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5 days ago
5 days ago
In this demo, I show you how to connect and run two displays at the same time, in this case, the Mantis Q40, but same works for the BI20X, and BI40X with the iPhone (or iPad).
Wednesday Oct 01, 2025
Wednesday Oct 01, 2025
In this demo, I mainly point out how to access the Braille Access settings within VoiceOver Utility, point out one difference between iOS/Mac Braille Access, correct my statement aoubt UEB not being on the Mac/Braille Access (which it is), and my my finding of a nifty short-cut for working with BRF files on the Mac inside in the Braille Access menu.
For a good review of Braille Access, listen to my last podcast.
Woody
Monday Sep 29, 2025
Monday Sep 29, 2025
This really does turn your iPhone, iPad or Mac in to a Braille note taker.
The best thing is, that you can use VoiceOver with speech and run any app you like on your device, whilst still using the Braille Access function at the same time.
Woody
Sunday Sep 07, 2025
Thursday Sep 04, 2025
Thursday Sep 04, 2025
In a nut shell, its Options, User Settings, Dot firmness, and then choose from low, medium or high.
Woody
Monday Sep 01, 2025
Monday Sep 01, 2025
In this demo, I give you a quick glimpse as it were in to the wonders smile of using the BI40X on the Mac with VoiceOver.
Once Mac os 2026 hits, expect a lot more Braille (Brailiant etc) demos.
Saturday Aug 30, 2025
Saturday Aug 30, 2025
This is the first post of many many smile tips on getting the most out of your/my Monarch. This is the first batch with 15 tips.
When you are reading through a document with the PageUp or Page Down keys, note that you are only moving the Braille cursor, not the system cursor.
If you were to press the DPad navigation cross for Left, Right, Up or Down, focus would jump back to the system cursor and move it in the direction you chose. No where near the Braille cursor.
You need to route the system cursor to the Braille cursor.
Press the Action button between key 1 and 4) once (this turns on touch/pointer mode denoted by one vibration).
Find where you would like to put the system cursor (where you are viewing in Braille on the current display), i.e. put your finger on the spot, then 1 finger double tap on the display.
This will move your system cursor to the area where you have been reading with the Braille cursor.
Cursor pointer is dots 78 underneath a current character for example.
Of course, if you were just navigating/reading with the DPad, you are already moving the system cursor.
This tip comes in handy when you are reading a document, and you may need to make changes ETC.
If you want to turn Point/Touch off, press the Action button (two vibrations) to denote its off.
Monarch tip 2
When you are in a document, if you want to place the line containing your system cursor to the top of the current display (first line), press Enter (key 8) plus F (dots 124).
The line containing the cursor will now be at the top of the current display.
Note - reason why I say current display, I don't want folks getting confused with jumping to the first line in the document which is a completely different thing.
Monarch tip 3
When you are using the Monarch and the Braille on the display seems a bit odd, perhaps dots missing (after all there are 3840 of the things), hold down the Action button (between key 1 and 4) for about a second, and this will refresh the display.
Woody
#a11y #Braille #Monarch
Monarch tip 3
When you are using the Monarch and the Braille on the display seems a bit odd, perhaps docts missing (afterall there are 3840 of the things), hold down the Action button (between key 1 and 4) for about a second, and this will refresh the display.
Monarch tip 4
Remember that the Zoom Out (Minus) and the Zoom In (plus) buttons on the left and right just below the display, have two main functions.
One
In the main menu or anywhere else say in a document, Pressing Plus will increase the line spacing, and Minus will decrease the line spacing.
Default is 10 lines funny enough, and the maximum is 6 lines (if you have speech turned on, each time you press Plus or Minus it will tell you how many lines).
Of course, this makes both reading Braille easier, and also for beginning folks to find the cursor on the display.
Two
When you are viewing a tactile image, Plus zooms in and Minus Zooms out.
Note on a PDF image, you can only Zoom in once, but on a JPG, you can Zoom in a lot more.
Monarch Tip 5
This one is odd, but it caught me out sigh smile.
So when you are using the Monarch in the case, and you feel a rectangular cut out on the left top side of the case towards the front (just in line with the Minus button),
its not an indented button, but lights for sighted folks to denote the status of the Monarch.
O'well, anyone makes mistakes grin.
Monarch tip 6
When you are connecting your Monarch to your Windows PC from USB on your PC to the USBC port on the Monarch, make sure you do the following, otherwise it won't won't won't work.
With the Monarch turned on and sitting at the main menu, plug it in to your PC (which is turned on).
I get a message that my Monarch is being charge.
Now go to:
All files, Settings, Connected devices, USB charging this device, and under where it says, USB Controlled by, check the checkbox that says File Transfer.
Huge Note - if you are not properly connected to your Windows PC, you won't even see under Connected Devices, the USB charging this device at all.
You have been warned smile.
Now if you go to your Windows PC, bring up File Explorer, you'll see the Monarch as an external storage device, and you can copy/paste ETC to your hearts content.
Monarch tip 7
If you are like me and your wanting to use your Monarch on the bus, train or aircraft, we all know that there is not much space between you and the seat in front of you.
Rather than having the case when its folded underneath the Monarch and poking
out in front and stabbing (smile) you in the stomach, just take off the case and pop it in your bag and then you can use the Monarch naked as it were in the wild.
Much much more comfortable, and it takes up less room.
Like the iPhone, no one says you have to use it in a case.
Monarch tip 8
As the Monarch is not a single line Braille display, it does not have any auto cursor buttons to move the system cursor focus to a particular point on the display..
