Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the October 2010 issue of AccessWorld. Due to its still very relevant and timely information, it is being republished here.

As our nation recognizes and celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month, this is a great opportunity to offer AccessWorld readers who are currently a client in their state's vocational rehabilitation (VR) program and who may be looking toward employment some tips or advice for gaining the most from their VR experience.

Unfortunately, there is approximately a 70 percent unemployment or underemployment rate among blind and visually impaired adults. Regardless of the reasons for this high unemployment rate, people with vision loss, like everyone else, must take responsibility for preparing themselves for the highly competitive world of work. In addition to formal education, including high school and post-secondary education, people with disabilities, including those with vision loss, can often benefit tremendously from VR.

As you read this article, keep in mind all states handle vocational rehabilitation in different ways. You are encouraged to apply the information from the article to best support your particular situation and employment goals.

In order to get first-hand information, I spoke with AFB CareerConnect Associate Joe Strechay. Before joining AFB, Strechay worked for the Florida Department of Education, Division of Blind Services and has 5 years of experience in VR. He offered the following insight:

"You must remember, the VR counselor's job is not to find or give you a job; he or she is supposed to help prepare you and guide you toward opportunities for employment. It is important to realize your job search is your job, and gaining the most from your VR experience is part of that job. Job seeking is a job in and of itself. You should get up in the morning thinking about ways to find a job and then follow through. It's also very important to keep an open line of communication with your counselor. You may want to send him or her e-mails with updates on what you are doing to better prepare yourself for work or provide them with information about job leads you are pursuing. It is important for your counselor to see you are putting forth effort to find work."

Strechay explained that the road to finding fulfilling employment can be a long one, and even if challenging situations arise during your VR experience, you must remain professional and courteous. There may be instances when you want to say something out of frustration, but Strechay recommended holding back, "because a good working relationship with VR staff is a great asset."

Strechay encourages VR clients to remember the following:

Deadlines can be very important; if your VR counselor asks you to get documentation to him or her by a certain date, have it to them prior to that date.

Always follow up on requests to your VR counselor.

Do the research necessary for the jobs that interest you, and utilize all your resources. If you have access to the Internet, use it as a research tool.

Keep notes on your contacts with your VR counselor and the dates you submit information. Maintain a contact log specific to your VR case that includes when you filled out your application, received notice of being eligible for services, made your first contact after eligibility, and received your first service.

Keep copies of e-mails, letters, and other correspondence you receive from VR staff and potential employers.

Keep copies of any information, including your individual plan for employment (IPE), and keep it organized by date. This shows the services on your plan that you should be receiving.

The services a client receives should be based off an assessment or inventory of your needs, and your VR counselor will offer services that will help get you to work or back to work, Strechay said. In addition to career search and employment services, rehabilitation services will most likely be offered to improve your blindness skills, which may help increase your independence at work and at home.

"Most state VR agencies have a handbook or procedure guide that is often available online," Strechay noted. "VR counselors follow these procedures, and this should give you a better idea of what specific rules they follow. These are guidelines set by the state VR agency and will be different in each state. Services offered in one state may not be offered in another. States have different programs through their VR agency and may include programs aimed at children, teens (often called transition programs), seniors (often called independent living programs), vocational rehabilitation programs (employment training, including post-secondary training), or Blind Enterprisers' Program (as part of the Randolph Shepherd Act)."

Strechay also suggested that individuals who request equipment or technology ask for equipment that will be essential to their success in meeting a vocational goal, and to be prepared to justify why this piece of technology is needed. "Make sure you can get training on this technology or are already trained to use it. Ask for training if necessary," Strechay urged. "Most importantly, if at any time you don't understand something, ask questions."

Sheri Koch, program supervisor at the Blind & Visually Impaired Services for the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services, also works extensively in VR. "The mission of the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services is to enable and empower individuals with disabilities to work and live independently," Koch noted. "Our role in blind services is to work with the client with vision loss to provide all appropriate services to enable the individual to live and work with vision loss."

Individuals should investigate their VR options early, Koch said. "School-age individuals should start meeting with their rehabilitation counselor in the 10th or 11th grade to begin developing the client-counselor relationship. Counselors for the blind should start attending the client's IEP meetings at this same time to begin working on transition issues," Koch said. Self identification is important, especially for students with low vision, to ensure the school system provides appropriate accommodations for the student. "If vision loss occurs after the individual has completed public school," Koch remarked, "the sooner the connection between the counselor and prospective rehabilitation client can be made, the better."

"Generally, we begin working with individuals around age 16 or so, but there is no set limit on the maximum age as long as it is reasonable to consider employment for the person with vision loss," Koch said.

According to Koch, there are 10 important steps in the rehabilitation process:

1) An individual applies for rehabilitation services, and the specialty counselor for the blind in the individual's geographic area takes the application.

2) The counselor obtains information and documentation needed to verify the presence of a disability.

3) Eligibility for services is determined, which should be complete within 60 days of the application. An extension will be completed by the counselor if additional information is needed to determine eligibility.

4) The client participates in a variety of assessment activities designed to determine an appropriate vocational goal. Such activities may include a vocational evaluation, interest exploration, an evaluation of an individual's aptitude and achievement, an evaluation of the job market for the client's chosen goal, an assistive technology evaluation, a determination of whether compensatory blindness skills are needed, and a plan for specific training.

5) The counselor and client write an IPE uniquely tailored for that client's interests, abilities, training services, and placement.

6) The client receives services under an approved IPE.

7) The client maintains regular contact with the rehabilitation counselor during the delivery of services.

8) Upon completion of needed job-preparation services, the counselor works with the client to identify, interview for, and obtain employment.

9) Once the client is employed, the counselor works with the client and his or her employer to address such issues as accommodations needed to perform job tasks.

10) Once the client has been successfully employed for 90 days, and if no additional services are needed, the case is closed with the client being successfully rehabilitated.

According to Koch, "A wide array of services is available from the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services, and these services are provided depending on the unique needs of and appropriateness for each client. Services include:

Assessments

Rehabilitation training, such as college, blind compensatory skills training, vocational technical training, and job readiness training

Career planning services

Placement services

Counseling and guidance

Access technology

Support services, such as reader service, orientation, and mobility, and physical restoration services, such as glasses

Services to employers

"Throughout the rehabilitation process, the counselor works diligently with the client to help him or her reach a positive employment outcome," Koch said. "Conversely, the client must work equally hard to meet their responsibilities throughout this process. Clients are given a copy of the Department of Rehabilitation Services Rights and Responsibilities at the time of application."

In order to get the most out of VR, Koch recommended that clients put maximum effort and work into all phases of the rehabilitation program, from vocational training and job search efforts to actual employment. Also, clients should communicate with the counselor on a regular and consistent basis, not just when they need something.

Frequently, Koch said, the client considers only the vocational training and placement part of the rehabilitation process and ignores the fact that compensatory blindness skills are essential prior to taking on academic or vocational training, or job placement. Before planning college or vocational training, or before going for the job of a lifetime, VR clients should complete a self-inventory and ask themselves:

Do I have reading, writing, braille, and computer skills?

How do I study for and take tests?

Can I prepare for and get a job interview on my own?

Can I travel independently?

Do I have the skills to live independently: prepare meals, plan and maintain a budget, do laundry, etc.

Do I know how to use the technology my rehabilitation counselor plans to provide?

Do I have the social skills to work and interact well with others?

"A second mistake made by many clients is their lack of involvement and planning in their own rehabilitation process," Koch said. "In other words, they tell the counselor what they want, and sit back and wait on it. Take the time to know what you need and when you need it, to succeed in your rehabilitation process. Plan ahead and don't wait for a crisis to get you moving."

Koch believes a third mistake made by clients is a lack of realistic job planning. "Look to see who's doing what and where they're doing it," she said. "For instance, if you want to be a sea captain but don't want to leave your land-bound state, you may want to reconsider that career choice."

Along the same lines, she warned, "Don't sell yourself short! If you want to be something specific, explore to see if other blind people are doing what you want to do and how they do it. Check out the CareerConnect website and other employment sites for people with vision loss. Always remember that good compensatory blindness skills can knock down many barriers to employment."

Koch also urged clients and potential clients to "communicate, communicate, communicate! Talk to your counselor. Talk to your classmates. Talk to other people with vision loss. Talk to people who work."

"The Division of Rehabilitation Services can and does provide life-changing services to clients so that they can live and work independently," she stated. Working with the Division can be an opportunity of a lifetime, but with opportunity comes responsibility. "Play an active role in your rehabilitation process from beginning to end," Koch advised. "After all, it's your life!"

