S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: September the 17th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated
S1: stations of the Radio Reading Network or 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
S1: tech and Dan. It can all come usually on a
S1: Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is
S1: to ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play.
S1: Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking
S1: tech podcast. Regular listeners to the program would be well
S1: used to David Woodbridge coming along now, but if you
S1: didn't hear the program last week, you may not be
S1: aware that that was David's last regular program with us.
S1: He's making a change in his career. We hopefully will
S1: hear from him from time to time. So now stepping
S1: into the chair Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damo McMorrow. Damo,
S1: welcome to Talking Tech.
S2: Thank you Stephen. It's good to be here on what
S2: I hope is the first of many shows to come.
S1: Yes, I'm looking forward to it. Let's start by finding
S1: out a bit about your role at Vision Australia. Then
S1: I'd like to learn a bit more about Damo McMorrow himself.
S1: And then you've got some news items we'd like to cover.
S1: Let's start with your role as national manager, Access Technology.
S1: What's that all about?
S2: It really has sort of overall responsibility for the different
S2: components of our access Technology service. So some listeners might
S2: be familiar with our At help desk, which provides phone
S2: and email support to Vision Australia clients who use Access technology.
S2: So if your jaws suddenly stops talking, or you're wanting
S2: to know which phones are the most accessible or that
S2: kind of thing, that's the sort of thing that the
S2: Help Desk can help with. I also provide support to
S2: our 43 or so Access technology specialists out in the field.
S2: So they're scattered through all of our different offices and
S2: sort of work directly with clients to help them navigate
S2: the range of technology options out there. So I provide
S2: field support to them, along with a couple of access
S2: technology service development leads. And then we also do some
S2: corporate consulting work. So when we have organizations that want
S2: to check whether their systems are going to work with Jaws, zoom,
S2: Text Fusion, various other products, we go in and sort
S2: of test workflows in detail and that kind of thing.
S2: We also train software developers in how someone navigates a
S2: screen reader so that when they're doing in-house software development
S2: for organizations, they can test their own work and hopefully
S2: not break the accessibility in the process, and also get
S2: involved a little bit with new products and demonstrating those
S2: and supporting launch activities and Recording demos and those kinds
S2: of things. So yeah, it's a fairly, fairly broad role.
S1: Let's talk about the At specialists. What do they actually
S1: do for a person, a client of Vision Australia.
S2: They really are there to try and help navigate the
S2: various tech options. So the first thing is what's the
S2: person trying to do. Are they looking for technology for school.
S2: Are they looking for technology to use in the workplace?
S2: Are they looking for technology to use around home or
S2: just to access their phone, their iPad, their computer, whatever
S2: it may be? So our clients range in age and
S2: life stage from 2 to 102 virtually. And they also
S2: then will conduct some of the funding bodies, require you
S2: to have an assessment or to sort of seek expert
S2: advice and have a written report so that you can
S2: seek funding for whatever tech solution you need. So they
S2: help to sort of conduct that assessment and do that process.
S1: So is this all done over the phone or. No.
S2: Sometimes it's sometimes it's in person, particularly if it's, you know,
S2: for things like magnification devices and those sorts of things,
S2: you really need to try them. Have a hands on.
S2: Same with Braille devices. We can certainly support sessions over
S2: telehealth where that makes sense or where the person is
S2: in a somewhere fairly remote. But we also, you know,
S2: will will actually normally try to provide someone a hands
S2: on trial with the different devices so that they can
S2: see how they work and which one they like and
S2: which one works for them, that kind of thing.
S1: And what about the person who's not working? How do
S1: they get into the system and get support?
S2: Well, there's still funding schemes like the National Disability Insurance
S2: Scheme or NDIS. There's also some equipment and training and
S2: services available through things like my aged care and also
S2: Department of Veterans Affairs. So there's a number of different
S2: funding schemes depending on where people are at and what
S2: they need. And there's also it's not just the technology
S2: and the equipment, but it's also training after the fact
S2: as well, so that you actually, you know, get the
S2: best out of the equipment that you've got. So a
S2: big part of what we do is training on things
S2: like iPhones and computers and those kinds of things as well.