I like to use the new method of moving the system cursor anywhere on the display that came in with V1.3 of the Monarch, and reminds me of using VoiceOver on the iPhone/Ipad.
Press the Action button (between keys 1 and 4) once (you'll feel one vibration): i.e. its turned on for point and click (well sort of).
Now move one finger anywhere on the display to where you want to move the system cursor to, then take your finger up, then 1 finger double tap)sound familiar.
You'll here the system cursor move to the new spot if you have speech turned on, and of course, you can feel the new position on the display.
Monarch tip 9
This one reminds me when I started to do all my iPhone 3GS audio/podcasts back in the day, it wasn't until demo 27 or so, that I did a demo on actually using the iPhone as a phone.
This is not quite as bad as that, but I've just realised I've not identified the keys/buttons/ports on the Monarch.
So here is a very quick list.
Left hand side front to back:
USBA, on/off, and USBC.
Right hand side front to back:
HDMI, 3.5mm, and volume up/down.
front edge left to right:
Back, Home, and Recent.
Most of top face:
display.
In front of display:
Perkins style Braille input 8 key keyboard, Action button (in-between key 1 and 4), and a nice big Space Bar.
Left next to display front to back:
Minus, DPad, and PageUp.
Right next to display front to back:
Plus PageDown, and DPad.
Note - I tend to use PageUp or PageDown rather than panning up or Panning Down as for me it seems to confuse some folks because they are so used to using a single line Braille display.
Monarch tip 10
If you need to close down an app, yes like any computer it does happen, press the Recents button (square button to the right of the Home button at the front of the Monarch), , you'll get a list of apps, use the DPad to move to the app you want to close, press Space Plus M for the Context menu (which you can use everywhere), you'll get a short menu containing the Close app item, and Close All apps item.
If you don't want to do anything, just press Space Plus E to exit.
Another sneaky tip, if you press the Recents button button, it'll cycle between the two last used apps.
Monarch tip 11
When you are setting up your Monarch for the first time, plug in a USB QWERTY keyboard.
This comes in handy when you have to enter your WiFi password, email details, logging in to the various online library's you have access to on the Monarch ETC.
Otherwise, you will have to know your computer Braille code.
Once things are setup, you can do away with the QWERTY keyboard if you like, and then, perhaps learn a bit of the computer Braille code.
If you were like me, I just wanted to start using the Monarch, and not having to relearn my computer braille code before I could play.
Monarch tip 12
Yes, you can indeed plug in a HDMi cable to the Monarch, and have all of its output sent to a HDMI Monitor including audio output.
Just plug in a HDMI cable to the port on the right hand side at the front of the Monarch, other end in to your TV, select the correct HDMI channel, and off you go.
Monarch tip 13
You'll hear folks talk about the Toast dialog.
This pops up at various times and is more or less a pop up dialog, hence the term “toast”.
When this dialog pops up, you'll feel a straight line of dots going across the whole display like a row of dashes.
The info will be above this line for you to read.
The pop up dialog will then go way based on the number of seconds you have your Messages set to on the Monarch.
If you want to give this a go, try the commands for Time, Date, and Power.
Space Plus Enter (key 8) plus T, D or P.
Monarch tip 14
If you want to Toggle/switch between computer Braille (one to one print/Braille), ), and Literary Braille, use:
BackSpace Plus Space Plus g (dots 1245) to toggle from literary to computer Braille and back.
Monarch tip 15 and the final one in this initial tip post series
If you have ever used any of the Braille devices from Humanware, then you know how to use the Monarch overall.
This is because the Monarch, like all other Braille devices in the main from Humanware are or were all based on KeySoft which has been around since 1990.
As with all Braille devices from HW, you will find the User Guide on the device.
In the Monarch, and depending on how you have your main menu customised, you will either find the User Guide on the Main Menu or under All Applications.
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Tuesday May 27, 2025
Tuesday May 27, 2025
In this Talking Tech show for this week, I give you a run down of a talk I gave at the Round Table in Melbourne this week on things to think about when choosing a smart Braille display, Braille Note taker, Braille embosser or a Multi line Braille display.
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Plaud AI Pin
If you have ever felt a FitBit, this is the size of the Plaud AI pin. As I said in the episode, app mainly works ok, device is ok to use.
The Speaker I talked About for $13 Au
Small speaker that did USB, 3.5, and Bt plus had FM radio. Volume was good, FM good, connectivity via Bluetooth poor, and making sure it was charged was almost useless via the micro USB.
Attracted me because of the FM chip and the volume was great.
If you search for Bt speaker with UsB, 3.5, and FM radio that is really really cheap at $13 that will probably be it.
Ray Ban Meta Glasses on the Vision Store
As I said in the episode, lots of places to purchase this, not NDIS funded, main demos probably at major VA sites, and two corrections to VA Store promo: you can hear the audio from the glasses via the person next to you, and its not a good idea to Bt connect them to any thing else as you will have issues reconnecting them to your phone again with the Meta AI app.
https://shop.visionaustralia.org
Apple Accessibility Sneak Peak from GAAD 2025
Looks very interesting , especially the Braille Note taker, and using continuity iPhone camera as a portable VM on your Mac.
API opening up for camera based assistive apps on the Vision Pro looks interesting as well, but quite happy with my Ray Bans.
As I sign Off this week
Testing JAWS sneak build that works with the Monarch, Tactile View Beta tactile images with the Monarch, and Wing It app all demos coming from me in August when this should all be released fully.
Of course, I will be doing demos when I get my hands on the development builds of IOS etc once WWDC is happening.
