July 19, 2024 • 15 mins
Hosts sit down with Marci Duty, a rep for Computers for the Blind, and talk about their low-cost laptops and desktop computers for the blind, their partners, and the education classes you can get access to with a computer from Computers for the Blind.
Show notes
Penny-Forward-Podcast-S2024-E13Download Transcript .TXT File
Connect with Computers For The Blind
Computers For The Blind Website: https://computersfortheblind.org/
Computers For The Blind Email: service@computersfortheblind.org
Computers For The Blind Phone: +1 214-340-6328
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Post Production help provided by Brynn Lee: Superblink.org
Transcription services provided by Anne Verduin
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I want to encourage anybody who is blind
or legally blind to think about getting a
computer.
Because computers are such necessities nowadays.
And if you don't know how to use
that computer, we're here to teach you how
to do that as well,
and we can do that for you at
an affordable cost.
(00:24):
It's is the penny forward podcast, a podcast
about blind people building bright futures 1 penny
at a time. I'm Liz Bot. I'm Chris
Peterson.
I'm boat Carpenter.
Today, we are going to devote this episode
to technology.
Specifically
technology
that is at... Perhaps a more affordable price
(00:45):
point to those of us in the blind
and low vision community.
And to help us talk about that, we
have Marc Duty from computers for the bind.
Marcy, Thank you for being here. Thank you
for having me. What a pleasure it is
to be here.
Tell us about yourself, your blindness and your
connection to the blindness community. Though I was
born totally blind and always wanted to do
(01:06):
things that would help people.
So it started with the job as a
receptionist then a job for a police department
for a major city
during the time shift. Which was really interesting
when all the interesting things happened.
Then I went to work for a bank.
I also have worked for fidelity investments for
a little while. Having to go through the
Series 7, Series 63 exams.
(01:29):
In 20 10, my manager, said, you spend
more time working with me than you work
with your regular job, so come and teach
me to develop Jaws curriculum or come and
help me develop jazz curriculum for people, for
teachers of the visually impaired across the state
of Texas.
So I did that.
Teaching
(01:50):
teachers, jaws, zoom text, and the different
technologies that they could use to help their
students,
went to work for the Iowa department for
the blind for a little while,
and then came across computers for the blind
and have been here ever since.
This was 20 19 and really enjoy helping
people,
(02:10):
get computers number 1, and
recently teach them to use those computers
to do some different things to help them
be productive.
Can you tell us a little bit about
computers the blind specifically, what was its history
and what kinds of things do you provide
to the blind community?
Do computers for the blind was founded in
(02:31):
19 95
by Robert Lang.
Robert was born sided and lost his sight
at a 16 in an accident.
He went through college
as the first blind person to graduate from
College in New Mexico
He got 3 degrees
and realized
what a... An opportunity computers were provided for
(02:54):
people.
They could read independently. They could email. They
could communicate with different people.
So he decided to start collecting computers
4 people who were blind with Low vision.
We have delivered up to 20000
computers to date
since 19 95,
Our computers come to us from corporations like
(03:15):
Texas instruments, general motors,
and our mission is to get them in
the hands of people who are blind with
low vision across the united states at a
low cost. Tell me about the services that
computers for the blind offers.
So currently, we offer desktop and laptop Windows
computers,
we also offer training in the use of
(03:36):
the jaws screen reader.
1 of our partners is Freedom scientific,
So when a person purchases a computer from
us for the first time,
they are entitled to a copy of jaws.
A copy of Zoom tags
or if they desire a copy of both
Jaws and Zoom text, the annual whole manual
licenses for each program. Who are your customers
(03:59):
and what is the cost to those customers
for computers from computers for the blind.
So our customers are anyone who is blind
who has low vision, legally blind people.
From across the United States and its surrounding
territories.
We have delivered computers to Puerto Rico.
So all we ask of them is to
(04:19):
prove that they are blind or have vision,
and that proof can come from a doctor,
a nurse,
a social worker, a rehab teacher, rehab counselor.
