Accessibility

Edward is legally blind and wants to know if an iPad would be useful to him, especially with the keyboard. Leo says that an iPad has great accessibility features with voice dictation and screen reading. But the keyboard is digital and that could be a challenge for typing. But Apple has created a ton of features, and Edward can always connect a hardware keyboard to it via Bluetooth.  But try turning on voiceover and rely on Siri to dictate within any text field. It's pretty good. 

Don is blind and wants to know if he can run iDrive from the keyboard. The accessibility isn't all that great. Leo says that the best outcome is to talk to iDrive about it, and Leo can help. Send him an email at leo@leoville.com.

Joseph downloaded and installed Windows 11 to try it out. He's blind and wanted to see how good the accessibility features are. The built-in screen reader worked really well.  But he had a little trouble with it. The face recognition feature stopped working, so he had to reinstall it. Leo said that was an issue with the last update, which clobbered it. It's been fixed now. 

John is vision-impaired and uses Linux in order to go online. He uses ORCA, a graphical user interface in order to go online. He also uses a screen reader called "Speak up." But what can he use to encrypt his data? Leo recommends BitWarden (TWiT sponsor), though he isn't sure how the accessibility is.

Ken got a new Vizio TV for Christmas, and he uses closed captioning. But it appears in the middle of the picture. Nobody seems to know how to move it to the bottom, where it belongs. Leo says that it could be a setting on the TV that does it. It depends on where the closed captioning is coming from. Check out this tech note from Vizio. Press CC on the remote. Then the menu.

Cheryl wants to know if she can get a closed captioning with no internet access. Leo says that there may not be. What you need to find is a non-profit like an Independent Living Research Center to help with alternatives. Look into that.

Julian Vargas of TechJV is our resident accessibility expert, and he's calling in to comment on the caller in hour one who doesn't like touchscreen monitors because they don't really help the blind. Julian says that's doesn't mean they shouldn't exist or any other technology. The more technology advances, the more accessibility can be built into it. But it must be part of the design so those who are blind can still take advantage of technology advancements. The iPhone is a perfect example. Julian says that Google Lens is a great app for making your Android devices more accessible.

William is blind and wants to know more about accessibility with Linux. He believes that many tools are built with the assumption of what he needs, not what he really needs. The tech world has also taken away much of the tactile nature of computing that William could benefit from.

Julian is into ham radio, but as a blind person, it can be a challenge. But he's found some resources. With OpenGD77 firmware, a handheld radio can be made accessible with voice-activated menus and more. He found it on a community called BlindHams.com.

Julian is TWIT's resident accessibility expert, and he's calling in because he heard Leo talk about accessibility with a previous caller. Some have had difficulties using the web for booking their vaccines. Julian says that VaccinateLA offers a phone booking at 833-540-0473. They'll ask several questions, but pressing 1-1-1-1 will get you to a phone operator who can search for you. It is a lot easier.