ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY INC.
A SPECIAL INTEREST AFFILIATE OF THE
MISSOURI COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
2012 ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY MESSENGER
***
***INTRODUCTION
The ATI Messenger is a service of the special interest affiliate of the
Missouri Council of the Blind, Adaptive Technology Inc. If you have any
questions about the content of this newsletter please feel free to contact
either myself or one of the officers of ATI.
***PRESIDENTS REPORT
It has definitely been my pleasure serving you as your president
for the past 2 years.
If you are not already subscribed to the ATI email list serve, I encourage
you to join in order to keep up with the ever changing world of adaptive
technology. To subscribe, send a blank email to:
[email protected]. You will receive a return email asking you to
confirm your subscription. Just reply to that message and your subscription
will be confirmed. The list serve is designed to announce new adaptive
technology products, upgrades of existing products, post questions about the
performance of various products and all in all, just a general discussion
venue of various products.
Again, thank you for allowing me to serve you as your president
and I look forward to working with the new president over the next few
years.
Robert Vaughn
***ANNUAL MEETING
The annual meeting of the ATI will be on Friday, October 5th at
5:15 PM. We will once again have someone at the registration table of MCB
to allow you to pay your dues which are $10 for a 1 year membership. You
may also go on-line at:
http://www.moblind.org/forms/ati_membership.php to pay your dues via PayPal
or you can print the registration form and bring it along with you to the
annual meeting.
Our guest speaker this year will be Mike Arrigo who will
demonstrate the accessibility of the Android and IPhone.
Once again we will have quite an array of door prizes to give away at the
annual meeting. To be eligible for one of the door prizes you must be a
paid member of the ATI and in good standing.
We encourage you to visit the exhibit hall this year to view the
products being displayed by the vendors.
As was mentioned above, the membership dues for ATI are only $10.00.
ATI will be raffeling off aVIP1007 Talking Thermostat. The tickets are
$3.00 each and two for $5.00. The tickets will be available from our
secretary, Rhonda Dycus Jones and also available during our annual meeting.
The winner will be selected through a random drawing on Sunday morning
during the general session.
The Talking Thermostat is a battery powered heating & cooling digital
thermostat
control that plays audio information for easy & precise temperature
management.
Operates on single gas, oil or electric heating & cooling systems
and heat pump
systems without secondary heat.
"5/2" (weekdays / weekend) programming functionality
4 separate time & temperature settings for weekday / weekend
Stores both heat & cool temperature program settings
Audio instructions for setting up day/time and temperature
programs
¦ Audio "Help" message available if heating or cooling problem occurs
Battery powered (4 "AA" alkaline)
Audio & display screen alert messages for Filter, System Service & Low
Batteries
temperature operation (range 50° F /10° C to 90° F / 32° C)
7 terminals for single or two-transformer systems
¦ O/B terminals for heat pump systems (without back-up heat only)
Freeze protection: automatic heat when temperature less than 40° F
/ 4° C
***NOMINATIONS
At our annual meeting this year we will be electing several
officers. As I mentioned, this will be my last year to serve as your
president. The nominating committee consisting of Debra Plumlee, Barbara
Dewberry and Bob Jaco, has nominated Rhonda Dycus Jones as president. They
also nominated Joe Morgan for secretary. Of course as usual, nominations
will be taken from the floor for any of these positions.
Our current officers are:
President - Robert Vaughn
Vice President - David Plumlee
Secretary - Rhonda Dycus
Treasurer--Barbara Dewberry
My thanks to David, Rhonda, and Barbara for a job well done over the past
few years.
I would also like to thank Steve Schnelle and Chris Gray for all their hard
work with all the vendors they've lined up this year.
1. ThatOneRule:
http://www.thatonerule.com/
This fun page provides a look at other people's rules and add your own.
The link for submitting a r u le is the second down if using a keyboard. If
using a mouse, click on "submit.
Here are few from the site.
ThatOneRule: #1881
Stop thinking of what could go wrong and start thinking of what could go
right.