Catch me on social media or davidwoodbr@gmail.com
Sunday May 11, 2025
Sunday May 11, 2025
Helpful links from today’s program on NvDA.
Download the current stable version of NVDA at
https://www.nvaccess.org/download/
We mentioned it a little bit, but we are currently in the Beta period for NVDA 2025.1.
Some of the key updates in NVDA 2025.1
- NVDA Remote built in
- Speech responsiveness and other features for, SAPI4, SAPI5, and OneCore
- Improvements to add-on store auto updates
- New commands to manually refresh ocr
- Native selection in Chromium and Edge (Press NVDA+shift+F10 then copy as normal to copy text with formatting)
- Default input & output braille tables based on language
- Added a general setting to prevent the display turning off during say all or reading with braille. This option is enabled by default, but may result in increased battery depletion.
- Braille works with say all config profiles
Add-ons:
Braille Extender, developed by André-Abush Clause and contributors
https://github.com/aaclause/BrailleExtender
Many features including Switching between displays or tables with shortcuts, and additional commands and support for a range of features.
PC Keyboard Braille Input
NVDA Spanish team (Available from the NVDA Add-on store)
Type Braille using six keyboard keys as on a perkins
Still on Braille, we published a lot of recent and upcoming features in a special edition of our In-Process blog back in October:
https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-23rd-october-2024/#datavalidation
And you can subscribe to that blog, and to all our announcements, updates, releases etc, via email at:
Our training material is all available from our shop:
https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/
We recommend starting with Basic Training for NVDA, which you can get as:
- Electronic text (Word, Text, ePub and HTML formats) for $35:
https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-ebook/
Human-read MP3 audio for $52:
https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-downloadable-audio/
UEB Braille for $71:
https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-braille-hard-copy/
Community links:
NVDA user group:
Add-ons group: https://nvda-addons.groups.io/g/nvda-addons/
NVDA Developer Guide:
https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/developerGuide.html
Contact us:
Web: https://www.nvaccess.org/
Email: Info@nvaccess.org
Social Media - most of our users are on Fosstodon: https://fosstodon.org/@NVAccess
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
In this webinar, Andrew and Peter from HumanWare discuss and demonstrate the latest enhancements to the Monarch software and a few other points including:
the new Email app,
Web browsing with Ecosia,
eBraille version of Treasure Island, and
a demo of the Wing It app to allow drawing on the Monarch tactile display from the iPhone.
Contact monarch@humanware.com for more information, Andrew or Peter or myself in Australia David Woodbridge at HumanWare Australia.
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
In this demo, I show you how simple it is to connect your Mantis Q40 QWERTY keyboard and Braille display device to your Mac.
Enjoy
Woody
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Demo of how easy it is to connect your Brailliant BI20X or BI40X to your Mac using VoiceOver with Bluetooth.
Sunday Feb 16, 2025
Sunday Feb 16, 2025
In this demo, I talk about the importance of accessing the accessible QR code to learn how to use the BrailleDoodle fully, which then leads me on to my next point, and that is the amazing function of the BrailleDoodle where you can practice each character displayed on the back of the BrailleDoodle as well as having an example to work with for each character.
Also, happy to say BrailleDoodle is now available from the Vision Australia Vision Store:
https://shop.visionaustralia.org/brailledoodle.html
Have fun.
Woody
Monday Feb 10, 2025
Monday Feb 10, 2025
If you ever wanted a manual way (yes no battery or power required) to learn Braille, do some tactile drawing or even do some quick notes, then have a listen to this demo of the BrailleDoodle from the Touch Pro Fundation.
Amazed what you can do, and don't forget there is a lot of info on the back of the BrailleDoodle, not just the front fun face.
Enjoy.
Woody
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
In this demo, I take you through the features of the Mantis Q40 leather case which gives you proper protection of the Mantis Q40 QWERTY keyboard, thumb keys, and the SD card slot.
One of my must have cases. If you've spent over four thousand dollars in Australia on a device, then spending $180 is a great way to protect your investment.
The case that comes with the Mantis Q40 doesn't offer any protection at all. It really just stops the device from slipping on a desk.
Go to https://www.humanware.com to find out more or to order.
Enjoy.
Woody
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
In this demo, I show you how easy it is to crate an image file on the computer, and then have it displayed on the Monarch.
Saturday Dec 21, 2024
Saturday Dec 21, 2024
When your device or software for that matter isn't behaving in the way it should from Humanware in Au, Arthur is your go to person.
You can ring 02 9686 2600 (4 then 4) or email au.support@humanware.com.
I can be contacted as usual at david.woodbridge@humanware.com or check out our excellent website at https://www.humanware.com (and yes, it'll change depending on what region your in smile).
Woody
Thursday Dec 19, 2024
Thursday Dec 19, 2024
A bit of a chat episode from me on a number of points of why I find the Meta Ray Ban glasses so helpful.
I’ve had mine now for about 3 Months, and for me, they work fine for such AI things:
Spot reading (what is this bit of paper or thing in the mail box),
What is the main text on this jar or packet,
Is my computer screen on (is there anything on the screen),
Where are my bins (garbage truck drops them in random spots some times),
Taxi number (good for drivers that want to take off and not take my Guide Dog),
Is there a train in front of me (when you have a noisy goods train on the opposite track),
Is there a seat (taxi, bus or train station seat),
Is my phone showing anything or has the speech stop working,
Is there any cars for me crossing the road (I think I heard a car pull up but?),
What does the sign say on this shop,
Are there stairs, a lift or escalator in front of me?
