Dear AccessWorld Readers,

Happy holidays from everyone here at AccessWorld! For our US readers, by the time you read this, it will either be, or nearly be, Thanksgiving. When I think of what I am thankful for, aside from friends, family, health, etc., I also am thankful that I am blind now instead of any other point in history. If you think of all of the technology currently available, life is more accessible than ever before for people with vision loss. With services like Lyft and Uber, DoorDash and Uber Eats, Instacart and Shipt, I feel like I could easily move to any moderately sized city in the US and be able to live freely and comfortably with little issue. OCR and image recognition technology has also come so far from even 5 years ago. I can quickly sort packages using Seeing AI, read my computer screen if something crashes, determine where I am by scanning for signs when I am traveling, sort through my photos with image recognition, and complete countless other tasks. Technology itself is also more accessible than ever before. Whenever a new digital device is released, I can assume that it will have at least some sort of basic accessibility. The same is true for apps. I find that most apps I download, as long as they aren't games, generally are, at least mostly usable, if not perfectly accessible.

Technology aside, the attitudes towards people with vision loss are more positive than ever. We still have a way to go, but I have noticed that in employment specifically, we are finally making strides towards the attitude that a person with vision loss can do something as the default instead of the reverse.

We begin this holiday issue of AccessWorld with two articles to aid you in your search for great gifts for the people on your list. First, Janet Ingber brings us a shopping guide detailing the accessibility of three shopping apps, Chewy, Zappos, and Best Buy. Next, from myself and other staff at AFB, comes the 2021 Holiday Gift Guide.

Following our holiday content for this month, Deborah Kendrick gives us something to celebrate in an article about Joshua Miele and the MacArthur grant he received.

We finish the issue with two product reviews, Jamie Pauls reviews the BrailleSense 6 while Steve Kelley details the Vision Buddy head-mounted wearable.

As always, I am so thankful for all of you that read AccessWorld each month. Your readership is a major motivation for us. What are you thankful for this holiday season? Are there any gifts that you received or are giving that you think would be of interest to people with vision loss? I am always interested to hear your comments and often, we then share them with the rest of the readership in our Letters to the Editor piece.

Happy Holidays,

Aaron Preece
AccessWorld Editor and Chief
American Foundation for the Blind

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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Janet Ingber

Welcome to the AccessWorld 2021 Holiday shopping guide! Each of the apps covered here—Chewy, Zappos, and Best Buy—have corresponding websites. The mobile apps tend to be less cluttered and easier to use than the websites. All three retailers have 24/7 live customer service.

As always, make sure you are at the genuine app or website for the retailer you'd like to shop with. If something doesn't seem right, or a deal sounds too good, it's possible you are dealing with a scam.

App and website layouts change frequently, especially during the holidays.

If your device supports screen recognition, try turning it off if you are having trouble with an app.

Chewy

Chewy offers products for dogs, cats, fish, birds, small pets, reptiles, farm animals, and horses. The company has both an iOS app and an Android app apps.

Getting Help

Phone: 800-672-4399 Help is available 24/7. Additional help can be found on the company's FAQ page

App Layout

The Chewy home screen has a search box at the top and a Cart button in the upper right corner. Next are options including Offers, Shop by Category, and Create a Pet Profile. The last option on the home screen is an option to sign in or create an account. At the bottom of the screen are five tabs: Home, Health, Autoship, Account, and Menu.

The Health tab offers products such as specialty foods, prescriptions, and supplements. They also have a Connect with a Vet option, which is available only to Autoship customers.

In the Autoship tab, you can have items shipped to you on a regular basis.

The Account tab has notifications, payment methods, an option to create an account, order history, and more.

The Settings tab is similar to the home screen.

Creating an Account

The Account form is well labeled. You will need to enter your name, an email address, and a password. If your device supports Face ID, you will then get a notification asking if you want to enable it on the Chewy app. Once you've created an account, you will receive an email from Chewy that includes their customer service number.

Shopping for Products

There are several different ways to shop. I needed some dog treats and I knew the brand I wanted so I did a search on that. Search results were clearly labeled and there was no clutter. All product information was easy to find and read.

When I added an item to my cart, it was easy to confirm that it was there, since the Cart button at the top right of the screen automatically confirms the number of items.

For my next item, I used the Search form at the top of the screen. Results were displayed below the form. I found what I wanted and selected it. The next page had all the product information. I added it to my cart.

Checking Out

I activated the Cart button and the new screen had all my items. There were options to remove an item or change quantity. Next was a list of additional products that I might want to purchase. Below that was a Proceed to Checkout button.

The next page is where you can review your order, add a gift card, and check out. Chewy accepts accept Apple Pay, or you can check out by manually entering your information. A few minutes after you submit an order, Chewy will send a confirmation email.

Conclusion

Chewy has an uncluttered app. It is easy to search for products for your guide dog and any pets. Customer service is friendly and helpful.

The only downside is that rotor navigation by links, headings, and forms is mostly unavailable. These features are available on their website.

Zappos

Zappos started out just selling shoes, but now they carry clothing, jewelry, and more. There are items for men, women, and kids. Zappos is known for their excellent customer service and free returns.

The company has both an iOS app and an Android app

Getting Help

Phone: 877-927-2332 Help is available 24/7. Additional customer service can be found on the Zappos website.

App Layout

The Zappos app has a Search button at the top of the screen. Selecting it brings up an Edit box. At this point, VoiceOver might say something that does not make sense such as "Logo other purse." Ignore it. If using VoiceOver, double tap and enter your query. Results will be under the edit box. I had to close and then re-open the app to get back to the main screen.

On the home screen is an extensive list of categories including women, men, kids, brands, sale, clothing, and browse all departments. Below this list is an option to log in or create an account. Once you have viewed items, the most recently viewed items will be below the account section. At the bottom of the screen is an option to tap to call Zappos.

At the bottom of the home screen are five tabs: Home, My Accounts, Departments, Favorites, and Cart. The Home tab is selected by default when you first open the app. This is the main screen. The Account tab is used for shipping, payment information, previous orders, email preferences, and app settings. There is also an accessibility survey.

