Sight and Sound Technology Podcast: Recent Episodes
Sight and Sound Technology Podcast
Sight and Sound Technology is the UK's leading provider of hardware and software to the blind, visually impaired and those with learning and reading difficulties. Our podcast is another channel for us to communicate all our latest news, talk about our product portfolio and speak to the people for whom our products are making a life-changing impact.
This episode comes to you from the exhibition floor of the 41st Annual CSUN Assistive Technology conference, in Anaheim, California.
We catch up with Dave Williams from Dot Inc, Ron Dare from Eschenbach, Sile O'Modhrain from New Haptics and Jenny Axler from Selvas.
Welcome into a new season of podcast episodes from Sight and Sound Technology.
RNIB Northern Ireland are once again holding their technology fair. This year, the location is the Foyle Arina, in Derry, and the event takes place on Wednesday 11th February.
Stuart sits down with RNIB's Jackie Brown to find out all about it.
In this milestone 100th episode of our podcast, Stuart celebrates seven years of the show by reminiscing about its origins and dipping into the very first episode from September 2018. Then its time to welcome back friend of the show Vanessa Viger, Chief Marketing Officer at Envision. Vanessa provides an overview of the new Ally Solos smart glasses, discussing their affordability, lighter design, and key features. The Ally Solos Glasses are designed to look like normal, lightweight everyday frames. They feature a camera on the left arm and battery-powered, removable stems that offer a 10-hour battery life with swappable arms for all-day use. They will be available in medium/large sizes and three colour options, complete with a folding case.
The glasses are offered at an early bird price of £380, normally around £532. This price includes a 1-year Ally Pro subscription worth around £200.
They connect via Bluetooth to a phone and can function as a headset for music and calls. They utilize existing Ally profiles/personalities across devices and employ multiple AI models for different tasks, focusing on accuracy over speed for safety. Unlike the hardware-focused Envision glasses, the Ally Solos adopt a software platform approach. Envision provides customer support, while Solos handles fulfilment.
These glasses are built with an accessibility-first approach, distinguishing them from general market products like Meta Ray-Bans. Key scenarios include reading menus, food packaging and signs, getting real-time descriptions of what’s around you, checking your calendar and even finding out what the weather forecast. They are also prescription and tinted lens compatible and aim to target a broader market, including the elderly, individuals with cognitive needs, and those seeking general convenience. Ally and Ally Solos Glasses users have complete control over their privacy since all Envision products are GDPR compliant and you are opted out of data sharing by default.
Welcome back to the Sight and Sound Technology podcast, where our General Manager and Head of Operations James Everson joins Stuart to clarify recent price and licensing changes for Vispero products (Jaws, ZoomText, and Fusion).
James and Stuart discuss how new subscriptions, updated SMAs, and upgrade paths affect customers, and stress the need for existing SMA holders to renew by October 31st.
With Sight Village Central now less than a week away, Stuart is joined by our Head of Sales and Marketing Stefanie Davies to unveil some special, limited-time offers, which are available from July 1st and do not require attendance at the Sight Village event. These promotions include:* 10% off all Envision Edition glasses (Read, Home, and Pro editions). * 20% off Kapsys phones, including the MiniVision 2 Plus and both models of the Smart Vision 3. * 20% off Selvas products in our portfolio, including the BrailleSense 6, SensePlayer, and Braille eMotion, and, there's much more!
We're continuing our catch-up with old friends in advance of this year's Sight Village Central event, in Birmingham.
Stuart is having a long overdue chat with Jenny axler from Selvas. Jenny and the team have had an incredibly busy year and have lots of news about some current and soon-to-be released features for the BrailleSense 6, including a new web browser, offering modern Chrome functionality for shopping, embedded media, and form filling, while preserving the familiar Braille Sense interface and streamlining keystrokes for easier use. There's a significant update coming to the word processor, offering improved reliability and advanced formatting like bullets, numbering, tables, and footnotes, making it a true productivity tool that integrates well with Word. Selvas have also developed a new Braille Practice application designed to help users practice Braille at various learning stages, providing feedback and supporting phased Braille learning . Jenny also highlights new features such as shortcuts for global hotkeys for Android apps to improve efficiency, a video search application for easier YouTube navigation, and a new podcast AI search powered by ChatGPT.
Stuart also sits down with our good friend Vanessa Vigar, Chief Marketing Officer with Envision. Vanessa tells us about Ally, Envision's powerful AI app that recently rolled out publicly. Ally is unique in leveraging multiple language models, ensuring it selects the best AI for tasks from visual descriptions to document reading. A key feature is the customization of Ally's personality and communication style, allowing users to input preferences for a highly personalized assistant experience. Vanessa explains how Ally now provides improved print reading with OCR, offering detailed audio feedback during the scanning process before reading the document, and enabling users to ask for summaries, translations, or specific information.
Welcome to another episode of the Sight and Sound Technology podcast. We're gearing up for Sight Village Central, taking place this year on July 7th and 8th in Birmingham, and, on this, the first in a couple of episodes that you'll hear over the next week, we're unveiling some new and exciting technology that will be on our stand during the show.
We're delighted to be joined by friend of the show Pierre Kegels, and his colleague Karst Hoogsteen, who are with Stuart to talk about Luna Glasses.
Designed by Karst, who has retinitis pigmentosa, these inconspicuous smart glasses offer a life-changing solution for night blindness and low-light vision. They use a special camera and in-lens projectors to display brighter, colourized reality in real-time, boosting confidence without stigma.
Then, it's another friend of the show, when CEO of Kapsys Aram Hekimian makes a welcome return. Aram is with us to introduce KapX, a new wearable device for orientation and obstacle avoidance. Ideal for those needing confidence in outdoor navigation, KapX uses a lightweight headset with a camera and a pocket-sized computing unit. Its on-board AI provides real-time environment analysis, offering orientation guidance via TTS or 3D sound, notifying users of points of interest like crossings, and crucially, detecting and helping avoid hidden obstacles (like low branches or parked trucks) even if not specifically chosen by the user.
Liam Geschwindt is the co-founder of TouchPulse, who are developing Navis, the first personal navigation companion for the visually impaired.
Stuart re-connects with Joe Said, from Tactile Engeneering, the people behind the Cadence multi-line Braille Tablet.
Stuart catches up with /Dave Williams, RNIB's Inclusive Design Ambassador, to learn about his work and the work of the Inclusive design team.
This week Sight and Sound Technology are attending the 40th CSUN Assistive Technology conference in Anaheim, California. Stuart introduces the series and gives us a sense of what to expect.
February is a busy time for our friends at RNIB and specifically in their Northern Ireland team. Two events of note are running across two days.
On Tuesday February 25th the RNIB Braille and Beyond library tour comes to Lisburn City Library, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
On Wednesday February 26th RNIB Northern Ireland's Technology Fair, now in its second year, will be taking place at the Lagan Valley Island, also in Lisburn, from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Stuart catches up with RNIB's Jackie Brown to find out more.
Welcome back to another episode of Sight and Sound Technology's podcast. This time we're talking all things AI.
Envision have recently launched Envision Ally on their smart glasses as well as putting the Ally app for iOS and Android into public beta. Stuart is joined by Envision's co-founder and CEO Karthik Mahadevan to tell us more.
You can give the Envision Ally app a spin on your platform of choice if you wish by using the links below.
iOS:
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ally.me%2Fbeta%2Fios&data=05%7C02%7Cstuart.lawler%40sightandsoundtechnology.ie%7C5e499efbe8454c7763e108dd317b730e%7C9d76d91d0dda48c3aa025a7a6056bfc0%7C0%7C0%7C638721128478320082%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sAm8xDvDxd8kOTkfRFEHv%2BfJqXCbrxVMr%2Fh31YOKSlI%3D&reserved=0
Android:
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ally.me%2Fbeta%2Fandroid&data=05%7C02%7Cstuart.lawler%40sightandsoundtechnology.ie%7C5e499efbe8454c7763e108dd317b730e%7C9d76d91d0dda48c3aa025a7a6056bfc0%7C0%7C0%7C638721128478347137%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=l0%2FOG72Jaaf3tvPpvZT02w3Ys1ObCQTB%2FeUxsr%2FTY4Y%3D&reserved=0
Our friends from Blazie Engineering have just released a new and exciting application called Blazie Agent, that allows you to use Chat GPT from anywhere on your computer, as long as you have the JAWS screen reader running. Stuart is joined by Blazie's Kelvin Duncan to learn more.
