1947 Medical Transcription (Nov. 20, 2019)

Show Notes
Blind since birth, Kathy Melton became a medical transcriptionist over 40 years ago. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with her about how the tools, processes and accessibility have changed over the years and about her experiences in the field. She has since gone on to start a business training other blind people to be medical transcriptionists.

1946 Bristol Braille Multi-Line Refreshable Braille Display (Nov. 13, 2019)

Show Notes
Bristol Braille is now shipping the Canute 360, a refreshable multi-line braille display with 360 characters. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Ed Rogers, founder and managing director of Bristol Braille, about how the device works and how the designers managed to make the Canute 360 at a price that makes it a viable option for braille users.

1945 Life As a Blind Music Producer (Nov. 6, 2019)

Show Notes
Ross McGregor is a blind music producer who has produced over 300 albums during his career. He was recently presented the Australian “Hands of Fame” award for his lifetime achievements. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Ross about what a music producer does and how the technologies and methods for music production have changed over the years.

1944 Encore of 1508 Blind Parenting of Sighted Children (Oct. 30, 2019)

Show Notes
First time parents have many questions. But what if one of the parents is blind? That is the case with Ron and Denise Miller who are raising 2 year old Russell. They talk with hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey who raised two sighted children with one parent being blind. They discuss a variety of topics including feeding, playing, reading, and driving.

1943 NFB-NEWSLINE Expands to Smart Home Devices (Oct. 23, 2019)

Show Notes
NFB-NEWSLINE is a free service from the National Federation of the Blind that gives subscribers access to hundreds of national and local magazines and newspapers through a variety of delivery options. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Scott White, director of NFB-NEWSLINE, about how this service can now also be accessed using your smart home device.

1942 Voting Rights (Oct. 16, 2019)

Show Notes
Although the availability of accessible voting methods for people with disabilities has improved over the years, there is still a long way to go. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with attorney Scott LaBarre and technical specialist Curtis Chong about their work with the National Federation for the Blind and others to improve voting access for the blind.

1941 HaptImage – A New Way To Explore Images (Oct. 9, 2019)

Show Notes
HaptImage is a system that provides blind individuals with multi-sensory feedback so that they can explore images in real time. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey speak with co-founders Shruthi Suresh and Ting Zhang, both graduate students in engineering at Purdue University, about this novel technology, the motivation behind it, and how it works.

1940 Forage Candle – Winner of Hadley New Venture Competition (Oct. 2, 2019)

Show Notes
The Hadley New Venture competition is a forum for aspiring entrepreneurs to present their business plans and compete for cash prizes to help jump start promising ventures. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Colleen Wunderlich, who runs the program, along with last year’s winner, Lisa Smith, about the program and how it impacted Lisa’s company Forage Candle.

1939 Life with a Guide Dog and RP (Sep. 25, 2019)

Show Notes
Katie McCoy is the Associate Director of Philanthropy at Southeastern Guide Dogs and a guide dog user herself. Learn about how getting a guide dog has changed her life. She’s also written a book about her journey with RP called “Retinitis Pigmentosa 101: How to Understand, Accept, and Live Your Best Life with Retinitis Pigmentosa”.

1938 Victor Reader Trek (Sep. 18, 2019)

Show Notes
The Victor Reader products from Humanware are digital reading devices for print impaired individuals that come in handheld as well as desktop models. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with product manager Robert Panetta about the differences between the various models with a focus on what is special about Humanware’s most advanced model, the Victor Reader Trek.

1937 Starting a Small Business (Sep. 11, 2019)

Show Notes
Patty Fletcher operates Tell It to The World Marketing, a company that assists in outreach efforts for others. Edward Cohen’s company, EZ2See Products, makes and sells calendars for people with low vision. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Patty and Edward, both of whom are blind, about how they work together and Patty’s role in growing Edward’s business.

1936 Encore of 1426 Navigating Using Echolocation (Sep. 4, 2019)

Show Notes
If you can’t see with your eyes, you need other ways of recognizing your environment in order to maneuver through it. Like bats, humans can also use echolocation. Hosts Peter and Nancy Torpey speak with Daniel Kish and J Steele-Louchart of World Access for the Blind about “Flash Sonar”, an echolocation technique they developed and teach worldwide.

