WEBVTT - Talking Tech 27th February 2024 0:00:17.924 --> 0:00:21.614 Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:21.614 --> 0:00:26.054 February the 27th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolley, great to have 0:00:26.054 --> 0:00:29.714 you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, Associated 0:00:29.714 --> 0:00:33.974 Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network. There 0:00:33.974 --> 0:00:36.944 is also the podcast to catch that. What you need 0:00:36.944 --> 0:00:40.394 to do is search for the two words talking tech 0:00:40.394 --> 0:00:43.124 and downer can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon 0:00:43.124 --> 0:00:46.214 just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask 0:00:46.214 --> 0:00:49.964 your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision Australia 0:00:49.964 --> 0:00:55.274 Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast 0:00:55.274 --> 0:00:58.814 with me, someone who knows all this tech stuff really well. 0:00:58.814 --> 0:01:04.604 Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology, David Woodbridge. David, 0:01:04.604 --> 0:01:09.944 let's start. The report is in. In January we spoke 0:01:09.944 --> 0:01:13.484 a couple of times about the web Aim Screen Reader 0:01:13.484 --> 0:01:16.034 survey to get an idea of what people across the 0:01:16.034 --> 0:01:21.314 world are doing in the screen reader area, and the 0:01:21.314 --> 0:01:23.234 report is in. What's the comment? 0:01:23.234 --> 0:01:26.594 This is the web Aim survey. So it's it's looks 0:01:26.594 --> 0:01:30.614 at mainly screen readers. I personally wish it looked at 0:01:30.614 --> 0:01:34.394 absolutely everything, whether you're using a screen reader, screen, magnifier, 0:01:34.394 --> 0:01:37.424 braille display, which it does also as well. But it 0:01:37.424 --> 0:01:41.054 seems as Mo most people reply because they're a screen 0:01:41.054 --> 0:01:45.674 reader user, and it's a fairly large report. Uh, keeping 0:01:45.674 --> 0:01:51.224 in mind it's worldwide, there's different platforms, different screen readers, 0:01:51.224 --> 0:01:55.424 different screen magnifiers, different areas of the world. So it's 0:01:55.424 --> 0:01:57.854 really hard in some ways to get a really good 0:01:57.854 --> 0:02:02.744 idea of what's going on. But what I guess I 0:02:02.744 --> 0:02:06.194 tend to look at a few different things. For example, 0:02:06.404 --> 0:02:11.144 the Australian numbers were basically improving this time around. Um, 0:02:11.144 --> 0:02:16.454 but again, you know, most of the respondents were overseas, um, and, 0:02:16.454 --> 0:02:18.314 you know, some of the stuff that you would expect 0:02:18.314 --> 0:02:20.534 that would happen. So, you know, jaws was at the 0:02:20.534 --> 0:02:23.384 top of the list for screen reader users. And then 0:02:23.384 --> 0:02:25.364 of course, you had, you know, windows at the top 0:02:25.364 --> 0:02:28.694 of the list. The Mac was down as usual. Linux 0:02:28.694 --> 0:02:32.204 was actually up, which I thought was really interesting. Poor 0:02:32.204 --> 0:02:35.384 old narrator was down at the bottom of the list, 0:02:35.384 --> 0:02:38.804 almost Nvidia, which I think is absolutely brilliant. That's non-visual 0:02:38.804 --> 0:02:42.974 desktop access from our guys in Australia that's getting more 0:02:42.974 --> 0:02:47.564 and more utilized around the world. But at the end 0:02:47.564 --> 0:02:51.344 of the day, what it just reminded me about was 0:02:51.344 --> 0:02:54.374 it's great to have the advances in screen reading technology, 0:02:54.374 --> 0:03:00.464 but there's still underlying web development issues. And, um, this 0:03:00.464 --> 0:03:03.794 wasn't in the report as such. But, um, reading in 0:03:03.794 --> 0:03:05.954 another email that was a bit of a summary of 0:03:05.954 --> 0:03:09.494 this guy's thoughts. Now, I think the person that wrote 0:03:09.494 --> 0:03:12.344 this email was a web developer, not 100% sure. And 0:03:12.344 --> 0:03:14.624 I don't think it was to do with anything to 0:03:14.624 --> 0:03:18.314 do a friend of scientific or anything else. But the 0:03:18.314 --> 0:03:22.154 old things about, you know, links not being labelled, buttons 0:03:22.154 --> 0:03:26.294 not being labelled, controls not being labelled, um, the dreaded 0:03:26.294 --> 0:03:31.094 captioning to verify to do off a website, all those 0:03:31.094 --> 0:03:33.284 sorts of things were still happening. Now they're not as 0:03:33.284 --> 0:03:36.314 bad as they used to be, but one of my 0:03:36.314 --> 0:03:40.874 friends that used to work in assistive technology back in 2004, 0:03:41.144 --> 0:03:44.174 I think it's scary because he could come back now, 0:03:44.174 --> 0:03:48.284 20 years later and be presented with exactly the same 0:03:48.284 --> 0:03:52.244 web accessibility issues that he, as a sort of person, 0:03:52.244 --> 0:03:56.834 used to talk about at conferences 20 years ago. So, 0:03:57.074 --> 0:04:01.154 you know, screen reader and other stuff's improving. Yes, it's 0:04:01.154 --> 0:04:03.854 getting better overall, but we still have to keep fighting 0:04:03.854 --> 0:04:06.644 the same fight. And I would just encourage maybe people 0:04:06.644 --> 0:04:11.504 next year when we get web ehm, 11th survey to 0:04:11.504 --> 0:04:15.584 really take notice and answer questions. The survey is only 0:04:15.584 --> 0:04:17.444 as good as the data that goes into it. It's 0:04:17.444 --> 0:04:20.054 the old computer adage garbage in, garbage out. So the 0:04:20.054 --> 0:04:23.924 more people we get inputting into this type of survey, 0:04:23.924 --> 0:04:26.354 the more these people will actually see what's going on 0:04:26.354 --> 0:04:29.624 in the world. You know, it's an extremely important survey 0:04:29.624 --> 0:04:33.194 to do. So next year. I hope places like Vision Australia, 0:04:33.254 --> 0:04:38.204 Guide Dogs, BCA, all the organisations, particularly in Australia, will 0:04:38.204 --> 0:04:40.364 push a lot more to get folks to fill in 0:04:40.364 --> 0:04:41.054 this survey. 0:04:41.354 --> 0:04:46.844 But encouragingly, on a per capita basis, the Australian contribution 0:04:46.844 --> 0:04:51.164 was about equivalent to all that from the United States 0:04:51.344 --> 0:04:54.764 going by the population sizes. So not bad, but we 0:04:54.764 --> 0:04:58.664 can do better indeed. Yeah. You'll have links to the 0:04:58.664 --> 0:05:00.344 report in the show notes. 0:05:00.344 --> 0:05:01.364 I will, yes. 0:05:02.324 --> 0:05:04.934 Now a couple of items to tell you from the 0:05:04.934 --> 0:05:08.894 vision store of Vision Australia. For many years, Vision Australia 0:05:08.894 --> 0:05:13.094 has been a seller of Apple products that's being discontinued. 0:05:13.334 --> 0:05:17.404 Yes it has. So as of February 29th. Will actually 0:05:17.404 --> 0:05:21.154 stop selling Apple products. It's for a few good, really 0:05:21.154 --> 0:05:25.384 solid reasons, so we just didn't take this decision lightly. Um, 0:05:25.384 --> 0:05:30.184 it's for various reasons, including economic ones, because we really 0:05:30.184 --> 0:05:32.944 don't make hardly any money out of selling Apple products. 0:05:32.944 --> 0:05:36.034 But besides that, there are a lot of other organizations 0:05:36.034 --> 0:05:40.234 before we took this on. But now we'll do endorse 0:05:40.234 --> 0:05:43.294 quotes and so on. So it's not so important as 0:05:43.294 --> 0:05:46.324 it used to be, hence why we're stopping it. So 0:05:46.714 --> 0:05:49.444 we will still, you know of course our at service 0:05:49.444 --> 0:05:53.734 and at helpdesk. Nothing's changed as far as supporting Apple 0:05:53.734 --> 0:05:56.284 products across the board. Um but as far as the 0:05:56.284 --> 0:05:59.254 stores concerned will no longer be selling them and quoting 0:05:59.254 --> 0:05:59.734 on them. 0:05:59.734 --> 0:06:03.124 The Apple online store is a very good way to 0:06:03.124 --> 0:06:06.304 independently purchase technology from Apple, isn't it? 0:06:06.304 --> 0:06:09.784 Indeed, especially the Apple Store app, because you can go 0:06:09.784 --> 0:06:13.684 in there and really read information about all the different 0:06:13.684 --> 0:06:18.184 types of products, their specifications, and of course, uh, look 0:06:18.184 --> 0:06:21.964 at the comparisons between the different devices. So that's always 0:06:21.964 --> 0:06:24.694 my go to app when I start thinking about upgrading 0:06:24.694 --> 0:06:27.364 or looking at Apple devices. Is the Apple Store app 0:06:27.364 --> 0:06:28.114 on my iPhone? 