[NFBOH-Cleveland] News from the National Senior Division!

Mon Dec 4 22:56:57 UTC 2017

NFB Connect (iOS, Free)

Put the power and inspiration of the nation's largest organization of
blind people in your pocket. The improved and redesigned NFB Connect
app is here!

Get up to date on the latest Federation news. Read posts from our
blog, the Voice of the Nation's Blind. Listen to the Nation's Blind
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Monitor, and Future Reflections.

Traveling? You can find the closest chapter meeting wherever you are.
And you can see what's happening throughout the Federation by checking
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Fully accessible with VoiceOver, NFB Connect keeps you plugged into
the Federation while you're out living the life you want!

Current Version: 2.0.0 (November 7, 2017)

Changes in Version 2.0.0

Check out the completely redesigned NFB Connect app. The user
interface is easier to use and functionality has been enhanced
throughout. Improved access to chapter meetings, podcasts, blogs and
more.

Read NFB Connect's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more
information <https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/reference/nfb-connect>
Visit NFB Connect's App Store page
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nfb-connect/id968434124?mt=8&at=11l4LS>

Recent News and Views

Baby It’s Cold Outside—The Lennox iComfort Thermostat and App

By Paul Martz | November 13, 2017

My 86-year old dad has been living with me since August. At the
breakfast table this morning, he politely requested that we set the
thermostat a bit warmer at night. The cold season is upon us here in
mid-northern latitudes, and his elderly body just can’t handle it. To
be honest, his request was not all that polite. He’s a former truck
driver, which influenced his choice of vocabulary. As a result, his
exact request can’t be printed here.

While fiddling with the thermostat to satisfy my dad’s unprintable
request, I realized it must be time to finally write a blog about the
Lennox iComfort Wi-Fi thermostat
<https://www.lennox.com/products/comfort-controls/thermostats/icomfortwi-fi>
 and companion app.

###A Missed Opportunity

My neighborhood is designed for seniors. In our mid-50’s, my spouse
and I are on the younger side of the neighborhood bell curve, but my
dad fits right in. He loves the fact that there are no steps anywhere,
and the three-foot-wide doors throughout the house easily accommodate
his cane or walker. Unfortunately, the homebuilder failed to address
the needs of the vision impaired, even though 6.5 million people in
the U.S. over age 65 have some kind of vision impairment
<http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?SectionID=68&TopicID=320&DocumentID=3374&rewrite=0>
.

Read More: “Baby It’s Cold Outside—The Lennox iComfort Thermostat and
App” <https://www.applevis.com/blog/advocacy-assistive-technology-ios-apps/baby-it-s-cold-outside-lennox-icomfort-thermostat-and>

Cutting Loose: Unleashing The Power Of My iPhone 8

By Morgan | November 8, 2017

Many years ago, my son's Boy Scout troop lost its collective mind. The
boys decided it would be great fun to go rappelling. This involves
stepping backwards off of a high cliff or tall building and then
walking down the outside surface. Even though safety ropes are
involved, I was concerned. Gravity is unrelenting.

Still, my son was really excited. I reluctantly tagged along with him
to the base of the thirty-three-foot wooden tower. One of the other
dads, trying to be thoughtful, suggested that I need not participate
because I was blind. What? Now, I had no choice. I would have to
rappel. But, if I went first, all the other dads would have to do it,
too. Sweet.

I passed the leash of my guide dog to a more sensible fellow and moved
to the head of the line. I stepped through the door. Discovering that
I might just be a bit acrophobic, I shakily climbed the internal
staircase to the top of the three story building. I ascended the
gallows. I crawled onto the flat roof which had no fencing or
handrails. I was told to stand up.

A gentleman I hardly knew began to wrap a piece of rope around my
waist and between my legs. A couple of knots later, I was wearing a
"Swiss Seat," an accessory that resembled a pair of tight white
panties over my blue jeans. The safety ropes were attached to my new
bikini bottoms. Okay, breathe. I felt much more secure. Kind of.

On command, I shuffled backwards until my heels were hanging off the
edge. Balanced on my toes, I held the ropes taut and slowly leaned
backwards until I was parallel to the ground. I stepped off and
descended. Being attached by ropes was a very good thing. The
experience was exhilarating, and addicting!

