2304 Equipping Beep Baseball Worldwide (Jan. 25, 2023)
Show Notes
Learn how beep baseballs are made as well as about the surprising connection between beep baseball and the phone company when hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with John Cruz, lead volunteer for the group that assembles beep baseball equipment, and J Kelly, chapter president of the Colorado Legacy West Pioneers. We’ll also talk about how the game is played.
2233 Tribute to Eric Damery (Aug. 17, 2022)
Show Notes
Eric Damery recently announced his retirement as VP of Software Product Management at Vispero / Freedom Scientific. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about his long career in the field of assistive technology and how the marketing and distribution of products for the visually impaired has changed over the years.
2001 A Tribute to Jim Thatcher (Jan. 1, 2020)
Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey honor the life and work of Jim Thatcher who passed away last month by reprising episode 1420 in which we interviewed Jim about his pioneering work in the development of the first screen readers and years later of the first standards for web accessibility. Thanks to Jim for his continued contributions to the field of accessibility.
1741 Together Again - Leaders Who Made a Difference (part 2 of 2) (Oct. 4, 2017)
Show Notes
Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey continue the conversation with three leaders in the field of assistive technology: Deane Blazie, Jim Fruchterman, and Ted Henter. They made pioneering contributions to the development of refreshable Braille displays, OCR, and screen readers, respectively. Learn about their visions for the future in this informative round table discussion.
1740 Together Again - Leaders Who Made a Difference (part 1 of 2) (Sep. 27, 2017)
Show Notes
This week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey bring together three leaders in the field of assistive technology: Deane Blazie, Jim Fruchterman, and Ted Henter. They made pioneering contributions to the development of refreshable Braille displays, OCR, and screen readers, respectively. Learn what each of them is up to today in this informative round table discussion.
1724 Encore of 1517 Jim Fruchterman - Social Entrepreneur (Jun. 7, 2017)
Show Notes
Jim Fruchterman is the founder and CEO of Benetech, which operates Bookshare, an accessible online library of e-books in audio, Braille, large font and other formats for people with print disabilities. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about how he became interested in OCR, the founding of Arkenstone, and the inspiration behind Bookshare.
1723 Encore of 1233 An Interview with Ted Henter (May 31, 2017)
Show Notes
If you use the JAWS screen reader, chances are you've heard of Ted Henter who founded Henter-Joyce and later sold the company to Freedom Scientific. This week, Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Ted about his contributions to assistive technologies and other projects. If you think you know where the "Joyce" came from in Henter-Joyce, be prepared for a surprise!
1722 Encore of 1225 A Talk with Deane Blazie (May 24, 2017)
Show Notes
In the course of his career, Deane Blazie developed and produced the Braille 'n Speak, the Braille Lite, the Braille Blazer and other innovations in accessibility technology. Join hosts Peter and Nancy Torpey as they speak with him about those, other of his products and some more recent projects he's worked on.
1622 Improved Accessibility of Amazon Products (May 25, 2016)
Show Notes
New features being introduced into Amazon’s Kindle readers and Fire tablets will now make these devices readily accessible to the visually impaired. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Peter Korn, accessibility architect at Amazon, about the work that went into developing an enhanced user interface and how it has improved accessibility of these products.
1621 Evolution of Screen Readers (May 18, 2016)
Show Notes
This week, hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Peter Korn who traces the evolution of screen reader technology from the early text-based systems to today’s modern graphical interfaces. Korn, who has been a major contributor to the development of screen readers for many years, describes how a screen reader works and what challenges had to be overcome.
1540 Today’s e-Pub and Accessible Books - Part 2 (Sep. 30, 2015)
Show Notes
Last week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talked with George Kerscher about the first e-books and how standards initially developed for the print disabled were adopted into mainstream publishing. This week we continue that conversation and hear why having uniform standards led to concerns about copyright and distribution and how people worked to resolve these issues.
1539 George Kerscher and the Development of e-Books - Part 1 (Sep. 23, 2015)
Show Notes
George Kerscher created the first accessible digital books and went on to develop standards that are now the foundation of electronic publishing. This week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about how these standards were assimilated into mainstream publishing. Next week we’ll hear about some of the quandaries that arose as a result.
1518 Global Reach of Benetech and Bookshare (Apr. 29, 2015)
Show Notes
Last week, hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talked with Jim Fruchterman, the founder and CEO of Benetech about his early work in OCR and starting Bookshare. This week we talk with him about Bookshare’s global reach and how it has helped to influence mainstream publishing. He also describes a number of other initiatives being pursued by Benetech to improve access.
1517 Jim Fruchterman - Social Entrepreneur (Apr. 22, 2015)
Show Notes
Jim Fruchterman is the founder and CEO of Benetech, which operates Bookshare. This week hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about how he became interested in OCR, the founding of Arkenstone, and the inspiration behind Bookshare. Next week we speak more with Jim about the global impact of Bookshare and some of Benetech’s other social initiatives.
1452 Getting the Most Out of Eyes On Success (Dec. 24, 2014)
Show Notes
With over 200 episodes in the archives, Eyes On Success is a valuable resource for learning about products and services for the visually impaired, as well as hearing motivational stories about visually impaired people who pursue rewarding careers and hobbies. This week you’ll learn how to explore this resource and also hear from some pioneers in the blindness field.
1444 KNFB Reader App for iOS devices (Oct. 29, 2014)
Show Notes
Devices for performing optical character recognition (OCR) have become much less expensive and technically advanced. Now you can have the power of a state-of-the-art OCR engine on your iPhone with the new KNFB Reader. Hosts Peter and Nancy Torpey talk with James Gashel, VP of KNFB’s Business Development, about the app and the history of OCR technology.
1438 Developing DAISY Standards and Players (Sep. 17, 2014)
Show Notes
After going blind over the course of his career as an entrepreneur, consultant, and software developer, Gerry Chevalier was a key contributor to the development of the DAISY standard and of the NLS and Victor Reader digital reading devices. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with him about his commitment to accessibility and his work in that field.
1420 Early History of Screen Readers and Web Accessibility (May 14, 2014)
Show Notes
A number of screen readers are available to access computers. But it wasn’t always this way. Jim Thatcher was a pioneer in the development of the first screen readers and years later of the first standards for web accessibility. Hosts Peter and Nancy Torpey speak with him about the early history of both and about his current work as an accessibility consultant.
1308 Progress in Speech Synthesis (Feb. 20, 2013)
Show Notes
Much adaptive technology relies on speech synthesis, which has evolved from humble beginnings to nearly human sounding speech. Hosts Nancy Goodman Torpey and Peter Torpey talk with Andrew Breen, director of innovation for text to speech at Nuance Communications, about the history, current technology and future goals of speech synthesis.
1233 8-15-12 An Interview with Ted Henter
Show Notes
If you use the JAWS screen reader, chances are you've heard of Ted Henter who founded Henter-Joyce and later sold the company to Freedom Scientific. This week, Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Ted about his contributions to assistive technologies and what he is up to now. If you think you know where the "Joyce" came from in Henter-Joyce, be prepared for a surprise!
1225 6-20-12 A talk with Deane Blazie
Show Notes
In the course of his career, Deane Blazie developed and produced the Braille ‘n Speak, the Braille Lite, the Braille Blazer and other innovations in accessibility technology. Join hosts Peter and Nancy Torpey as they speak with him about those, other of his products and some exciting new projects he’s working on.