Dear AccessWorld readers,

The holidays are behind us now, and it's time to start looking forward to a new year. For many, that means New Year's resolutions and commitments to exercising, losing weight, eating healthier foods, and taking better care of ourselves. Statistically, people with vision loss tend to be among the most sedentary and unhealthy among all age groups, but it does not have to be that way. You may be surprised by how technology can help you become healthier in 2020.

I encourage you to download and try out various health tracker apps and wearable devices that can help you accessibly keep track of your steps, workout intensity, and number of fitness sessions. For general information about fitness for people with vision loss, please read the 2011 AccessWorld article, Fitness FAQs from the Desk of AFB's Information and Referral Specialist. While this article may be a blast from the past, it contains many relevant and useful ideas for keeping active and adapting exercise and sporting activities for people who have low or no vision.

Each year, in January, AccessWorld recognizes and celebrates the birthday, contributions, and legacy of Louis Braille. The fact is, 200 years ago, a child or adult who was blind did not have an effective way to read or write independently. Today, thanks to Louis Braille's invention and continuing advancements in technology, children and adults who are blind or visually impaired can read and write as well as their sighted peers. The invention of braille, a system of raised dots representing letters, numbers, and punctuation, truly revolutionized independent communication for people with visual impairments.

This month, AccessWorld celebrates the anniversary of Louis Braille's birthday, January 4, 1809. We also celebrate the braille code, named after its young inventor, and the expanded possibilities for literacy and independence this code created for people with vision loss.

The AccessWorld team invites you to visit The Louis Braille Museum on the AFB website, which illustrates the life and legacy of the creator of the braille code. Using photographs, engravings, and illustrations from books preserved in the AFB Archives and Rare Book Collection, the museum traces Louis Braille's life from his childhood in Coupvray, France, through his student years in Paris, to his invention of the braille code and the recognition of its importance throughout the world.

We also invite you to read "Braille, the Magic Wand of the Blind," Helen Keller's essay on Louis Braille, written around 1924. In this essay, Keller describes how the braille system works and relates how she benefited from learning and using braille. She describes the reading systems that existed prior to braille and the debates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries over competing embossed systems.

Today, braille has made the leap into the increasingly fast-paced world of technology via braille notetakers and braille displays. The following braille-related articles from the past several months of the AccessWorld archives will be interesting and useful to those who are interested in, or users of, braille and braille technology.

• The Bradley Timepiece: Is It Beautiful, Functional, and Inclusive?

• A New Kind of Braille Watch: A Review of The Dot Watch 2

• An Overview of Braille Support on the Kindle Fire Tablet

• Blasting Barriers to Creating Affordable Braille: A Review of the Braille Blaster Software from APH

• The BrailleSense Polaris Mini from HIMS: A Big Product in a Small Package

• BrailleNote Touch Plus or BrailleSense Polaris: Which One Is Right for You?

The entire AccessWorld team hopes you enjoy this issue and exploring the additional braille resources linked to above. The team hopes you will make the new year resolution to make 2019 the year you become more tech savvy than ever; AccessWorld will be here to support your technology journey. Technology is the key to better education, employment, and becoming and maintaining connected to the world around us. I encourage you to seek it out and use it to your fullest advantage!

The AccessWorld team and I wish you all the best in the new year!

Sincerely,

Lee Huffman, AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief

American Foundation for the Blind

January 2020 Table of Contents

Scott Davert

In January of 2018, I reviewed the Orbit Reader 20, a low-cost braille display manufactured by Orbit Research. Since that time, another 20-cell braille display at a relatively low cost has entered the market, the Braille Me from Inovision.At the time of publication, at $499 it's the cheapest braille display when purchased from the AT Guys. Though the Orbit Reader originally had a lower price point, it now costs $599 when purchased directly from Orbit Research. Though the main purpose of this article is to review the Braille Me, given that both options are on the market at a similar price point, some direct comparisons will be made between the two devices.

The Braille Me

The Braille Me is a braille display with both Bluetooth and USB connectivity. It is compatible with Windows with NVDA 2017.2 or later, Android when running BrailleBack version 0.95.1 or later, iOS 11.3 and later with VoiceOver and Mac OS High Sierra and later with VoiceOver. It also features basic note-taking functionality, a file manager, a date and time function, twenty-six dot cells of braille, and cursor routing buttons beneath each cell.

What's in the Box

The box you receive should contain 5 items. The Braille Me (already in its case), braille user guide, Standard A to Micro-B USB cable, AC adapter for charging, and an 8GB SD card already inserted into the Braille Me.

Product Description

After opening the case, which is secured by a hook-and-loop closure, place the device on a flat surface with the braille display being the furthest thing from you on the top. With this orientation, the device is laid out as follows.

On the right side of the unit, the closest thing to you is the round power button. Pressing it for a second should start the Braille Me as long as it has some charge. Behind the power button is a round port into which the included AC adapter plugs. It is a proprietary connector, and the Braille Me manual indicates that the user should only charge the device with the included power supply. Continuing along the right side of the Braille Me, behind the charging port, you will find the Micro USB port. This port is designed only to connect to computers; it is not possible to charge the Braille Me over USB.

On the top surface of the Braille Me, from front to back, you will first find three keys. From left to right, they are: Backspace, Space, and Enter. Note that Backspace and Enter are also referred to as dots 7 and 8 respectively. Behind these three keys, you will find the conventional six-key, Perkins-style keyboard. Behind the keyboard, you will find 20 cursor routing buttons, and behind those, the twenty cells of braille. To the left and right of the display, you will find two trapezoidal buttons at each end. The two on the left side are to jump by line or item depending on context. They are referred to as Left-1 and Left-2. Left-1 is furthest from you, while Left-2 is closest to you. The two on the right pan the braille display forward and backward. Right-1, which is furthest from you, will move the display backward by 20 cells, while Right-2 will pan the display forward by 20 cells.

On the left side of the Braille Me, the only thing present is the SD card slot. Though Inovision includes an 8 GB card, the Braille Me can support cards up to 32 GB. The front and back edges of the Braille Me do not contain anything beyond the plastic enclosure.

Turning the Braille Me over, you will find a braille serial number and also a set of screws that secure the battery door. Though the manual does not specify where a new battery can be ordered, it does indicate that the battery is user replaceable.

The case that the Braille Me comes in is leather and holds the display securely. It does not have any pockets, but covers the surface of the device when closed. It is possible to use this display in its case while on the go, as the case opens to expose the top panel of the unit.

Using the Braille Me

The braille display feels very sharp to the touch and is a pleasure to read on. It is my understanding that this was not always the case with earlier models, but the dots on the latest version seem mostly level and they seem to be functioning just as well as they did when I ordered the device four months ago. Because of the display’s magnetic technology, it is slightly louder than the Orbit Reader. However, the cells on the Braille Me do refresh immediately. I would estimate the noise emitted by the Braille Me to be slightly louder than typing on a laptop.

Different Navigational Commands

Before diving into discussing the menu options, it's important to understand that the way in which you interact with the Braille Me slightly differs from what has become the conventional paradigm for most other braille devices. Typically, Space with Dot 4 will take you to the next item in a list, the next line of a document, etc. With the Braille Me, this functionality is handled by the Up and Down keys on the left side of the unit.

Powering On the Braille Me Can Be Alarming

If you have hearing, after powering up the Braille Me, you will notice a fairly loud beep. Shutting off the device will again cause the beep to sound. While it may not be startling to you, it can be to others. It also seems to be loud enough to disturb those around you when in a quiet environment, or during a meeting. Since this, and perhaps several other features, may be what you want to adjust first, it seems the settings menu is the most logical place to start exploring the Braille Me.

Settings

After powering up, you will read "File Manager." This is the first option in the main menu, which will always come up when on the device is turned on. To navigate to the next item, you will need to press the Left-Down button. To activate an item, press Dot 8. Press the Left-Down button until you reach "Settings." After pressing Enter, you will be presented with the settings menu. Navigate using the Left-1 and Left-2 keys. With toggle items, it's important to pay attention to the setting based on what the menu option indicates. For example, "Turn off buzzer" will change to "Turn on buzzer" after pressing Enter to change the settings. Once you have modified a setting, you will need to back out of the menu, even though it is not possible to change the setting further. After adjusting a setting, it would be nice to be returned to the previous menu. Again, to go up one menu level, press Backspace with Spacebar.

Many of the menu options are self-explanatory. Setting language, time, date, autoscroll time, standby time, word wrap, show paragraph indicator, switching panning keys, braille test, factory reset, and software version are the available options. The manual does a good job of explaining each setting and how to modify it accordingly, so I will not spend further time discussing it. The few things of note are that the Braille Me supports 40 languages, paragraph indicators are shown in documents where a new paragraph starts, braille test will test whether all dots are functioning as expected, and word wrap will not cut off words at the end of the display. However, you will need to pan forward more often if this is enabled, as the Braille Me cannot take advantage of every cell.

