S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: May the 7th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia radio associated
S1: stations of RPA Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network.
S1: There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you
S1: need to do is search for the two words talking tech.
S1: And it can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon
S1: just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask
S1: your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision Australia
S1: radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast.
S1: My usual partner in crime. David Woodbridge, the national adviser
S1: on access technology with Vision Australia, can't be with us
S1: again this week, but we're hopeful he'll be back with
S1: the program very soon. So this week we'll hear from
S1: a guest who's been on talking tech before. A member
S1: of the Vision Australia Access Technology team, Sam Taylor. More
S1: from Sam in a moment. But first, some pretty important
S1: news for anyone who uses Sonos with a screen reader.
S1: Sonos is a very popular audio system involving speakers and
S1: other devices connected with Wi-Fi, rather than through a wired arrangement.
S1: From May the 7th, or in the early hours of Wednesday,
S1: May the 8th, here in Australia, Sonos is releasing a
S1: new version of the Sonos app for iOS and Android,
S1: as well as a web based controller. The troubling news
S1: is that accessibility has gone from excellence to virtually absence
S1: with these new tools, and the advice is to delay
S1: adopting them until the accessibility issues are resolved. Remember that
S1: once you update, it's very challenging to successfully go back,
S1: and so it's not worth trying to do it. Two
S1: things I suggest you do. Firstly, turn off automatic updates
S1: in the settings so you can decline the invitation to
S1: update every time it is offered to you. And for
S1: iOS people, you can go to settings and then the
S1: App Store. And then within the App Store you can
S1: go to the automatic downloads area and turn them off.
S1: Hopefully that will also help Android users, though I haven't
S1: given you the specifics for that. Then you'll want to
S1: stop your Sonos devices updating automatically, so switch to the
S1: settings tab down the bottom of the screen and click
S1: on system. Now this is different from the systems tab
S1: at the bottom of Sonos screens, so make sure you
S1: go the right way. Go to settings and then system.
S1: From there you can turn off automatic updates. Good luck
S1: with all of that, and we'll let you know when
S1: we learn. The coast is clear for resuming screen reader
S1: accessibility on the Sonos tools thanks to internationally renowned blindness
S1: technologist Jonathan Mohsen, who, amongst others, has sounded the alarm
S1: on this one. And now we turn to our guest,
S1: Sam Taylor from Vision Australia. Sam, welcome to Talking Tech.
S2: Thank you Steve and it's great to be back talking
S2: to you.
S1: You're a Sonos user are you?
S2: I am I've been a Sonos user for oh probably
S2: 6 or 7 years now. And it's great to have
S2: all of your streaming services all in one place and
S2: certainly accessible at this point in time. My partner, Kaitlin,
S2: and I have about 6 or 7 Sonos units throughout
S2: the house the bedroom, the lounge, the family room. And
S2: it's it's really nice that you can have them set
S2: as a stereo pair in some places, and then, you know,
S2: you can just have one in a study while you're
S2: completing your work as well. So, um, yeah, when when
S2: they're working nicely and accessibly, they can really be a
S2: nice little solution for music enthusiasts.
S1: Let's hope it's all back on track very soon. Let's
S1: hope so. Tell us a bit about yourself, Sam. A
S1: bit of background? Sure.
S2: So I've been working in the access technology space for
S2: almost 20 years now. I've. I feel like I've actually
S2: come full circle in some ways because I started my
S2: career at Vision Australia. Um, it was almost, almost my
S2: first job back in 2005, although I was working then
S2: in the multi-format producing area, um, for Braille, and that
S2: included Braille music. My background is is actually that of, um,
S2: music and psychology, studying music, um, at university. So I
S2: was working quite extensively on Braille music with volunteers, making
S2: sure that people had the braille scores and other braille
S2: literacy that they needed. But a full time opportunity became
S2: available at Humanware in their Sydney office, which was then
S2: at Baulkham Hills. And that was the start, I suppose,
S2: of my moving into, um, a technology role that I
S2: really loved working alongside, um, people like Ramona, Mandy, who
S2: would be familiar to a lot of listeners, and we
S2: both worked as blindness products consultants. I was looking after
S2: New South Wales and Queensland until 2016, when there was
S2: an opportunity to move to a national role at Pacific Vision.
