week.
As an Inclusive Learning Officer at Ayrshire College I am always trying to keep abreast of any assistive technologies that can help students with various learning difficulties. I came across the reader pen, specifically the exam reader at an Assistive Technology event at the Golden Jubilee Hotel in Glasgow on the 15th June 2017 and was immediately excited about how it could be used to assist students. Many students with difficulties with processing information and students with dyslexiacan sometimes misread questions during exams. This can lead them to write a great answer to the wrong question.
On returning back to Ayrshire campus I brought this technology to the attention of my team leader who spoke to the Head of Inclusive Learning. They both agreed that this technology was something that the college should invest in. Now, at the end of 2018, the three campuses that make up Ayrshire College have at least half a dozen of these devices, both exam reader and the reader pen each. These devices are very popular with the students.
I am now presenting AT workshops across the campuses to different classes to inform all students, not just those with needs assessments, of the assistive technologies that are available. One of the most popular items during these presentations is the reader pen. Students like the compact size and how it can be set up for left and right-handed users. Additionally, the fact that it is quite discreet and can be used with headphones was something the students commented on.
Student A, studying IMI Motor Vehicle at the Kilmarnock campus, uses the exam reader. This student said this technology was a ’miracle’. They added it also boosted their confidence because they knew they would not get the words mixed up, so knew they were answering the question asked.
Student B, studying HNC Coaching & Developing Sport at the Kilmarnock campus,thought it ‘really helped’. They said it made answering set questions clearer as they knew they would not misinterpret the information. This student also liked the fact they could sit in the class with their peers and do the assessment without being taken out due to the headphones.
This equipment could be adapted in various ways but one that students have brought up is they would like to be able to use it on their laptop or desk top screens. I don’t know how viable this would be.
I find this assistive technology a great learning tool and would definitely recommend it to other schools and colleges. We are always looking at ways to make students more independent learners and this technology definitely helps them to achieve this.
Adults and children with a visual impairment and specific learning difficulties choose Dolphin accessibility products for their personal, professional and educational use. Dolphin’s solutions support individuals with blindness, partial sight, mild sight loss, low vision, degenerative eye conditions, SpLD including dyslexia, low literacy skills, learning disabilities and age-related conditions. Dolphin aims to empower users with all degrees of sight loss, computer skills, reading aptitude and physical ability, through our Windows software and free apps including SuperNova, GuideConnect, EasyReader and EasyConverter Express.
By using Dolphin’s accessibility software, individuals with varying levels of visual impairment and technological experience can do everyday things easily on computers, tablets and smartphones – you can read, browse, work, learn and communicate in the way that best suits you. You can read more below about our family of products.
SuperNova provides the World’s best magnification, speech and screen reading for Windows. Supernova grows with your needs and your sight – for life. We offer three editions, so you can find your perfect solution.
Ensure you’re always productive, in touch and in control with SuperNova, whether reading your letters and other hard copy documents, shopping online with the latest web browsers or creating spreadsheets and slideshows in Microsoft Office. Advanced yet intuitive, SuperNova Magnifier is flexible for every task, and you can pick your blend of magnification, screen reading and braille.
Ensure you’re always productive, in touch and in control with SuperNova, whether reading your letters and other hard copy documents, shopping online with the latest web browsers or creating spreadsheets and slideshows in Microsoft Office. Advanced yet intuitive, SuperNova Magnifier is flexible for every task, and you can pick your blend of magnification, screen reading and braille.
GuideConnect is simple talking technology for sight loss, which delivers effortless email, entertainment and internet. GuideConnect is a talking digital assistant that brings you closer to family and friends. It helps you manage your everyday life and have fun.
Simple internet access makes it easy to find information, be entertained and stay up-to-date with what’s happening in the world. GuideConnect is thoughtfully designed by and for people with sight loss, enabling you to enlarge the text or have it read to you. There are straightforward menus and lots of help. GuideConnect is available as a download on a tablet, laptop or desktop, or for your TV.
EasyReader is the World’s most accessible reading app. Designed for people with blindness, low vision and dyslexia/SpLD, EasyReader is available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and, crucially, it’s FREE.
EasyReader is the simplest way to access audiobooks, talking magazines and podcasts. If you have low vision you can make text as large as your sight requires, adjusting colours, highlights and contrast to suit. If you are blind you can add speech to books with no inbuilt narration. If you have dyslexia you can reduce glare, read with dyslexia-friendly fonts and colours, and enjoy perfectly synchronised text and audio. EasyReader offers access to 20+ digital libraries including epubBooks, RNIB Bookshare and RNIB Overdrive.
EasyConverter Express enables you to convert Word docs to large print, braille, MP3 and ePub. Fulfil your legal requirements and promote accessibility.
EasyConverter Express is an essential toolkit to create the widest range of accessible documents – braille, large print, MP3 and ePub. Avoid the expense and delays in outsourcing transcriptions. Choose EasyConverter Express and you will be able to confidently and effortlessly deliver accessible information to all your service users. EasyConverter Express is affordable and simple to use, converting Word documents to accessible information on demand and in seconds.