Updated and Edited by: Neva Fairchild

Editor's Note: The majority of the content in this article was published in the October 2015 issue of AccessWorld in an article written by Joe Strechay. It has been updated for 2016 and edited for this publication by Neva Fairchild.

October ushers in National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and each year AccessWorld strives to bring you information to assist in your employment search. Whether you are looking for your first job or have years of work experience, vision loss will impact your job search process. Having helpful resources to assist you on the path to employment are vital to your success. We hope the resources gathered for you here will prove useful to you.

Transition Services

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) increases the focus on transition services provided by state vocational rehabilitation agencies and their contractors. In fact, state vocational rehabilitation agencies will be spending 15 percent of their service dollars on pre-employment transition services for students and youth with disabilities. For most states, this is a lot more than in past years. This legislation went into effect July, 2014, but the regulations were not released until very recently. Transition services provide students with activities on career exploration, employment skills, work experience, and much, much more. The strategy is to provide students with opportunities for successful employment experiences by starting preparation earlier than in the past. The legislation provides a consistent focus, which is something that has been missing, and the use of partners in the education arena is encouraged. The fact is, transition services have been provided in many forms, but with a consistent and widespread implementation, the result will be improved success rates for the future.

The United States Business Leadership Network

The United States Business Leadership Network (USBLN) has been a strong advocate for connecting employers with job seekers with disabilities. The USBLN connects and provides employers with guidance on the policies and structure within organizations to help employers embrace and support disability. The USBLN developed a tool called the Disability Equality Index (DEI), which was modeled after the successful Corporate Equality Index that assisted with large strides for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population in the past. The DEI offers employers the ability to assess their organization on many levels, as to their ability to support employees with disability through policies and hiring practices. The USBLN is a membership organization for employers, and there are local leadership networks around the United States. If you are an employer, or you are advocating on behalf of people with disabilities with employers, encourage participation with these types of groups. The USBLN supports a widening of diversity in the overall workforce, including the hiring of underrepresented populations such as people with disabilities and veterans.

In addition, the USBLN CareerLink Student Mentoring Program offers college students a great opportunity to participate in a structured mentoring program with corporate professionals as mentors. The program links college students with disabilities to corporate mentors, over 50 percent of which have disabilities. The program has seen great success and expansion due to the positive impact of the program.

Technology and the Employment Process: Benefits and Challenges

In most cases, the job application process involves the submission of employment-related information online via a job portal. At this point, even if you are able to submit your resume and cover letter via e-mail, you still need to be able to access online job opportunities. Many large companies still have inaccessible job portals or utilize platforms that are poorly designed for accessibility—a disappointing reality in a time when such importance is placed on user experience. Many companies trust their contractors or an automated check to determine if their website is accessible, when true accessibility assessment takes education and understanding. The AFB Technical Solutions Program Manager, William Reuschel, works with businesses and organizations on recognizing the complexities of accessibility. His team provides consultation on the development of and fixes to websites and apps for businesses around the United States. The team can coach developers on navigating through the standards and evaluating their current state of accessibility.

The AFB Technical Solutions team is passionate about innovation and bringing access to people with visual impairments. AccessNote, a free, accessible note taking app, designed by the AFB Tech team, works with Bluetooth keyboards, and is available for both Android and iOS users. The team has also updated AFB AccessWorld app by adding a powerful search feature and customized appearance. The team developed a new version of the CareerConnect app that includes access to the CareerConnect profile. In addition, the team developed the AFB Vision Connect app, which allows users to search for their local services and connect to a variety of online resources.

LinkedIn is an important social media player in access to employment. LinkedIn users utilize the job search feature, network with other professionals, monitor and comment on groups, and are recruited by businesses via their LinkedIn profile. Accessibility of LinkedIn was reviewed in the October, 2015 issue of AccessWorld.

Useful Apps and Innovations for Accessible Job Searching and Professional Productivity

The KNFB Reader app offers access at a cost, but it is a useful app for individuals who are blind. The app provides the ability to access print documents, menus, and much more in everyday life and employment settings through a portable OCR solution. People use the KNFB Reader to independently access printed material, and the developers continue to add new features.

The Be My Eyes app is a free app that allows people to volunteer to video chat in order to provide visual assistance to people who are blind or visually impaired. You can use this app for access to all kinds of information ranging from captchas to thermostats in hotels.

Blind Square offers users access to their surroundings and much more through a mix of GPS technology and Foursquare innovation. It is like Around Me taken to a higher level for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Find out what is around you within 75 meters with specific utilization of clock directions. Blind Square added a way to run the app without draining your battery by allowing it to sleep. This app is useful, but it is not meant to be a full GPS app for travel. No matter what app you use, an app will not replace the use of proper orientation and mobility skills with a white cane or dog guide.

Aside from mobile apps, there has been a lot of innovation prompting accessibility to be discussed within mainstream media and among many businesses. One such project is Depict, a crowdsourced image description tool to aid visually impaired web users to browse the web with ease. Depict is a two-part project composed of a browser extension and website that provides web users with visual impairments with a platform to request image descriptions from sighted web users. The developer researched common issues faced by Internet users who are blind or visually impaired. The creator of Depict, Niamh Parsley, stated, "I want to get people thinking about web accessibility. Depict deals directly with image descriptions, but is part of a much wider conversation."

Employment Resources Revisited

AFB CareerConnect

CareerConnect is a fully accessible member of the AFB family of websites dedicated to promoting the employment of people with vision loss. CareerConnect boasts a number of helpful resources, such as articles about the employment process, stories from successfully employed people with vision loss ("Our Stories"), and access to message boards with topics specific to careers for blind or visually impaired individuals. CareerConnect also offers useful resources for career exploration, as well as job application and r?sum? development tools. In addition, CareerConnect provides useful tools and activities for professionals working with clients who are blind or visually impaired.

Transition to Work Program Activity Guide

The Transition to Work: Program Activity Guide was created for Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP) Providers, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agencies, and Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI's) working to improve employment outcomes for teens and young adults who are blind or visually impaired. The activities are intended to equip service providers to provide instruction and services to youth who are blind or visually impaired in three of the five Pre-employment Transition Services areas required by the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA): job exploration, work-based learning, and workplace readiness training. The materials were developed by a Teacher of the Visually Impaired with the intention of providing instructors easy access to a variety of activities in several formats to meet the learning media needs of all of their students. The activities can be printed, accessed electronically, and even e-mailed. The activities are also available as electronic braille files (BRF) in the Unified English Braille (UEB) Code ready to be embossed.

The materials were designed for youth whose primary (and possibly only) disability is their visual impairment, but activities can be modified for individual student needs and for students with additional disabilities. The activities are designed to facilitate individual and small group instruction and can also be used to facilitate distance instruction with students in rural areas when face-to-face instruction cannot occur or is limited.

The Job Seeker's Toolkit

CareerConnect's Job Seeker's Toolkit is a free, self-paced online course aimed at people who are new to the employment process. The Toolkit consists of a series of lessons and assignments that cover self-awareness, career exploration, job seeking tools, pre-interview and interview skills, and job maintenance. As you work your way through the Toolkit, you can save your assignments (ranging from your network contacts, to your resume and cover letter, to a list of job leads, in your My CareerConnect portfolio) where they can be accessed for future reference or use.

Maintaining and Advancing in Employment

The Maintaining and Advancing in Employment course offers 25 unique lessons and assignments to assist adults and youth in getting ready to maintain their employment and aim for future advancement. Professionals can sign up for free and associate to users as well. So, stay on the job and prepare to move up the employment ladder with this great resource.

CareerConnect App

The CareerConnect app offers access to the CareerConnect Blog, Our Stories section, and the Lesson Plans for Teachers and Professionals section. In June 2015, AFB launched version 2 of the CareerConnect app, which added access to the CareerConnect social networking features. Use the app to connect with mentors and accept connection requests.

NIB CareersWithVision

The NIB CareersWithVision website is the result of a collaborative effort between AFB CareerConnect and National Industries for the Blind. The NIB has compiled a large list of jobs from around the US within organizations that do work in fields related to blindness, or that have hired people with visual impairments. A unique feature of the site is that you can submit your CareerConnect r?sum? to participating organizations in order to apply for jobs. This service requires the creation of a free CareerConnect user profile to gain access to the job board, develop a resume, and apply to positions.