1935 NaviLens Navigation System (Aug. 28, 2019)

Show Notes
NaviLens uses your smart phone’s camera to read preprinted tags in order to provide visually impaired individuals with information pertinent to their environment. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Borja Lopetegui, a Business Developer at NaviLens, about how this innovative technology works and how you can use it free for personal use.

1934 Accessibility at Sprint (Aug. 21, 2019)

Show Notes
Sprint offers a number of special promotions and plans for the visually impaired community and is trying to make this information more widely known. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Kelly Egan, visually impaired Customer Relations Manager for accessibility at Sprint, about Sprint offerings and how you might take advantage of them.

1933 Adapting to Blindness as an Adult (Aug. 14, 2019)

Show Notes
Kelly Egan was in her 40’s when she started losing her vision. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Kelly about how she adapted to her situation by attending a vocational rehabilitation program to acquire blindness life skills and went on to become a Customer Relations Manager at Sprint advocating for and providing programs and promotions for the disabled.

1932 Freelance Journalist (Aug. 7, 2019)

Show Notes
Jason Strother is a visually impaired freelance journalist. After reporting from South Korea for many years, his interests have recently turned to stories about how the disabled are impacted by climate change. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about accommodations he has made in his career as well as an incident in which his vision could have cost him his life.

1931 Distance Running with Guide Dogs (Jul. 31, 2019)

Show Notes
In episode 1752 hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talked with Thomas Panek, President and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, about a program they started to train guide dogs to serve as running companions for their handlers. This week we hear about how the program has evolved and Thomas’ experience running the New York City half marathon guided only by guide dogs.

1930 Wild Blind Ice Hockey (Jul. 24, 2019)

Show Notes
Wild Blind Hockey is the companion team to the Minnesota Wild Hockey NHL team and consists of visually impaired skaters of all ages. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Lonny Evans, the team’s Director of Operations, about how the team came about, modifications used to make it possible to play with limited or no vision, and what it means to the players.

1929 Tarot Card Reading (Jul. 17, 2019)

Show Notes
What does the future hold for Eyes On Success? Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey find out when they talk with Eden Kizer, a totally blind professional tarot card reader, about how she became a tarot card reader and turned it into a profitable business that she can do from the comfort of her own home.

1928 Voice Dream Reader App (Jul. 10, 2019)

Show Notes
Making mainstream apps accessible can have multiple benefits. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Winston Chen, founder and lead developer of the Voice Dream suite of apps for iOS devices including Reader, Writer, Scanner and Mail, about how he became interested in including accessibility features into his apps and how that worked out.

1927 Dating in the Digital Age (Jul. 3, 2019)

Show Notes
Have you ever considered jumping into the world of online dating? If so you’ll want to read “Dating in the Digital Age” by Kim Loftis. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Kim about her book and discuss how the process works, what to expect, and some special considerations for blind individuals. She also talks about some of her own experiences.

1926 Blind Disability Rights Attorney (Jun. 26, 2019)

Show Notes
Significant progress has been made in establishing everyday rights for the disabled, yet there is still much more to do. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Scott LaBarre, a blind disability rights attorney, about his experiences working for the NFB, running his own private law practice, and helping to negotiate the Marrakesh Treaty.

1925 Encore of 1512 Preparing for Vision Loss (Jun. 19, 2019)

Show Notes
Many sighted people have a hard time imagining how they would tackle life if they couldn’t see. Losing your vision, however, doesn’t mean the end of the world. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk about how you can prepare for eventual vision loss by preparing your home, using adaptive aids, becoming aware of your other senses, accessible technology and more.

1924 Format Your Word Documents with JAWS and NVDA (June 12, 2019)

Show Notes
The visual appearance of documents that you create can have a big impact on how they are received by others. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with David Kingsbury, Assistive Technology Instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind, about his new book that describes how Word can be used with a screen reader to format documents most effectively.

1923 Real-time Assistance with Aira (Jun. 5, 2019)

Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Jenine Stanley, Explorer Community Manager and Brand Ambassador for Aira, about how the service works, new ways to use Aira, and much more. Aira continues to expand its list of Access Locations where their highly-trained agents can provide free assistance to people with vision loss through the use of their smart phones.