Are there any people near me,
What does this park, building, house etc look like,
Can you see my Guide Dog (dog) in the back yard,
And so on.
As far as usual voice assistance, you can also do:
Play Music,
Answer/hang up a phone call,
Send and read back a message,
What is the time date,
What is the weather,
Calculate numbers,
Convert stuff,
Ask more in-depth questions about a topic,
etc.
However the big big one is the connectivity with Be-My-Eyes where via the glasses connected to the Be-My-Eyes app on the phone, you can get a sighted volunteer to see through the glasses you are waring and get sighted assistance.
Also of course, NOA Chat for extra O&M info via WhatsApp, and the Chat GPT text function also via WhatsApp.
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
A demo of the new TTS option for the mantis Q40 as of Dec 2024 software where I take you through using the various options.
As usual, enjoy, and david.woodbridge@humanware.com for any comments.
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
In this episode I catch up with Vivian Bell Humanware Australia who is our account manager for QLD, NT, and Northern NSW.
Low vision specialist, but of course, covering Braille and speech as well.
As usual email me david.woodbridge@humanware.com
Woody
PS one more interview in this initial set of meeting the staff from Humanware Australia, and then my demos, the first one of which will be the new speech option in the mantis Q40.
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
For the next 3 podcasts I will be chatting with several staff from Humanware Australia.
First up is Larissa our account manager for Vic, Tas, SA, and WA.
Low vision specialist, but of course, also covering blindness related products.
As usual, contact me:
david.woodbridge@humanware.com
Woody
Saturday Nov 30, 2024
Saturday Nov 30, 2024
In this first episode of Woodys Weekly Wonderings (otherwise called Tripple-W), Scott Erichsen and mysewlf (DAvid Woodbridge) chat about Scott's lengthy career in the Assistive Tech field, and then move on to explore several of Scott's go to tech from the Humanware product line in Australia, including the Monarch Tactile Display.
Please email me at David.woodbridge@humanware.com for any questions or queries.
Enjoy
Woody
Monday Aug 12, 2024
Monday Aug 12, 2024
Hi and welcome to another interview for Talking Tech (for iSee) on Vision Australia Radio. And
today, as people might have noticed, I did do a bit of a podcast a couple of days ago on the Big Purple Phone, but I thought it was much nicer to get people actually who manufacture/sell the phone in Australia to come on the program and have a chat about it.
So I'm joined by Libby Henderson, Commercial Sales Director from Big Purple Phone. So hi Libby and welcome to the program.
Thank you David, it's great to be here.
So let's just get the name out of the way first and describe briefly what it is. So what is the Big Purple Phone?
Yeah, the Big Purple Phone, it's a phone that we designed for a scenario we had in my family. So my mother during COVID had a stroke and couldn't remember how to use her phone and she was isolated from us. We had such a terrible journey with her trying to get hold of her. And we were looking for a phone for her that would suit her and couldn't find anything really that was simple enough for her that you could learn quickly and use without us there to help her. And so that sent us on this journey when they say, "Ask myself and my husband James on this journey to create a phone." And as it turns out, my background is digital design with a little bit of accessibility from my time with the Commonwealth Bank. And my husband James was with Telstra for 25 years. So between us, we had this amazing complementary skill set that we pulled together and designed the Big Purple Phone.
So it's a larger phone. It's a taller phone. So it's about as wide as a regular mobile phone. But the screen real estate we get from the extra height is where we sort of get that bigger screen real estate from. It's sort of a 20 by 9 proportion. So it's quite tall as a phone. But you can still sort of hold it comfortably in hand because the width is kind of good. So it's bigger. It's purple. It has high contrast, bigger, brighter and easier to use.
How many icons would be on the main what we tend to do in particular and call the home screen? How many icons would you be talking about on the screen?
So as standard, there's about 10. You can add more in. You can add more buttons in. But generally, they're just the standard buttons. There's phone, text message, camera, photo gallery. There's a brightness button, torch, weather, video calling, radio. That's kind of the standard buttons.
OK, now how big would the icons be? Because I know sometimes when people say, oh, it's big, mate, come and go, yeah, it's really not that big. The icons are not really that big. Are these sort of big, big icons?
Yeah. So there's two settings. So you can set it to be I'm actually just pulling a ruler out and measuring it for you because I know in pixels, but that's not good to you. No. It's about four centimetres. You can set it to even larger. So you can take it out six, six centimetres.
Oh, goodness. But could you still fit all the icons on the screen?
Yeah. So when it's at the smaller size, you get sort of two to three icons on the screen as you're scrolling down. And it's a little bit like a poker machine, the way you sort of navigate it. You sort of it sort of scrolls around, if you like. When you've got it set to that six centimetre size, then you get one big one and half of the next one. OK, but you can easily scroll around.
So when you start scrolling around and you're dragging your finger, are you doing other gestures or what are you doing?
Starting with your finger at the bottom of the screen and you're swiping up and that kind of makes it roll around. If you know, swiping like that. The buttons, there are also buttons at the top and at the bottom. A lot of the phone was initially designed for people who are older. So it has sort of ability to tap up and down. You don't have to scroll. You can tap swiping is hard for some people.
And I believe it also comes with a stylus.
It does. That makes it a lot easier. I think as you get older, your skin gets drier and that touch sensitivity goes in many cases. So, yes, you can use the stylus in that case.
OK. And what does the phone feel like in your hand? I mean, I know it's based on Nokia, but does it feel like a sort of a good solid phone when you're holding your hand? It's not too slippery or it's not too big to hold in your hand and that sort of stuff.