S1: Not to explore all that a lot more over the
S1: coming weeks. Sure. What about yourself? You're a technology user.
S2: I am, yes, definitely are and have been for for
S2: many years. I think my my technology journey probably started with,
S2: I suppose, a couple of things. The, the Braille to print.
S2: When that came out, I was about seven and that
S2: enabled me to sort of exit specialised schooling and attend
S2: mainstream schooling because the teacher could see what I was writing.
S2: And then, um, my dad got me a super voice cartridge,
S2: which fitted into the Tandy TRS 80 Color Computer that
S2: we had. And so that was sort of my introduction
S2: to talking computers. And then we sort of progressed on
S2: to things like the keynote and the Eureka, which I
S2: used right through high school and onto uni and that
S2: type of thing.
S1: So what are you use today?
S2: Um, I'm a Jaws user, so I have a couple
S2: of laptops with jaws. I've also got a a MacBook Pro,
S2: so I sort of have a foot in both camps
S2: in the laptop space. I am an iPhone user and
S2: I also have a Braillesense six. I'm a very strong
S2: advocate for Braille, and I don't think I could do
S2: a lot of the things that I do without that.
S2: So I use a Braillesense six mini and a brilliant, um,
S2: B40 x and I've got a a BT speak as well.
S1: So you're totally blind. Yes, I am Braille and synthetic
S1: speech user all your life.
S2: Yes I have yeah. How did.
S1: You go? Moving into the low vision space which you
S1: needed to do for your role as at person across
S1: Vision Australia?
S2: It was certainly a steep learning curve Initially, um, but
S2: I was lucky in that I had some people who
S2: were very good at describing things so they could explain
S2: to me visually what the various sort of magnification options did.
S2: You know, what does lines and blinds look like? What
S2: are the different contrast options? And I got used to
S2: sort of asking a lot of questions. So making a
S2: small incremental change and saying to the person, does that
S2: help at all? Is that better? Okay, what if we
S2: make it a little bit bigger again? Is that better
S2: or worse? And just sort of doing things incrementally and
S2: asking a lot of questions? Uh, I, I've always been, um,
S2: I think a reasonably good communicator. So asking the questions
S2: that I need to get me, the information that I
S2: need to sort of help the client came fairly easily
S2: to me. And so then it was really just a
S2: matter of memorizing the controls on the various, uh, video
S2: magnifiers and learning what all the options were in the
S2: sort of computer magnification screen magnification space, um, and how
S2: to apply them. But it was a learning curve, certainly.
S1: Today on talking Tech, we're meeting the new co-presenter, Damo McMorrow. Damo,
S1: you're based in Brisbane?
S2: Yes I am, yes. I've been a Brisbane boy most
S2: of my life. I was born in Melbourne, but I
S2: kind of consider myself a Queenslander because I've lived here
S2: since I was two.
S1: Now let's talk about some recent developments. This week we've
S1: seen from Apple the dropping of new versions of the
S1: software big time in September. Tell us about those.
S2: Yes. So there's been quite a bit of buzz around
S2: obviously the new iPhones, but also the release of iOS
S2: 18 for the iPhones and iPads. And there's some quite
S2: significant updates for those of you that use Braille screen input.
S2: It's had quite a significant makeover. You're not limited to
S2: just doing five finger characters, so you can type for
S2: those of you that you know your grade two Braille
S2: and there's a number of other things. So you can
S2: have Braille screen input come up automatically every time you
S2: get an edit field and things like that. So I
S2: think that's going to be quite an exciting change. Siri
S2: has also had a makeover. So we've now we will
S2: have the Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro and
S2: the new iPhone 16 range. Um, which is good because
S2: I don't know about you, Stephen, but I've been finding
S2: Siri feels like it gets sillier and sillier by the
S2: day sometimes, so it'll be nice to for that to
S2: have a makeover. And there's a number of other improvements
S2: and changes there. We've also got the new watchOS 11, um,
S2: for the Apple Watch, and they've also announced a couple
S2: of new Apple Watch models as well. I haven't sort
S2: of delved into all of the changes yet coming in, um,
S2: watchOS 11, but we we might explore that in a
S2: bit more detail over the next couple of weeks.
