Join BVA’s VetTech Team on Wednesday, October 18, at 2:00pm Eastern Time as the upcoming Weekly Wednesday Webinar welcomes Brian Moon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Perigean Technologies. Brian will explain the company’s role in spearheading the Veterans Usability Project, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research initiative to understand how veterans and caregivers interact with VA websites and mobile applications. 

The results of the Veterans Usability Project will directly affect how VA will, moving forward, develop and update its website technology—everything from accessing VA.gov to login processes and the functionality of mobile apps. Brian will offer details on how webinar attendees can participate in the project and the stipends available at each level of participation. As reported in last week’s BVA Happenings, VA’s current efforts include a quest to understand the unique needs of blind screen readers and produce relevant digital tools accessible and easy for them to use. BVA members who use screen readers are especially encouraged to sign up for a study within the larger project.

Do not miss this VetTech session! Participants will learn:

• Details about the origin, purpose, and essence of the Veterans Usability Project.
• Potential outcomes to be gained from the Project.
• Procedures for signing up for an upcoming Project study.

In a more informal setting and discussion format than the webinar, VetTech Talk is held every Thursday at 2:00pm Eastern Time. The sessions most often consist of a recap, review, and additional discussion of the previous day’s webinar. This Thursday’s session (October 19) will follow the customary format: A review of Brian Moon’s explanation of the Veterans Usability Project, followed by a discussion about digital assistants and Smart home devices, including how Alexa, Siri, Google, and others are truly transforming how average people worldwide are interacting with information in their own places of residence.

Are you not a BVA member? No problem! All VetTech webinars and talk sessions are currently open to everyone—blind and low vision veterans and nonveterans, family members, caregivers, blind rehabilitation specialists, and all other parties interested in assistive, adaptive, and accessible technology that can result in greater independence. Membership in BVA or attendance at previous sessions is not a pre-requisite to join the VetTech webinars or VetTech Talk sessions.

Did you miss the most recent virtual sessions for some reason? No problem! VetTech is now available as a podcast on major platforms. Interested parties can listen on demand to missed Weekly Wednesday Webinars as well as original content published solely on the podcast by asking their Smart speaker, Siri, or Alexa, to “play the latest episode of the Blinded Veterans Association VetTech Podcast.” They can also follow the channel via Apple Podcast, Google Play, and Amazon Music.

This past week, the VetTech Weekly Wednesday Webinar focused on the basics of ZoomText and Fusion, two powerful assistive technology programs for blind and low vision users. Liz Whitaker, Product Manager for Education and Research at Vispero, took attendees through simple tasks such as how to use ZoomText to magnify their screens and, for those requiring or demanding a little more, how to totally integrate Fusion into their lives! Thursday’s VetTech Talk was a discussion of general topics related to using Windows with JAWS and Fusion.

To enter next week’s VetTech sessions using the customary Zoom meeting credentials and link, click here. For additional information about the VetTech initiative, its specific mission and purpose, click here.