Yeah, that's a good question. It's it's comes with a bumper case. So it has like a clear jelly bumper case that comes. We put it on. You can take that off and then it's got more of a grip. So that kind of it's sort of it's a matte kind of feeling to the case. It's 190 grams. So that's not considering it's a bigger phone. It's not all that heavy. It's sort of on the heavier side, but it's certainly not as heavy as iPhone plus.
And for people that use Bluetooth hearing aids, will it connect with Bluetooth hearing aids?
Yeah, it will. The only thing is that if your hearing aid needs an app to set the settings up, then it doesn't have the app. So you can connect it, but it's going to be literally just a Bluetooth connection.
Let's say you wanted to add more icons. So you mentioned you could actually remove or add the different icons on the screen depending on how many you want to use. Can a support person or family member do that? And is there any other ways of actually doing it remotely? So rather than the poor person going, what are you doing to my phone? Give it back to me. You can also do it remotely. So I'm assuming there's a couple of ways you can set up the phone without disturbing the user too much.
That's right. Yeah. So when you first get the phone, there's a registration sequence. So you tell the phone, are you going to have a carer or are you going to do this yourself? So that's the first thing. If you set it up so that you have a carer, that carer gets sent a text message with a link. And then they can sign in and they can access via a web browser the settings for the phone. So you might decide that you want to be the person that manages the phone for yourself, in which case we send you a text message and you can log on. You can log on via the phone or you might choose that you want to log on via a web browser, so whichever you prefer. It's great because it's separate from the phone. So you don't have lots of -- we talk about the phone being no fandangle, meaning there are not a lot of little settings that you can get lost in and rabbit holes to go down. And so you can go onto a web browser and you can make those buttons larger. You can move them from the 4cm to the 6cm, as we discussed before. You can set it so that it adds a speakerphone. You can disable buttons. You can add more apps. So yeah, there's a lot that you can do to sort of customize the phone. There's also an SOS button on the phone, which is great for some people, but for others, they just don't need it. So you can disable it.
If you've got the phone and you couldn't use the remote system, can a family or support person still get the settings of the phone by some, you know, weirder and wonderful gesture?
Yeah, it's actually a button. It's a button. Yeah, it's super easy. So if you decide that you want to just have the phone manage -- you manage the phone on the phone itself and give it to someone to fix or set up for you or you want to do it yourself, then when you go through that registration at the beginning, it says, "Do you have a carer or are you going to use this yourself?" And you say, "I'm going to use this myself." And then when you get to the home screen, there's a purple "manage" button down the bottom of that menu that I talked about before. And you tap on that, and then that will take you through to the settings.
Okay. And is that what you say to your grandmother or your granddad for goodness sake? Do you not need to worry about that button on the screen? That's my button.
Yeah, so we can disable that button. So if you've got a carer, that button, you can enable it or disable it. So you can basically make it super, super, super simple. We have some people that just have the phone and the message button, and that's all they have on it.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, because that's all you want to announce. It's back to the weird days of, "Hey, people might just want to talk on the phone and text each other."
Yeah, right. Exactly.
So with talking about texting each other, do you put contacts in, so just in text, or is it sort of picture-based? So you tap on Uncle Tom, and you can dial Uncle Tom by just the picture.
Yeah, it's the picture. So in every circumstance. So the usability is this. You've got the home screen, and you've got your phone button, and then you scroll down, and there's your messages button. You tap on the messages button, and that takes you through to all the faces of the people who are contacts on the phone. You tap on the face of the phone, and then you have the choice to speak a message or type a message, and then you do either.
if people wanted more information about hearing aids and other stuff that they can use, if they have the phone itself, what's the best contact details that people can use? So the phone's available through Vision Australia Stores, and we have staff from the Vision Australia Stores. There's also FAQs on the Big Purple phone website, and you've got to find number as well that we can support. The phone actually has a help button which goes through to our call centre as well, so we can help that way.
Okay, and is that a video call one? or is that a...
It's a phone call. We can actually initiate a video call, but nobody wants to do that.
All right, excellent. All right, well, thank you for coming on Talking Tech, and it'll be interesting to see how the phone's taken up by the low-vision community.
Yeah, thank you. It's my pleasure, David, and thank you for your time today.
That's okay, my pleasure.
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Big Purple Phone Silver Fox
Large print phone for low vision, seniors or people with cognitive challengers.
In the box:
Phone, charger/charging chord, phone case, welcome booklet, Nokia booklets,
Physical Buttons;
Emergency SOS, volume, and power.
Connectivity:
Head phone jack, USBC, and 3.5mm head phone jack.
Also Bluetooth and Wifi can be setup.
Features:
6.5 inch screen.
Trouble with touch screens, easily tap or swipe.
Talks as you touch the phone (optional).
High contrast keypad.
No spam or unwanted calls or texts (optional).
All settings hidden so users don’t get lost in phone settings. Volume is still available.
Every screen is designed for people with cognitive challengers.
Customisable, toggle on or off buttons.
Full screen notifications, picture based navigation, and contacts.
Emergency SOS call button, and the owners location is sent to their family.
Phone, messages, , one click video calls, SoS, camera/photos, torch, radio, web browser.
Carer portal so carers can manage the phone remotely.
Live help with an Australian customer care member at the touch of a button.
Battery:
5500 may battery.
5V charging.
Up to 3 days battery life.
Based on Nokia hardware, Android, and the Big Purple phone launcher.
Nano SIMM.
5GB monthly data plan recommended.
.
Phone suitable for:
Low vision, and those with cognitive challengers.
