Assistive Technology Hot Corner Mike Mote & Israel Cazares

Unbroken: A Family's Journey Of Love, Faith, And Survival.
Episode 1: The Rupture
Produced by: Unity Access Media and AT Hot Corner Podcast
Directed by: Israel Cazares
Hosted by: Mike Mote
Music used under license at: pond5.com
Special thanks to: Ryan Harvey, Webmaster and Roger Allen, Audio Supervisor.

This month, both JAWS for Windows and Apple IOS announced major software updates, and Mike Mote is here to preview everything IOS 17 and the JAWS 2024 public beta have to offer.




First, Mike shares a critical analysis of built-in accessibility in IOS 17, touching on Voiceover's responsiveness and improvements to Apple Music's integration with the screen reader



Also, Mike interviews Ryan Jones, vice president of software development for Freedom Scientific about the JAWS 2024 public beta. The major software updates include a feature that allows a blind user to determine where their face is positioned in the camera lens. Split Braille mode lets a user split their Braille display in half, which comes in handy with documents containing footnotes or comments.




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The Hot Corner is back after a two-month hiatus, and football season is coming up. This month, we're focusing on accessible entertainment on a budget using SiriusXM and an HDHomeRun.




Mike shows us how to navigate the SiriusXM streaming website with its built-in accessibility shortcuts. He demonstrates how to find games and events by category using button navigation.



Ryan demonstrates the technical, but mostly accessible, PC interface for the HDHomeRun over-the-air network tuner. It lets you stream live TV channels from your digital antenna across your network to PC's and smart TV's.



As a side note, VO Starter, the first app to teach blind and low vision users to use the iPhone and iPad, is back with all new content.




The AT Hot Corner is based off a monthly assistive technology support group which meets every month on Zoom. To learn more about joining these live meetings, or if you have a comment or suggestion about accessible entertainment on a budget, please contact us.

This month, we discuss the progress we've made in advocacy and accountability to make technology accessible. Our team looks back on the very first accessible devices they each used as a child. We also stress the importance of educating the public through advocacy and accountability if we hope to continue progressing towards the goal of universal accessibility across devices.



But first, Mike shares the latest updates in IOS 16.5, including a sports tab in Apple News. IOS devices with LiDAR technology will soon take advantage of new enhancements such as the "Point and Speak" feature and the "Personal Voice". Finally, users of Mozilla Firefox 113 will notice a significant boost to accessibility and performance.



As always, we appreciate your listening and reviewing our podcast. If you have any questions or ideas for future broadcasts, please contact us to stay in touch.

Mike Mote takes a deep dive into the Microsoft Edge immersive reader on this month's episode. You'll learn about:




How to use ReadAloud with its built-in natural voices to read the contents of a news article while skipping past the menu of navigation links.



How to work with the hundreds of voice options in the immersive reader.



How to quickly switch between open tabs with one keystroke.



How to work with your favorites, move favorites into folders, and add new favorites.




If you have an idea for an episode or have a comment or suggestion for our team, feel free to contact us and stay in touch.

Several JAWS update enhancements have been released in the latest build of JAWS 2023. Mike Mote discusses a few highlights, including scripts for the desktop version of Whatsapp. The update adds an easier way to manage notifications and rules, as well as enhancements for Google Docs and PowerPoint. Read the "What's New" document to learn more about the new JAWS update enhancements.



Ryan Harvey goes back into Microsoft Teams or a final time to discuss the two versions available from the Microsoft Store. You can't sign in with a work or school account using the personal version of Teams, and vice versa. We'll show you how to determine which version you have installed and how to obtain the right one for your needs. For context, check out this Microsoft Answers thread.



Finally, Israel Cazares has left us for family and medical reasons. He shares a brief update to conclude our episode.



As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for future episodes. Feel free to contact us directly anytime.