[NFB-DB] An update from me

[Scott Davert]

Hello all.
This is a brief update on what I've been doing in the past month. Not
on behalf of an organization, but it's me just trying to simply make
life more accessible speicifically for braille users and those who are
DeafBlind in general. This is a one of a kind message, as these take
time to compile, and it takes away from my time I can be spending
doing things such as those listed below. Links are provided, please
feel free to read up on any of the things listed if you are
interested. This isn't a comprehensive list, as I have many ongoing
projects.
What kinds of things are other people doing in their state or nation
wide? What kinds of issues are those involved with NFBDB working on?
Has their been progress on the goals set last year concerning SSP's
and such? Anyway, here's my update.

==========
RealTime Text is now available on all 4 major carriors. At the moment,
testing is being conducted by myself and a few others to provide
feedback and to help it work better. As part of the Disability
Advisory Committee to the FCC, I and a few others will be developing
educational materials for the public once RTT appears to be reliable.
Though companies such as Apple, ATNT, etc have their own information
on their websites, the information we will be providing will be
meutral and will not favor one company over another. I will be part of
a workshop being hosted by the FCC in April concerning RealTime Text
and its challenges for braille display users. Manufacturers of AT,
reps from the major cell phone providers, and a few DeafBlind
individuals will be invited to participate. This is being put together
by a subcommittee of the Disability Advisory Committee for the FCC.
=========
Braille articles
In the Janyuary issue of AFB's Access World, you will find 3 articles
written by me covering different aspects of braille displays.
A Big Compromise in Price with a Small Compromise in Features: a
Review of the Orbit Reader
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw190103
Keeping It Portable: Comparing Braille Displays on iOS Devices, Part III
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw190104
Feel This: The Current State of Braille with the Windows Narrator Screen Reader
http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw190106
There is another article written by Jamie Pauls concerning the Braille
Sense Polaris, a notetaker from HIMS, which also appears in the
January issue.
========
Late last year, I posted a blog calling out BlindFold Games for their
lack of accessibility for braille users. Though a rather heated
discussion insued, which you can read at
https://applevis.com/blog/advocacy-assistive-technology-braille-gaming-ios-apps-opinion/braille-display-users-deserve
the end result was that these games are now slowly becoming accessible
to braille users, just as much as they are for those using speech. The
first game, BlindFold Wild Card, was updated to include these
accessibility changes on January 5. Read more at:
https://applevis.com/blog/advocacy-braille-gaming-ios-apps-news/full-braille-display-support-comes-blindfold-wildcard
A second game has also added braille support, Blindfold Travel Cards.
I have not put out a post about this one yet, but you can find it in
the App Store.
Finally, I produced a podcast earlier this month concerning the new
features from iOS 11 onward to AppleVis. This podcast was the first to
have a transcript made available on the AppleVis site. It is my hope
that I'm setting an example by doing a voluntary thing, that companies
such as VFO who produce audio content that covers what is new in their
products will alocate some funds within their multi-million dollar
corperation to make transcripts available of their podcasts for people
who cannot use audio. Especially since some of the information they
provide in these podcasts is not available in a textual format on
their website. You can read the transcript, or listen to the podcast,
at the following link.
https://applevis.com/podcast/episodes/reach-out-and-touch-new-braille-features-ios-11
The transcript is included at the bottom of the description.