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Panel: Brian Norton, Josh Anderson, Belva Smith and Tracy Castillo
ATFAQ142 – Q1. Direct Touch Apps in VoiceOver, Q2. Texting from iPad to non-iOS devices, Q3. Headsets for sensory needs, Q4. One-handed typing and hobbies, Q5. Dysphonia – help being understood on phone, Q6. Wildcard: College Student get by with an iPad?
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Brian Norton
Welcome to ATFAQ Assisted Technology Frequently Asked Questions. With your host, Brian Norton, director of assistive technology at Easterseals Crossroads. This is a show where we address your questions about assistive technology, the hardware, software, tools, and gadgets that help people with disabilities lead more independent and fulfilling lives. Have a question you’d like answered on our show, send us a tweet with the #atfaq, call our listener line at 317-721-7124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, the world of assistive technology ask questions and we have answers. Now, let’s jump into today’s show.
Brian Norton:
Hello and welcome to ATFAQ Episode 142. My name is Brian Norton and I’m the host of the show. We’re so happy that you’ve taken some time to tune in with us this week. We’ve a great line up of assistive technology questions for you today. But before we jump into the questions, I want to take a moment to go around the room and introduce folks who are sitting her in the studio with me or at least, our Zoom studio, if you will. The first is Belva. Belva is our Vision Team lead with our Clinical Assistive Technology team. Belva, do you want to say hi?
Belva Smith:
Hey, everybody.
Brian Norton:
Then, next on the slate is Josh. Josh is the manager of Clinical Assistive Technology and popular host of AT Update. Josh, do you want to say hi to folks?
Josh Anderson:
Hi, everybody.
Brian Norton:
Excellent. Then, last but not least, Tracy is the INDATA program manager and does a lot of things for the INDATA program here. Tracy, do you want to say hi to folks?
Tracy Castillo:
Sure do. Welcome, and thank you for listening.
Brian Norton:
Excellent, excellent. For folks who are new to our show, I just want to take a moment and talk about what we do. Throughout the week, we received feedback and come across various assistive technology-related questions and we tried to sit around like we’re doing today and try to answer those the best that we can. We’ve got a few ways for you to contribute to the show. We’ve got a listener line set up. If you have an assistive technology question, feel free to give us a call and leave us a voicemail. It’s 317-721-7124. Send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or send us a tweet with the #atfaq. Love to hear from you.
Brian Norton:
We also are looking for your feedback, so as we go throughout the questions that we have for each episode, we want your feedback. As we try to answer those, I know there’s probably things that we’re not mentioning and if you have experienced, or you’ve used these products before, or had experience with these particular questions. We’d love to hear what you guys have to say. I make sure that we’re providing the folks who call in with these questions are well-rounded answer and the best answer that we can provide. So, please be a part of that show and you can do that through our listener line and our e-mail, and through sending us a tweet. I look forward to hearing from you guys as well.
Brian Norton:
If you’re interested in telling your friends about where to find the show, you can do that at iTunes. You can find us on iTunes. We have a website set up. It’s atfaqshow.com. Find us on Stitcher at the Google Play Store or just go to eastersealstech.com. That’s the INDATA website for the Indiana Assistive Technology Act Program. You can find out all about, all the services we provide but specifically also find information about our podcasts as well. We look forward to hearing from you. We thank you, guys in advance for contributing to the show.
Brian Norton:
We always want to start out the show, we’ve gotten some feedback this past week, kind of couple of folks. One person had sent them in an e-mail and another one sent in a voicemail. We’re going to take a look at those just real quick. The first is an e-mail and I’ll just read that out to you. It says, “Hello. This is Lyndon, a longtime listener. I’m a graduate student and I use Dragon Naturally Speaking app for the iPhone for note-taking. It’s $14 a month and it’s a text-to-speech app which is free. If you want to read to look it up for reading content on my phone or computer, I hope that’s helpful.”
Brian Norton:
I believe what he’s referring to is we had a question, I believe in one of our last episodes, maybe one or two episodes ago about speech-to-text, text-to-speech and I know Dragon does provide both where you can select text and then, have it read back out to user. This particular one looks like it’s $14 a month, and I think it’s probably Dragon Anywhere is the app that I know that they have for phones and tablets. I just want to thank Lyndon for giving us a call and chiming in on that particular question.
Belva Smith:
Brian, I’m a bit confused by that, though. $14 a month which is free. First of all, $14 a month is very expensive, in my opinion. But what does it mean, which is free? In text-to-speech, is that part of it that is an option that maybe you don’t pay for but you have to pay just for the Dragon feature?
Brian Norton:
I know with Dragon Naturally Speaking, its primary use is for you to dictate to the computer or to your tablet, or your phone, or whatever and have it recognize what you’re saying. I know back in the computer additions of Dragon, you used to be able to also select text and have Dragon read it back to you as well, so that you would not only able to dictate and have it kind of put the text out there, but you could also have it read back to you, so you could really understand or hear it in context to make sure that you didn’t make any errors or that it sounded good. There was that particular component to it.
Brian Norton:
I believe Dragon Anywhere is a subscription and that may be where that $14 a month comes from. Maybe there’s some clarification with this particular, because I do note that you mentioned it says free but it’s also saying $14 a month, and maybe trying to get some clarification on that would be helpful. I’ll try to look that up or Lyndon, if you’re listening, I’d love to hear from you and get to the bottom of that part as well. But thank you for chiming in. Great information about the Dragon Naturally Speaking app.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our next bit of feedback was a voicemail and this came from David and so, I’ll go ahead and play this.
David Ward:
Hello. This is David Ward, an AT instructor for this division program at Goodwill. I was calling for an episode that I recently heard. ATFAQ Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Question. There was question on a previous episode about an online typing option for those who have visual impairments or totally blind and would be using a screen reading. I just thought I’d give you guys a heads up, APH did develop a new product last year. Unfortunately, they released it, I think around the same time COVID and everything was starting to really explode here in the US. I think it might have felt in-between the cracks, so that might be why you guys haven’t heard about it but it’s called Typer. It’s a free online utility designed to be used with screen readers. It also, I think has a self-voicing component if you want to turn that on instead. You can go to typer.aphtech.org and you’ll find that free online typing program.
David Ward:
Now, I haven’t had a lot of my students go through it, maybe just a few lessons. I can’t recall off the top of my head, it may require a few tweaks in the verbosity of the screen reader they’re using. But it’s a pretty cool system and that we could do this with web applications now as well. Now, since you’re a person, I asked the question I asked about free, that’s the only one I know of natively that’s a free webpage online. But if you were to have a student, in my experience who is also trying to do stuff at home and apply the skills they’re learning in maybe in a classroom environment at home and they’re looking for a computer, I often recommend a starter computer, computers for the blind out of Texas. I only mentioned that because they typically have a $5 option to buy a typing program called Typio.
