iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.

HomePod demo - how to reset HomePod

In this demo I show you how to reset the HomePod.

Simply unplug and plug back in to power, hold finger on touch surface until announcement/3 tones, HomePod restarts, usual start sound, and begin usual setup process via Popup on iPhone and through the Home app.

HomePod demo - how to stop and start "Hey Siri" from listening

In this demo, I take you through the simple steps of asking Siri to stop listening for the "Hey Siri" command (Hey Siri Stop Listening", and how to activate "hey Siri" again via 1 finger double tap and hold (using VoiceOver on the homePod) touch surface to manually activate Siri, then say "Hey Siri Start Listening".

 

HomePod demo - playing around with Podcasts

In this demo, I show you how to play, navigate, and subscribe to podcasts on the HomePod.

HomePod demo - using the iOS Control Centre 3D Touch on Media to change media control between iPhone and HomePod

In this demo, I show you how to play media on your iPhone (such as an Audible book) and music playing on HomePod (via Hey Siri play xx), and then via Control Centre, change between iPhone and HomePod.

These are the steps:

In the demo, start an Audible book on iPhone,

Start music playing on HomePod via Hey Siri,

Access Control Centre,

3D Touch on Media,

will be presented with Title track iPhone and title track NameOfHomePod,

Select iPhone or HomePod,

Media controls such as Rewind, Play.Pause, Fast Forward, volume etc will then allow that selected media source to be controlled.

This comes in really handy if you've started music playing in the kitchen on HomePod, your at the back of the house, and you want to change to the next track on the HomePod, Pause, turn the volume up etc.

How to use HomePod as a speaker phone.

In this demo, I show you how to transfer a call from your iPhone to the HomePod to then use the HomePod as a hands free speaker phone.

This works for both making and receiving a call.

When your on a call, choose the Hide button to hide the keypad, choose the Audio button, and then choose your HomePod.

The great thing about this for VoiceOver users is that the call is live on your HomePod, whilst VoiceOver and the keypad if you have to use it with automated system stays on the iPhone.  Consequently you have two different audio sources, making it much easier to either listen to the phone call or use your iPhone.

A Play around with HomePod using VoiceOver - setup, configuring via the Home app, and a play around with Siri.

My first demo of setting up and playing around with the HomePod.

Support page link for using VoiceOver on the HomePod which will activate if you are running VoiceOver on the iPhone or turn it on in Home app via Room tab, HomePod, Details, Accessibility, VoiceOver.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-au/ht208434

Demo of setting up the Amazon Echo dot with the iOS Amazon Alexa app now that the Echo is officially supported in Australia

In this demo, I take you through setting up my Amazon Echo Dot via the Amazon Alexa app now that the Echo is officially supported in Australia as of Feb 1 2018.

I must say though, I prefer using the alexa.amazon.com website rather than the iOS app as sometimes I find double tapping with VoiceOver doesn't work and I have better access to the webpages with VoiceOver on the Mac using Safari than I do using the Amazon Alexa app with VoiceOver.

I still don't understand why Audible is not accessible here in Australia, only Kindle books.

I hope Amazon improves the English Australia voice for reading Kindle books, it pauses far to much.

My Five Hundredth Podcast - Using Switch Control with speech on the iPhone

In my Five Hundredth Podcast, I take you through setting up and navigating on the iPhone with physical switch's using speech output.

As well as navigating the iPhone, I take you through accessing an app (Vision Australia Connect) to read a daisy book.

Enjoy

Demo of the new Siri function introduced in iOS 11.2.5 - Hey Siri "give me the news".

In this demo I take you through the new Hey Siri "give me the news" function introduced in iOS 11.2.5.

In Australia, you can switch news sources: ABC, channel 7 or SBS.  In the US and UK, different news sources are available.

So far you can say Hey Siri "give me"

News,

Business news,

Music news, and

Sports news.

Channel 7 and SBS seem the most comprehensive for the moment with the news source giving news, sports, and weather - ABC is just the news.

Looking forward to when the technology source is added.

Will be quite handy to use this on the HomePod which I will be demonstrating as soon as it arrives after pre-ordering on Jan 27 and being available on Feb 9 2018.

Demo of reading (listening) to an audio book on Google Home

In this demo I take you through the process of purchasing an audio book from the Google Play Store

https://play.google.com

 

and then show you how to as Google puts it, Read and navigate an audio book on Google Home.