S1: Yep, that'll be good. And with the Mac, Sequoia, Sequoia
S1: name this year.
S2: I haven't had an opportunity to play with the beta
S2: of that one yet, and I always find their naming
S2: convention slightly interesting. But I believe there are some good
S2: improvements coming in the, uh, the new Mac OS as well.
S1: So all that will be very interesting to explore. Mhm.
S2: Definitely.
S1: Let's talk about some specific blindness technology. Now. The sense
S1: player had a significant update a couple of weeks ago.
S2: That's right. Yes. And as part of that they've addressed
S2: a number of bugs and complaints that people have made
S2: around things like not resuming playback where it should and
S2: navigation in things like the podcast app and so on,
S2: and also some fine tuning of, uh, of the menu system.
S2: So you may find that some things have moved around
S2: a little. I'm, I'm an avid sense player user as well,
S2: so I'm looking forward to putting that update through its paces,
S2: because there were a few annoying little things that really
S2: did need attention, and I believe most of those have
S2: been addressed for the.
S1: Casual listener or the regular listener who hasn't quite tuned
S1: in to sense player, You'd better quickly explain what it is.
S2: Yes, sure. So the sense player is the audio player from, uh,
S2: hims or Selva's that it, uh, is able to play
S2: Daisy books, podcasts, regular audio books. Um, music. It has
S2: a an internet radio as well as an FM radio. Um,
S2: there is an OCR version as well, which has a
S2: built in camera for capturing and reading text. You can
S2: also use it as a voice recorder. It looks a
S2: lot like the old Candybar style mobile phones from the
S2: mid 90s or early 2000. So it has a numeric keypad, um,
S2: and a sort of removable battery behind the back cover, um, USB-C, uh,
S2: headphone socket and also support for Bluetooth headphones. So things
S2: like your Apple AirPods and so on. Um, work extremely well.
S2: So it's a it's a really versatile little pocket sized
S2: media player.
S1: Yeah, my 21st century transistor radio. It's fantastic.
S2: Absolutely. Yes. Yeah, definitely.
S1: You've got a message for people who use jaws, which
S1: is the windows screen reader that a lot of people
S1: around the world use.
S2: Yes. So Vespero traditionally released their major version updates towards
S2: the end of October, so we'll be expecting jaws 2025
S2: to be released then. So the reminder is, if you're
S2: a current Jaws 2024 user and you've got a software
S2: maintenance agreement or SMA, you might like to check whether
S2: you have any upgrade counts left. If you wait until
S2: 2025 comes out, you'll have to purchase an upgrade and
S2: then the software maintenance agreement. Whereas if you renew your
S2: software maintenance agreement in the next few weeks, you'll be
S2: able to just download 2025 when it's released. And then,
S2: of course, 2026 next year.
S1: Now, as we finish up, let's let people know where
S1: they can go to find details of what we've been
S1: talking about in this, and it will be past programs
S1: as well. And that's the address. VA radio.org/talking tech. VA
S1: radio.org/talking tech. And to right to the program. People can
S1: get into your inbox can't they Damien.
S2: They certainly can. They can email Damo. Damo dot McMorrow.
S2: That's m c m o r o w at Vision Australia. Org.
S2: And as far as if you if you can't remember
S2: how to spell the surname, it's the same as tomorrow
S2: except it's Mick.
S1: Damo dot McMorrow at Vision australia.org.
S2: That's right. Welcome. Any comments, feedback or questions? I'll do
S2: my best to answer them for you.
S1: This has been talking tech with me has been Vision
S1: Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolly.
S1: Stay safe. We'll talk more tech next week. See you.