S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: August 8th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you
S1: with us wherever you're listening, perhaps through Virgin Australia radio
S1: associated Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network,
S1: there is also the podcast. If you haven't caught up
S1: with that yet, all you need to do is search
S1: for the two words talking tech and Diana can all
S1: come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced.
S1: Another option is to ask your Siri device or smart
S1: speaker to play Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech Podcast. Vision
S1: Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast with me someone who can
S1: explain all the tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's national
S1: adviser on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. And David, you've got
S1: a bit of technology to explain today because we thought
S1: it might be an idea to just talk about what
S1: technology would be useful for someone in various life situations,
S1: such as at home, as a student or in the workplace.
S1: And today we'll look at the situation of people who
S1: are blind and maybe low vision users. Next week.
S2: We certainly will. Yeah. So we'll do it both because
S2: it was going to be too complicated to try and
S2: fit both into one show. So hence while we're doing
S2: part one and part two.
S1: So let's start with the home technologist or the home
S1: user that needs to use technology. They mightn't love it
S1: as much as some of us do.
S2: True. So I'm just going to go through this fairly
S2: quickly because some of the stuff that will basically keep
S2: repeating some of it anyway. So my first recommendation is
S2: always to get a computer. Now most people get a
S2: Windows computer and these days it's Windows 11. I always
S2: say i7 processor and 16 gigs of memory because that's
S2: a good one to have. Nice and solid. But do
S2: you for a long, long time. And then for home users,
S2: you've got the choice of having the Free Australian screen
S2: Reader Nvda or the built in screen reader in the
S2: reader or Jaws for Windows. And then if you're a
S2: mac user, I tend to just these days go straight
S2: for the MacBook Pro 14 inch and of course you
S2: use that with voiceover. There's no other screen reader. So
S2: that's the basically the, the PC and the Mac stuff.
S2: And as far as the sort of the, the other
S2: stuff goes, that's more assistive tech and mainstream. Of course,
S2: we've got the Perkins Brailler. And yes, you can still
S2: get a Perkins Brailler because there's nothing like having a
S2: manual backup iPhone 14 Pro. And the reason why I
S2: recommending that one is because we've got all the LiDAR
S2: stuff to do with orientation mobility, Bluetooth keyboard, which is
S2: lovely because you can use that either with your laptop,
S2: your mac or as a keyboard for your iPhone, smartphone
S2: or tablet stand. Because remember, your iPhone can replace lots
S2: and lots of gadgets. So if you want to do
S2: optical character recognition, then you can use that. And the
S2: last three final ones is a mini guide that comes
S2: in handy for sonar detection. If you're kind of a
S2: guide dog user, let's not forget The Apprentice scanner because
S2: you want to be able to print stuff at home
S2: much as a shopping list or you want to be
S2: able to scan stuff in with a flatbed scanner. And
S2: then finally, one of my all favorite things is the
S2: Shox Bone conduction headphones. So that's my quick list for
S2: home users.
S1: Now, before we go to the next category, you talk
S1: about the iPhone 14 Pro. That's a good idea today.
S1: In two months time, there'll be another range of iPhones out.
S1: Should people be going for those? Or if you buy
S1: this one, the 14 at the moment, is that going
S1: to do you for enough years? ET cetera.
S2: Look, I think so. I mean, I just I've just
S2: got an iPhone 14 Pro this week and I've had
S2: my iPhone 12 Pro since it first came out. So
S2: I think most fans can last year for a good,
S2: you know, three, 4 or 5 years. So but you're right,
S2: we're getting that close to September. And if you have
S2: haven't upgraded, say, from 11 or below, then two more
S2: months is not going to be that big a deal.
S2: And so, yep, go and get an iPhone 15 pro.
S1: Yeah. If you haven't already got a model near that, correct? Yeah. Okay.
S1: So you talked about the home user there. What should
S1: the student think about?