Hadley School for the Blind

The Hadley School for the Blind offers online and correspondence courses for people with vision loss in subjects related to blindness skills, business writing, employment, and more. Hadley's exciting program, the Forsythe Center for Entrepreneurship, offers in-depth information and training for entrepreneurs who are blind or visually impaired and who want to start their own businesses. This resource has seen growth and innovation through partnerships with groups like the Veteran's Administration.

Accessing Federal Jobs

Federal agencies have two job application methods available for people with disabilities: competitive and noncompetitive placements. As with any employer, job applicants must meet specified qualifications and be able to perform essential job duties related to the position with reasonable accommodations.

Jobs that are filled competitively are advertised on USAJOBS, the official job-posting site used by the United States government. There are approximately 16,000 jobs available on the site each day. Once you register on the site, you can set up notifications for job advertisements related to selected keywords. Jobs filled non-competitively are available to those with mental, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities who have appropriate documentation as specified by the US Office of Personnel Management. Your VR counselor can provide this documentation to you if you qualify.

The US Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) offers useful connections to resources for self-employment, youth employment, employer advisement, the latest disability policies, and more. This office advises the US Department of Labor and other government agencies on employment issues regarding people with disabilities.

Job Accommodation Network

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is an online resource for accommodation advice for all disabilities. The website also allows users to submit questions regarding special accommodations and ADA issues in the workplace. JAN hosts webcasts on the provision of job accommodations, and the programs can be accessed through their website.

Career One Stop

Career One Stop is a free resource provided by the US Department of Labor that allows you to search state job bank databases.

Career Centers

Career centers help people perform research to support professional goals. Community Colleges, universities, and vocational schools often have career centers, and many are available to the public. You may have to visit, call, or do some online research to find out what is available to you locally. Keep in mind that many career centers maintain robust websites accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, and these sites may offer many free resources and materials. Career centers are often underutilized, and most are eager to have visitors. Some receive grant money to offer services to the community or state, and some actively recruit people with disabilities to their centers.

Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies

Vocational rehabilitation agencies help people with disabilities prepare for entry or re-entry into the workforce. Your local vocational rehabilitation agency will offer a range of programs, resources, and services to help you prepare for and find work. The range of programs offered by these agencies varies from state to state, so research your local vocational rehabilitation agency, determine what programs and services you are eligible for, and apply.

In most cases, these organizations exist to help you become job-ready and find employment. Some may also train you in independent living, orientation and mobility, and access technology. These agencies will also know about other available resources in your community and state. To find a local or state agency near you, use the AFB Directory of Services.

Stephen-Bradford Search

Stephen-Bradford Search is an executive consultant search firm that looks to connect the right person with the right job. The motivation and passion from their personnel explodes through the phone. Their core values are accountability, growth, integrity, positive culture, and respect.

The firm is dedicated to improving people's lives by identifying talented individuals and is known as a forward-thinking, highly ethical search firm. Its expertise is in marketing, sales, business development, account management, and operations across many industries, including the following: advertising, beauty/luxury, consumer goods, digital/social media, emerging technologies, and market research for nonprofit organizations. The management and recruiters come from the industries for which they recruit, and they are dedicated to helping clients build their business with people who drive growth and results.

Stephen-Bradford Search is not an organization that is specifically aimed at the recruitment of people with vision loss. It aims to find talented people who are qualified individuals and can get the job done. That said, the firm does have personnel who are visually impaired, and if you are working in any of the fields listed, this is a great organization to contact.

Bender Consulting Services

Bender Consulting Services is a highly successful recruitment firm that specializes in meeting employers' needs through the employment of qualified people with disabilities in the technology, science, government, and other employment sectors. The organization has been making a difference for a long time. Joyce Bender also hosts a popular audio show specific to disability and the employment process.

DisABLED Person, Inc.

DisABLEDperson, Inc. is a non-profit foundation with the mission to reduce the extremely high unemployment rate among people with disabilities by providing online recruitment solutions as well as program initiatives. A primary goal associated with this mission is to connect individuals and veterans who have disabilities with employers who are proactive in hiring them. It accomplishes this goal through their disability job matching system.

Another goal is to assist community members in gaining marketable job skills that will translate into sustainable employment, accomplished through their Microsoft IT Academy program. Recently, the organization has created a partnership with the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation and an alliance with the United States Business Leadership Network. You can visit the Web portals at the disABLEDperson, Inc. website or the Job Opportunities for Disabled American Veterans (JOFDAV) website.

Eyes on Success

The Eyes on Success audio show is an excellent resource to find interviews with successful people who are blind or visually impaired and get employment tips. There are hundreds of shows accessible online that offer tips on job seeking and the use of resources. Find out about great blindness-related resources and inspirational stories.

NFB Where the Blind Work

The National Federation of the Blind has a resource that allows individuals who are blind or visually impaired to post information about their work. Where the Blind Work is a portal for learning about the jobs people who are blind are doing.

Project Aspiro

Project Aspiro is a website developed by the World Blind Union around addressing the employment issues specific to the needs in Canada and abroad. This is a career exploration resource that aims to illuminate employment options and programs without a Western-centric focus.

Final Thoughts

During NDEAM, take the time to evaluate your presentation to the public, online, and when approaching employment opportunities. When you step out into your local community or professional community, what brand are you presenting? Every one of us has our own brand, and it is up to us to evaluate that brand to see if it supports our intended message. The perception of the public is their reality of who we are as an individual. Put forth the best brand possible. We all are unique and offer valuable skills. Even professionals with the best brands have to reevaluate their messaging from time to time. Define the message you want to present in the public, create that message and image, seek feedback, correct your brand, and test your revamped brand in the community. This could be the difference between being employed and not being employed. This doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Take the time to reevaluate your online presence. Look at your presentation through social media, and evaluate whether this is the professional image you seek. Social media offers both new opportunities and obstacles in the employment process. More and more jobs are released first through social media and associated online contacts. Corporations and recruiters are mining online profiles for qualified and talented candidates.

Even the most seasoned professional needs to update their skills for navigating the employment process. Individuals who have been employed for longer periods might be even more in need of making this effort. The employment process has changed, and our skills for interviewing and addressing the needs of new employers may be stale. The employment process is about bringing your skills to meet the needs of an employer. Defining and listening to the needs of an employer can be the thing that gets you a second interview. Each employer is different, and the fact is most interviewers have little to no training in conducting an interview, and this is especially true for a person with a disability. Most operate on their own biased assumptions of what an effective interview should be. Interviewers don't typically role play or practice the process, especially those who are not human resources professionals. The people who will typically interview you are professionals in a specific field. Take the time to practice your interviewing skills with various professionals who work both in and outside of human resources, This takes a lot of time and preparation. We all have misjudged our own readiness and proficiency in this area at some time in our professional lives.

Besides getting your brand to the highest level, take the time to give back to the community. Make the effort to schedule time to assist in creating more awareness around the employment of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. We are more than our blindness or vision loss. We are corporate professionals, nonprofit managers, retail associates, sandwich artists, scientists, counselors, lawyers, entertainment stars, and so much more. The positive impression you leave behind, forever changes the world's perception of people who are blind or have low vision.

Comment on this article.

Related Articles:

• 2015 Employment Resources for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired by Joe Strechay
• LinkedIn Career Networking Website and App: Assessing Accessibility for People Who Are Blind by Jamie Pauls

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For the January 2013 issue of AccessWorld, I wrote an article called Connecting the Dots: A Brighter Spin on the Future of Braille, which featured the work of the Transforming Braille Group. Leading organizations with a profound interest in the future of braille came together to take a serious look at how refreshable braille could be placed into the hands of more braille readers. Those organizations included:

• American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
• Association Valentin Hauy (AVH)
• Blind Foundation (formerly RNZFB)
• Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)
• National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
• Norwegian Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted (NABP)
• Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins)
• Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
• Sightsavers
• Vision Australia (VA)

The advent of refreshable braille displays over thirty years ago brought more braille to the fingertips of blind people than previously imagined, but the cost of those refreshable braille products remained out of the reach of consumers whose equipment was not funded by employers or educational institutions. At $5,000 or $6,000 per unit, cost has kept refreshable braille out of the hands of many blind individuals.

In 2012, the Transforming Braille Group examined 63 projects aspiring to develop new solutions to refreshable braille. The resulting challenge, then, along with a pooled $1.25 million, was extended by the Transforming Braille Group to the entity that could develop a refreshable braille device that could be sold for less than $500.