The Departments tab has an even more extensive list of departments including Beauty, Pet Shop, and Toys and Games. The Favorites tab is where items you have marked as favorites will be listed. The Cart tab contains items you have added to your cart. When you add items, the number of items in your cart is on the Cart tab.

Creating an Account

You can create a Zappos account with a separate user name and password, or you can sign in with Amazon or Google. Zappos is an Amazon company. All Edit boxes are clearly labeled. I signed in with Amazon.

In the App Settings menu in the My Account tab is an option to log in with Face ID.

Shopping for Products

I wanted to buy a stretch bracelet. I started by going to the Departments tab and selecting Jewelry. Various types of jewelry were listed, including bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. I selected bracelets and when the new screen loaded, there were options to sort and filter results. The options were all clearly labeled. Options included sorting by price, by style, and by material.

When the next screen loaded, there were many results. Selecting a result brought up a description and an Add to Cart button. I found what I wanted and added it to my cart.

I next decided to shop for new sneakers. On the Home screen, I chose Shoes. Next, I selected Women's Shoes and then Sneakers & Athletic Shoes. I was able to easily narrow choices and find exactly what I wanted.

Checking Out

I activated the Cart tab and the page listed all of the items I'd added to my cart. There is an Edit button in the upper right corner of the screen and a Keep Shopping button in the upper left. At the bottom of the screen is the Proceed to Checkout button.

On the next screen are shipping options. Next was payment information. Since I signed in with Amazon, my shipping and payment information was already entered. The Edit boxes to enter information are clearly labeled.

Toward the bottom of the screen is a summary including tax, if applicable. The final control is a Submit My Order button. Once this button is selected, you will receive an email confirming your purchase.

Conclusion

The Zappos app may seem a little overwhelming but they have done a very good job of organizing content. The screens are not cluttered. I have used Zappos many times and I have always found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful.

Best Buy

Best Buy carries a wide variety of electronics and related products. Much like other companies, Best Buy also has both an iOS app and an Android app app.

Getting Help

Phone: 888-237-8289 Best Buy also has live chat and a Help Center. When the Best Buy app is first installed, you will be asked for permission to use your location and Bluetooth.

App Layout

On the home screen is a search box, and an option to scan a QR code. Next are Help and Cart options. These same options are on the Products and Account tab.

Below this are options to search for a specific type of product. These include Laptops & Computers, Apple, and Cell Phones., Below the list is a button to display all 18 product categories. Further down the screen was an extensive list of deals.

The Products tab had many more categories including Audio, Wearable Technology, and Toys & Games. Here is where you can also find out about service contracts and additional tech support. Use the Stores tab to find the closest Best Buy store.

Use the Account tab to create an account or sign into your existing account. Use this tab to enter payment information. Your subscriptions are listed here. The last option in the Account tab is Settings. Once your account is created, your name will be on the Account tab.

Creating an Account

An account can be created through the Account tab. There is some clutter on the Account page so entering information can be tricky. You will need to give your name and email address. Next, enter and then re-enter a password. You can choose different recovery methods. You can link your account to Apple or Google, but this is not mandatory. Face ID can be enabled for recognition.

Once your account is set up, you will receive an email from Best Buy asking you to confirm your email address.

Purchasing Products

I used the Search box at the top of the screen in the Home tab. I wanted to purchase the newest AirPods so I entered AirPods 3 in the Search box. My first result was "Apple AirPods - 3rd generation." Below this were other similar items including different types of AirPods and charging cases. At the top of the results were several sorting options including Gift Ideas and Current Deals.

Each listing had the item name, color, review ratings, price, and an Add to Cart button. Activating the item's link brought up more information about the product and information about care plans.

As you look at several different products, information about them will be on the home screen. Best Buy will also show products related to products you have purchased or viewed. This can make the Home tab cluttered.

I did my same search but used the Products tab instead of the Home tab. I selected Audio from the products list. The new screen showed a variety of audio categories including Microphones, Sound Bars, and a wide variety of headphones. I selected Earbud In-Ear Headphones.

At the top of the next screen were options to sort by price, brand, and features. I found the AirPods. The same information was listed as when I used the Search form.

I needed an external hard drive to back up my new MacBook Air. From the products tab I chose Computers: Laptops. On the next screen, I selected Hard Drives and SSD Storage. Sorting options were at the top of the screen. I found the one I wanted and added it to my cart.

Checking Out

When I went to my cart, my items were listed. You can remove items or add more. You will need to choose whether you want to pick up your purchase at a Best Buy store or have it shipped. I chose to have it shipped. You will need to enter your zip code to calculate shipping costs. If you want to pick up your purchase, you will need to select which store.

The Cart screen also includes information about support and services that Best Buy offers and information about related items. The Checkout button is at the bottom of the screen.

Best Buy offers three checkout methods. You can enter all your shipping and payment information manually, use Apple Pay, or use PayPal. I used Apple Pay and it worked perfectly. Within a few minutes, I received a confirmation email.

Tech Support

Despite their excellent reputation, I did have one issue with Best Buy's Geek Squad phone tech support. I could not get my recently purchased backup drive to install on my laptop. I had no trouble quickly reaching a support person, which was great, but we were disconnected and nobody called back. They had my phone number because I verified it with the agents twice.

I called again, spent some time explaining the issue, and tech support started to walk me through the installation process.

He repeatedly told me to click on graphics, despite my having said that I was blind and that the graphics were unlabeled. To expedite things, I used sighted assistance and I allowed tech support to remotely access my computer.

The tech said there was something on my computer that he couldn't see and he therefore needed to escalate to level 2, for which I would have to pay $39.99 unless I already had a paid Geek plan. The drive cost about $47.

At this point, we were disconnected. For the second time, the Geek Squad did not call back.

A sighted person brought the backup drive and my Mac to the Geek Squad desk at a Best Buy store and they solved the issue in under two minutes at zero cost.

Conclusion

The Best Buy app is definitely usable but you just might need a little more patience than with some other apps or sites. Each page has a great deal of information and some pages are cluttered. As with Chewy and Zappos, rotor options are not a good way to navigate the Best Buy app.

