[NJTechDiv] List of Resources: Links and Explanations

Sun Nov 22 23:41:50 UTC 2020

Hi Andy, 

Great job! Do you mind if I share here in SC? 

From: NJTechDiv <njtechdiv-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Andy via
NJTechDiv
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2020 2:47 PM
To: New Jersey Technology Division List <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org>; Jane
Degenshein <jdegen16 at comcast.net>; joe ruffalo <nfbnj1 at verizon.net>; Linda
Melendez <lindamelendez220 at gmail.com>
Cc: Andy <guitarwizandy at optonline.net>
Subject: [NJTechDiv] List of Resources: Links and Explanations

Hi all!  Below, I feature a list of resources.  Joe or Linda, if you could
forward this to the distribution list, I'd greatly appreciate it.  We had a
great convention!  I look forward to next year.

On Thursday, 19 November, I gave a presentation on a list of resources that
are useful for all things technology.  Below you will find links and
explanations to these resources.  This list includes email lists, websites,
and podcasts.

Email Lists

There are many vibrant, active email lists/communities that are useful for
assistive technology.  The PhonesForTheBlind
<https://groups.io/g/PhonesForTheBlind>  group discusses all things
phone-related.  This group discusses smartphones, useful apps, and phone
accessibility.

Similarly, the VIPhone <https://groups.google.com/g/viphone>  group also
focuses on these topics.  Note that this list in particular receives a great
deal of traffic.  People ask and answer questions about iOS devices, Android
devices, and apps for both platforms.  Feature phones occasionally also get
discussed here.

Android users in particular might be interested in the Eyes-free Programming
and development <https://groups.google.com/g/eyes-free-dev>  group.  It's
focused on Android developers wanting to make apps accessible is sometimes
gets technical, but Google also posts announcements to this list.

The NFBNet network of email lists offers several technology-related lists.
Among these is Electronics Talk,
<https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org>  which
mainly focuses on home appliances and "Internet of things" devices, such as
smart microwaves, ovens, speakers, etc.  People post questions, comments,
and accessibility issues/impressions concerning these types of devices.

NFBNet also offers an email list called NFBCS,
<https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org>  which focuses on
computer science and computer programming-related topics.  List subscribers
post questions and comments about programming languages, accessibility of
code editors, etc.

NFBNet also offers NFB-Science,
<https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-science_nfbnet.org>  which
focuses on science and engineering.  Discussions focus on accessibility and
education of all things science.  During this convention, we had a
presentation from Independence Science; their products have been brought up
before.

The NFB's structured discovery method produces very positive results in all
areas of blindness skills training.  For assistive technology trainers
looking to implement this method of instruction, you might want to look into
NFBNet's Trainer-Talk
<https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/trainer-talk_nfbnet.org>  email
list.  Instructors ask questions and generally communicate with each other
about how they implement and instruct assistive technology topics.  It's a
valuable resource for instructors.

For anyone wishing to buy and sell items, you should check out the BlindAds
<https://groups.io/g/BlindAds>  group.  List subscribers post items that
they are wishing to sell.  Products posted include Braille displays,
note-taking devices, and many others.  Note that, although this list is
focused on blindness-specific items, people also post Braille books, games,
and other devices.

For anyone using a Mac, you might be interested in the Mac4TheBlind
<https://www.freelists.org/list/mac4theblind>  email list.  Questions about
VoiceOver, Zoom, and other Mac accessibility features get asked and answered
by a knowledgeable user base of blind Mac users.

If you're interested in gaming, the BlindGamers
<https://groups.io/g/blind-gamers>  list is worth subscribing to.  Audio
games and video games get discussed for all platforms.  If you have
questions, comments, tips, tricks, cheats, etc about gaming, then this is
the place to go.

For general Windows 10 questions, the Win10
<https://win10.groups.io/g/win10>  email list is a great community.  A
knowledgeable group of Windows users can answer all questions about Windows
10, regardless of the screen reader you're using.

To wrap up the section on email lists, check out the Tech Talk
<https://techtalk.groups.io/g/main>  group.  This is useful for general
technology questions.

Websites

There are a ton of active websites that are useful for assistive technology
users.  Some of these contain information, others are updated very
frequently.

The AppleVis <http://applevis.com>  website is very useful for everything
Apple and blindness.  Whether you have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or
Apple Watch, there is valuable information here.  The editors post articles
about mainstream Apple topics, but users of the site can ask questions, post
their accessibility impressions of apps, and much more.

Similarly, Inclusive Android <https://www.inclusiveandroid.com>  is a
similar resource for Android users.