Orbit Research accepted that challenge, and the result is the Orbit Reader 20, a 20-cell refreshable braille display that the American Printing House for the Blind hopes to sell by the end of 2016. Recognizing that the product is still being perfected, I was eager to test drive the Orbit Reader and am just as eager to share my findings with AccessWorld readers.

The purpose of the project has been to develop a product that could display files from other sources in braille, such as downloaded books or shared documents, and to interface with other devices and thus act as a "screen" of sorts for accessing the information displayed on a computer, tablet, or smart phone. To do all of that and keep costs below $500, the resulting product is arguably simple when measured beside other braille devices on the market. And yet, it is, in its class of one, remarkably robust.

Description of the Orbit Reader 20

The overall impression of the Orbit Reader 20 is a sleek, smooth, esthetically pleasing piece of technology. Approximately the size of a few of the 14-cell braille displays currently on the market, (six inches wide by four inches deep and about one-inch-high), the Orbit Reader has 20 braille cells and relatively few controls. It sports six keys in the familiar Perkins-style arrangement. These are somewhat smaller than is typical on refreshable braille devices. These keys are oval in shape, and wider than they are long. I found, however, that they were very comfortable for typing and fit fingertips exactly as one would hope. Directly below the six Perkins keys and thus directly above the 20 braille cells is a row of 3 keys. These are, from left to right, the dot 7 key, the space bar, and the dot 8 key. The space bar is a horizontal bar as is traditionally the case. Dots 7 and 8 are ovals, somewhat smaller and smoother than the other 6 braille keys, thus making them tactilely distinctive from the others. Between and slightly above the dots 1 and 4 keys is a four-arrow scroll button with left, right, up, and down arrows and a raised round Select button in the center.

On either end of the braille display is a split vertical bar. These are the left and right panning buttons which are used to move forward and back while reading. This particular design element is especially convenient. Press the bottom half of the right panning bar and the display moves forward one width; press the top half and the display moves to the previous 20 cells. The twin bar on the left end of the display functions in the same way. Finally, on the back edge of the device, occupying less than half the length of the back, are, from left to right, a power switch, SD card slot, and micro USB port.

Refreshing Braille

With a new approach to creating a refreshable braille device comes, not surprisingly, a new feel to how that refreshing occurs. When the Orbit Reader is powered on or off and with each movement of the display, the pins make a distinct sound as they fill the display. The sound is very pleasing and reminded me of an Aztec or African rain stick (the pebble-filled percussion instrument, often made of bamboo, whose sound, when tilted vertically is reminiscent of rain falling.)

The braille itself is crisp and excellent.

Features and Functions of the Orbit Reader 20

In keeping with its name and the purpose of the Transforming Braille Group's proposed outcome, the Orbit Reader 20 is, primarily, a braille reader. That said, there are plenty of functions a reader can perform.

The device has two modes of operation. In Reader mode, it allows the user to read any files loaded onto the inserted SD card. In Remote mode, the Orbit Reader 20, when connected via its USB connectivity, enables the user to read any information generated by a computer running a screen reader (JAWS, Window-Eyes, NVDA, VoiceOver), or when paired via Bluetooth with an iOS or Android tablet or smart phone running VoiceOver or TalkBack.

Orbit Reader 20 does not have onboard storage capacity, translation capabilities, or complex applications to augment its price point or learning curve.

That said, it handles quite a lot of files and enables the braille user to manipulate those files in all the usual ways.

Files are loaded into the Orbit Reader on an SD card, so storage is essentially limited only by the number and size of cards available. What the reader delivers is exactly what it is given.

In other words, if you load an already translated braille file — whether a perfectly formatted .brf file in the form of a book or magazine you have acquired from the NLS BARD or Bookshare, that braille is what you will read on your display. If it is less polished formatting, generated by a low-cost or free braille translation application, that is what you will read on your display. If it is a .doc, .txt, .rtf file, etc., you will read it as uncontracted braille.

Manipulating Files and Editing Text

No matter what we are reading — a paper turned in by a student, a book for pleasure, or a letter a coworker is drafting to send outside the office, reading involves a certain amount of file and text manipulation. The Orbit Reader 20 makes it possible to cut, paste, copy, protect, rename, or delete files. It also offers the user the ability to edit within a file — deleting or inserting text, cutting or copying text, making notes on material being reviewed, and so on.

In a book or other document, you can insert bookmarks and return to them.

Speaking of returning to text, the Orbit Reader 20 always saves your place in a book, so that when you return to a file, you resume where you last exited that file.

Many commands used with the Orbit Reader 20 will be familiar to users of other braille devices. Because there are fewer keys on the Orbit Reader than on some other refreshable braille devices, however, commands are executed by making use of every control and in several combinations.

The Bottom Line

Many braille users have never been fortunate enough to possess a refreshable braille display. The organizations involved in the Transforming Braille Group — as well as many others unable to contribute to the project financially — have long believed that if refreshable braille could be put into the hands of more braille readers, literacy and opportunity in the blind community would significantly increase.

In August 2016, the United States Congress approved the expenditure of library funds (funds allocated to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a division of the Library of Congress) for distributing affordable braille displays to its braille-reading patrons.

While it is not yet certain that NLS will be doing just that — distributing braille displays to braille-reading patrons — or, in fact, that said display will be the Orbit Reader 20, the prospect is a hopeful one indeed.

Most American AccessWorld readers are familiar with the quality of work produced by Orbit Research due to familiarity with its iBill currency identifier and, earlier, its Orion talking scientific calculator. Further, AccessWorld readers in the US and abroad know well the quality of work that is the signature of the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky.

These are the organizations driving the Orbit Reader 20 forward and, to this veteran refreshable braille user, the potential is a mix of promising and exhilarating!

For more information, visit Orbit Research.

Comment on this article.

Related articles:

• The Current State of ChromeVox Next (Beta), a Screen Reader for Chrome OS by Aaron Preece
• The Free iBill Money Identifier from the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing by Breonna Patterson and Lee Huffman

More from this author:

• Connecting the Dots: A Brighter Spin by Deborah Kendrick
• The Talking DAISY Book & Media Player from Accessible Electronics by Deborah Kendrick

Dear AccessWorld readers,

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, and AccessWorld is once again taking this opportunity to focus on employment with articles that provide strategies, insider perspectives, and information about employment resources.

October is a time to celebrate the skills and accomplishments of American workers with disabilities. Further, it's a time to illuminate and discuss the employment barriers that still exist and, with renewed vigor, pursue their removal.

In historical perspective, the effort to educate the American public about issues related to disability and employment began in 1945 when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October as National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week. In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

In observance of this month-long celebration, I want to, once again, share with AccessWorld readers the thinking of former AFB CareerConnect Program Manager Joe Strechay. Joe has worked in the blindness field for many years, and I very much respect his work and his observations and philosophy regarding employment for people who are blind or visually impaired. He wrote:

Having traveled extensively around the United States and met with professionals, job seekers, teenagers, and adults who are blind or visually impaired, I have had the opportunity to learn about employment issues from all sides.

In that vein, I am often asked the question, "What is the major factor affecting whether or not a person with vision loss is or is not employed?" Too often, I feel, people want to highlight a single reason as the major cause for the differential between being employed or being unemployed. Instead of offering one reason, I assert that the underlying factor is that there is such inconsistency around the United States in the training and preparation of people with vision loss from an early age through adulthood.

Neither public nor private services are created equally, and for that matter, no government or private entity offers those services in the same manner. This issue is larger than just vocational rehabilitation. It includes preparation in schools, nonprofits, various state agencies and services, and other important variables, including family involvement. There are a lot of fantastic programs and services available, but any given region may be strong in one service and lacking in another. I know this is obvious, but it needs to be said openly: our field needs to address our weaknesses and diligently work to make improvements.

Each job seeker with vision loss has his or her own challenges. Unfortunately, I still see a level of learned helplessness among young people with disabilities, even among the brightest. Learned helplessness refers to an individual being taught that things will be done for them, which allows them to not attempt to initiate or do things on their own.

This type of thinking sometimes extends to the perception of job seekers that vocational rehabilitation is designed to find them jobs, but that is not its purpose. Vocational rehabilitation specialists definitely can help and guide, but they are not job placement professionals. Job placement is an art; it is a mix of sales, community relations, and having a well-defined pool of applicants.

