#iACast 113 – CSUN

CSUN Conference Logo

Show Description

On this episode of the iACast, Michael, Aleeha, Jeff, and Jason discuss their experience and findings from the CSUN 2019 conference. Also discussed are the tactile street maps from LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco California.

Please note that this show was recorded before the cancellation of AirPower.

News

Apple quietly releases new hardware before March 25th event

Apple is said to be releasing an updated version of it’s Powerbeats headphones

Apple has released iOS 12.2. This update adds support for AirPods (2nd generation)

Ad

iAccessibility Training program

Picks

Jeff: Red Robin and Eero Plus

Jason: Google News

Aleeha, Microsoft Soundscape

Michael: Google Lookout

Providing Feedback

We love hearing from you, so feel free to send an email to feedback@iaccessibility.net. You can follow us on Facebook, and Twitter. You can also find us on Reddit, and all around the web. Also, don’t forget to check out our YouTube page, and for all things iACast, check out our iACast page. If you’d like to help support us, you can do so via our Paypal and Patreon pages.

 

#iACast 112 – #CSUNATC19 Advice and Q&A

CSUN Conference Logo

Show Description

On this episode of the iACast, Aleeha, Jeff, Jason, Sarah, and Shelly discuss goals and expectations for attending the CSUN Assistive Technology 2019 Conference (meeting in Anaheim California). Sarah and Jason are unable to attend CSUN, and this year will be Aleeha’s first conference; so as veteran CSUN attendees, Jeff, Michael, and shelly answer their questions and provide advice for making the most of the CSUN experience.

Don’t forget to check out Shelly’s book iOS Access for All, which is a great resource for getting the most out of your IOS devices.

News Stories

Senator Elizabeth Warren proposes splitting up big tech giants such as Google, FaceBook, Amazon, and Apple..

Picks

• Jason: JBL EVEREST™ 710GA bluetooth headset

• Jeff: The We’re Alive Podcast

• Sarah: The News Break iOS app

• Shelly: The Kingston Mobile Lite G3 Pro

• Aleeha: Postmates

• Michael: Tasker

Providing Feedback

We love hearing from you, so feel free to send an email to feedback@iaccessibility.net. You can follow us on Facebook, and Twitter. You can also find us on Reddit, and all around the web. Also, don’t forget to check out our YouTube page, and for all things iACast, check out our iACast page. If you’d like to help support us, you can do so via our Paypal and Patreon pages.

#iACast 76 #CSUNATC2018 Conference Wrap Up

CSUN AT Conference Image

In this episode of the iA Cast, Michael Jeff Bishop, Aleeha Dudley, Scott Van Gorp, Jason Earls, Chelsea Page, and Allison Hartley discuss what was covered at the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference for 2018.

Michael and Jeff discuss items that they found interesting at the exhibit hall.

  • Microsoft had all of their technology at their booth.
  • HP brought a new Printer to the conference with an add-on that allows for scanning and copying of documents with speech.
  • Irie-AT presented all new handheld magnifiers and a new Android app to assist low vision and blind users with phone use and magnification.
  • Aira.io showed off their new Horizon Glasses for their service.
  • HIMS released the BrailleSense Polaris Mini, a smaller Braille notetaker based on Android.
  • VFO Group had its Focus 40 fifth generation on display.
  • Google demonstrated their new devices which include the PixelBook, and Pixel devices with new Android technologies.
  • Amazon showed off their new locker technology that has accessibility included.

Some notable sessions included:

  • Google held sessions all week about their new technologies which include Android P.
  • Microsoft held sessions all week on their services
  • There were the standard Web accessibility sessions to talk about making sites on the web accessible.
  • Adobe taught classes on making PDFs accessible.

This year’s conference included so many more amazing offerings, and you can learn more from our interviews and from the interviews over at Blind Bargains

First time Experience at CSUN AT Conference

CSUN AT Conference Feb 27 -March 4 2017

Last week I had the chance to experience the CSUN Assistive Technology conference in San Diego California. CSUN is a yearly conference to show off some of the best technologies that have come out and that are to be released during the coming year, and this year there were many devices that were shown that will make an impact on the Assistive technology community. During this article, I will discuss my thoughts of this conference and talk about what I found to be the most interesting devices and sessions I saw.