David Ward:
Typio is an application. It’s not online. But for five bucks, it’s about as close to free as you’re going to get if you were in the process of getting your computer. Of course, these computers come with a free one-year license of Jaws as well. You get everything you need right there in one place. Typio has tried to move as many of them, I think you guys mentioned two. An online model like a subscription service model, and so they are trying to roll that out as well, which is I think what might’ve gave APH the idea to create this free utility. Just thought I’d share that one with you guys and hope it helps. Take care, and appreciate the show.
Brian Norton:
Excellent, David. Thank you so much for that feedback. We were always looking for programs like these, and those sound like a couple of really great options.
Tracy Castillo:
You know, Brian, Danny Wayne from The WILL Center told me about computers for the blind last week. That’s so funny. In two weeks, I have heard that name twice.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, there are great organizations that basically will sell you a low cost computer system. If you’re blind or visually impaired, you can get a low cost computer system from them. I want to say a hundred bucks, a couple of hundred bucks, I think it’s very low cost with what you get, all included. As you mentioned, there’s a year of subscription to Jaws and then, you get some access to some other lower cost options if you’re trying to learn the computer and those types of things.
Brian Norton:
Excellent. Without further ado, we’re going to jump into our first question of the day and our first question is, “Hello. I am a blind Luddite,” and I had to look that word up because I didn’t know exactly what that was, but it’s a person who’s opposed to technology.
Josh Anderson:
I think it’s Luddite.
Brian Norton:
Luddite. Luddite.
Tracy Castillo:
Luddite?
Brian Norton:
Well, hey. I’m getting a grammar lesson here on the show today. Luddite.
Tracy Castillo:
I’m learning new words today. Nice.
Brian Norton:
Luddite or Luddite? What do you say?
Belva Smith:
I don’t know, but he-
Josh Anderson:
I think it’s loo. It’s Luddite.
Tracy Castillo:
Loo.
Belva Smith:
He does give you the definition of what it is. I’m going to have my screen reader announce it if I can.
Tracy Castillo:
Okay.
Belva Smith:
Select. Oh, no. Okay. Nevermind, it’s not going to …
Brian Norton:
Actually, in the questions that I had provided the team here, I kind of have put the definition. I don’t think the definition was originally in the e-mail.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh.
Belva Smith:
Oh, okay.
Brian Norton:
And that’s why I had to look it up. I thought I put there because I knew I would forget exactly what that meant. But then again, anyways, “It came to us today with an IOS voiceover question and this is invoice over settings, under the rotor actions. There is a setting called Direct Touch Apps. I have not been able to find out what this is or how to use it. Could you explain? Thanks and regards, Greg.”
Belva Smith:
I’ll tell you what I found. First of all, you’re not going to find that just anytime you go to the rotor. It’s only when you’re in an area where it’s applicable. The best way I can describe it is there are some apps like games and keyboard apps that want your gesture to go straight to them and not be handled by voiceover. So, when you activate that feature, that’s what happens. Your gesture goes directly to the app to perform whatever it should be doing with that particular app.
Josh Anderson:
Yup. Sometimes, the keyword may even say Direct Touch Typing, then I would do that sometimes with the keyboard. It’s the same thing. It kind of turns of voiceover, so you’re typing as anyone would with voiceover not on there, so it’s not going to have the different kind of touch typing or the normal kind of swipe, standard typing features that you normally have with voiceover.
Tracy Castillo:
Would this happen in surveys or something?
Belva Smith:
No. I don’t think in surveys. I think, from what I understand, it’s going to be primarily in games.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh, okay.
Belva Smith:
And some onboard keyboards [inaudible 00:12:47] want that.
Brian Norton:
What you’re explaining is, it’s kind of just a pass through. You don’t want voiceover to deal with whatever keystroke you’re giving it. You want it to go straight on to whatever application you’re in at that moment, so that it better understands it. I run into that sometimes with Jaws on some databases and things like that where I’m doing whatever I can with Jaws, but I have to actually … the application requires it to be kind of a regular keystroke or a mouse click, or those types of things, and I can’t pass it on. So, that’s interesting.
Belva Smith:
An example would be like, voiceover if you swipe up … If you’re in an app and you swipe up, you could be activating it or deactivating it or whatever the options there is. But if you’ve got that feature enhanced, swiping up could mean that you’re tapping the space bar or that you’re shooting the gun or whatever, if it’s a game.
Tracy Castillo:
That’s what I was thinking. So, if you’re in Fortnite and you’re trying to maneuver something, you wouldn’t do it as Jaws command. You would do a Fortnite command.
Belva Smith:
Except you’re not doing your voiceover command. You’re [inaudible 00:14:06]. [inaudible 00:14:06] with Jaws.
Tracy Castillo:
But I’m trying. I’m giving it some really good efforts.
Belva Smith:
Yes.
Brian Norton:
That’s excellent. Excellent. That’s awesome. Thank you. I think that probably clears that up, hopefully. I would love to open this up to listeners if you’ve had some experience, maybe you guys know of applications that require or would have this particular option enabled and maybe examples of how you’ve used it within those particular applications, love to hear from you guys. You can give us a call on our listener line. That’s 317-7217124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Love to hear from you. Thank you so much.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our second question is from someone that we know well here. Her name’s Pam. She had a question about sending and receiving text as a non-iPhone user or to a non-iPhone user using just the WiFi-only iPad. Basically, will getting the cellular version of the iPad solve the issue? I guess what she’s having trouble with is when she’s … She has a WiFi-only iPad at this point and you can’t send SMS messages easily to folks. So, she’s wondering if she gets the cellular version of that, if she’ll be able to fix it. Let’s open that up to folks as well.
Josh Anderson:
I can answer parts of that real quick. The only difference between the cellular and the WiFi is, that the cellular is going to work on a cellular network. So, it’ll work where you don’t have WiFi. It won’t change the SMS part at all. You can message anyone with an iPhone or an iPad through iMessaging, but that’s still not going to allow you to talk to Android phones or other folks over SMS. Truthfully, I personally don’t know of a way to do it like through the messaging app or anything like that. You could always use a third party like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, all those kind of different things to do it. But, no. You’re just going to spend more money on a cellular one and it’s not going to change that feature in any way, shape, or form. Really, you have to do regular SMS message, it has to be a cell phone, not so much an iPad or another tablet device. Go ahead.