As we join in the world-wide celebrations of 200 years of Braille here at Sight and Sound Technology, we’re delighted to introduce another Braille device to our portfolio. Paige Connect transforms the classic Perkins Brailler for instant translation and gamified learning on any device.
Stuart meets with Gregory Hargraves from Paige Braille to find out more.
Alan Taylor has recently joined our Scottish team to head up our training function north of the border. Stuart meets Alan to find out a little about him and his role.
Bristol Braille Technology have been synonymous with the development of multi-line Braille technology for more than 10 years. We are very excited to unveil the Canute Console which is just entering our product portfolio.
On this episode Stuart meets Stephanie Sergeant and Ed Rogers from Bristol Braille Technology to learn more about this device.
In episode 91, we introduced Will Carter, from our tech support team, who had produced a comprehensive audio tutorial for the SmartVision 3 mobile phone. This episode features the full tutorial for easy access.
There's less than two weeks to go before Sight Village Central, taking place at the East Side Rooms, in Birmingham. Stuart is joined by Priyanka Srivastava and Ferkan Metin from Envision, to tell us about some of their latest updates, and, Priyanka and Ferkan will also join us on the stand in Birmingham!
Wil Carter from our technical support team has just produced a new audio tutorial for the SmartVision 3 mobile phone. Stuart catches up with Will and Ash Cross, our tech support manager, to find out about the tutorial and some of the team's future plans for content development.
The International Council on English Braille (ICEB) recently held it's eighth general assembly, in Auckland, New Zealand.
This event, run once every four years, is an opportunity for Braille users, producers, researchers and technology companies to get together and explore all aspects of the Unified English Braille code, as well as other specialist areas such as Maths and Music.
On this episode Stuart is joined by Matthew Horspool, Code Maintenance Officer with ICEB, to reflect on a very busy few days of Braille-related activities and discussions.
The very popular and much beloved Sight Village Assistive Technology exhibition is turning 30 this year.
The event, which started its life on the Queen Alexandra College campus has evolved to be a major event and is a firm favourite in the calendars of blind and low vision users of assistive technology, as well as a host of assistive technology companies and charities providing services for people with sight loss.
This year, Sight Village returns to the East Side rooms in Birmingham, for two days, on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th of July.
To celebrate its 30th birthday, the event will also include an evening of entertainment and a very special Sight Village Assistive Technology museum.
Stuart is joined by Paul Hopkins and Rose Woodall from Queen Alexandra College to give us all the details.
The Sight and Sound team are fresh back from the world renowned Sight City Assistive Technology show, which takes place annually in Frankfurt.
This episode is all about glimpsing at some new technology, which will shortly enter our product line. We'll hear from Orbit Research, Harpo, Paige Connect, Next VPU and WeWalk.
And, if that wasn't enough, there are some promotions on some of the technology featured in this episode that you will not want to miss out on!
Forrest Yoga is renowned globally as a powerfully physical, internally focused Ceremonial yoga practice that emphasizes how to carry a transformative experience from the yoga mat into daily life.
On this very special and very different episode of our podcast, Stuart is joined by Sight and Sound Technology's Sharon Lyons, who took a month away from her life and work to go to Barcelona to become a Forrest yoga practitioner.
Welcome into another episode of the Sight and Sound Technology podcast.
Today's episode is all about an exciting new addition to our portfolio called SpeakSee.
Speaksee is the first microphone system able to accurately transcribe group conversations. In addition, Speaksee shows what's being said in different colors for each person, In less than a second. Each speaker can have their own name corresponding with the microphone they are wearing. In this way a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing person can distinguish who says what.
This new and very exciting technology aims to make conversations accessible for all.
Joining Stuart on the show is Adam Lee, Business Development Manager with SpeakSee in the UK to tell us more.
We're hugely excited at present as the Braille eMotion, the latest refreshable Braille display from selvas Healthcare in South Korea enters our portfolio.
But this is much more than just a Braille display, as Jenny Axler from Selvas Healthcare tells us when she sits down with Stuart for a chat.
The 39th CSUN Assistive Technology Conference AND EXHIBITION in Anaheim, California, hosted by the Centre on Disabilities, Division of Student Affairs at California State University, Northridge, has just concluded for another year.
Sight and Sound Technology's Stefanie Davies was on the ground in California and joins Stuart to talk about the event.
World Optometry Week takes place this year from 17th to 24th March. The 2024 theme is all about advancing Optometry's Commitment to Global Eye Care.
To mark World Optometry week, Stuart meets Sarah Arnold, who has worked as an optomitrist for the last 30 years, and who is herself visually impaired.
On this episode Stuart meets the insporational 16-year-old Nathon Proudfoot, who has invented his very own low vision device called the nathon 14.
We also have information about a very interesting webinar hosted by the UK Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF) on March 21st.
The popular Sight Village assistive technology show is kicking off for 2024 by visiting Blackpool on Tuesday 9th April, at the Winter Gardens, from 09:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Stuart is joined by Rose Woodall from QAC to give us all the details.
Welcome to the 80th episode of our podcast, which coincidentally enough marks our Christmas 2023 programme.
Speaking of Christmas, you may not be aware that Santa has some amazing offers on a range of hardware from our partners in Kapsys, Envision, WeWalk, Vispero and Hims, and Stuart has all the details.
We report from a recent Employer Engagement event, held in Dublin, by Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, who have been running the Employment Vision project for the last two years.
The project, supported by funding from Pobal, aims to support people with sight loss to gain employment and build confidence and aims to show employers that people with impaired vision are an untapped pool of talent ready to make a difference!
We hope you enjoy our final show of 2023, and we look forward to our return in January.
The Cadence tablet from Tactile Engineering is a pocket-sized device (about the size of a large mobile phone) with 48 cells of 8-dot refreshable Braille, in four lines of 12 cells each. Connecting four tablets into a desktop quartet provides eight lines of 24 cells each.
The tablet features Perkins keys, a directional pad for navigation and control, and seven multi-use keys for selecting lines, accessing labels and menus, highlighting objects, and more.
Joe Said from Tactile Engineering recently visited our head office in Northampton and Stuart took the opportunity to sit down with him and learn more.
The ever popular Sight Village South-East event is returning to Kensington Town Hall on Tuesday 7th November. Doors open at 10:00 am and the event runs until 5:00 pm.
Stuart is joined by Paul Hopkins and Rose Woodall from QAC to tell us all about it.
We're delighted to mark National Braille week by having a reflective chat with Matthew Horspool.
Matthew’s career started in a school for the blind, where he worked as a Braille transcriber and teacher of technical Braille codes. He has been formally involved with the Braillists Foundation since it was registered as a charity in 2020 and took up the post of General Manager in 2021. He is also Braille Subject Lead for the UK Association for Accessible Formats and has recently been appointed as Code Maintenance Officer with the International Council on English Braille. In his spare time, he sings in the choir at Coventry Cathedral, where Braille is invaluable to his success.
If you've ever had an idea for a feature in JAWS, Zoomtext or Fusion, this could be your big chance to shine and get your idea out there!
Vispero have just launched their 'Next Big Thing' contest, running until October 16th. All you have to do is create a three-minute video presentation outlining your software feature idea.
Stuart is joined on this episode by Ryan Jones, Vice President of software product management at Vispero who tells us all about it.
Paul Ryb lost his central vision in 2007, but his life changed when he gave blind tennis a go at a sports hall in Wimbledon.
Last week, he was amongst a select few invited to return to Wimbledon, not to that sports hall, but to the most famous tennis court in the world, to play an exhibition match.
As he prepares for the World Blind Games in Birmingham, followed by the World tennis championships in Poland, Stuart catches up with Paul to learn more about his love of tennis and his incredible journey.