Wednesday Jul 31, 2024
Wednesday Jul 31, 2024
Hi and welcome to another Vision Australia vision store product highlight demo and in this demo you'll be hearing an interview that I did on my Vision australia radio talking tech podcast on July 16, 2024.
We have an interview from Peter Cracknell manager of blindness products for Quantum all about the new Mountbatten braille tutor. If you'd like to find more about the Mount Batten braille tutor and also the other cool stuff that Quantum Technology actually sell their website is https://www.quantumrlv.com.au, and then as they say on with the show.
Oh and by the way smile, Vision Australia also sells the Mount Batten Braille Tutor as well
Https://shop.visionaustralia.org
This Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast is made possible by Vision Store. Remember, all Vision Stores are open to the general public. You don't need to be a Vision Australia client to visit. Pop in any time to browse and shop the latest in assistive technology and more.
We turn to our guest now, Peter Cracknell, who is Manager of Blindness and Low Vision Technologies with Quantum Reading Learning Vision.
Good to have you with us, Peter. Thank you, Stephen. Good morning. Over to you, David.
Moving on to our main topic, Peter, and I've loved the Mountbatten itself since 1991, which I think when it first came out. What's the main new whiz-bang thing happening with the Mountbatten Tutor now?
Well, the Mountbatten Tutor, which is manufactured by Harpo in Poland, we used to manufacture that in Rydonmead in Sydney for many, many years. After the LS version, Harpo made the whisper at the Mountbatten Whisperer and now this new model, the Mountbatten Tutor. The essential purpose is much the same as it's always been, which is really focused around early Braille learning, usually for children, but not always. And that purpose still remains. And in fact, all of the features and commands that people might have known previously for the other models also in the Mountbatten Tutor. I guess one of the things that the new model does do is tries to put those sorts of commands and settings into a menu system that's a bit more intuitive. You don't have to remember the commands. You can just go through a spoken menu system, which is just a conventional menu system to adjust margins and translation formats and so on. And that is also shown on a liquid crystal display actually on the body of the machine. So that's integrated into the Mountbatten Tutor and that means that a teacher aid or a parent, they can actually navigate that. It also has spoken output of course, and more intuitively, don't change the settings to Braille translation grade and that sort of thing. Whereas before they would have to remember a particular command, which they would input through the keyboard. The keyboard has been modified. So on the older models, they had various keys that perhaps not so recognizable on a conventional keyboard, whereas with the Mountbatten Tutor keyboard, it actually follows the pattern of a conventional keyboard with an escape key, a backspace key, an enter key, a space bar and so on. Plus, of course, the traditional what we call the Perkins keys for typing Braille. And that keyboard is also detachable from the body of the Mountbatten Tutor, which gives just a lot more options for different configurations where perhaps a child couldn't actually line up as they straight on. They might want to have the keyboard at a slight angle or perhaps it might be easier to operate if the child was in a wheelchair or something like that.
So Peter, I've got a few quick questions, I guess. Number one is if you know how to use the earlier versions of the Mountbatten, which to me is electronic Brailler, which was actually very, very cool. I'm sure if you know that, then you know how to basically use the new Mountbatten Tutor. Yes David, that's absolutely right. If you ever operated a previous model, there'll be absolutely no difficulty operating this one. It could be that you had remembered some of the commands like the FE command or something like that, and you can type that straight in and away you go. You can also plug in a regular keyboard as well, David. So just a regular QWERTY keyboard USB and operate it through the regular QWERTY keyboard.
That was funny because that was going to be my second question. You bet you took it. So my third question then is, I remember in the old days we had the Mimic which was a little plug-in little LCD display. I'm assuming the LCD display in the Mountbatten Tutor now. That's also effectively your Mimic, so you can see what's being Brailed as well from a sighted person point of view. Absolutely. It has some Mimic function, so a sighted person can actually review what's being typed in regular text. In addition to that, it also shows the menus in print, so you can actually operate it with no knowledge of Braille through that LCD display. So yes, it is actually putting the MIMIC into the case, but in addition to making it a LCD display.
Yeah, far more superior.
Can you link it up to anything like a PC or an iPad, an iPhone or an Android phone? Yes, in a couple of ways. You can link it up via USB to a laptop and run a program called MBCom as we could on our previous models. That's for file transfer and also act are basically an embosser from your computer. But in addition to that, and I think perhaps in a more valuable way, you can connect an iPad or an Android device to the Mountbatten Tutor just using a Bluetooth connection and that will allow file transfer and embossing and that sort of stuff. But more importantly, it allows a non-Braille person to be able to type on the iPad, just tap on onto the iPad and have it immediately embossed in a proper grade, your chosen grade on the Mountbatten Tutor and vice versa. When the Brailler is Brailling, it will back translate into regular print on the iPad. So you can have those back and forth conversations. You can study a particular article from on your iPad and you can just paste it into the chat area and it will emboss on the Mountbatten Tutor.
Sounds fantastic. Now if people are interested in finding out more about the Mountbatten or getting their hands on it, what's the best way to contact Quantum?
Just a couple of ways. One would be to contact Quantum and we can demonstrate, we can also trial the unit. We have people who apply for it through NDIA, through NDIS and they'd need to trial that of course to compare it to other options. And of course, Vision Australia through the Vision Australia ATS teams and their occupational therapy teams, they can also demonstrate and assess people for the Mountbatten Tutor.
Okay and cost wise, how much does it cost outright?
It's $7,990. I should just say David that we are due for a price increase across the board so it may go around about $8,000.
