Michigan Information Sources
Bureau of Services for Blind Persons
Provide services to people who are legally blind age 14 and up
www.michigan.gov/bsbp
Michigan Rehabilitation Services
Provide employment services to people who are not legally blind but are visually impaired acuities of 20/70 or less.
www.michigan.gov/mrs
Michigan Department of Education/LIO
Provides tools and services to support students who are blind and visually impaired.
https://mdelio.org/
Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund
Provides loans for assistive technology services or equipment for work or independence.
www.mloanfunds.org
Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind
Activities for youth who are blind.
http://www.oubmichigan.org/
Caregiver Resource Network
National Information Sources
American Foundation for the Blind
National resource for people who are blind and their families.
http://www.afb.org
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
National network of cooperating libraries which administers a free library program of Braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers by the use of postage free mail.
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
Consumer organizations
American Council of the Blind
http://www.acb.org
National Federation of the Blind
www.nfb.org
Internet Navigation
How-To Navigate the Internet for Individuals with Low Vision or Blindness
Leading causes of vision loss
National Eye Institute
Age Related Macular Degeneration
Cataracts
https://nei.nih.gov/health/cataract/cataract_facts
Diabetic Retinopathy
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/tc/diabetic-retinopathy-topic-overview
Glaucoma
Glaucoma Research Foundation
www.glaucoma.org
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
Foundation Fighting Blindness
www.blindness.org
Vendors
Independent Living Aids, Inc.
L S & S Products
Maxi Aids
National Braille Press
Seedlings Braille Books for Children
Screen Readers and Magnifying Computer Software
Ai Squared
Freedom Scientific
http://www.freedomscientific.com
NVDA
Free Screen Reader
http://www.nvaccess.org/
AppleVis
Low Vision Apps (***Recommended by our clients)
***Light Detector – by EveryWare Technologies ($.99)
Using your iPhone camera, this app emits higher or lower sound depending on the intensity of light. Light Detector can help find any lights left on or locate windows or exits.
***HeyTell – by Voxilate (free)
HeyTell is a cross between walkie-talkies and texting. Allows you to send and receive voice messages with other Hey Tell users with the press of a button.
***Chime – by Blacktree (free)
It has the option to chime on the quarter, half or hour and there are different alerts to choose from.
***Voice Brief – by Dong Baik ($2.99)
This app does work well for some of our clients but it is a bigger sized app and takes up quite a bit of memory if you use it. Voice Brief can read your email, Twitter feed, weather, stock prices, RSS and Facebook feeds. This app is fully configurable and the voices are natural and clear.
List Recorder by Sixth Mode Solutions ($.99)
Must have sight assistance to set this app running. Allows users to record and organize lists using audio or text. List Recorder is designed to integrate with VoiceOver as well as Braille displays. Replay, sort, delete or email recordings with ease using custom gestures and motions.
***Feeddler RSS Reader Pro –by C.B. Liu ($4.99)
It caches articles for off line reading and allows you to star, unstar, mark all as read and much more. You can add notes and post to Facebook.
Chime – by Blacktree (free)
This app has the option to chime on the quarter, half or hour and there are different alerts to choose from.
VisionSim –by Braille Institute (free)
This app turns on the camera of the iPhone with filters in the lens. It distorts the image on the screen to mimic the selected eye condition to allow users to experience simulated eye condition.
Scanner Radio Deluxe by GordonEdwards.net LLC
If you hear sirens approaching and are curious as to what the emergency is, you now have an inside tool. Just turn on your iPhone and you can use Scanner Radio to listen in on your local emergency bands. Informative and interesting.
***RxmindMe Prescription/Medicine Reminder and Pill Tracker – by RxmindMe, LLC (free)
Reminder app that sends you alerts you when it is time to take your medication and also will keep track of how many pills you have left and when to re-order. It also has a medication database included. This is VoiceOver friendly.
Glucose Buddy – Diabetes Helper 3.5.5 with Blood Pressure and Weight Tracking –by OneAppOneCause (free)
This app allows users to manually enter their numbers, exercise and food consumption into a log that is uploaded to a private account at GlucoseBuddy.com. The online web site also has other features such as an A1C estimator.
Ariadne GPS – by Giovanni Ciaffoni ($4.99)
This is a voice controlled GPS. Settings and alerts can indicate street crossing, favorite points, and bus stops. Alerts include sound, voice and vibration. Works anywhere Google Maps are available.
*** NantMobile Money Reader (free) Available from the App Store.
Announces the denomination of paper money. This one works well but our clients prefer using the ibill reader through the U.S. Currency Reader Program which is free if legally blind. (The Mac version of the NantMobile app remains with it’s older name: LookTel Money Reader)
***Learning Ally Audio –By Learning Ally (free)
Provides access to Learning Ally’s library of more than 65,000 audiobooks and is considered the best source for K-12 and college level textbooks. A Learning Ally membership is required and is free to those with print disabilities, including visual impairments and dyslexia.
iDigital Big Alarm Clock HD –by SixAxis LLC (free)
Displays a big digital clock on your iPhone/iPad that’s readable even from a distance.
Zoom Reader – by Ai Squared ($19.99)
In combination with your iOS device’s built-in camera, ZoomReader lets you magnify and read printed text by first taking a picture of an object like a book or menu, then converts the image into text using state-of-the-art Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology.
Easy Reader with LED light –by KaMotion Software Utilities (free)
Uses the built in camera to enlarge objects and provide LED illumination.
Magnifying Glass with Light –by Falcon in Motion LLC (free)
Uses the built in camera to enlarge objects and provide LED illumination.
***Be My Eyes – by Be My Eyes (free)
Good app that uses the built in camera. Users can be connected to sighted helpers for help in identifying objects or getting around through a live audio-video feed.
***TapTapSee–(free)
A mobile camera app designed for iOS and Android users. The app utilizes the iDevice’s camera and VoiceOver functions to photograph objects and identify them out loud for the user.
AIRA –(free)
AIRA is a service that connects blind and low-vision people to highly trained, remotely-located agents. Through an app on your smartphone, AIRA provides instant access to visual information at the touch of a button.
NantMobile Money Reader– by IPPLEX (free)
NantMobile Money Reader instantly recognizes currency and speaks the denomination, enabling people experiencing visual impairments or blindness to quickly and easily identify and count bills. Point the camera of your iOS device at a bill and the application will tell you the denomination in real-time. Twenty one currencies are supported: the US
Dictation Commands for macOS and iOS (free)
Dictation for the Mac and for iOS has changed the way we input text on our machines and phones. Because of this, we need to have commands to add punctuation and capital letters. We have searched the web and have compiled a list of these commands here and they work for both macOS and iOS. These will also work in VoiceMail Transcription and apps like Just Press Record. iaccessibility.net/index.php/2016/12/11/dictation-commands-for-macos-and-ios/
***Voice Dream Reader–($14.99)
Auto-scrolling and full-screen, distraction-free view helps the reader focus.