Where: MIT, 77 Mass. Ave., Building 5, Room 134, Cambridge, MA
When: November 8, 2014
President Amy Ruell called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. All present introduced themselves.
Minutes: Secretary Jerry Berrier read the minutes of our October meeting. They were accepted without change.
Amy said it appears that the Cambridge Public Library will not be a viable place for us to hold training sessions.
JAWS 16 has been released with some new enhancements.
NVDA continues to improve.
Amy will send out a link to a survey on accessible voting.
GWMicro’s e-mail lists will be changing due to the merger with AI.Squared.
Apple continues to provide updates to iOS8, and there are significant delays in getting iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Apparently Office 365 can now be used on the Mac.
The Carroll Center’s tech fair will be held on Tuesday November 25.
As agreed upon by the membership, Amy and Bob will team up to purchase a MacBook Air for VIBUG.
The VIBUG Holiday party will be on January 10 at the Corib Restaurant in West Roxbury. We discussed the issue of separate checks, and despite the difficulties that poses for wait staff, we had consensus that we must permit folks to pay separately.
Minutes: Secretary Jerry Berrier read the minutes of our October meeting. They were accepted without change.
Since Amy has chosen not to run for office, she was able to preside over the entire election. There were no nominations from the floor for any office.
The 2015 officers are as follows:
Amy congratulated the new officers and pledged her continued support to VIBUG.
Following the computer question and answer period, there were two presentations.
Jeffery Turner demonstrated and discussed an iOS app called VoiceDream.
Cathy Bly talked about services available through Easter Seals Massachusetts, a statewide, community-based organization. Services include financial support for people with disabilities who wish to purchase adaptive technology, and equipment loan program, and a program that provides up to $500 for adaptive equipment for eligible consumers. These programs are funded by the Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA) of the U.S. Department of Education under the AT Act of 1998, as amended in 2004. The local Assistive Technology Regional Center, located at 89 South Street in Boston, helps people with disabilities make informed decisions about assistive technology they can use at home, on the job or in school.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.
Respectfully,
Jerry Berrier, Secretary