The Bottom Line

Each of these apps offers a large variety of products and all have live help. Unfortunately, rotor options for Headings, Links, and Forms do not work well with any of the apps. Best Buy takes a little more work than Zappos and Chewy, but it is usable. Best Buy's tech support was disappointing.

Happy Holidays!

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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Aaron Preece, with contributions by Melanie Peskoe and Melody Goodspeed

Once again, we at AccessWorld bring you our annual holiday gift guide. With few exceptions, most gifts appropriate for someone sighted will also be appropriate for someone with vision loss. That being said, there are many items that are of interest to people with vision loss in particular that might not always be obvious. In this gift guide, I will provide my personal recommendations for gifts for people with vision loss. All of my recommendations are products or services that I use personally and can vouch for. In addition to my recommendations, we also have recommendations from other staff here at AFB for gifts in various categories.

In addition to this gift guide, be sure to check out our gift guides from last year. Bill Holton wrote a detailed guide providing suggestions for accessible kitchen products. The products he suggested are still on the market aside from the "Fox Run Glass Boil Alert" and the "Gotham Steel 7-in Nonstick Ti Ceramic Pancake Bonanza." Deborah Kendrick also wrote a gift guide with a focus on gifts for people with vision loss that is still relevant today.

Tech Accessories

It is easy enough to determine if something like a computer, smartphone, tablet, streaming media device, or other piece of technology is accessible with a quick search of the AccessWorld back issues. What can be less obvious is the suitability of the various tech accessories that we use with our devices every day. In this section, I will cover a few tech accessories that I use daily and have found are particularly useful for someone with vision loss.

Raycon: The Gaming Earbuds

I still find that Apple's Airpods are the gold standard for accessible wireless earbuds, but like most things Apple, premium quality also comes with a premium price tag. The most common issue I find with other wireless headphones is the unfortunate tendency for a high-latency connection. Latency is a measure of delay in a network—in this case, how long it takes for your device to send an audio signal to Bluetooth headphones. Even if a pair of headphones has great sound, if they have high latency, even a half-second delay in the audio getting from your phone to the headphones can make using a screen reader an absolute pain.

Enter the Raycon Gaming Earbuds. Raycon is a company that produces a range of Bluetooth wireless earbuds and speakers. I picked up the gaming earbuds specifically because they have a mode called HyperSync, which aims to reduce latency as much as possible. Happily, I've discovered that with this mode enabled, the latency when using VoiceOver on my iPhone is near nonexistent.

The earbuds are accessible in other ways, as well. The online manual found linked on the Raycon site isn't perfect, but accessible enough that you can learn the various touch controls available on the earbuds. The earbuds are also quite verbose, including voice prompts when the headphones connect to each other and your device, as well as announcements as you change audio profiles and make other changes using touch controls.

One downside to the Raycon Gaming Earbuds that I noticed personally is that they are in-ear headphones. Since I am using my phone with VoiceOver the majority of the day, I find myself walking around with earbuds in most of the time. For that reason, I prefer headphones that don't block sound from outside so I can be more aware. One compromise I noticed is that it is possible to take the ear tips off of the earbuds and use them without. This allows outside sound in, but also makes the sound of the earbuds quite tinny. If you either don't mind in-ear headphones or are willing to switch out earbud tips depending on what you are listening to and the situation, these might make a great choice for low-latency earbuds.

At the time of writing, the Raycon Gaming Earbuds retail for $99.99. It is also often possible to find coupon codes that lower the price further; for example, there was a 15% off code available when I made my purchase.

The Plugable Bluetooth Full-Size Folding Keyboard

Bluetooth keyboards can be a useful and versatile tool, though I've personally found that the more compact they are, the more difficult they are to use. On the opposite side, full-size Bluetooth keyboards are often too large and unwieldy for easy transportation if you are trying to travel light. The Plugable Bluetooth Full-Size Folding Keyboard solves that problem by being a full-size laptop keyboard while also folding into a size barely bigger than a large smartphone. What I personally appreciate is that once the keyboard is unfolded, the three sections fit together flawlessly, providing a whole keyboard that feels as if it was one piece, without any awkward gaps or protrusions between folding sections. The keyboard can be used wirelessly on Windows, Android, iOS, and possibly other operating systems but can also be connected to a device using the included USB cable and used as a wired keyboard.

As you might expect in a product coming from A.T. Guys, the keyboard is described in great detail on the page above and all the functions are explained in an accessible way. The detailed description and clear, accessible instructions were some of the reasons I picked up this keyboard.

The keyboard has only a few downsides and these are dependent on your use case. I use the device primarily on Windows, and the F1-F12 keys are not the defaults for the top row. This means that any time you want to use a function key, you have to hold the function key toggle each time you enter your command. After consistent use, this becomes second nature, but isn't quite as fluid as using a dedicated function row. Due to the way that the keyboard folds, it isn't feasible to rest the keyboard directly on your lap without a solid support beneath it. Luckily, I have discovered that if you reverse the case so that it is folded with the inside facing outward, you can balance the keyboard on the case, which lifts the entire thing high enough above your lap so that it doesn't fold on you. To make sure the keyboard doesn't slide off the case in this position, I set the case so that the two raised tabs that hold the keyboard when the case is closed are facing the same direction that the keyboard is tilted. For example, if the leg where I've balanced the keyboard is elevated, I will set the case so that the tabs are facing me.

At the time of writing, the keyboard retails for $54.95 from A.T. Guys.

Kindle Unlimited

We have previously recommended various streaming services in this gift guide, from Netflix to Amazon Prime Video, but streaming services are not only restricted to audio or video. Even though it might not seem so on the surface, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited is essentially a streaming service for books! If the person on your list is an avid reader and has seemingly exhausted the books of interest to them available from services like Bookshare or the National Library Service, Kindle Unlimited may be a good choice. For $10.00 a month, you can download and read as many books from the Kindle Unlimited catalog using the accessible iOS, Android, or Windows Kindle app or a physical Kindle Device. The collection contains millions of books, and in comparison to Bookshare or NLS, contains primarily self-published work. This opens up an entirely new catalog of reading material for the avid reader and in addition, Kindle Unlimited also allows a user to subscribe to three different magazines as part of their membership.

