Great anticipation! Getting ready for the SRUTT course

 This is going to be a very important course for me as hopefully it will help to enhance and solidify my Screen Reader User Testing and Trainer knowledge.  I have always wanted to do this as this is the point at which I started my career in the accessibility field so many years ago.

I am looking forward to meeting my classmates and to working with Nick and his team of instructors.  I am very fortunate, lucky, and privileged that I’ll be taking this course.

The Carroll Center For The Blind is a very prestigious training center in the US and I’ll be the first Canadian to be taking this course.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly award-winning sight-loss coach and accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.
 
If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Important notice from Donna J. Jodhan
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to share news and or info about yourself or about others, then please read on!
Donna J. Jodhan can help you reach a rapidly growing list of over 12,000 readers and listeners and counting!
All you need to do is to give a listen to her monthly shows and if you like what you hear then here's how it works!
For the very affordable price of $25, Donna will feature your info and news on 2 of her monthly shows.
Once on the Ask Donna show and once on the Dining with Donna show.
Both of these monthly shows run weekly.
This means that your info will be featured twice for the month.
No more having to worry about posting to Facebook!  
You'll be able to engage with ready made readers and listeners!
Your payment of $25 will be prorated as a monthly payment.
So you can either pay monthly, or you can pay as you go.
Just send your info or news to Donna at askdonnaonblindlife@gmail.com
No more than 150 words.
Donna will then post your info or news as soon as you remit payment to her at paypal@donnajodhan.com
To give a listen visit https://www.donnajodhan.com/askdonna and https://www.donnajodhan.com/dwd
Take advantage of this very quick and easy way to reach a ready made audience!

Hats off to Aira! So glad that Aira can help

 I can only say, “Thank God for Aira.”  What a wonderful and very supportive app.  Aira helps me to stay in touch when it comes to sending and receiving images.  It is the new way for me to keep up to date and to maintain accurate records of those important documents: legal and government related.

Oh, boy!  Technology has definitely changed my world and hats off to Aira for being a part of this!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly award-winning sight-loss coach and accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.
 
If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit
http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Important notice from Donna J. Jodhan
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to share news and or info about yourself or about others, then please read on!
Donna J. Jodhan can help you reach a rapidly growing list of over 12,000 readers and listeners and counting!
All you need to do is to give a listen to her monthly shows and if you like what you hear then here's how it works!
For the very affordable price of $25, Donna will feature your info and news on 2 of her monthly shows.
Once on the Ask Donna show and once on the Dining with Donna show.
Both of these monthly shows run weekly.
This means that your info will be featured twice for the month.
No more having to worry about posting to Facebook!  
You'll be able to engage with ready made readers and listeners!
Your payment of $25 will be prorated as a monthly payment.
So you can either pay monthly, or you can pay as you go.
Just send your info or news to Donna at askdonnaonblindlife@gmail.com
No more than 150 words.
Donna will then post your info or news as soon as you remit payment to her at paypal@donnajodhan.com
To give a listen visit https://www.donnajodhan.com/askdonna and https://www.donnajodhan.com/dwd
Take advantage of this very quick and easy way to reach a ready made audience!
 

Anticipation: Getting ready for the Envision glasses

 

As of today, I have now purchased a new device that I hope will help me to maintain my independence when it comes to being able to read and keep up with printed documents.

I made sure to research this particular device, which is indeed a magnificent one, but it comes at a high price tag.  I was satisfied that it would assist me and that it would be a good add-on and compliment to Aira.  

The Envision glasses is great for reading text and identifying objects.  It is very precise and easy to use.  All I need to do is to put some good old grease into learning how to use it.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly sight-loss coach and advisor, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids, with their wide eyed smiles and infectious laughter, is secured forever.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

My perspective: More access technology vendors needed

That's just my wish for today.  For a visually impaired person, the choices are extremely limited when it comes to being able to buy from an access technology vendor.  There are simply too few of them in my neck of the words and this makes the choice completely out of my hands.

Then I have no other alternative than to purchase what they sell and if I want to go outside of my city then I am forced to pay more.

This is just another challenge for me.  I do not have the same number of choices as someone with sight.  I am forced to accept what is sold by these types of vendors.  I am forced to make choices based on what these vendors can and are willing to sell.  In short, I can only buy what they can offer to me.

The picture of this circumstance is that I do not have the luxury of choosing from a great number of vendors.  I am limited in my scope.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit  jodhanmysterybook.club/about-the-author
There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minutes mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.takeanother5.com
And available for download from iTunes and Google music play

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Websites still inaccessible

In my personal opinion, I don't think that we will ever have the luxury of saying that all websites are accessible. No, not possible given the continuing evolution of technology.

