Assistive Technology Specialist, Erin LeBlanc, recently appeared on HumanWare‘s podcast, “See Things Differently,” as part of their partner spotlight featuring our organization.

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Brenda works as a Registered Dietitian on Vancouver Island. She provides nutritional education and counseling to clients with various health conditions both in-person and virtually, and also facilitates in-person group nutrition programs.

“I have hearing loss in both ears, and this was impacting my ability to communicate effectively with my clients in-person. I would often have to ask them to repeat themselves. In group settings, I would have to move closer to people sitting at the back of the room to hear them properly,” she explains.

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Having previously been employed as a security guard, Cameron is looking for work in a new field. He has hearing loss, which was making his job search more difficult as he has a hard time hearing other people.

His WorkBC Employment Centre referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding the hearing aids he needs for his job search and future employment. He applied and was quickly approved for a new set of hearing aids.

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We’ve looked at plenty of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) apps in the past, but with OCR apps I find that it’s often worth having a couple different options on hand, since these apps don’t always produce the same results depending on what kind of source material you have to scan.

Docutain is an app for iOS and Android that does all the things you’d expect from an OCR app but also goes further than most in its approach to document organization, so for users who scan a wide variety of documents, this app is especially well laid out.

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Steve works in construction for a regional health authority at a local hospital. As a project supervisor, his work involves communicating with a large construction team, hospital staff, inspectors, consultants, and more.

He has no residual hearing in his left ear, and severe to profound hearing loss in his right. While he had hearing aids previously, they were getting old and the battery would die quickly, often in the middle of important meetings over Microsoft Teams.

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If you need to collaborate on a project virtually, it’s hard to beat a workspace app. These apps are ideal because they provide a virtual whiteboard that allows users to plan and flesh out projects remotely, allowing members from all over the world to work together in real time. In fact, even for groups that are able to meet in-person, I can’t be convinced that this approach isn’t far more efficient, not to mention accessible, than a traditional, in-person whiteboard approach to project planning.

Miro is one of many of such apps, but it deserves some special attention today because of how seriously they take accessibility. The app is constantly being tested and audited by screen reader users to ensure that the app is as accessible as possible. It is also packed with helpful accessibility features.

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Mitra is currently looking for work, and she has hearing loss. Her WorkBC Centre referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding the hearing aids she needs for the job search process and in her future employment. She applied and was quickly approved.

“The Assistive Technology Services program helped me by providing funding for a hearing aid. This accommodation has improved my ability to communicate effectively,” she shares.

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In this episode, we talk about the highly accessible Miro app, Mac accessibility updates, and finally, we explore the possibilities of assistive technology bolstered by brain-computer interfaces, including Neuralink’s recent milestone, where a patient was able to draw an image using only their brain.

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Gloria works as a pharmacy assistant, handling everything from helping customers get their prescriptions to stocking the shelves. Recently, her hearing aids died, making it much more difficult to do her job.

Her hearing aid specialist referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding a new set of hearing aids. Assistive Technology Services staff walked her through every step of the process, ensuring that she got the hearing aids she needs for work.

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Donna works in a busy pharmacy that prides itself on its customer service. She helps customers find items, discusses the benefits of different products, and tries to make them feel welcome and comfortable in the store. However, her hearing loss was making it more difficult to help customers.

“I had issues hearing their questions and comments over the sounds that occur in a public place,” she shares. “I was always asking them to repeat their question, which when someone was in a hurry could irritate them. I also had to ask my co-workers to repeat themselves for the same reasons. I have found that most people are quite considerate, but as the hearing loss progressed, it became more of an issue for me.”

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