Slippery underfoot

At the best of times, we all need to be careful when conditions are those of slippery underfoot, and for me as a blind person it means being that extra careful. The phrase slippery underfoot means that in circumstances such as wet floors, slippery sidewalks covered with ice and/or snow, wet grass, or piles of soggy leaves in my path, I need to use my cane and balance to ensure that I do not end up on my back. So how do I make sure of this?

I use my cane to help me out. My cane is always placed in my hand and it is constantly out in front of me, sweeping left and right. I make sure that it picks up any warning signs of slippery surfaces in my path and then I slow down, walk gingerly and carefully, and keep my feet firmly planted on the ground or floor. It is not always possible to do this but in most circumstances it is. All I need to do is to make sure that I am prepared for slippery surfaces no matter what. Sometimes I may get caught unexpectedly.

For example, if someone has spilled liquid on the sidewalk, a slimy substance left on the sidewalk such as oil, or something similar.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to visit www.acb.org to learn more about the world of blind persons.

Which technology is best for me

Many sighted persons often fall into the trap of assuming that most blind persons use a specific screen reader or piece of magnification software. Or that they all use Braille. Or that, for the most part, they all use the same thing. Is this a true assumption? Not at all.

We use what best suits us. Some of us prefer IPhones to Smart phones. Others use Braille as opposed to text-to-speech and others base their choice on need and ability to use what is out there. For me, the best technology at the moment is the use of text-to-speech along with Braille. I use text-to-speech because it is much faster and I use Braille because it is best for me. So you see, we all choose our technology based on need and/or circumstance.

I do my work and studying using primarily text-to-speech. I use Braille to take quick notes and to make presentations. I use these two paths in conjunction with each other and they both work just fine.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Come by and visit me any time at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Braille or print

I thank God every day that I had the opportunity to learn how to and use such things as pencils, crayons, and paper and I am also truly grateful that I learned how to read and write Braille.

Braille was the first thing that I learned. At an early age I learned how to read and write it and this is because my sight was not good enough to enable me to learn how to read and write print. However, this all changed when I became a teenager and thanks to Dr. Rosen of Montreal, I had my first cornea transplant and then learned how to read and write print. I had many years of using both Braille and print but then, alas! My vision failed me in early 2004 and it was back to Braille.

Braille or print? For me, it was both for many years and I am a very lucky person.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come by and listen to some of my audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com.

Packing for a trip

I love to travel but when it comes to packing! That's a different story. Now that my vision is down to a bare minimum, I need to be super careful when I pack my stuff, and why? Because I need to ensure that the clothes I take with me all match. That is, what I think I am packing is indeed what it is.

So out comes my color detector and I use it a lot to help me. I am very careful when I pack so as to ensure that I arrange my clothes in such a way that I know what goes with what. I try to take things that are easy to match. For example, black pants with any color top. I am very careful to ensure that things do indeed match. My closet and drawers are all very meticulously arranged so that I know where to find what I seek.

My mom has helped me to do this and I just need to make sure that I keep things in order. It is easy once I have a system down pat. One big challenge for me is to ensure that I know which color shoes I am packing so that I can match them appropriately to my clothes. Fun, fun!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to visit www.nfb.org to learn more about the world of blind persons.

Make sure the lids are on

Yes, this is my warning to anyone, let alone a blind person. The other day I removed the top from my bottle of garlic salt and I thought that the inner lid was firmly on. This is the lid that has the holes in it so that the garlic salt could be sprinkled onto my food. Guess what? The lid, or the inner lid as I would refer to it, was not and then what? I poured too much garlic onto my food.

This can easily happen when you have to sprinkle a condiment onto your food. You remove the top cover and lid and then there is the inner lid and if that lid is not properly screwed on then you could easily find yourself pouring or sprinkling too much of your condiment onto your food.

So how do I deal with this? Well, after removing the outer lid, I then keep my finger on the inner lid as I pour or sprinkle my condiment.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Come by any time and listen to my audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com.

When cable is gone

This is one of my most difficult challenges on a daily basis. That is, how can I tell when cable is gone? How do I know when it is gone as opposed to when electricity is gone?

Through trial and error, and here is my strategy. If I am either sitting in front of my TV or listening to it from a distance, and then it goes silent, my first step is to check to see if electricity is gone. I do this by making sure that my radio is either on or off depending on whether or not I am presently listening to it.

So here is the picture: The TV goes silent and if the radio has been on and also goes silent then chances are that electricity has also gone. To make doubly sure, I either turn on my stove or microwave and if they too are not working then electricity has indeed gone.