As the mobile technology advisor for the Karten Network, I strive to support and assist Karten Centres and members of the Karten Network with their mobile technology. Recently while providing support to one centre I became aware that a feature within iOS could reduce Apple devices to expensive paperweights.
In iOS 7 Apple introduced Activation Lock (sometimes referred to as “iCloud lock”). This was developed in response to the US Smartphone Theft Prevention Act of 2015. This legislation, in an attempt to discourage smartphone theft, requires device manufacturers to implement an aptly named “kill switch”; allowing device users to remotely wipe and lock devices. Further changes to California law resulted in Activation Lock being enabled by default in iOS 8 or later.
Activation
Lock forms part of a larger protection system typically referred to as Factory
Reset Protection (FRP), and most notably the native iOS app “Find my iPhone”
Find my iPad”, “Find my iPod”… in fact most Apple products can be included in
this system.
Activation
Lock, as well as being a deterrent by making stolen devices useless, aims to keep
your device secure, even if it’s lost or stolen, and Find my iDevice, can
improve your chances of recovering it. Even if you use the system to erase your
device remotely.
Activation
Lock works by registering your device on Apple’s activation servers and linking
it to your Apple ID when you turn on Find my iDevice (e.g. Find My iPhone).
From
this point on, the device is automatically protected and will require either the
device’s passcode or your Apple ID password to disable Activation Lock. Even if
the device is reset to its factory default using DFU (Device Firmware Update)
mode – this can be used to reset the passcode, the device still won’t be able
to be reactivated and used without first removing the Activation Lock.
Earlier
versions of Activation Lock had some vulnerabilities that could be exploited to
bypass Activation lock. However, these have been fixed by Apple making the system
very good at what it is designed to do – prevent someone else from ever using
your device. This within the context of a lot of Karten Centres creates a
potential problem, particularly where devices are set up by one member of staff
using their iTunes (Apple ID) account and then leaving the organisation. These
devices can’t then be added to a mobile device management system (MDM) as they
are locked to the person’s Apple ID. Typically what then happens is either to
update the device or remove a passcode the device is reset using DFU mode and
gets stuck in the Activate device loop.
While
there are online services that claim to be able to remove Activation Lock,
these can be unreliable and not recommended, not to mention expensive.
Currently, the only reliable way to remove Activation Lock is to use Apple Care
or take the device/s to an Apple store. You will however be required to prove
that you purchased the device from a reputable source and own the device.
Apple
have attempted to address this issue by introducing Managed Apple IDs with Apple
School Manager and Apple Business Manager programmes. These Apple
IDs are similar to your personal Apple ID however, they are associated with an organisation
rather than an individual. These IDs can also be customised and have
restrictions applied to them, for example preventing them from being used to make
purchases in the Apple App store.
Activation
Lock can be disabled in most MDM systems; or by “Supervising” the device
through Apple Configurator; or by turning off Find my iPad within settings.
While Activation Lock still has a place within the Karten Centre context, I strongly recommend that organisations have a policy and procedure to safely and securely store each iPads Apple ID, password and passcode as well as proof of purchase. Not only to avoid having devices reduced to expensive paperweights but that should the person responsible for the iDevices leave or become incapacitated that the next person charged with managing the iDevices has the necessary information to do so.
watchOS
5.2
Point
releases of software, in other words the version number after the period
typically contain bug fixes and performance enhancements, usually there nothing
to get excited about. However, watchOS 5.2 released at the end of March included
something to get the heart beating a bit quicker – the introduction of the ECG
app.
Only
available on Apple Watch Series 4, the ECG app enables you to take your own ECG
in just 30 seconds simply by opening the app and placing your finger on the
digital crown. The ECG data is then saved in the iPhone’s Health app and can be
exported as a PDF to share with your doctor.
A
clinical trail conducted by Apple with 600 participants reported that the ECG
app was able to detect Atrial fibrillation (quivering or irregular
heartbeat – that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other
heart-related complications) with 98.3 percent accuracy and a sinus rhythm
(normal heartbeat with the upper and lower chamber of the heart beating in
sync) with 99.6 percent accuracy.
Also
included in watchOS 5.2 are Irregular heart rhythm notifications, this monitors
the heart rhythm in the background and notifies you if an irregular
heart rhythm is detected over 5 times in 65 minutes. This feature is
available on Apple Watch Series 1 and above. Apple concerned that Receiving the
right notification at the right time can be the difference between someone going
to a doctor or ignoring it tested the Irregular heart rhythm notifications
feature with over 400000 people.
These newly enabled features along with the Fall Detection available in Apple Watch Series 4, and Emergency SOS make the Apple watch far more than merely a cool way to tell the time, particularly for people with disabilities.
As
always, I am interested to hear about how you are using mobile and other smart
technology in your centre. I am also available to support and help where I can.
Martin Pistorius Karten Network Mobile Technology Advisor
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