In 2022, if you want to stay informed and connected to the outside world, being digitally literate is essential. This is especially true for those who are still participating in the work force, as most job opportunities, work environments, and means of companywide communication is online. And while Neil Squire offers free digital literacy training for persons with disabilities, there are also other free options available right now that shouldn’t be ignored. These resources are well-crafted, searchable, and have been used by millions of users.

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Joan works at a customer service desk in a retail store.

“My job is quite physical and involves a lot of lifting and a lot of moving around the store,” she says. “I have a spinal cord injury at the L1 level. I do not walk at all and use a wheelchair for my mobility. My shoulders, arms, wrists and hands where often in a lot of pain by the end of a shift due to overuse. Getting into my van after a shift was often very painful.”

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On episode 7, we are joined once again by AT researcher and life-long assistive technology user, Nakia Singh. We talk about video games as medicine (literally!), the Rogers outage and how it affects persons with disabilities, adaptive switch controllers, and more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.

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The internet in 2022 is like a digital version of the wild west, it’s vast, open-ended, and as full of opportunities as it is danger. That being said, there are measures that can be taken to ensure that one’s browsing experience is as safe as possible, and today, we are going to look into those measures in a bit more detail. And while this guide is especially aimed for those who are fairly new to or don’t have much experience browsing the internet, experienced users might also learn a thing or two.

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Robyn works part-time as a delivery driver for a pharmacy in Surrey, delivering patients their medicine.

Robyn was a passenger in a serious car accident that broke her back and caused kyphoscoliosis of her spine and other soft tissue damage. Emergency surgery for an abdominal injury resulted in her spine healing in the wrong position. This causes her extreme difficulty standing or sitting upright for almost any length of time.

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Save the date! We will be holding our Neil Squire Hearing Solutions Grand Opening event on Thursday, September 15^th from 2pm to 6pm. Delayed for the past two years due to COVID-19, we are pleased to be finally opening our doors to showcase our newest social enterprise. Join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony, speeches, food, and drinks, and find out what sets us apart from other hearing labs in the area.

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Marie works in a women’s treatment centre in Vancouver.

“My hearing ability had diminished drastically, and I was unable to function at my best. I do a lot of phone intake with women, this is one of the most difficult phone calls they make and not to be able to hear properly was unforgivable,” she explains.

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If you’re using the internet in 2022, chances are you’ve already heard of Microsoft’s email platform (and successor to Hotmail), Outlook. The platform is quick, efficient, and easy to use, and generally does everything an email service should. Plus, the Outlook is especially helpful for anyone who operates within the Microsoft/Microsoft 365 environment, because of how well it integrates with the other apps under that umbrella such as Teams. Today, we’re going to look at a few tips, tricks, and interesting features that not every Outlook user may be aware of. Hopefully even veteran users will learn something new today!

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Eliezar works as a residential cleaner in Victoria, cleaning homes.

He has hearing loss, which has made his job difficult due to miscommunications that have occurred. As well, being unable to hear alarms or emergencies put Eliezar at risk of injury.

The Island Deaf and Hard Of Hearing Centre referred Eliezar to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for a pair of hearing aids. He applied and was quickly approved.

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Do you find yourself often running out of hard drive space? Have you noticed that your computer has begun to slow down significantly after owning it for a couple of years? Taking advantage of free, cloud-based storage is a great way to maximize your overall digital storage potential, and to prevent you from having to spend money on a bigger hard drive, USB sticks, external hard drives, etc. That being said, you may have noticed that there are quite a few options to choose from! In an effort to better understand these options, we’re going to compare and contrast the top four cloud-based services available today.

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