If any of the appliances that I have mentioned turns on then it is my cable that is the problem. However, the problem for me is to know when the TV is not working as opposed to cable having gone. A challenge for me and here is where I need to call in sighted help. I can no longer see the lights on the cable box nor the light on the TV. All in a day's challenge.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my thoughts with others. Come by and visit me any time at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Mom’s guiding hands

Her hands are almost always there. To help me find things in the fridge, on my counter top, and around the home. They are there when we go shopping. To help me discover and explore clothes on the rack, shoes on stands, products on the shelves in the pharmacy. They are there as well in the supermarket to help me gently touch the produce and meats. They are there whenever we are walking along and moving around in the malls.

They are there when we walk along the beach, when we are at buffets and when we sit at tables in restaurants. They are there whenever we need to go grocery shopping to bring home the groceries. They are there whenever I need to sign documents and there again whenever I have problems with my remote. In short, they are everywhere and I thank God for them every day.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.acb.org to learn more about the world of blind persons.

Identical pairs of shoes

Now, here is another problem for me and it comes when the feel of shoes is exactly the same. Let us say, for example, that I have bought two pairs of shoes, one black and one brown. Yes, the same style, length, shape, and everything is identical. So how do I deal with this so that I do not end up wearing one black and one brown?

Hmm, I need to separate them so that I do not get them mixed up. The black pair sits at one end of my shoe stand and the brown pair sits at the other end of the shoe stand. Simple, but I need to also remember where I have placed each pair and which is which. Problems for me if I can't remember but then I can use my color detector to help out. Funtime for me but that's okay.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and tell others about my identical shoes. Visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca to learn more.

Body lotion versus shampoo

You may not get my problem at first but here it is. Whenever I stay at a hotel, I have to make sure that I know the difference between the body lotion and the shampoo. Many times, the bottles feel so much alike and the only way that I can tell is if I know beforehand if one has a pump top and that the other does not.

Sometimes, it is easy to tell as they may smell differently but the problem comes if/when they are made by the same company. If they are both in tubes then I am in trouble or if the bottles are shaped the same then even more problems for me.

I have to constantly make sure that I know which is which and then use some identifiers to help me out. In a hotel, this is a constant problem but if I ask the reception desk to help me out then there is my answer. No matter what, it is a continuing problem for me.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my words with others. Come by any time and listen to my detective DJ audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com.

Telephone banking is for me

Ever since telephone banking came into existence, I have taken full advantage of it. I really enjoy doing my banking this way. It gives me privacy and independence. It allows and enables me to conduct my banking transactions in privacy and I do not have to ask a sighted person to assist me.

So what is telephone banking all about? Well, where I bank which is at the Royal Bank of Canada, I use a 1-800 number to do my banking. I can carry out such banking transactions as: Pay bills, check account balances, transfer funds, deal with credit transactions, update accounts, plus so much more.

Telephone banking is fast, independent, and I am the only one who needs to communicate between me and my accounts. No having to ask anyone for help and staff is available to me by simply pressing the 0 button.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and tell others about telephone banking. Visit www.aph.org to learn more about the world of blind persons.

Making sure to check my groceries

By now, those of you who read my blogs are probably very aware that grocery shopping for me is my least favorite activity. At the best of times, it is very nerve racking and extremely stressful on me. Please do not get me wrong! The staff at the Metro supermarket are extremely helpful to me but at the end of the day I need to make sure that what I ask for is what I receive.

As a result, I am constantly having to check each item as the good folks at Metro help me out on my shopping trips. I go armed with my shopping list and they take it from there. As they find each desired item, I ask for it to be placed in my hand so that I can inspect and check it out. The Metro staff is used to this and most times I do not even have to ask for them to show me; they do this automatically. It is the only way for me to ensure that I am getting what I ask for.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit me any time at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Carpets versus hard floors

Some people prefer carpets while others prefer hard floors. When I had enough vision to appreciate the beauty of hard wood, it was my preference but now that I need to be more careful with objects, my preference has definitely shifted to the carpet.

My reasons are very simple; if anything falls, it will not break nearly as easily as if it falls on a hard floor. Having said this, however, there are a few things to consider. If something falls on a carpet, it may be more difficult for me to find because of not being able to hear where it has fallen. If it falls and breaks then this is more problematic for me.

If something falls on a hard floor then I can probably hear more quickly where it has fallen but if it breaks then the problems are just as bad as if it has fallen on a carpet. It may be easier for me to clean up breakage and spills on a carpet but this is sometimes debatable. Breakage is easier to avoid with carpets.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and tell others about my thoughts. Visit me any time and listen to my audio mysteries at donnajodhan.com.