0:06:28.504 --> 0:06:31.954 Our product from the Vision Australia Vision store to talk 0:06:31.954 --> 0:06:35.224 about this week is the humble one. 0:06:35.464 --> 0:06:37.804 Indeed, and I've actually got this sitting right in front 0:06:37.804 --> 0:06:42.394 of me, which is pretty amazing. Surprise, surprise. But basically, 0:06:42.394 --> 0:06:48.904 this is an eight key device for, uh, controlling and 0:06:48.904 --> 0:06:52.354 typing into your Android or to your iPhone. And for 0:06:52.354 --> 0:06:54.724 those that are browser users, if you can imagine a 0:06:54.724 --> 0:06:58.354 brow cell one, two, three down the left hand side, four, five, 0:06:58.354 --> 0:07:00.724 six down the right hand side, of course not dots, 0:07:00.724 --> 0:07:04.534 but keys, and then a long key at the level 0:07:04.534 --> 0:07:07.024 of two and three on the left hand side, and 0:07:07.024 --> 0:07:09.664 a long key on the right hand side along dots 0:07:09.664 --> 0:07:13.654 five and six or keys five and six. And by 0:07:13.654 --> 0:07:17.734 combinations of these keys you can fully navigate and type 0:07:17.734 --> 0:07:21.454 in to your, like I just said, your Android or 0:07:21.454 --> 0:07:26.584 your iPhone. And because it uses fairly simple and clever 0:07:26.584 --> 0:07:30.214 navigation keys, I quite like it. So for example, one 0:07:30.214 --> 0:07:32.494 of my favorite examples is if you want to go 0:07:32.494 --> 0:07:35.734 to the right. So let's say in normal voiceover terms 0:07:35.734 --> 0:07:38.134 you're going to the right. So you're flicking to the right. 0:07:38.134 --> 0:07:42.244 You hold down seven and press eight. Now if you 0:07:42.244 --> 0:07:44.224 want to go the other direction, which is flicking to 0:07:44.224 --> 0:07:47.734 the left, if, if you like, you hold down eight 0:07:48.154 --> 0:07:51.754 and press seven. So you're still using the same two keys. 0:07:51.754 --> 0:07:54.094 You're just holding down down one and pressing the other 0:07:54.094 --> 0:07:58.504 one and vice versa. And it actually uses a lot 0:07:58.504 --> 0:08:02.014 of those key combinations. So the same keys, but the 0:08:02.014 --> 0:08:06.244 reverse result. And of course you can activate Siri from it. Uh, 0:08:06.244 --> 0:08:10.114 you can stop and start voiceover or talkback talking. You 0:08:10.114 --> 0:08:12.154 can start and stop playing. You can answer and hang 0:08:12.154 --> 0:08:14.674 up your phone calls, all sorts of things. And it's 0:08:14.674 --> 0:08:17.914 also got an easy mode. So what it does is 0:08:17.914 --> 0:08:20.584 once you turn this easy mode on, it converts all 0:08:20.584 --> 0:08:25.894 those eight keys into doing a specific function, uh, which 0:08:25.894 --> 0:08:27.784 is actually really nice if you just want to use 0:08:27.784 --> 0:08:31.264 it as a, almost like a quick remote control to 0:08:31.264 --> 0:08:34.264 do certain things on your iPhone or your Android phone. 0:08:34.264 --> 0:08:37.204 So I think it's one of those nice little devices 0:08:37.204 --> 0:08:42.004 because it really is quite tiny, um, to use if 0:08:42.004 --> 0:08:45.454 you're an Android or iPhone user. So log in to 0:08:45.454 --> 0:08:48.634 the website or pop into your local Vision Australia vision 0:08:48.634 --> 0:08:51.364 store and have a look at the device. The Hable 0:08:51.364 --> 0:08:53.554 habla one. 0:08:53.554 --> 0:08:54.274 How much is it? 0:08:54.844 --> 0:08:58.534 It's about $450, which is about right for a custom 0:08:58.534 --> 0:09:00.394 braille input device keyboard. 0:09:00.724 --> 0:09:03.844 We haven't talked for a while about the Vision Australia 0:09:03.844 --> 0:09:06.574 library service and the app VA connect. 