The truth is that today a website may be accessible but tomorrow it becomes somewhat inaccessible due to a change as a result of software updates.

This cannot be helped so what do we do? Well, the best that we could possibly hope for is to do our best to ensure that when software updates take place, accessibility requirements are included before the updates are implemented.

Impossible, you may be asking? No! We just need to become more conscious of what needs to be remembered and included.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan.
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html and you can even take advantage of our free downloads! Or subscribe to our free
monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud; those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

When the jack hammers invade my space

At the best of times, these very necessary pieces of equipment are indeed necessary! They are needed by workmen to help in the breaking down and rebuilding of all kinds and sizes of constructions but to almost everyone they are a huge inconvenience.

For me as a blind person, they bring me almost to a standstill as they invade my space and impede my hearing. This is what happened a few months ago when workmen started work on our condo complex to repair our balconies.

Unfortunately at that time for me, I was in the midst of studying for my first year law exams and what a time it was! The best way to describe this is to say that it was pure hell!

I could not hear anything coming from my computer. That is, I could not hear the voice output as this is what I use to interact with my computer. For those who are unfamiliar with this type of technology, I use access technology, as a blind person, to work with computers. I read screens by listening to output and input by using a regular keyboard to type and I can hear what I type as I go along.

I tried jamming ear buds into my ears and pressing down headphones over my ears and although it did help, the jack hammers still managed to disturb me with their noise. The throbbing sounds just seemed to overwhelm me.

In addition to this, I sometimes lost orientation in my condo and I had to be careful whenever I went to do stuff in my kitchen. This was not my favorite time.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my experiences with others. Come by any time and listen to my audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com.
Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or you can chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.

Unequal access to education

I am often asked this very searching question and my response is as follows:
Yes, we are still struggling to gain equal access to education, and why is this? My thoughts are as follows.

We are constantly fighting to gain access to textbooks, both in printed format and in accessible electronic formats.
We are continually fighting to gain equal access to websites that offer distance learning courses.
We seem to be constantly fighting to gain access to access technology that is current and able to help us navigate websites plus more.
We are also constantly striving to break down attitude barriers so that we can communicate more effectively with professors and university officials.

That precious day when all of these things could become a reality for blind persons is still a few steps away but I will not give up hope.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my thoughts with others.
Visit www.afb.org to learn more.

Both sides of technology

Call me fussy or call me picky! Call me whatever, but as a Blind person, I often look at technology from both sides of the fence.

On the one hand, technology has helped greatly to improve my quality of life. I can use a computer to help me do my work, send and receive emails, and surf the Internet. I can use technology to help me in my daily life: talking clocks, microwave, digital recorder, thermometer, light and color detectors, bank note readers, mobile devices, and other types of talking gadgets. I thank all of those manufacturers and developers who have taken the time and commitment to make it all happen.

So what now, you may be asking, would the other side of technology be? Well, it is whenever I run into problems with any of my access technology (software and hardware) and I am unable to find ready help to assist me to get them back up and running. Over the years, I have managed to find very dependent and hardworking individuals who are willing to help troubleshoot and problem solve but in some cases I have had to discard some of my talking gadgets when they have stopped working in favor of going out and buying replacements.

You may be thinking that it is no different for a sighted person and this is very true but for a blind person it is much more difficult, and why? Because there are fewer people around who possess the knowledge to troubleshoot and problem solve in the access technology arena as well as to fix talking devices whenever they fail to work.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my thoughts with others. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

Is there technological discrimination?

This could be a very interesting discussion for an evening at home, but I often wonder this. While mainstream technology is meant for supposedly everyone, in many cases, until Apple came along, blind persons are almost always shut out. The Kindle is developed but we cannot use it! The Kobo tablet makes its way onto the market but we are unable to take advantage of this new breakthrough because there are no features to make it possible for us to know what is on the screen or for us to hear what keys we press.

If Apple has been able to do it, we can use their mobile devices because of voice over, then why can’t others follow in their footsteps? If a device or gadget is produced but a blind person is unable to use it because they cannot use the screen or keyboard, could this be construed as technological discrimination? For surely, developers should know that blind persons would want to be able to participate in technology as much as anyone else!

I’m Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day. Please go out there and share my concerns with others and take a minute to visit www.afb.org.

