SITE e-Newsletter October 2011 Issue 30 Your eNewsletter comes this month with a heavy heart. Steve Jobs Former Apple CEO dies at 56 The news that Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and recent CEO, has died has left a sudden gap in the lives of the worldwide visually impaired Apple community. In a fitting tribute to a man who has been described as a visionary we include a a response made by a SITE member whose life was changed as a result of using Apple computers. As ever, we welcome your comments and content for the eNewsletter, please email info@sitescotland.org Take care and have a good month. The Editor In this issue: 01. News Update 02. Books, Games and Apps 03. Technology 04 Events Diary +Thank you, you changed my life The first Apple I ever got my hands on was an Apple II. When the Mac was launched, I can remember standing in an Edinburgh street staring at it with utter admiration in the window of an Apple centre. It was in 1989, as I was losing my sight, that I got my hands on what we have come to know as a Mac Classic. As the sight got worse, the font sizes got bigger. When I couldn't read any longer, I was bereft. It was a year before someone told me all I needed to make a Mac speak was one 3.5 inch floppy disk. At the time PCs needed expensive speech cards, or external speech synthesisers on top of much more expensive software, that it wasn't really possible to load yourself. Not the Mac. If you had the disk, you were cool so long as you could find the floppy drive. And you got to use the ordinary programmes everyone else was using, where with the PC, you had to use specialised cut down versions. As I came to expect, it was a much more egalitarian experience on the Mac. Then Apple began to incorporate a screenreader into the OS. Now today it is all part of Universal Access and you don't have to be blind, or have some of the other difficulties Universal Access assists with to appreciate that it is such a different and inclusive feeling to be able to walk into a store, or click on a website, to buy a computer and it just works for you. You don't need to buy anything else to make it accessible. You don't need third party niche software companies involved. You buy a Mac, it talks right out of the box. Also, I don't care if I can't see my computer, or should I say computers, they look and feel damned cool. I was at an event at the local visual impairment centre the other day and they were "showing off" a screenreader for a PC that cost £700 without the computer. Every time a new version of  Windows comes out, you have to buy an upgrade to the screenreader. I could hardly keep my face straight. Then there's the iPhone and the Ipad. As I was salivating all over the details of the new 4s at the launch, only the day before Steve Jobs died, I was thinking back to the way people had laughed at the idea of a blind person using a computer with a full graphics interface. Oh and, hey, how on earth can a blind person ever use a touch screen? I can use one very well, thank you. So long as it is on an Apple device. Blackberries can talk you know. They've got a keyboard, you really need to use one of them, I keep getting told. Don't forget to buy the Expensive additional software to make it talk though. No thanks. So from next week we will have the beginnings of full speech interface. Oh yes, that used to be the sort of stuff they had on Star Trek. Now we get to carry it about in our pockets. It's incredible how far we have come in such a short period of time. It seems to me that Apple, under Steve Jobs' direction, has never listened to why things can't be done. I want to thank Steve Jobs for making my life immeasurably easier. I want to thank him for making me feel like a human being who counts just as much as the next person, even if I can't see. Most of all, I want to thank him for his vision and imagination and the inspiration of what he has achieved. So, to his family and friends, my heartfelt condolences. I somehow think Apple are included in his family. What a terrific legacy he has left to the world. at this point, I find it hard to think of what that world would have been like without him. ASG Watch the Steve Jobs StamfordUniversity speech : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc + 01 News Update ++Apple Accessibility Online Survey We need your feedback on which products, assistive technology etc you want us to deliver with Apple. The next accessibility event will cover what you wish to see the most. To obtain your feedback please complete our online survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/75XF6FN ++Hardest Hit rally The Hardest Hit Rally will take place in - Edinburgh on 22 October. People will be assembling at the Ross Bandstand, Princes Street Gardens from 11am.  Speeches will begin at 12pm.  Confirmed speakers include Lord Low, Margaret Curran MP and Pam Duncan of the Independent Living In Scotland project.   For more information or to register your interest please contact Caitlin on 0131 652 3140 or email: Scotland@hardesthit.org.uk. ++Last CSIP Open Day The last in the series of Open Days at the CSIP, Glasgow will take place on Thursday 10 November from 3PM until 8PM. If you have not attended any of the previous Open Days this is your last chance to see what is on offer at the newly refurbished Centre. The band, Siamsa, will finish the celebrations, so come along and make a night of it! ++London Calling Guide dogs will be allowed to use moving escalators for the first time ever in London. An outdated byelaw requiring all dogs to be carried on escalators finally changed for guide dogs. The result of research and collaboration between Transport for London (TfL) and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Visually impaired and other disabled people with trained assistance dogs will be able to use moving escalators legally for the first time on the Tube, Docklands Light Railway and London Overground thanks to the revision of a dated byelaw. ++Web Discovery An online survey of how blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind people use computers and assistive technology to access information has been launched by the American Council of the Blind and Google. The survey – which is open to international web users, aims to discover how people discover, choose and adopt assistive technologies; how they make decisions about whether to switch or upgrade tools; and their support needs, “as a first step to developing effective new ways of accessing information in the cloud”: http://www.acb.org/googlesurvey ++Glasgow School of Art Student Seeks Your Help A research study which is concerned with improving the understanding