Tracy Castillo:
What you’re saying is if you’ve got cellular data for your iPhone or your iPad, you’re saying you can’t use your number, your phone number? I thought there was a way you could share your number with [inaudible 00:16:40].
Josh Anderson:
Really, I believe your iPad uses your phone number for iMessaging.
Tracy Castillo:
Those are only for iPhone users.
Josh Anderson:
Okay, only for iPhone users. You could, I mean, maybe. But if I had an Android phone and I text you, it’s not going to come through on your iPad. At least, not through the messaging app.
Tracy Castillo:
Right.
Brian Norton:
Yeah. I think what I have heard, the only way to get that to work is there’s one of two ways. The first is you can either try to link your iPhone to your iPad, and so there’s this text forwarding message within the Settings options. If you go to Settings, you got to Messages. There’s something called Text Message Forwarding. It basically allows your iPhone text messages to also be sent and received on other devices. You can have it sent over to your iPad. That’s one option.
Brian Norton:
I think the option that I see more often is depending on who your cellular provider is, AT&T, Verizon, all of these other places, most of them allow you to have something called e-mail to SMS gateway. Essentially, you can put your phone number. It’s that phone number @txt.at&t.net. If AT&T is your provider, you could put in your phone number, the whole phone number, the 10-digit phone number. For me, 3174662001@txt.at&t.net. Now, for those that think that’s my real cell phone number, it’s not. That was just a number I made up. But anyways, you can then text directly with that. It’s essentially sending an e-mail but it comes through as a text message. So, you can potentially do that from your iPad to other folks as well.
Belva Smith:
Okay. I was totally confused before you all started answering it. Now, I’m even more confused.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh.
Josh Anderson:
That’s a bummer.
Tracy Castillo:
I thought we did a really good job explaining. Oh, man.
Belva Smith:
I thought the question was, can this individual use a WiFi connection on their iPad to text with an individual who is not using an iPhone.
Brian Norton:
Correct. That is the question.
Belva Smith:
So, we’re not using any cell phone number. We’re not using any cell phone data. We’re simply using data trying to text anybody we want to text to.
Tracy Castillo:
I think Josh answered it best.
Josh Anderson:
The short answer is no.
Tracy Castillo:
Use a third party. Use a third party.
Belva Smith:
I think so, too. I think so, too. And I will tell you that what I have experienced in the past is TextNow.
Tracy Castillo:
Text wow?
Belva Smith:
No. TextNow, T-E-X-T-N-O-W. It used to be free, but I think that they finally did start having a small charge for it.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh. Well, I think that one that Josh mentioned was WhatsApp, and that one’s pretty neat. You can have group messages and you could do video calls on that as well.
Josh Anderson:
Yup. And really, if you’re anywhere not in the United States, you’re using it anyway.
Tracy Castillo:
Yup.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah.
Tracy Castillo:
Exactly.
Belva Smith:
What TextNow does is it does give you a number. It gives you a number to use when you’re texting.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh, that’s a little different.
Belva Smith:
Yeah.
Josh Anderson:
That’s kind of nice.
Brian Norton:
Let me try to explain because I know Josh did an excellent job but I always get jealous when he does a really good job and I do a poor job.
Tracy Castillo:
Sorry for mentioning it. Brian, next question.
Josh Anderson:
Hey, you got one [crosstalk 00:20:11].
Belva Smith:
But the good news is, this is a very confusing question.
Brian Norton:
Oh, yeah.
Tracy Castillo:
Seriously?
Brian Norton:
Well, I think a lot of people struggled with it.
Belva Smith:
Oh, yes.
Brian Norton:
Oh, yeah. Here’s what I mean by e-mail to SMS gateway. Almost every service provider operates a gateway that basically allows you to send a message through a regular e-mail client. Yes, technically you’re not using the messaging app on your iPad, but you can go to the e-mail plan on your iPad and basically send an e-mail to somebody and it’ll show up as a text message on their side. Then, they would then be able to text message you back, I believe to be able to receive those.
Tracy Castillo:
That would be good for somebody who has just a regular e-mail.
Belva Smith:
Brian, I have use what you’re referring to. I’ve used that with clients with Outlook. We don’t have any texting app. We don’t have any texting device.
Brian Norton:
That’s right.
Belva Smith:
But we want to be able to text.
Brian Norton:
Right.
Belva Smith:
You can do that directly from Outlook as long as you know the carrier’s suffix or whatever. Yes.
Brian Norton:
Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yup. I get this question a lot, because most of the tablets that we recommend, because the cellular ones have a monthly subscription to them, we don’t do those very often. A lot of our funding sources won’t pay for monthly subscription, so a lot of times it’s a WiFi enabled on. They’re extremely disappointed when they can’t text message directly to somebody with it. Hopefully, Apple gets that idea and can get that fixed.
Belva Smith:
Yeah, and I think Josh is 100% correct in that. Even if you add the cellular service to it-
Brian Norton:
You can’t do it.
Belva Smith:
… you still can’t do it.
Brian Norton:
Yeah.
Belva Smith:
You’re just going to then be paying for a monthly service charge that it does you no good.
Brian Norton:
Right.
Tracy Castillo:
Brian, I have to say that, that was a lovely answer.
Brian Norton:
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Josh Anderson:
Very nice.
Brian Norton:
Thank you. One of my love languages is affirmation, so thank you.
Tracy Castillo:
You’re very welcome.
Belva Smith:
Hopefully, we helped clear that question up. When I said it was a very confusing question, I don’t mean that to the person who asked it. I just mean, it’s a question that as you said, Brian, “I get it all the time.” And in the beginning, I was very confused, too. Text is a text, right? So, why can’t I text someone with a Samsung phone? Just because they don’t have an iPhone, I can’t text them? That’s crazy.
Josh Anderson:
You know, it’s better than it used to be because I remember when the Samsung phones first come out, I had a Galaxy S3. There was your messaging app and then, there was a Samsung messaging app on there, too. If you didn’t use the right one, it didn’t go to the right person and it confused the crap out of me whenever I first got it. At least, it’s a little easier where you’re kind of doing the same thing [inaudible 00:23:01] now.