ThatOneRule: #1880
Always choose to be with someone who knows what they have when they have
you.
ThatOneRule: #1879
Never worry about anything. It's a total waste of time and it doesn't
change anything. All it does is taint your mind and steals your joy.
ThatOneRule: #1878
Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean
they aren't loving you the best way they know how to.
ThatOneRule: #1877
It is always better to try your best and be remembered for it, than to
remember that you did not try at all.
2. Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback
Machine
http://www.archive.org/
3. Keyboard Shortcut List | Shortcuts and Hot Keys Reference for Windows,
Mac OS, Linux.
http://www.shortcutworld.com/
4. Learn A Word A day
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/learn-word-day-these-websites.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GizmosDailyTechTreats+%28Gizmo%27s+Daily+Tech+Treats%29&utm_content=FeedBurner
5. GW Micro has updated its free ad-supported Skype client, GW Connect, to
version 2.1 , reducing start-up time and fixing a variety of bugs.
http://www.gwmicro.com/App_Central/Apps/App_Details/?scriptid=1353
6. Accessible Devices Program #31 deals with the Quest from Envision
America.
http://www.accessible-devices.com/feed.xml
7. The JAWS 14 public beta is out, featuring better voices, improved
Office and web support, and more.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/jaws-public-beta.asp
8. ZCaptcha is a new service blind users can try for solving CAPTCHAs.
There is a minimal cost to use the service because the people doing the
solving are themselves paid a small amount.
http://www.azavia.com/zcaptcha
9, Humanware has released the Deaf-Blind Communicator, a $99 iOS app that
allows a deaf-blind person with a braille display and an i-device to
communicate with the sighted speaker writing on the phone. This is an iTunes
link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/humanware-communicator/id550473985
Ringtones for Rookies: 11 Easy Steps to Getting all your Favorites onto your
iPhone
Submitted by Ken Downey on 28 August 2012
Many of you have been wondering: what is the easiest way to get ringtones on
my iPhone. Follow these steps, and all your favorites will be on your iPhone
in no time.
Requirements: PC running Windows
App: Goldwave.
1. Download Goldwave from
www.goldwave.com
and run it. Click file, then
batch processing.
2. In the folders tab, click add file or add folder, then add everything
you want to convert. In the convert tab, click media foundations m4a, and
set the attributes to mono since you can't hear them in stereo anyway. After
all, they're ringtones.
3. Click begin and go do the dishes, as Goldwave shuts down sometimes
when you exit the window. this is a bug! After the files are all converted,
click OK and exit Goldwave.
4. Enter the command prompt, and change the directory to the desired
location, e.g. ringtones, by typing cd\ringtones. Then type ren *.m4a *.m4r.
This only takes a second.
5. Once all the m4a files have been renamed, exit the command prompt and
enter File Explorer.
6. Go to the folder with your m4r ringtones and hit control-a to select
all of them.
7. Go to iTunes. Find the tree view, and hit t until it says tones. If
there is no tones playlist, create it.
8. Now press tab, which takes you to the playlist itself. Press control-v
to paste the files into the list.
9. Go to the tree view again and select your device. Then tab to the sync
tones radio button and check it. Then, tab about six times until you find a
check box that says sync tones. The button allows you to check the
appropriate
box.
10. Plug in your iPhone, and in no time it'll be cluttered up with, if
you're like me anyway, hundreds of useless ringtones and a few very good
ones.
11. If you don't like some of the tones, delete them from your tones list.
They will automatically be deleted from your iPhone.
Six Tips for Managing your iTunes Library"
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57496963-285/six-tips-for-managing-your-itunes-library/
by Dennis O'Reilly
August 22, 2012 9:04 AM PDT
About the time my iTunes music library reached 5,000 tracks I knew it was
time for a cleanup. While I was at it, I adjusted the volume on some tracks
that I had converted from audio cassettes, made sure joined tracks play in
sequence, set iTunes to fill my iPod automatically, and learned some handy
playback-control keyboard shortcuts.
