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Our favourite Aussie-made apps
Transcript
15 December 2013
Roberta: Over the past year we’ve seen Australians make a huge contribution to technology fo people who are blind or vision impaired. Online Editor from Media Access Australia, Eliza Cussen shares her favourite Aussie-made apps. Welcome Eliza.
Eliza: Hi Roberta.
Roberta: Now firstly, what do you mean when you use the word “app”?
Eliza: Well, it can be a bit of a buzz word actually. Even in the office today we were kind of debating what the word “app” really means in a practical sense. But I mean really what it boils down to is an app is just a simple piece of computer software, a small program that’s designed to help you perform a task. And it’s particularly used when we talk about smartphones and tablets, so really almost any small piece of software could be classed as an app.
Roberta: So what’s your favourite assistive app that you’ve seen this year?
Eliza: Well the standout for me is one called PointFinder, which we talked about in September; it’s an app for Android phones that helps you navigate between landmarks. It’s so nifty. What you do is you tell it that you want to go to, say the bus stop, or your office, or even the letterbox, and it has an audio compass that plays a sound to tell you whether you’re getting warmer or colder, depending on where you are in relation to your landmark. If you don’t want to use that feature you can also just program in a map and it will give you directions.
Roberta: I can’t imagine anything better than that. That sounds fantastic.
Eliza: I know, it’s, yeah, it uses technology that works in a very similar way to guide dogs.
Roberta: Yeah, exactly. Yes, now what else makes the list then?
Eliza: There’s another navigation app called SIMO, and this is interesting because that’s coming out of a team of researchers at the University of New South Wales, so it’s very innovative technology that we’re seeing from them. They haven’t released an app yet, but I think in 2014 we’re going to see something really exciting. And what this project does is find a way to help people who are blind and vision impaired navigate indoors. So people who use say, Google Maps, will know that they can have walking directions, basically provides directions and, “Turn left,” “Stop here,” “Go right,” “Go down the hill,” those kind of things. What SIMO is trying to do is give an equivalent level of detail, but indoors, say a shopping centre or a museum to help you navigate not the outside world but buildings.
Roberta: Now of course we can’t let you go before we talk about NVDA. What’s happened with that this year?
Eliza: Well, NVDA has really come along leaps and bounds in 2013. If people aren’t aware of this it’s probably kind of the star of Australia’s assistive technology scene. It’s been around since 2006 and developed by Michael and Jamie in Melbourne and Brisbane, and it’s fantastic. What these guys did is basically they looked at what Apple was doing with their VoiceOver technology, which is the screen reader that comes in-built for Apple devices. And they thought, “Well, how could we build this for computers that aren’t made by Apple? How can we provide an equivalent technology for people who use Windows?” And the beauty of this is that unlike something like JAWS it’s completely free. NVDA is open source technology which means it’s developed by not just one company but a collection of individuals all working on a project.
Roberta: Sounds wonderful. I know we spoke to one of those people not that long…
Eliza: Yeah.
Roberta: …well, at the beginning of the year about all of this, and it just sounds amazing.
Eliza: It’s truly wonderful. We won’t say that it is as good or as versatile as JAWS, but it absolutely does the trick. And considering that you can put it on a USB stick and take it from computer to computer it really is remarkable technology.
Roberta: Well that’s a big plus, isn’t it?
Eliza: Yeah. So this year NVDA has added more features, extra languages, it now supports PowerPoint for people who want to use it at work, and it’s got improved compatibility with braille devices. So really, the technology is becoming more advanced and more versatile.
Roberta: Well, we look forward to the New Year with another [laughs] update on what’s happening in technology. More information about all kinds of accessible apps in assistive technology is available on the Media Access Australia website, and that one is mediaaccess.org.au. You can also call Media Access Australia and chat on the line at (02) 9212 6242 about using technology and the internet. Well Eliza, I want to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas; we won’t be talking again before Christmas, so I wish you and the team a very, very happy Christmas and a happy New Year. What would you like to say to our listeners?
Eliza: I would like to wish your listeners the best of luck trying out any gadgets that Santa brings them this year. If you haven’t got involved in the whole smartphone, tablet business, I think 2014 is the year to do it, where the technology is becoming cheaper, it’s becoming more accessible every single day. I’m really looking forward to just keeping everyone informed in the New Year.
Roberta: I’ve been speaking with Eliza Cussen, the Online Editor of Media Access Australia. And Media Access Australia is a supporter of this programme.