1618 the vOICe – Seeing With Sound (Apr. 27, 2016)


1618 the vOICe – Seeing With Sound (Apr. 27, 2016)


Show Notes

The vOICe technology is a general approach for “seeing with sound”. It uses visual input from a web cam or PC display that is converted to audio output. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey speak with Pranav Lal about the technology and how it can be used to visualize data and provide the blind with a representation of the world around them.

1617 Blind Marathoner and Celebrity Guide (Apr. 20, 2016)


1617 Blind Marathoner and Celebrity Guide (Apr. 20, 2016)


Show Notes

Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey speak with Erich Manser, a blind accessibility engineer at IBM, and Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” about their experiences running the Boston Marathon together. They talk about how they got together, the special trust required to run as partners, and what happens when things don’t go quite as planned.

1616 Tandem Bicycle Racing (Apr. 13, 2016)


1616 Tandem Bicycle Racing (Apr. 13, 2016)


Show Notes

This week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Matt King about the thrill and excitement of competitive racing on a tandem bicycle. Matt set a world speed record, participated in three Paralympics, and underwent an intense training regimen. He describes these experiences and what it feels like to be going over 45 MPH around turns banked at more than 45 degrees!

1615 Accessibility of Facebook Products (Apr. 6, 2016)


1615 Accessibility of Facebook Products (Apr. 6, 2016)


Show Notes

Do you struggle using Facebook with a screen reader? Matt King, a member of the Accessibility Engineering Team at Facebook, describes many tips and hotkeys for using Facebook more efficiently. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey also talk with him about an exciting new feature launching this week to help make photos more accessible to people with vision loss.