We've just returned from this year's Sight Village Central event in Birmingham, and, at that event, we were delighted to unveil our new partnership with WeWALK.
WeWALK aims to Enhance the mobility of visually impaired people through a revolutionary smart cane and smartphone app.
The WeWALK cane detects above-ground obstacles with ultrasound while still retaining the standard white cane’s ground feedback.
In this episode Stuart meets with Jean Marc Feghali, Head of Research and Innovation at WeWALK, to learn about this revolutionary mobility aid.
If you want to take the WeWALK for a test-drive, then please get in touch with the office by telephone in the UK to 01604 798070.
Matthew Horspool is a familiar voice and a familiar name for his various activities in the blind and low vision community.
Stuart caught up with Matthew, in his capacity as General Manager of the Braillists Foundation to find out more about the charity and the work they do.
Saima Ashraf, from Blackburn, is a senior auditor at Merseyside Police, breaking down stereotypes of what a visually impaired person can do.
Stuart caught up with Saima at a very busy Sight village for a quick chat.
Since the launch of their smart glasses a couple of years ago, Envision have been changing the way that people with low or no vision see the world around them.
With the recent explosion of Chat GPT and AI in general, Envision have been working hard to make sure that this new and exciting technology is at the heart of their own tools and we can already see the benefits in recent software upgrades.
In another of our Sight Village Central countdown podcasts, Stuart sits down with Vanessa Vigar, Chief Marketing Officer at Envision.
We talk not only about Envision, their technology, AI and the future, but we also learn a little about Vanessa and how she came to this role.
We're continuing our countdown to Sight Village Central 2023 and meeting some of the great partners that we have the pleasure of representing across the UK and Ireland.
First up, Stuart is checking in with an old friend.
Between releasing their new SensePlayer device earlier this year, and working on a major update to the BrailleSense 6, Selvas Healthcare, the parent company of Hims, based in South Korea are incredibly busy.
Jenny Axler is back to tell Stuart what's been happening and to tell us what we can expect to find in that soon-to-come BrailleSense 6 firmware release.
We're counting down to the biggest annual assistive technology exhibition in the UK.
Sight Village Central takes place this year in a brand new location, at Eastside Rooms, 2 Woodcock Street, in Birmingham, on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th of July.
In the first of our Sight Village countdown series, Stuart is joined by our Head of Sales and Marketing Stefanie Davies, to tell us what we can expect in the lead-up to this major event.
Sight Village has become a favourite event in many of our calendars over the years.
The organisers at Queen Alexandra College are always innovating to make the events bigger and better and, there's always something new and exciting to be found.
On this episode Stuart chats with Paul Hopkins, from Queen Alexandra College to find out all about this year's Sight Village calendar of events, including locations and what people might expect when they visit.
Nick Alsbury is the newest member of our field sales team. Stuart sits down with Nick to get to know him and hear about his previous media career!
Welcome and happy new year from all at Sight and Sound Technology.
Our podcast returns for a new year with an exciting new addition. We have introduced podcast transcripts starting with this episode. We hope this will be of use to our deafblind friends, and also to anyone who simply wants to quickly find content without having to listen to the show. Please let us know if this feature is helpful.
On this episode Stuart meets Fraser Fleming and Graham Gunning, founders of Triple Tap Tech, a charity in Glasgow who advise, help, support and train people with a visual impairment on everything to do with technology.
Ruth Gallagher-Carr is one half of the duo behind the hugely successful Getting AT Ready conference, which she developed alongside her colleague Carolyne Smith.
She's also been responsible for building a thriving presence for Sight and Sound Technology in Scotland, and, for working as part of a team to develop a robust quality management system in the company.
As Ruth prepares to move to the next chapter in her career, Stuart sits down with her for a reflective chat about her time with Sight and Sound Technology and almost 17 years in total working in the sight loss sector.
Merry Christmas from the Sight and Sound Technology podcast team!
Wednesday 4th January is World Braille Day, and we’re delighted to announce details of a half-day online conference that we’re putting together in association with our friends at the Braillists Foundation.
This podcast episode is somewhat different to our regular output, in that we have a guest host in the wonderful Steven Scott, host of the DoubleTap podcast, who has kindly taken the show into his very capable hands to sit down with Matthew Horspool from the Braillists Foundation and our own Stuart Lawler, to talk all things Braille, and of course, to talk more about the World Braille Day conference.
This episode is also being simulcast on the Braillists Foundation’s podcast feed, so if you subscribe to both our shows you will likely hear it twice!
Sincere thanks to Steven for doing a great job in bringing us together and stimulating some great discussion.
We hope you will enjoy this very special episode.
We're just back from a hugely successful Sight Village event, and it was wonderful to return to Kensington Town Hall, in the heart of London.
On this episode Stuart catches up at the event with Rob Powell, who tells us about the Jubilee Club Magazine, and Freek van Welsenis, co-founder of the company who have brought us the revolutionary Hable One device.
The SmartVision 3, the only Google certified smartphone designed specifically for people with low or no vision has recently joined our product portfolio. This handset, which integrates Google's Talkback screen reader, offers three ways to control your smartphone and access information, including a tactile keypad.
Stuart caught up with Tony Shrubb from our field sales team to find out all about it.
Roger Firman is chair of UKAAF, the UK Association for Accessible Formats.
Until June of this year, when he retired, he ran his own company called Golden Chord, dedicated to providing a high-quality personalised transcription service for customers who require music, music-related and other materials in braille.
Roger is a life-long user of Braille and is passionate about its application in all areas of life.
On this very special podcast to mark National Braille week 2022, Stuart sat down with Roger for an in-depth chat.
Remote Incident Manager (RIM), the latest exciting software release from Pneuma Solutions, is a fully accessible remote desktop application for technical support, training, and simply helping friends and family with their PCs.
We had so much fun with founders Mike Calvo and Matt Campbell last time that we invited them back to hang out with Stuart and tell him all about this revolutionary application.
Sam Coulson will have been a very familiar voice if you attended our Social Hub and other Sight and Sound Technology webinars in the early days of lockdown.
Sam left Sight and Sound Technology in August 2021 to pursue his acting career, but last week he made a welcome return and he’s popped into catch up with Stuart and tell him what he’s been up to since hanging up his assistive technology sales hat.
Our podcast returns after a short summer break, and this time we have a new member of the Sight and Sound team to meet!
Stefanie Davies has recently joined as Marketing Manager. Stuart catches up with Stefanie to find out about her and her role at Sight and Sound Technology.
The DAISY Consortium's Music Braille project is a cross-sector collaboration to identify, prioritise, and deliver both short-term and long-term improvements to secure the future of music braille production and use. The project aims to ensure that more music braille scores are available more easily to more blind musicians world-wide.
Stuart is joined on this episode by DR. Sarah Morley Wilkins, Project Manager and User Experience Consultant to learn more.
The mission of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers is to support better vision for all. Founded in 1629, the company is number 60 in the list of City of London Livery Companies by order of precedence. The company want to inspire future generations committed to visionary eye care, building upon their rich heritage of almost 400 years.
On this episode Stuart sits down with the company's current master, Ian Davies, to learn about an exciting event recently held at the Mansion House in London, to promote the significant benefits to business in the city of London in recruiting people with low or no vision.
Stuart meets Sight and Sound Technology's Alan McGillivray,, Master of Ceremonies at this year's AT Ready festival.
Stuart is joined by Liam Pettitt from matchware, headline sponsors of the AT Ready festival.
Stuart catches up with George Rhodes, director of AllAble and keynote speaker at this year's AT Ready festival
Stuart is joined by Sight and Sound Technology's Head of Education Carolyne Smith, to help set the scene for this year's event.
Welcome to AT Ready 2022, an event providing disability professionals in Further and Higher Education the opportunity to share best practice, learn about new technologies and to hear from
experts. Stuart introduces us to the event and a little about what we can look forward to on the next few mini podcast episodes.
