[Ncabs] May 2014 Conference Call Minutes

Thu May 15 20:51:28 UTC 2014

Hi,

I was going to ask the same question, because I am personally
interested in the accessibility as well. I was at a Q&A with Google
during CSUN and a woman asked about usability improvements for the iOS
app. I was curious, so I began the registration process for Google
Hangouts by downloading the app and attempting to sign in. it took me
30 minutes. Elements are not reported to VoiceOver, therefore, I could
not swipe on the screen. It was incredibly taxing having to repeatedly
touch the screen in hope that one of the times, I would tap the part
of the screen with whatever element like a text box or next button
that I needed to interact with. I don't recall seeing an update since
that experience in March, but would love to hear about others'
experiences. I think my friend who has an Android uses Hangout just
fine.

In my experiences with other Google apps, JAWS and Google do not work
well together. This has a lot to do with how JAWS receives information
from the web and is something that Google is not particularly
interested in working on, because JAWS actually works quite
archaically. Alas, it is still the monopoly screen reader, so in the
interest of membership, it would be my opinion that if JAWS does not
work well with Google Hangouts, to try another platform like Skype.

I have appreciated reading the minutes. I thought the gift card ideas
given a while back were good. Has this been tried?

Also, maybe you could try having other activities besides conference
calls like on a chat service such as Facebook, or something else
accessible. I personally do not love conference calls. It is always
hard though, because some people are not productive over email which
is the way I prefer to work because decisions are on paper. But there
is something to be said about everyone being at a meeting at the same
time. I would be curious to know how a call every other month and how
a few local activities in the off months would work. It would take
away the consistency; it is easy to remember something like the second
Monday of each month, but it could provide better opportunities for
students to get to know each other. I am curious to know more about
how the regional seminars worked out as their success would indicate
the potential success of more frequent and less formal regional
gatherings.

But I digress. If anyone has insight in to Google Hangout or
comparable services that offer adequate accessibility, please share!
This also could be a good question for the NABS list or for the list
of blind computer scientists or something like that.