Although sitting in my office chair fails to evoke the same adrenalin
rush enjoyed when hanging from a cliff, I used to feel safer at my
desk when directly attached to my technology. During the early days of
desktop computing, I knew my keyboard cable could serve as a bread
crumb trail to my power switch and floppy drives. Tethered headphones
meant that I would never leave a Talking Book machine on a bus seat
without the wires tugging at my ears. And, power cords were useful as
an equipment locator and as the occasional trip hazard that could yank
items off a table and onto the floor. In truth, I just got used to
being connected.

Read More: “Cutting Loose: Unleashing The Power Of My iPhone 8”
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/accessories-iphone-opinion/cutting-loose-unleashing-power-my-iphone-8>

Yo, Human! A Screen Reader's Rant: Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology

By Nicholas | November 3, 2017

Are you sending a decent message to the blind community? Are you
sending 'any' messages to the blind community? If you are a web or app
developer, a blogger or a YouTuber, if you use Facebook or any
messaging app or email, I am here to tell you that you 'are' sending a
message with everything you create. The question one should ask is,
"Am I sending an intentional message?" Those of us who use a screen
reader or Braille display get the message literally loud and clear,
intentional or not.

According to the best stats I can find on the web, there are
approximately 300 million visually impaired and over 50 million people
classified as blind in the world. Add them both together and they
equal the population of a major world country. For clarification,
Visually impaired does not mean that one needs glasses, although one
might. The term Visually Impaired, the way it may apply in life,
actually refers to a visual state that can range from
near-sightedness, to barely detecting light. Many of us have changing
eyesight and progress from one condition to another. Using myself as
an example, my eye condition is now to a state where I cannot read or
write printed material, see a computer or device screen, cannot read
any handwriting including my own signature and I am down to barely
being able to detect light sources. And I am classified as Visually
Impaired because I was not born completely blind. Weird.

Note: I mention the numbers above only to stress the point of how
potentially large of a community a message can reach, intentional or
otherwise.

So what is this message I am referring to? It is something that all
developers know about already, but may not realize that it applies in
the way described in this article. If you still have use of your
vision there is one thing to keep in mind. The digital world that
appears on your screen is just the surface layer. There is an
underlying layer of code that makes it all happen. Using a screen
reader or Braille display, depending on the individual settings, can
read all or part of this underlying structure. In other words, we who
use screen readers can discover many things about your creation that
never make it to the visual surface. We not only 'can,' but we 'do' on
a daily basis. It is how all screen readers work, we can't help it. If
you produce materials that include additional helpful information in
the allowed places of the underlying structure, then that becomes part
of your message. If you do not include this information, then the
empty and unlabeled areas become part of your message instead.
Regardless of your attention to these information areas, whether you
intend to or not, you 'are' sending a message with everything you
create. What does your message say about you and your materials?

Read More: “Yo, Human! A Screen Reader's Rant: Accessing Life with
Adaptive Technology”
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/advocacy-assistive-technology-opinion/yo-human-screen-readers-rant-accessing-life-adaptive>

iPhone X Review: There are Some Adjustments and Compromises, but I
Can’t Imagine Going Back

By David Goodwin | November 3, 2017

This time last year, those potentially in the market for a new iPhone
were probably caught up in the hand-wringing
<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/13/iphone-7-review-roundup-headphone-jack>
 that followed Apple's decision to drop the headphone jack from the
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

12 months on, and most of us would probably look back and wonder what
all of the fuss was about.

Of course, this should come as no surprise, as Apple has a track
record <http://www.alphr.com/apple/1002448/ten-things-apple-killed-and-why-it-was-right>
 in successfully asking us to accept and adapt to the loss of
technologies that we may have considered essential. The floppy drive,
optical drive and now arguably the smartphone's 3.5mm headphone jack
<https://www.chandlercomputers.co.uk/pixels-missing-headphone-jack-proves-apple-right/>
 are just some examples of where Apple has been a driving force in
moving technologies to legacy status.

With the launch of the iPhone X <https://www.apple.com/iphone-x/> ,
Apple is again telling us that technology has moved on.

With its near-bezel-less design, the iPhone X marks the end of what
has probably been “the iconic face of the iPhone”
<https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/15/apple-iphone-home-button-evolution-elimination/>
 since its launch in 2007, and that's the Home button.

The retirement of the Home button brings with it another significant
change (either by design or necessity), and that's the replacement of
fingerprint recognition (Touch ID) with facial recognition (Face ID).

