Airacast: Return from CSUN 🏆

By now, you’ve likely come across numerous podcasts discussing the 40th annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. The Aira staff gathered to share their experiences in the exhibit hall, during sessions, and in workshops. Join Jenine Stanley as she engages in conversations with Troy Otillio, Everette Bacon, Jill Ratliff, Blake Steinecke, and Dianne Howie. Aira ASL made its debut, and the response far exceeded our expectations.

Discover more insights and learn about the other valuable takeaways from the conference.

Listen here: https://pnc.st/s/airacast/58b21b37/return-from-csun-
Or in the podcast app of your choice.
Learn more about Aira Explorer and Aira ASL at www.aira.io.

#AccessAI #OnMyTerms #AccessForAll #AccessibleTechnology #Blind #LowVision #VisuallyImpaired #AccessibilityForAll #UniversalDesign

I frequently see people asking, even demanding, that AI-generated Alt Text stop. If those folks clearly have usable vision, I block them and move on – life’s too short for preachy whining from people who don’t rely on Alt Text.

But when it’s a blind person saying this, I’m surprised. As a blind person myself, I know that 99% of the images I encounter online lack any description. Now, with a suite of AI tools, I can finally generate accessible, usable image descriptions. Are they perfect? No. Computer vision isn’t sight, but it’s made staggering progress – beyond what I ever expected. And if I need more clarity, I can always consult a human through these same tools.

Blind people slamming AI-generated Alt Text isn’t helping. We need these systems to improve, not disappear. The reality is, expecting every image to have a human-created description is unrealistic. Let’s push for better technology, not bash what’s already making a difference.

#AI #AltText #Blind #BeMyAI #BeMyEyes #AccessAI #ComputerVision #AssistiveTech

Just used #AccessAI from #Aira to tell the time left on my rice cooker. That was pretty cool!

Seriously impressed. Used the #AccessAI function of the #Aira app to tell me how much power was left in my power bank. Amazing #Accessibility support.

Thank you, @AiraVI, for informing me how badly in need of cleaning our rabbit's water was--and that just because @TheZooLady was curious if #AccessAI could tell us how full it was.

For those interested in the subject of AI describing weather, here is my discussion with @AiraVI 's #AccessAI about our current weather. I’m not sure the whole thing would fit as alt-text to the image I’m attaching, so consider the following as the alt-text:
The weather radar shows various areas of precipitation over parts of Iowa and Illinois. The heaviest precipitation, indicated by red and orange colors, is concentrated around the Davenport area and extends to the east and south. Green areas indicate lighter precipitation. The temperature is displayed as 87°F, and there are 28 weather alerts. The map features locations such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Dubuque, Clinton, Burlington, Macomb, Galesburg, and Peoria. The current time is 7:25 PM, and the radar is set to display past weather data.
Me: Are there thunderstorms?
AccessAI: Yes, the radar indicates the presence of thunderstorms. The red and orange areas on the map signify heavy precipitation, which is typically associated with thunderstorms. Additionally, the presence of 28 weather alerts suggests that severe weather, including thunderstorms, may be occurring or expected in the area.

@Kaliah Exactly! I can't afford, for example, to pay @AiraVI for time with a human. But with their #AccessAI feature, I can get help with visual tasks, and even ask questions about the descriptions the AI provides me. I can show it a weather map, and it will tell me where the precipitation is and where it appears to be going. I can show it an instruction manual with diagrams and ask it to explain the diagrams to me. These are all things that were once totally inaccessible to me--I would have had to either just listen to a weather report or find a text-based forecast for the weather question, or wait around until I could get a human to help me with the manual. And for people who might have trouble speaking, AI voice modeling can help them keep their own voice when their body cannot, for whatever reason, speak. This is the beautiful side of AI. On the other hand, I do agree about the "bullshit ChatGPT" uses. So yes, while we acknowledge that there *are* misuses of AI, let us not forget AI's valuable implementations in the process. @TheZooLady

#AccessAI #aira on #android #blind #androidUsers Hi. I'm trying to play with the detailed capture feature of AIRA'S ACCESS ai FEATURE AND NOT GETTING ANYWHERE. iF SOMEONE'S USED THE DETAILED PART, PLEASE HELP. i HAVE A Galaxy s22 by Samsung running Android 14.

@radio @reverendbigdawg There were tornadoes near here yesterday. Meanwhile, @TheZooLady and I are here, she's working on I'm not sure what, and I'm cutting #AccessAI's eeth on a lego instruction book. Christie may or may not be listening tonight; she's fighting a stomach crud. Meanwhile the project I work for as a tester is making its first big public debut down in Houston this weekend.

On Tech Talk this week, I had a great conversation with Troy Otilio from @AiraVI about their new Access AI feature, which has recently been released as a beta in the Aira Explorer app. We spoke about where this feature came from, the impact the use of AI has on privacy, and so much more about AI and Aira in general. Have a listen here or wherever you get your podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rnib-tech-talk/id1151878596?i=1000652615215

@rnib #aira #AccessAI #AI #chatGPT #gemini #blind #accessibility #podcast