I personally love the Kindle app on iOS in particular for its accessibility and ease of use, and have found many books I would not have otherwise if I hadn't subscribed to the service. The fact that most of the books are self-published may make some wary, but I have been surprised at the quality of most of the books I have read using Kindle Unlimited.

I see Kindle Unlimited as a way to supplement a subscription to either Bookshare or NLS, as both of these services provide all of the traditionally published books you could ever want. But if you find yourself having read most of the greats in your genre of choice and are looking for something new, and in some cases more daring, a self-published book may be just what you are looking for. To get you started, for fans of fantasy, I can highly recommend the Cradle series by Will Wight. Wight started self-publishing his novels around 8 or so years ago, and recently earned a place on The New York Times Best Seller list for audio books. His Cradle series is a fast-paced fantasy epic inspired by popular modern Chinese novels with all 10 books to date available on Kindle Unlimited.

Gifts for the Senses

Next up, Melanie Peskoe, AFB's Public Policy and Research Coordinator, recommends some gift ideas for the person who enjoys experiencing life with all their senses. Whether its luxurious texture, opulent fragrance, decadent tastes, or superb sounds, here are some gift suggestions suitable for everyone on your list.

When shopping for gifts of texture, think about things that feel good against the skin. This could be a cozy blanket or some fuzzy slippers. Here are a couple of great options for both. This super-soft, cozy cashmere-like throw blanket is so soft and luxurious, and at only $35 it will be a perfect gift that doesn’t break the bank. Texture can also come in something cozy for the feet. Here are a couple of warm and stylish slipper options for both men and women that look very similar to a couple popular name brands without the name-brand price.

If you have someone on your list who loves fragrance and scented things here are a few ideas to get your nose headed in the right direction. This Crisp White Linen Reed Diffuser Set will provide a fresh neutral fragrance that’s great in any room. Or, for the person who enjoys the ambiance of candles without the potential fire hazard, check out this rustic black metal and vintage light bulb wax warmer. Simply plug it in and add a scented wax melt and enjoy both the aroma and the warm light as well.

Moving into gifts to please the foodie on your list, here are some delicious options. Roasted in small batches, Bones Ground Coffee Sampler Pack is a great option for the coffee connoisseur in your life. Not into coffee? How about Godiva gourmet hot chocolate, anyone? If something more in the chewable category is in order, here is a tasty meat and cheese box from Hickory Farms that’s also quite tasty. Let’s not forget the chocolate lovers out there. Here’s and absolutely scrumptuous Godiva Gold sampler box of chocolates to be savored and And finally, saving maybe the best for last, is a budget-friendly but exceptional quality pair of wireless Bluetooth earbuds by Anker. These babies pack a powerful audio punch for the person on your list who loves to groove. With these little gems you can’t go wrong!

Book Recommendations from Blind Authors

On September 15, AFB was proud to host a conversation with blind authors on writing, publishing, and the creative process, moderated by JoAnna Hunt, head of accessibility at Amazon Books and Retail. The conversation featured three authors who write in a variety of genres, and they offered some great book recommendations for the avid readers on your list. Be sure to check out their books, too!

JoAnna Hunt asked all of the panelists to share the books that they are really passionate about and that “you’re pushing into the hands of your families and friends and peers and colleagues and saying, ‘You must read this!’”

Jo Elizabeth Pinto—author of Daddy Won't Let Mom Drive the Car: True Tales of Parenting in the Dark and The Bright Side of Darkness, replied, “Well, in true fashion of sharing other blind people's work, Kristen Witucki has written a story called Outside Myself that's really good. It's got great blind characters in it. And Amy Bovaird has written nonfiction books about her sight loss from retinitis pigmentosa and journeying into the mobility situation. She has some that are serious and some that are more humorous. She's got a whole series called Mobility Matters. And finally, to start your journey into reading blind authors, Patty Fletcher has a book about getting a guide dog called Campbell's Rambles: How a Seeing Eye Dog Retrieved My Life.

Georgina Kleege is Professor of English at University of California, Berkeley, where in addition to teaching creative writing classes she teaches courses on representations of disability in literature, and disability memoir. She is the author of More Than Meets the Eye: What Blindness Brings to Art (2018), Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller (2006), Sight Unseen (1999), and Home for the Summer (1989).

Kleege recommended a collection of contemporary plays by disabled playwrights called Beyond Victims and Villains, edited by Victoria Ann Lewis. She noted, “One in particular is by a writer that I admire, unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. His name was Lynn Manning. He was an African American poet and playwright and performer. Manning himself was blind and the main character in the play is blind and sort of coming to terms with his blindness. One of the things that I like about the play is it's a play that audio describes itself.”

Zachary Shore is Professor of History at the Naval Postgraduate School and Senior Fellow at the Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and author of A Sense of the Enemy, Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions, and What Hitler Knew, among other works. Shore said, “This is going to be the hardest question I'll be asked today, I'm sure!” He went on, “I like nonfiction, of course, and Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe, is one of the best page-turners I've read in a while. It's a gripping history about the Irish Republican Army and the troubles in Ireland. Very artfully done. Absolute potboiler-page turner.”

“Another is Candice Millard's River of Doubt, about Teddy Roosevelt's trip down an Amazonian tributary. I think it was 1912, 1913. That's an adventure read, also a page-turner, but you learn a lot about the region and the tensions in the group that go down there. It's just a gripping read.”

“For a more thoughtful, reflective book, there's an older book that I often go back to that I always enjoyed called The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen, a classic. The outer journey to the Himalayas reflecting an inner journey. Those are always fun. Those are three I would choose among hundreds more I'd like to recommend, but I'll stop there.”

Giving to Give Back

Looking to give while gifting? AFB's Major Gifts Specialist, Melody Goodspeed, has a range of suggestions for several gifts that either directly allow you to give to AFB, or find a gift from one of our friends or partners.