File Manager

The File Manager is where you will access all of the content stored on your SD card and the internal notepad, and how you will read books. This utility will also let you copy, delete, move, and create new files or folders. Supported formats include plain text, BRF, and BRL formats. This includes the reading of plain text files in contracted braille. After pressing Enter on the File Manager, you will be presented with a list of the content present on the inserted SD card. Each item in the list of files is assigned a number. The User Manual is loaded on the Braille Me's SD Card, and is inside of a folder. Braille Me will indicate the type of item on which you are focused by a character located next to the number. If the item is a folder, it will be an F. If it's a plain text file, that file format will be represented with a full cell. BRF files are symbolized by the letter L. BRL files are represented by the braille letter X. This will become an important distinction for many who wish to read books for reasons explained below.

Some menus can be accessed through keyboard shortcuts. For example, to activate the "new" submenu, press Spacebar with n while in the File Manager. This will give you options to create new folders, text files, or braille files. When focus is set to a file, pressing dot 8 will open it. Note that you will be prompted to either read or edit the file if this is a text file. Prior to opening a file, you will always be prompted to select an option, though BRF files only support reading mode, while BRL files only support edit mode. In the cases where there is only one option, it would be nice to not have to deal with this prompt. Having an on-board translator to swap between contracted and uncontracted braille can be a big time saver for many people.

The Braille Me supports the reading of plain text files in contracted braille if the user wishes to view the file that way. Within a text file, pressing Spacebar with G will toggle between contracted and uncontracted braille.

Not all files and folders on the SD card will necessarily be displayed on the Braille Me. If you have files in formats other than those listed above or if a file name exceeds 40 characters, you will not see these files in the list. One other limitation to folders is that you can only have 50 files in a folder. BRL files, which are only available to edit, support file sizes up to 100 KB. Plain text and BRF files appear to not have size limits.

Opening and Reading Content

Each type of file you open comes with some limitations based on the mode it is opened in. BRF files, for example, which open in only the Read Mode, will not automatically save bookmarks. If you would like the Braille Me to retain your place in a book, it's important to set your own bookmark before exiting. To set a bookmark, press Spacebar with B. After opening a file in read mode, press Enter with B to pull up a list of bookmarks you have set in your file. You may also wish to delete the already-set bookmark if you are only using it to find where you left off. Pressing Spacebar with D performs this action.

There are various options for scrolling through a book or longer document. While there are commands to jump by paragraph, you can also pan the display 50 times left or right to navigate larger amounts of content more rapidly. Auto-scroll can also be activated and the speed can be controlled. Instructions for using these tools are clearly written in the manual linked above.

Should you have forgotten to set a bookmark after closing a file, if you can recall the exact wording of text, you can use the Find function. Press Spacebar with F, then type whatever you would like to search for followed by the Enter key. Depending on the length of the file, it may take a while to complete this search, as the Braille Me will index all occurrences of your search term. Using a 450 KB BRF file, the Braille Me found nine occurrences of a specific term. This took about fifteen seconds to complete. Once the search has completed, the user is presented with a numbered list of each time the search term was found. You can move through the list of occurrences with the Previous and Next Item buttons. Each result shows the text immediately following the search term, so you can easily determine the location of each. Pressing Enter on any result will immediately jump you to that part of the file. This way of auto-indexing all occurrences of the search term can be inconvenient in some instances. For example, in a book exceeding a thousand pages, it will take quite a long time to index all occurrences of the search term, when you may only want the nearest result. There does not appear to be a way to have the Braille Me only search for the next occurrence of a term. When I searched for a rather unique phrase in an encyclopedia that was in plain text format, the search took approximately two minutes. When I went to navigate the results, the device would only let me see the first match. Pressing Enter on this result may have moved the cursor to that point in the file, but I was not able to read any further, even after giving the Braille Me a minute to catch up. Exiting the file also worked very slowly, but only after conducting this search exercise. Opening the file, reading, and then exiting did not appear to impact the Braille Me’s performance, even with large files. A bug I discovered is that the Find function does not appear to be working with files in the BRL format.

Opening files in their original format is nearly instantaneous. I was able to open a BRF file that was 1.4 megabytes in less than a second. Opening a plain text file that was 1.9 megabytes in size was also done instantly. Reading this file in contracted braille by pressing Spacebar with G translated this large file in under 30 seconds. Once you have translated a file, the Braille Me appears to retain that translation.

The Editor

Before delving into the Editor, it is worth examining the unique cursor representation on the Braille Me. Since this is a six-dot device instead of an eight-dot one, the standard way of displaying the cursor with dots seven and eight is not available. Inovision has come up with two different ways to represent the cursor that can be easily toggled from one mode to the other when editing. When you are just typing, you will find that the cursor is a blinking full cell located to the right of the last thing you have typed. When you press a cursor routing button, the cursor will then go into one of these modes. The default method shows cursor placement by blinking all of the dots not currently in the up position for that cell. For example, if the cursor is located on the letter X, dots 2 and 5 will blink continuously while the rest of the dots, which make up the letter X, will not blink. You can then toggle to the second mode by pressing Left-1 and Left-2 together. This only shows the cell where the cursor is located, represented by a full cell. In this mode, all commands other than Backspace with Spacebar and hitting other cursor routing buttons are disabled.

Though I was able to type very rapidly using the Braille Me, the keyboard design seems to make it so that I had to be much firmer than with other braille devices. This took a bit of adjustment, but became less of an issue as I grew accustomed to typing with this method. When taking notes in a meeting, I asked those sitting around me if my typing was distracting to them. The answers were consistently that it was slightly noisier than other devices they have observed me using, but that it was easy enough to ignore. I found that the constantly blinking cursor while writing a document became an annoyance to me. You can turn this on or off by pressing Right-1 and Right-2 together.

Before completing your notes, or switching the Braille Me off when not actively taking notes, it's important to save your work. Though you create the name of the file before you can start composing, it will be lost if you turn the Braille Me off without saving your changes. Saving what you have written is achieved by pressing Spacebar with S and confirming that you wish to save what you have written. Confirmation is different than what you may expect, as you can't press Y or N. Instead, you must press Backspace with dot 3 for Yes, or Enter with dot 6 for No. If the Braille Me goes into Standby mode, you will not lose your work. It instantly comes out of Standby mode when a key is pressed. If you require the ability to quickly pick up where you left off, it would seem best to permit the Braille Me to go into Standby mode, as each time the Braille Me is powered on, you will be at the Main Menu and will have to re-open your document.

The Editor also has some capabilities for modifying larger chunks of your work. You can cut, copy, paste, and undo, and you have the ability to mark blocks of content. A unique feature of the Braille Me is that you can switch from another language to English on the fly by pressing Spacebar with E. All of these functions worked well during my evaluation of the Braille Me. The Notepad application is quite basic, but also very reliable.

Connecting the Braille Me to Other Devices

The Braille Me can connect to external devices through Bluetooth or USB, though not all screen readers are supported. Absent from the list of devices other braille displays support are JAWS for Windows and VoiceView for Amazon Kindle. All evaluation done below was carried out using the most current software builds on all devices in early December 2019.

From the Main Menu, press Left-2 to navigate to either Bluetooth or USB depending on how you plan to connect. You will then be prompted to choose your desired screen reader. When choosing USB, it may be worth noting that there is also an option to have the SD Card show up as a drive. This is the way you can transfer content to and from a Mac or PC.

BrailleBack and Android

Using a Samsung S9, I followed the instructions given in the manual and was able to connect successfully to this phone. To use the Braille Me with Android, you must first download and install BrailleBack from the Google Play store Note that the BrailleBack page linked here does not list the Braille Me as a supported device, though there are other braille devices supported that are not included in this documentation as well. It’s also worth noting that the Braille Me will not show up under that name, rather, it will be listed as “smartbeetle.” Though the Smart Beetle only has fourteen cells, the Braille Me is able to use all 20.

Though the Braille Me has a lot of commands available for use with BrailleBack, more than several other models, it still suffers from all of the shortcomings of BrailleBack itself. The biggest challenge, in my view, is the fact that BrailleBack will quite regularly simply quit working. As a person with enough vision or hearing to restart BrailleBack, this can be a minor inconvenience, but for deaf-blind users, this is a major concern with all braille devices running BrailleBack. This isn't a unique challenge to BrailleBack, as iOS suffers the same shortcoming. It’s worth noting as well that not all tablets and phones running Android will function as expected under BrailleBack. This is particularly true when running certain modified versions of the Android operating system. Also of note is the absence of Spacebar with L. In all other devices I have tested with Android, this keyboard shortcut will pull up a list of the supported commands specific to that device. No such equivalent exists for the Braille Me. The only list of commands is available in Section 14.2 of the user manual. Though you can pull up this list on the Braille Me itself, you have to keep going in and out of your connected device to refer to them. Most of these issues are not specific to Braille Me, but seem to be due to the lack of development from Google.