Access technology versus mainstream technology

Well, what more can I say to add to this topic that is very near and dear to my heart. To put it into perspective:
Access technology is much more expensive than its counterpart and much less available on the market.
It is extremely challenging to have access technology repaired as opposed to its counterpart.
There are fewer manufacturers of access technology hardware and many less developers of the software.
The profit to be made for those who develop and sell access technology is much less than for those who do the same for mainstream technology.
Access technology has to be developed in such a way as to adapt to the mainstream world.
So there is the picture. Now, where do we go from here?

About 18 months ago, I bought a PDA that was developed for blind persons. It was a real find for me and one that I found to be really forward-thinking because of its features. A few weeks ago I was told that this PDA will no longer be manufactured and as of June 2012, no more hardware maintenance agreements would be available. Accessories will still be available as long as supplies last. Quite a shock and now we are all left holding the bag, so to speak.

I am not going to identify the manufacturers of this wonderful product but suffice it to say that it has made me rethink how I go about choosing my mobile devices. Do I continue to buy access technology that is extremely expensive and one that I am not sure will be around for too long? Or do I move towards the Apple world of mobile devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and so on?

Do I expose myself to heartbreak if I continue to buy these pieces of access technology only to learn that in a short space of time they are off the market and supplies of accessories or support are no longer available?

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

Different methods of reading

I am often asked by sighted persons to describe how blind persons read. Do they do this only in Braille? By having someone read to them? Or how?

In response, this is what I say:

There are a number of ways that a blind person can read.
First, if they have enough vision to read large print, they can do this either with a magnifier or by using a close circuit TV device.
They can do it through Braille.
They can do it by using access technology on their computers. In this way, they can hear what they read.
They can do it through their IPads, IPhones, IPods, and other mobile devices.
They can do it by scanning their documents and downloading them to their computers and then using their access technology to hear what has been downloaded.
They can also download books and documents from the Internet to their computer and read it as described above.
They can use CD players that are equipped to read documents on CD.

So you see, there are several ways for us to read books and documents. In short, we can hear what you see on a page or screen.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

Walk a mile in my shoes

This is usually the tack that I take whenever I feel that someone does not quite understand my world. Whenever someone challenges me to explain why it was necessary for me to have sued the Canadian Government over their inaccessible websites, my response is: Walk a mile in my shoes and see what it is like.

For the mainstream person, it is easy for them to gain access to information on the Internet if they have access to a computer and Internet connections. For us as blind persons, it is not that easy. Several additional components must be in place in order for things to work for us.

First, we need to have access technology installed on our computers. What is access technology? The software that enables us to hear what is on the screen or software that enlarges the text on the screen. Or software that enables us to communicate with our computer via Braille.

Next, we need to be able to communicate with websites through the use of our access technology and if websites are not configured so that this communication can take place, then, in a word, we are sunk. In short, websites need to be designed so that we can all read and communicate with web content, forms, and files.

We are living in a society whereby we depend on information to help us make decisions, keep up to date on the latest happenings, plus much more. So here is the question of the day: How would you feel if you were unable to read information on the Internet? Chances are you would be extremely unhappy and you would eventually do something about it, and this is exactly what I did.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.bakerlaw.ca to learn more about why I sued the Canadian Government over their inaccessible websites.

The joys of no noise

So many people would love to live in a world with much less noise, but for me as a blind person I believe that my appreciation for less or no noise may be much greater. Noise distracts me when I am trying to do such things as listen to the TV, hear what my access technology voice software is speaking from the screen, and crossing a street or traveling around.

Of course, I will never be able to achieve a perfect balance of less noise, but I do my best to make the best of things. If for example I find myself in a situation of having large trucks with their engines idling around me or blaring horns beside me, I wait until the noise has retreated before crossing the street. Or if I am intently listening to a program on TV, I make sure that the noise around me is at a minimum. So, I do not do my laundry while working at my computer. Just a few things that I try to avoid when dealing with noise levels.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and tell others how I deal with noise. Visit www.afb.org to learn more.

Not because we are blind

In the normal scheme of things, there are many who feel that being blind prevents us from doing many things. Truth be told, there are some things that our lack of sight prevents us from doing, but on the other hand there are many things that we can do. The big difference is this: Whereas the sighted person almost always uses their eyes to do something, we as blind persons use our other senses to compensate.

There are many sighted persons who have difficulty comprehending that we can surf the Internet. We can do it and we do it with the help of software that is generally referred to as access technology. Screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille displays are just some of the more popular pieces of access technology. We can use iPhones, iPods, and iPads as well! Thanks to Apple, special software has been installed in these devices to make them usable by blind persons.