So we just need... I've accepted them from
presidents of N b, Ac,
Hadley,
The presidents could be national, local state.
So our customers are anyone who is blind
(04:40):
with vision, anyone who's legally blind.
The cost for the computer, your basic
laptop with Windows 11,
02:56
gigabytes of storage, solid state storage. 8 gigabytes
of memory
is 250
dollars.
Your basic desktop is Windows 10,
and the same 8 gigabytes ram 02:56
(05:04):
gigabytes solid state storage,
and that costs 1 75.
We currently have grants available for people who
purchase laptops where they can get between 150
and 175
dollars off of that price.
Well, that's a lot of value for the
buck. Is there any
drawback to getting computers from computers for the
(05:24):
blind?
Drawback.
The drawback probably would be that they are
not new computers, but that is totally replaced
for them by the fact that they're
provided with a copy of their screen reader
or screen magnification program or both if that's
what they need. What sets computers for the
blind apart from other companies in the same
(05:46):
space. I believe it's our partnerships. We have
a partnership currently with excess.
Where we can offer if a person is
unfamiliar with the keyboard and needs to learn
it. A copy of type with those computers
at 20 dollars.
For the year.
Also, our partnerships with freedom scientific,
(06:07):
giving them the assistive technology that they need
or the access technology that they need
with jaws with Zoom text or with both
programs,
since you have offered over 20000
computers.
Do you have any favorite success stories of
individuals that you guys have helped that you'd
like to share?
That is a great question.
(06:29):
We trained a judge who was a judge
for 1 of the supreme courts in a
state,
and he took our class
and he wrote us a beautiful testimonial of
the things that he learned and how productive
our classmates made him on how to use
his computer. Is there anything that you would
like to share with us that we did
not ask? I want to encourage
(06:51):
anybody who is blind
or legally blind to think about getting a
computer
because computers are such necessities nowadays
We need them for doctor's appointments. We need
them for shopping for groceries.
We need them for information for education for
recreation.
And if you don't know how to use
(07:12):
that computer, we're here to teach you how
to do that as well,
there's a a great chance that you take
because you're opening up the world for yourself
by obtaining a computer, and we can do
that for you at an affordable cost.
Picking of opening up the world for people.
Marcy, I'm just kinda curious, what... If you
can recall was your first memory or 1
(07:34):
of your first memories of technology
and,
more specifically, of technology and how it was
able to help you do something that you
wanted to do.
So my first memory of technology was what
I was working for the police department. I
had my roster and everything available to me
in braille.
But what I could do was type messages
(07:55):
for officers, and my familiarity with the braille
rider
allowed me to
actually print those messages on a technology
long go use, called the braille and print.
Where whatever you braille would be printed for
the officers to get their messages.
Wow. That's. That was my first use of
technology a long time ago. That's a blast
(08:18):
from the past. Yeah. Thank you.
1 of the things that I was most
impressed with when I got a computer from
computers for the block
was
that
it was very speedy
and
very nicely put together. And I think 1
of the reasons for that is is that
it it appears that you do a good
(08:39):
job of stripping out a lot of the
b where the... That a lot of computers
come with
But there's also a nice selection of software
that's pre installed. And I think you talked
about some of it, But is there any
other pre installed software
that comes on a computers for the blind
computer that you'd wanna touch on and and
talk about what it does for people that
might not be familiar with it.
(08:59):
So our computers also come with a copy
of Microsoft office 20 19 student,
which gives the user a copy of word,
a copy of excel, a copy of Powerpoint.
A lot of the office products that people
are now using in the corporate sector.
Our computers also come with Bard Express. A
lot of our users use the talking book
(09:21):
library. So the Bard Express app allows them
to download books to their particular
locations.
Our computers come with several books that are
available in the public domain.
So people can read books either in audio
format or
have the screen reader or screen magnifier read
(09:41):
the books for them.
Our computers also come with a training bundle,
produced by freedom scientific. I went to say
about 5 years ago.