Belva Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Norton:
That’s great. That’s great. I would love to open this up to folks. And just to wrap it up, too. I think, Josh, you mentioned WhatsApp and then, Belva, you think TextNow as potential options for folks if you want to use a third party app to make that stuff happen, maybe those are two that you can take a look at, WhatsApp and TextNow. I’d love to open this up to other folks. If you guys have had experience with this or disappointment, as I think a lot of folks have with this, we’d love to hear your thoughts, maybe other apps that you guys use. You can give us a call on our listener line. That’s 317-721-7124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Again, we’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our next question is, “I’m looking for headsets for kids who have sensory needs, something that will help eliminate background noise. I’ve looked at the Bose Quiet Comfort headsets, but they are so expensive. Do you know of any lower cost options?” I was just going to say, we do have those Bose Quiet Comfort. We have a couple of those here within our program and you’re right, they are super expensive. I think, a couple hundred dollars or more to be able to get into those. So, yeah.
Josh Anderson:
A lot of those noise canceling things, Apple AirPods, even those new AirPods Max ones that go over the ears, they do great. The thing is, it depends on what you’re looking at them for, depending on the environment. Is this something where they need to listen to calming music? Because any of those things kill everything. They drown out all noise. You’re just going to hear whatever is coming through the headphones. I found something that may or may not be kind of what they’re looking for. They’re called Vibes earplugs. They’re not really headphones, they’re actually earplugs but they bring down the decibels, at least 22 decibels.
Josh Anderson:
If you think of if somebody does have a sensory need where those loud noises and everything can really be a trigger or set things off, this can help bring those things all down. It quiets all sound while still allowing all the sound through, so that everything sounds the same. It’s not muffled or anything, it’s just everything’s a little bit quieter. That might be something that could help. It’s not going to block everything out like those Bose would, but I think they’re about 25 bucks, counting shipping. They’re small, they’re clear, they just go right in the ear and they do let sound through, so that you can still kind of hear everything but it just takes the, I guess, the edge off.
Josh Anderson:
While they do have some great benefits for folks with any kind of sensitivity to sound or sensory disorders, they were really made for musicians in concerts just to bring the sound down there. It could be something that could be a help. Again, I don’t know if that’s really exactly what you’re looking for but it’s a whole lot less expensive. It might be something worth trying for at least some kind of environments sometimes. I guess, I’ll just keep on talking since everybody else has gotten really quiet.
Tracy Castillo:
Go for it, Josh.
Josh Anderson:
Let’s see. I don’t have anything else. But, hey!
Tracy Castillo:
Hey, Josh. A quick Google search, I found that Beats has some noise canceling. I don’t know if that can be activated with … You can activate it or you don’t have to activate it, it seems that you get a longer playtime if you don’t activate it. But of course, if that’s what you’re asking for, you’re going to have to activate it. They’re right around $150 right now. That was the Beats Solo Noise canceling headphones, over the ear. I did not look for the in the ear ones.
Brian Norton:
Just to throw out a couple of options to those Bose Quiet Comfort headsets, those are around $300, especially if you get the newer versions of those. But if you go to Amazon, I think what you really want to look for in those types of headsets, it’s called active noise canceling. It’s actually listening around you and it’s providing some sort of an artificial noise canceling there for you. Anker, M-Power, MPOW, there’s lots of different [inaudible 00:27:14]. They have a lot of different types of headsets that are a lot less expensive, that are around the $50 price point.
Brian Norton:
Then, there are specific headsets. If you go to companies that sell sensory aids, those types of things, whether that’s toys or other types of things for kids or students with autism, they’re going to have those specific types of headsets that might be able to be helpful as well, and they’re going to be a lot less costly. But again, easy to go to Amazon and I think really what you’re looking for are going to those active noise canceling headphones because those are going to be better equipped.
Brian Norton:
They’re just not trying to, I don’t know exactly how that all works, but my understanding is, it actually is sometimes listening to the outside and will increase or decrease how it’s controlling the environment within the over the ear headphones for folks. Certainly something to think about. Josh, you did bring up an interesting point as I think about noise canceling for folks who have those sensory needs, sometimes over the ear isn’t probably your best option and the in the ear would be a better option for folks. I’m just trying to think through that of what’s [crosstalk 00:28:25].
Tracy Castillo:
That’s interesting because I would’ve thought just the opposite.
Josh Anderson:
It depends on the individual, what’s more comfortable for him, what they’re more comfortable using. The only reason I brought it up was the earplug idea especially those that let the sound through is, I mean, I know, if I’m wearing ear pods to do this and if I have to wear them to talk to someone while driving, it cancels out all the outside noise.
Josh Anderson:
If somebody came up behind me and honked their horn, I’d have no idea because I can’t hear the road. It freaks me out after a while. It makes it hard to talk to people because again, it kills all that noise. So, really depending on the environment. While it’s good to bring down all those outside sounds especially if there any instruction, if there’s someone trying to talk to the individual, we’re not going to hear you unless you’re coming through the headphones.
Tracy Castillo:
[crosstalk 00:29:12]
Josh Anderson:
Just something else maybe to try is maybe bring down those outside sounds, and sometimes, that can make it a much more friendly environment for somebody who has the sensitivity to those sounds and things.
Tracy Castillo:
I wonder, would those headphones have the option to say, “Hey, I want to be at negative 20 decibels. I want to just bring it down to 10 decibels.”
Josh Anderson:
Those little earplugs don’t. I mean, they’re 25 bucks. They’re not really electronic at all. But they were [inaudible 00:29:43].
Tracy Castillo:
They were? Congratulations for them.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah, they were. I only know that because I’m looking their stuff to find the price. But, no they don’t. But I do know most headphones that have that noise canceling, like Brian said, it’s active noise canceling, you’re going to turn it off and on, if you do need to get sound through it and everything.
Tracy Castillo:
Yeah. I wanted to say, Brian, thank you for saying active noise canceling. I’m going to throw you some more props because that was the word I was looking for about those Bose ones I had found. You can deactivate or activate the active noise canceling.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, and I think that’s an important thing for folks to think about, too. Depending on what environment you find yourself in, your ability to turn it off, it does create kind of like what you’re mentioning, Josh, like if you’re driving, that’s not safe not to be able to hear things around you. They could very well just be in an educational setting, in a work setting, or other places that you want to be able to hear things around you at times. So, to be able to turn that on and off, and when it’s off, it gives you some level of noise cancellation but not that artificial noise cancellation or active noise cancellation that we’ve been talking about. So, certainly something to think about there as well.
Brian Norton:
Just to let you know, I think the question mentioned those Bose, those are $300 headsets. That’s really super expensive and not necessarily affordable for a lot of folks. My suggestion would be to go to Amazon, definitely check out some of those other ones. There’s hundreds of brands of different ones, but the key search word that you want to look for is that active noise canceling to be able to get that built into whatever headset you have. Definitely, take a look at those and see what that would look like for you. They’ve got many different styles and so, think about the user preference that individual, what they would prefer, whether it’s in ear or out ear, over the ear. I’m sorry, in ear or over the ear would make a big difference for them. Yeah, something to think about.