Now I'm spending more time listening to the tracks in my iTunes library and
less time skipping, scrolling, and searching.
*Tip I. The semi-automatic way to remove duplicate media files
iTunes provides two options for identifying duplicate files: one based on
the song name and artist, and another "exact" method based on the song name,
artist, and album.
Methode One: To see a list of files with the same name and artist,
a. choose the library in the left pane
b. Click File > Display Duplicates.
c. Press the Shift key in Windows or the Alt or Option key on a Mac.
d. Then click File > Display Exact Duplicates to view files with the same
name, artist, and album.
Method Two: To ensure you're deleting the lowest-quality duplicate, show
the Bit Rate column in the file list:
a. click View > View Options,
b. Check Bit Rate in the Show Columns list,
c. click OK, and then drag the Bit Rate column to the left so it's visible
next to the song name, artist, and album.
Show the Bit Rate column in iTunes' duplicate-file list to ensure you're
deleting the file with the lowest playback quality. (
If you want to delete the older of the duplicates,
sort by the Date Added column (
if the column isn't visible,
1. click View > View Options,
2. check Date Added,
3. Finally, click OK.).
If you're an iCloud subscriber,
1. click the iCloud Status column to list all the duplicate files together.
2. Select the duplicates you want to remove by Ctrl-clicking,
Command-clicking, or Shift-clicking them, as the case may be.
3. Finally, press Delete. You're then told the files will be removed from
your media player on the next sync, and you're given the option to keep the
files in your iTunes Media library or placing them in the Recycle Bin or
Trash. (iCloud subscribers are given the option to delete the file from
their iCloud library.)
When you delete duplicate files from your iTunes library you can keep them
in your media library or send them to the Trash (or Recycle Bin in Windows).
Depending on your media collection, you may have duplicates remaining after
you delete the files iTunes identified as duplicates. It took another pass
through my library to find the few dozen duplicates that iTunes failed to
spot. Still, the semi-automatic dupe-deletion method shrank my library by
more than 15 percent.
Tip Two: tracks to play in sequence
I'm a fan of shuffling the songs I listen to from my library, until the
third movement of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony plays without being preceded by
movements one and two and followed by movements four and five. (If I had
followed the steps below to join CD tracks when I ripped the disc, I
wouldn't need to connect the tracks after the fact.)
You can tie together separate tracks of a single piece of music or the cuts
from one side of an LP (think Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon") if the
track numbers are sequential, and the tracks have the same album name.
There are two ways to ensure separate album cuts play in sequence:
Method one:
a. right-click each track separately.
b. Choose Get Info > Options > Part of a gapless album.
Method two:
a. select all the tracks at once,
b. right-click the selection,
c. choose Get Info > Yes (at the warning about editing information about
multiple files at once) > Options,
d. choose Yes in the drop-down menu next to "Gapless album,"
e. click OK.
. ITunes Options Dialog Box
Make sure connected tracks play in sequence by checking "Part of a gapless
album" in the track's
As the Apple support site indicates, gapless playback is on by default in
many iPods and iPhones, unless their audio-crossfade feature is enabled
(crossfade is off by default). Unless you're listening on shuffle, most
contiguous tracks will play as intended without having to enable
gaplessness.
*Tip III. Join CD tracks when you rip them
There's a simple way to avoid having to link tracks so they play in the
appropriate sequence: tell iTunes to join the cuts before you rip them from
the CD.
When 1. you insert the CD, iTunes will ask whether you would like to import
the tracks. Click No,
2. Select the connected tracks by Shift-clicking (note that iTunes can join
tracks only if they are listed together).
3. Once the tracks are highlighted, click Advanced > Join CD tracks. A
small black line to the left of the tracks indicates that they are linked.
Join CD tracks before you import them to iTunes to ensure linked tracks
play together.
After the tracks are joined, click Import CD. Once the import is completed,
the connected tracks appear in your library as a single entry.
As the Apple support site indicates, the Join CD tracks option requires that
the tracks are selected on an audio CD, that the tracks are contiguous, and
that the CD is sorted by track number in ascending order.
