Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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This really bugs me... but how blind people use this sub? (self.Blind)
submitted by Renato_Lopes
neat thing though
LordMochi 10 points 6y ago
screen reader softwares... i had a blind friend when I was in Brazil :) it is really cool, because they can adjust the speed and make it really fast so only they have the capacity of understanding it but normal people don't. Because they are blind they naturally "compensate" and learn to do some really amazing things.
Fange_Strellow 14 points 6y ago
Hey there! I'm glad you have had the chance to witness screen reader tech. One thing I wanted to mention: I know you didn't have any negative intention, but please consider the language you use when saying things such as "...but normal people don't." Blind people and people with visual impairments are normal people too! :)
Staying aware of these little details can help make the world a little more accessible for everyone!
Staying aware of these little details can help make the world a little more accessible for everyone!
Renato_Lopes [OP] 2 points 6y ago
it's like a blind book but a tablet? So cool!
Nighthawk321 8 points 6y ago
Read the FAQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/wiki/faq/sighted
enjoyoutdoors 6 points 6y ago
There are...let's call them 'technical aids'.
Computers and smartphones are capable of reading text that is presented on the screen. They don't read it perfectly, or even near-perfectly, but they read it close enough that the technology is actually useful and provide aid that can be used. If you are blind, you will make use of not only the ability to have the computer reading information on the screen, but you also make use of the computers ability to vocally read back to you what you just wrote on the screen. If the computer can't pronounce the word, you probably typed it in wrong to begin with.
This voice-technology is pretty new, if has been refined over the last decade or so, and before that everyone used a Braille-monitor to read text of the computer screen. Braille monitors are still the only useful work tool you have if you want to work quietly and sensibly fast, so a lot of people still use them.
Braille itself was made up by a french guy somewhere in the early 1800's. It consists of pictured dots on a plastic film that can be read by drawing a finger across the dots. (I sincerely want to practice reading Braille one day, just because it seems a bit lacking that I can't even acceptably recognize my own name.)
Once computers came around, someone figured that it would be a neat idea to have about a screen-rows worth of electrically controlled dots that could be changed with magnets, and that's a Braille display. A technical aid that transforms a tiny part of the screen into dots so that they can be read with the help of a finger.
Most computers and phones nowadays cater to these users pretty well. You can pretty much use a computer fully without ever seeing the information on the monitor. It's not as fast as seeing things and clicking on them, but with practice it's more than well useable.
If you are not blind, but rather visually impaired, you make full use of the computers ability to show the text in a larger font than it actually is. Pretty much like any one of us would rather have a large television screen because you can see much more detail on it, it's the same if you can't see well on the computer - get a larger screen, and then activate the assistive software that has a digital "magnifying glass" that follows the cursor around.
If that is not enough, the computer can be told to only use colours that contrast each other a lot. The make the entire screen look like shit and all that, but it makes the visual information less clogged so that the screen is easier to read if you can't see well. Adding to that, a web browser can be told to never show or download images, so that a blind reader don't have to figure out how to work around them.
So, the blind people who use this sub either have their computer read out what you write, or they read it themselves using their fingers instead of reading it on a computer monitor.
It all boils down to accepting that you have to wear headphones when you use the computer and telling the computer beforehand that it has to behave in a very predictive manner so that it's easier for the text-reading software (both for the Braille Display and the text2voice-software) to find what it is that you want to read.
For the rest of us, having our car read our text messages for us while we are leaving the parking garage is just a neat feature that we appreciate a bit. If you are illiterate or blind, it's a necessity. The software is developed for them, adapted by us and as a result improved for them.
At least I hope it has been improved over the years. People who are actually blind, how do you feel about it? Has technology become more useful of the last decade or is it getting more troublesome to set up a good working environment nowadays?
Computers and smartphones are capable of reading text that is presented on the screen. They don't read it perfectly, or even near-perfectly, but they read it close enough that the technology is actually useful and provide aid that can be used. If you are blind, you will make use of not only the ability to have the computer reading information on the screen, but you also make use of the computers ability to vocally read back to you what you just wrote on the screen. If the computer can't pronounce the word, you probably typed it in wrong to begin with.
This voice-technology is pretty new, if has been refined over the last decade or so, and before that everyone used a Braille-monitor to read text of the computer screen. Braille monitors are still the only useful work tool you have if you want to work quietly and sensibly fast, so a lot of people still use them.
Braille itself was made up by a french guy somewhere in the early 1800's. It consists of pictured dots on a plastic film that can be read by drawing a finger across the dots. (I sincerely want to practice reading Braille one day, just because it seems a bit lacking that I can't even acceptably recognize my own name.)
Once computers came around, someone figured that it would be a neat idea to have about a screen-rows worth of electrically controlled dots that could be changed with magnets, and that's a Braille display. A technical aid that transforms a tiny part of the screen into dots so that they can be read with the help of a finger.
Most computers and phones nowadays cater to these users pretty well. You can pretty much use a computer fully without ever seeing the information on the monitor. It's not as fast as seeing things and clicking on them, but with practice it's more than well useable.
If you are not blind, but rather visually impaired, you make full use of the computers ability to show the text in a larger font than it actually is. Pretty much like any one of us would rather have a large television screen because you can see much more detail on it, it's the same if you can't see well on the computer - get a larger screen, and then activate the assistive software that has a digital "magnifying glass" that follows the cursor around.
If that is not enough, the computer can be told to only use colours that contrast each other a lot. The make the entire screen look like shit and all that, but it makes the visual information less clogged so that the screen is easier to read if you can't see well. Adding to that, a web browser can be told to never show or download images, so that a blind reader don't have to figure out how to work around them.
So, the blind people who use this sub either have their computer read out what you write, or they read it themselves using their fingers instead of reading it on a computer monitor.
It all boils down to accepting that you have to wear headphones when you use the computer and telling the computer beforehand that it has to behave in a very predictive manner so that it's easier for the text-reading software (both for the Braille Display and the text2voice-software) to find what it is that you want to read.
For the rest of us, having our car read our text messages for us while we are leaving the parking garage is just a neat feature that we appreciate a bit. If you are illiterate or blind, it's a necessity. The software is developed for them, adapted by us and as a result improved for them.
At least I hope it has been improved over the years. People who are actually blind, how do you feel about it? Has technology become more useful of the last decade or is it getting more troublesome to set up a good working environment nowadays?
McLyan -3 points 6y ago
Hi blind people you cant see this LOL
claudettemonet 6 points 6y ago
While that is true-ish. Most people who are blind are not totally blind. My form of blindness will progess in such a way that I will be able to read years after I start needing a cane to navigate in the world. But glad you could have a momentary lol at you imagined cleverness.
[deleted] 0 points 6y ago
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