BlindAmbition is an international disability training consultancy focused on improving the lives of disabled people. They work with everyone from multi-national market-leading technology companies, global retailers/manufacturers, National Governments to smaller charities and businesses. In short anyone who needs help improving the accessibility of their products, services and working environment for Disabled and disadvantaged groups. Stuart caught up with founder Seema Flower to learn more.
The Technology Association of Visually Impaired people (TAVIP) promotes, supports and encourages the use of technology amongst blind and partially sighted people. Stuart caught up with Mike Townsend and Julian Garner to learn more about the organisation and an interesting course they are developing to help blind and low vision people enter the workplace.
ARX Vision is a new and exciting wearable device that uses AI to describe the world around you.
Stuart caught up with ARX Vision's CEO Charles Leclercq to find out more.
Sight Village is the UK's leading exhibition of Assistive Technology and services for people with sight loss. This week sees the return of Sight Village Central at the Cranmore Park Conference and Events Centre. Over the next two days we'll be producing mini episodes to give you a flavour of what's going on at this year's event. Stuart sets the scene on this introductory episode.
Molly Watt is a usability & Accessibility Consultant, as well as a keynote speaker. She
is a passionate advocate for accessibility and inclusion and she has also established,
with the help of her family, the Molly Watt Trust.
Stuart caught up with Molly recently to learn all about her work, her thoughts on the
current state of accessibility in the digital landscape and her plans for the future.
And, if you use Vispero software and are thinking of upgrading, sit tight and stay
tuned, because we have some great news!
Established in Scotland 7 years ago, Getting AT Ready brings together Assistive Technology specialists, disability professionals and manufacturers to discuss best practice and build strategies to support students in Further and Higher education. Stuart is joined by Sight and Sound Technology's Carolyne Smith and Ruth Gallagher Carr to learn all about this year's event, which will take place in Glasgow on July 7th and 8th.
Sandra Gayer is a blind/visually impaired Soprano, radio presenter, voiceover artist and actress.
Stuart caught up with Sandra to talk about her life, the many aspects to her career and, of course, Braille music.
If you've been a subscriber of or are aware of the Top Tech Tidbits publication then you will likely be familiar with the name Dean Martineau.
Dean, who started the publication in 2004 has become something of a household name in the blind community and has extensive experience with all sorts of assistive technology.
Stuart sits down with him to learn a little about his use of technology, how he started the Top Tech Tidbits publication and how he uses the BrailleSense 6.
Marco Zehe has been a well-known figure in the world of accessibility and assistive technology for well over 20 years. Having held positions with Mozilla and Freedom Scientific he has been instrumental in guiding the development of some of the technology that lots of us use today.
Stuart sat down with Marco recently on the back of a review that Marco posted to twitter, following his testing of the BrailleSense 6. Marco is rather impressed with the device, and, you'll also hear his views on the current state of Android accessibility.
Last year we introduced Mark Belcher, and the wonderful resource that is Henshaws Knowledge Village, providing a one stop point of info on all things relating to sight loss.
Now, Mark returns to update us on some initiatives to make NHS services more accessible, and, Henshaws have also been participating in an interesting project called Travel Assist.
This session gives a comprehensive overview of the BrailleSense 6 and BrailleSense Polaris's word processor. You'll learn about opening, saving and managing multiple documents, using marks, and we will explore the menus to show you where you can find a host of useful features.
This session focuses on the BrailleSense 6 and BrailleSense Polaris's built-in email application. You'll learn about setting up accounts, some considerations to make, sending and receiving email and attachments, and configuring email options.
Regular listeners to our podcast will know that we love exploring new and innovative technology. We've been keeping an eye on developments in the world of multi-line refreshable Braille for a while now and are delighted to devote this episode to a new and emerging device called the TouchPad Pro.
Stuart meets the TouchPad Pro's inventor Daniel Lubiner to learn more.
The vision for the TouchPad Pro is to:
Experience illustrations, graphs, photographs, and selfies. For example, feel a face rise out of the surface with the contours of the nose, eyes and cheeks.
Read and write anywhere with 12 lines of refreshable Braille.
Experience the Internet like never before.
View, feel and zoom in on a full-colour tactile display.
Use a specialized stylus to instantly create, touch, and save tactile drawings with multi-sensory feedback.
Welcome to the first of four sessions where we explore some of the core applications on the BrailleSense 6 and BrailleSense Polaris. In this session, Stuart introduces the file manager, which, as well as having the ability to copy and move files, can also be helpful when searching through files for strings of text and even zipping up multiple files into a handy archive.
We're always interested here at Sight and Sound Technology in keeping up with innovations in the orientation and mobility space and looking at some of the emerging technology that may impact on how we travel in the future. On this episode, Stuart is joined by Arjun Tambe, who is one of a group of researchers in Stanford University, who are working on the Augmented Cane. The Augmented cane uses sensors to detect obstacles. It guides the user away from obstacles, including those at head height and hazards on the ground. A wheel steers the user along the safest route.
Happy new year and welcome to the first episode in our 2022 podcast series.
We're kicking off 2022 with a long overdue catch-up with our Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tookey, to reflect on the year that was 2021, get some updates on key operations within the business and talk about plans for 2022.
Scott Young is sight and Sound Technology's National Account and Sales and Marketing Manager. Stuart is sitting down with him to find out more about Scott and his work.
On episode 49 of our podcast we're delighted to meet Cormac O'Toole. Cormac, who is a secondary school student in Ireland has just started producing some instructional videos to help people to learn how to use the BrailleSense 6. You'll find these videos shortly on our YouTube channel. Stuart sits down with Cormac to find out more about him, his love of gaming and the tech he uses.
This is the last session in the current series of our 'Getting to know your BrailleSense 6' training sessions, and Stuart is joined by Jenny Axler from Selvas Healthcare in South Korea, and Jackie Brown, a long-time user of Hims products, to take us on a journey through Android and some useful apps for the BrailleSense 6.
Welcome to Sight and Sound Technology's annual session, to explore all that is new in the latest release of JAWS, the world's most popular screen reader.
Joining our team James Everson, Fionnuala Murphy and Stuart Lawler from Sight and Sound Technology, are Eric Damery, Jan Bloem and Mohammed Laachir from Vispero.
In this the penultimate session in our 'Getting to know your BrailleSense 6' training series, Stuart takes us through the new Wiki Search and how it can be used independently, and as part of other applications within the BrailleSense 6 user interface.
In session three of our 'Getting to know your BrailleSense 6' series, Stuart explores the world of language profiles. We learn what they are, how to set them up and how to find additional voices to download for your BrailleSense 6 device.
In this the second session in our BrailleSense 6 training series, Stuart explores the new podcast client coming in the soon-to-be-released software update and how to use it to listen to your favourite podcasts and find new content.
Welcome to the first in a series of five training sessions devoted to the BrailleSense 6.
In this first session, Stuart is joined by Jenny Axler from Selvas Healthcare in Korea, who takes us through the main differences between the BrailleSense 6 and the BrailleSense U2.
Windows 11, Microsoft's new operating system, will be released on October 5th. We've had many questions to our support desk about Windows 11, what it is, what's changed and whether or not it is worth the upgrade, especially if you are using assistive technology that we support. In this episode Stuart is joined by Tristram Llewellyn from our tech support team, who has been spending time testing it out and is here to answer our questions.
STRAP's goal is to be the first total replacement of the white cane. The technology exists now and its inventors believe that we are living in the right moment for this innovation to come along and have a significant and positive impact on blind and visually impaired people the world over. On this edition of our podcast, Stuart sits down with Diego Roel, CEO and founder of STRAP Technologies, to learn more about this new and exciting device.
On this programme Stuart meets Gleb Zevkov, co-founder of Voxmate. Voxmate is a suite of accessible apps for Android devices that provide an intuitive, gesture-based, audio-first experience. When you launch Voxmate on your phone, you get access to a range of audio-first Voxmate apps. These apps allow you to listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and radio as well as to read news articles, place phone calls, use social networks like Telegram and Reddit, play games, and much more.
If you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 11, our tech support team would really appreciate if you might hold off for a little while. Stuart explains more, and we will follow-up on this topic on a future episode of the podcast.