S2: So I guess for a long time I've been in
S2: that technology space. Um, nowadays I work as an access
S2: technology specialist over at Vision Australia, based in Kopuru in Brisbane.
S1: So what does an Access Technology specialist do?
S2: Well, first of all, I've got the opportunity now to
S2: be brand agnostic. So, um, it's it's not necessarily being
S2: tied to to one brand, but it's an opportunity to
S2: explore and recommend, um, a solution that works for an individual.
S2: Part of being person centred is making sure that we
S2: adopt the right solution for the person, and that could
S2: be anything, really, from ensuring that people have the right
S2: screen reader for the job that they need to do
S2: to a Braille device, or even being able to use
S2: their iPhone effectively. There's a lot of boxes to tick. Um,
S2: and it's really exciting to be able to work alongside
S2: so many skilled professionals in this area and so much
S2: really interesting technology that's that's emerging as well. Stephen, I.
S1: Want to explore this one a little with you a
S1: bit more. I guess your work is not just about
S1: saying to someone, here's a phone, I'll show you which
S1: buttons to press, but about bringing them often to the
S1: world of access technology.
S2: Many people have not come from a technological background, and
S2: I've always felt that it's my duty to ensure that
S2: we display technology concepts in a non-threatening and easy to
S2: understand manner. And it's the same with Braille as well. I.
S2: I have great respect for manufacturers who can design a
S2: device in a way that's elegant, that can be used
S2: by novices and also people, um, that have been a
S2: user of technology for many, many years. And one example
S2: of that would would be a Braille sense and more
S2: recently a BT speak, I think.
S1: Tell me about the technology that you use in your
S1: personal life. The access to technology and the mainstream stuff.
S2: I use an iPhone when I think about it for
S2: almost any everything. So from setting alarms to driving my
S2: washing machine, there are a lot of instances where I
S2: would use an iPhone to control everyday appliances, such as
S2: an air conditioner or a washing machine, as I mentioned,
S2: but I do feel that there is still certainly. The
S2: A place for blindness technology as well. Um, I am
S2: a user of Braille, and so I do have a
S2: Braille sense, and I use a braille display in collaboration
S2: with my windows computer as well, which really assists in, um,
S2: reading aloud. I think it's a very important skill for
S2: a blind person to, to have. But the Braille display
S2: also assists in being able to capture the spelling of
S2: names so that when you're writing to someone, uh, there's
S2: no embarrassment there. You know exactly how to, to spell
S2: their name. So, um, Braille serves as a very high
S2: priority for me as well.
S1: Between you and your partner, Caitlin, there's a high reliance
S1: on access technology. Tell us about how that has changed
S1: for doing things you need to do at home over
S1: recent years.
S2: Most things that we do involve some type of technology,
S2: whether it's shopping for groceries, where by I would either
S2: use my iPhone to log into Coles online or Woolies,
S2: or I would do it on my PC, utilizing a
S2: screen reader to using an air fryer. I mean, even
S2: a couple of years ago, there would never have been
S2: an option to talk to a personal assistant to set
S2: an air fryer at a certain time and temperature. Um,
S2: and now we do that virtually without even thinking about it.
S2: And that's just made a huge difference.
S1: What do you do for personal mail these days?
S2: Nowadays, I tend to use the Seeing Eye app for
S2: two reasons. I can either put it in a mode
S2: where I can have the whole page scanned for me.
