See Things Differently with HumanWare

Hosts Rachel Ramos and David Woodbridge kick off the fall season by turning the spotlight in-house, welcoming HumanWare's own Low Vision Product Manager, Roger Steinberg, for his first-ever interview appearance. Roger traces his path from eight years as an inclusion classroom teacher, through assistive technology work for the state of Florida, to product roles at Kurzweil Educational Systems and BAUM USA before landing at HumanWare five years ago. He and the hosts dig into what makes low vision product design distinct — simplicity and ease of use as guiding principles behind devices like the Explore line and Reveal 16/16i — and explore where practical, everyday AI could go next, from identifying a specific item on a store shelf to helping someone navigate a PIN pad or find their platform at a train station. In the Hot Topic segment, Rachel and David debate the role of traditional note takers versus modern braille computers like the BrailleNote Evolve for college and university work, and invite listeners to share their own note-taking setups.

This episode's Partner Corner heads to Sweden, where Patrick Johansson of PolarPrint discusses his long history with HumanWare, the country's early role in developing the DAISY format, and PolarPrint's work distributing Stratus players and running a talking-newspaper service with thousands of subscribers across Sweden. Roger returns for Tips and Tricks with a detailed walkthrough of what's new in Prodigi software version 1.7, including new annotation tools (pencil, highlighter, and eraser with color and width options) for marking up documents, magnifier, and distance captures; two new speech modes — "on direct touch screen" and "on alternative access" — for different touch and switch-access needs; guidance on choosing between Prodigi's built-in speech and third-party screen readers like JAWS and NVDA; a new built-in calculator; and a refreshed set of quick start guides, user guides, and six new YouTube tutorial videos. The episode closes with a full rundown of upcoming HumanWare appearances at conferences across the US, Wales, Germany, and South Africa through mid-October, including the NFB State Convention in Greensboro, NC, Sight Village North Wales, REHACARE in Düsseldorf, and the ICEVI Conference in Johannesburg.

We'd love to hear from you! EMail us comments, feedback, stories, or anything really, at podcast@humanware.com

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This month, hosts Rachel Ramos and David Woodbridge kick things off with a shout-out to loyal listener Svetlana, a longtime podcast fan (and two-time Braille reader of War and Peace!) before diving into a HumanWare bursary winner spotlight. Joining the show is Samuel White, a bursary recipient from Brisbane, Australia, currently studying for a Bachelor of Information Technology at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Samuel talks about his transition from screen magnification to speech and Braille, his hobby project Touch Term — a terminal application built from the ground up for Braille and audio users — and his thoughts on AI-assisted coding (or, as he puts it, "verification coding"). Later in the episode, David catches up from Australia with Quentin Christensen of NV Access for a chat about NVDA, the free and open-source screen reader celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Also in this episode: a Spotlight segment honoring advocacy organizations including the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), Blind Citizens Australia, Vision Australia, and Guide Dogs Australia, plus details on HumanWare's special Monarch promotion for NFB members (available now through December 31, 2026) and a look ahead at upcoming events in Montana and North Carolina. As always, get in touch with the show any time — details below.

Guests:

Samuel White — HumanWare bursary recipient, QUT student, and creator of Touch Term

Quentin Christensen — NV Access (makers of NVDA)

Resources mentioned:

Touch Term — Samuel White's Braille- and audio-first terminal application

NV Access — home of the free, open-source NVDA screen reader

HumanWare Monarch NFB member promotion — contact HumanWare or the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) for details on the $12,900 USD promotional pricing (U.S. NFB members only, through December 31, 2026)

BrailleNote Evolve QWERTY waiting list — sign-up link to come; contact HumanWare for the latest availability

National Federation of the Blind (NFB), American Council of the Blind (ACB), Blind Citizens Australia, Vision Australia, and Guide Dogs Australia — advocacy organizations spotlighted this episode

Upcoming appearances:

September 11–13: Montana Association for the Blind convention, Great Falls, MT

September 17: Assistive Technology Project Expo, Raleigh, NC

We'd love to hear from you! EMail us comments, feedback, stories, or anything really, at podcast@humanware.com

Find out more at https://see-things-differently-with-hu.pinecast.co

Welcome to July! In this episode of See Things Differently, hosts Rachel Ramos and David Woodbridge dive deep into the world of travel, orientation, and independent mobility.

They are joined by Dr. Erin Foley, an Orientation and Mobility (O\&M) specialist from San Francisco State University, to discuss travel strategies, tactile mapping, and the reality of using modern AI tools like Ray-Ban Meta glasses on the go. Later in the episode, Greg Stilson, Vice President of Digital Transformation at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), joins the show to share his tech journey, history with HumanWare, and the incredible impact of the Monarch tactile graphics display.

Have comments, questions, or ideas for future episodes? The team wants to hear from you!

podcast@humanware.com

Find out more at https://see-things-differently-with-hu.pinecast.co

For this 18th episode of See Things Differently, hosts Rachel Ramos and David Woodbridge celebrate the podcast "coming of age". They are joined by Ricky Anger, the Director of Practical Help at Hadley. Ricky shares her personal tech and career journey as a blind professional, shedding light on how Hadley has evolved from a century-old correspondence school into a modern hub for accessible, bite-sized learning. The crew also dives into a lively debate on the future of audio description, shares some hilarious tech repair "trials and triumphs," and drops a quick troubleshooting tip for using VoiceOver with QWERTY-style braille displays.

https://hadleyhelps.org/

Hadley Toll-Free Number (US): (800) 323-4238

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome at podcast@humanware.com !

Find out more at https://see-things-differently-with-hu.pinecast.co
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In this episode of See Things Differently with HumanWare, hosts Rachel Ramos and David Woodbridge welcome back a very familiar face to the studio—former co-host Peter Tucic!

Peter catches up with the team to discuss his new role at the Chicago Lighthouse and shares his personal and professional insights into workplace accessibility and adaptive workflows. Later, the crew dives into a candid "Hot Topic" debate challenging the assumption that blind or visually impaired individuals can only work within the accessibility field.

Find out more at https://see-things-differently-with-hu.pinecast.co
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