There's a lot to be covered in this last session in our 'Getting to know your new BrailleSense 6 series', so sit back, grab your device and let Stuart show you some more gems in this outstanding note taker.
We'll explore the built-in dictionary, the ability to search for, download and read content from Bookshare, using the new Web Radio application and finally, a quick discussion about language profiles.
The BrailleSense 6 runs Android version 10, which means it is ideal for running all sorts of mainstream apps. But how do you get them on the device? In this session, Stuart introduces us to the Play Store and shows us how to search for and install applications.
One really outstanding feature on the BrailleSense 6 and indeed the Polaris too is the integration of Google Drive into the native file manager application. In this session Stuart shows us how it works and how to set it up.
Welcome to the first in a series of four sessions, exploring some of the new and not so new features found on the BrailleSense 6, the world's most powerful note taker. In this session, Sight and Sound Technology's Stuart Lawler takes us through the email application.
Welcome to the fifth and final session in our 'Unpacking Tech that makes you feel at home' series. Today Stuart is joined by Ash Cross, Technical Support Team leader at Sight and Sound Technology, and Stuart Beveridge, Information Technology Trainer at Seescape in Scotland to answer questions in our tech surgery.
Welcome to session four in our 'Unpacking Tech that makes you feel at home' series. Today Stuart is joined by Ron Miller, Braille Product Specialist at Vispero to talk about the Focus line of Braille displays and the Pearl camera.
Welcome to the third installment in our 'Unpacking Tech that makes you feel at home' series of webinars. Today Stuart is joined by Matt Ater, Vice President of Software and Corporate Business at Vispero, to take us through the latest updates an enhancements in the JAWS screen reader.
On this, our second session in the 'Unpacking Tech that makes you feel at home' series, Stuart is joined by Vispero's Vice President of Software Product Management Eric Damery, to take us through the latest changes and enhancements in Zoomtext and Zoomtext Fusion software.
In this the first of a week-long series of webinars, Stuart is joined by Sight and Sound Technology's Technical Support and Services Manager Ruth Gallagher-Carr to unveil this year's specials and outline the programme for the week ahead.
On this very special podcast episode, Stuart is joined by Jenny Axler from Selvas Healthcare in Korea, who is introducing us to Kihun Jang, lead developer at Selvas, for the BrailleSense line of products.
Welcome to another episode of our Desert Island Tech podcast series.
Today Stuart sits down with Mike Brace CBE, DL.
Mike is a former Paralympic skier, social worker and leader of disabled charities. He was Chief Executive of Vision 2020 UK and served as Chairman of the British Paralympic Association. He was awarded an OBE in 2005 and a CBE in 2009 for Services to Disabled Sport and was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of London in 2016.
If you’ve been watching our social media lately you’ll know that we have a hugely attractive trade-in offer at present on the new BrailleSense 6, which is just releasing over the next few weeks. If you are in two minds as to whether to take the plunge, you might find this episode helpful. Stuart is joined by Jenny Axler from Selvas in South Korea, and Earle Harrison, from Hims Incorporated, in the US to talk all about what we genuinely believe is the most exciting Braille note taker to ever hit the market.
Welcome back to another episode of the Sight and Sound Technology podcast. Today we're catching up with an old friend, as Stuart sits down with Neil Barnfather, Vice President, Europe for Goodmaps.
GoodMaps was born out of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Founded in 2019 and based out of Louisville, GoodMaps (previously named Access Explorer) was created by APH with a simple mission: to further the cause of accessible navigation. Realizing that the mission of universal accessible navigation was limited by the lack of indoor digital mapping, the GoodMaps platform and company were born.
On this episode we're delighted to meet Henry Green, Co-founder and President of Ocutech. Founded in 1984, Ocutech is the worldwide leader in designing state-of-the-art bioptic telescopes specifically for the visually impaired. Proven effective in NIH-funded studies, and available in over 40 countries, they have become the gold standard in high-quality bioptic telescope systems.
On this episode we bring you a double dose of goodness!
Mark Belcher is manager of the Knowledge Village, an initiative of Henshaws Society for the Blind in Manchester. We’ve recently started an exciting collaboration with Henshaws and Stuart catches up with Mark to find out all about what he and his team do.
Our good friend Stuart Beveridge is rather smitten with the Envision glasses, so much so that he's gone and started a podcast all about them! This will be an invaluable resource for anyone who has just received the Envision kit and needs a helping hand, or for someone who’s thinking about them and wants to know more. Our own Stuart Lawler sits down with Stuart to talk all things Envision podcast and the use of the Clubhouse social network.
Eyedaptic offers glasses to enhance vision for those who suffer from age-related macular degeneration and other low vision diseases. Stuart meets Jay Cormier, Eyedaptic's CEO to find out more.
We're thrilled as part of this Webinar Wednesday special to unveil the latest and greatest note taker from our friends in Selvas. The BrailleSense 6 is the device that we've been waiting for and it's about to be released.
With an Octa-Core CPU processor to meet the demands of powerful apps, 128 GB of storage, 6 GB of memory and a host of connectivity options the BrailleSense 6 is the ideal companion for those at home, at school, at college or in work.!
Running version 10 of the Android operating system means that you can install any number of applications from Google's play store.
Join our special guest Jenny Axler from Selvas in Korea who takes us through this powerhouse of a machine!
Jamie Mcallister went from having almost perfect vision to being totally blind over a 10 year period. Since lockdown started last year, Jamie has discovered podcasting and joins Stuart to talk about his shows and where you can hear them.
Wayband is a brand new navigation device that connects via Bluetooth with a smartphone and uses proprietary technology to communicate information through touch. Stuart sits down with Keith Kirkland co-founder of WearWorks to find out all about it.
If you’re a regular listener to our podcast you’ll know that we love hearing not only about new and interesting technology, but about how people with disabilities are doing new and exciting things.
On this episode Stuart meets with Alex Gibbons, who runs 'The Doctor Who the target world' podcast and tells us about himself and the show.
Rosie Dempsey lives in Belfast and has just launched an EP of some truly beautiful folk songs. Stuart catches up with Rosie to find out more about her and all about the new musical offering.
On this episode we meet Shane Lowe, Community Manager, who introduces us to Supersense. Supersense is the smartest and simplest scanner application for the blind and the visually impaired. It is fueled by unique AI technology and a super-accessible user interface.
We're delighted to welcome Pramit Bhargava, founder of Louie Voice to Webinar Wednesday. Imagine being able to fully control popular Apps and phone functionality with just voice commands! By just giving voice commands to Louie Voice, you can Book a taxi, enjoy your favourite videos on YouTube, send Text or Audio Messages, Share Audio & Video, Make Audio & Video Calls, fully Manage your Contacts & Make Phone Calls Louie Voice is an accessibility App and can be used by all voice-lovers including but not limited to people with low or no vision, motor-disabled, elderly, people with limited manual dexterity and indeed anyone who just wants hands-free access.
Mike Calvo and Matt Campbell are two veterans of the Assistive Technology industry. Since they launched Serotek 20 years ago, they've been pushing the boundaries to significantly increase access to content for people with disabilities. In this extended edition, Stuart is sitting down with Mike and Matt, as they reveal Pneuma Solutions, their latest offering, and demonstrate Scribe for Meetings, which will change the way that blind and low vision people engage during webinars and other online events. Pneuma Solutions tools allows organisations to provide their print disabled consumers, students, employees, and citizens with a multitude of accessible options.
On this episode Stuart meets Idan Meir, co-founder of RightHear. RightHear is a service that uses indoor micro-positioning technology for the benefit of people with low vision and other orientation challenges. The people behind RightHear believe that everyone should feel able, included, and empowered everywhere. Their aim is to make the world a more accessible place for everyone.
Louie Voice is an Android application that will let you fully control your phone & Apps with just voice commands. On this episode, Stuart meets Pramit Bhargava, Louie Voice's inventor, to find out all about it.
Envision Glasses bring Envision’s award winning software to smart glasses, enabling an unprecedented experience of hands-free and unobtrusive access to the visual world. With features ranging from real-time text recognition to video calling, Envision Glasses opens the door for the future of wearable assistive technology. In this session, Karl Brealey and Stuart Beveridge take us through this exciting new technology and demonstrate many of its features.