First, AFB is currently selling Limited-edition Braille Hats with proceeds going to support our development and airing of a full-length Helen Keller documentary. As the page states:

Your purchase funds this feature-length film that celebrates Helen Keller's legacy of activism while moving the conversation ahead to a collective story of full access for all, rather than an individual story of one person's exceptional accomplishments. The documentary also employs a new and exciting creative approach to audio description, sound design, and descriptive transcription by those who are part of the blind community, exemplifying blind pride, creativity, and interdependence.

If you are curious what each hat looks like, we have provided highly detailed descriptions on the page above.

Victoria Watts is the founder of Victorialand Beauty, an amazing skin care line that is fully inclusive. She uses a symbol system and raised QR codes on the packaging. I LOVE her products! She also is a sponsor of AFB!

Aille Design, pronounced "I" design, produces fun black or white braille t-shirts. You can have them custom made, or select either the black t-shirt which states "Fashion is for everyone" or the white T-shirt, which states, "My simple white T," all in Swarovski pearls. She also sells masks. A percentage of the proceeds is donated to AFB.

ESAS Beauty produces organic cologne that is an amazing hand sanitizer. The bottles are lovely and have braille on them. They make great stocking stuffers.

All of the above suggestions come from individuals who have also been interviewed on AFB's Inform & Connect podcast. If you would like to learn more, check out the Inform & Connect homepage which contains links to all three seasons to date.

The Bottom Line

We hope you find the gift suggestions we have provided helpful as you shop for the important person with vision loss on your list, or even yourself. Remember that at AccessWorld we often review products, services, software/apps, and others that might also serve as great gifts through the year. For example, this year, we began a multi-part series focused on the various streaming services available, with the first being published in our February issue. Have a look through our Back Issues, you never know what you might find!

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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Deborah Kendrick

When Joshua Miele was a little boy, his family had its own sort of personal terrorist attack. A neighbor was at the gate, and four-year-old Josh ran to let him in. That ill or evil young man poured acid on the little boy's head, burning him, blinding him, and coming close to taking his life.

Horrific as the tale is, and Miele does still mentally commemorate the date 48 years later, it did not kill him, and in some ways it had much to do with shaping the person (part scientist, part philosopher) he has become.

By the time he was 11, Miele was thriving in school. He was an avid reader and writer of braille, and was still having his life interrupted by repeated surgeries aimed at making him look "more normal."

Other things were far more interesting to him, however, than seemingly pointless plastic surgeries.

There was, for example, a party for the colleague of a parent. It was 1981 and the man being celebrated was one of several to receive the very first MacArthur fellowships. This MacArthur thing, Josh remembers thinking, was something amazing: tangible proof that a person was doing authentic and important work. The prize was something to remember and maybe to dream of being worthy of receiving.

Perhaps recognizing the value of producing work that mattered had something to do with his outlook on his ongoing surgeries.Fitting in is a goal for most middle schoolers and, as the kid who was both blind and burned, Miele was no exception. Yet, with wisdom far beyond his years, he was emphatic in his decision that he did not want any more surgeries. He wanted to get on with his life and focus on what he could do, not on what was lost.

Brooklyn to Berkeley

Today, Miele describes himself blind first:blind professional, blind husband, blind father. He is proud of his blindness and of the work he has done and foresees doing. Most of that work benefits blind people.

His pride in being blind, in being good at being blind, started when he headed off to college at the University of California, Berkeley. There he made new friends who were blind, friends who were not ashamed of blindness and not trying to "pass" for sighted, and his attitude toward this important part of himself underwent a dramatic change.

When he first arrived at Berkeley, Miele planned to be a physicist, a rocket scientist. But one of his friends helped him get a job with Berkeley Systems, an acccess technology company. Working there, he realized that the area of equalizing technology for blind people was a much more personally satisfying fit for his talents.

There would be thousands of people working in physics, he rationalized, but not so many working to equalize technology opportunities for blind people. Being one of those blind people himself, he saw that his contribution and creativity belonged to that field. To his physics degree he added a PhD in psychoacoustics and extended a graduate fellowship with the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Institute into a full blown career. He eventually left Smith-Kettlewell for Amazon, where he has worked for the last five years as a principal accessibility researcher.

Then, in early September of this year, Miele received a text message from someone on the MacArthur staff, asking him to schedule a phone conversation. One tiny part of his heart had always dreamed of this honor since learning of its significance at age 11. Now that he was about to have a phone conversation with someone representing the MacArthur Foundation, he was afraid to allow himself to believe it was real. Maybe they wanted to talk to him about a friend or colleague being considered for the award, he mused. Or maybe it was one of his brilliant friends playing a quirky joke. Of course it turned out that the conversation was to inform him that he had been selected as a 2021 recipient.

Those of us who knew him already thought of him as a genius; now, that status would be proclaimed to the world!

What Is the MacArthur Fellowship?

In 1981 (the year Miele's parent's colleague, Paul Richards, was selected), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recognized the first class of MacArthur fellows. The award is given to approximately 25 individuals annually whose creativity is recognized in a given field or fields. Unofficially known as the "genius grant," the honor has been given to scientists, poets, inventors, journalists, musicians, and more. Other MacArthur fellows who might be recognized by AccessWorld readers include 2006 honoree Jim Fruchterman, founder of Arkenstone and Benetech , blind author Ved Mehta (1982), and composer and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda (2015).

MacArthur grant recipients are not chosen for a single or particular accomplishment. Rather, the grants are viewed as investments in the future creativity of individuals whose work may or may not have resulted in significant discoveries, but demonstrated creative prowess that could lead to something magnificent.

You can't nominate yourself and you can't know that you have been nominated. All candidates are researched thoroughly and winners are notified, as Miele was, only weeks before the public announcement is made and are expected to maintain silence until that public revelation.

In addition to astounding prestige, the grant comes with $625,000, paid out over a period of five years, with absolutely no strings attached. Fellows are not required to put the money toward any given project or to report on outcomes.

