Staying Fit a Challenge

For almost all of us, staying fit is a very great challenge but when it comes to a blind person like me, the challenge is just that more challenging.  You may be asking yourself why and here is my incomplete list.

 

It is difficult for a blind person to engage in walking activities; we cannot see where we are going so we are unable to walk at a fast enough pace.

The same holds for jogging and running.

Many of the exercising machines have digital readouts so we are unable to utilize them.

Many of the exercise devices come with instructional DVDs and videos and it is hard for us to follow the visual instructions.

In many cases, it is difficult for us to negotiate the machines at gyms.

 

So how do I do it?  I have a treadmill at home and I use a talking timer of my own which is separate from my treadmill machine to time myself.  I have learned where the buttons are in order to set my speed. I have another device to help me stretch my muscles and do push-ups.  I also swim in my condo's pool. 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and help lobby manufacturers of exercise equipment to make their digital readouts more accessible to those with vision problems.

Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

Digital Readouts No Good for Me

When it comes to digital readouts, it is a big problem for someone who does not have enough vision to red screens, particularly those tiny ones.  So, we have to depend on sighted assistance to do so.  With more and more manufacturers using digital readouts to enhance their products and as a means for users to communicate with their products, it is becoming more and more difficult for us to find accessible products.

 

Another thing that is happening to us is that more and more stores are using digital screens when it comes to having customers perform their credit card transactions.  All well and good in the name of evolving technology but where does it leave those of us who are unable to work with digital readouts because we are either blind or unable to use our hands to touch the screens?  In so many words, it leaves us up a creek without a paddle. 

 

We need to lobby manufacturers to come up with alternatives to digital readouts for us and we need to push or rather convince them that this is in their best interest to do so.  I think that they would benefit from going to the following websites in order to learn more; www.nfb.org, www.aph.org, and www.rnib.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 the rest of the world.