NVDA

Connecting to NVDA will differ slightly if you are using Windows 7 instead of 8, 8.1, or 10. Regardless of which operating system you are using, you must download the driver and add-on for NVDA. Once you have downloaded the zip file, you will then need to consult the guide within that file for instructions.

Once installed, the Braille Me has a lot of keyboard commands available to use with NVDA. The table in the manual lists 109, which mostly work as advertised. I found that sometimes braille input and output would randomly stop working, though the Braille Me itself did not freeze, nor did NVDA. Pressing keys on my computer’s keyboard worked fine with NVDA, and I was able to exit out of this mode on the Braille Me and restart the connection. This occurred much less frequently than when connected to Android. The other challenge is that when typing rapidly using the Braille Me keyboard, NVDA would slow down and begin missing characters that I had typed. Restarting NVDA solved this issue.

VoiceOver on iOS

The process of connecting the Braille Me to iOS follows the same procedure as other devices. The Braille Me does not require a PIN code for authentication. On all other braille devices for iOS, Spacebar with dot 1 goes to the previous item while Spacebar with dot 4 goes to the next item. These commands have been disabled in the Braille Me, and it's not possible to re-assign the commands within VoiceOver. Instead, you must use the Left-1 and Left-2 keys to navigate to the previous and next items. While I understand having consistency, in this respect, Braille Me only supports its own key mapping, and doesn’t work as expected with other devices it is connected to. Another example of this on iOS is the command Spacebar with K. Under any other device with a Perkins-style keyboard, this launches VoiceOver’s Practice mode. Instead, Braille Me launches its internal help mode. Though these differences can cause a bit of frustration at first, they can be overcome with some adjustment. With VoiceOver Practice, perform a 4-finger double-tap gesture and you will be taken into this mode.

Writing braille functions about as well as any other braille display connected to iOS. The same bug related to the braille cursor disappearing with other displays is present with the Braille Me as well.

Dare to Compare: The Braille Me and the Orbit Reader 20

There are several distinctions we can draw between the Braille Me and the Orbit Reader 20. The first difference is the lower price for the Braille Me. Putting the two devices side-by-side, the most obvious physical difference is the lack of cursor routing buttons on the Orbit Reader. Another difference is that the Orbit Reader does not come with a case. Some people also have a very strong preference as to where the display itself is located on the device. With the Orbit Reader, the display is the closest thing to the user, while the Braille Me has the braille display behind all of the other buttons on its surface.

One major advantage to the Braille Me, if you wish to read a lot of text files, is the onboard braille translation. The Orbit Reader requires that you use an external resource to convert text files to contracted braille. Battery life for both devices is about the same from what I can tell. Both devices also support user-replaceable batteries.

The Orbit Reader, unlike the Braille Me, will reliably save your position in a file regardless of file size or type. The Orbit Reader will also preserve your file changes after being switched off and back on again, unlike the Braille Me. The Orbit Reader can also be updated via an SD card, and does not require Windows. It also supports USB charging, which the Braille Me does not. JAWS and VoiceView are also supported on the Orbit Reader. Further, Orbit Research has a mailing list devoted to information concerning updates to the device, whereas the Braille Me has a general mailing list without any other reliable way to receive news of updates to the product. Significant development also continues with the Orbit Reader, with two significant changes in 2019 that were easy to locate. Orbit Research has become the first manufacturer to support the new HID USB standard which will allow braille displays to be connected in much the same way as other peripherals on supported devices. Further, Orbit Research has recently released The Orbit Chat Communicator a system designed to facilitate face-to-face communication between those who are deaf-blind, and those who are not. Though this newest feature needs some development, it's a clear sign that new features continue to become available.

Conclusion

There are now two braille devices on the assistive technology market that cost less than $700. Though the Orbit Reader costs $100 more than the Braille Me, it has more features and a learning curve that appears to be less steep. If you are more budget conscious, or do not require support for JAWS, the Braille Me is certainly worth serious consideration, especially if you require cursor routing buttons. Overall, the progress toward putting low-cost braille access into the hands of more readers has been tremendous over the past couple of years. I look forward to seeing what manufacturers can do next and to braille access being more readily available as costs fall and innovation rises.

Product Information

Product: Braille Me

Manufacturer: Inovision

Cost: $499 from the AT Guys in the US.

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

Comment on this article.

Related articles:

• BrailleNote Touch Plus or BrailleSense Polaris: Which One Is Right for You? by Jamie Pauls
• The BrailleSense Polaris Mini from HIMS: A Big Product in a Small Package by Jamie Pauls

More by this author:

• An Overview of Braille Support on the Kindle Fire Tablet
• A New Kind Of Braille Watch: A Review Of The Dot Watch 2

January 2020 Table of Contents

Aaron Preece

Until recently, I always preferred to use wired headphones when using my iPhone. After my iPhone SE finally came to its end, I had to switch to a newer model, which did not contain a headphone jack. Due to frustrations when using the wired earbud adapter, I decided to see if it was possible to use Bluetooth headsets full-time. Over the last several months I have tried different headsets and found three that work quite well: Bose Frames audio sunglasses, Apple 2nd generation AirPods, and the Plantronics M180 Wireless Bluetooth Headset.

There are countless reviews of these headsets online, but from my personal experience, those who are blind or visually impaired need information beyond what is generally provided by mainstream reviews. For example, knowing the latency when using a screen reader with a Bluetooth headset can be vital if the headset will be used when completing productivity tasks. For this article, I will primarily focus on aspects of interest to those with visual impairments, for example, the aforementioned screen reader latency and accessible documentation. After discussing each headset, I will directly compare their various aspects. For this review, all of the headsets were used with an iPhone 7 running iOS 13.3.

Bose Frames

The Bose Frames are a pair of traditional sunglasses that double as a pair of Bluetooth headphones. In addition, they contain an audio augmented reality component that can be used with specific apps. This feature uses head tracking technology built into the glasses to track head movements in order to provide life-like sound positioning. The Frames have a set of speakers positioned so that sound is aimed directly into your ear, allowing you to have full sound from the headphones while also preventing others from hearing your audio, and allowing you to hear what is going on around you.

Documentation

In addition to physical instructions in the Frames packaging, you can find the Frames user manual in PDF format. The manual can also be found in the Bose Connect App on iOS after you have paired the frames. I personally found the manual in the app easier to navigate, as the PDF is not officially tagged. That being said, the manual is still readable in PDF format with few issues when I used the automatic tagging feature in Adobe Reader.

Product Description and Getting Started

The Frames are stored in a magnetic glasses case that is slightly more complex than the traditional hinged case seen with most eyewear. In the case you will also find the charging cable in a soft cloth bag. The charging cable uses a proprietary magnetic pin charging system instead of the usual Micro or Mini USB charging cables found with most Bluetooth peripherals. The glasses themselves look like traditional sunglasses with enlarged portions on the arms of the glasses just before the point where they rest over the ears. There is a raised border on the inside of the right arm close to where it connects to the glasses where the charger is connected; the charger can only connect one way due to the magnetic connection mechanism.

There are two styles of Frames, Alto and Rondo. I purchased the Alto 52 MM frames, which have trapezoidal lenses. The main difference between the frames and traditional sunglasses is that the arms of the Frames are thicker than usual in order to house the speakers and battery. There are small inset grills on the outside of the frames though these are not the speakers; the speakers are at the end of the enlarged portion, facing your ears when the frames are worn. You can feel the speakers as they are slightly inset from the rest of the arm. The enlarged portion of the arms end just where the arms rest over your ears. On the bottom of the right arm, near to where the arm connects to the lenses, you will find a small round button. This is used to power on the frames, control audio playback, activate the voice assistant, and interact with phone calls.

The Frames power on quite quickly when you press the button. Each time you activate the glasses, you will hear which (if any) device the Frames are connected to and the battery level. You can connect the frames to your device as you would with any other Bluetooth peripheral. For me, the Frames appeared in my Bluetooth menu almost immediately and connected very quickly. If you would like to disconnect the Frames without using your Bluetooth menu, you can long press the button to disconnect from your device. If you would like to power down the Frames, you must turn them upside down for 2 seconds. If you hold the frames near to your ear during this process, you will hear a descending tone when the frames power off. This seems odd, but is more intuitive than you would think. I found that I was turning the glasses off intuitively when taking them off of my face even before I had learned the method for shutting them down.

