Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Hello, I'm an IT Engineer and, 8 months ago, lost vision in my dominant eye. I have around 25% of vision field on my left. Here are some tips for Computer Ninjas. (self.Blind)
submitted by Amnizee
Here's my problem. I was very good and very fast using a computer. Applications like ZoomText are too slow for me. I worked on my setup for few months now. This setup could be very useful for people with visual impairment who want to be Computer Geeks.
Setup Windows to have a biggest mouse possible, with color inverted. Also, setup to Fonts to Arial 16pts+.
For this setup, you will need two screens. Once of them has no zoom utilities. The second screen has "Magnifixer", full screen.
As another Application to help zooming, use ZoomIT. The shortcuts are CTRL-1 for LiveZoom and CTRL-2 for the Zoom. That way, you can zoom easily and fast. CTRL-2 is easier to use for reading.
When you feel relaxing a little bit, setup the application Read4Me. With this application, you will be able to listen to text that you have copied. Then, copy 3-4 pages of text and listen to it, eyes closed. As a shortcut, I use ctrl-alt-1.
It took a long time to find the good applications on Windows. Then, you are always trying to find a better one, but nothing works. My suggestion is to take your time. We live in a work where vision is the dominant sense. We need to adapt and that is not always easy. With the right tools, it's possible to get a job, get a family and be a minimum happy.
Also, note that I work in IT Security! Yes, I feel like a Police that has no vision. But, with the right tools and ways to filter the information, it's possible to succeed.
Think. Be an Engineer! You have a problem? Find a solution.
Setup Windows to have a biggest mouse possible, with color inverted. Also, setup to Fonts to Arial 16pts+.
For this setup, you will need two screens. Once of them has no zoom utilities. The second screen has "Magnifixer", full screen.
As another Application to help zooming, use ZoomIT. The shortcuts are CTRL-1 for LiveZoom and CTRL-2 for the Zoom. That way, you can zoom easily and fast. CTRL-2 is easier to use for reading.
When you feel relaxing a little bit, setup the application Read4Me. With this application, you will be able to listen to text that you have copied. Then, copy 3-4 pages of text and listen to it, eyes closed. As a shortcut, I use ctrl-alt-1.
It took a long time to find the good applications on Windows. Then, you are always trying to find a better one, but nothing works. My suggestion is to take your time. We live in a work where vision is the dominant sense. We need to adapt and that is not always easy. With the right tools, it's possible to get a job, get a family and be a minimum happy.
Also, note that I work in IT Security! Yes, I feel like a Police that has no vision. But, with the right tools and ways to filter the information, it's possible to succeed.
Think. Be an Engineer! You have a problem? Find a solution.
jage9 3 points 5y ago
Very cool ideas here and this is an approach I have not seen discussed much if at all.
You may also find that over time it makes sense to perform some tasks using speech alone instead of looking.
It'll be up to you to find the right combination of visual vs. spoken but play with NVDA if you haven't already. It can be especially good for a lot of command-line utilities or reading websites and Emails, saving the eyes for when you need to use less accessible tools. The default synth that comes with it can be changed BTW. Some like it though most find it ugly.
You may also find that over time it makes sense to perform some tasks using speech alone instead of looking.
It'll be up to you to find the right combination of visual vs. spoken but play with NVDA if you haven't already. It can be especially good for a lot of command-line utilities or reading websites and Emails, saving the eyes for when you need to use less accessible tools. The default synth that comes with it can be changed BTW. Some like it though most find it ugly.
Amnizee [OP] 0 points 5y ago
Hello,
Thank you for the feedback! I did play around with NVDA, but sadly, for Computer Ninjas, this application is too slow. I understand that a lot of this community would love to have a fraction of my eye (That has around 25% of slightness), but when it comes to be very fast with a computer, a screen reader will never be able to do the job. At least, not with the interfaces that we use today. The whole concept of "Windows" would need to be changed. Accessibility is easier when the interfaces are predictable. How can they be predictable? They would need to follow some guidelines and be very restrictive, removing the possibility of artistic creations.
Also, that's one reason why most blind people will prefer Linux over Windows. Linux have the tendency to follow non-written guideline, because the open source project will often not be accepted by the community due to its non-compliance with the non-documented rules. Open Source Project often more have predictable interfaces.
With my recent experience of loosing my vision, I realized that the hard way. Now, I prefer to use my known application, my known programming language and my known interfaces.
At the end, it all comes to accessibility. I hope that the future technologies will make their interfaces more accessible to everyone. I understand however that we have limits. 3D Augmented Reality might be hard to be accessible for one-eyed people. I did however read something about 3D being possible even if you have one eye... Interesting...
Thank you for the feedback! I did play around with NVDA, but sadly, for Computer Ninjas, this application is too slow. I understand that a lot of this community would love to have a fraction of my eye (That has around 25% of slightness), but when it comes to be very fast with a computer, a screen reader will never be able to do the job. At least, not with the interfaces that we use today. The whole concept of "Windows" would need to be changed. Accessibility is easier when the interfaces are predictable. How can they be predictable? They would need to follow some guidelines and be very restrictive, removing the possibility of artistic creations.
Also, that's one reason why most blind people will prefer Linux over Windows. Linux have the tendency to follow non-written guideline, because the open source project will often not be accepted by the community due to its non-compliance with the non-documented rules. Open Source Project often more have predictable interfaces.
With my recent experience of loosing my vision, I realized that the hard way. Now, I prefer to use my known application, my known programming language and my known interfaces.
At the end, it all comes to accessibility. I hope that the future technologies will make their interfaces more accessible to everyone. I understand however that we have limits. 3D Augmented Reality might be hard to be accessible for one-eyed people. I did however read something about 3D being possible even if you have one eye... Interesting...
bradley22 0 points 5y ago
Hello. I disagree that NVDA is slow. I've been using screen readers for around 13 years now and am very fast when it comes to typing, navigating the web and using programs. I think the reason you may find NVDA and screen readers to be slow is because you may not have set it up in a way you want. For example: not having every letter spoken to you. Having said that, you can see a little so perhaps you are faster with mouse and keyboard compared to keyboard alone.
bradley22 1 points 5y ago
I don't understand how any computer cannot be predictable. Doesn't it have to be that way so that human beings know that pressing H or your heading key for example on a webpage will move you to the next heading on the page? If that predictability was taken away and that H key did different things on different pages, that would be quite confusing and would not be a good idea.
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