Projects, Yesterday and Tomorrow

Many of Miele's Smith-Kettlewell projects are still evolving. TMAP (Tactile Map Automation Project) makes it possible to emboss a tactile map with braille labels, beginning with any given address as its center. The project was launched while he was at Smith-Kettlewell, and later granted to the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where he previously served on the board of directors, including a four-year tenure as president. To learn more about obtaining a tactile map of your own work or school environment, contact the Adaptations Store, San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired (415-694-7301). An outgrowth of TMAP led to a project producing maps of all transit stations in San Francisco, providing both tactile and audio information.

A crowd-sourced approach to audio description for YouTube, YouDescribe, another Miele project, brings curious blind people and sighted volunteers together to add audio description to YouTube videos.

The Blind Arduino Project, launched in 2015, brings blind people together for coding, soldering, and creating, sharing the tips and tricks necessary to making projects without sight.

What's Next?

In many ways, Miele will just continue doing what he was doing before the MacArthur announcement. He is still working to enhance accessibility at Amazon. He is still involved in the lives of his kids, ages 16 and 18, and still playing bass in the group he formed with his childhood friend that plays meditation music for Jewish services.

While there are no rules guiding or restricting the use of the $625,000 grant accompanying the MacArthur fellowship honor, Miele immediately had some notion of how to put some of that money to work.

He anticipates forming a nonprofit organization, a place where blind thinkers and makers and dreamers can carry on with some of the projects he has inaugurated as well as others not yet known. His organization, he says, will be the spiritual descendant of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Institute, a place where blind programmers and engineers can teach one another and where the mission is open source accessibility. He expects to start slowly, but the funding will allow him to build such a foundation, and his experience with nonprofit organizations will be a valuable guide.

He loves his job, he says, where he can weigh in on making devices and tools accessible, and relishes the freedom to continue using his own fine-tuned skills to bring more opportunities to blind people.

Although his primary computer these days is an iPhone 12 Mini, because it can be always in the pocket and available, he is a long-time zealous user of braille—whether reading on a refreshable braille display or writing with a slate and stylus. He claims braille in the same way he claims blindness: with pride and the deep satisfaction that accompanies awareness of doing something well. As a child, he wanted to hide his blindness, but as an adult, he embraces it as integral piece of the fuel that sparks his creativity. Stay tuned as great things will inevitably be emerging from Berkeley, Calif. And let's all celebrate the recognition of one very special blind genius!

To learn more about Joshua Miele and/or his past projects, check out the first of a five-part series on the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Institute that appeared in AccessWorld in 2013.

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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Jamie Pauls

In the January 2018 issue of AccessWorld, I had the privilege of writing about the BrailleSense Polaris, a 32-cell notetaker from HIMS Inc. That unit ran the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 operating system. It contained 64GB of internal storage with 3GB of RAM. The unit promised 18 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a compass and gyroscope, and a 13-megapixel camera.

Earlier this year, HIMS released the BrailleSense 6, which doubles the performance of pretty much everything on the Polaris. Running Android 10, the BrailleSense 6 has the same 32-cell display with 64GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. All the apps designed by HIMS have been tweaked, and a few new things have been added to sweeten the deal.

As with the BrailleSense Polaris, I recently had the chance to kick the tires on the BrailleSense 6. In the paragraphs that follow, I will compare many of my observations of the Polaris with those of the BrailleSense 6. I will also touch on some new experiences I had with the newer product that I did not have with its older sibling. Finally, we’ll talk about how you can get your hands on a BrailleSense 6 if you so desire, and I will give some overall thoughts on using a dedicated notetaker designed especially for the blind as opposed to a mainstream product such as an Android phone or tablet.

Something Old and Something New: Getting Acquainted with the BrailleSense 6

When I unboxed my demo unit, I was reminded of what I really like about the BrailleSense products. The device was sleek in my hand and very lightweight, coming in at 1.5 pounds. I especially like the case that comes with this unit. It was easy to place on the device and is textured so that I never felt as though I might drop the notetaker. The strap was very adjustable and felt comfortable to me the entire time I used the product. The ports on the device are USB-C, and a really nice touch is the addition of braille letters embossed directly on the body of the unit in strategic places. The braille letter P easily identifies the power port, and V identifies the video output port. On the left side of the unit, the braille letters H and M identify the 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks respectively.

While I did not use the earbuds that came with the Polaris, I did check out those that came with the BrailleSense 6. They were surprisingly comfortable, and it was easy to determine which earbud was for the left and right ear. Although there were no tactile indications of this, the earbuds only fit comfortably in my ears one way, and a test of audio confirmed that they were placed in my ears properly. A control on the cord of the earbuds allowed me to talk to Google Assistant, much as Apple Airpods allow one to communicate with SIRI.

As with the Polaris, the BrailleSense 6 comes with a very comprehensive braille command summary reference book. My mild complaint with the command summary that came with the Polaris was that there were some odd braille formatting issues in the document. I found the same thing with the new command summary document, although I had no problems reading the documentation. I would like to see HIMS give the command summary book a bit of TLC, which would only improve an already pleasant experience for the user.

Another nice carry-over from earlier units is the inclusion of a three-position switch on the front of the unit that allows the user to lock the top panel of the unit, or all of the buttons including those on the front of the unit. Of course, the third position of the switch serves to unlock all functions of the unit. Another familiar three-position switch is the one that allows the buttons on the front of the unit to be used for controlling media functions, DAISY navigation in books that are marked up for that format, or the ability to use the buttons to control functions in various applications. I tended to leave this second switch in the position for playing audio using the five buttons located on the front of the unit. Again, this is the same as with the Polaris.

It didn’t take long for me to recall how much I enjoy the feel of braille as well as typing on the Perkins-style keyboard of the BrailleSense products. Also, the buttons used for advancing the braille display when reading are very quiet—something that anyone who reads braille while doing Internet broadcasting or recording voice-overs might want to consider when trying to decide what braille display to use for their work.

Also familiar are the nine Perkins-style braille entry keys, the four function keys that perform many BrailleSense tasks in conjunction with other keys, as well as the alt and Control keys on either side of the Spacebar that can be used in certain applications. I never had a reason to use these last two keys during my evaluation of the BrailleSense 6.

