Supporting organisations working with disabled people
Stuart Beveridge is also am currently working on a personal project which involves promoting various different types of mainstream and Assistive Technology as well as accessible apps for visually impaired people via a podcast. The podcast is called BlindTech and is hosted on the Audioboom platform. It’s also available on iTunes, Spotify, GoogleCast, Ihart Radio, TuneIn and through smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo.
In August Google’s security research taskforce, Project Zero announced that they had discovered there was a “sustained effort” to hack iPhones over a period of at least two years.
The Project Zero researchers found that attackers were exploiting 12 separate security flaws in order to compromise iOS devices. Most of these flaws were within the native iOS browser, Safari.
These security flaws meant that if a user visited a compromised website code would be implanted in the iOS device. The malicious code could access an enormous amount of data, including contacts, images, apps a person was using e.g. Instagram, WhatsApp, and GPS location data. It would relay this information back to an external server every 60 seconds. This flaw existed in almost every version from iOS 10.
While this was a real and valid threat, it was sensationalised by the world’s media as iOS devices are notorious for their high level of security. In reality, this sophisticated attack was mainly targeted at a particular group in China. Android devices were also affected by a similar exploit. Apple released a security patch which fixed all the issues at the beginning of February, six days after they were informed by Google about the issue.
While we can only speculate why the story made news headlines six months after the issue had been identified and fixed. It highlights the importance of ensuring that operating system updates get installed on a regular basis. Should you require guidance or help to do this please feel free to contact me.
Lorenzo Caggioni, a Software Engineer at Google set up Project DIVA. This project was developed to help Giovanni’s brother who has multiple disabilities to listen to music and watch movies independently. The Project DIVA proved to be the starting point for Action Blocks. These can be used by the Google Assistant to make it easier for people who have disabilities to use Android phones and tablets.
With Action Blocks, (similar to Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12 and later) you add a string of commands to Google Assistant and then create a custom image/icon to your home screen, that acts as a visual cue. This allows for the complexity of tasks to be reduced.
For example, a seemingly simple operation on your phone, like booking a taxi involves a number of steps. To do this, you need to unlock your phone, find the right app, type in your pickup location and book the taxi. A process that also requires you to read and write, remember your selections, and focus for several minutes at a time. Now, potentially this can all be reduced to a single icon that you simply need to tap.
Near the end of 2015 I created and launched the Mobile Technology Resource (MTR). This private website contains a collection of resources related to the use of mobile technology throughout the Karten Network. The primary reason for creating the MTR was to encourage and facilitate sharing – so doing help to reduce reinventing the wheel and promote good practice.
There is a wealth of knowledge and expertise throughout the network, and many of the resources are items that would get produced anyway – e.g. How many organisations have lists of apps?
We took the decision when creating the MTR to keep it a private resource to create a safe space for resources to be used and shared. As such you will need a Karten Network website account, these are free and there is no limit to the number of accounts per organisation. There are currently 209 users registered on the system. If you have an account and have forgotten your password you can reset it by visiting: https://dev.karten-network.org.uk/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword
If you require accounts please send me an email with the email addresses and names of people needing accounts.
To access the MTR please visit the Karten Network website and login. The MTR can be found under the “Resources” tab. If you are not logged in and click on that link it will prompt you to login.
Four years later we are relaunching the MTR, with an updated look and a full review and update of the content. My hope when I created the MTR is that it will be a living resource. One that is driven and shaped by the network with my support.
In this spirit I would like to extend a special note of thanks to seescape’s Stuart Beveridge who has contributed the reviews of the apps below. As well as a list of all apps designed to help blind and partially sighted people that has been incorporated into the MTR.
I hope that you will find the MTR helpful. If there is something that you would like to contribute, a feature you would like, or need help, please contact me.
Seeing AI is a Microsoft research project that uses Artificial Intelligence features to deliver an intelligent app, designed to assist visually impaired people with performing everyday tasks such as reading text, recognising people’s faces, identifying products, and identifying your surroundings. This app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and magnification features on iPhones. How it works: The app has nine different ‘channels’, which you can use for…Read the full Seeing AI review
At the beginning of March, Microsoft released a new and extremely innovative app designed to assist people with a visual impairment to navigate and understand their surrounding environment. The app is called Microsoft Soundscape and is free to download and use. Note: At this stage, the app is only available for iPhone users. Overview Soundscape uses 3D audio sound to give you a full audio map of what’s around you when you are out and about. It is designed to…Read the full Soundscape review
Over the last few years it is fair to say that there have been some extremely exciting, innovative and life changing apps which have been developed which increase the independence of people with all kinds of visual impairment. Once again, I am delighted to bring another of these to your attention. This time it’s an indoor navigation app called Clew. Clew is a free iPhone app that records a user’s path and then guides you back to your starting point. Clew was created to…Read the full Clew review
As we are now well and truly in to the season of winter and approaching Christmas, I decided to discuss the Hive App and hub. The app is fully accessible for both Apple and Android devices and is relatively easy to navigate and use.
I purchased the Hive Hub back in August of this year and although it is pricy at £300 I have found the benefits to be enormous in terms of giving me more control and access to my heating, lighting, security and everyday appliances in particular.
As I have a busy daily schedule, I wanted to make the process of…Read the full Hive review
Martin Pistorius
Karten Network Mobile Technology Advisor