of innate capabilities of visually impaired people seeks your help. A PhD student at The Glasgow School of Art is conducting research which aims to develop a deeper understanding of the varied nature of visual impairment and how different people use different tactics or strategies while they make journeys which are both familiar and unfamiliar to them. If you are interested in ;participating in this research contact Ji Wei Wu, School of Design The Glasgow School of Art Tel: 07411 752318 Email: J.Wu2@student.gsa.ac.uk ++See The World ThroughHer Eyes As a result of staging a photographic Exhibition to illustrate how she sees the world through her own eyes an Ayrshire woman has developed a website with a difference. Linda Howard has no central vision as she suffers from a rare form of Macular Degenerative disease known as Punctate Inner Choroidopathy (PIC). But she is determined to make people aware of how she sees the world so Linda borrowed a friend’s camera to take snapshots of how the world looks through her eyes for her recent exhibition. Speaking to SITE Linda said "The website was a by product of the photography exhibition, I wanted folk that couldn't make it to the Harbour Arts Centre to be able to see the images on display."  The website was viewed over 4000 times over the launch weekend in 42 countries and led to a school in America wanting Howard to do a live video chat with students. Another exhibit is planned over the next few months with a launch in Glasgow. http://www.seeingtheday.com +02. Books, Games and Apps ++New Kindle Fire Amazon, the world’s most popular online ebook store, has updated its Kindle ebook readers with the release of four new models. The three cheaper e-ink models retain the accessibility of the previous Kindle, However, the flagship Android-based tablet hybrid, Kindle Fire, has proven disappointing for people with disabilities. The Kindle Fire is likely to provide strong competition to the iPad due to its similar functionality, compatibility with Amazon’s ebook, music and streaming video services, and its remarkable affordability.  As with many tablet computers, the device can connect to a Wi-Fi point and provide access to a variety of online material through its built-in Web browser, access to a variety of music and allow the storage of ebooks. Its touch screen, a significant step forward from the previous Kindle, is likely to prove popular with consumers who like the iPad-style experience. However, the move to an Android platform appears to have reduced the accessibility of the Kindle which was one of the first e-book devices to incorporate zoom and text-to-speech functionality.  An article in the Chicago Sun-Times states that “Alas, Amazon has ‘nothing to announce’ about the Fire’s accessibility features, beyond the Kindle’s existing text-to-speech reading feature.” The lack of accessibility improvements, and the implied removal of spoken menu features is viewed by many as more a fault of the Android operating system, but disappointment remains from many bloggers that even the limited accessibility features of Android such as the free accessibility tools that can be installed, or the commercial accessibility applications that are also available. One possible silver lining is that Amazon has indicated that some Android apps can be added by the user but Amazon has not confirmed this to date. The kindle Fire retails in the UK for £89. +03. Technology ++Thinking about buying an iPhone? The new iPhone 4S was announced this week, which means prices for the current iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS have dropped. Could now be a good time to bag an iBargain? The 4GS starts at £500 for the 16GB model, when bought from Apple SIM-free. Buying direct from Apple means you can choose any phone network and put any SIM card in the phone, so even though it's a lot to pay out up front, you'll probably save in the long run. Throw a SIM card in there, for example, and you could spend as little as £10 per month, even with unlimited Internet browsing. The phone networks are still in the process of sorting out prices, but they'll offer the phone at a reduced price as long as you sign up for a contract. Most contracts last two years, and include a set allowance of free phone calls, text messages and data -- data being particularly important, as the iPhone is all about browsing the Web. You'll probably spend more in the long run over the length of a contract -- and there's no getting out of the contract even if you spot a better deal -- but it's the easiest way to get hold of a new iPhone if you don't have £500 just lying around. The iPhone 4S looks identical to the iPhone 4, which is pretty disappointing if you were waiting for a brand spanking new phone. But it does mean you can buy an iPhone 4 and you won't look like you have yesterday's phone. The current iPhone 4 will update to the same software as the new phone, so you will have many of the new features, although you won't get the cool new Siri voice-control feature. Apple obviously knows this, as the iPhone 4 isn't cheap: the new 8GB model costs £430. You can currently get an iPhone 4 free on a network contract, but you're looking at paying around £40 per month for the privilege. That may change when the 4S actually lands. The iPhone 3GS, which is now two years old, can be bought for £320 from Apple. It's free on selected contracts from several networks. The iPhone 4S hits shops on 14 October. The update to iOS 5 for existing phones will be available from 12 October. +04. Events Diary 15 October The Scottish Talking Newspaper Conference, The Inchyra Grange Hotel, Polmont, FK2 0YB Contact Janelle Scotland, Chair Janelle.Scotland@astn.org.uk 20 October ABILITY FEST 2011, The Thistle Hotel, Glasgow  Festival of Opportunities for Disabled People 10 November Centre for Sensory Impaired People, 17 Gullane Street, Partick, Glasgow Open Day 15.00-20.00 Contact Hazel McFarlane, Centre Manager on 0141 276 5250 or eMail: Hazel.McFarlane@sw.glasgow.gov.uk for further information. download the newsletter, including back issues, from our website. SITE is a charity registered in Scotland. Charity No. SC 0366056. Registered address: Centre for Sensory Impaired people, 17 Gullane Street, Partick, Glasgow G11 6AH. Subscribe If you wish to subscribe to the SITE newsletter please send an e-mail to info@sitescotland.org with the word 'Subscribe' in the subject header. Unsubscribe If you wish to unsubscribe to this newsletter please send an e-mail to info@sitescotland.org and include the word 'Unsubscribe' in the subject header. Working together to develop opportunities for the visually impaired community ++Newsletter ends