Yeah okay. Is there a landing page on the Quantum website that people could type in a direct link to jump to information about Mountbatten or is it just easy to search for Mountbatten on the Quantum website?
It's easier to search for Mountbatten on the Quantum website, yes. We do have it under our blindness section under Braille writers. We also sell the TatraPoint as well which is a mechanical Braille writer. Indeed,
yeah love that little thing as well.
All right Steve back to you. Thank you David. David speaking there with Peter Kraknell from Quantum Reading Learning Vision.
Monday Jul 29, 2024
Monday Jul 29, 2024
Hi and welcome to this Vision Store product highlight demo.
In this particular demo, I want to talk about a range of different sized canes that come under the same product name. And what I'm talking about is the KWF telescopic button style canes. So these are telescopic canes that you slide back into a very, very small size. And then of course, telescope out into a full size cane.
Vision Store has a range of these KWF telescopic button style canes. And they go from 114cm, which is about 44 inches roughly, up to 138cm, which is about 54 inches.
As you may or may not know with telescopic canes, they're not really designed to be an all day cane. I see them as an occasional cane. So let's say you've gone to a concert or a restaurant and you just want to pop out and go somewhere, then you could quite easily pull your telescopic cane out of your bag and extend it. And off you go. When you come back, you fold it up nice and tiny or collapse it nice and tiny inside itself. And off you go again.
Let me give you the main features of the KFW telescopic cane button style. And the reason why it's called a button style, just get that out of the way first, is that it's got a button on the handle of the cane that when you push it in, allows you to pull out all the sections out into a rigid cane. And then of course, to collapse it or retract it back inside itself, you push that button in, you put your hand on the bottom of the cane and push all the sections back into the handle. So that's the way it effectively works.
let me just give you the main features of the cane.
It has nine sections and of course, the ninth section is the handel.
Each section where it connects to each other has a reinforced band of aluminium going around that. And of course, that's to reinforce it when it's fully extended in its rigid form.
The other thing that you will notice on the cane is that when you extend it, you have little buttons that pop out into holes. That's what holds the cane into the rigid setting when it's fully extended. And then when you press that button, it then allows the top section and the previous section going on and on and on to collapse back into itself.
What I like about the feel of this cane is while the handle is round, each of the sections as it extends out is an eight-sided shape. And then when you get to the bottom section, that's almost an eight-sided shape. But because it's so thin, it feels like a four-sided shape. And then of course, you've got the tip. The handle is quite spongy and it's actually round. So it doesn't feel like a golf handle that you have on some canes. This is actually quite a rounded handle. on the top of the handle, you do have a wrist strap to put it around your wrist.
The tip on the bottom of the cane is 1.5 centimetres. So it is quite tiny and it does have a metal tip on it.
Then finally, with the main features, you have this really cute little carrying case that you can pop it in. Because my shoulder bag has got lots of different littletalk about compartments in it, I tend to not use a little bag. I just put it in some of my little compartment on my shoulder bag.
Let’s go through some of the benefits of the cane since we've just done the features.
It is lightweight and considering what it's actually doing, it's actually quite strong.
Cane extends and retracts with ease, which is absolutely true.
Cane automatically locks at each section for strength.And those were the little buttons I was talking about that popped out when you extended the cane. And of course, get pushed in when you're retracting the cane Joint design provides superior tactile transmission.
finally, as I've already mentioned, it comes with a carrying case for easier storage.
Let's go to the technical specifications.
The cane weight is 213 grams.
Cane construction is dual aluminium with copper alloy. So again, quite strong.
Cane handle is a EVA sponge handle.
Nnumber of sections is nine.
There is a serious warning for the manufacturer, and that's about not opening the cane rapidly or forcefully. If you just grab a hold of the handle and yank it open, what will happen is that you can actually damage the cane. So remember those little buttons that I said that connect each section? Well, if you pull it too hard, those buttons can collapse back inside the cane and the cane falls apart. Maybe not all of it, but when I accidentally did it on my one, the bottom section actually popped out and I had to get some help to get it back in again. So it still works, but I've now got to be a little bit more careful.
By the way, when it closes, what you actually get from a tactile point of view is you get the lovely sponge handle, of course, with the strap on the end of it. And then you get this lovely diminishing rows of those extra joints that are around each section. And it just feels nice and compact. That's why I was saying that the cane itself feels really cool when it's fully extended and it feels ultra cool when it's all collapsed.
If you want to find more information about the cane, please look on our website, which is shop.visionaustralia.org. If you'd like to talk to someone, you can ring up the main Vision Australia number, which is 1300 847 466, and ask to speak to someone at the Vision Store. Or indeed, you can email the Vision Store, which is pretty straightforward. And that's visionstore@visionaustralia.org.
As I say in all my product demos, thanks for listening, and bye for now.
Sunday Jul 28, 2024
Sunday Jul 28, 2024
Hi, and welcome to this Vision Store product highlight.
In this product high light, we will be talking about the Synaptic software for use with your Android smart phone or tablet.
What is Synaptic:
Synapptic is an all in one software or app package for people who are blind or vision impaired, , that works on android smartphones and tablets.
Synaptic overview:
Find your way around with clear and bright icons.
All screens have the same look and feel.
In other words, once you have learnt one screen, you will know everything you need to know to use all other screens.
Never get lost and always find your way back to the main menu with the Red Cross at the top left corner of the screen.
Customise the main menu to display as a grid on one screen to make finding things easier, rather than several menu screens.
Touch and release touch screen control means you can move your finger up and down each menu option and it will be read out until you stop on the option you want to use.
Control Synaptic with your voice and use voice dictation if you like instead of the on screen keyboard.