Job seekers battle the perceptions of employers about vision loss and their own perceptions about navigating the employment process. At the same time, the technology divide between those who have appropriate access and mainstream technology and those who have orientation and mobility training, and those who do not, is apparent. Those with O&M training and technology skills have a better chance at finding, obtaining, and maintaining successful employment. In addition, job seekers are all individuals with strengths, skills, and weaknesses. All individuals have limitations, and not every job seeker is going to be—or wants to be—a computer programmer, accountant, teacher, mechanic, or maintenance worker. But most people do want to be productive and employed citizens.

I encourage everyone with vision loss to pursue every avenue of education and training possible. I encourage you to embrace and learn to skillfully use technology. Take it upon yourself to seek out resources such asCareerConnectand AccessWorld as well as theCareerConnect appand theAccessWorld appto assist you with career readiness. Ultimately, it is your life and your career, and you are responsible for it. Take action! By working hard, obtaining education and skills, and seeking out and using resources available to you, you can find the job that's meant for you!

Joe Strechay, former AFB CareerConnect Program Manager

I also want to remind AccessWorld readers who may be in the job market that for the purpose of expanding employment opportunities for people with vision loss, CareerConnect provides employment and job search information, helps new job seekers and students explore careers, and helps users learn about interviewing skills, resume building, disability disclosure, and any number of other topics related to a successful job search. Another helpful and inspiring area of AFB's website is Our Stories. These are firsthand accounts of life in the workforce from workers with vision loss.

This October also marks the five-year anniversary of the AccessWorldapp. I'm very excited to announce the app has now been downloaded over 8,500 times. If you have an iPhone and haven't yet downloaded the app, I encourage you to do so.

I hope you enjoy this issue and will join AccessWorld in recognizing and celebrating the inroads individuals with vision loss, and all types of disabilities, have made in the world of employment.

Sincerely,
Lee Huffman
AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief
American Foundation for the Blind

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

In response to The HumanWare BrailleNote Touch: A Braille Tablet for the 21^st Century by Jamie Pauls

I have been a BrailleNote user since approximately 2000, when the first BrailleNote appeared. I have recently been thinking about updating my notetaking solutions and looking at tablets, iPhones, etc. I am a confirmed braille user, so the idea of touch braille certainly appeals. This facility I understand is now available on iOS devices too, and presumably there is an Android app that enables you to do this. Jamie Pauls' article was extremely interesting, and I enjoyed reading about the new facilities on the BrailleNote Touch. However, nothing in the article told me why I should spend approximately $5,000 equivalent on a device designed for visually impaired people as opposed to $2,000 on a 40-cell braille display with braille keyboard and an off-the-shelf tablet.

My overriding question therefore is, am I effectively spending $3,000 on a fancy case with a built-in braille keyboard? Furthermore, I cannot see what this solution would do for me that a 12-cell braille display with the keyboard connected via Bluetooth to my iPhone would not do if not equally as well, very nearly as well. Saving me even more money, as I already own and would already own a smartphone.

Finally, I thank you very much for writing the article, it seems to outline the facilities offered by the device very clearly.

With kind regards,

Rob Powell

Response from AccessWorld author, Jamie Pauls

Dear Rob,

Thank you for your willingness to engage in a dialogue regarding the benefits and/or drawbacks of purchasing a BrailleNote Touch as opposed to a more mainstream solution.

Many will find the 18- or 32-cell options available in the BrailleNote Touch to be superior to smaller displays. The fact that no pairing is ever needed when using braille and speech separately or together is another plus. Humanware has provided braille and speech support when the Touch first starts up, and throughout the update process. For those who may need specially designed apps, the KeySoft suite of applications is very solid. The fact that the Touch is a Google-certified device and can be operated independently of KeySoft means that many mainstream apps will work with the Touch. Also, professionals in a school setting will be able to sign students onto the Internet without needing to give that student a password that they would not otherwise be allowed to have.

The price of the Touch was mentioned in the article as one of the drawbacks of the unit, and it is certainly a version 1 product, but Humanware states that it is committed to improving the device, and many people are already finding it to be a great tool in their daily lives. Tech-savvy individuals who are willing to take the extra time to set up and maintain their technology may find less expensive options more suitable, but the response to the release of the BrailleNote Touch indicates that many people find the features and benefits of the unit to be worth the price.

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

In response to The Aware Audible Proximity Solution Navigation App: An Interview with Rasha Said, App Creator and Founder of Sensible Innovations by Aaron Preece:

Curious, do I just download the app and go to the mall and away I go? Or does someone have to set-up iBeacons or something. How does the app know where I am?

Best,

David

Response from AccessWorld Associate, Aaron Preece

Hello David,

Thank you for reaching out with your question.

To know where you are and provide you with directions, the Aware app must be able to connect to iBeacons configured for Aware. It uses Bluetooth to search for these when you launch the app. An organization or location, such as an airport, must specifically set up the Aware beacons; they are not available by default. Unless a venue has installed beacons for their location, Aware will not be able to determine where you are. It is possible to see which areas currently have Aware through the Venues button in the app itself. You can manually read information about locations and read through the navigation instructions for a location even if you cannot connect to beacons at the time. In short, you cannot use Aware to navigate a location unless the manager/owner of the location has specifically set up aware beacons there.

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

I just read the article Best Android Apps for People with Low Vision by Shelly Brisbin, and I wanted to submit a list of some that I had found. I hope this will help other blind users.

Applebee's: an online ordering app; lets you browse the menu and place an order for pick up

Astro: file manager a file management app for Android

BARD Mobile: the NLS app for Android

Blind-Droid minesweeper: a blind accessible version of the classic game

Chase Mobile: the banking app for JP Morgan Chase

Dark Unknown Planet: a retro text adventure game

Delight Games: an interactive fiction app, with a library of books

Dice world: online dice game

eBay: ideal currency identifier

K-Love: radio app for K-Love Christian radio station

Lighthouse Mystery: retro text adventure game

Moonbase3: retro text adventure game

My Fitness Pal: fitness app

Mystery of the Dark Manor: retro text adventure game

Ringo: an app for assigning custom ringtones to contacts and custom message tones

The Ice Guardian: retro text adventure

The Time Traveler: retro text adventure

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

In response to A Review of Sonar Glasses from G-Technology Group by Janet Ingber.

Below is a letter from the manufacturer of Sonar Glasses.

We would like to make some updates to the review of Sonar Glasses in the August, 2016 issue of AccessWorld.

Our phone number for sales and customer support is 571-297-4756.

Our new website is SonarGlasses.com. Customers can place orders online, and download accessible and audio versions of the Instruction Manual.

There is no longer an Advanced version of Sonar Glasses. All Sonar Glasses now come with an adjustable detection range.

All Sonar Glasses come with a silent vibration detection signal.

We are able to customize many features of Sonar Glasses per request, and we can also provide a water resistant version.

Only one battery is required to power Sonar Glasses. We include two batteries with Sonar Glasses so that a charged battery can be available for use while the other battery is being recharged.

We do not offer in-home training on the use of Sonar Glasses. We train customers free of charge over the phone.

We are continuously making improvements to Sonar Glasses based on customer feedback and the availability of new technology.

Thank you.

Jeff Shad

Director, Sales & Marketing
G-Technology Group
571-297-4756, ex. 1010
jshad@sonarglasses.com

Link Apps: New from Learning Ally

If you are a print-impaired student or adult learner, you are probably already familiar with Learning Ally, the Princeton, New Jersey based repository of over 80,000 volunteer-recorded textbooks and other reading materials used by a quarter of a million students in 10,000 schools across the US. Books are available via download for use with the Learning Ally software for PC, Mac or Chromebook.

Users can also load the files onto a Victor Reader Stream or one of a number of other portable DAISY players. For the past several years, Learning Ally books have also been available for immediate download to iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets.

Now, just in time to recognize October's joint Blindness Awareness Month and Dyslexia Awareness Month, Learning Ally has introduced the upcoming consolidation of its apps into what it called Link Apps. Along with the PC, Mac and Chromebook Link apps, Learning Ally Link for iOS is also now available. If you have the original Learning Ally app it will still work; however, it will receive no further updates or support. The Learning Ally Android app is still available from the Play Store.

An Android version of Learning Ally Link is currently in alpha test, and AccessWorld will be sure to let you know when it's released to the public.

Here are a few of the enhancements to the new Learning Ally Link for iOS:

You can now access your LearningAlly.org homepage from directly within the app. There you can search for books and add them to your library, then return to the app and begin the download. You can choose to use cellular data, if you need that title immediately. The app also supports background downloads, so you no longer have to remain inside the app until titles have finished downloading.