1922 Creating and Using Shortcuts in iOS (May 29, 2019)

Show Notes
Using shortcuts in Apple’s iOS devices can make many tasks more efficient and simple to perform. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Anna Dresner, author of “Getting the Job Done with Shortcuts: An Introduction for Blind Users”, about her book and how you can create and use your own custom shortcuts to easily perform routine tasks.

1921 W3C and Online Accessibility (May 22, 2019)

Show Notes
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Janina Sajka, chair of the W3C’s Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group, about the W3C, its mission, and its work on accessibility.

1920 Stepping It Up With Windows Hotkeys (May 15, 2019)

Show Notes
People using screen readers rely on keyboard hotkeys in order to interact with their computers. But there is always more to learn! Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Dean Martineau about his new book that describes how you can use keyboard hotkeys in Windows more effectively, customize your work flow, and take these shortcuts to the next level.

1919 Preparing for Life and Work (May 8, 2019)

Show Notes
Derek Riemer works at Google as a software engineer. He also has contributed to the development of the free NVDA screen reader and is coordinating this year’s NVDACon conference. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Derek about his experiences growing up and being educated as a blind youth as well as the hurdles he had to overcome in school, work and play.

1918 Google Products and Services – An Overview (May 1, 2019)

Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Eve Andersson, Director of Accessibility Engineering at Google, about the accessibility of various Google products and services and how they can be used by people who are visually impaired. Learn about the Google Accessibility support team, the new Lookout app, as well as what is new with Google Docs, Android, and more.

1917 Tragedy to Triumph Racing (Apr. 24, 2019)

Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Dan Parker who was fully sighted at the age of 41 when he was injured in a drag racing accident that left him totally blind. Despite his injuries Dan continues to build and race cars and motorcycles, went on to participate in acoustic target shooting, and also teaches machine shop to sighted high school students.

1916 The Voice Behind Siri (Apr. 17, 2019)

Show Notes
Meet Susan Bennett whose voice was used to create the original female English language Siri voice. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Susan about her experiences as a voice artist, actress, and musician, what it was like to create the voice for Siri, how she found out that she was the voice behind Siri, and how it changed her career.

1915 Seeing AI App from Microsoft (Apr. 10, 2019)

Show Notes
Seeing AI is a free app from Microsoft for iOS devices. The app can be used to scan and read text, identify colors, scan product bar codes, perform facial recognition, and much more. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Saqib Shaikh, the totally blind initiator of and lead developer of the app, about how the app came to be and what makes it special.

1914 Exploring the World Together (Apr. 3, 2019)

Show Notes
Despite being totally blind and severely deaf without his hearing aids, Tony Giles has traveled solo for decades to over 100 countries. Sometimes he is accompanied by his girlfriend Tatiana Nisioti who is also totally blind. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Tony and Tatiana about their experiences and some of the places they’ve been.

1913 Two Blind Brothers Clothing Line (Mar. 27, 2019)

Show Notes
Two Blind Brothers makes ultra-soft clothing from natural fibers for the sole purpose of funding blindness research and being part of finding a cure. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with brothers and founders Bryan and Bradford Manning, who are both blind, about how their company got started and what is special about their clothing line.

1912 Comparison of Electronic Eyewear (Mar. 20, 2019)

Show Notes
There are several different types of digital eyeglasses for those with little or no vision. But choosing the one that’s right for you can be a daunting process. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Dorrie Rush, chief content editor of Ophthalmic Edge Patients about the various options and features of several models to help you make the right decision.

1911 Weather Gods and Accessible App Development (Mar. 13, 2019)

Show Notes
What does it take to develop an accessible app? Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Scott Wilson-Billing, developer of the popular Weather Gods app for iOS, about how he became interested in accessibility and, with feedback from the blindness community, worked to make the very graphical Weather Gods app accessible for those using VoiceOver.

1910 Learn to Code With Code Jumper (Mar. 6, 2019)

Show Notes
Have you ever wanted to become a computer programmer but didn’t know where to start? Well Code Jumper from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) may be just what you are looking for! Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Dave Wilkinson, director of sales and customer service at the APH, about Code Jumper and how you can learn from it.