The Hotel

The conference is held currently at the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel in downtown San Diego. When I booked my tickets to go to the conference in January the hotel was already booked and did not have room available, so my boss from the Austin Lighthouse and I stayed at the Residence Inn in Mission Valley.  Each day I would use Lyft to get from the hotel where I was staying to the conference hotel, and I also rode back and forth with my boss in a rental car. The trip was great to see the town, and both hotels were great. That Monday San Diego received so much rain that Monday which caused the power at the Residence Inn to go out for a day. San Diego received so much rain that much of the city had flooding beyond what they are used to which caused a lot of power issues.

On Sunday, I decided to go and explore the hotel for the convention since I was taking pre-conference classes. I learned very quickly that the hotel was very big and had a lot of space for sessions and class areas. I also learned that the restaurants at the hotel were expensive but great and serving staff was very helpful with helping customers find what they wanted to buy. I also noted that hotel staff would explain directions in terms of steps and turns which was very helpful.

The Pre-Conference

Monday saw the beginning of the Pre-conference with classes and learning opportunities from businesses in the assistive technology industry. I took a class on inclusive design from the folks at Deque Systems, and learned quite a bit about testing for accessibility and which tools can help determine website accessibility. We will have more on this here at iaccessibility.net soon. On Tuesday I took a class on Advanced Mobile App Accessibility testing and learned a lot about testing apps and their code for accessibility.

The Conference

Wednesday was the start of the actual conference, which was filled with many sessions and a wonderful exhibit hall. They also had several parties for people to attend to network and to meet others in the AT industry. I took the opportunity to look at several exhibits and went to several sessions, but here is the highlights from what I saw.

Exhibits

CSUN 2017’s exhibit hall was the size of the NFB National convention’s exhibit hall, but was made up of nothing but technology which was up my ally since I love tech. I saw several devices that I thought were nice like the ElBraille from VFO, The NeoBraille and the Braille Sense Polaris which is from HIMS.One of the things that we have been looking for at the Austin Lighthouse is accessible copiers, and Canon came to CSUN with exactly that. They showed us copiers that could be used by speaking the number of copies, and the device would also read the screen out loud. We will post more about exhibits and products that were at CSUN at iaccessibility.net soon, but you can also check out coverage from Blind Bargains for interviews on these products.

Sessions

CSUN had so many sessions that one could not possibly attend all of the topics that they would like, so you have to pick and choose which ones are the best for you and your industry. Several sessions I went to sounded great but were on different topics than I would have imagined, so I did not stay at these. Personally, I found Friday’s sessions on video game accessibility to be most interesting because they focused on entertainment for everyone which I personally think is interesting. There were speekers from AbleGamers, SSB BART and Twitch from Amazon. I think my favorite session that I attended was a session on a project called the Blind Arduino Project that promotes the concept that people that are blind can become Makers, and build projects with circuits and code. We will post more on this topic in a future article here at iaccessibility.net.

Conclusion

CSUN 2017 has been an amazing conference, and I really urge anyone to go if they have the chance. I would also suggest that everyone go and explore San Diego as it is a beautiful city in California. The town is wonderful, and so is the hotel downtown. If you do go next year, book your rooms early, and get to the hotel with plenty of time so that you can make sure to have a room for the conference.

#iACast 35 – Hands Free Purchasing Power

Image of Amazon Tap on white background

Welcome to our latest episode of the iA Cast. This week we discuss the following topics.

We will have one more episode this week and then we will have new content fresh from the CSUN 2017 conference

We are looking for new ways to bring you into the conversation, and we encourage people to join us for the podcast recording on TeamTalk at teamtalk.iaccessibility.net. We only ask that you mute while we record the podcast.

We hope that you have enjoyed this episode. Please email us at feedback@iaccessibility.net for suggestions or to leave comments or feedbac.

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