On this special episode, we relive the Next Big Thing 2024 final. We get to know the finalists and their feature ideas. We hear from the judges and show hosts. And, of course, we find out who the winner is!

If you missed our most recent FSOpenLine, then it’s time to review the highlights of this lively discussion. Topics include Smart Screen Review, accessing shared presentations in Zoom, support for both classic and new Outlook, braille-related issues, product tips and tricks, and a lot more.

Find out about some of the new features in JAWS, ZoomText and Fusion 2024 updates. Get introduced to Roxana Fischer. Hear about our 2025 Public Beta from Mohammed Laachir. And finally, after two years, re-visit with Eric Damery.

On this “back-to-school” issue: Rachel Buchanan, our director of user education and technical support, introduces Sharkvember and The Next Big Thing contest. Dr. Denise Robinson, the founder of Your Tech Vision, discusses technology, education and math. And finally, Olga Espinola, our test engineer and a highly experienced technology user,  explains the new math-related features in JAWS.

On this episode, Glen Gordon interviews Oleg Shevkun, our new FSCast host, and passes on the baton. Then, we hear from Mohammed Laachir, a product owner at Vispero, on some exciting AI-related developments in JAWS and Fusion.

On FSCast 246, we’ll meet psychiatrist Dr. Tim Cordes.  He’s been working in addiction medicine for nearly 20 years, and back in 2005 was the second totally blind person to graduate from medical school.  Then all about Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk that can help solve problems related to Microsoft software.  Crystal Jones will be here with all the details.

On FSCast 245, a demo of how PictureSmart just got smarter thanks to the new chat feature.  Then Alice O’Reilly, Chief of the Collections Division, and Tamara Rorie, head of Patron Engagement at NLS, talk about the array of free services and devices available to people living in the United States.  Plus, we’ll get to know Gordon Legge, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Minnesota Laboratory for Low-Vision Research.

On FSCast 244, we’ll meet Ana Gonzalez Arean.  She’ll talk about growing up in Venezuela and becoming a language professor at two universities, but then needing to move to Spain to start a new life for herself.  Then, Cathy Miller and Nicky Gillies from the Louisiana DeafBlind project discuss some of the challenges of identifying deafblind kids young and helping them to achieve their potential.

On the archive of the March FSOpenLine, people share their favorite things to do with PictureSmart AI, including how to use it with FaceInView to describe what’s in the background. And of course questions on a variety of other topics including why JAWS place markers sometimes lose their place, why Thunderbird speaks incoming email notifications multiple times, and  how to quickly find out who has hands raised in Zoom.

On FSCast 242, we’ll put the newly released Picture Smart AI through its paces, and you’ll hear the detailed descriptions it can generate for everything from a bar chart to a frame from a YouTube video. Then, a visit with longtime blindness advocate Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind. Transcript available at blog.FreedomScientific.com