There is a terrific magazine called AccessWorld. <https://www.afb.org/aw>
Here, articles are posted about all things assistive technology.  Reviews of
hardware, software and accessibility are popular topics.

Hadley <http://hadley.edu>  is a fantastic resource for blindness skills
learning.  Their assistive technology courses are top-notch, and go into
great detail about Office, Android, iOS, and many other topics.  Similarly,
they also offer podcasts and other resources.

If you're looking for reviews and technology news, Cool Blind Tech
<https://coolblindtech.com>  is a great place to go.  They interview people
about assistive technology, post detailed product reviews, and have lengthy
discussions about assistive technology.

Another resource worth looking at is BlindBargains.
<http://blindbargains.com>   Operated by the ATGuys, <http://atguys.com>
they post detailed articles about technology, deals, and other items of
interest to the blind community.  BlindBargains also maintains a very
informative podcast.  ATGuys is a small business offering assistive
technology at great prices.  They sell the Orbit Writer, the Orbit Reader,
various types of headphones, USB hubs, and other awesome products.

Another small business offering electronics at great prices is Talking MP3
Players <https://talkingmp3players-com.3dcartstores.com>  (also known as
Accessible Electronics).  Their focus is on easy-to-use electronics.  They
offer the Victor Stream, talking tablets, headsets, speakers, and other
items.

A website known as Live Accessible <https://liveaccessible.com>  maintains
many articles of usefulness to blind people.  They have a list of resources,
and short explanations on how to use built-in Windows accessibility
features.

A small business from the UK, known as Hartgen <http://www.hartgen.org>
Consultancy, offers many training courses and JAWS scripts for sale.  Brian
Hartgen is the maintainer of Leasey, J-Say, and J-Dictate.  He also
maintains scripts for Zoom.  If you're looking for JAWS training, Brian
might be worth a look.

To round out this section, I want to bring to your attention a great
resource to Mac users known as Maccessibility. <http://maccessibility.net>
Maintained by expert blind Mac users, they post lengthy, detailed articles
on how to use Mac functions.  If you're a Mac user, you'll find this very
useful.

Podcasts

I want to bring to your attention some great podcasts about both assistive
and mainstream technology.  Podcasts are usually delivered as audio (though
they can be video), and are updated regularly.  Content is automatically
delivered to you.  You need a podcast client such as Apple Podcasts,
Downcast, Overcast, Juice, or Winamp to get episodes delivered to you.  The
Victor Stream Second Generation and the Victor Trek can also do this.  It's
possible to manually check for episodes if you aren't interested in using a
podcast client.

A podcast known as Blind Tech Guys <https://www.buzzsprout.com/1163732>
mainly focuses on mobile phone topics.  Nimer Jaber, Warren Carr, and Marco
Curralejo discuss Android and iOS-related assistive technology news, apps,
and accessibility.

ACB Radio maintains a podcast called Main Menu.
<https://mainmenu.pinecast.co>   Started in 1999, it's a monthly podcast
about technology from a blindness perspective.  Highly-regarded, this
podcast is a must-listen to if you're interested in blindness.  This past
month, for example, they talked all about the new features of JAWS 2021.

Jonathan Mosen was the founder of ACB Radio.  He then went onto work at
HumanWare and Freedom Scientific.  He's now the CEO of Workbridge, an
organization in New Zealand.  He operates a weekly podcast called Mosen At
Large. <https://mosen.org/mosenatlarge/>   Because he worked in assistive
technology for so long, the podcast is skewed towards technology, but that's
by no means the only topic focus on.  Recent episodes have featured guide
dogs, the 2020 Election, voting systems, a review of the MANTIS Q40 Braille
display, and smart canes.

Blind Abilities offers a podcast called TechAbilities.
<https://blindabilities.com/?p=6200>   Though it's only updated
occasionally, it can be useful for iOS users.

Freedom Scientific offers FSCast,
<https://blog.freedomscientific.com/fscast/>  a podcast focusing exclusively
on their products.  They talk about tips on effectively using JAWS,
webinars, interviews, and demonstrations.

To round this out, I want to mention TWiT. <http://twit.tv>   TWiT is a
network of mainstream podcasts that doesn't focus at all on assistive
technology; rather, they focus on everything mainstream.  They offer a
podcast on computer security, they have podcasts on Android, Mac, iPads,
iPhones, Macs, Windows, and many other topics.

I hope you find these resources useful.  There's a lot of great info here,
so check out these valuable resources and learn!

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