Brian Norton:
I do want to open this up to our listeners and just see if they have anything to contribute to this question if you worked with a type of headset that provides that noise cancellation, that active noise cancellation, we’d love to be able to hear from you. Let us know what that brand is and where you can purchase it. We’ll be sure to pass that on or mention it on our next show. You can give us a call on our listener line. That’s 317-721-7124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Thank you so much.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our next question is, “I have a friend who used to be very active with painting and sewing, but can now only use her right side after having a stroke. Her entire left side was affected, her right arm is in a sling, and she is regaining some of the movement of her fingers through rehab. The question is, do you have any suggestions for one-handed keyboards? Could you talk about other possibilities for her to get back to the activity she loves?” They mentioned painting and sewing early on in the question. Then, they talked about keyboards. I’m assuming, using the computer’s also something that they love in addition to the painting and sewing, and some of the hobbies this person has. But any suggestions first of all, for one-handed keyboards and then other things for the other activities that were mentioned?
Belva Smith:
My favorite one-handed keyboard is actually, I think it’s [Adeco 00:33:19] space saver.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, Adesso.
Belva Smith:
Adesso, yes, screen saver keyboard. It’s very inexpensive. There’s two versions. You can get one that has a trackpad on it or one that doesn’t have a trackpad. But it’s just small in its nature, about the size of a laptop. I’m going to say a 15-inch laptop keyboard. Very easy to use. I would also suggest possibly, turning on sticky keys. So, if they have to do any key combinations for any reason, they only have to still press one key at a time. That’s my best … I don’t know. I haven’t recommended one in a long time, but I think it’s under $50.
Brian Norton:
I think you’re right.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah, you’re right. It’s nice because it’s a standard keyboard. It’s just smaller.
Belva Smith:
Right.
Josh Anderson:
There’s no real relearning or anything like that. The keys are all still in the same place. I was going to bring up one that I guess I can mention. But I don’t know why I would, the TiPY keyword. We got to play with it at ATIA last year. It was supposed to come out right then. I just looked at the latest update from the beginning of March and they’ve got it all up. It’s all working. It’s ready to ship. One of the pieces that it needs is slowed way down because of the pandemic so, they don’t know when it’ll actually be able to be shipped.
Tracy Castillo:
That’s so sad.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah. It’s a very cool little keyboard. It’s kind of shaped almost like a, let’s say a baseball diamond or the outfield of baseball field is what it kind of looks like. It’s just made to be completely one-handed. You can flip it over, so if you’re right-handed or left-handed, you can use one side. But seeing in the demonstrations and stuff, it’s really one of the first really truly usable one-handed keyboard. This isn’t like what Belva said, just a smaller form factor kind of keyboard. But again, who knows when or if it’ll ever actually be available to folks. You can cut that whole part out if you want, Brian.
Brian Norton:
No, I mean-
Belva Smith:
[inaudible 00:35:17]
Brian Norton:
That’s a super nice keyboard, really nice keyboard.
Belva Smith:
As for the painting, I don’t know what kind of, and this may be way off base, but I don’t know what kind of use this individual has with their head and neck area. But I have actually had a client who was, he was on a wheelchair, pretty much no use of either arm or hand, and he used his chin and his mouth. His mouth would hold the pencil and he could draw with it. His chin, he did his mouth. Brian, I think you also worked with this individual … Oh, sorry about that. Life happens. Obviously, that’s not something that they’re going to learn overnight, but that might be an area that they could consider to explore for getting back into the painting.
Belva Smith:
With the sewing, I don’t know. Sewing comes in all different shapes and sizes. There are some really innovative sewing machines out there now, because I also had a client that worked at one of our cloth stores, fabric stores. I was totally blown away with how expensive some of the newer sewing machines could be. But also, it’s just a press of a button to make it do a zipper hole or something like that. It doesn’t require the use of both hands. That might also be something to explore to get them back into sewing.
Brian Norton:
Go ahead.
Josh Anderson:
I was going to say, for the painting, it doesn’t say that they have some use of the one hand. There’s all kinds of different writing aids. You can go to MaxiAids or really any of those and just look at writing aids. And you might be able to find one that might be able to … either a larger clip or something that kind of wraps around the hand, or through the fingers, things that almost look like rings that you can slide a paint brush into. It’s just a matter of how easy or hard it would be for them to be able to maybe assemble those on their own. But there’s all kinds of different ones from about three bucks to 25 bucks, just depending on what they might need. It may be even where you can try some different ones out to see what might work.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, that’s a great point. Belva, you mentioned sticky keys. On a Windows 10 machine, if you go to the Ease of Access Center, is that still there under your Settings? Is it Ease of Access?
Belva Smith:
Yeah, but what I would do is just go to the Search Menu-
Brian Norton:
Just type it in?
Belva Smith:
Or the Start Menu and type in sticky keys. It’s going to take you [inaudible 00:38:13] to it.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, that’s always a really good thing to couple with a one-handed keyword is to be able to do key strokes that require multiple keys, that sticky keys really does come in handy. I would also maybe look at, depending on how well that person’s speech is, they might want to look at Dragon as an option, too, to be able to speed up input especially if they’re just doing a lot of text input on the computer, being able to get their word sound very quickly as long as they can articulate the words well enough. Dragon can do a good job of recognition accuracy. That might be something to think about as well. I’ve used the Adesso and I’ve seen the TiPY. You’re right, Josh. I think a TiPY keyboard is really nice. It’s just been unavailable. I’m not sure exactly what they have in the keyboard that they can’t get a hold of but-
Josh Anderson:
It’s hard to tell.
Brian Norton:
It’s been months, yeah.
Josh Anderson:
As of right now though, they’re not making Ford trucks because there’s a microchip they can’t get because of COVID.
Brian Norton:
Oh, really? Interesting.
Josh Anderson:
That’s a pretty big company, you’d think they could find it somewhere else but nope. It’s one place and they’re down. So, I guess we got to give them a little bit of grace. My hope is though once they do get that piece, they’ll be sending them out pretty quickly.
Belva Smith:
Let’s not forget that that’s why Jordy, the original Jordy got us [crosstalk 00:39:28] because they have one, little, teeny tiny, small piece that came from India that they could no longer get and couldn’t get manufactured any place else, so they had to stop producing it.
