NCBI Labs is once again raising the digital accessibility bar as we proudly
release on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) a host of new features
which will be arriving to Version 2 of the myNCBI Smart Hub very soon!
NCBI's technology department, NCBI Labs, first launched the myNCBI Smart Hub
on Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices on GAAD 2022 to a huge response from
people who are blind or vision impaired right across Ireland. The Smart Hub
currently allows users to access information about sight loss, access audio
books, podcasts, newspapers and magazines, access NCBI Live, Ireland's first
dedicated online radio station for listeners with sight loss and much more
through simple voice commands to a user's smart speaker.
The new and improved Version 2 will include new features and improvements to
some familiar features, including:
. New information about fundraising : Users can say "tell me about
fundraising" and will hear a list of the different content they can access,
including:
Eye Can Lottery, Legacy donations, community events, corporate partnerships,
and volunteering.
. Video Series : Users can now access two video series in the skill, the
first being the Vision Series, and the second is the Adult Services
Assessment Procedure. Users can simply say "play a video series" and they
will get the choice between the two.
. Contact NCBI : If a user would like to know what the phone number is for
NCBI, they can say "I want to call NCBI". They will be told the number and
also asked if they would like an SMS or email sent to them with the phone
number in it.
. Visit NCBI website : If a user would like to know what the website URL is
for NCBI, they can say "What is the NCBI website". They will be told the URL
and also asked if they would like an SMS or email sent to them with the URL
on it.
. Voice recording of articles : A voice recording of articles from the NCBI
inSight magazine, NCBI Labs Technology Newsletter, and NCBI blog posts will
be available. Users can say "I want to listen to a newsletter" and choose
from the options given.
. Choosing Talking Newspaper by title : The current Smart Hub skill has
voice recorded articles from 19 different newspapers and magazines. Up until
now, users were asked to choose a genre, and would hear articles from a
mixture of the newspapers in that genre. Now, users will be able to choose
by title instead, so if they only want to listen to articles from a specific
media outlet, they can choose to.
The NCBI Labs team discussed these new features on the newest episode of
Talking Technology with NCBI Labs which was streamed live from 2.30pm on
GAAD.
The podcast will subsequently be available on The NCBI Labs YouTube channel
and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon.
myNCBI Smart Hub has, and with these improvements, will continue to have a
positive impact on NCBI's service users as it removes barriers to accessing
information and material that may have previously only been provided in
inaccessible formats.
The applications of this technology are endless and can help so many people
with various disabilities. Such is the popularity and quality of the new
improvements and features to the Smart Hub, NCBI is actively providing it to
other charities around the world at a fraction of development cost.
Kyran O'Mahony, NCBI Chief Technology Officer and CEO of IA Labs said: "With
the myNCBI Smart Hub Version 2, NCBI will once again push the boundaries to
demonstrate that technology is the biggest enabler for people who are blind
or vision impaired. The Smart Hub has quickly become a staple in the lives
of many of our service users and with Version 2, we are hopeful that more
people will learn what is possible with this technology.
"With such buy-in already from our service users and from external partners
who wish to use the Smart Hub technology around the world, the future is
bright for NCBI, the sight loss community, people pan disability and future
versions of the Smart Hub. While we prepare to release our new and improved
features, why not download the current version of the Smart Hub on your
smart speaker and give it a try? You won't be disappointed!'
NCBI PRESS RELEASE.
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