When I looked at the BrailleSense Polaris, I found that the case made it difficult to use the volume buttons on the left side of the unit—so much so, in fact, that I actually thought the unit was defective. I had no problems manipulating the volume controls on the BrailleSense 6 as it rested in its case.

The BrailleSense Vocalizer voices are familiar enough, and I never bothered to change from the Samantha voice that was set up when I received my demo unit.

One very welcome addition to the BraileSense 6 is the ability to easily work with documents stored in Google Drive. Once set up, it was as easy for me to use Google Drive on the BrailleSense 6 as it is on my PC. I never even bothered to attempt using Dropbox on the BrailleSense 6, but used Google Drive exclusively to share documents. It was nice not to have to fiddle with an SD card on the device. Remember: ridge side up or you will put the card in wrong.

I found the HIMS YouTube channel to be an excellent way to learn how to use the BrailleSense 6. Any topic imaginable is probably up there, from setting up your Internet connection to using email. All demonstrations are done in real time rather than simply pasting in responses from the device being demonstrated. Earle Harrison and Jenny Axler are familiar voices to many, and their presence is quite reassuring when learning to use HIMS products.

The attention to consistency and detail is remarkable when using HIMS products. Space + D deletes content in a Word document, but it also closes apps when you are wanting to free up memory and make your device run faster, or shut down a troublesome app. You can set bookmarks in documents, while reading books, or listening to audio files. There are global hotkeys for doing most anything you want on the device. My favorite is F3 + I to jump right into Internet settings for getting your device online quickly. Those are just a couple examples among dozens that I could mention.

Once I signed into my Google account, Gmail and Google Calendar synced across all my devices including the BrailleSense 6. In my Polaris review, I stated that email was quite adequate but that I would probably default to using my phone or PC rather than email on any notetaker, and I still feel exactly the same way after reviewing the BrailleSense 6. Same with Internet browsing, although both tasks are quite doable on the BrailleSense 6, and I could use them in place of either a phone or PC if I needed to. It's nice to be able to quickly review upcoming appointments on the BrailleSense 6, and there are hotkeys for moving by day, week, month, or year as well as the ability to go to a specific day in order to view appointments. That said, I would probably add appointments using my smartphone, and in fact that is how the calendar is demonstrated on the HIMS YouTube channel.

The BrailleSense 6 has both Word Processor and Notepad applications. The Word Processor handles .docx files, while the notepad handles .txt, .brf, and PDF files. It would be nice to have everything in one application, but it is easy enough to work with both apps. Between the two applications, any document format that one would typically require should be covered; not all compatible formats were mentioned above.

I have always been delighted with the robust media player found in HIMS products. A plethora of file formats can be played, playlists can be created, recordings can be made, and one can listen to FM radio stations using the cord from your earbuds as an antenna. BrailleSense 6 adds the ability to listen to Internet Radio stations as well. You can choose from a database of stations or add your own. One particularly clever feature of the media player is the ability to use cursor routing buttons to jump to various points in time in an audio file.

Netflix and YouTube work even better on the BrailleSense 6 than they did on the Polaris. HIMS brought a database program over from earlier products, and you can do pretty much anything imaginable with it. I listened to demos of the database program in action, but I didn’t personally play with it.

Another app that has been brought over from older devices is a Bible program. It is simple to use, and I was pleased to find that several translations of the Bible are available, including my current favorite, The New Living Translation. You will need to download the Bible program and install it, since it does not come preinstalled on the unit.

On the BrailleSense 6, you can now search, download, and read Bookshare titles with ease.

During the entire time I evaluated the BrailleSense 6, I never ran the battery down. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing a low battery message at all. I was frankly delighted to observe that when the BrailleSense 6 is in standby mode, the battery barely drains at all. Even after not touching the unit for a day or so, the battery level was still in the high 90% range.

Although I downloaded the BrailleSense 6 user guide as a Word document, I almost never used anything but the onboard User Guide found on the BrailleSense 6 itself. It is the same User Guide that anyone can download from the Web. Topics are easy to locate, and the guide is well written. In conjunction with the HIMS YouTube channel, it should be no problem for most people to learn to use the product fairly easily.

I never bothered to connect the BrailleSense Polaris to my PC or iPhone, but I did both with the BrailleSense 6. I downloaded the drivers for JAWS, although I had to contact tech support to ensure that I was getting the right ones. Although JAWS recognized the unit the first time I connected it, I couldn’t get JAWS or NVDA to recognize the unit on subsequent attempts. I didn'tt go to great lengths to troubleshoot this problem, since I used another braille display on my PC while using the BrailleSense 6. My experience connecting the BrailleSense 6 with my iPhone was painless and worked wonderfully the entire time I used the unit.

The only other mild issue I had was when I changed the panning buttons on one side of the device to move by paragraph while keeping the other side set to move by display length. I got the paragraph setting to stick initially, but I found that my display reverted back to moving by the length of the display rather than moving by paragraph.

My Overall Impressions of the BrailleSense 6

The BrailleSense 6 from HIMS is a portable, powerful notetaker with a well-designed user interface. HIMS has opted to create a robust suite of programs for many tasks including browsing the Web, although third-party Android apps can also be run on the device. I enjoyed writing and editing documents, streaming content from the Internet and playing audio downloaded to the BrailleSense 6, and using the product with my iPhone. The battery life was impressive, the unit was quiet, and the braillewas crisp and clean under my fingers. This would not be the braille display I would keep tethered to my computer. Besides the issues I mentioned above regarding connecting the unit with JAWS and NVDA, it's just too portable to leave at home.

At $5,795, the price of the BrailleSense 6 is its biggest drawback. Today, so-called smart braille displays can easily connect to iPhones and PCs while providing some bare-bones functionality such as notetaking, calculator functions, etc. It's becoming more and more difficult to justify the steep price of devices such as the BrailleSense 6. If, however, a person really does want a powerful notetaker designed especially for blind people that doesn’t require any fiddling with other devices such as phones and computers, the BrailleSense 6 is a product you might well consider.

If you have a BrailleSense Polaris, you can upgrade to the BrailleSense 6 for $2,295. HIMS will take the braille display from your Polaris and put it into the case of a new BrailleSense 6.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the BrailleSense 6, and in this review I have just scratched the surface of what it can do. It would be worth your time to read my original Polaris article along with this one to get a better feel for my experiences with HIMS products.