S2: So we'll start off again repeating the same stuff. So
S2: of course we're talking about the same Windows stuff, except
S2: this time for school users. I would recommend Jaws first
S2: as your commercial screen where like Jaws is. If you
S2: can't get that, then Nvda And then if you can't
S2: that at the ultimate limit, then yes, get. Narrator The
S2: MacBook Pro again is certainly good for school. And of
S2: course that's the the voiceover one. As far as the
S2: other stuff goes, this is where it starts getting a
S2: little bit more expensive because you want to be as
S2: flexible and, you know, different backup mechanisms as possible. So
S2: I've still got the Perkins Brailler in there, but now
S2: I've got the Bryant by 40 X, and that's the
S2: refresher Braille display for your Mac windows or your iPhone
S2: that can also be used to edit as well. Then
S2: they've got a Braille embosser because sometimes I just like,
S2: you know, printing or embossing things out and Braille. Victor
S2: Registration for again, either recording notes or reading back documents
S2: whenever you want to. And of course. Him listening to
S2: Talking Tech podcast. iPhone 14 Pro again remember the fifteens
S2: coming out iPad? Now it's going to sound a bit weird,
S2: but the reason why I put that in there was
S2: because some apps will only run on an iPad, particularly
S2: if you're learning coding like Swift Playgrounds. Again, we've got
S2: the Bluetooth keyboard smartphone stand. Mini guide, printer scanner shocks
S2: and and that's it. So again, remember, these are just recommendations.
S2: They're not the be an end all of a list.
S1: What about in the workplace.
S2: So in the workplace the majority of like probably going
S2: to end up honestly using a Windows computer. And you know,
S2: for the workplace, I would effectively just go straight for jaws.
S2: You need the flexibility and the scripting ability to be
S2: able to customize the screen to fit your application of choice.
S2: Mac I'd still recommend basically what I've got in there already,
S2: keeping in mind that if you go for a job
S2: at a place that have got Macs, you're likely to
S2: be using their Macs anyway, so you may not need
S2: to buy one yourself or get the government to buy
S2: it for, but you're going on to in a minute.
S2: And then the other ones again, we've got Perkins Brailler,
S2: the brilliant. Now this time I've got the Orcam, which
S2: is the wearable device that you can just use for
S2: just quickly picking up a document and having it read. Quickly,
S2: back to you. And that's really good in the workplace
S2: because what you want to be is efficient and productive
S2: as possible. We still have the victory stream in there,
S2: the Braille embosser, the iPhone, the iPad only if you
S2: need it for some particular reason. So are still stuck
S2: in their Bluetooth keyboard smartphone tablet stand and another added
S2: on the stellar track for GPS. And the reason why
S2: I put that one in there is because you don't
S2: want to run or rely on your iPhone in this
S2: case to do your GPS. There's nothing worse than getting
S2: to work. Going to check your calendar for the day
S2: on your iPhone, and it's flat because you've been using
S2: your GPS to navigate to work. Mini guide, printer slash
S2: scanner and Shock's. So I hope that made sense to
S2: people that I've sort of been adding on a little
S2: bit more. From home school to employment.
S1: Some people may be able to get assistance with funding
S1: for their devices even at home if they're NDIS participants.
S1: What other ways can people get support?
S2: So for students, particularly going into later study like Certificate
S2: three and Above and University, remember we've got our Bursary
S2: Awards currently running at the moment that you can apply for,
S2: so you can get more information that from Virgin Australia.
S2: And remember, if you're going for a job, you can
S2: get an assessment like you can for any of this
S2: stuff for three job access, which is Commonwealth funding to
S2: pay for mainstream or assistive technology. If you're able to
S2: do your job.
S1: And what's the best way to get support with your technology?
S1: Firstly in selecting it and then ongoing support when things
S1: don't work the way you expect them to?
S2: Yeah, but particularly for this sort of stuff, particularly for,
S2: you know, education or employment, I would always have a
S2: bit of a chat with the At Help desk at
S2: Vision Australian that's adaptive technology or assistive technology Help Desk
S2: get an assessment done through an assistive technology consultant for
S2: our technology service and of course for both the bursaries
S2: and job access to even access that funding scheme, you
S2: will need to have a proper assessment done. So again,
S2: that's why I said that this is a recommendation generalist.
S2: This may not meet or some of your needs, so
S2: it's always important to get an assessment done properly.
S1: It is application for bursary time. Who does someone who's
S1: going to be studying next year talk to about getting
S1: involved in the Vision Australia bursary scheme?
