I’ve decided sites that offer identity verification and don’t have a way to complete it independently as a #blind person is the monster I’ll be hunting for the foreseeable. Their shit for making it that way and they're easy pickin’s.
Aira Access AI. Went to Amazon.com on my computer and the first thing was a captcha that I had to do in order to get into my account. I used Access AI to take a picture of my screen, then asked it to tell me the characters in the image. It quickly came back and said, the characters in the image is, and listed the five letters. The best thing is that it was totally correct! Way to go @AiraVI, Access AI knocked it out of the park! 🤩 #Aira#Access#AI#Blind#Accessibility
got the Windows Emacspeak server working thanks to @tspivey, I think it didn't like Windows-style paths but who knows which thing fixed it. Anyway, it talks. But it's still very early development and I just wanna use a nice interface for a while so I'm gonna like, not worry about that for like a while. Gonna play a fun game when I get home from work and ain't nobody gonna stop me. I know I should do this stuff more often, to get more used to it because I need to do this more and test stuff more, but goodness my brain feels all stretched out now.
Awww, tried to make the new Emacspeak speech server for Windows, and got this. Maybe I need an older dotnet SDK? I'm not sure.
Determining projects to restore...
C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.csproj : warning NU1604: Project dependency System.Speech does not contain an inclusive lower bound. Include
a lower bound in the dependency version to ensure consistent restore results. [C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.sln]
C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.csproj : error NU1100: Unable to resolve 'NAudio (>= 2.2.1)' for 'net8.0'. [C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sha
rpwin\SharpWin.sln]
C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.csproj : error NU1100: Unable to resolve 'NVorbis (>= 0.10.5)' for 'net8.0'. [C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\s
harpwin\SharpWin.sln]
C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.csproj : error NU1100: Unable to resolve 'System.Speech ' for 'net8.0'. [C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpw
in\SharpWin.sln]
Failed to restore C:\Users\devin\Nextcloud\src\sharpwin\SharpWin.csproj (in 104 ms).
Honk honk! Make way for Lottie, the potentially self-driving marvel of the future! We've seen cars go from four wheels and a honk, to smart machines that know how to navigate the autobahn without a coffee break. Meanwhile, I'm over here, tapping away with my trusty ‘stick' or relying on an adorable canine companion who, bless, hasn't the slightest clue about Google Maps.
A Tale of Two Navigators:
• The Traditionalists: Here's to the good old cane and the furry, four-legged GPS units. They don't come with Bluetooth, but they have heart.
• The Techies: Self-driving cars are now the talk of the town, boasting their shiny sensors and making parallel parking look like a piece of cake.
Tech Envy: Where's My Update?:
• The world is obsessed with updates, from software to wardrobe choices. But when it comes to personal mobility tech for the visually impaired, we're still waiting for the 'Version 2.0' that lets me walk around without the need for eyeballs!
Promise Not to Run Over Your Toes!:
• I assure you, the day I become self-driving Lottie, I'll navigate with the grace of a ballerina – toes will be safe, and so will the neighbourhood cats.
The Fantasy of Autonomy:
• Imagine a world where I could waltz down to the local café, guided by nothing but my own savvy suit or smart shoes. I could order a latte without playing a game of human pinball!
The Humble Requests to Tech Wizards:
• Dear Tech Wizards, it's 2024! Can we get a wearable that’s a bit more "Iron Man" and a little less "Iron Age"?
While I wait for the tech gurus to catch up, I'll keep tootling along with my 'stick' and might even recruit a furry friend. But let it be known that 'Self-driving Lottie' is ready for an upgrade. I'm all set for the day when I can zoom past you, fully automated and with a built-in espresso machine, perhaps? Until then, I'll rely on my wits, my companions, and the kind people who don't mind a tap on the ankle from my cane, the precursor to my self-driving debut. Keep your sensors peeled for me!
And remember, dear readers, whether you're a tech tycoon or just someone who loves a good toot, keep dreaming of that hands-free future. It's bound to come, and when it does, I'll be first in line — no driving test required! #Accessibility#AI#AIsoftheBlind#Blind
I heard something about a talking grill for #Cooking. How true is this and is there some sort of demonstration? Because its something I find pretty cool. Anyone know about this? #Blind
Heute ist FREEDOM DAY! Wir haben 83 Menschen aus dem Gefängnis freigekauft, die wegen Fahren ohne Ticket einsaßen.
Wir wollen das nicht mehr machen. Es sollte den Freiheitsfonds nicht geben müssen. Marco Buschmann hat noch immer kein Gesetz zur Entkriminalisierung vorgelegt.
Insgesamt haben wir jetzt 992 Menschen aus dem Knast befreit und zusammen 182 Haftjahre gestrichen. Außerdem hat das dem Staat Kosten in Höhe von 14,2 Millionen Euro gespart. 1/
A common tip I see given to people with #ADHD is to keep things within line of sight, such as placing produce on the shelves of a fridge rather than in a drawer. My understanding is that to be visible is to be less easily forgotten about.