FYI - audio books on the Google Play Store became available in the last week of Jan 2018.  If you are using PlayBooks on iOS, you can search and sample audio books plus play audio books you have already purchased.  Whilst on PlayBooks for Android and the website, you can search, sample, add to wish list, purchase, and of course play.

Demo of the new English Australia voice for the Amazon Echo

In this podcast, I give you a brief demo of the English Australia voice of the Amazon Echo which is about to be officially released in Australia as of Feb 1 2018.

In the meantime, if you do have an Amazon Echo in Australia and you would like to use the new English Australia voice, go to

http://alexa.amazon.com

Choose the Settings tab, choose your Echo, choose Language, and in the language pop-up select English Australia.

The Australian voice Unfortunately pauses between paragraphs when reading a Kindle book after I posted this podcast, and even worse, I have now learnt that Amazon will not be allowing audible.com books to be accessed in Australia, which doesn't make sense since the service is here anyway.

The Amazon Alexa app is in the Australian iOS App Store.

An Update demo of using the Sensibo Sky AC device for controlling AC via its web interface offering better accessible controls

In the original demo I did on the Sensibo Sky aC device (for controlling your Air Conditioner) using the iOS app on my iPhone, I said that the popup controls for accessing Mode (Dry, Cool etc), Fan (fan speed low, high etc), and Temperature (16C and up) on the AC were not accessible if you were using VoiceOver.

Found out as of this demo, that if you login to the sensibo website

http://www.sensibo.com

with your account email and password, you will get the control screen for your Air Conditioner, and the Popups for Mode, Fan, and Temperature are all accessible as I demo with VoiceOver on iOS and Mac OS.

Climate control is also accessible, but I did not cover this in the demo as I wanted to keep it nice and quick.

Here is the link to the original podcast I did on Sensibo which goes through what it is, setting it up, using the iOS app, and accessing the device from Google Home

http://davidwoodbr.podbean.com/e/demo-of-the-sensibo-sky-remote-device-for-your-air-conditioner-system/

As I said in the demo, I wanted at least access to the Mode, Temperature, and fan popups and now via the sensibo website I now do.

Still wish they would make the actual app more accessible which as the date of posting this podcast hasn't yet happend.

 

Demo of playing music to Google Homes or Chromecast Audio devices whilst listening to an Audible book on my iPhone

In this demo, I show you how I use Google Play Music to play to Google Homes or Chromecast Audio devices around my house whilst I enjoy listening to an Audible book on my iPhone. 

Google Home Mini update covering recent added gestures

In this demo, I show you the new updated gestures which became available for the Google Home Mini towards the end of 2017: Pause/Play music, and stop an alarm or timer.

Demo of changing the bass and treble on Google Home

In this demo, I show you how to change the bass or treble settings on the Google home.

I tend to change these settings depending on whether I am listening to music or spoken word.

Demo of a handy Amazon Echo skill (Remember This) that I use to organise my weekly grocery shopping

The Remember This skill for the Amazon Echo is an excellent list generator for doing up my weekly shopping list.

I use it as a throw away weekly list - adding items through out the week and then using this list to check my final shopping list that I use when I go shopping.

Disabling and re-enabling the skill after the weekly shopping, gives me a fresh new list to start the next week.

Deleting items by number in the list (if not required) I find is a lot more effective rather than trying to get the voice recognition to recognise the item I wish to delete.

Very easy skill to use: aDD item, Delete item, List, Help, and stop or Goodbye.

Demo of the Sensibo Sky remote device for your air conditioner system.

In this demo, I take you through the installation and setup of the Sensibo device with its companion app (Sensibo).

I take you through using the Sensibo app to control my home air conditioner, and control the AC from my Google Home and the Google Assistant app running on my iPhone 8 plus.

Just a note - the Sensibo Sky will only work with AC systems that are controlled via a physical remote.

In the demo, I say that the Mode, Fan, and Temp popups are not accesible with VoiceOver on iOS.  However, as of Jan 17, I have learned that if you use the sensibo website

http://www.sensibo.com

and login with your account email and password, you can use the web controls on the screen to access the popup buttons for Mode, Fan, and Temp.