Bookmarking has been enhanced to include the ability to add text notes of any length. Like any text on an iOS device, you can either use a keyboard or dictation to compose a note. The previous version only allowed you to edit the title of a bookmark. Bookmarks are now listed by the page number to which they refer. Currently, you cannot edit these titles, though this feature may revert back in a future release. Another planned option is the ability to export bookmarks.

You can set fonts, colors, and voice speed globally, and by individual title.

You can now search your bookshelf by author or title, a handy feature if you're a busy student s with dozens of books on your device. Note: Only title names can be searched. Text within VOICEtext eBooks is not currently searched.

Two major features that are not currently available, and that will not be available in the upcoming Android version are the ability to synch notes, bookmarks, and reading positions between devices. Also not yet available but planned for a future release are in-app connections to Learning Ally's College Success program, which we told you about in the November, 2015 issue of AccessWorld.

You can download the Learning Ally Link app free from the Apple app Store.

The app is free. Membership costs $135 per year.

Center on Disabilities Announces Call for Paper and Proposals for 32^nd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference

The Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge announced the General Track Call for Papers and Call for Pre-Conference Workshop Proposals for the 32nd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, opened Thursday, September 8, 2016.

• General Track Call for Papers conclude on Tuesday, October 4, 2016.
• Call for Pre-Conference Workshop Proposals conclude on Wednesday, October 12, 2016.

Visit the Conference website for more information about the Call for Papers and the 2017 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. We strongly encourage you to review the information on submission procedures thoroughly to ensure that your proposals follow the guidelines.

The 32nd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference will be held February 27 to March 4, 2017 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego, California.

Envision Fellowship Program Openings

The Envision Research Institute (ERI) recently announced postdoctoral fellowships for applied research in blindness and visual impairment. Applicants must hold a doctorate degree at the time of award (PhD, MD, OD, OTD) in engineering, computer science, psychology, vision science or related fields. Awards are up to two years in duration. Training and research is conducted at ERI, however the fellow may travel to his/her mentor's institution for up to 6 months to establish the collaboration and receive additional training not available at ERI. Successful research proposals will incorporate Envision's resources in Wichita, Kansas, which include a vision clinic, low vision rehabilitation services, early childhood development center, outreach and clinical education, and employment for the blind and visually impaired.

Envision particularly encourages applications that address topics in cortical visual impairment, visual functioning after ocular trauma and navigation/orientation accessibility technology.

Submit a Letter of Intent and CV toresearch@envisionus.comno later than September 21, 2016.

Letters of Intent should not exceed two (2) pages, and must contain a brief description of the following:

• Description of the candidate and his/her background
• Brief description of the intended research project and how it addresses the mission of Envision
• Proposed external mentor(s) and what new training they would support for the fellow
• List of topical areas relevant to the research (for guiding appointment of selection committee)
• Applicant's CV (not part of 2 page limit)

Invitations to apply will be sent on September 28, with applications due on October 26. Awards will be announced by the end of November 2016.

For more information, please review the Fellowship Handbook. Please email program questions to research@envisionus.com.

Six States Receive Nearly $15M in Grants to Expand Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities

Despite their ability to occupy a variety of jobs, people with disabilities only account for 19.8 percent of the workforce, have more than double the unemployment rate compared to the general population and continue to face barriers finding work. To improve employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced grants totaling $14.9 million as part of the Disability Employment Initiative to six states.

****Grant Recipient****

****Award****

---

State of California Employment
Development Department

$2,500,000

Connecticut Department of Labor

$2,500,000

State of Idaho

$2,500,000

Massachusetts Executive Office
of Labor and Workforce
Development

$2,500,000

Minnesota Department of
Employment and Economic
Development

$2,500,000

Maryland Department of Labor,
Licensing and Regulation

$2,472,986

Total

$14,972,986

This is the seventh round of DEI funding. Since 2010, the department has awarded grants of more than $123 million through the initiative to 49 projects in 28 states to improve education, training, and employment outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities. More information on the DEI is available here.

DEI funds help refine and expand workforce strategies proven to be successful, and enhance inclusive service delivery through the public workforce system. Improvements include increasing the accessibility of American Job Centers, training front-line AJC and partner staff, and increasing partnerships and collaboration across numerous systems critical for assisting youth and adults with disabilities in securing meaningful employment.

Grantees of this year's awards will use the funds to:

• Improve employment outcomes and increase the number of individuals with disabilities who earn credentials.
• Provide more and diversified job-driven training opportunities.
• Facilitate academic and employment transition among youth.
• Incorporate flexible approaches to designing and providing training and supportive services, including customized employment strategies to help jobseekers with significant disabilities.
• Build effective community partnerships and collaborations across multiple service delivery systems and the effective blending and braiding of resources.
• Promote more active engagement with the business sector.

The grants align closely with the Obama administration's job-driven training principles by requiring multiple workforce and disability service providers, educational institutions and businesses in each state to collaborate extensively to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in career pathways.

In every issue of AccessWorld, Editor-in-Chief Lee Huffman invites readers to write in with suggestions for future articles. Recently, we received just such a request. AccessWorld contributing authors Janet Ingber and Jamie Pauls, both of whom are board certified music therapists and professional musicians, were asked to collaborate on an article suggesting iOS apps for making music. From that request, came the article you are now reading. Ingber and Pauls have put together a list of some of their favorite music-making apps, both for the professional and the amateur musician. Feel free to send along suggestions for apps that were not covered in this article, but that you feel should have been.

Jamie's Picks

Talking Tuner by HotPaw Productions

Price: $0.99 / The Mac version of this app is free.

If you are a musician who does not happen to be blessed—or cursed, depending on your perspective— with perfect pitch, you may find that you need a bit of help making sure your instrument is in tune. You can certainly keep a pitch pipe or tuning fork handy, and you might be fortunate enough to be near a piano or keyboard that is in tune. Many times, however, you might find yourself needing to tune that guitar of yours in a hurry, with no tuning aids nearby. This is where Talking Tuner comes in handy. Simply download this 99-cent app to your iPhone, and away you go.

After opening the app, simply play a note, and you will hear VoiceOver tell you the name of the note and whether it is sharp or flat. One particularly nice feature of this app is that the self-voicing mode actually uses VoiceOver, rather than another voice on your iOS device. This means that you won't have two voices speaking to you at the same time. You can also examine the screen in order to find out additional information such as how loud the sound source was, and how loud the sound needs to be before Talking Tuner can detect it.

If you don't have perfect pitch, but you do have good relative pitch, this app works great for being able to find the starting note of a song if you happen to know what that note should be. Simply sing into the microphone of your iOS device, and Talking Tuner will tell you the note you sang, and how many hundredths of a semitone sharp or flat the note was.

For anyone who wants to be able to quickly tune an instrument, Talking Tuner is a simple app that does exactly what it claims to do. Be aware that background noise in your environment can make it more difficult to get an accurate reading with this app.

TempoPerfect by NCH Software

Price: Free

Available for other platforms from NCH, but accessibility was only tested on iOS.

Whether you are learning to play a piece of classical music or you simply want to make sure you are keeping a steady tempo as you practice your favorite blues tune, a metronome can be an invaluable tool in any musician's arsenal.

There are many metronome apps to choose from, and many of them are full-featured. Some include a tuner, and others let you tap a desired tempo rather than selecting it using a slider, but many of these apps are not as accessible with VoiceOver as they might be. One app that is totally accessible, however, is TempoPerfect by NCH Software. This app uses picker items to select tempos and beat groupings. Choose from 2 to 7 beats per measure. This app even allows for grouping such as 2 plus 3, 3 plus 2, 3 plus 4, and 4 plus 3 beat groupings. You can subdivide measures even further, so that you can, for example, hear eighth-note indications as well. If all you want is a simple click track, you can tell the app to only give you tempo indications with no accents on any beats at all. Tempo indications can be set from 10 beats per minute all the way up to 280. The app remembers your settings, even when you close it using the app switcher. It would be nice to be able to enter the desired tempo using an edit field, and to be able to manually tap the desired tempo. That being said, this app is as easy to use as it possibly could be, and the free price tag is hard to argue with.