The Bose Connect app for iOS is accessible and provides some secondary functions. It is used for updating the Frames firmware, which is needed for the augmented reality component, reading the manual, and adjusting some settings on the Frames. A Bose account is not needed to use the app; the app also will recognize your frames as long as they are connected to your phone when using the app. Note that during the update process I found that the glasses produced choppy audio and/or lag.

Using Bose Frames

As would be expected from a Bose product, the Frames have excellent sound quality. Due to the placement of the speakers, the audio sounds slightly different than if you were using traditional earbuds, but this does not degrade the quality of the audio. I found that it was easy to experience full sound but still easily hear my surroundings when listening to music on a lower volume. As I increased the volume, I could still hear my surroundings surprisingly well, though I would not want to attempt to travel or hold a conversation with the volume at a higher level. Interestingly, it seems that as the volume increases, the bass decreases. I imagine that this is to protect the speakers; the lowering of the bass also was not overly noticeable until the volume was increased past 60 percent.

When using VoiceOver, I noticed a quarter- to a half-second delay from when I performed an action. This isn't a problem when listening to audio such as music, a podcast, or a book or article with VoiceOver in continuous mode, but frustrating when attempting to complete a task quickly. This is especially true when attempting to type on the on-screen keyboard. To better test the latency, I also attempted to play the game AudioWizards (also reviewed in this issue) and found that the delay was quite noticeable but that I could play effectively with some effort.

I have made calls with the Frames both indoors in quiet settings and in louder outdoor settings while walking. In both environments I can easily hear the caller, there is no lag from what I can determine, and I have had no complaints on my audio. Thankfully, I find it quite easy to hear my surroundings while on a call when traveling. That being said, I would not want someone actively talking to me if I was attempting something more demanding on my hearing such as crossing a street.

One downside to the Frames is that they only have 3.5 hours of battery life. During my use of the glasses, I have found that audio playback (music/podcasts etc.) cause the battery to drain much more rapidly than when I use VoiceOver. Due to the fact that the Frames shut down temporarily when not in use after a set amount of time, I have been able to use the frames for hours at a time without the battery draining below 90% in some circumstances when using VoiceOver only.

Though the augmented reality function of the Frames is beyond this review, I did use the Microsoft Soundscape app to navigate a route I was unfamiliar with. If you are unfamiliar with the Soundscape app, it uses 3D audio to detail landmarks and streets around you. I reviewed it in the August 2018 issue of AccessWorld. This was a good test of the Frames capabilities as I was in Guide Dog training. This meant that I needed to listen for traffic patterns, be attentive to my new dog, and communicate with my instructor while also listening to the information provided by Soundscape. I did have to lower the volume so that I could just make out the information spoken by Soundscape (around 25-30% volume) but was able to complete the route without issue.

If you are in a crowded area and cannot hear your Frames, you can cup your hand over your ear, which will drastically increase the volume at the expense of audio quality. I have used this tactic many times when in a crowded restaurant to read the menu if it was too loud to hear my Frames otherwise.

Apple AirPods 2nd Generation

AirPods, the official Bluetooth earphones produced by Apple, come in several forms. Janet Ingber reviewed the 1st generation AirPods in 2017. For this review, I used the 2nd generation of the AirPods, which have many similarities to the first in form and function. Apple has also released the premium in-ear AirPods Pro, which will be reviewed in a future issue of AccessWorld. The second generation AirPods are little different from the originals, aside from the inclusion of a wireless charger, lower latency of the audio, the ability to summon Siri by voice at all times, and better battery life on calls.

Documentation

Apple provides instructions on getting started with and using your AirPods. The page is accessible and provides information on setting up and using your AirPods. Note that instructions for the AirPods Pro and 1st generation are also included but Apple is clear which version is being referenced. The page also includes examples of Siri queries that relate to your AirPods. Many are general Siri commands, but some are specific to the AirPods such as the command for checking your AirPods battery.

Description and Getting Started

Your AirPods are located in their charging case when you receive them. A Lightning charging cable is also provided, but a USB wall charger is not. The case is a small square with rounded edges. The Lightning port is on the bottom, and the magnetic lid on the top. A small button that is flush with the case is located on the back, towards the bottom of the case. This button is used for pairing the AirPods to non-Apple devices. When you open the lid of the case, you will find the AirPods magnetically secured in the case. The case has indentions shaped like each AirPod, so they must be reinserted in the correct side. The AirPods look very similar to the traditional wired EarPods provided with each iPhone, just without a connecting cable. If you are unfamiliar with EarPods, the speaker portion that fits into your ear looks similar to a teardrop or oval, with the speaker on the tip of the bud. The stems that extend from the bottom of the buds that would normally connect to the headphone cable are slightly longer than usual.

To connect the AirPods to your device, leave them in the case with the lid open and place the case close to your Phone. You will see a setup prompt appear on your device which will connect the AirPods. If you have not setup Hey Siri on your device, you will be asked to do so as part of the setup process. If you do not wish to do so or do not use Hey Siri, you can ignore this prompt (you can always set up Hey Siri later in the Settings app).

Now that your AirPods are paired, they will connect as soon as you take them out of their case. Compared to standard Bluetooth headsets, the AirPods are always on when they are out of their case, and only power down when in the case with the lid closed. If you would like to change any settings you can do so in the Bluetooth menu in the Settings app. To see AirPod-specific settings, select the "More Info" button when the AirPods are connected to your device. You can change what function is tied to the double-tap gesture on each AirPod, deactivate the feature that automatically pauses audio when you take the AirPods out of your ears, and adjust which AirPod microphone will be activated.

Using Apple AirPods, 2nd Generation

The AirPods sound is comparable to the wired Earbuds produced by Apple, with a possible slight increase in audio quality. Compared to the Frames, the AirPods do not have bass that is quite as noticeable. That being said, the audio quality on both of these headsets is fairly comparable. I find that the AirPods do not block sound from my environment to a large degree; I sometimes forget that I am wearing them. I deliberately chose the 2nd Generation AirPods over the AirPods Pro for this reason; with the AirPods 2nd Generation, I can still perform other tasks while listening to a Book or other audio.

Happily, there is almost no latency when using VoiceOver with the AirPods. Apple claims that this is due to their H1 chip that powers the headset. I have also been able to play AudioWizards without noticing any lag.

Because you always are charging the AirPods when not in use, I have never seen them fall below 50% battery. The AirPods are rated for 5 hours of audio playback and 3 hours of talk time according to Apple, but if you never use them for the entire duration, they seem to have a much longer battery. The case charges the batteries on the AirPods quite quickly; the case provides boosted charging for the first part of charging which can often bring them to a complete charge rather quickly. I use my phone quite often for daily tasks, music, podcasts, and books and find that I still only need to charge the AirPods case once a day at most.

I have used the AirPods to talk to others while indoors and while walking outside. In both cases, audio was clear and I had no complaints from callers on the quality of my audio. I found that if I kept the sound at a lower level, I could still travel while hearing audio through the AirPods, whether a phone call or podcast.

To save battery power, I rarely use features of the AirPods such as the always -available Hey Siri or the ability to double tap on the outside of an AirPod to perform a specific function, but when testing for this article, these features functioned as advertised and I didn't encounter any issues when using them.

Plantronics M180 Bluetooth Headset

Compared to the other two headsets reviewed in this article, the Plantronics M180 is a traditional single Bluetooth earphone. The headset has built-in voice commands for specific functions, is lightweight, and provides longer battery life than expected for its size. Note that when viewing this headset there are Gray and Gold versions. Though these headsets have the same model number, they are purported to be different in some specifics in online reviews. The Gold headset is the device reviewed in this article.

Documentation and the PLT Hub App

I was unable to find an official manual on the Plantronics site, though the manual is available in the PLT Hub app on iOS. The manual also appears to be available from a third-party website, though I can't confirm the safety of the site where it is hosted.

The manual is accessible in the app though there are some unlabeled or mislabeled buttons in the navigation functions of the app. The app also allows you to adjust certain device settings and cause the headset to emit a tone when connected to your smartphone. This is intended to aid you in finding the headset if it is lost, but does not seem to function unless the device is connected and powered on. The tone itself is quite quiet so may be of little help locating the headset unless it's nearby. Some online reviews claim that the app can cause the audio to echo on a call, but I have not personally experienced this issue.

Description and Getting Started

The body of the M180 is a narrow rectangle. Toward the top of the front side you will find the concave Phone button used for interacting with calls. On the top of the rectangle is the Micro USB port for charging with the power switch and Volume button on each of the narrow sides. The power switch has two raised tactile bumps for identification where the Volume button is smooth. On the back of the rectangle, towards the top, you will feel the headset's speaker. The speaker is covered with a rubber cover for comfort; this piece also has a small loop at the top so that it will better fit in your ear. There are different sizes of this cover and the device also ships with an optional plastic loop that hooks over the top of your ear for better security. I have found that the over-the-ear loop is unnecessary when using the headset.