Plus, you can also use a Bluetooth keyboard for navigation and typing as well.
Change the magnification level, colour scheme, screen brightness, speech and sound settings, and of course the menus.
help is available at the top right hand corner of each Synapptic screen.
Make and receive phone calls and text messages (only on devices with a SIMM card).
Send, receive, and read emails.
Use the web browser to search and read what is on the internet.
Listen to thousands of internet radio stations.
Play music, books, and other MP3 recordings from device, memory cards or USB sticks.
Watch and enjoy what is on YouTube.
Catch up with the news and other stories efficiently.
Turn the camera in to a reading machine, hand held digital magnifier, colour detecter, access QR/Bar codes, and take and share photos.
Find out your current location, and what may be of interest near you.
Other features:
address book.
calendar, Reminders, and alarms.
Calculator.
Compass and spirit level.
Make and share text or voice notes.
Use the stop watch, and timer.
Install and Run other apps such as Spotify, Zoom etc.
If all of these features interest you, a download trial is available. See the shop page for this link. You can then purchase a license to register the Synaptic software.
For more information, please contact the Vision Store on phone 1 3 0 0, 8 4 7 , 4 6 6 or email visionstore@visionaustralia.org.
Thank you for listening.
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Lots of folks have asked for a demo or reminder of what the Mini Guide is as I did not go through the unit when talking about the holder.
If you are in Australia, here is the link to the shop website where you can purchase the Mini Guide (as well as the holder if you like).
https://shop.visionaustralia.org/miniguide-ultrasonic-echo-location-detector.html
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
One of those products you’ve heard about, but when you decide to get it, it blows your socks off. Mini Guide Sonar holder for your cane: adjustable wing nut for the actual cane or handle plus lever to adjust position of Mini Guide bloody amazing smile - https://shop.visionaustralia.org/miniguide-holder.html
Monday Mar 25, 2024
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
Hable One Quick demo
Quick physical whip around:
Front middle slide on/off switch.
Back middle USBC port.
Back left lanyard.
Top 8 Braille keys.
Bottom 4 rubber feet at each corner.
Paring to smart phone:
Turn Hable one on.
Smart phone Settings, Bluetooth, and select Hable one.
Once paired, unit will connect automatically when turned on.
Holding the unit:
Hold unit away from you with the keys facing out, so that the USBC port is facing down, and the on/off switch is facing up.
Key/dot positions:
Left column of 3 keys bottom to top - dots 1, 2, and 3.
Right column of 3 keys bottom to top 4, 5, and 6.
Left long key: dot 7.
Right long key - dot 8.
Handy starting commands for navigation
Left/Right to previous or next item:
Hold 7 whilst pressing 8 move right.
Hold 8 whilst pressing 7 move left.
Select an item:
Press 78.
Home command:
Hold h (125) until vibration.
Previous/next Home screen:
Hold o (135) until vibration move to next Home Screen.
Hold ow contraction (236) until vibration move to previous Home Screen.
Silence speech output temporarily:
Hold a (1) until vibration.
App switcher:
Hold 23 until vibration.
Control Centre:
Hold j (245) until vibration.
Notifications Centre:
Hold n (1345) until vibration.
Answer/Hangup and start/stop media:
Hold 3 until vibration to either answer/hang up call.
Hold p (1234) until vibration to start/stop media (music, audio book etc).
Siri.
Hold d (124) until vibration.
Status menu, and Back/Escape:
Hold s (234) until vibration.
Hold b (12) until vibration for back/escape.
As there is no delete key it is 7, Space bar 8 is space, and the Enter key is 18 when Brailling in to a text entry area.
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
A bit of a chat around the Ultra Cane and Sonar Glasses which I'm having a look at in the next few weeks, and as usual, some other stuff smile.
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Monday Feb 12, 2024
In this weeks tech chat, we mainly focus on the "why would you want to use the Vision Pro in its current state", some things that would be nice for Apple to focus on, and other stuff smile.
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Some fun outdoor demos to give you a few ideas for enjoying being out and about.
And of course, all available fromt eh Vision Australia Vision Store.
Have a listen, as I don't want to spoil the fun smile.
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Loving the new upgrade to the Brailliant BIX40 which allows you to access books in my case from the Vision Australia library and enjoy daisy books, brf books (such as the Sydney Morning Herald), and my favourite podcast Talking Tech smile.
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
In this demo, I give you an overview of the Monarch hardware, and some of the software features.
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
To find out all of the products described in this webinar for accessing the Printed Word (i.e. Optical Character Recognition OCR or Magnification)
If you are in Australia, go to:
https://shop.visionaustralia.org
or in New Zealand:
https://shop.visionaustralia.org.nz
Enjoy
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Lots of great things to say about Android, some things I wish iOS would do that Android does, and some comments about overall accessibility of Android at least from a screen readers point of view.
Enjoy.
David
Wednesday May 31, 2023
Sunday May 21, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
This feature is available in Australia where the Merchant runs an app on their iPhone to receive either an Apple Pay or in this case paying via a physical card when the limit has reached to enter a pin number for a physical card after it has been tapped on the screen.
Merchant simply taps the accessibility options which allows the user to:
2 finger double tap to repeat initial instructions,
Single tap once for 1, twice for 2, 9 for 9, and 10 taps for 0,
2 finger flick left to delete a number, and
2 finger flick left to submit pin number.
Out of all the options I've tested with this type of payment system, to me this is the best result for ease of use whilst maintaining security and privacy.
Have a listen.
Monday May 01, 2023
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 13, 2023