S2: Yep. So literally the best way to do it is
S2: just bring the Vision Australia number one 308 4746 and
S2: asked to speak to the person in charge of the
S2: Bursary awards.
S1: One 308 4746 Vision Australia's main telephone number. I'd like
S1: to talk with you now about an app that we've
S1: both been playing with a little bit over the last
S1: week or so. It's called Weather oLogy.
S2: Yeah, look, this is actually really interesting. So what it is,
S2: it's a funny enough, it's a weather app, but what
S2: they've done, they've recorded weather people, real, real human being,
S2: weather broadcasters, and they've selected different phrases and words to
S2: build up this way of being able to give you
S2: the weather with these folks talking to you. And it's
S2: amazing to sit back and listen to these people, give
S2: you the weather quote in real time, even though what
S2: you're really listening to is different chopped up words and
S2: phrases that they've pre-recorded. But it really feels like and
S2: sounds like you're listening to that person live all the time.
S1: So they are American voices you're hearing. And it's strange
S1: hearing your local weather from these voices, but it's quite
S1: an amazing technology and worth just dabbling with so you
S1: can get the feel of it.
S2: Yeah, I just wish they could make it a bit
S2: more local and you could I don't know, you could
S2: listen to different ones from Australia because there was some
S2: weather people that I just love to listen to as well.
S2: And some of the old ones at the past, which
S2: now I think about it, we could probably use 11
S2: labs to get snippets of the past of their voices
S2: and make up arrangements, but who knows? Sky's the limit.
S2: Let's see what happens in the future.
S1: ChatGPT One of the applications of AI, it's come to Android.
S2: Indeed, this has been available in Android towards the end
S2: of July, and for some odd reason I completely forgot
S2: to mention it. But yes, so it's basically where you
S2: can ask questions of the AI and it comes back
S2: and gives you answers and you can ask it to
S2: rewrite emails, you can ask it fairly complicated questions. So
S2: it's far beyond what our traditional, you know, Siri, a
S2: lady and Google type stuff, does. Keep in mind, though,
S2: that I always say with this is that some of
S2: the information you get back, you always need to verify
S2: because it's not always correct. So yeah, so don't don't
S2: take it on face value. But yes, if you're an
S2: Android user, you can now use ChatGPT.
S1: And talking of AI, a little tip for those who
S1: haven't done it, you might be interested in playing with
S1: the Bing search app in iOS, the voice controller. That
S1: is really good and you can get some quite useful
S1: sorts of information just by asking these days. It's amazing.
S2: Yeah, it's pretty impressive. I'm looking for today and apparently
S2: Apple's has said so. So is Google. And so I
S2: was Amazon that all the standing personal assistants they'll actually
S2: morph into an AI large language model system as well.
S2: So that's what I'm sort of looking forward to in
S2: the next year or two.
S1: Hmm. Very interesting. Let's go back a bit now. The
S1: old IBM mainframe still around.
S2: I know. I saw this on on. Sorry. I was
S2: going to say Twitter. I saw it on the X
S2: the other day, which sounds bizarre. And major companies are
S2: still using IBM mainframes and they're basically the size of
S2: a couple of fridges with lots and lots of storage,
S2: lots of memory and lots of data processing. Because when
S2: you think about when you're going to do banking, financial transactions,
S2: all that sort of stuff, the system has to work on,
S2: you know, maybe 50 to 100 applications churning away all
S2: at the same time and have an instant response. So yes,
S2: IBM mainframes are still around. I'll put a link in
S2: the show notes. And it's really interesting to realize that
S2: mainframes have been around, you know, for in one way
S2: or another for a good 60 years. And it's like
S2: comparing an elephant to a PC mouse as such.
S1: Yeah, quite amazing. Just before we go, a reminder of
S1: where there are details of what you've been talking about
S1: in this and previous editions of the program.
S2: Indeed. So as always, you can check out our show
S2: notes on my website, which is David, would it be
S2: a dot podbean pad?
S1: And David would be dot podbean pod B n to
S1: write to the program.
S2: You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work,
S2: which is David Woodbridge, how it sounds at Vision Australia. Org.
S1: David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org This has been
S1: talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National Advisor
S1: on access technology, David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Stay safe.
S1: We'll talk more tech next week. See you.