I often struggle with following through on small tasks that (theoretically) are easier when someone can see that something is out of place: a cabinet left open while putting away dishes, a cooking ingredient left on the counter, a plant in need of watering, etc. Do #blind or #VisuallyImpaired people have any tricks you use to help with this sort of thing?
These are just some random little examples, but hopefully my general point is clear. I know that being able to see something does not automatically equate to it being easier, but since line of sight is so common within ADHD advice spaces, I figured I'd ask if there are any blindness specific tips and tricks. 😊
We collaborated with the Eclipse Soundscapes Project to ensure that #blind citizen scientists can participate in its effort to gather data about changes in animal behavior and other effects of the eclipse that can be detected nonvisually. Here's an article about the project and the sound changes that people in the path of totality may notice today. Fun fact: There will even be a temperature change during the eclipse.
A friend of mine with significant visual impairment pointed out that the lack of description on images is a cultural problem on Fedi, not an individual failure.
So, let me do a thing to help build that culture.
How I Do Image Description
I close my eyes. I look at the image first, and close my eyes. Then I try to describe it without looking. I find this focuses me on the important things to get the image across, without getting distracted by unnecessary detail.
It's okay to peek. I have a strong visual memory, so I'm good with one look, but not everyone is. But do try and see the picture in your mind, if you're not aphantasic.
If you are, I'm not sure if I know a way to help. I apologise; I don't know enough about it to know yet. I did want to acknowledge that not everyone can do this approach.
Anyway, that's my contribution today to creating a culture of image description.
Trying to figure out how to put this into bug report language. So, on the Mac, I use the Mail app for doing email. I get lots of email, from mailing lists and Github repos. So, when I use my arrow keys, I hear a lot of info. For example,
3 message conversation collapsed unread Jen-Chieh Shen [open-webui/open-webui] refac: Dockerfile (PR #1165) 4:07 AM Ready to be merged? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: <open-webui/open-webui/pull/1165/c2040704935@github.com> Inbox - Google
So yeah, that’s a lot of words. I just want to hear the subject of the messages when I arrow down. So, before, I could just interact with the message in the message list, then VOICEOVER-Right arrow until I hear the subject, then arrow down, delete, whatever I needed to do. But now, it just goes back to reading the whole row of information when I arrow down again.
Any #blind folks out there using Google Chrome OS and Chromevox on a daily basis or at least regularly? We would love to talk to you about your experiences. #accessibility
It's April, people are already talking about WWDC and looking forward to IOS 18.
IOS 17.5 beta has dropped and fixes for serious issues with VoiceOver's Hebrew text to speech, introduced in IOS 17 have not been addressed by Apple.
I'm a fan of IOS devices and their commitment to accessibility.
However, when half a year after introducing a but that causes the Hebrew TTS to say a long string of gibberish (xb7xd78), every time it encounters an apostrophe is making doubt Apple's commitment to it's users outside the US.
Sounds like J or ch are written using a Hebrew letter plus an apostrophe. So every time VoiceOver sees teh word Chat it says C-xb7xd78-ats.
The blind IOS community here as distributed a custom punctuation pronunciation file that helps by telling VoiceOver not to pronounce apostrophes, but this still causes such word's to be mispronounced. Tsats instead of Chats, but at least it's bearable.
I don't think such a glaring bug would have been ignored by Apple if it happened in English.
Blind hive mind, I wonder what the proper name for German film is, as in that plastic film that you draw on to create tactile images. It just seems to be known at least in the UK as German film, which surely can't be what it's actually called. #Blind@mastoblind
Blind hive mind, I wonder what the proper name for German film is, as in that plastic film that you draw on to create tactile images. It just seems to be known at least in the UK as German film, which surely can't be what it's actually called. #Blind@mastoblind
Just got the jury verdict in our favor in a #disability#discrimination case against Alameda County in CA! Still more work to do because we think they haven't fixed all their issues (but the advisory jury didn't agree on this).
Still, feeling vindicated that this #lawsuit never should have gone to trial bc it was so obviously wrong on their part (yes, you really do need to write on a piece of paper for a #blind individual so they can file their gov form that day). #law
Blind people can hear and feel April’s total solar eclipse with new technology.
AP reports: "The LightSound device is the result of a collaboration between Wanda Díaz-Merced, an astronomer who is blind, and Harvard astronomer Allyson Bieryla. Díaz-Merced regularly translates her data into audio to analyze patterns for her research."
IF there was just one thing which I could tell my younger self, it would be read more #Braille and get your reading speed up. #Blind Braille learners, practice makes better. Don't put it off. Read with both hands, and get that speed up. You will thank yourself later.