*Tip IV. Make iTunes sound better
Use the Sound Check/Equalizer to adjust the volume of single tracks
In July 2011 I explained how to use the free Audacity audio software to
convert LPs and audiocassettes into MP3s and CDs. Hundreds of the songs in
my iTunes library were transferred from a tape or vinyl record.
Unfortunately, the volume of these tracks is often much lower than the
volume of original MP3s and tracks ripped from audio CDs.
iTunes lets you adjust the volume of individual tracks via the song's
Options dialog box.
1. Select the track,
2. right-click it, and choose Get Info > Options.
3. Move the volume-adjustment slider to the left to lower the track's
volume or to the right to increase its volume. Raise or lower the playback
volume of a single track via the volume-adjustment slider in the item's
Options dialog box.
You can also choose one of the equalizer presets from the drop-down menu
below the volume adjuster. The presets include spoken word, bass booster,
acoustic, jazz, vocal booster, and small speakers. Click Next to open the
Options dialog for the next item in your library. To adjust a track's
equalizer settings manually, click View > Show Equalizer (Windows) or Window
> Equalizer (Mac).
*Tip V. Let iTunes fill your media player when you sync
If your iTunes media library fits on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad, you can let
iTunes sync the items in the device automatically when you connect it to
your computer. For those of us whose library exceeds their media player's
storage capacity, iTunes has an option that automatically fills the device
with selections from your library.
Connect your media player and choose "Manually manage music and videos"
under Options. Then click the arrow on the left side of your device entry in
the left pane and choose Music (or whichever type of file you want to fill
the player with). Click the Autofill button in the bottom-right corner of
the track-list window to have iTunes add tracks from your library to the
device's capacity.
When you manually manage your media player in iTunes, the program offers to
autofill the device with tracks from your library.
Use the Autofill From drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner of the main
window to select the library from which tracks will be pulled, and click the
Settings button on the right to reserve space on the device. The option to
choose items randomly is checked by default; the other two settings let you
fill with higher bit-rate tracks first, and replace all items when
autofilling.
Save time with iTunes' playback-control shortcuts
To switch to iTunes' mini-player in Windows, click View > Switch to Mini
Player, or press Ctrl-Shift-M (press Ctrl-Shift-M again to revert to the
full iTunes window). On a Mac, click Window > Switch to Mini Player, or
press Command-Shift-M. But you can control iTunes' playback without any
player visible by using keyboard shortcuts.
The shortcuts corresponding to each iTunes option are shown on the main
menus, which you can open in Windows by pressing Alt and then the underlined
letter that appears in the menu item. On a Mac, press Control-Fn-F2 and use
the arrow keys to move between and open the menus.
*Tip VI. The Apple support site provides lists of iTunes 10 keyboard
shortcuts for Windows and shortcuts for the Mac, as well as a compendium of
Mac iTunes keyboard shortcuts.
I know: Who's going to remember another four or five dozen keyboard
shortcuts? The shortcuts that I find most useful are for controlling
playback (they also happen to be the easiest for me to keep in mind):
a.. Start or stop playing the selected song: spacebar
b.. Play the next song in a list: right arrow
c.. Play the previous song in a list: left arrow
d.. Increase the volume: Ctrl-up arrow (Command-up arrow on a Mac)
e.. Decrease the volume: Ctrl-down arrow (Command-down arrow on a Mac)
f.. Mute the sound (song keeps playing): Ctrl-Alt-down arrow
(Command-Option-down arrow on a Mac)
g.. Eject a CD: Ctrl-E (Command-E on a Mac)
Robo Braille: enhancing the accessibility of documents
Submitted by cvangerven on Mon, 08/13/2012 - 11:13
Blog Date:
Monday, August 13, 2012
By Scott Davert
A link to this service is below.
www.robobraille.org
For many reasons, people who are blind or deaf-blind find it necessary to
convert files from one format to another. For example, converting a
graphical PDF file to an accessible format such as Microsoft Word (.doc or
.docx), rich text format (.rtf), digital braille (.brf) or plain text
(.txt). This is especially the case when textbook publishers send out books
in PDF format. There are many software applications that can convert files
from one format to another, but these must be installed in order to perform
conversions for some of the above mentioned formats. That is, until a
service called Robobraille came in to being.