There are other gadgets and devices that make it possible for us to do things despite being blind. The Icon; one of the best PDA devices on the market for blind persons. The Victor Stream; which we can use to listen to music and read digital books. Various talking devices that make it possible for us to be masters of our kitchen. Various scanning software that we can use to help us scan documents.

So you see, because we are blind does not mean that we are unable to function independently. We will always need help to execute certain functions but the world for us is slowly improving. May it continue in this way.

I am going to give you a few websites to check out so that you can learn more. Here goes:
http://www.humanware.com,
http://www.levelstar.com,
http://www.independentliving.com,
http://www.maxiaids.com.

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 blogs.

Looking forward

So, it’s a brand new year and time for me to have a bit of fun with my wish list. I always like doing this because it helps me to put a few things into perspective as well as to use my imagination to have some fun. So, what’s on my wish list for this year?

First, I hope that more companies will decide to follow Apple’s lead to make their hand held devices more accessible to blind and sight impaired persons.

Second, that the blind and sight impaired community can work with financial institutions and the manufacturers of POS devices to somehow make their touch screens accessible to blind and sight impaired persons.

Third, that more websites can be made accessible to blind and sight impaired persons, that it would be easier to request and access information and complete online forms more independently, that is, without having to ask for sighted assistance.

Fourth, that we will be better able to request information in alternate formats such as Braille, large print, and in a readable e-text format.

Fifth, that recreational sports is made more accessible to the blind and sight impaired.
Of course, there is more that I could wish for but I think that for now I’ll stop here.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and asking you to go out there and share my wish list with others.
Visit www.nfb.org or www.acb.org to learn more.

Please pay us for our expertise

I can only do my bit here in my blog to send a message to those who often request help from the blind and sight-impaired community. That is, whenever these persons put out a request for blind and sight-impaired testers to assist in evaluating their websites to ensure that they are accessible and usable.

Maybe these persons are not fully aware or maybe they have not yet thought about it, but here goes. If you require assistance for blind and sight-impaired persons to test your website for accessibility compliance, then you need to pay for their services. No, do not assume that they would do it for free, and why should they? No, do not assume that you could pay them a nominal fee for their knowledge and it would be okay. When you put out a call for blind and sight-impaired testers, you are, in effect, putting out a call for persons with specialized skills to provide specific services, and, accordingly, you need to pay for what you require.

You need to look at it in a similar way to when you go looking for someone to provide you with specialized services in areas that are specialized. Example: Technicians to install electronic or security equipment, technicians to fix your appliances, or plumbers to test and fix pipelines. I think that you get the picture. Maybe I should close by asking this question: If you require the assistance of blind and sight-impaired persons to test your website for accessibility compliance, is it not safe to assume that you should be paying for specialized knowledge? Or maybe the question should be this: How important do you think it is to be accessible compliant? Another topic for another blog.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my concerns with others. Visit www.w3c.org/wai to learn more about accessibility and how to design and develop accessible websites.

Explaining it to the Sighted World

It is never a wise assumption when it comes to assuming that the sighted world will understand when we tell them that we are unable to access websites because they are inaccessible.  We need to be more explicit in order to get them to understand and that's just fine with me.  I'd like to take a few moments to paint the picture for a sighted person.

 

When a sighted person visits a website, they can use their eyes to choose which link they wish to click on in order to get where they are going.  In most instances, these links are represented by images, icons, and pictures.  They use a mouse to click on their desired choice.

 

When a blind person visits a website, they use a screen reader that enables them to find the links and content that they are looking for but when the links and/or content is depicted in the form of images, icons, or pictures, the screen reader is unable to decipher what it is.  A screen reader is software that speaks what is on a screen; it is unable to speak or describe something that does not have text to describe it.

 

In other words, think of it like this:

If you place a picture in front of a blind person, they will not know what it is unless you tell them what it is.  In like manner, if there is no text to describe what the picture, image, or icon is on a website, then the screen reader will not be able to tell the blind person what it is and what it means. 

 

The technology does not exist whereby there is software that can accurately describe the meaning of images, icons, or pictures.  A screen reader will only speak what it is able to decipher and this does not include images, icons, and pictures.

 

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words; but no two persons can ever describe a picture in the same way.  If textual descriptions are used to describe icons, images, and pictures, it would make life so much easier for a magnitude of

persons that include:  The Blind and vision impaired, those who are unable to read print, those with learning disabilities, and those whose first language is not English. 

