[Colorado-talk] NFB Newsline Alexa Training, Spread The Word!

[kevan at nfbco.org]

Don't Forget To Help Spread The Word! NFB Newsline Alexa Training on Tuesday
Evening, January 15, 8:00 Eastern, 6:00 Mountain Time. Scott White, Director
of NFB Newsline, and other members of the team will be offering guidance and
answering questions about the new Alexa skill NFB Newline. Below, you will
find how to join the training as well as a brief article from Curtis Chong.
Curtis is a guy who gets it. He was kind enough to write down some
instructions which might help inform you prior to the training. We will also
include this article from Curtis in an upcoming Blind Coloradoan. But, those
of you getting this email from where ever you hail are getting a preview.
Join us for the training, you will be glad you did!

 

Please join us online using the link or conference telephone numbers listed
below. https://zoom.us/j/962454147

One tap mobile

+16468769923, 962454147# US (New York)

Dial by your location

+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 962454147#

 

As a person who owns at least three different Amazon smart speakers, I was
thrilled to hear President Riccobono's announcement in the December, 2018
Presidential Release that NFB-NEWSLINER was now available with Alexa. I
spent some time checking out this new and exciting feature of NFB-NEWSLINER,
and after having been asked some "how to" questions by some of my Federation
colleagues around the country, I decided to put down in writing the verbal
commands that I know about to take advantage of NFB-NEWSLINER on the Amazon
Echo.

 

The first thing you need to do is to activate the skill which enables your
Echo to connect to NFB-NEWSLINER. You do this by saying, "Alexa, open
National Federation." The first time you do this, you will be asked to
provide your NFB-NEWSLINER identification number and security code. You only
need to do this once. The next time you ask Alexa to do something with
"National Federation," the system will remember this information.

 

Next, you need to tell the system what you want to read. You can say things
like, "Alexa, ask National Federation to read the Braille Monitor," or
"Alexa, ask National Federation to read the New York Times."

 

What you hear next is the same voice and greeting that you would hear when
you call NFB-NEWSLINER using your telephone. After the initial greeting, the
system will proceed to read the publication you asked for, starting with the
first section.

 

For just about every verbal command you give to NFB-NEWSLINER, you need to
say "Alexa, ask National Federation.[to do something]". There are only two
exceptions. You can move to the next or previous article simply by saying,
"Alexa, next" or "Alexa, previous", respectively.

 

To move to the next or previous section, you can say, "Alexa, ask National
Federation to read next section" or "Alexa, ask National Federation to read
previous section." You can also have an article emailed to you by saying,
"Alexa, ask National Federation to email me this article." Finally, you can
ask Alexa to ask National Federation to read faster, read slower, or change
voice.

 

I don't know if other verbal commands will be added to this new system, but
I like having the ability to read my newspapers without having to lift a
finger.

 

At Your Service,



Kevan Worley

Manager, NFBCO Project Literacy

Cell: (303)929-2369

 <http://www.nfbco.org/> www.nfbco.org 



 

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