Robobraille, (www.robobraille.org), is a Danish Web based service that will
convert files from one format to another. Files can be converted from or to:
uncontracted and contracted Braille, plain text, Microsoft Word,JPEG, PDF,
and many more. There are also many languages supported such as Danish,
French, German, Spanish, Arabic, and several others. You can even view the
Web interface from the list of available buttons for the languages that are
present on the home page.
The process of converting files is very straight forward. First choose the
file you'd like to convert and upload it on the front page of the site much
as you would upload a file on any Web site. The only issue with this is that
once your file has successfully uploaded, the upload file portion of the web
page remains there, so you have to arrow around to find out when your file
has completed uploading. The service has a 32MB limit on file size, which
could present some issues for those who need very large PDF documents
converted. The complete list of input file types supported are : .doc,
.docx, .pdf, .txt, .xml, .html, .htm, .rtf, .epub, .mobi, .tiff, .tif, .gif,
.jpg, .bmp, .pcx, .dcx, .j2k, .jp2, .jpx, .djv and.asc
Once you have uploaded the file, you will be presented with a list of
alternative types for the file such as a document, tagged PDF, audio, or an
eBook. The next series of options are contextual. For example, if you're
converting a PDF file to another document type, you will be presented with
the various formats available. MP3 audio, eBook formats including EPUB and
MOBI, document (10 different types to choose from), and various forms of
digital Braille are all available with for PDF file. If you choose to
convert the file to an MP3, you will then have a choice as to the speed of
the speech along with whether you'd like the text-to-speech engine to read
in an American or British voice. These options vary slightly based on what
you upload. For example, if you upload a Microsoft Word file for conversion,
you get the additional option of DAISY format, even with both text and
audio.
After choosing your desired format, you then need to enter an email address
where Robobraille can email you the converted file as an attachment, or in
the case of MP3 files, you will be provided with a link to the file from
their server. You can then download the file, and be on your way to enjoying
the file format of your choice.
I have found that graphical PDF documents are quite accurately converted
with the OCR tool Robobraile is using. The 5 documents I tested this
conversion with had AN AVERAGE OF LESS THAN one error for each page.
Turnaround time varies based on the size of the document. For example, a 3
page document may take less than 2 minutes, while a 300 page document could
take over an hour.
A few limitations:
As mentioned above, the files you upload must be less than 32MB. Also,
protected documents cannot be converted. Finally, while one can convert to
digital Braille, it is slightly misleading that the files are given the file
extensions .txt. It would be nice if Robobraille could include the BRF
format as an input format so that those who create .brf files can have them
converted to another format when needed. This would also be nice to see for
some of the other proprietary formats such as Key Word.
Overall, this is a great service that can come in handy when no conversion
software is available. While they gladly accept donations, the service is
free and worked with Safari, Internet Explorer, and Firefox when I tested
it. Obviously, going through each type of file you can upload and all of
its options is beyond the scope of this article, but the above examples
demonstrate how Robobraille can become yet another resource in the ever
expanding assistive technology toolbox for users of adaptive technology.
The Basics of Blog Accessibility
Cori Shirk
http://www.readbelowthefold.com/web-accessibility/the-basics-of-blog-accessibility.html#post-406
No one writes a blog and hopes that it remains buried in the depths of the
Internet, but if you overlook web accessibility guidelines, you could be
missing out on some potential traffic. It's estimated that up to 20% of
Americans live with a disability. By ignoring accessibility on your blog,
you can practically wave goodbye to one in every five readers. As the
Internet becomes more widely used, web accessibility becomes more important.
This post outlines 10 ways to improve accessibility on your blog.
