Join the Main Menu team as we visit with Ryan Jones from Freedom Scientific where we hear all about the new 2024 releases of JAWS, Fusion and more! Sponsored by the Information Access Committee

Hello Everyone, Join John, Larry and I along with a number of guests as we dive deep into all things tech this month: Finally, Microsoft has released a major update to Windows 11 this week. It has all kinds of accessibility improvements along with other user experience changes that we will discuss. The big change is the new Copilot feature. Think of it like ChatGPT but baked into Windows. We give it a spin during the show and we give you our thoughts on its future.

• Apple has been busy with hardware releases, operating system changes and so much more. We have had some time with iOS 17 and some have even had time with the new iPhone 15. We share all of the details with you during the first hour of Main Menu Live. Most importantly are your questions about all of this. Some phones are heating up as most of you are cooling down in the beginning of Fall. The new Action Button is all the craze as well so we talk about the implications this has from an accessibility perspective for new iPhone purchasers.

Next we talk briefly about the Amazon announcements. Was this a big year for Amazon and what about the future of Alexa devices? We make some guesses on next steps that have all of us just wondering where they will take the technology moving forward.

In the first hour we bring on Mike from Be My Eyes. We hear from him all about the latest innovation happening with AI and accessibility as we celebrate

Global Accessibility Awareness Day this week. Be My Eyes will also be at the national convention this year so you will hear even more from them later this summer. We encourage everyone to come with questions as we want this to be driven by you today to ensure you get all of your questions answered.

In the second hour we talk all about a number of technology topics. These include:

list of 5 items • The Information Access Committee has finalized its plans for the convention and we share all! It’s all about empowering you the audience to advocate for better web accessibility! Come learn more. • We focus on how AI is shaping the world around us as we talk with Brian from Tuesday Topics (he is also joining us in the first hour). • Jeff is moving back to Arizona and as a part of that trip it is time to consider what technology he brings back with him and what technology he discards. Brian, Larry and John will have a lively discussion about this topic. The conservative part of Jeff may not be happy with Brian’s suggestion

Larry Gassman, John Gassmann and Jeff Bishop review CSUN 2023

In the first hour we talk with HumanWare all about the new Victor Reader Stream 3. It is now shipping so we get the absolute latest from the company and

most importantly we get your questions answered. We will take as much time as HumanWare will give us so this may spill into the second hour.

The Information Access Committee is working on plans for a very ambitious project for this year’s national convention. We give you a sneak peek into what the committees thinking is and how you will play a role in that process. To give it away, you are crucial!

Microsoft has released (in a public preview) their new version of Bing. We describe to you what is going on here with Bing, why you might be interested in trying it out and how to sign up for the new service. We will also give it a spin on the show and share with you some interesting things that Bing’s AI capabilities might reveal …

This month on Main Menu Live we bring you two hours of technology talk from a blindness perspective, including your comments and questions.

AIRA has made some major announcements concerning their service. We bring Troy Otillio and Jenine Stanley  to have an open, honest and frank conversation about the service and its future direction. Emphasis will be on what we can do as an organization and as users to further the mission of AIRA to advocate for change.

In the second hour we bring on the team from Unmute Presents along with the iACast Network team to have a technology discussion centered around the most recent Apple hardware and software announcements, Open AI’s Chat service and much more.

This month on Main Menu Live, we present JAWS 2023; Envision; and the latest on security. Ryan Jones from Vispero joins us to talk the new JAWS 2023 release. Bob Roehm joins us once again to give us updates on the Envision app and glasses. Jeff and team along with Damashe Thomas, will update you on the latest state-of-the-art password managers. will update you on the latest state-of-the-art of password managers.

During the first hour Main Menu welcomes Bob Roehm, Manager Envision Technologies, to discuss the Envision AI system including glasses and app.

Bob will introduce the Envision Technologies AI system. He will compare this system to other assistive technology devices and discuss the components of the system and how the features can help the VI community.

During the second hour we present Chris Hofstader, Amanda Carson and Keri Swendsen who represent World Blind Herald, a new and unique online publication about all aspects of blindness and blind people. It will be going live on January 4, 2023 and this is their first public announcement of the project. World Blind Herald is not affiliated with any blindness agency and its two primary themes are that not all blind people share the same values and that the blind community is not homogeneous. Thus, WBH will publish as broad a set of subjects about blindness as possible.

Join the Main Menu Live team as we remotely go where all have gone before, even out on the outer RIM of technology. In the first hour we salute Eric Damery of Vispero who is retiring after 28 years of spectacular service to so many Vispero JAWS users.

We also present AIRA to talk with us all about the new AIRA Desktop solution among other topics. Matt and Michael join us in the second hour to talk about the newly released RIM 3.0 product that is in public beta. Come find out about this exciting solution that will allow you to remotely control other people's computers, even if they don't have a screen reader installed.

Michael Lauf will talk about the new LaufWare website.

We'll also hear a recorded presentation from Tek Talk by Ron Miller about Kindle using both Jaws and Braille.