So a lot of the commands that jaws
uses are still similar are still the same,
and they can get the basic of jaws
from the training bundle that's installed on our
computers.
(10:02):
We also have a lot of resources
that people can take advantage of for people
who are blind with low vision
And for people who may feel like
8 gigabytes of ram or 256
types of storage isn't gonna be enough for
them. Are there options to upgrade the base
packages at all?
The package that we offer that gives people
(10:23):
the most ram storage
is 16 gigabytes of ram with a 1
terabyte of solid state hard drive.
The laptop with Windows 11, The regular price
is 500 dollars.
But again, please take advantage of those grants,
which are available to students
to recipients of any type of social security,
and to veterans and their spouses.
(10:45):
So veterans in their spouses and students get
the bigger discount.
Those would come... That price would come down
to 03:25
If you receive any type of social security,
that price would be 350
dollars.
And as a student,
of penny forward, they qualify to be a
student. Correct?
That is correct. So I it here first.
(11:08):
So the penny forward classes teach us to
be very financially successful
and to learn the different things about financing.
And the computer is a really good way
to get there. And so take advantage of
the discount being a penny forward student.
And give us a call and let us
know that you need that computer? Can you
talk a little more about the continuing
(11:30):
education classes that you do?
So the education classes that we do are
designed for people who need to learn to
use the computer differently.
A lot of our customers have recently lost
their site.
So we design these courses to teach people
to use the keyboard first,
then to learn a little bit more about
the windows environment,
(11:53):
Then to learn about typing documents and how
to copy cut and paste, text in a
document,
Then we take them to the Internet and
learn how to use Microsoft edge to do
some basic research on the Internet to find
some websites.
And after that, on the sixth week, we
teach them to send and receive email using
(12:13):
Gmail and standard view. Are the training classes
only offered to those? Persons who purchase a
computers for the blind computer or could anyone
who is interested in training, reach out and
and take advantage of that.
So I wish I could say that anyone
could reach out. But right now, they are
only available to our customers to people that
purchase computers from us.
(12:34):
Speaking of purchasing computers from for computers for
the blind. How could someone find out more
information about how to do that?
Excellent question. So our website is computers for
the blind to dot 0RG,
and I have divided or I have
talked about the steps that people have to
follow as the asians. So the first thing
(12:55):
that people need to do is fill out
an application. The application is available on our
website.
We can also, we and customer service can
also help a customer complete that application. So
step 1 is the application. Step 2 is
documentation. We need proof that the person is
blind has low vision. And then
sip 2 a if they qualify for a
(13:16):
grant, we need the grant qualifying
documentation. So application
documentation,
Then they would pay us the compensation for
the computer,
then we ship the computer. So the transportation
step.
So it's education,
documentation,
compensation,
transportation, and then we give you education.
(13:38):
So that's that's what I did. That's my
my definition of how people
apply and receive a computer.
The website, as I said was computers for
the blind dot org. Our email address is
service
at computers for the blind dot org.
That goes straight to customer service,
and our telephone number is 2143
(14:00):
04:06
328.
Thank Qm marcy for being here and sharing
with us about computers to the blind. We
really appreciate it, and we know that our
listeners will as well.
My pleasure. Thank you for letting me share.
I would like to also take this time
to thank the current penny forward sponsors, those
being
The American Printing House or Ach ap Connect
(14:21):
center,
Thrive,
Wells Fargo and World services for the blind.
If you would like to become a sponsor,
you may do so by visiting WWW
dot penny forward dot com slash
sponsorships and choosing a sponsorship package that is
right for you and your budget.
(14:45):
Penny forward is a profit organization founded and
led by blind people. Through
education, mentoring and mutual support, we help each
other learn to navigate the complicated landscape of
personal finance.
To learn more about our accessible
online financial courses, weekly and monthly workshops, 1
on 1 financial counseling, and more, visit our
(15:08):
website at WWW
dot kennedy forward dot com.
The penny forward podcast is produced by Liz
Bot and Chris Peters inn with assistance from
Mo carpenter.