Welcome to the last episode of the Sight and Sound Podcast for 2020. We want to go out with a bang and we have something very exciting to reveal!
We're delighted to introduce the Envision Smart Glasses, which have just joined our product range.
Stuart meets Pierre Kegels to find out all about these exciting AI wearables.
Stuart Beveridge from Scotland has been using these glasses since the start of November. Stuart, who is totally blind has been blown away by what they can do, and we find out more when we chat with him.
Finally, many of our colleagues across the Sight and Sound company want to send you their very own greetings for Christmas and new year.
We’ve reached the end of a hugely eventful year for everyone. Now it’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy Sight and Sound technology’s Webinar Wednesday Big Christmas Quiz. Six contestants join us live to play for an Amazon gift voucher to the value of £100 or €100.
Welcome to the latest episode of the Sight and Sound Technology podcast.
On this show, Stuart is meeting Graham Coath and Pete Quinn, who are introducing a new virtual event platform called Remo.
Made by a remote team, Remo makes it really simple to create a delightful, immersive virtual space that empowers people to communicate, connect, and collaborate with each other just like they would in real life.
Martin Lawlor is totally blind and has been using technology for years. He's always exploring new gadgets and joins Stuart to talk about what he uses and how he uses it.
Today we’re delighted to welcome our friends and colleagues from Blazie Engineering, who have created a set of scripts to significantly enhance the functionality of Microsoft Teams when used with the JAWS screen reader.
Blazie Engineering is the premier organisation in the UK and Ireland for provision of Scripting, consultation, assessment and provision of high quality, technically advanced accessibility services. Working with individuals and large organisations to make computer applications accessible for over 25 years.
If you use Microsoft Teams with JAWS, or if you plan to do so, then this session is not to be missed!
For further information on the scripts, or to purchase them, please email info@blazie.co.uk
Welcome back to another Desert Island Tech. On this episode, Stuart meets Lord Colin Low of Dalston, who has been a lifelong campaigner for the rights of blind and disabled people, especially in the field of education.
Former Chair, now Vice President of RNIB, and Immediate Past President of ICEVI (International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment), he taught Law and Criminology at Leeds University and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006.
Scope Eyecare has been championing children’s futures for many years by fundraising and supporting sight loss charities. In their latest fundraising campaign, the #6MinuteLockdown, Scope employees will blind fold themselves for six minutes and complete an everyday task. Throughout November, they hope to raise significant funds for ChildVision in Ireland and the Royal Society for Blind Children in the UK.
Amie Hynes Fitzpatrick is Scope Eyecare's CSR Lead and joins Stuart to tell us all about the #6MinuteLockdown and how we can all get involved!
We’re always excited at Sight and Sound when a major release of JAWS, Zoomtext and Fusion becomes available.
Now that the 2021 version of all three products are released, we are keen to spend some time showing you all that is new in JAWS, the world’s most popular screen reader.
In this session Eric Damery, Vice President of Software Product Management and Jan Bloem, International Sales Manager from Vispero are with us to explore the new voice assistant, Picture Smart enhancements and we answer your questions.
For blind people around the world, Braille is integral to our lives. We use it numerous times every day, to do all sorts of things, and there’s no doubt that it has been instrumental in linking education to better career prospects.
At Sight and Sound Technology, we’re passionate not only about how Braille is used right now, and the technology that works alongside it, but to look at how Braille is evolving, and what might be possible in the future.
On this special Webinar Wednesday session, we’re talking about Braille Innovations and how you can find support to know more about Braille and its many codes in the UK and Ireland.
Our guests for this session are Dr. Sile O’Modhrain, from the University of Michigan, Dr. Donal Fitzpatrick, from Dublin City University, and Mr. Dave Williams, Chair of the Braillists Foundation.
With increased restrictions in England and Ireland to curve the spread of Covid-19, technology is more important than ever to keep us all connected. Our latest Webinar Wednesday session discusses enhancements in iOS 14, the importance of services like WhatsApp and Zoom and we answer questions from our audience.
Our guest on this session is Kerie Doyle, a long-time user of Assistive Technology and an avid Apple enthusiast.
You've probably heard about Linux, as it’s the operating system behind many of the devices that we all interact with every day, but just what can it do and how can people with low or no vision use it?
This webinar Wednesday is devoted entirely to Linux accessibility and usability for screen reading, magnification and refreshable Braille technology.
Our guest presenter for this session is Andrew Eliasz. Andrew is Director at First Technology Transfer Ltd, a UK-based training and consultancy company offering instructor-led training across a broad range of information technology and software engineering subjects. Andrew has always been an evangelist for the uptake of technology teaching in schools and has a special interest in encouraging more youngsters to take up careers in science and technology. He is also a member of the academic staff at Croydon Tutorial College, a specialist tutoring college based in Croydon, specialising in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science tuition, as well as emergency help with homework or project crises.
On this episode we meet Siobhan Meade, who has created a very active and engaging presence on YouTube. We learn about the videos that Siobhan has put together and a little about how she does it.
We're celebrating World Sight Day this year with a reflective look back at a few pivotal moments within the Assistive Technology industry, and some of the key points that shaped it. On this episode Stuart meets Tobias Winnes, Vice President of International Sales at Vispero. Tobias was involved with Henter-Joyce from the very early days, and talks about the beginnings of JAWS for windows.
This year, we are starting our celebration of World Sight day with a special Webinar Wednesday event.
For people with low or no vision, technology is probably the greatest enabler, affording access to education, employment, independent travel, books and so much more.
On this special Webinar event, we’ve brought together a panel of users who are journeying with technology as they live an active life.
We’ve asked them to talk about where and how technology makes life easy and where they feel the technology could get even better.
Our panel represent a mix of those in employment and education, but crucially, our panel are living with sight loss and actively using technology.
On this episode we meet Nina Chesworth, who lives in Manchester. Nina shares her own incredible story of her sight loss journey. You can find out more about Nina by visiting her blog at www.blindbutsound.co.uk or on Twitter www.twitter.com/blind_but_sound
This week we're delighted to meet and chat with Julian Jackson. After 5 years as Director of Development and then Senior Adviser to a leading eye research charity, Julian launched “VisionBridge” in June 2016, supported by a growing nationwide group of academic researchers, clinician scientists, clinicians and patient advocates. He continues to build on the work he started in 2014 to support innovators, promote eye health, increase the awareness and understanding of sight loss and introduce the extraordinary world of eye research to the public, eye health professionals, patients and the wider Visually Impaired community across the UK.
Julian lost his sight in 2010 to a retinal inherited disease and has a personal and professional interest in the daily battles being waged in hospitals.
How many times have you said ‘let me check the diary’?
For many of us an electronic diary is a core part of our digital arsenal and, in many cases, we’re accessing it on more than one device.
So, what’s available and how does all this tech work?
IN this session, Sight and sound Technology’s Sharon Lyons and Stuart Lawler explore two big players in this space, with calendar offerings from Google and Microsoft.
For well over the last 10 years Google have been leaders in cloud computing applications. Their suite of offerings including Google Mail, Drive, Calendar, Docs and Sheets are used the world over in education, business and at home.
In this session we're looking at accessibility within the Google suite, as we focus specifically on Mail, Calendar and Drive. You’ll learn lots of handy shortcuts and will develop an awareness of how you can harness your assistive technology to work optimally with Google’s many services.
Welcome to Desert Island Tech, a new podcast from Sight and Sound Technology, where we talk to people with disabilities to find out how technology has shaped their lives.
ON this our very first episode, we're meeting Amie Hynes Fitzpatrick, who works as the Corporate Social Responsibility Lead for Scope Eyecare. Amie has low vision and talks about her life and the technology she uses.
It's been a busy few months at Sight and Sound Technology, with a gradual return to face-to-face contact with our customers, the introduction of the ConnectWise system and our on-going journey towards ISO 9001 certification.
In this episode, our Chief Executive Glenn Tookey drops by to catch up with Stuart on all these and other updates.