Brian Norton:
Yeah. For those that don’t know, Jordy is head-worn low vision piece of equipment that would magnify what you’re looking at. But yeah, that’s definitely a problem these days. The supply chain for a lot of different types of small, what you would think are inconspicuous pieces of equipment that are really, really important for certain things to work well and work right. I will say as far as the sewing piece is concerned, that one-handed needle threaders, that’s just something that we have in our Aids for Daily Living, our ADL closet. Those are really easy. You just simply throw the need in one side, you throw the thread in the other and you can just go ahead and thread those needles, so it makes it pretty simple.
Brian Norton:
Then, I’ve also done some other things. We’ve switched adapt to the sewing machine before, so you don’t have to mess around with it. I have a young lady who is going to school, to design her own clothing line. We used all sorts of things for her. We got her a big drafting table, so that when she needed to cut the fabric, we take high-powered magnets and cover the drafting table on some thin metal, so that she could then take these high-powered magnets and hold the fabric really tightly, so you can make really nice, crips cuts with the one-handed scissors. There’s all sorts of things out there, ADL-types of options for folks to be able to do things like sewing and painting. Maybe even just sitting down with someone, whether that’s an assessment here or even your occupational therapist, just tell them about the things you love to do. Sometimes, they will know of options especially for those activities like painting or sewing. They’ll have a lot of options, I would assume for some of those types of things.
Brian Norton:
Then, the computer access piece, that’s where I think a lot of times our clinical team steps in and can really help provide some guidance to folks about those tools, keyboards, speech-to-text programs, other types of things on the computer to be able to help folks get better access. So, it’s certainly something to think about and to keep in mind. I would love to open this up to folks. I’m sure this is not an isolated situation. A lot of folks deal with this. I’d love to hear maybe some of the things that you guys have dealt with, with regard to either getting back to using the computer, maybe you’re a one-handed typist or you’re doing other activities, other activities that you love as maybe a one-handed or one-sided type of activity for you. I’d love to hear from you. You can give us a call on listener line. That’s 317-721-7124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Again, I’d love to hear from you. Thanks.
Belva Smith:
Hey, Brian, before we go to the next question, I would really like to ask this listener to keep us updated as the progress comes along and as this individual does get to return to some of the activities that they’re enjoying. Share with us what you found that works because I’m sure that that information could be helpful for others as well.
Brian Norton:
That’s a really great point. Yeah, please do. And you can do that in the same ways. You can give us a call on that listener line or send us an e-mail. Love to follow you along as you get back to those activities that you love and find solutions for some of those challenges that you’ll face. Yeah, definitely, that’s a great, great point. Thanks, Belva.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our next question is, it says, “Good morning. I’m not sure if you can help me out, but do you know where and who I can turn to for help? I have dysphonia and it is hard for people to understand me on the phone when I go to the store. I use a dry erase board to say things,” so she’s writing those down, “But on the phone, of course, I can’t do that. Do you know of anywhere I can get help?” I’m just going to open that up. I know, personally for me, here in Indiana, we have an organization called INTRAC. They may have a program that basically provides some telephony equipment for folks who have difficulty speaking or speech impairments.
Brian Norton:
Definitely something to look at. INTRAC, it’s the telephone relay company here in Indiana. They provide all sorts of equipments and assistance for folks who are typically deaf and hard of hearing. But they also have a program that’s specifically for folks who have difficult speaking. Essentially, what that does is it allows you to communicate using your phone or tablet, and be able to send, I don’t want to say text messages but you’re typing it out and then, the person on the other side of the phone is getting it read to them.
Belva Smith:
They are textual messages, Brian. They’re not text messages. They’re textual messages.
Brian Norton:
Textual. There you go.
Belva Smith:
Then, there’s also an app if you happen to have a tablet or a smartphone, there’s an app called BuzzCards which are really great because you can make up some of your generic ones like if you go to the same coffee shop every morning and order the same cup of coffee, instead of having to write it out on your whiteboard every day, you can actually create a buzzcard in advance that says you like your coffee with two sugars and a dab of cream, or whatever. Then, you just hold that up so they can read it just like your whiteboard except it’s stuff that you can do in advance for those things that you do normally. Then, you can also do them on the go.
Belva Smith:
I actually attended a webinar not too long ago about this particular situation and one of the things that, well some of the tips that they gave was, if it’s possible like if you’re going to be joining a Zoom meeting or something like that, to warm your voice up a little bit before you actually get on the call. You can warm that up by humming. One of the things they also recommended is just blowing through a straw. You can either do that into a cup of water or just into the air. Also, think about what it is that you want to say in advance, if possible. You can’t always plan on what you’re going to say. Sometimes, you’re out there just saying without maybe even thinking.
Belva Smith:
But for the phone, the two things that they really suggested was if at all possible to use a headset with a microphone. Because with the microphone, you can place it in front of your mouth, so that when you speak outwards, it’s going directly into the microphone and makes it a little easier to be heard and you can use a headset on a landline phone as well as you can a smartphone. Also, they suggested possibly using a speakerphone, so that you can again point that speaker in front of your mouth, so that your voice is going out directly to the microphone. I thought all of their suggestions were helpful and interesting, and all of them aren’t going to apply and you may find that some work and some don’t. But that was their two best tips for trying to talk on the phone.
Brian Norton:
Good point. Tracy, I was going to ask you, I know we’ve had some folks help out on the depot before. The young lady, we had given her a board. Do you remember what the name of that board was? It was kind of a message board, but I can’t really remember what the name of it was. But it was kind of cool, and the fact that it wasn’t necessarily a dry erase board where you had to take something like an eraser to take off the text. But you can simply just pull the sheet away and then, it would clear it and then, you’d be able to keep writing.
Tracy Castillo:
It’s something-board. I know exactly what you’re talking about, Brian. It was like those things that I played with as a child. You use a pencil and it would put it on the screen, and then you would just pick the sheet up and it would go and erase it.
Brian Norton:
Yup. I can’t remember what that was.
Josh Anderson:
Another thing, and I’m not sure if this is really exactly what they’re looking for and I wish I could find the darn thing, because I can’t remember the name of it. What about Live Relay if you have an Android phone? There’s a Google thing called Live Relay. I don’t believe it’s available on iPhone although it may be. [inaudible 00:48:24] if someone answers a call using Live Relay, the person on the other end of the call will be told that the person who’s using Live Relay service from Google is powered by the Assistant.
Josh Anderson:
Basically, one person who can speak just fine will just talk to their phone as they normally would. The person on the other side types their messages, if it’s a text message and the Google Voice actually talks to them on the other line. The person who’s speaking can just speak as normal. There might just be a little bit of delay between the person answering, but they can type in all their answers.
Tracy Castillo:
That’s nice.