Here is a link to the updated podcast on using the web interface:

http://davidwoodbr.podbean.com/e/an-update-demo-of-using-the-sensibo-sky-device-via-its-web-interface-offering-better-accessible-controls/

Demo of using the Shopping List function on Google Home

In this demo, I take you through the following:

adding and checking items on the Shopping List using Google Home,

Adding items from the Google Assistant app running on my iPhone, and

deleting, editing and adding items to the Shopping list using http://shoppinglist.google.com

In all cases for Google Home, Google Assistant, and the Shopping List website, I had previously logged in to my Google Account.

Just a final note, you'll need to download the Google Assistant app from the iOS App Store to use it on the iPhone:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-assistant/id1220976145?mt=8

 

Demo of the Seeing AI app from Microsoft

In this demo, I take you through the Seeing AI app interface with its channels (options) of Short Text (fast auto OCR), Document (OCR), Product (bar code), Person (person ID), Currency (identification), Scene Recognition, Colour (identification), Hand Writing (recognition), and Light (detection).

Explore the Quick (context sensitive) Help for each channel, and play a sample of the Video Help (again context specific).

Whilst exploring the Main Menu of the app, I give a brief demo of how the Face recognition works.

I then demo two of my most used channels within the Seeing AI app: Product (bar code scanning) and Short Text) which assists me everyday in preparing and cooking meals for my family.

Finally complete the demo with a demo of 3D touch and launching user 4 preset functions: eg I demo launching directly in to the app and use Light detection.

An absolutely outstanding app

 

Apple watch demo of the Little Ben Apple watch app for vibrating minutes, hours or on the hour

***The latest update of this app as of the 22nd of Dec 2017 has broken accessibility for VoiceOver users.***

In this demo, I demonstrated the Little Ben app for vibrating or playing a sound (if Mute is off within Control Centre) for giving you the minutes elapsed,  hours elapsed or on the hour chime.

I find using the app with mute off is great for minute timing when cooking or when using the hourly chime just to keep track of the time.

When I am recording my Talking Tech radio program for Vision Australia, I turn mute on and use the minute vibration mode to keep where we are up to in the show for each topic we discuss.

An excellent app and its free smile.

Demo of the iPhone X using VoiceOver

In this demo I take you through a physical description of the iPhone X, using the new gestures for Home, App Switcher, Control Centre, and Notifications Centre, checking out the new status line layout, a go through of reachability, discuss the new use of the Side Button for Triple Click Accessibility Short-Cut/Siri etc, setting up and using Face ID, using Braille Screen Input, using the Belkin Wireless Charger, using the 29W USBC fast charger to get 50% charge within 30 minutes, what is in the box, and a bit of a sound demo of playing music between the iPhone 8 plus and the iPhone X.

Walk through of setting up an Amazon Echo via the alexa.amazon.com website

As the Amazon Echo is not officially supported in Australia either via the Android or iOs stores, I decided to do this demo on setting up an Amazon Echo via the alexa.amazon.com website.

For thos of us in not yet supported country's, this will at least get you up and running with an Amazon Echo, and of course, if you want to buy an echo, they are certainly available on eBay.

Enjoy.

Setup and demo of the Google Home Mini

In this demo, I give you a physical description of the Google Home Mini, take you through setting it up, setting the accessibility option on, and go through a number of things you can ask the Google Assistant.

In some ways I prefer the Google Home mini as it uses a micro USB port for power, side switch for mic mute, and not deep base which is nicer for listening to spoken word audio such as radio, podcasts etc.

Price is great, in Australia Mini is $79 and the Home is $199.

 

 

Demo of Deleting, Dragging (moving) single/multiple apps, and moving apps out of a folder

In this demo, I take you through deleting and moving or dragging apps around on the Home screen.

Note - besides 1 finger double tap and hold to go in to Edit Mode, you can now select Edit Mode from the rotor besides 1 finger double tap to activate.

iOS 11 demo - Auto Answering a incoming phone call

In this demo I take you through enabling Auto Answering for immediate and timed auto answering of incoming phone calls.

Setting up and using the Apple TV with a Braille display via VoiceOver

In this demo I take you through setting up and using a Braille display via VoiceOver on the Apple TV.

Along the way, I make a number of suggestions on how some things could be improved.

Demo of type to Siri on Mac High Sierra and iOS 11 plus using AirPods to allow speech to text

In this demo I take you through enabling type to 'Siri on Mac os High Sierra and iOS 11.