1. Image alt text
Alt text (or alternative text) is a brief description of an image. Adding
alt text to images included in your post allows screen readers to describe
photos, therefore making them accessible to the visually impaired. Here is
a link explaining how to carry out this action.
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_img_alt.asp
2. Hyperlink text
When writing hyperlinks, always use wording that makes sense out of the
context of the sentence in which it's included. Some screen readers may
choose to only read the links on a page, so avoid phrases like "click here"
that won't make sense if isolated. Or, if you can't word the link in a way
that allows it to read clearly on its own, consider adding a descriptive
(but not redundant) title attribute to the link.
3. Target attributes
Unexpected windows popping up can be very confusing to people using screen
readers. Avoid using target attributes (e.g. target="new" or target="blank")
when embedding links into your blog.
4. HTML list elements
HTML formatted list elements are much easier to read on screen readers than
self-formatted bullets. Using proper HTML formatting will help your viewers,
disabled or not, navigate your blog much more smoothly. To format your lists
using HTML, you'll have to familiarize yourself with some basic (don't
stress! VERY basic) code.
This link provides tips and instructions how to use html on your BLOG.
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_lists.asp
5. HTML heading levels
Similar to my last point, formatting using heading levels will make your
blog much more navigable for readers. There are six HTML heading levels you
can use to prioritize content. The link below will go to a page explaining
inportance of the headings and how to add them.
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_headings.asp
6. Audio/video transcripts
Transcripts and captions on videos let web users with disabilities perceive
all the content included in your posts, giving them a much more enjoyable
and complete experience with your blog. Found at the link below is some
information how to add transcripts and captions to vidios.
http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en&guide=2734661&page=guide.cs
7. Color
Don't get me wrong, I love colorful web sites, but if you design your blog
in such a way that color plays a major role in conveying your message, you
might be excluding individuals with colorblindness or other visual ailments.
Simple changes like adding an underline to a link instead of just changing
the text color can make a significant difference in your site's
accessibility. Also, be wary of contrast between text and background color
when publishing. Before publishing, run your site through a conversion tool
that allows you to view any site as a colorblind person would see it . This
site thost a utility just for this purpose.
http://colorfilter.wickline.org/
8. Multimedia controls
Not only is self-starting audio or video content annoying to viewers who
aren't disabled, but it can also be extremely disorienting to readers using
assistive technologies. Imagine you are visually impaired, browsing the web
using a screen reader, minding your own business, and you're suddenly
assaulted by automatically starting audio content on a page. You have no
idea where it's coming from, and you have no idea how to stop it because
it's drowning out the instructions from your screen reader. This is an easy
situation to avoid by providing simple multimedia controls, and many people
will appreciate it.
9. Text size
Chances are your blog is style-sheet driven, so embrace the opportunity to
allow your readers to control the text size on your page. This small touch
of customizability can be very helpful for low-vision readers.
10. Evaluation
Worried that you might have overlooked something in the accessibility realm?
Fear not! There are plenty of tools available online that will help you make
sure that your site is accessible in several ways. Here are a few I find
helpful:
a.. http://wave.webaim.org/ - Allows you to enter any URL and check for
accessibility errors.
b.. http://sipt07.si.ehu.es/evalaccess2/index.html - Another good
accessibility evaluation page.
c.. http://www.w3schools.com/ - This site offers some pretty basic
articles to help you understand more about coding, in case you need to go
deeper than adding image alt tags or headings.
Making sure your blog is accessible takes a bit of time, but it'll be worth
it; you'll reach more people, and those of whom you do reach with a
disability will thank you for your consideration.
This concludes the 2012 edition of the Adaptive Technology Messenger. I
hope you were able to get some useful information from this issue and the
information helps to make your daily living a little easier.
Hope to see you at the convention in October!
Robert Vaughn- President
David Plumlee - Vice President
Rhonda Dycus Jones - Secretary
Barbara Dewberry - Treasurer
_______________________________________________
ATI (Adaptive Technology Inc.)
A special interest affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind
http://moblind.org/membership/affiliates/adaptive_technology
