Accessibility

Ed uses an iPhone and can control his phone using SIRI. JAWS is definitely the best screen reader however. There's also Zoom Text: it's a screen reader. 

Jim is blind and he uses JAWS as a screen reader for his computer. It's not cheap, but your state may have an occupational therapy program that will underwrite the cost. Rich says that there's a home edition for $90 a year. JAWS will read the entire screen and tell you where things are. He says he can do just about anything. There's also ORCA, which is an open-source option.

Julian is blind and relies on touch ID on his iPhone a lot. But he's worried that the fingerprint ID is being replaced and will no longer be available in mobile phones. Rich says he's heard rumors that Apple may be bringing it back in the next iPhone in 2020, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out IOS13's new VOICE CONTROL feature.

Also, check out the Braille Institute's Best in Tech LA conference, coming Sat, Nov 16 at the 

Mark is losing his vision and would like to find a screen reader for his Windows 10 PC. He can't even read it with the text zoomed in. So he needs something that will do voice dictation and screen reading. Rich says that iOS13 will now speak almost everything on your phone screen. It's called "Voice Control." So now you can control your entire phone with just your voice. So go into the accessibility features and try that out.

The best software for voice dictation is Dragon Naturally Speaking. 

Carl wants to know if there are any third party voice control apps that he can use on Windows. Leo says that most have either been bought out or gone away. There is Dragon Home on Nuance's site.

Microsoft's own voice dictation works pretty well, and Google even has one. 

Fred called in to say that there's a new wireless microphone for the hard of hearing, which can connect to your mobile device via Bluetooth and Quatro hearing aids so that those with trouble hearing can participate in group conversations. Leo says that's a great feature. Leo loves that modern hearing aids can interact with your mobile phones in order to listen better.  Check them out here - https://www.resound.com/en-us/hearing-aids/bluetooth-hearing-aids.

William is blind and uses a screen reader for his computing, He uses JAWS, but has also used NDVA. But he's having issues subscribing to TWIT's audio feed. Leo says that he'll have his web guy fix the header levels for subscribing.

Mark's mom has macular degeneration and can't read her email. What can she get to read her email for her? Leo says that Windows does have text to speech (TTS) built-in, so he can try that. Microsoft Outlook also has voice commands. Leo usually recommends contacting the local Foundation for the Blind. Maybe they can set her up with a JAWS screen reader. He could also try a web-based solution through an email provider. They may have accessibility features like using Google Text to Speech.

Howard's wife has severe neuropathy and needs a way to use her iPhone without touching the screen. Leo says that the iPhone has some of the best Accessibility features, so using SIRI and voice activation could be the best bet. But Bixby in the latest Android phones is better at voice control. Go into the iPhone's settings under Accessibility and see what's available. She can call Apple and see what they can do because they have great Accessibility support. In iOS12, there are also SIRI Shortcuts, which enables users to use verbal cues to run shortcuts. 

Julian is a blind accessibility teacher and he called in to say that Fred isn't really privy to just how powerful the accessibility features are and that he should just be patient to learn every feature.  You also have to retrain your brain to rely on other senses.  He just needs a little help.