When you power on the headset, it will be ready to be paired to your device. Any time you turn the headset on, you will hear the battery level announced in hours of talk time followed by the connection status. Note that the volume button will cycle through the headset's volume levels wrapping to the lowest volume after reaching the maximum. This volume is separate from your smartphone's volume so it is worth adjusting to a level that gives you the preferred range when adjusting volume on your mobile device.

Using the Plantronics M180 Headset

The sound of the M180 is decent, but slightly more metallic or grating than the other headsets reviewed in this article. Though it has worse audio quality than the AirPods or Frames, the audio is not terrible by any means and is perfectly serviceable for most tasks, music included.

The latency when using VoiceOver is almost non-existent and similar to what you would enjoy when using wired headphones. Calls are also quite clear; callers can hear your surroundings but not to a degree that would be overly distracting. The audio that I encountered when making calls with the M180 was clear and without issue. That being said, it is distinctly rougher than the other headsets reviewed in this article.

The headset does not block hearing much when worn and is designed to be worn in the right or left ear with equal ease. I have traveled while talking using the earpiece and found that I could still hear my surroundings at an acceptable level in the ear in which I had placed the headset.

The battery life on the M180 is amazing; 7 hours of talk time and the battery for general listening goes even further. The M180 is packaged with a Micro USB cord but not a wall charger; since it uses such a common charging cable, it's easy to find replacements if the packaged cord is lost.

The M180 has voice commands available when interacting with calls. When you receive a call you will hear “Answer or Ignore”. At that time, you can say either word to answer or ignore the call. I found that this feature worked well; I was understood the first time I said a command in the vast majority of instances. In all of the months that I have used this headset, I do not believe that I have ever had to say a command word more than twice.

Comparing the Three Earphones

In the following sections I will rate the three headsets discussed here on a range of aspects. The headset with the best features for the given category will be listed first, with those that are less optimal listed afterward.

Price

1. Plantronics M180 ($32-$55)
2. AirPods 2nd Generation ($159, $199 with wireless charging case)
3. Bose Frames ($199)

Audio Quality

1. Bose Frames
2. AirPods 2nd Generation
3. Plantronics M180

Screen Reader Latency

1. AirPods 2nd Generation
2. Plantronics M180
3. Bose Frames

Battery Life

1. Plantronics M180 (7 Hours of talk time)
2. AirPods 2nd Generation (5 hours of listening time)
3. Bose Frames (3.5 hours)

Portability

1. Plantronics M180
2. AirPods 2nd Generation
3. Bose Frames

The Bottom Line

Though they have good audio quality and do not block your hearing when in use, the Bose Frames suffer from higher latency when using a screen reader and poor battery life compared to the other two headsets reviewed. The Plantronics M180 is an amazing deal with a price as low as $32 from some sources. It has amazing battery life and VoiceOver responsiveness and if I could stand to use only one ear at a time when listening to media, I would use it full time. The AirPods are quite expensive but provide an excellent experience. I had the Frames and M180 for several months before acquiring the AirPods and continued to use wired headphones for most of that time. As soon as I received the AirPods, I switched full time to them and have not used wired headphones since.

If you do not mind only listening to audio from one ear, the Plantronics M180 would be my first suggestion followed by the AirPods 2nd Generation. The Frames are useful in certain situations but they can't compare to the other headsets due to their lower battery life, poor responsiveness when using a screen reader, and high cost.

There are thousands of different Bluetooth headsets on the market; if you would like to share your favorite with our readers, use the "Comment on this Article" link below to send us a letter to the editor. We are always interested in hearing your thoughts and feedback.

Product Information

Product: Bose Frames

Manufacturer: Bose

Price: $199.95

Product: AirPods 2nd Generation

Manufacturer: Apple

Price: $159 (with wired charging case) $199 (with wireless charging case)

Product: Plantronics M180 Wireless Bluetooth Headset

Manufacturer: Plantronics

Price: $35 (Amazon) $55 (Guide Lights and Gadgets)

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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January 2020 Table of Contents

Deborah Kendrick

If you have ever read a book or attended a seminar focused on finding a path to employment, chances are more than good that the toolkit for success included an urge to become a volunteer. If you have ever participated in or read the results of a survey seeking to identify the most pressing obstacles on that path to employment for people with disabilities, chances are also far more than good that you heard or read the word "transportation."

Ron Brooks was working on a master’s degree in international relations at San Francisco State when the opportunity arose to serve on an advisory board to tell the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system how they might do a better job serving people with disabilities. You might say he leapt in the air with both hands raised, so eager was he to help make the transportation situation better for him and other Bay area residents. His chance to complain led to a chance to help shape an improved Bay area transportation solution. More importantly, his volunteering led to a paying job that would launch a career. For more than a quarter century, Ron Brooks has worked in transit and paratransit. His career progression enabled him to make a difference in the transportation spheres in San Francisco, Florida, Arizona and, most recently, on a national level in his new role as vice president of transit market development for American Logistics.

For him, the career move was prompted in part by his tandem intrinsic awareness of how transit and paratransit could do more in the 21st century than it did 30 years ago, and of how vital dependable transportation is for people with disabilities.

Firsthand Knowledge

Due to congenital glaucoma, Ron Brooks had poor vision all his life. For a few elementary school years, he attended a residential school for the blind. Most years, he attended public school in Indiana and Kentucky. His vision was adequate for reading large print, drawing, riding a bike, and playing sports. During a game when he was 14, an errant basketball struck him in the head. and changed his low vision status to blind. For a while following the trauma, he received home instruction. He learned to read and write braille and to use a white cane. New skills in place, he returned to public school and has been moving forward ever since.

Volunteering has always been a key ingredient for Brooks. He was involved with the California Council of the Blind while in graduate school, which led to his involvement with BART. As a blind person, he knew the difficulties of depending on public transportation and, initially, saw a chance to serve on an advisory board as an opportunity to make San Francisco transportation friendlier. That role, as an advisory group member, enabled him to build relationships with BART staff and when a job opened, he was ready to apply.

The public misconceptions about blindness are such, Ron believes, that it is essential for a blind person to be better qualified, more motivated, and eager to take on any available task in order to be hired. That principle, along with plenty of ability and drive, has served him well at each personal and professional turn.

The Foundation: Valley Metro

For the 6 years prior to his joining American Logistics as vice president of transit market development, Brooks was a dynamic leader with Valley Metro, the transit system in Phoenix, Arizona. He managed services for light rail, dial-a-ride, and more. “There are 600 transit agencies,” he explains “and every one of them is different.” All are locally funded with some money from the Federal government. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on maintaining those riders the industry calls “Choice.”

Choice riders are those seniors and people with disabilities who use paratransit and general public transit and who have jobs and active lifestyles. “They work. They vote. They speak up,” Brooks says, and it makes good economic sense to keep them as customers. “The transportation landscape is changing,” he says, with Lyft, Uber, scooters, electric bikes, and more. Retaining those choice ridersthose who choose to, rather than must, use a particular transit optionrequires innovation.

Valley Metro, as well as other agencies around the country began incorporating other services into the paratransit model. Customers there can now call for a ride 24/7, get a ride within minutes or hours rather than days, and have a range of transportation options. Brooks was part of making that happen.

A Larger Stage: American Logistics

Brooks embraced the opportunity with American Logistics, he says, because it affords a larger stage for the same sorts of improvements he drove in Phoenix.

He and his family still live in Phoenix, but he travels about once a month to the American Logistics office in San Clemente, California. His overall schedule involves a travel agenda that claims 60 to 70 percent of his timetraveling to make presentations at conferences, proposals to transportation agencies, and otherwise building development opportunities and relationships. He meets with people on the phone, via webcasts, and in person. He writes proposals, makes presentations, and attends meetings.

Although he is currently between guide dogs, he has had dogs from the Seeing Eye for decades. At present, he and his white cane travel to cities around the country developing business for American Logistics. His primary tools are a laptop with JAWS, an iPhone, a braille embosser, his white cane, and AIRA. He prefers hardcopy paper notes in braille to a refreshable braille display and typically has such notes while presenting. A clicker in one hand to control the laptop and braille pages in the other is his own description of his presentation style.

He uses AIRA to obtain information from sighted assistants when he is in an unfamiliar hotel or airport, for indoor and outdoor navigation, as well as for tasks like assembling expense receipts for submission or identifying a captcha on a necessary website.

Life Beyond Work

Despite a demanding schedule as a respected thought leader in the transportation arena, Ron Brooks has also managed to create a wonderfully full life outside the office. He and his wife, Lisa, who is also blind, have three children, now ages 14 to 17, who all happen to be sighted and who have typically full and active lives. He proudly points out that all three were born at home, with the assistance of a midwife, stressing that it is important to make others aware of the full-featured nature and "normalcy" of a life that might include blindness. When not working, he enjoys cooking, swimming, hanging with his kids, and playing the saxophone.

