With the advent of virtual personal assistants (VPA), assistive technology users are able to interact with their smartphones in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago. These virtual personal assistants employ user-inputted voice commands to perform a wide variety of functions like sending messages, scheduling reminders, and even ordering groceries, giving assistive technology users with impaired vision or mobility an alternative way to interact with their smartphone or tablet. There are a few virtual assistants on the market right now, and most of them have been discussed in previous e-bulletins. This week, we’re going to look at Google Assistant, the built-in virtual personal assistant that comes pre-loaded on Android smartphones (Android 6.0 and above) and on Android smartwatches.
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Accessible Android Setup: Best Practices and Features
This week, Nakia is going to look at some best practices and accessibility features for Android users with visual impairments. Most of the emphasis will be put on the built-in features, but we will also look at some supplementary features and apps. We will look exclusively at the accessibility features for Android. To learn more about the built-in accessibility features that have been designed for visually-impaired iPhone users, click here.
Easy File-Sharing for iPad Part 2
Last week we started looking at easy, built-in techniques to share files via iPad. We covered sharing via Airdrop, Cloud, and Email: read it here.
This week, we’re going to look at a few more methods of file-sharing via iPad, and we’ll be exploring sharing through iTunes, PC, and iMessage.
Easy File-Sharing for iPad
This week we will focus on the various ways in which files can shared using the iPads built-In sharing features. The content will be split into multiple posts, so stay tuned over the coming weeks for more. After all the posts have been released, the content will be combined into a larger, more complete, “how-to” article.
Facebook Live
Tune into Neil Squire Society’s Facebook Live event at 10:30am PST on November 15th to find out how we are changing lives One Technology at a Time. #PoweredToEnable #LIFTpartners.
Seeing AI
Today we’re going to look at an app that’s designed to narrate the outside world to individuals with low or no vision: Seeing AI. This free app provides accurate audio descriptions of the outside world, using an abundance of features to simulate sight, backed by human-like intelligence. The idea for the app is simple; point your camera at person, product, object, document, color, or piece of text, and the app will give you a highly accurate description of the object in question.
Be My Eyes: App Review
Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind or low-vision users to sighted volunteers who offer visual assistance in real-time using video conferencing technology. The app is designed to be straightforward in its functionality, as well as being easily accessible for low or no-vision users.
Pretty Office Furniture Isn’t Enough
The best posture is the next posture, said Gene Kay, director of ergonomics, VelocityEHS, during the presentation “Understand and Resolve Your Complex Office Evaluation Requests,” at the 2018 National Ergonomics Conference & Ergo Expo. Office furniture and equipment vendors flooded the exposition floor with beautifully crafted office desks made of metal, aluminum, wood, and even plastic. And, the sea of chairs in delicious fabrics and textures make even those least interested in design bat their eyes. But, as we know, looks only go so far. What Kay reminded us, no matter how pretty the equipment, functionality and adjustability are most important. Does it accommodate the 25th percentile female and the 95th percentile male? Does it promote movement? If your answer is “no,” you may be at risk of developing a musculoskeletal disorder.
How To: Use Google Assistant
Dropbox Paper
In case you haven’t heard of it, Dropbox is a cloud-based storage service that allows users to upload and share files from anywhere in the world, on virtually any device. Now, imagine combining that service with a free productivity and collaboration app that allows users to integrate their Dropbox files with other resources from around the web, while also allowing a multitude of users to comment on and add information to a cloud-based document.