InstaJam: Instant Drums/Beats by Board Crushers

Price: Free with in-app purchases

We all have a dream, right? Whether it's wanting to be a world-class boxer, the greatest baseball player of all time, or being a world-famous drummer, we all let our imaginations run wild once in a while, Occasionally, an app such as InstaJam can help us live that dream. Whether you are a serious musician who wants to try out some cool drum patterns, or someone who just wants to have a little fun, the virtual drum set that comes on this app will have you jamming in no time. Apparently, there are some "jaw-dropping graphics" associated with this app, but the good news for the visually impaired community is that you can simply start tapping out rhythms on your iOS device. The app is free, but you can purchase additional drum kits for 99 cents each. It is apparently possible to loop drum sounds so that they will repeat, but this aspect of the app was not tested for accessibility. For ease of use, and for the price, InstaJam is worth a look for anyone who needs to put a little rhythm into their music.

Janet's Picks

BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download)

For free music lessons on your iOS device, I recommend the BARD app from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The National Library service has an entire department for music.

For example, if you are looking to learn a new instrument or improve your skills, consider searching for Bill Brown and the name of the instrument you want to play. Mr. Brown's audio instructional courses are not specifically geared to the blind, but he explains everything clearly and there are many instruments and skill levels from which to choose. These lessons can be downloaded straight to your iOS device.

The music section of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped can be contacted at 800-424-8567 or nlsm@loc.gov.

Learn That Song (Play Edition)

$1.99

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

Requires iOS 8 or later

An excellent app for learning to sing or play all or part of a song is "Learn That Song." You can create loops of specific sections and change the tempo without distortion. The app is easy to use.

Once the app is installed, VoiceOver will call the app "Learn That (Play)." At the top of the screen is a "Songs" button. Next is a button labeled "About This App." Once the button is activated, it says the version number along with a list of other apps by the same developer. There are options to leave feedback, tell a friend, visit the app's website, or visit the developer's website. The "Done" button is in the upper left corner and will bring you back to the main screen.

Under "About This App" are the elapsed time and the remaining time of the song. VoiceOver will say that these times are adjustable, but it does not say how to adjust the time. Double tap and hold to adjust time.

Next is a "Re-Set Tempo" button which when activated sets the song to its original tempo. If nothing has been done with the tempo, the button will be dimmed.

Next are two buttons labeled "Faster" and "Slower." If nothing has been changed with the tempo, the button will say "100%." Double tapping on either button will increase or decrease the tempo. The button activated will now say the tempo change. For example, double tapping the Slower button one time will reduce the tempo to 80%.

The "Volume" button is the next control. By default, it is set to 100%. Flick down to decrease the volume and flick up to increase it. The next controls are buttons labeled "Previous song," Next song" and "Repeat." After these buttons is a "Back" button to move you back into the song.

The next set of buttons control looping a section of the song. The first button is "Mark loop in" and the second is "Mark loop out." The third is "Looping" followed by "Clear loop" and "Show external loop controls." The final controls are "Rewind," "Fast Forward," and "Play."

Activating the "Songs" button loads a new screen with five tabs at the bottom. They are "Recents," "Songs," "Albums," "Artists," and "Playlists." By default, the "Recents" tab is selected. If you have an Apple Music subscription, any playlists added to your library will be in the "Playlists" section. Only content on your device will show up in the Recents, Songs, Albums, and Artist tabs. You can also use Siri or search for a particular Apple Music song if it is not already on your device. The song should start playing after you select the song. If somehow you are not on the app's home screen, activate the "Done" button in the upper right corner. If you have gone out of the app to search for a song, re-open the app. In the app, below the "Songs" button will be the words "Now Playing" and the name of the song. Flicking right two times will bring you to where you can adjust the time. There are also Rewind and Fast Forward controls at the bottom of the screen. Double tap to move slowly or double tap and hold to move more rapidly through the song.

Once the beginning of the loop is located, pause the song and activate the "Mark loop in" button. VoiceOver will speak the time where the loop begins. By default, the loop ends at the end of the song. End at an earlier time by finding the point for the loop to end and activate the "Mark loop out" button. Once the beginning and end of the loop is selected, activate the "Looping" button. If the song doesn't start playing, activate the play button. The loop will start playing. It will keep repeating until "Looping" is unselected. Use the "Faster" and "Slower" buttons to adjust the tempo. Activate the "Reset Tempo" button to bring the song back to its original tempo.

If the "Show extended loop controls" button is activated, there will be additional options for creating and moving your loop. For example, activating the "Loop shift left" button will move the loop backwards in the song and the loop will end where the original loop started. Get back to the original loop by activating the "Loop shift right" button.

Unless the "Clear Loop" button is activated, the loop beginning and end points will still be available the next time the song is opened. If the "Play" button is pressed without selecting the "Looping" button, the song will play in its entirety. If the button is selected, only the loop will play.

This app makes it easy to learn specific parts of a song. It's much easier than rewinding or forwarding the song to get to the right part. The ability to slow down the song is also a very useful feature.

Tabs & Chords by Ultimate Guitar

Learn and play acoustic guitar, bass, and ukulele

Free. In-app purchases are available

Version 2.5.4

Requires iOS 8 or later

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and Android

When the app is installed, VoiceOver calls the app "Tabs."

To get chords for a specific song or if you just want to expand your repertoire, this app is a great place to start. When Tabs is opened for the first time, there is an option to take a tour. On the bottom of the screen is a picker for choosing the tour start page.

When the regular home page loads there is a search box labeled "Search in Tabs." Below this form are playlists. These are updated frequently. Some playlist examples are, "Party on with these singalong anthems," "Most recent chart toppers," "Songs for beginners with just a few basic chords," and "Classic hits which are suitable for kids." There is also an "Expand your chord vocabulary" option for songs that are more difficult. The Tab Packs button brings up a list of different genres. Double tapping on a genre will bring up a list of songs for that category.

Below the Tab Packs option is a "Now Playing" button. While a song is playing on your device, activating the button will bring up any versions of the song in the app's collection. This feature does work with Apple Music.

Below the playlists are several buttons including, "Account & Settings," "What's new," and Extras." At the bottom of the screen are four tabs: "Home," "Favorites," Lessons," and "Tools." You will need to make in-app purchases to get the lessons, tuner, metronome, and other tools that the app offers.

Activating the Account & Settings button brings up a new screen. The first option is to create an account or login. Creating an account will let you save songs in the Favorites tab. In addition, the songs can be synced with your other iOS devices. When the "Create Account" button is activated, there are three options: sign in with Facebook, sign in with Google Plus, or create an account with your email, user name and password. Next are two settings buttons. The first control is a button to select if you are left handed. The second is for a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller.

The "What's New" section has information about guitars, fun facts, teaching techniques and more. It is definitely worth checking out.

Since different people can submit the same song, there is usually more than one version. If a song is chosen from a playlist, only one version of the song will be in the list. Use the search box at the top of the Home page to discover all available versions. The Now Playing feature will list all versions. No matter how a song is located, double tap on the title and the song will open.

At the top left of the song's page is a "Back" button followed by the title and the artist's name. Next is the button to add the song to Favorites. An account must be set up to use this feature. If a song is added to Favorites, an Internet connection is not necessary to retrieve it. Next is a metronome button, but this feature is not available without the in-app purchase. Next is a formatting button that controls how the text fits on the screen. The next button is labeled "Your Options." This brings you back to all the app add-ons. The "Show Pro" version also requires an add-on. The "Music" button will start the actual song playing. The next button is labelled "Transpose" but it is not completely accessible. Flicking right, you will find the author of the document (not the composer of the actual song.) Next will be the difficulty level, tuning, and rating.

When reading the actual song, use the rotor with characters, words, and lines to read the song. In general, the chords are above each line of lyrics. At the bottom of the page is a section to rate the song there may be chord variations. There will be buttons to open each variation. They are very accessible with each finger and fret read by VoiceOver.

This is a well-labeled, clutter free app. There can be many versions of the same song; depending on ow many people submit the song. I usually try the version with the highest rating first. Using this app is significantly easier than finding chords on the Internet.

Dream Beats

Free

Requires iOS 8.3

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

This is a basic and easy-to-use app for drum accompaniment. There are fifty beats from which to choose.

There is an Info button at the top left of the home screen, but activating it will not give you any critical information; it gives you information about downloading other things such as a guitar tuner. The Done button is in the upper right. The next control on the home screen after Info is a button labeled "Tap here to choose loop." Next are buttons labeled "Play," "Previous," and Next." The final control is a picker which is not labeled; it for choosing the loop's tempo.

When the "Tap here to choose loop" button is activated, a screen loads with 50 drum beat loops. Double tap on your selection and the drums will start playing. Activate the "Done" button in the upper right to get back to the home screen if you want to use its controls or just remain on the loops screen where you can change loops just by double tapping on the one you want.