Josh Anderson:
It’s called Live Relay.
Brian Norton:
Live Relay. Is that just a functionality of an Android phone or …
Josh Anderson:
It says it’s currently in the research phase. Let me find out how old this darn thing I’m actually looking at is. Oh, gosh, a year and a half old. It should be on there, I’m guessing. You may have to go look for it but it’s by Google and it uses Google’s Assistant as far as where it gets all the information and stuff from. But it says that it runs locally on the phone. So, it’s not using any data or WiFi. I guess, you just have to find it. But you would have to have an Android phone because it doesn’t say anything about it being on IOS.
Brian Norton:
Cool, cool.
Josh Anderson:
That would be probably a great way to be able to do that.
Brian Norton:
Right. Tracy, did you get my question earlier? I know we’ve had an individual on the depot who would use that message board with us, where she would write down what she was asking and then, she would then be able to quickly erase it to be able to continue to write different message to us. Do you remember what that board was called?
Tracy Castillo:
I do, and for $5, I’ll give you the name.
Brian Norton:
Great, great.
Tracy Castillo:
Just [inaudible 00:50:09] me. No, I don’t have that. Yeah, it was called the Boogie Board.
Brian Norton:
The Boogie Board. There we go.
Josh Anderson:
That’s it.
Belva Smith:
[inaudible 00:50:14] to my grandkids to play with. I knew it was something-board.
Tracy Castillo:
Yeah, it’s the Boogie Board. It’s really cool, too. You have the extra pen on it. I lost the pen, by the way. Sorry. But yeah, you could erase it and it just has, what is it? A 22 battery in it and there’s a little button that zaps it, and it’s gone. The information is gone and you can just keep on writing. It’s like a cool, spy stuff. But yeah, that was really handy especially when you’re trying to speak to someone and you’re going through more and more paper. This just made it extremely handy.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, very cool. I love that Boogie Board. It was small, it was compact. You can carry it with you or just hang it anywhere. You’re right, it wasn’t even lifting the page like I had thought. It was just click a button and it would go away.
Belva Smith:
It’s a button. Yeah, and it’s 30 bucks or when I bought the one I had, it was 30 bucks.
Brian Norton:
I’ve also used an app called Big Note. Belva, are you familiar with Big Note? It was kind of like a Notes app, but you mentioned the … What were the cards you mentioned? The BuzzCards?
Belva Smith:
The BuzzCards.
Tracy Castillo:
BuzzCards.
Brian Norton:
BuzzCards. The Big Note app was kind of the same way where you can make longer messages and you can just simply type those out and make them many size, easy for folks to be able to look at and read. Then, you can have conversations back and forth that way. I think there’s a lot of different tools that could be used for this particular situation. I’m hopeful this is helpful. If you’re looking for INTRAC, the company I mentioned earlier, it’s I-N-T-R-A-C. You can just Google INTRAC Indiana and you’ll be able to find those. I’m assuming if you’re outside of Indiana, you can probably contact them and if there are similar programs throughout other states, they should be able to direct you to some of those. But it’s a free way to get equipment and be able to maybe get a solution in your hands, they’ll be able to help with that, some of that stuff, too.
Brian Norton:
I’m interested, now I want to open up an Android device and check and see if there’s that Live Relay. I’d like to see if it’s really there. Great, great. I’m content there. I’d love to leave this open for some of our listeners. If you have anything that you would like to bring to the table with this particular question, maybe it’s a situation you’ve dealt with before and maybe you have an app or some other solution that would be helpful, please let us know. You could give us a call on our listener line. That’s 317-721-7124 or send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Love to hear from you. Thanks.
Male:
And now it’s time for the wildcard question.
Brian Norton:
All right. Our next question is the wildcard question and this is where Belva has a chance to ask us a question where we haven’t had any time to prepare for it. Belva, what do you got?
Belva Smith:
This is to all evaluators out there. Can a college student get by without a computer on just an iPad only?
Tracy Castillo:
Nope.
Belva Smith:
I know that’s a repetitive question but this is ATFAQ. But I’m getting that question more and more, and I’m finding it hard to say no.
Brian Norton:
Yeah, I would say, personally for me I think when you say, the way you phrased the question, I think the answer is yes. Can they get by? Oh, absolutely. You can do quite a bit. The apps for Word and Excel, and some of these other Office programs are available. They don’t have as many features or feature-rich as the actual native application on a computer, but you can get by with it. If you’re using Office 365, they have everything available to you. So, sure, absolutely. You could probably get by with it in you’re in the right situation.
Tracy Castillo:
I’m sorry, Brian. [inaudible 00:54:16] again.
Brian Norton:
No, you’re good.
Tracy Castillo:
I’m probably do it again, okay?
Brian Norton:
Yeah.
Tracy Castillo:
But no. I said no because I’m taking online classes and I was on the iPad, and I was just trying to schedule an exam. It wouldn’t let me do it. Instead, I had to be on a computer. I think sometimes, it’s based on the university that you’re going to.
Josh Anderson:
And you brought up a good point there, Tracy. If you think about lockdown tests and placement tests, and stuff like that, we have to be on a certain kind of … But really, I don’t know how to even know if you’re on a browser. Well, I guess I can find ways. So, Belva, a quick answer, maybe and you get by, I suppose. Especially Brian, you’re talking about, I know some schools use the Google docs and that kind of stuff, that’s all online. It’s going to be the same no matter where you’re doing it. The thing is, on a regular iPad, I don’t know. An iPad Pro, probably, just because you’re going to have everything. But you buy an iPad Pro with a keyboard, you’re at the same price as a laptop. So, why not just go for the laptop, I guess, would kind of be what I’d say.
Belva Smith:
No, you’re correct, Josh. You’re really close. Sometimes, you can even get a laptop cheaper.
Josh Anderson:
Yeah.
Belva Smith:
But you still got to then add in your screen reader.
Josh Anderson:
Oh, yeah.
Belva Smith:
Or your screen magnifier.
Josh Anderson:
True.
Belva Smith:
Where if I have an iPad Pro, I’ve got both of those things right there in the box ready to go. But Tracy, you just brought up something that I hadn’t even considered and that is, am I going to be required to … maybe not be on a computer necessarily, but to not be in a IOS environment, but to be in a Windows environment.
Tracy Castillo:
It totally said that you would need to be on a computer, and I was on an iPad Pro and I was shocked. I said, “Oh, okay.”
Brian Norton:
Did they say why you had to be on a computer? Because as I think about it, Microsoft Office is Microsoft Office. You’ll be able to send a DOT doc file the way like anybody directly through Microsoft Office 365.