Employment Advice from Ron Brooks

For those who are not yet employed or who are not happily employed, Brooks's advice is clear. Volunteer. Build relationships. Be willing to do anything that is within your realm of capabilities.

All too often, he believes, blind people are taught to wait and be patient, to be grateful. Gratitude won’t get you a job. You need to be the person who will do anything, who is willing to try. Take risks.

“As a blind person,” he concludes, “I need to be better qualified, better connected, and better able to do the job. … Computers don’t make hiring decisions. People do.”

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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January 2020 Table of Contents

Janet Ingber

Have you ever gone to an exercise class and had the instructor either freak out or totally ignore you? Both have happened to me. If you do not want to join a gym, do not live near a gym, want to avoid all the hassles, or want to supplement a gym program, the Aaptiv workout app is a very good option that also offers a free trial.

Aaptiv is an all-audio app that you can put on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. An Android app is also available but is not being reviewed here.

Aaptiv is a mainstream app with an extensive list of workouts and trainers, and new workouts constantly being added. Aaptiv has workouts appropriate for beginners, experts, and everything in between.

The Aaptiv iOS App

The iOS app is compatible with iOS 11 or later or watchOS 5 or later, and can be found here. The app is free just for a trial; there is a charge if you continue after the trial. An Aaptiv subscription on the iPhone or iPad is required for the Watch app.

Although Aaptiv’s entry in the app store says iPod touch is supported, there is a banner at the top of the App Store page indicating that only iPhone and iPad are supported.

The App Store description reads as follows:

Let's say you're doing a treadmill exercise. You know, the kind where you occasionally change the speed and incline. Do you really need a video of someone telling you "it's time to go faster?" Nah. Aaptiv packs great audio–only classes for all those workouts that just don't make sense for video. Smart design, great music, and a huge library of classes make even the most hardcore exercises enjoyable.

Aaptiv lets you work out when you want, where you want, the way you want. Get unlimited access to audio–based fitness classes led by certified personal trainers. Find the perfect rhythm with a playlist of music you already know and love.

Experience more than 2,500 workouts in a variety of categories including running, elliptical, race training, rowing, strength training, stretching, yoga and more. With 30 new classes added each week, there's a workout for every interest and fitness level.

Getting Help

You can access help by email at support@aaptiv.com There is also a Help Center.

Installing Aaptiv

When you first open Aaptiv, there are two buttons: Try it Now and Log In. Activating the Try it Now button loads a new screen with four edit boxes for first and last name, email address, and a password. Next is a Join button. The first time I tried to join, I was told I hadn’t filled in all the boxes. I went back to the previous page and selected the Try it Now button. I re-entered my information and that time it worked.

The next screen was for choosing your primary health goal. Survey options included: lose weight, build strength, and stay fit. There is a Continue button at the bottom of the list. Unfortunately, VoiceOver does not verify that buttons are selected. This was true throughout the survey. The next screen asked "How do you identify yourself?" Options included Male, Female, and Prefer not to disclose. The next screen used pickers for selecting your birthday and the following screen asked for current fitness level. Additional screens asked about your workout schedule, how you like to exercise, your activity preferences, and equipment access. Finally, you are asked to choose a healthy habit to start, such as drinking more water or doing a daily meditation before sleep. The next screen asks whether you want Aaptiv to remind you about your daily habit.

The final screen is for subscribing. Aaptiv offers a 30-day money back guarantee. There are two payment plans: $14.99 per month, or save 44% by paying for the whole year at once. If you select either option, you will be brought to the Aaptiv payment page. If you do not want to subscribe make sure to select the Cancel button.

Below the two subscription buttons is a Close button. This will bring you to Aaptiv’s main screen. However, you will not have access to all of Aaptiv’s features, including Coach. There is a menu button at the top left of the screen. Selecting the profile option in the menu will present you with payment options. At the bottom right of the screen is a Join tab. If you haven’t joined yet, Aaptiv will send you emails with special offers to join.

Using Aaptiv

Once you join Aaptiv, the bottom of the main screen has five tabs: Coach, Browse, Team, Programs, and Notifications. There is a menu in the upper left corner. The middle of the screen contains information related to the tab that is selected.

Coach

The Coach feature in Aaptiv uses the responses you gave to the survey you completed regarding physical activity and fitness goals. When the Coach tab is selected, there is a Weekly Agenda button near the top of the screen. Activating this button loads a screen with information about your daily streak (how many days in a row you’ve met workout criteria) and which workouts you should do on that day. There is an “Edit My Plan” heading where you can change workout days, activities, etc.

Workouts for the current day are listed further down the screen. For example, I do strength training on Mondays. Double tapping on the exercise category will display a list of recommended sessions. If I find something I want to do, I just select it. If I want something different, I can use the Browse tab to check what sessions fit my workout for that day.

I can also log a Non-Aaptiv workout in Coach. For example, if I went to an indoor cycling class, I can log it by entering the amount of time cycled and how many calories were burned.

Browse

When this tab is selected, the top of the screen is labeled Workout Categories as follows:

• Treadmill
• Strength Training
• Outdoor Running
• Stretching
• Elliptical
• Indoor Cycling
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Stair Climber
• Pilates

Next are collections of workouts with a central theme. Examples include Upper Body Focus, Your AM and PM routines, and Pilates collection.

Selecting any category will display a list of workouts in that category.

Team

The third tab is Team. This is Aaptiv’s social media forum. From the top left of the screen, flick right until you hear, “Add new team post.” Select the button and write your post.

Programs

This tab contains a list of programs that Aaptiv has created. Programs include Intro to Yoga and Kettlebell Conditioning. Selecting any of the programs loads a new screen with workouts for that program.

Notifications

This tab is where Aaptiv will notify you about different programs and challenges. For example, I received a notification when Pilates was added to Aaptiv. I also received a notification about how to edit my Coach Program.

The Menu

In the top left corner of the screen is a menu button. When the menu opens, you will be at the bottom of the list of categories. There is a Close Menu button at the bottom.

The first option is Profile. The first control is a button to “Add new team post.” Next is your name and how long you have been an Aaptiv member. Next are your team posts. There is no Back button to return to the first level. Selecting a different tab on the bottom will bring you back to the button to open the menu. The rest of the menu options have a Back button in the upper left corner.

The next menu option is Stats. Here is where you can find information about your workout history including the number of workouts you did last week and how many calories you burned.

The next two menu items are Saved and Workout History. You can save any of your workouts. How to do this will be discussed later. The Workout History option displays a list of which workouts you have performed. Each listing has the name of the workout, the trainer, level, and length of time.

The next menu option, Invite a friend, is where you can send a friend a guest pass to try Aaptiv.

The final menu category is Settings. The member information and fitness profile that you entered earlier will appear here. There is an option to choose whether you want to receive notifications from Aaptiv. Next is Apple Health Tracking. Activating this option will give instructions on how to integrate Aaptiv with Apple Health.

Selecting a Workout

If you are new to a particular form of exercise such as strength training or yoga, try the beginner workouts. Trainers will explain the movements you need to do. Trainers also explain movements and exercises in more advanced workouts. Some workouts will be labeled as “all levels.”

If you are still not sure how to do an exercise, consider doing a Google search for the move. For example, if I wanted to learn how to do a shoulder press, I would put “shoulder press description” in the search box. If you just put “shoulder press” in the search box, you will get a lot of videos. I’ve also used Siri and Alexa. They are not always correct, but they frequently give correct descriptions.

Making Your Selection

When ready to choose a workout, make sure the Browse tab is selected. Near the top of the screen is the heading Workout Categories. The category list is below the heading. Double tap on the category you want to choose. On the next page, even before you get to the list of workouts from the category, there are two buttons: Sort and Filter. Since there are many workouts in each category, these buttons can save time. The Sort button lets you sort by newest, top rated, most popular, and most played. The filter button lets you sort by time, difficulty, trainer, and music genre. Once you have made your selections, double tap the Apply button. Select the Cancel button in the upper left corner to get out of the menu without filtering.

After the Sort and Filter options is a list of all workouts in the category you selected. Each listing has the name, equipment if needed, level, length of time, trainer’s name, music style, and rating.

Once a workout is selected, a new screen will load with specific information about the workout. There is an overview section giving a general idea of the workout, including the estimated calories you will burn.

The What You’ll Need section lists any necessary equipment, such as dumbbells or kettlebells. If you want to do strength training but do not have any equipment, there are many body weight workouts.

The What You’ll Do section gives a description of exercises in the workout. Some of the exercises will be listed. Get a list of all the exercises by activating the Show All Moves button.