As well as this, I demo that if you use head phones like the AirPods that can invoke Siri, you can still talk to Siri even though you are using type to Siri with the keyboard: a handy feature.

Demo of updating the Mac mini from Sierra to High Sierra using VoiceOver

In this demo, I take you through the update process of going from Sierra Mac os 10.12 to High Sierra Mac os 10.13 using VoiceOver.

After the update, I also point out the major keyboard change to VoiceOver in this update: i.e. VO+Command+Arrow keys is now for the rotor, whilst Shift+VO+Command+Arrow keys is speech settings (as it was in previous versions of Mac os).

High Sierra seems to be running quite well on my Mac mini entry level machine: 1.4ghz and 4gb RAM.

Demo of setting up the Apple watch series 3 cellular/GPS, connecting to a mobile service and using self voicing Siri

In this demo, I take you through setting up the series 3 cellular/GPS Apple watch, connecting it to the Telstra One plan mobile service in Australia, making/receiving a call, and a demo of self voicing Siri.

I also demo the heart rate complication which gives you your current heart beat and if you use it with VO Enable AutoSpeak and Speak on wrist Raise with VoiceOver, you can get your heart rate spoken automatically (great when you are on the treadmill.

Description and demo of the Belkin Boost Up Charging Pad for the iPhone

In this demo, I give you a physical description of the wireless charging pad and demo how it is used.

Demo of setting up the iPHone 8 plus using VoiceOver via automatic settings from existing iPhone

In this demo I take you through setting up the iPhone 8 plus using the automatic settings update option from my iPhone 6s. 

iOS 11 demo - using the Control Centre on the iPad with VoiceOver

For those of us who use an iPad, you'll find that the Control Centre includes the app switcher, Control centre icons, Dock, and Suggestions.

In this demo I show you how to navigate the Control Centre on the iPad, and how to customise it.

note - the control centre icons are what an iPhone or iPod touch user would experience without the App Switcher orDock (including the Dock suggestions).

catching up with an update to the AirPods

In this demo, I show you how you can set the left or right AirPod to perform a different action including Siri, Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, and off.

As I mention in the demo, I'm not sure when this update became available, but the software version that this demo is based on is 3.7.2 which you can check when the AirPods are connected in Settings, General, About, AirPods.

 

iOS 11 demo of using the Dock on the iPad with VoiceOver gestures/kb commands and having a play with the Side App switcher

Just showing off an iOS 11 feature with being able to access the dock from within an app, a note on suggestions on the Dock, and a bit of a play around with the side app switcher (the name of which I've probably got incorrect smile).

 

Tip demo on Apple TV os 11: Australia now has the tV app, and how to change the Home button back to normal rather than to the TV app.

In this demo, I alert fellow Australians to the arrival of the TV app on the Apple TV which integrates the various TV apps (and your movies) in to one app (Movies and TV shows are still on the Home screen).

With this update, the default function of the Home button has changed to taking you to the TV app, then if you press Home button again you'll go back to the Home screen.  As I like all of my Home buttons to work the same, I show you how to change it back to its previous default setting of taking you back to the Home screen.

Demo of updating from iOS 10 to iOS 11 using VoiceOver

I thought in this demo I'd take you through updating from iOS 10 to iOS 11 using VoiceOver.

I always find its handy to know how long that silent bit last when you loose speech when iOS is updating.

Demo of the O6 Remote Media Bluetooth device for controlling media and VoiceOver

In this demo I take you through a physical description of the O6 which is essentially a round device with a Centre button and a dial surrounding this button.  Either the Centre button and Ring dial can be press or held in for extended functionality and the ring dial itself can be turned clockwise or counter clockwise for more functionality.

Two modes Basic hold ring dial in until single long pulse or Advanced hold ring dial in until short two double pulses (vibrates.

In this demo, I take you through the functions that I use most of the time in either Basic or Advanced modes.

For more information on the O6 or to grab the manual, go to:

http://www.o6app.com

 

Demo of Google Home giving you your next bus, train etc time simply by asking

In this demo, I show you how easy it is to get the next bus or traing times from Google Home simply by asking.

To have this function work from your Home address or Work, you'll have to set these within the Google Home app.