Audio editing and post production is provided by
B lee,
text transcription is provided by Anne Ver,
and the music is both composed and performed
(15:29):
by Andre Louie. All of whom happened to
be blind.
For all of us in the penny forward
community this week,
I'm Liz Bot.
I'm Chris Peterson. I'm Luke Carpenter.
Thank you for listening and make it a
fantastic week.
I want to encourage anybody who is blind
or legally blind to think about getting a
computer.
Because computers are such necessities nowadays.
And if you don't know how to use
that computer, we're here to teach you how
to do that as well,
and we can do that for you at
an affordable cost.
(00:24):
It's is the penny forward podcast, a podcast
about blind people building bright futures 1 penny
at a time. I'm Liz Bot. I'm Chris
Peterson.
I'm boat Carpenter.
Today, we are going to devote this episode
to technology.
Specifically
technology
that is at... Perhaps a more affordable price
(00:45):
point to those of us in the blind
and low vision community.
And to help us talk about that, we
have Marc Duty from computers for the bind.
Marcy, Thank you for being here. Thank you
for having me. What a pleasure it is
to be here.
Tell us about yourself, your blindness and your
connection to the blindness community. Though I was
born totally blind and always wanted to do
(01:06):
things that would help people.
So it started with the job as a
receptionist then a job for a police department
for a major city
during the time shift. Which was really interesting
when all the interesting things happened.
Then I went to work for a bank.
I also have worked for fidelity investments for
a little while. Having to go through the
Series 7, Series 63 exams.
(01:29):
In 20 10, my manager, said, you spend
more time working with me than you work
with your regular job, so come and teach
me to develop Jaws curriculum or come and
help me develop jazz curriculum for people, for
teachers of the visually impaired across the state
of Texas.
So I did that.
Teaching
(01:50):
teachers, jaws, zoom text, and the different
technologies that they could use to help their
students,
went to work for the Iowa department for
the blind for a little while,
and then came across computers for the blind
and have been here ever since.
This was 20 19 and really enjoy helping
people,
(02:10):
get computers number 1, and
recently teach them to use those computers
to do some different things to help them
be productive.
Can you tell us a little bit about
computers the blind specifically, what was its history
and what kinds of things do you provide
to the blind community?
Do computers for the blind was founded in
(02:31):
19 95
by Robert Lang.
Robert was born sided and lost his sight
at a 16 in an accident.
He went through college
as the first blind person to graduate from
College in New Mexico
He got 3 degrees
and realized
what a... An opportunity computers were provided for
(02:54):
people.
They could read independently. They could email. They
could communicate with different people.
So he decided to start collecting computers
4 people who were blind with Low vision.
We have delivered up to 20000
computers to date
since 19 95,
Our computers come to us from corporations like
(03:15):
Texas instruments, general motors,
and our mission is to get them in
the hands of people who are blind with
low vision across the united states at a
low cost. Tell me about the services that
computers for the blind offers.
So currently, we offer desktop and laptop Windows
computers,
we also offer training in the use of
(03:36):
the jaws screen reader.
1 of our partners is Freedom scientific,
So when a person purchases a computer from
us for the first time,
they are entitled to a copy of jaws.
A copy of Zoom tags
or if they desire a copy of both
Jaws and Zoom text, the annual whole manual
licenses for each program. Who are your customers
(03:59):
and what is the cost to those customers
for computers from computers for the blind.
So our customers are anyone who is blind
who has low vision, legally blind people.
From across the United States and its surrounding
territories.
We have delivered computers to Puerto Rico.
So all we ask of them is to
(04:19):
prove that they are blind or have vision,
and that proof can come from a doctor,
a nurse,
a social worker, a rehab teacher, rehab counselor.
So we just need... I've accepted them from
presidents of N b, Ac,
Hadley,
The presidents could be national, local state.
So our customers are anyone who is blind
(04:40):
with vision, anyone who's legally blind.
The cost for the computer, your basic
laptop with Windows 11,
02:56
gigabytes of storage, solid state storage. 8 gigabytes
of memory
is 250
dollars.