Tracy Castillo:
This is specifically for assessment testing through Examity. It runs through your web browser through Zoom. We used to use and go to. But I don’t understand … I should go and find the iPad and read the message again. I was just more interested in scheduling the exam at that time. But yeah, I was really surprised. So, as soon as you said that, I was like, no you can’t do it. They told me no. I asked them a couple of days ago and they said, nope.
Brian Norton:
That is interesting, yeah. They might’ve prerequisites to be able to contribute.
Josh Anderson:
You know what’s funny? As you’re talking to me about that, I’ve worked with two students, both visually impaired who went all the way through college on their iPad Pro.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh, wow.
Josh Anderson:
Now that I sit there and think about it. Now, that could’ve been the school they went to, it could’ve been their field of study. I only remember because one of them came back through because something had happened to the device, so they had to have a different recommendation and I even asked them, “Did this really get you through?” They’re like, “Yeah. It was perfect.” They used the regular iPad in high school. So, they knew how to do all the Zoom, they knew how to use VoiceOver or Speech when they needed it. They were like, “I don’t want to go to college and have to learn a whole new operating system, a whole new everything.” They were able to get through with it.
Josh Anderson:
Now, I don’t know if they had to go use something else to take certain tests, Tracy or something like that. Or if they were just a vocal advocate who said, “Hey, I can’t get into this on this, and this is what I use. You need to fix it.” Because sometimes, that’s something … And Belva, you know that. Sometimes, that’s something you have to do. We’ve all worked with the students who seriously probably shouldn’t have made it with what they were using but they just fought their way through and got it done.
Brian Norton:
That’s so true.
Belva Smith:
Right, right.
Josh Anderson:
So, I …
Brian Norton:
I think, yeah.
Belva Smith:
[inaudible 00:58:10] about why I said no. I feel like a computer is required to get through college. But I will say that recently, I’ve started to reconsider and think, with the iPad Pro especially, you really do have everything you need right there. If there is that one test that I’m required to do from a computer, most campuses are going to have a computer in the library that I can access to do that test on but it’s going to be using maybe a screen reader that I’m not familiar with. That’s my other thought process is I feel like it’s almost easier to learn how to use VoiceOver, than it is to learn how to use Jaws, and be really proficient with it. I think it’s a lesser cost and lesser training, and more intuitive. I don’t know. I guess with Tracy’s information, it’s one of those, well maybe it could work and maybe not. Unfortunately, you might not know until you’re there.
Brian Norton:
I would also say, I wonder if it’s not really important to also think about, not only will we should think maybe the college have some requirements with regard to the technology that you’re using. I know at Ball State, for Education majors, they have to purchase a Mac. That’s what they require their students to have. But I’m wondering also, thinking longer term not just in college but beyond into the workforce, what are employers are going to be using, if they’re going to be using computers with Microsoft Office and Microsoft programs, Windows programs. It might be better to start in college instead of being behind the eight ball once you get to the employer. I don’t know. Something to think about there. If you’re going to the IT, you’d want a Windows computer because you need to be able to be familiar with what Windows is offering.
Josh Anderson:
If you’re going to Graphic Design or like you said, even Education then Mac Operating System or even IOS might be more beneficial.
Belva Smith:
Yup.
Brian Norton:
Good question.
Josh Anderson:
The answer is maybe.
Belva Smith:
Maybe. That’s why it’s okay that that’s a repeated question because I think that that’s something that we have to continually think about.
Brian Norton:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Absolutely.
Tracy Castillo:
I cannot replicate. What’s going on? Why is everybody wiggling their ears? Can you not hear me?
Josh Anderson:
We couldn’t hear you. Because we didn’t hear you.
Tracy Castillo:
Oh, man. I said some really important stuff, too, but I forgot all of it. No, I can’t replicate the problem. Like you said, it might be something you find out when it happens.
Belva Smith:
Or maybe you were dreaming.
Tracy Castillo:
That was not dreaming, that is not dreaming. I knew I had to schedule an assess … The only reason why I didn’t schedule it on the iPad is because it put all the times in Mountain time and I could not for the life of me just figure out what Mountain time is and why in the world would they put Mountain time because I’m not in Mountain time. So, I kind of closed it up. But yeah, I did have that problem.
Brian Norton:
Sure, sure. We believe you.
Tracy Castillo:
I did, I did.
Josh Anderson:
So, on next week’s ATFAQ, we will discuss how to discuss Mountain time in [crosstalk 01:01:24].
Brian Norton:
Let me write that question down and stick it in my folder. Excellent, excellent. Great. Great question, Belva. Great show, guys. I just want to open this up to out listeners. If you have anything from any of the questions today or specifically the wild card question, please let us know. You can provide us some feedback at 317-721-7124. You can also send us an e-mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Without your questions, we really don’t have a show, so be a part of it. We’d love to hear from you. I want to give Belva, Josh, and Tracy the opportunity to say goodbye to folks. I’ll just start with Belva and her dog, who’s on the screen with her right now. But Belva, do you want to say goodbye to folks?
Belva Smith:
He says, it’s time to go. See you!
Brian Norton:
Excellent. Then, Josh, do you want to say goodbye to folks?
Josh Anderson:
Bye, everybody.
Brian Norton:
And Tracy.
Tracy Castillo:
Is my mic on?
Brian Norton:
Yes.
Tracy Castillo:
Bye, everyone. See you later.
Brian Norton:
Take care. Everybody, have a great week and we’ll talk to you here in a couple more. Take care. Bye-bye.
Male:
It seems like every week, we have at least one blooper. So, here you go.
Josh Anderson:
People with pitchforks and [inaudible 01:02:39] torches out front.
Tracy Castillo:
That’s okay. As long as they bring hotdogs and marshmallows, they’re all fine.
Brian Norton:
Let me try to explain because I know Josh did an excellent job but I always get jealous when he does a really good job and I do a poor job.
Tracy Castillo:
Sorry for mentioning it. Brian, next question.
Josh Anderson:
Hey, you get one [crosstalk 01:02:54].
Brian Norton:
Did she go get it or …
Belva Smith:
I think you scared her off.
Male:
Information provided on Assistive Technology FAQ does not constitute a product endorsement. Our comments are not intended as recommendations nor is our show evaluative in nature. Assistive Technology FAQ is hosted and produced by Brian Norton, gets editorial help by Josh Anderson and Belva Smith, and receives support from Easterseals Crossroads and the INDATA Project. ATFAQ is a proud member of the Accessibility Channel. You’ll find more of our shows at wwwaccessibilitychannel.com.