After the recording I also asked for the next ferry here on the Central Coast New South Wales from Ettalong Beach to Palm Beach and Google Told me the next ferry time as well.

I also did several different locations for bus and train and got the same result: i.e. next time of a bus or train.

Here is hoping that Home Pod will do a similar thing.

Demo of Chromecasting from Google Play music to individual speakers and groups

In this demo I give you a brief demo of Chromecasting from Google Play Music on my iPhone to individual speakers in my house and speaker groups.

Like Airplay, VoiceOver speech stays local on your device whilst the music goes out to individual or group speakers.

Demo of using Google Home Speakers and Chromecast Audio groups

In this demo I show you how I have organised my Google Home Speakers and Chromecast Audio devices (attached to various speakers throughout my house), and then take you through setting up and using groups to pla audio.

I also demo my favorite couple of features that of being able to tell what is playing on a speaker, adjusting volume, and then being able to adjust individual speaker volumes within a speaker group.

For me, this is just a cost effective way of setting up speakers through out my house without having to spend to much money by using the existing speakers.

Using the Google Home Speaker as a Bluetooth speaker

In late August 2017 I discovered within the Google Home App on my iPhone (Device, DeviceName, Settings, Bluetooth) that I could now use my Google Home Smart Speaker as a Bluetooth speaker.

In this demo I take you through the steps of setting up the Google Home smart Speaker as a BT speaker using my iPhone and of course the Google Home app.

I just wish when these firmware updates became active that the user got notified such as "Hey, did you know your Google Home Speaker can now do Bluetooth".

The great thing is that when your using the sGH as a BT speaker, the Google Assistant is stil active as well as the physical gestures for the GH speaker itself.

A bit sluggish with VoiceOver gestures, but not to bad for short navigation sessions.

Setting up and using Chromecast Audio for use with Google Home

In this demo, I give you a physical description of the Chromecast Audio device, go through the setup via the Google Home app, and show you how to use it via the Google Home speaker.

Note - Chromecast Audio is purely to play music etc to speakers that can take a 3.5mm audio jack.  For watching Youtube, Netflix etc You will need a Chromecast device.

Since I purchased my AQ Smart Speakers several years ago which not only support Airplay but take a 3.5mm audio jack, I've been able to turn all of my Airplay speakers in to Chromecast Audio speakers.  This means that I can setup speakers in a group and control their volume etc independently of each other.

Looking forward to purchasing more Chromecast Audio devices.

Google Home - changing the Assistant speech language

In this demo I show you how to go about changing the Assistant speech language (I did from US back to Australia) as there appears to be more functionality with various languages: i.e. with the US voice there seems to be more games than currently with the Australian voice.

How to enable Accessibility sounds on Google Home, and description/use of ChromeCast with Netflix

In this demo I show you how to enable the Start and End sounds for Google Home so that you know it has reacted.  I also describe the ChromeCast device and show you how easy it is to stream a movie from Netflix.

A comparison of Google Home in Australia and the Amazon echo

In this demo, I take you through a number of common tasks between Google Home which is officially supported in Australia and the Amazon Echo which is not.

 

Demo of the Fitbit Charge 2 (with heart beat monitoring) with Fitbit App on iPhone using VoiceOver

Physical description of the Fitbit Charge 2, tips on installation, and a brief run through of using the Fitbit app on the iPhone using VoiceOver.

Apology for recording quality in this demo.

Demo of the Kapsys Smart Vision 2 Android phone with touch screen and physical keyboard usiing speech

What is in the box, physical description, and an overviw of the phones functions.

Demo of the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Trackpad 2 using VoiceOver

Demo of connecting and pairing the keyboard and the trackpad to the Mac, and using the keyboard on the iPhone with VoiceOver.

A comparison of the Beats Pill+ verses the previous Beats Pill speaker.

A quick comparison demo between the new Beats Pill+ and the older Beats Pill using VoiceOver, playing music, and lisening to an audio book.

Free Sample - Meet Me in the Cloud - A Guide to Zoom Cloud Meetings from a Blindness Perspective by Jonathan Mosen

Mosen Consulting is giving away the first part of Meet Me In The Cloud, which talks you through how to attend your first Zoom meeting on both Windows and iOS.

 

If you’d like to know much more about being a power participant or host on Zoom, then the complete audiobook is for you access from:

http://mosen.org/zoom