Product Information and Resources

The BrailleSense 6 from HIMS Inc. can be purchased for $5,795, or upgraded from a Polaris for $2,295.

Check out the HIMS YouTube channel to learn how to use the product along with videos on other offerings from HIMS.

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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Steve Kelley

"I'm having trouble seeing the TV," is one of the most frequent remarks from clients with low vision, during an initial low vision assessment. Of course, the simplest solution is to just move closer to the TV and reduce as much glare as you can. This isn't always possible. Vision Buddy, a relatively new wearable, takes a whole new approach to TV watching with low vision: put the TV screen right in front of your eyes on a headset.

The Vision Buddy headset is worn like virtual reality goggles. The headset has a built-in camera for looking out into the environment with added magnification, and a display on which your TV can be streamed and the image magnified. The headset is easy to operate right out of the box, does not require Wi-Fi or an internet connection to work, and is wireless, so the user is not restricted by a cord while watching TV.

Vision Buddy Basics

Ease of operation is one of the biggest features of Vision Buddy. With the headset on, the Power button, located on the bottom right side, powers Vision Buddy on in about 15 seconds and displays the Magnifier mode, a live view through the camera. This is one of the three main feature modes available: Magnifier, Reading, and Television. Cycling through these three options is done by pressing the Features button, the largest of the three buttons on the right side of the headset. Above the Features button is the button to zoom in, and below it, the button to zoom out.

On the bottom left side of the headset are the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. To the right of these is a standard audio jack for earbuds or headphones. Next to the Power button on the bottom right of the headset is a magnetic charging port. The internal battery is reported to last 2.5 hours, and an external battery is also included that will last up to 6 hours.

The Vision Buddy appears to be built from a Pico G2 Virtual Reality headset, which weighs in at just under 10 ounces, making it one of the lighter wearables. In addition, the headset is fitted with a counterweight on the back of the head strap to make it feel more comfortable.

Camera Magnification

There are two camera modes for the Vision Buddy, Magnifier and Reading. In both, you can zoom in up to 10 times for magnification. Reader mode inverts the colors, so, for example, when looking at black print on white paper, the image is changed to white text on a black background. In both Magnifier and Reader modes the image quality was best in daylight or bright light. With ample light, the auto focus worked quickly and the image was sharp at lower magnifications. As magnification increased the image began to pixilate a bit. In dimmer light, the auto focus took longer to adjust, and the image quality was a bit more pixilated, even at the lower magnifications.

While viewing in Magnifier mode, built-in optical character recognition (OCR) is available by pressing and holding the Function button. When doing so, a rectangle appears on the screen and Vision Buddy prompts you to put the text you wish to read within the rectangle and release the Function button to process the text. This processing uses software on the Vision Buddy itself, so an Internet connection is not required. Text is processed within a few seconds and appears as white text in a darkly shaded rectangle and is read out loud by Vision Buddy. The text size cannot be enlarged by zooming in. The OCR works best with bright light, but overall accuracy is not the Vision Buddy's strongest feature, though it may be adequate for spot reading of short text, such as mail.

Watching TV

Included with the Vision Buddy is a transmitter box that connects to the TV and streams the TV signal to the headset wirelessly. It may sound complicated but it's not. During the review, this transmitter was connected to both and Apple TV and Roku. Both worked well and were easy to connect. Vision Buddy is not limited to these two services; it will work with almost any cable or streaming setup.

To set this up, the HDMI cable that connects the TV display to the streaming device (Apple TV, Roku, etc.) goes first to the Vision Buddy transmitter. An included HDMI cord then goes from the transmitter to the streaming device. Once the transmitter is plugged in, the television signal is broadcast over two small antennas attached to the transmitter and picked up on the headset when it's in Television mode.

Watching TV on the Vision Buddy is immersive with a sharp image. The image can be enlarged using the Zoom In button, and for many viewers with low vision, this will be a great improvement over watching TV from across the room or even sitting right in front of it. The headset also has two speakers built into the bottom, so the sound can be adjusted for the wearer.

During the review, on both the Apple TV and Roku there was a delay in the TV signal on the headset, so the audio coming from the TV display did not sync with the headset. To remedy this, if watching TV alone, turn down the audio on the TV and use the audio through the headset, which synch with the display. If watching with others who are not wearing a Vision Buddy, plug in a set of earbuds or turn down the external audio on the headset and listen to the TV audio. The TV audio will be slightly ahead of the image appearing on the headset. This bit of a lag also made it necessary to slow down when using the remote to navigate the menus in either the Apple TV or Roku because that delay made it easier to make the wrong selection.

While watching TV through the headset, the display is centered in front of the viewer's eyes. Several times when lifting the headset or adjusting it, the angle or position of the display changed. Pressing and holding the Zoom Out button or switching to another mode using the Function button and then returning to Television mode re-centered the view. For those accustomed to using a computer screen magnifier, where you can scroll to different parts of the screen to read smaller print or detail, this is not the way the magnification works on the Vision Buddy—you see the whole screen magnified and will need to move your eyes around as opposed to moving your head, to focus on the extreme edges of the display.

The Vision Buddy transmitter is not limited to just TV displays. Although this was not tried during the review presumably anything that has an HDMI port or can be connected to an HDMI port, computer or tablet, can be displayed through the headset.

Conclusion

Vision Buddy really adds a whole new dimension to watching TV for the low vision user. The immersive view attained in the headset, additional magnification, speakers built into the headset, and the wireless connectivity make it a device worth checking out for the TV aficionado. Users looking for more options with magnification, like additional color filters in the reading mode or more accurate OCR, will want to do some comparison shopping. Extra features often complicate the usability of a device. By keeping it simple, Vision Buddy certainly is one of the easiest to use wearables.

Vision Buddy is available from the Vision Buddy website for $2,995 and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee according to their website. The website offers videos and a downloadable copy of the User Guide and Setup Guide. In addition, a contact phone number (833-787-2020) is listed for any additional questions.

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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