1909 ViewPlus Graphical Braille Embossers (Feb. 27, 2019)

Show Notes
John Gardner was a professor of Physics when he had an eye operation that left him totally blind. Although he continued to teach he could no longer evaluate the data from his experiments. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with John and his son Dan about how this experience led to the development of the ViewPlus graphical braille embossers.

1908 Encore of 1450 Blind Friendly Architecture (Feb. 20, 2019)

Show Notes
Chris Downey had been a practicing architect for 20 years when he suddenly lost all his vision. Undaunted, he has continued his work using his new understanding of how people with vision loss experience spaces. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about what is important in designing blind friendly buildings and how he does his work.

1907 Prosthetic Eyes and Anaplastology (Feb. 13, 2019)

Show Notes
Barbara Spohn-Lillo is the owner and founder of Prosthetic Illusions which develops custom prostheses for various body parts including eyes. Both she and her daughter Chelsea Lillo, with whom she works, are anaplastologists and ocularists. Join hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey as they discuss how these prostheses are made and cared for.

1906 Home Delivery Shopping (Feb. 6, 2019)

Show Notes
Shopping from home has become more common over the past few years and can afford one with greater flexibility and independence. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Ricky Enger of the Hadley Institute about some of the available shopping and delivery services and how they work. Also learn about the new Hadley webinars that you can join in from home.

1905 When Your Career Relies On Computers (Jan. 30, 2019)

Show Notes
Modern access technologies make careers that rely on the use of computers particularly amenable to people with vision impairments. Still, there are challenges that one must overcome. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Florian Beijers, a blind software developer, about his training, his work, and how he dealt with various challenges as they arose.

1904 Sight Impaired Surfing Champion (Jan. 23, 2019)

Show Notes
Despite being totally blind, Joshua Loya engages in many extreme sports. This week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Joshua, who is a US Sight Impaired Surfing Champion, about how he got into surfing, the mechanics of surfing as a blind individual, how he works with his sighted coach, and his passion for succeeding in such sports.

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1903 Advances in Digital Accessibility (Jan. 16, 2019)

Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Larry Lewis about his new role as director of channel sales and strategic partnerships for the Paciello Group, after many years running Flying Blind. We talk about the importance of accessibility and learn about some of the tools and resources available from the Paciello Group to assist with creating accessible designs.

1902 Lighting Up the Night (Jan. 9, 2019)

Show Notes
Debby Marchena is blind and uses a white cane to get around town. One evening, while crossing the street, she was struck by a car. The driver of the car had not seen the cane in the darkness. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Debby about her experience and her quest to develop and market a lighted cane to avoid such problems in the future.

1901 That All May Read (Jan. 2, 2019)

Show Notes
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) provides free audio and Braille reading material to people with any reading disability. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Karen Keninger, director of the NLS, about the service, who qualifies, and what exciting changes patrons can expect in the next few years.

1851 Blindfold Games and ObjectiveEd (Dec. 19, 2018)

Show Notes
Blindfold Games now offers over 80 fully accessible games made to run on iOS devices for the visually impaired. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Marty Schultz, founder of Blindfold Games and developer of the apps, about his company as well as about his new project, ObjectiveEd, aimed at making learning more fun for students through high school.

1850 Exploring the World With Aira (Dec. 12, 2018)

Show Notes
Aira is a service that connects a visually impaired user with a sighted professional agent who delivers visual assistance anytime and anywhere. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Jonathan Mosen, Vice President, Australasia, and Explorer Communications, about some of the new options being offered, and their expanding availability into public venues.

1849 Blindness For Beginners (Dec. 5, 2018)

Show Notes
In her book “Blindness for Beginners”, Maribel Steel takes us along her journey of discovery where sight loss can become a renewed vision of the possible. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with her about her transition from early diagnosis and rejection of being labelled as “disabled” to her eventual acceptance of and success at making changes in her life.

1848 Expanding Services at APH (Nov. 28, 2018)

Show Notes
The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) recently began managing several services that were part of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). APH is also growing their efforts in direct consumer sales. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk about these changes and what’s new at APH with Dave Wilkinson, Director of Sales and Customer Service.