0:09:06.724 --> 0:09:08.914 I find we sort of take this for granted a bit, 0:09:08.914 --> 0:09:11.014 so I'd like to remind people that the Vision Australia 0:09:11.014 --> 0:09:13.594 library is there for anybody who is blind or low 0:09:13.594 --> 0:09:17.524 vision and has a print disability. It gives you free 0:09:17.524 --> 0:09:24.304 access to books, magazines, newspapers and podcasts. And with the 0:09:24.304 --> 0:09:28.354 VA connect app running on your Android device or your iPhone, 0:09:28.354 --> 0:09:33.094 you've got access to all that information at your fingertips. 0:09:33.304 --> 0:09:35.734 You can log on to the website and you can 0:09:35.734 --> 0:09:38.674 add things to your bookshelf, take things off, search for 0:09:38.674 --> 0:09:41.104 all sorts of things, get the The Age or the 0:09:41.104 --> 0:09:43.714 Sydney Morning Herald every day, so on and so on. 0:09:43.804 --> 0:09:47.794 So it's a really great resource that I think sometimes underutilized. 0:09:47.794 --> 0:09:49.774 So that's why I thought it was good bringing it 0:09:49.774 --> 0:09:50.524 up today. 0:09:50.854 --> 0:09:54.754 Tell us about Nvidia Nvidia it's hardware isn't it. 0:09:54.964 --> 0:09:58.864 That's correct. So Nvidia is very famous for its chips 0:09:59.494 --> 0:10:03.694 particularly for gaming. But where it's coming into its own 0:10:03.694 --> 0:10:09.784 is all about artificial intelligence and the power that particularly 0:10:09.784 --> 0:10:15.004 PCs need to run AI systems, particularly locally, not just 0:10:15.004 --> 0:10:19.334 in the cloud. They made a metric ton of money 0:10:19.784 --> 0:10:22.544 in the last quarter that they reported, made lots and 0:10:22.544 --> 0:10:26.084 lots of money, and it's all around artificial intelligence. So 0:10:26.084 --> 0:10:28.724 this led to me to think that this is sort 0:10:28.724 --> 0:10:31.784 of the what is it? It's almost like the jumping 0:10:31.784 --> 0:10:35.684 off period where we need to have powerful machines now 0:10:36.224 --> 0:10:39.584 and moving into the future to cope with the developments 0:10:39.584 --> 0:10:44.624 of artificial intelligence and of course, moving towards artificial general AI. 0:10:44.834 --> 0:10:49.964 We're seeing a generational change with smartphones as we move 0:10:49.964 --> 0:10:51.794 more into the AI world. 0:10:51.914 --> 0:10:56.054 That's right. So I was looking at over the weekend actually, 0:10:56.054 --> 0:10:59.354 whether my Z flip three from, you know, several years 0:10:59.354 --> 0:11:01.844 ago would be able to run things like Gemini, which 0:11:01.844 --> 0:11:04.874 is not quite ready for Australia yet. And the answer 0:11:04.874 --> 0:11:09.164 is no, because the the CPU in it, the graphics card, 0:11:09.554 --> 0:11:11.774 the neural engines or that sort of stuff that you 0:11:11.774 --> 0:11:17.174 need to run AI systems is not powerful enough. So again, 0:11:17.354 --> 0:11:20.324 as with the PC, I think we're sort of having 0:11:20.324 --> 0:11:23.624 to hit a launching period again to say, as with 0:11:23.624 --> 0:11:27.764 the iPhone 15 Pro, which has got the A17 Bionic, uh, 0:11:27.764 --> 0:11:30.434 lots of graphics power, lots of neural engines in it 0:11:30.434 --> 0:11:33.884 for processing data, all that. So stuff. That's what you need. 0:11:33.884 --> 0:11:37.094 So I think moving forward, if anybody now says to 0:11:37.094 --> 0:11:39.884 me what phone should I buy, I think it's really 0:11:40.004 --> 0:11:41.444 going to have to be, well, if you want to 0:11:41.444 --> 0:11:44.504 keep up to date with your smartphone in reference to AI, 0:11:44.504 --> 0:11:47.834 it has to be a current phone moving forward. Before 0:11:47.834 --> 0:11:49.634 we could sort of get away with maybe looking at 0:11:49.634 --> 0:11:51.374 a phone about, you know, three or 4 or 5 0:11:51.374 --> 0:11:53.924 years ago. But I have a funny feeling now moving 0:11:53.924 --> 0:11:57.164 forward into artificial intelligence. Those days of being a bit 0:11:57.164 --> 0:12:00.014 slack about our specs of our, you know, our desktop 0:12:00.014 --> 0:12:04.484 computers or our mobile computers is getting very, very thin indeed. 0:12:05.084 --> 0:12:09.644 Google, particularly with their smart speakers, have been spotted making 0:12:09.644 --> 0:12:14.654 moves towards seamless updates. In other words, changing things without 0:12:14.654 --> 0:12:16.784 letting you know what's happening. You'll just see the outcome 0:12:16.784 --> 0:12:17.204 of it. 0:12:17.204 --> 0:12:19.844 And I think from looking at it, I think it's 0:12:19.844 --> 0:12:22.364 not just the Google speakers, but it's across the board. 