Your basic desktop is Windows 10,
and the same 8 gigabytes ram 02:56
(05:04):
gigabytes solid state storage,
and that costs 1 75.
We currently have grants available for people who
purchase laptops where they can get between 150
and 175
dollars off of that price.
Well, that's a lot of value for the
buck. Is there any
drawback to getting computers from computers for the
(05:24):
blind?
Drawback.
The drawback probably would be that they are
not new computers, but that is totally replaced
for them by the fact that they're
provided with a copy of their screen reader
or screen magnification program or both if that's
what they need. What sets computers for the
blind apart from other companies in the same
(05:46):
space. I believe it's our partnerships. We have
a partnership currently with excess.
Where we can offer if a person is
unfamiliar with the keyboard and needs to learn
it. A copy of type with those computers
at 20 dollars.
For the year.
Also, our partnerships with freedom scientific,
(06:07):
giving them the assistive technology that they need
or the access technology that they need
with jaws with Zoom text or with both
programs,
since you have offered over 20000
computers.
Do you have any favorite success stories of
individuals that you guys have helped that you'd
like to share?
That is a great question.
(06:29):
We trained a judge who was a judge
for 1 of the supreme courts in a
state,
and he took our class
and he wrote us a beautiful testimonial of
the things that he learned and how productive
our classmates made him on how to use
his computer. Is there anything that you would
like to share with us that we did
not ask? I want to encourage
(06:51):
anybody who is blind
or legally blind to think about getting a
computer
because computers are such necessities nowadays
We need them for doctor's appointments. We need
them for shopping for groceries.
We need them for information for education for
recreation.
And if you don't know how to use
(07:12):
that computer, we're here to teach you how
to do that as well,
there's a a great chance that you take
because you're opening up the world for yourself
by obtaining a computer, and we can do
that for you at an affordable cost.
Picking of opening up the world for people.
Marcy, I'm just kinda curious, what... If you
can recall was your first memory or 1
(07:34):
of your first memories of technology
and,
more specifically, of technology and how it was
able to help you do something that you
wanted to do.
So my first memory of technology was what
I was working for the police department. I
had my roster and everything available to me
in braille.
But what I could do was type messages
(07:55):
for officers, and my familiarity with the braille
rider
allowed me to
actually print those messages on a technology
long go use, called the braille and print.
Where whatever you braille would be printed for
the officers to get their messages.
Wow. That's. That was my first use of
technology a long time ago. That's a blast
(08:18):
from the past. Yeah. Thank you.
1 of the things that I was most
impressed with when I got a computer from
computers for the block
was
that
it was very speedy
and
very nicely put together. And I think 1
of the reasons for that is is that
it it appears that you do a good
(08:39):
job of stripping out a lot of the
b where the... That a lot of computers
come with
But there's also a nice selection of software
that's pre installed. And I think you talked
about some of it, But is there any
other pre installed software
that comes on a computers for the blind
computer that you'd wanna touch on and and
talk about what it does for people that
might not be familiar with it.
(08:59):
So our computers also come with a copy
of Microsoft office 20 19 student,
which gives the user a copy of word,
a copy of excel, a copy of Powerpoint.
A lot of the office products that people
are now using in the corporate sector.
Our computers also come with Bard Express. A
lot of our users use the talking book
(09:21):
library. So the Bard Express app allows them
to download books to their particular
locations.
Our computers come with several books that are
available in the public domain.
So people can read books either in audio
format or
have the screen reader or screen magnifier read
(09:41):
the books for them.
Our computers also come with a training bundle,
produced by freedom scientific. I went to say
about 5 years ago.
So a lot of the commands that jaws
uses are still similar are still the same,
and they can get the basic of jaws
from the training bundle that's installed on our
computers.
(10:02):
We also have a lot of resources
that people can take advantage of for people
who are blind with low vision
And for people who may feel like
8 gigabytes of ram or 256
types of storage isn't gonna be enough for
them. Are there options to upgrade the base
packages at all?