The next section is Music from These Albums. This shows a list of albums from which songs will be heard during the workout. Next are options to schedule the workout, save it, download it, share it, or start it.

Once you start the workout, a trainer will introduce themselves and explain the workout. There are many trainers so experiment to determine whom you like. I have my favorites.

The trainer may suggest modifications, for example, doing pushups on your knees rather than a traditional pushup. Nobody is watching and it is not a test.

After the Workout Ends

When the workout is over a new screen will appear. If you are using the Coach feature, your daily streak will be listed. Next is a button labeled Frame It. This is for taking a selfie. Many Aaptiv trainers suggest you take a selfie and post it to their Team page. The final item is a Continue button.

On the next page is the name of your workout and an opportunity to rate it on a scale of one to five. Unfortunately, this feature is not accessible. The next item on the screen is Your Stats. This tells you the length of time of your workout and approximately how many calories you burned.

Next is a Continue button. Under the button is the option to save the workout to your list. By default, your Favorites and To Do lists have already been created. If you want to add the workout to either of those lists, double tap the list button and a new screen will appear. Double tap the name of the list and the workout will be added. You can also create a new list. At the top of the screen is a New List button. If selected, you will be prompted to name your list. Once you have finished naming your list, activate the Create New List button. You can access all your lists through the menu at the top left of the main screen. If you have chosen to download a workout, it can be located there as well. Under the List button is a Share button.

Activate the Continue button to get to the next screen. Near the top left of the screen is a Skip button. Use it if you do not want to post to Aaptiv’s social media. If you would like to post, there are options to add workout notes and post a photo.

Apple Watch App

The Aaptiv app requires watchOS 5 and the iOS app on your iPhone or iPad. Aaptiv’s watchOS app gives you access to workouts in your Favorites list. When the watchOS app is first opened, it will retrieve the list. You will need to download the actual workout onto your watch. Do this by selecting the workout on your watch. A new screen will load. Workout information will be at the top and a Download button will be on the bottom.

Conclusion

Aaptiv offers a very good alternative to going to the gym. The app has a couple of accessibility issues: it's not possible to rate classes and there is no VoiceOver feedback when selecting options for your profile. The rest of the app worked well. I recommend the free trial to determine if Aaptiv is right for you. Just remember to cancel it if you do not want to continue.

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

Comment on this article.

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January 2020 Table of Contents

Jamie Pauls

If you were sitting at the dinner table and you asked a group of sighted friends what they look for in a great gaming experience, you would probably get comments such as great graphics, fast action, and possibly a good plot. If you asked a group of blind friends the same question, the first answer you would get would probably be an immersive audio experience with action and plot coming later. But what if you could have a game that included all of the above? Now that would be something worth getting excited about. Truth is, to find such a game you don’t have to look any further than AudioWizards from MyTrueSound.

In AudioWizards, you are an inhabitant of the world of Sondveiw. Evil forces are using elemental powers to attempt to invade your world. Along with your teacher, professor Saundaman, you must push these forces back. Actually, the good professor doesn’t do any fighting. He prefers to drink tea! He is a wealth of knowledge, though, and you really can’t complete your assignment without his help.

In the game, the evil forces—we’ll just call them monsters from now on—come at you in the form of audio distortions. Don’t ask me to explain that further. I can’t, and it doesn’t really matter much anyway! The point of AudioWizards is that you must identify the sound of the elemental spell being launched against you and fight it with a stronger elemental spell.

Game play is quite simple in concept, and quite difficult in practice. The first thing you must understand is which element is stronger than another. In the tutorial section of the game, you learn that fire beats earth, water beats fire, lightning beats water, and earth beats lightning. In a simple example of game play, you hear footsteps coming straight at you—headphones or earbuds are a must for playing AudioWizards. The footsteps represent the Earth element. You must swipe up on your iOS device—an iPhone 8 Plus in my case—to select the fire element, and then you will swipe up again to launch the elemental spell against the monster coming at you. Next, you might hear footsteps coming toward you from the right. In that case, you would swipe up to select the fire element, and then swipe right to launch the spell at the approaching monster. Next, you might hear the sound of the fire element coming at you from the left, so you would need to swipe right to select the water element, and then swipe left to launch the spell. Things can get really interesting when you have monsters coming at you from different directions all at once. You must identify the approaching element, determine which elemental spell you must use to attack the approaching intruder, and then carry out the sequence of actions required to launch the attack.

Swipe up to select the fire element, right to select water, down to select lightning, and left to select earth. The game operates in landscape mode on your iOS device, so you have plenty of room to maneuver.

The game contains two play modes—Story Mode and Endless mode. In Story Mode, you are guided level by level through the plot of the game. You are introduced to your eccentric but loveable teacher, learn about your enemies, and discover some unsettling truths about your world along the way. You will quickly learn that Professor Saundaman’s obsession with tea can be a bit of a hindrance to the success of your mission. Once you have completed the story proper, you have the opportunity to complete bonus levels to try to locate your teacher, who has gone missing. Curiosity might not be deadly to cats alone.

In Endless Mode, you engage in classic arcade-style action, trying to beat level after level of attacks. I was surprised to discover that the professor actually shows up in Endless Mode as well, although he doesn’t tell a story but simply encourages you as you go. In addition to the super spell available in the game’s Story Mode, you unlock wizarding hats in Endless Mode that give you extra strength and bonus points.

The game provides some explore-by-touch options such as determining your level of strength and how many lives you have left, but you won’t have a lot of time to check those stats, so you’d better move fast!

It's rare to find a game whose voice acting is as good as that found in AudioWizards. I found myself genuinely liking the teacher, and a couple of the evil villains made my adrenaline pump as they came at me. There is no profanity or extreme violence in the game, so adults shouldn’t be concerned about younger players being frightened by the action. The sound designers did a phenomenal job with the audio in this title, and the music is of a high enough quality that I never turned the volume down even though it might have aided me in identifying approaching monsters. Blind musicians were allowed to submit samples of their work for inclusion in the game, and all of the music has been produced by the blind community. One addition to the game that I believe would be of benefit would be a Learn Sounds option. While it could be argued that players will learn sounds during game play, thereby heightening the challenge, I would suggest that allowing players to focus on the sounds of various elements without the distraction of game play would be of benefit and not decrease the enjoyment of the game at all.

Postgame Wrap Up

If you're looking for an immersive and immensely replayable game, check out AudioWizards from MyTrueSound. Available for iOS at just $3.99 in the United States, this game is quite responsive on my iPhone 8 Plus. VoiceOver stays running, but never gets in the way of game play. Kudos to the game developers for allowing the blind community to participate in the production of this game from music to sound design. There are basic cartoon-style graphics available for those with vision as well.

You can learn more about the game by listening to podcasts from Blind Abilities and Blind Bargains, and you can participate in game discussions on AppleVis and AudioGames.net.

Now if the game developers could just find a way to provide a complimentary cup of hot tea along with each copy of the game, I would give this title a 5-star rating. In all seriousness, there is a lot to love about this game and almost nothing to suggest as far as improvements are concerned. Since at least one game update added more bonus levels to the game’s Story Mode, perhaps future updates will include more content. One can only hope that the success of this game will allow its developers to work on other titles as well. Something like Shades of Doom or GMA Tank Commander, perhaps? Now here I go traveling down memory lane. Perhaps that’s a topic for a future issue of AccessWorld. In the meantime, happy gaming!

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

Comment on this article.

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January 2020 Table of Contents

Submissions for the Holman Prize for Blind Ambition Now Being Accepted by The San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired

For the fourth year, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco is accepting submissions for the Holman Prize for Blind Ambition.

The Holman Prize is an international competition that is awarded annually to three blind individuals who wish to push limits and change perceptions about blindness around the world. It is named for James Holman, a nineteenth century blind explorer, who was the most prolific traveler of any private traveler before the era of modern transportation. Each winner will receive up to $25,000 to fund an adventure. From teaching blind people to be beekeepers in Uganda, to hosting the first conference in Mexico for blind children and their families led by blind professionals, to creating a travel documentary about navigating public transportation around the globe, the nine winners so far (hailing from five countries on four continents), have each found unique ways to make an impact.

Applications open January 15, 2020 and close February 29, 2020 at 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. Applications are accepted here.

To see the wide array of possible projects considered for the award in the past, see the 2019 finalists.

Podcast of the American Council of the Blind Webinar, Digital Accessibility for the Holidays, featuring AccessWorld Author J.J. Meddaugh, Now Available for Download

On Dec. 5, the ACB Information Access Committee (IAC) hosted an evening webinar on accessible shopping, technology, and home appliances with special guest J.J. Meddaugh, Author, AccessWorld. ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, and IAC Chair, Tony Stephens, led this discussion on what is naughty and nice in terms of accessibility, highlighted tips and tricks to improve the shopping experience, and shared ways that we can overcome the challenges when smart appliances fail the test on accessible interfaces for customers who are blind and visually impaired. Listen via your favorite podcast player or online To listen to the full webinar, including listener Q&A, visit the ACB Radio Special Events page. You can read the 2019 Holiday Gift Buying Guide here. A transcript of this podcast is available.