0:12:22.364 --> 0:12:26.354 And whilst Google likes it, I have a funny feeling 0:12:26.354 --> 0:12:29.774 major manufacturers like Samsung don't like it because they don't 0:12:29.774 --> 0:12:32.684 want things happening in the background that they haven't got 0:12:32.684 --> 0:12:34.394 control of it because. So normally when I update my 0:12:34.394 --> 0:12:37.934 Samsung phone, it's just an update. It's nothing happening in 0:12:37.934 --> 0:12:41.834 the background. So let's just watch this space and see 0:12:41.834 --> 0:12:44.924 if Google can convince people like Samsung to say, you know, 0:12:44.924 --> 0:12:48.764 it's it's cool to have the updates running in the background. 0:12:48.764 --> 0:12:50.984 Users don't have to think about it, and your systems 0:12:50.984 --> 0:12:53.174 will always be up to date without having to do 0:12:53.174 --> 0:12:55.664 anything with it. So let's just see what happens. Maybe 0:12:55.664 --> 0:12:56.684 this year, next year. 0:12:56.954 --> 0:13:03.404 Rice is not included in Apple support documentation for wet iPhones. 0:13:03.404 --> 0:13:07.004 No. And this probably includes, um, sort of any phone 0:13:07.004 --> 0:13:09.944 that you get wet. There's been this urban myth where 0:13:09.944 --> 0:13:13.454 if you stick your phone in a bag of rice, 0:13:13.484 --> 0:13:17.954 the rice will basically dehydrate the water out of your smartphone. 0:13:17.954 --> 0:13:20.984 And the real thing is it's the fact that you 0:13:20.984 --> 0:13:22.964 wait for it to dry out. It's got nothing to 0:13:22.964 --> 0:13:25.184 do with the rice. In fact, putting your smartphone in 0:13:25.184 --> 0:13:27.674 a bag of rice, the rice can go into your 0:13:27.674 --> 0:13:31.994 ports and damage your smartphone. So at the end of 0:13:31.994 --> 0:13:34.244 the day, the best idea is to just let the 0:13:34.244 --> 0:13:37.154 thing dry out for a couple of days. Plug it 0:13:37.154 --> 0:13:39.794 back into power. If you get a moisture warning, then 0:13:39.794 --> 0:13:41.504 you let it keep letting it dry out. If worst 0:13:41.504 --> 0:13:43.874 comes to the worst, take it to a person that 0:13:43.874 --> 0:13:46.274 can fix it. But yes, do not put it in 0:13:46.274 --> 0:13:48.974 a bag of rice. That's a real urban myth. 0:13:48.974 --> 0:13:52.964 In terms of water, the Apple Watch is much more resilient. 0:13:52.964 --> 0:13:55.304 Yes, the only thing you'll notice from a voiceover point 0:13:55.304 --> 0:13:57.974 of view, and this is also on the Galaxy Watch 0:13:57.974 --> 0:14:00.674 that I've got, because the membrane of the speaker doesn't 0:14:00.674 --> 0:14:03.404 get dried out as much. When you do the tone 0:14:03.404 --> 0:14:07.544 generation and make the speaker vibrate, it sounds very tinny, 0:14:07.544 --> 0:14:09.554 but give it about an hour or two, it'll dry 0:14:09.554 --> 0:14:10.934 out and it'll be back to normal. 0:14:11.054 --> 0:14:13.754 Now, before we go, a reminder of where people can 0:14:13.754 --> 0:14:16.094 find details of what you've been talking about in this 0:14:16.094 --> 0:14:17.924 and previous editions of the program. 0:14:17.924 --> 0:14:20.294 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog site, 0:14:20.294 --> 0:14:24.554 which is David. Would it be a podbean pad bayan.com? 0:14:24.554 --> 0:14:29.414 David would be our podbean pod be a incom to 0:14:29.414 --> 0:14:30.494 write to the program? 0:14:30.494 --> 0:14:32.414 You can write to me at Visit Australia where I work, 0:14:32.414 --> 0:14:36.614 which is David Woodbridge Heart Sounds at Vision Australia. 0:14:36.884 --> 0:14:41.894 Org David Woodbridge at Virgin Australia. Org this has been 0:14:41.894 --> 0:14:44.984 talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national adviser 0:14:44.984 --> 0:14:49.454 on access technology David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolly stay safe. 0:14:49.454 --> 0:14:51.014 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.