The package that we offer that gives people
(10:23):
the most ram storage
is 16 gigabytes of ram with a 1
terabyte of solid state hard drive.
The laptop with Windows 11, The regular price
is 500 dollars.
But again, please take advantage of those grants,
which are available to students
to recipients of any type of social security,
and to veterans and their spouses.
(10:45):
So veterans in their spouses and students get
the bigger discount.
Those would come... That price would come down
to 03:25
If you receive any type of social security,
that price would be 350
dollars.
And as a student,
of penny forward, they qualify to be a
student. Correct?
That is correct. So I it here first.
(11:08):
So the penny forward classes teach us to
be very financially successful
and to learn the different things about financing.
And the computer is a really good way
to get there. And so take advantage of
the discount being a penny forward student.
And give us a call and let us
know that you need that computer? Can you
talk a little more about the continuing
(11:30):
education classes that you do?
So the education classes that we do are
designed for people who need to learn to
use the computer differently.
A lot of our customers have recently lost
their site.
So we design these courses to teach people
to use the keyboard first,
then to learn a little bit more about
the windows environment,
(11:53):
Then to learn about typing documents and how
to copy cut and paste, text in a
document,
Then we take them to the Internet and
learn how to use Microsoft edge to do
some basic research on the Internet to find
some websites.
And after that, on the sixth week, we
teach them to send and receive email using
(12:13):
Gmail and standard view. Are the training classes
only offered to those? Persons who purchase a
computers for the blind computer or could anyone
who is interested in training, reach out and
and take advantage of that.
So I wish I could say that anyone
could reach out. But right now, they are
only available to our customers to people that
purchase computers from us.
(12:34):
Speaking of purchasing computers from for computers for
the blind. How could someone find out more
information about how to do that?
Excellent question. So our website is computers for
the blind to dot 0RG,
and I have divided or I have
talked about the steps that people have to
follow as the asians. So the first thing
(12:55):
that people need to do is fill out
an application. The application is available on our
website.
We can also, we and customer service can
also help a customer complete that application. So
step 1 is the application. Step 2 is
documentation. We need proof that the person is
blind has low vision. And then
sip 2 a if they qualify for a
(13:16):
grant, we need the grant qualifying
documentation. So application
documentation,
Then they would pay us the compensation for
the computer,
then we ship the computer. So the transportation
step.
So it's education,
documentation,
compensation,
transportation, and then we give you education.
(13:38):
So that's that's what I did. That's my
my definition of how people
apply and receive a computer.
The website, as I said was computers for
the blind dot org. Our email address is
service
at computers for the blind dot org.
That goes straight to customer service,
and our telephone number is 2143
(14:00):
04:06
328.
Thank Qm marcy for being here and sharing
with us about computers to the blind. We
really appreciate it, and we know that our
listeners will as well.
My pleasure. Thank you for letting me share.
I would like to also take this time
to thank the current penny forward sponsors, those
being
The American Printing House or Ach ap Connect
(14:21):
center,
Thrive,
Wells Fargo and World services for the blind.
If you would like to become a sponsor,
you may do so by visiting WWW
dot penny forward dot com slash
sponsorships and choosing a sponsorship package that is
right for you and your budget.
(14:45):
Penny forward is a profit organization founded and
led by blind people. Through
education, mentoring and mutual support, we help each
other learn to navigate the complicated landscape of
personal finance.
To learn more about our accessible
online financial courses, weekly and monthly workshops, 1
on 1 financial counseling, and more, visit our
(15:08):
website at WWW
dot kennedy forward dot com.
The penny forward podcast is produced by Liz
Bot and Chris Peters inn with assistance from
Mo carpenter.
Audio editing and post production is provided by
B lee,
text transcription is provided by Anne Ver,
and the music is both composed and performed
(15:29):
by Andre Louie. All of whom happened to
be blind.
For all of us in the penny forward
community this week,
I'm Liz Bot.
I'm Chris Peterson. I'm Luke Carpenter.
Thank you for listening and make it a
fantastic week.
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