During the COVID pandemic, Jora Singh found himself spending many more hours on the computer — his classes initially moved online, he had started to teach himself how to code. After a while, he noticed he was having wrist pain and back pain from the long hours at the keyboard. He started thinking of solutions.

“I have a huge passion for science, and I’ve been doing science fair projects since I was in grade four,” says Jora Singh, who recently finished grade nine.

This led to him developing a hands-free app for using your computer, DeviceABLE. Developed over the last year using his self-taught coding skills, DeviceABLE allows you to use head and facial movements to move your cursor, as well as use an onscreen keyboard. There’s also a voice feature for people who can’t use as much neck or head movement.

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For individuals with physical disabilities, accessing a computer often presents challenges, particularly with using a keyboard or mouse. Depending on the user, one of these devices might be easier to handle than the other. Tools that allow functions to be transferred between the keyboard and mouse can significantly improve accessibility, independence, and efficiency. While there are numerous external tools designed to enhance keyboard and mouse functionality—many originating from gaming or programming contexts—let’s start by exploring the built-in features of Windows.

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It’s hard for me to believe that we are 40 years in and counting. In some ways, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was working with Neil as he was learning Morse code with his state-of-the-art Apple IIe computer — it had 64 KB of memory, and believe it or not, that was considered massive for a personal computer. (Compare that with the memory on your smart phone right now just to put it into perspective).

As we celebrate 40 years of impact, it had me reflecting on my early days working with Neil even before the organization was formally founded, and one particularly important lesson I learned early on.

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Today we are joined once again by Nakia Singh. On today’s episode we talk about the recent Google I/O conference on AI, why it just might be worth paying the subscription fee for Gemini Pro, and finally, we talk about the specific ways in which AI can be used as assistive technology.

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On the latest episode, Nakia and Seaver will be looking at the new AI-powered pocket companion called the Rabbit R1. Then we talk a bit about what’s new in the world of AT, and finally, we list our top ten tips for adopting AT.

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On this episode, our AT Help Desk team talks about NFC-based automation for persons with disabilities, the Reading Progress and Reaching Coach tools that are now available for Teams, and finally we look at another AI chatbot that just might be our new favorite.

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Today the AT Help Desk team are joined by Neil Squire colleagues Erin and Todd after their return from the ATIA 2024 conference.

In case you’re not aware, ATIA is the leading community-building and learning event for all things Assistive Technology.

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Today, we are joined once again by AT researcher and life-long assistive-technology user Nakia Singh.

In this episode, we talk about the amazing new tech coming from CES 2024, the natural reader text-to-speech app, augmented reality glasses that are actually affordable, and more.

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These are the universal experiences that invigorate the mind and soul.

The endless joy in hearing your children laugh, noticing the first songbird mark the morning sunrise, or listening to your favourite piece of music.

But what if the freedom afforded by proper hearing was suddenly gone?

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In this episode we are joined by our summer student, Jonathon Beaumont. Jonathon is a relatively new AT user who has been diagnosed with a rare neurological condition known as Friedreich’s ataxia. We talk about what it’s like to be diagnosed with a neurological condition at age 13, which AT he uses and why, his experiences in university as an AT user, and much more.

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