Compared to last year's reaction to the loss of the headphone jack,
the response to the dropping of Touch ID in favor of Face ID has been
far more muted. However, there have still been widespread concerns
over the potential security
<http://mashable.com/2017/08/28/trouble-facial-recognition-technology-smartphones/#eVbLDQqYUOqB>
 and user experience
<https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/09/face-id-on-the-iphone-x-is-probably-going-to-suck/>
 of Face ID.

With iPhone X pre-orders set to begin arriving today, we should soon
learn if these concerns were justified, or if we will be back here in
another 12 months again wondering what all of the fuss was about.

I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to live with
an iPhone X for the past few days, and now want to share some of my
experiences and early thoughts.

Although there is much more to the iPhone X
<https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-x/>  than no Home button and
the introduction of Face ID, these were the changes which I was most
keen to experience and explore. The reason was a simple one - I
expected these to be the changes which could potentially most affect
my use and user experience of the iPhone X compared to previous iPhone
models.

It already appears that adapting to these changes will not present any
significant problems in practical terms.

However, I was slower in accepting what for me, as a blind user, is an
increased risk to my security and privacy from the dropping of Touch
ID in favor of Face ID. My personal situation and typical use case
have allowed me to now mostly accept this, but this may not be the
case for all blind iPhone users.

If, like me, you do decide to adapt and accept, then the iPhone X is
likely to make you a very happy iPhone user.

Read More: “iPhone X Review: There are Some Adjustments and
Compromises, but I Can’t Imagine Going Back”
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/apple-ios-iphone-news-opinion-reviews/iphone-x-review-there-are-some-adjustments-and>

This Month in Podcasts

Get Ready to Dominate the Moto World Championship with Audio Moto Championship

In this podcast, Khalfan Bin Dhaher introduces us to Audio Moto
Championship, a paid iOS app where you will face your opponents with
super fast motorbikes. Conquer the categories 125, 250 and 500 cc of
the Moto World Championship and bring your team to victory. Undertake
the numerous tournaments of Audio Moto Championship, where you will
prove yourself with different and always more difficult tracks.

Audio Moto Championship on the App Store
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audio-moto-championship/id1234077796?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=8&at=11l4LS>

Listen to “Get Ready to Dominate the Moto World Championship with
Audio Moto Championship”
<https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1103.mp3>

Easily Become a Podcast Star with Audio Memos

In this podcast, Thomas Domville introduces us to Audio Memos, a paid
app which is a professionally made audio recorder. It has an amazingly
intuitive interface, which is easy to use and full of powerful
features. Use it in interviews, lectures, music session, briefings,
... and simplify your recording tasks.

Audio Memos on the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id338550388?mt=8<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id338550388?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=8&at=11l4LS>
&ign-mpt=uo%3D8&at=11l4LS

Listen to “Easily Become a Podcast Star with Audio Memos”
<https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1102.mp3>

Capture the Moment with Just Press Record for iOS

In this podcast, Thomas Domville introduces us to Just Press Record, a
paid app which is the ultimate mobile audio recorder bringing one tap
recording, transcription and iCloud syncing to all your devices.

Life is full of moments we would rather not forget - like your child’s
first words, an important meeting or spontaneous idea. Capture these
moments effortlessly on iPhone, iPad or for ultimate convenience,
Apple Watch.

Just Press Record on the App Store
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/just-press-record/id1033342465?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=8&at=11l4LS>

Listen to “Capture the Moment with Just Press Record for iOS”
<https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1101.mp3>

iPhone X Demonstrations

Dave Nason recorded and shared two short iPhone X demonstrations:

Exploring the New Gestures and Changed Button Functions on the iPhone
X <https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1100.mp3>
Setting Up Face ID on the iPhone X with VoiceOver
<https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1099.mp3>

A complete list of all podcasts posted to the AppleVis website can be
found at www.applevis.com/podcasts<http://www.applevis.com/podcasts/>

Helping to Support AppleVis

AppleVis is managed by a small team of unpaid volunteers and receives
no external funding or sponsorship. So, if you enjoy and benefit from
what we do at AppleVis, please consider helping to make this possible
by making a single or regular micro donation at
www.applevis.com/donate <http://www.applevis.com/donate>  All
donations are truly appreciated and help to cover the financial costs
of maintaining and developing AppleVis for the community.

The AppleVis Editorial Team
www.applevis.com <http://www.applevis.com>

Newsletter:

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-- 
Wishing You All the Best,

Cheryl E. Fields

Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Cleveland

216-566-4317

cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com

nfbohio.org

nfb.org

The National Federation of the Blind, Live the Life You  Want!