 

It is relatively easy and cost effective to provide textual descriptions to icons, images, and pictures.  Blind persons cannot use a mouse to click on images, icons, and pictures, because they are unable to see where to point and click.  It is a lot cheaper to provide textual descriptions than it is to carry out time consuming research to find ways to make it possible for a screen reader to read pictures, images, and icons.

 

In like manner, it is relatively easy to design a form that can be accessed by a blind person online.  If however the form needs to be downloaded and printed in order to be completed, then a blind person will have to ask for sighted assistance to do so.  They will not be able to complete and sign a printed form because they are unable to see to read and sign.

 

These are just a few explanations that are most common to help the sighted world understand more clearly.

 

If you would like to learn more about how blind persons access the Internet, then visit www.w3c.org.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and asking you to go out there and spread the message to others about how blind persons go about accessing the Internet.

My Commitment to the Kids

My commitment is absolute!  There is no turning back and there is no compromise!  For if I don't commit to blind kids of the future then who am I?  I am the person who is here today because of others!  Throughout all of my life I have been fortunate to have had great folks helping me and committing to me.  Starting with my parents and family and expanding out to my friends and associates!  Now it's time for me to step up to the plate and do what is needed and expected of me.

 

We need to make our kids the priority and in the case of all blind kids of the future, this priority has to be the top one.  If we don't then what can they expect to look forward to?  It is up to us to ensure that they have access to their legitimate rights; what is rightfully theirs and what they are obligated to receive.  Their right to access; to all websites and related content on all websites.  Their right to technology.  Their right to all services that are available to everyone else.  Their legitimate right to education; from kindergarten to university and beyond.

 

Their write to read and enjoy all books.  Their right to enjoy the sporting activities that all other kids are able to enjoy.  Their right to live as kids and be kids.  In short, we need to work together to ensure that all blind kids of the future can be what they want to be without anyone telling them no!

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and asking you to join me in helping to protect and preserve the future of all blind kids.  You can write to me anytime at donnajodhan@sterlingcreations.ca.

Talking GPS Devices

When it comes to evolution of technology, GPS devices have come a very long way and for blind and sight impaired persons, it continues to be a very exciting time.  I myself do not own one of these precious little gadgets but I have had the pleasure of seeing one or two of them.

 

Last year, I had a demo of a talking GPS device called "The Breeze" and I was suitably impressed.  I was able to walk up and down my street and the little gem spoke important points to me; such as the names of cross streets and names of buildings on both sides of the street.  What impressed me most was its ability to tell me how far I was from an upcoming street.  So for example; when I was about 100 feet from a street called Pharmacy, it spoke this to me. 

 

Talking GPS devices for blind persons are being improved all the time and this is certainly going to help us become more independent travelers.  If you would like to learn more about talking GPS devices for blind persons, you can visit www.humanware.com.  In the meantime, please go out there and tell others about how talking GPS devices are being adapted for blind and sight impaired persons.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day.

How I Did It at University

Things are very different today when it comes to how blind and sight impaired students do such things as take notes at lectures, read their text books, and interact with the mainstream student.  They use electronic note takers that are equipped with special access technology, they are able to receive textbooks in electronic format, large print, and Braille, and they are finding ways to integrate more easily into the mainstream student population.

 

When I attended university, I taped almost all of my lectures and then I had to go home and listen to them and then take notes in Braille.  I received most of my textbooks on cassette tapes, and I either typed my exams or had oral ones with my professors.  My exams were given to me either in Braille or on cassette and my interaction with the mainstream student population was very limited; mainly due to my own shyness.

 

By the time I completed my Master's degree, computers were just coming into play so you see!  I did not have the luxury of the electronic age.  Nevertheless I managed to succeed and there was one thing that I always adhered to and it was not taking any extra time to do my exams.  Even when it was offered to me, I always refused and my reason for doing this was that I felt that it was imperative for me to complete my work in the same length of time like everyone else.  It was important for me because when I stepped into the real world, I would be fully ready and prepared to compete with the rest when it came to completing tasks and jobs in a specific length of time. 

 

I have continued to be a student since graduating and within the last few years, I have had the luxury of being able to take courses using electronic methods but I still continue to stick to my way of completing exams in the time allotted to the mainstream person.  If you would like to learn more about how blind and sight impaired students go about getting textbooks in electronic formats or if you would like to learn more about some of the note takers that they use, then you can visit the American Printing House for the Blind at www.aph.org.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and asking you to go out there and share my blogs with others.