This week's webinar Wednesday session welcomes back an old friend. Eric Damery, Vice President of Software Product Management at Vispero is with us to talk all things new in the up-coming JAWS 2021 public beta. Eric also talks about some of his essential tips and tricks, to get the very most from the JAWS screen reader.
ConnectWise is a service ticket management system, that is used to log issues, queries and requests. We've recently introduced it in our technical support department and on this episode Stuart is joined by Sight and Sound Technology's James Everson, Ruth Gallagher-Carr and Ash Cross, to tell us all about it and explain how it will greatly improve the service we can provide to our customers.
The Iona Resource Centre is a specialised service in Dublin for people with a visual impairment. The centre provides a specialised individual programme on one of 3 core strands: Skills4Stability, Skills4Life or Skills4Me. Service Users have a personalised individual plan that is tailored to meet their specific needs. NCBI takes a varied approach to providing day opportunities by aiming to be in the heart of the local community, ensuring that service users have the widest choice and options about how to live their lives and how to spend their time. On this webinar you'll find out all about the Iona Resource Centre, how their model of service delivery changed overnight during Covid-19 and, we'll even take time for a bit of exercise as the Iona Resource Centre staff give us some top tips for staying fit at home!
Microsoft released the latest major update to windows, version 2004, in May of this year. IN this podcast, Sight and Sound Technology’s Sharon Lyons joins Stuart to talk all about it.
This week's Webinar Wednesday features another tech surgery, where Sight and Sound Technology's James Everson, Sharon Lyons, Karl Brealey and Stuart Lawler are on hand to answer your questions.
In March of this year our world was turned upside-down. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact right across society and continues to do so.
For charities and those who provide services to some of the most vulnerable groups in society, a loss in fundraised income and diminished face-to-face contact has been extremely challenging.
In the first of an occasional series, we’re going to the heart of this sector, and talking with some of our charity partners to find out just how the last few months have been for them and the people with whom they work.
We’re delighted in this session to host our friends from Blind Veterans UK. The charity helps ex-Service men and women of every generation rebuild their lives after sight loss. With a membership of just under 5,000, they are always opening to new members.
Graham Longly has run Aspire Consultancy, an independent assistive technology company since 1999. Aspire Consultancy supply a wide range of assistive technology products, and also provide training on JAWS, Fusion and the J-Say suite of access technology.
On this Webinar Wednesday podcast we're featuring a new and exciting software accessory for the BrailleSense Polaris, and a creative international debut for a promising Polaris developer that, we think, will simplify your life and add serious value to your notetaker.
Mo-Tweet is a Twitter client specifically designed for the Polaris, harnessing all the power of Twitter with none of the clutter found in most Android apps, implemented with the BrailleSense interface you already know and love. It is developed by Nattiq Technologies, a veteran of the assistive technology field in the middle East, and a long-time HIMS partner in the UAE.
Nattiq has worked with the blind and visually impaired for 18 years, and its development staff have an intuitive knowledge of the types of interfaces that are most useful and efficient for blind people using Braille devices. We're very excited to introduce you to Nattiq, demonstrate the new and exciting Mo-Tweet application, and perhaps, get a sneak preview about what may be coming next for Nattiq and Polaris!
We're also delighted to be joined again on this session, by our good friend Jenny Axler, from Selvas Healthcare in Korea, who has been a key advisor in the development of the Mo-Tweet application.
As many people have been forced to turn to remote solutions for learning, working, and keeping in touch, you may well have heard of Microsoft Teams. This application has grown in popularity as more businesses and educational institutions are using it to make sure that their staff, students, and customers can easily communicate.
Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaboration platform complete with document sharing and online meeting features, to mention but a few. It integrates seamlessly into the Office 365 platform to allow for easy collaboration anywhere you have an internet connection.
ON this Webinar Wednesday podcast we’ve brought together a number of contributors from Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands and the United States, to share their experiences of using Microsoft Teams with screen readers on PC and iOS-based platforms.
You will learn how to successfully use the application to create teams and add members, chat, and collaborate with colleagues by sharing documents, set-up and manage meetings, and make one-to-one calls from your computer.
Exercise and maintaining a good level of fitness is key in preserving our physical and mental health. The last few months of lockdown have been challenging on lots of levels, but for people with sight loss, the difficulties in accessing appropriate activities to sustain a level of fitness has been particularly difficult. On this week's Webinar Wednesday, we've brought a panel together to talk all things sport, exercise, and leisure activities for people with sight loss. We hear about the hugely successful park run initiatives, which have been sweeping across Ireland and the UK in the last two years. We’re talking about how you might access your local gym post lockdown and things you may need to consider before heading off for your regular session and, we’ll meet a high performance athlete who is journeying towards Tokyo 2021 and hear how lockdown has forced him to make changes to his training routine.
This session welcomes our guest presenter Brian Hartgen, from Hartgen Consultancy. For the past five years, Hartgen Consultancy have created a range of products and training courses exclusively to support the JAWS screen-reader and ZoomText screen-magnification software. In this session, Brian gives an overview of the product range, everything from low-cost training in applications you may care to use on a daily basis through to tools to improve your productivity, read the news, get the weather, download podcasts and even broadcast audio.
The Virtual Music School for people with disabilities was set up in May 2020, and is the brainchild of Peter Gorry, from Dublin. It facilitates musical instrument and voice coaching lessons online for anyone who has a disability. IN this episode, Stuart meets Peter, to trace the history of the Music School, and also Meets Óran O'Neill, one of the school's students, to get a first-hand account of how it all works.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way in which businesses operate, and, the change has happened at such speed, that great leadership and a steady hand is required in order to make it work. In this episode of our podcast, Stuart catches up with our CEO Glenn Tookey, to talk about the past 10 weeks, the changes that have happened in Sight and Sound and how things might look going into a new type of normal.
On this week's Webinar Wednesday podcast we welcome our guest Ed Rogers from Bristol Braille Technology. Ed introduces us to Canute 360, a new multi-line Braille e-reader. The Canute 360’s nine lines and 360 cells makes literature, tables, sheet music, spreadsheets, charts, mathematical formulae and spacial diagrams much more useful and pleasurable for the Braille reader.
Listen to Jenny Axler from Selvas introducing us to the QBraille XL on our latest Webinar Wednesday podcast
On this episode we meet Theo Holroyd, who is one of a group of young people responsible for Tactile Times. Tactile times is a free biannual way for children and young people who are braillists, to share news, event information, tips, opinions and ideas. Theo tells us all about the publication, how you can get it, and of course, a little about himself and how he's managing with remote schooling.
Welcome to our latest Webinar Wednesday event, where Jenny Axler and Stuart Lawler explore the world of Android applications using the Braille Sense Polaris.
You'll learn about reading books, accessing TV programmes and movies, and, of course, how to get apps from the Google Play Store.
Welcome to the archived recording of our JAWS Gems webinar. IN this session, Sharon and Stuart are joined by Vispero's Jan Bloem and Eric Damery, to talk about great features in JAWS, such as Text Analyser, Picture Smart and OCR with the Pearl camera, an explanation of different JAWS cursors and Mouse Echo. Enjoy!
Welcome to our next Webinar Wednesday podcast. ON this episode we're talking all things ElBraille, with Sight and Sound Technology's Tony Shrubb and Stuart Lawler, and the Elita Group's Adi Kushnir, who is product manager for the ElBraille device, and who answers many questions from attendees.
Karl Brealey is one of our Assistive Technology Sales Executives. In this episode we meet Karl, find out a bit about his work and then Karl talks us through the selection of mobile phones available through French manufacturer Kapsys.
This episode contains the archive of our webinar from March 25th 2020, where we explored and demonstrated some of the new highlights in the up-coming Braille Sense Polaris software update. Amongst the features demonstrated are support for Google drive and its integration into the OS, the newly included Macro Manager and full support for Exchange/Office 365 email. This session was presented by sight and Sound's Stuart Lawler, with Sharon Lyons facilitating and Jenny Axler from Selvas Healthcare in Korea in attendance to offer expert answers from the manufacturer. Thank you to all who attended what was a lively and engaging 90 minute session!