This is a good app for backup for any instrument. You can practice songs or work on improvisation. There are some ads on the bottom of the screen, but they do not interfere with the app.

Conclusion

There are many additional apps that can be of use to musicians or people wanting to learn music. Unfortunately, not all of these apps are accessible. The ones listed in this article are good places to start. Happy music making!

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In this issue of AccessWorld we are focusing on job skills and employment. Which makes this an excellent time to take a look at a recently published eBook from Bonnie Mosen titled "It's Off to Work We Go." The eBook is available for $29.95 from Mosen Consulting, where the book's table of contents can be viewed. The eBook is published in ePub format, so it's easily accessed via most voice-enabled reading devices. I opened and read the book on my iPhone using Voice Dream reader. At approximately 40,000 words, I was able to complete the book in just a few hours, bookmarking various sections for later referral.

Defining the Problem

Mosen begins her discussion of unemployment among the blindness community by citing the generally-accepted statistic of seventy percent under and/or unemployment among the blind, give or take a few percent. She notes, however, that this number has remained steady for nearly 30 years, and this despite the tremendous number of breakthroughs in access technology which have enabled many blind people to perform more of the tasks required to obtain and retain employment.

Why is this the case? For Mosen, a part of the answer lies in the numbers themselves, which she thinks are overstated. Here are a few of her reasons:

• This number includes blind individuals who are 60 or older who are either retired or have decided to take early retirement.
• This number does not count those who are self-employed or who are paid "off the books."
• Some of the unemployed blind have cognitive or other disabilities which make job placement more difficult.
• The number includes people who are over 16 and looking for a job, so it includes high school and college students who are not ready for employment.
• It includes people who have become newly blind and who are taking time off for training.
• Some individuals are not actively seeking work because of frustration or fear they might lose benefits.

The problem with this argument, as I see it, is that many of these reasons are the same for many sighted people listed among the under- or unemployed, and their unemployment rates tend to range between 4 and 10 percent, depending on the business cycle and the economy as a whole.

Mosen is on stronger ground in the second part of this section, where she discusses common employer misconceptions that prevent them from hiring blind workers. She sites misplaced concerns of possible issues of safety, concerns over productivity, and the potential need to make costly accessibility improvements. Mosen concludes with what I believe is the most formidable barrier to be overcome, the potential employer's lack of knowledge about what it means to be blind. I can attest to this problem personally. Once, several years ago, I spoke with a manager of a large discount broker regarding the accessibility of their services. Together we were able to work through most of the issues, and a few months later he told me, "Until we spoke, I never even knew a blind person could use a computer." He went on to tell me that because of our interactions, when an application for a company rep came across his desk from a blind individual, he was more open to the applicant's potential, and wound up hiring him. True, I felt very good about this, but my point here is that even in a high-tech environment such as online brokerage services, there is still a great deal of outreach and education that needs to be done.

So that's the bad news. The hopeful news is that today there are more resources and adaptive equipment available than ever before to assist the blind in finding and keeping employment.

"Working" the System

Mosen's educational background includes a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, and before moving to New Zealand she spent several years as a rehab counselor with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. Thus Mosen is in an excellent position to offer the reader an inside look at the process—from initial intake to "26," which she states is the code number for a client who has been placed in a job for 90 days and whose case can now be successfully closed.

Mosen outlines what you can expect from your vocational rehabilitation counselor, and what your responsibilities are. Unfortunately, in these days of slashed agency budgets and productivity quotas, vocational rehabilitation is becoming more and more of a numbers game—how quickly can I close as many cases as possible? There are steps you can take, however, to make sure your case doesn't "slip through the cracks," and here Mosen provides concrete, action-oriented tips and advice that begin with your very first contact with your state's vocational rehabilitation office.

Job Readiness

Perhaps the most useful part of this book is Mosen's discussion of job skills. She organizes them into several categories.

Hard Skills

These are the practical skills a potential employee needs in order to perform a specific job. Do you have the necessary education, certifications, and/or work experience to accomplish the unique tasks of your desired occupation?

Soft Skills

What are your work ethics? Do you work well as a team member? Do you show leadership potential? Are you a quick learner? Here, Mosen makes a compelling case for the need to evaluate your own soft skills. After all, if you yourself were about to hire a customer service rep would you be more likely to select the applicant with years of experience but a poor work ethic, or someone with no experience who is a quick learner and who demonstrates a go-getter attitude?

Up Skills

Do you participate in ongoing educational and career development opportunities? Along with improving your job readiness, Mosen points out it's also an excellent way to network and discover employment opportunities you might not otherwise encounter.

Blindness Skills

Are you prepared to make proper use of any and all adaptive equipment necessary to perform the various jobs you will be applying for? Have you worked out transportation options? Do you have procedures in place to help make sure your interview and job wardrobe are appropriate?

Snagging that Job

Now that you've confirmed your skill set its time to find a job. Mosen begins the process with separate chapters describing how to compose a successful cover letter and resume. There is a lot of good information in these chapters, but I didn't find much in the way of blindness-specific formatting help, other than to use JAWS proofreading features to make sure you don't send out one of these documents with spacing problems, font issues or other mistakes.

Mosen uses her own resume and past cover letters to demonstrate how to compose these critical documents. Here I felt that the book's scope became just a bit limiting. Mosen's personal work experience has centered around blindness assistance and rehabilitation. The unintended consequence of this is to suggest to the reader that job opportunities for the blind may be best sought in the blindness services arena. I feel Mosen should have expanded her use of examples beyond her own experience, and offered sample cover letters and resumes that would encourage blind job seekers to expand their horizons as much as possible.

Mosen describes two types of resumes: the chronological resume and the functional resume. The first is more or less a listing of the jobs you have held and the duties you performed. The second is more of a listing of your various skills. A functional resume can be quite useful for recent graduates and for others with limited employment history. These are among the readers who might benefit most from a book such as this. Mosen offers a number of suggestions on how to produce such a resume, however she undercuts her own authority here when she states: "To be quite honest with you, I have had very little experience writing functional resumes."

She does it again when she discusses the job listing site Monster.com. "Interestingly, I haven't heard anything about them in years, and did some clicking around to see if they still existed." Most distressingly, she barely covers LinkedIn, describing it only as a place where you can "create a profile listing your skills, employment history and invite others to add you to their networks." In point of fact, LinkedIn is becoming a major source of job seeking and recruitment, and I believe it should have been covered in far greater depth—perhaps even in its own chapter.

Mosen seems to want to have it both ways. She insists that job seekers do everything they can to improve their skills, and yet, if writing a book can be considered a job, she herself seems unwilling to expand her own knowledge base in order to provide the reader with essential job-seeking know how.

The Job Interview

Mosen does continue with an excellent discussion of preparing for the job interview. She describes various interview types, including one-on-one interviews, panel interviews, and the increasingly popular behavioral interviews, where job applicants are asked questions such as: "Tell us about a time when you were part of a team." There is a lot of excellent content here, including tips on making potential employers aware of your ability to do the job, despite your disability.

No book for disabled job seekers would be complete without a discussion of when to disclose a disability, and here, Mosen does not disappoint. Basically, her advice is to disclose if it gives you an advantage in the application screening process. There are, after all, certain jobs were your disability may actually be viewed as part of your skill set. For example, a braille proofreader who has been reading braille since he or she was a child might have a definite advantage over a sighted person with only a few years of experience sight-reading braille.

As to the argument for not disclosing until the actual interview: I think Mosen puts it well when she states, "Yes, we may shock the employer, but someone who weighs 900 pounds might shock an employer too, but no one seems to expect that person to warn the employer so that he isn't too shocked." Perhaps not the most elegant turn of phrase, but it does make her point.

Job Evaluation

I think this book would have benefited immensely from a much deeper dive into LinkedIn, which is becoming a must-join resource for job seekers. I also believe the book needed to include at least one more chapter building on the concept of a functional resume and offering specific advice tailored to the needs of the first-time vision-impaired job seeker. That said, "It's Off to Work We Go" does offer considerable value in its unique prospective on vocational rehabilitation, along with a great deal of substantive information regarding evaluating and honing your job skills, preparing for the job interview, disability disclosure, and moving beyond obtaining a job into achieving long-term success in the workplace.

Product Information

It's Off to Work We Go by Bonnie Mosen
$29.95
Available in ePub and accessible PDF from: Mosen.org/work

Comment on this article.

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