Cindy

On 5/15/14, Ashley Coleman via Ncabs <ncabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi All,   Do we know if Google Hang Outs is accessible?
>
> Ashley Coleman,
>
>
>
>> On May 15, 2014, at 13:56, Shickeytha Chandler via Ncabs
>> <ncabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I read the note in the minutes about trying to increase participation
>> in the conference calls. I have been on this email list for several
>> months now as I have been preparing for graduate school, but have not
>> yet participated in any of the calls. However, I do hope to get
>> involved with those beginning sometime in the next couple of months.
>> You mentioned Google Hangouts and asked for opinions. For me
>> personally, phone is fine and I would probably prefer phone as opposed
>> to Google Hangouts. As a student, I will be on my computer a lot and
>> would appreciate the breather from my computer. But that's just me
>> personally. I am certainly OK with Google Hangouts if it would benefit
>> others.
>>
>> Look forward to talking with you all more in the future!
>>
>> Shickeytha
>>
>>
>>> On 5/13/14, Travis Sherrill <tssherrill at windstream.net> wrote:
>>> Hello all:
>>>
>>> Below you will find the minutes from our May conference call.  These
>>> minutes
>>> contain some extremely important information so read them carefully
>>> please.
>>> I hope you all had a wonderful ending to the semester and I hope your
>>> exams
>>> and grades turned out the way you hoped they would.  A reminder: our
>>> next
>>> NCABS conference call will be held on Monday, June 9, 2014 at 9:30 p.m.
>>> That will be an extremely important call as we will have lots of
>>> business
>>> to
>>> discuss so we need you all to attend because your opinion is extremely
>>> valuable.
>>>
>>> Travis Sherrill
>>>
>>> Attendance:
>>>
>>> Travis Sherrill
>>>
>>> Alan Chase
>>>
>>> Bobbi Pompey
>>>
>>> Kevin Curren
>>>
>>> On Monday, May 12, 2014, the North Carolina Association of Blind
>>> Students
>>> (NCABS) held the monthly conference call.
>>>
>>> Alan Chase, the North Carolina Association of Blind Students president
>>> won
>>> one of the 30 scholarships awarded by the National Federation for the
>>> Blind
>>> (NFB).  Alan will travel to Orlando, Florida July 1-6 to the national
>>> convention and receive his scholarship.  Congratulations to Alan!
>>>
>>> National Convention:  Speaking of the NFB national convention, it is
>>> rapidly
>>> approaching.  If you plan on going to national convention (July 1-6 in
>>> Orlando, Florida,), your hotel reservations must be made by Sunday, June
>>> 1st, 2014.  If reservations are made after June 1, 2014, there is no
>>> guarantee that you will get a room.  Slots are quickly filling up so
>>> make
>>> those reservations today.  You have just under two weeks to get it done.
>>>
>>> Also concerning National Convention:  If you plan on going and you are
>>> wanting some financial assistance from NCABS, you need to get in contact
>>> with Alan Chase absolutely no later than June 1st.  Note that the
>>> financial
>>> assistances you receive from NCABS will not cover your entire trip, but
>>> it
>>> will help some.  You can contact Alan via email at aachase1 at gmail.com
>>> <mailto:aachase1 at gmail.com> .
>>>
>>> EYE Retreat:  A limited number of spots still remain for the upcoming
>>> EYE
>>> Retreat.  If you know someone who would be interested in this wonderful
>>> opportunity, let them know that they still have time to register.
>>>
>>> Maze Day:  Kevin attended a Maze Day and brought a computer game for the
>>> visually impaired that he created.  Unfortunately, he was put in a spot
>>> where not many people went and played his computer game.  Of the
>>> approximately 90 participants at Maze Day, only around 6-7 people went
>>> and
>>> played Kevin's game.
>>>
>>> Brochure:  NCABS has decided that we want to create a brochure that we
>>> can
>>> take with us to different events, whether it be SUP seminars, or other
>>> events where we will be interacting with visually impaired students.  A
>>> draft of the brochure has been sent to Alan and we are going to discuss
>>> it
>>> on our next conference call.  We need to decide what we want it to look
>>> like
>>> and what information we want to go in it.
>>>
>>> Google Hangouts:  It's no secret that the attendance on our monthly
>>> conference calls has been in a steady decline this year.  We are looking
>>> at
>>> different avenues of conducting our conference calls as opposed to using
>>> the
>>> phone line like we do now.  One thing we are looking at is using Google
>>> Hangouts.  Google Hangouts is a video conferencing tool within GMAIL.
>>> Hangouts is free and easy to use.  All you need is a Gmail account and
>>> to
>>> use Hangouts, you will need to install a free plug-in.  The thought
>>> process
>>> behind it is that for our intended demographic (college students), at
>>> 9:30
>>> at night, chances of you being on the computer online are extremely
>>> high.
>>> So, if you are already online, why not participate in our conference
>>> call
>>> online through the utilization of Google Hangouts?  Also, for anyone who
>>> does not get free cell phone minutes after 9 p.m., this would get rid of
>>> having to use your valuable cell phone minutes.  We want your feedback
>>> on
>>> this.  This is something we believe could help our attendance and the
>>> more
>>> people we have on our monthly conference calls, the better it is.
>>> Explore
>>> Google Hangouts a little bit and give us your thoughts on the list serve
>>> on
>>> whether you think this would be a good idea or not.  Don't just say, I
>>> think
>>> this is a good idea or a bad idea.  Tell us why you think it's a good
>>> idea
>>> or a bad idea.  We are here for you and we want to do whatever we can to
>>> reach as many of you as possible.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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-- 
Cindy Bennett
Secretary: National Association of Blind Students

B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
clb5590 at gmail.com