David Stupay Named Executive Director of Envision Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind.

Envision announced that it has named David Stupay as executive director of Envision Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind. Stupay joins the organization with a focus on expanding employment, programs and services for people with vision loss in the Dallas area. He will report to Michael Monteferrante, president and CEO of Envision, based in Wichita, Kansas.

“Envision Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind is evolving at a rapid rate, and the addition of David to the team will only strengthen our mission to improve the quality of life and provide inspiration and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education and research,” said Monteferrante. “David’s extensive background leading organizations through strategic expansion will be invaluable moving forward.”

Stupay has amassed a track record for growing and developing new revenue streams, increasing individual giving, launching new programs and improving quality in all aspects of operations. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Heartspring, a Wichita-based provider of services to children with special needs and their families. Earlier in his career, he was president and CEO of Opportunity Enterprises, a nonprofit organization in Valparaiso, Indiana, serving children and adults with disabilities, and was executive director of Esperanza Community Services in Chicago, an agency that also provided support to children and adults with developmental disabilities.

“I am honored and excited to be stepping into this role,” Stupay said. “By capitalizing on the initiatives that have already been set in motion and aligning our operation with the rest of the Envision family, we will continue to improve the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired.”

Envision announced the addition of Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind to its family in April 2018. The organization has since been taking steps to expand its impact beyond employment to include low vision rehabilitation programs and services to meet an increasing need among the 150,000 individuals with vision loss who live in the 11 North Texas counties it serves.

Most recently, Envision announced a collaboration to establish Envision Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind as the new home of the American Foundation for the Blind Center on Vision Loss and Esther’s Place, a specially designed and fully equipped model apartment that helps individuals who are blind or low vision learn to live more independently. A grand opening is expected in spring 2020.

Envision Accessible Products Hotline Provides Advice on Accessible technology for Home and the Workplace

The Accessible Products Hotline from Envision connects consumers with vision loss with top accessible products for home, office and personal use.

Call 316-252-2500 and a trained professional will assist you with your questions concerning a purchase or operating an accessible product. The hotline is Funded by a grant from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation, and is operated by the William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center. Products supported by the hotline were selected for their strong accessibility features and recommended by previous users who are blind or low vision. New items will continue to be added. Consumers can recommend a product by completing an online form. To learn more about the hotline, visit this page.

Dr. Ying-Zi Xiong is Named Latest Fellow for Postdoctoral Research at Gigi & Carl Allen Envision Research Institute

The latest postdoctoral fellow selected to conduct research at the Gigi & Carl Allen Envision Research Institute (ERI), which is housed at Envision, will focus on improving the quality of life of those experiencing both vision and hearing loss. Dr. Ying-Zi Xiong’s two-year research project will explore new ways to help individuals challenged by dual sensory loss (DSL), a condition that is prevalent among active and retired military personnel as well as a portion of the civilian population. The fellowship is sponsored by ADS, Inc. of Virginia Beach, Virginia, a company that provides military equipment, procurement, logistics and supply chain solutions for federal agencies and protective services.

“We are excited to have Dr. Xiong join us as our newest research fellow,” said Ronald Schuchard, Ph.D. FARVO, executive director of the ERI. “Her investigation of localization stands to improve how people with vision and hearing loss manage a wide range of everyday tasks, such as safely confronting approaching vehicles as well as improvements in social environments, identifying people in the public environment and locating the speaker in a group conversation. Difficulties with these tasks can hinder independence, hold people back from activities and induce isolation and mental health problems. We look forward to the new attention her findings will bring to the vastly overlooked challenges facing people with DSL.”

Dr. Xiong completed her postdoctoral work at the Minnesota Laboratory for Low-Vision Research at the University of Minnesota, which is under the direction of Gordon E. Legge, Ph.D, and is one of the premier low vision research programs in the United States. She has authored articles about tactile acuity in pianists and reading acuity as a predictor of low vision reading performance. Dr. Xiong’s project “Fonts Designed for Macular Degeneration: Impact on Reading” earned her the 2018 Envision-Atwell Award for research in low vision and low vision rehabilitation.

At the ERI, Dr. Xiong will focus on: Developing outcome measures that can be used by clinicians and therapists to predict real-life object localization performance; conducting real-life object localization tests to evaluate the combination of audiovisual factors in people with DSL; and investigating sound-light combinations to localize objects in public space to increase the accessibility of the environment. Dr. Legge, Dr. Peggy Nelson, executive director of the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science and former chair of the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Donald Fletcher, medical director at the Envision Vision Rehabilitation Center, will serve as her mentors.

Established in 2013, the ERI attracts postdoctoral researchers from around the world and has established Envision as a hub of vision rehabilitation research. It was created to raise the standard for vision rehabilitation patient care and remove barriers by investigating the functional implications of vision loss, access to interventions, optimizing rehabilitation therapies and developing accessibility technology. Postdoctoral fellowships at the ERI provide an educational and research environment where appointees identify solutions to improve the quality of life for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Dr. Xiong joins Jing Xu, Ph.D., sponsored by Bosma Industries, as part of the fifth class of fellows to conduct studies at the ERI. Dr. Xu is studying ways to help adults with vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration continue to drive safely. Other classes of fellows include:

• Susanne Klauke, Ph.D., fourth class of fellows, in her second year. Sponsored by Pitt Plastics in Pittsburg, Kan., she is investigating “Developing Rehabilitation for Interactions between Visual Impairment, Voice Recognition, Social Impairment and Depression.”
• Marco Tarantino, J.D., fourth class of fellows, in his second year. Sponsored by National Industries for the Blind in Alexandria, Va., he is studying “Experiences of Blind and Low Vision Individuals at Different Stages of the Employment Cycle as These Relate to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Regulations Implemented in 2014.”
• Güler Arsal, Ph.D., third class of fellows, in her second year. Sponsored by ibMilwaukee in West Allis, Wisc., she is exploring “Navigation and Wayfinding Expertise of People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired.”

Additional details about the ERI and its postdoctoral fellowship program can be found online

Phil Raistrick, Visionary Founder of En-Vision America, Passes Away

It’s with great sadness that En-Vision America announces the passing of their beloved company founder Phil Raistrick. He sadly and suddenly passed on November 20, 2019. Phil was a giant of a man and a visionary who was dedicated to providing those with vision impairment greater independence through technology.

The company began in Phil’s basement. Phil and his two visually impaired brothers loved playing poker. While one knew Braille, the other did not. That spark fed the flame that would become En-Vision America.

The i.d. mate, a talking barcode scanner, was born in 1996. Phil worked closely on developing the program that would evolve to the bar code scanner that we know and love today. It is a tool that allows individuals with a vision impairment to barcode items and use the reader to identify these objects. In addition to allowing his brothers to better play poker, now they could identify millions of items that can be found in grocery stores today.

Not long after the barcode scanner, Phil worked on the problem of medication safety with the introduction of ScripTalk, a talking prescription reader. This system has expanded into tens of thousands of pharmacies throughout the nation and Canada and has evolved to include large print labels, Braille labels, dual-language labels and Controlled Substance Safety Labels.

“With all his heart, Phil loved this company and what we stand for,” says David Raistrick, En-Vision America’s Vice President. “We stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him to make a difference in the lives of others. It is because of him that we will carry on helping so many people around this world.”

“Best of Innovation” Hands-On Coding System to Make CES Debut

Code Jumper allows children who are blind to learn computer coding alongside peers.

Computer coding can start you on a meaningful career path, but only if you have the access to learn it. Other tools that teach students are visually based using drag and drop. This doesn’t work for children who are blind or visually impaired.

With Code Jumper students connect small pods, building strands of code. It takes block coding off the screen and puts it on the table in front of them. They can change sounds to create stories, songs, and jokes. The pods functions are indicated by a unique color and differently shaped knobs so that students can easily identify each pod by sight or touch. Students not only learn basic programming concepts, such as sequencing, iteration, selection, and variables, but also learn skills like computational thinking and debugging, which can serve them in all areas of life.

Code Jumper, originally designed by Microsoft, was developed by American Printing House for the Blind (APH).

“Every child should have equal access to the important jobs being created in the technology field. Code Jumper gives them that access and opens a path to a meaningful career,” explains APH CEO, Craig Meador.

The Consumer Technology Association awarded Code Jumper and American Printing House (APH) with a highly coveted Best of Innovation Award during last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The award acknowledges the importance of creating technology that is inclusive and creates a future that belongs to everyone.

January 2020 Table of Contents