S2: The app will take a picture, and then I can
S2: scroll through the page at leisure and just, um, pick
S2: up any account numbers that I need and copy them
S2: and write them down. Or if I just want to
S2: identify the mail and ensure that it's something important other
S2: than junk mail. Um, I can just use the instant
S2: text feature. So I do find Seeing Eye very, very good. Um,
S2: just for identifying mail.
S1: Does Caitlin use these sort of tools as well?
S2: She does. She's quite heavily reliant on her iPhone as well. So, um,
S2: the iPhone would, would be the, the go to I
S2: think for both of us there.
S1: So there's very much the absence of that helper with
S1: eyes that we've all needed for decades isn't there?
S2: Absolutely. I think technology has allowed us to be so
S2: much more autonomous and independent. Um, with the exception of
S2: some websites that can just be a little bit inaccessible
S2: at times. And that's where we would use the Iris service, um,
S2: which I still think is worth the subscription because it's
S2: 24 over seven on demand. So even, uh, just yesterday
S2: I needed to log into my Synology NAS system and
S2: write a lodger support ticket, and I wasn't able to
S2: do that without assistance. So, um, the beauty of IRA
S2: is that they can log in to the computer, with
S2: your permission, um, and just make life that little bit easier.
S2: They can also take photographs of things for you so
S2: that can be using your phone's camera. They can, um,
S2: take a photo of some scenery. Um, or they can
S2: take a photo of important documents, like receipts that you
S2: might want to store for later retrieval as well. So, um,
S2: IRA is still a pretty major part of my workflow
S2: as well.
S1: Even IRA wasn't around 7 or 8 years ago.
S2: Absolutely, absolutely. And only in the United States at first
S2: as well. So, um, again, you know, looking back over
S2: the developments and, and the implementation of those sorts of
S2: technology and being able to use that out and about
S2: in the field as well. Um, it really means that
S2: if you're waiting for a mobility instructor to become available,
S2: but you still need to catch a train to an
S2: unknown destination and cross over a platform, and you've got
S2: the orientation skills to do that. You just need that
S2: little bit of help. Um, you can call on IRA to,
S2: to help you along the way to do that. It's
S2: it's just incredible, really.
S1: What are you looking forward to in the next, say,
S1: 3 to 5 years?
S2: Coming back to Braille just for a moment, I do
S2: think that multi-line braille displays are going to be the future.
S2: I'm very excited about technologies such as the monarch and
S2: getting those into the hands of students, and also technology
S2: from a mobility perspective, such as glide from the guidance company.
S2: A while back, we wouldn't have thought that we could
S2: take a device that could avoid obstacles. Um, other than
S2: a mini guide or a guide dog. Um, and now
S2: we're seeing artificial intelligence in these sorts of devices. Um,
S2: it's just going to open up a whole new world.
S2: I think there's been talk of driverless cars for, for
S2: so long and on so many different platforms and in movies, um,
S2: to the point where it's a little bit stereotypical, but
S2: but seeing these devices emerge out of some of the,
S2: the start up companies and being road tested and, and
S2: displayed at places like CSUN just makes it more of
S2: a reality for everybody.
S1: I think it's been great chatting with you today, Sam,
S1: and sharing your thoughts with everyone. Sam Taylor, an Access
S1: Technology specialist with Vision Australia. Look forward to talking to
S1: you again soon.
S2: Thanks, Stephen. That's been great.
S1: So just before we go, a reminder you can contact, uh,
S1: David Woodbridge and his blog site with David would be r.podbean.com.
S1: That's David would be our podbean podbean.com. You can write
S1: to David at Vision Australia David dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia.
S1: Org David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org if you
S1: like you can write to me Jolly Stephen at gmail.com.
S1: That's jolly Stephen j o l e y s t
S1: e p h e n at gmail.com. This has been
S1: talking tech with me has been our guest, Sam Taylor,
S1: an access technology specialist from Vision Australia. I'm Stephen Jolly.
S1: Take care. We'll talk more tech next week. See you.