20250628 1300 Introducing BlueSky and Mastodon Originally Broadcasted June 28, 2025, on ACB Media 4 Participants joined BITS, and presenter Merv Keck as we took a look at these exciting and popular social media platforms. We began with an introduction to the Skeets app for BlueSky, which was followed by an overview of the Mona app for Mastodon. Presenter: Mervin Keck, BITS Mentoring Technology Specialist, Hamburg, PA.

20250628 1130 Using Your Phone and Smart Glasses to Describe the World Around You Originally Broadcasted June 28, 2025, on ACB Media 3 Participants learned from experts how to use smart phone apps to help describe images, photos, and videos to help you better understand the world around you. Several apps were demonstrated including Ally, Gemini, PiccyBot, Seeing AI and more. Moderator: Carl Richardson, Co-Chair, ACB Audio Description Project, Boston, MA Presenters: Cory Kadlik, Assistive Technology Manager, Perkins Library, Framingham, MA, Michael Babcock, American Council of the Blind Member Services Administrative Assistant, Coos Bay, OR, and Jeff Bishop, BITS President, Tucson, AZ

20250628 1000 Efficient Messaging Using WhatsApp and JAWS with Brian Hartgen Originally Broadcasted June 28, 2025, on ACB Media 2 When we think of sending and receiving messages with WhatsApp, we perhaps think of doing so using our smart phones. But a computer-based app exists to carry out the same functionality. While this is a very accessible application, usage of this app is made far more efficient through the use of JAWS scripts. If you receive many messages each day, you're going to want to process them fast. In this BITS presentation, Brian from Hartgen Consultancy showed participants how to link a WhatsApp account to their computer, described the application in detail, but above all, demonstrated how you can be a WhatsApp super user by working with many keyboard shortcuts and abbreviated speech. Come along to find out how you can send and receive messages and make calls with incredible speed! Presenter: Brian Hargen, Owner - Hartgen Consultancy, United Kingdom