As mentioned in our last podcast, we have lots of plans to make sure that we keep in touch with you over the next number of weeks, whilst the Covid-19 situation makes it difficult for us to do any face-to-face engagement. On this episode Stuart tells us about an up-coming webinar, which will showcase all that is new in the latest version of the Braille Sense Polaris firmware, which will be releasing this week.
As the Covid-19 strain of the Coronavirus makes itself felt throughout the world the way in which we work and live has changed immeasurably in a very short time. We want you to know that in the midst of this significant change and upheaval, the team at Sight and Sound Technology remain available to support and assist our customers.
We’re meeting the newest member of the Sight and Sound Technology team on this episode. Will Marshall is an Assistive Technology trainer working in Scotland. We find out about Will, his work and how he’s been teaching himself JAWS over the last few months.
As part of our on-going 'Meet the Team' series, we are introducing Alastair Mackay, who works with sight and sound as a customer trainer and Assistive Technology Sales executive in Scotland. We learn about Alastair's work and what he does when he's not working hard for Sight and Sound!
In this episode, Stuart introduces us to the newly arrived ElBraille, the revolutionary Windows 10 device that works seamlessly with the Focus 40 5th edition Braille display from Vispero.
Our final podcast of 2019 features a sit down chat with our very own Glenn Tookey, Chief Executive of Sight and Sound Technology. Stuart reflects with Glenn on the year that was for the company, what’s coming in 2020 and we find out how Glenn will be spending the time off! Happy Christmas from all at Sight and Sound Technology!
We're delighted to meet and chat with Mike Adams on this episode of our podcast. Mike is CEO of Purple, an organisation changing the disability conversation with businesses and disabled people. Purple see disability as a value opportunity and Mike is leading the development of products and services which are beginning to transform the landscape across all business sectors. Purple Tuesday, created and co-ordinated by Mike, has achieved national acclaim for its contribution to changing the customer experience for disabled people, including online accessibility.
On Friday 18th of October we launched a very exciting partnership with Enable Ireland and the Disability federation of Ireland, who have jointly come together to form Freedomtech and the CHAT community. In this episode of our podcast, our reporter Cathal Joyce goes along to the launch to find out all about it.
If you missed our webinar on October 30th, here's the audio from the session that explored the new features in JAWS 2020. You'll learn about enhancements in the JAWS cursor, how to customise the virtual cursor's behaviour on a per-tab basis in Google Chrome and much more.
ON this episode we’re all about featuring great people and organisations who have recently come on are radar, and who we encourage our listeners to check out!
Karen Wilson, Education Advocate with Angel Eyes is here to tell us about the work of this wonderful charity, who provide services and supports for families throughout Northern Ireland.
Anna Sheils-McNamee is the author of ‘My Dad’s Blind’, which is touring throughout Ireland during the month of September. We talk to Anna to hear about the play and what motivated her to write it.
Holly Tuke is a UK blogger who runs ‘Life of a Blind Girl’. She’s here to tell us about herself and her blog, which is well worth reading!
Sight and Sound Technology's Matt Pateman, Ash Cross, Sharon Lyons and Stuart Lawler are all on-hand in our technology surgery to help answer any questions from attendees. This is the final session in the Summer School series.
Session 4 in our Summer School series features Stuart Lawler, country manager at Sight and Sound Ireland, who describes and talks us through the use of the Focus Braille display family from Vispero.
Ruth Gallagher Carr, our Business development Manager for Scotland, is with us for session 3 of our Summer School series, to take us through the Zoomtext Magnification package.
In this second Summer School session, Ash cross from our tech support department brings us through the extensive Ruby range of magnifiers from Vispero.
In the first of our series of Summer School sessions, Sharon Lyons introduces us to keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel.
We’re excited on this episode of our podcast to announce details of the first ever Sight and Sound Summer School, a series of webinars, which are taking place on the week of August 12th. Our Sales and Marketing Manager Carla Barker is with Stuart to tell all. Sam Coulson is the latest recruit to Sight and Sound, working as an Assistive Technology Sales Executive covering the North of England. We meet Sam and find out a little about him.
July is a very busy month at Sight and Sound and we've news about our presence at Sight Village Central on July 9th and 10th and our Vispero events and exhibitions in Dublin on July 15th and Glasgow on July 16th. Julie Rodaway demonstrates the Focus 5th edition Scratchpad and how it can be used to quickly take notes and export them to other devices.
Sight and Sound Technology developed the Getting AT Ready events to provide Disability professionals in Further and Higher Education (FE and HE) the opportunity to share best practice, learn about new technologies and to hear from experts, so that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to develop existing accessibility policies and procedures.
This episode is devoted entirely to our 2019 event, which took place at the University of Strathclyde, on Friday May 31st.
This episode is shorter than usual, but we think you'll be very interested in listening in!
As we celebrate 40 years of providing high quality products and services across the UK and Ireland we are launching some promotional offers and Stuart, along with Sharon Lyons tells us all about them.
Sharon stays with Stuart for the remainder of the episode to conclude her segment on Windows Mail.
On this episode we’re welcoming two brilliant new starters to the Sight and Sound team.
Sharon Lyons joins the Dublin office as a trainer. We find out a little about Sharon and she commences what will be a regular series of shortcuts, this time looking at Windows Mail.
Carla Owen joined us in early February as Sales and Marketing Manager. We hear a little about Carla, her work and what she enjoys in her time off!
On episode 6 of our podcast Stuart introduces us to a newly added feature that was released as part of the January 2019 JAWS and Fusion update. You’ll see how easy it is to add Vocaliser Expressive voices right from the JAWS voice settings window.
We meet Tom Forsyth and Laura Maclean who have jointly developed a really great solution to assist with sighted guiding called the Ramble Tag.
Finally, Martin Lawlor is with Stuart to talk about his evaluation of the MiniVision mobile phone.
Happy new year from all at Sight and Sound Technology!
This episode is all about great people doing great things!
We meet Robbie Forde, a blind motivational speaker who has recently branched into stand-up comedy.
Amie Hynes Fitzpatrick has low vision and is an active blogger. She talks about her blog, her use of technology and her plans for the year ahead.
Finally, Stuart shows us the power of the Braille Sense Polaris by introducing the Apple Music app for Android.
Welcome to our Christmas 2018 Podcast, and Merry Christmas from all at Sight and Sound Technology!
On this episode we meet Jenny Axler from Selvas, formerly known as Hims. Jenny talks about the Braille Sense Polaris, and the recently launched QBraille XL, and also gives us a fascinating glimpse into her life as an American lady, totally blind living in Korea.
Stuart speaks with Aram Hekimian, CEO of French company Kapsys, who are the people behind the hugely popular SmartVision 2 and MiniVision mobile phones. We hear how Kapsys started out and how they are now committed to serving the needs of the sight loss community.
Welcome to our very first webinar from Thursday November 1st 2018. Stuart Lawler talks us through the new and exciting features in JAWS 2019, including faster start-up and a more responsive overall experience, improved performance in Office 365 applications, notification of spelling errors in Word and Outlook 365, Phonetic speaking of characters during navigation and much more.
We are also joined by Brian Hartgen from Hartgen Consultancy, who talks not only about support in Skype 8 provided natively in JAWS 2019, but also about significant enhancements available to JAWS users of Skype, available for purchase from his company. For more information visit www.hartgenconsultancy.com
On this episode we have details about an online training event we are running to coincide with the launch of JAWS 2019.
Stuart speaks to Austin Avalos who introduces us to the Sunu Band, a cool piece of wearable technology, which is now available for sale.
Finally we take a quick look at the latest update to the Braille Sense Polaris from Hims.
Welcome to the very first episode of Sight and Sound Technology’s podcast, brought to you from our new Dublin office! Our host Stuart Lawler introduces himself and then introduces our CEO Glenn Tookey, who talks about Sight and Sound, the new Ireland office and the launch of our new podcast.
We meet Laura and Aleks, two ladies living in Birmingham who have set up a podcast called ‘Suddenly Sightless’ to share tips and information of use to those living with sight loss.