Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Post it / sticky notes, any good solutions for someone who is completely blind? (self.Blind)
submitted by mamiice97
Hi everyone,
I am looking for a way to be able to use something that's a bit similar to post it notes. Especially the 'stick it all around the house whenever something comes to mind' component is pretty important to me since I tent to forget things due to hyper focusing on other things (shoutout to my aspergers 😂).
A bit of background story: I am a tech geek and love using all the smart assistants and my iPhone, but when it comes to some things like organizing and scheduling things, I like to have the visual component involved as much as possible (although I'm blind since birth, might be hard to understand). Also I don't really want to have to look through a zillion of things on my phone to find the right note. I've tried the tech approach, and after a while I am just not motivated enough anymore to scroll through all the stuff I have to remember at some point, let alone to keep up organizing all of it.
For scheduling for example I have a magnetic whiteboard, and then I use my braille embosser to make my calendar pretty much like a sighted person has it, with the week days at the top and then the days organized table-like below that. Same with my weekly routine planner. Then I got magnetic RFID tags I stick to my calendar for more information about events like the time, the location or a phone number. The cool thing about this is that i can pretty much have a quick overview of 4 months (that's the max I can fit on a sheet) with one 'swipe' of my hand over the whole page, feeling for the tags and reading the date next to it. Also if i really need to hear the information about events, that is super quick as well since I just have to point this stylus I got which reads the tags and instantly speaks them. For my daily routines and weekly planner I use different shapes of magnets to know what to do or to check things off a list, combined with the tags mentioned above.
So does anyone have any creative ideas how I could go about getting something similar to sticky notes? I don't have a braille typewriter, and embossing the note every time would take too long since I have to format the text before I can emboss it. I remember when I was a kid my mom got a few of those small credit card like devices you could use to record short notes and they were all around the house as well due to them being tiny, magnetic and very cheap, but they don't seem to exist anymore and I have no idea what they are called. I own two digital recorders but they are expensive, so I wouldn't want to get a lot of those just to record short notes (probably not longer than 30 seconds). I can also write print, so if there's a pen of some sort that makes tactile lines I would be fine with that as well.
Sorry for the long post, hope someone has an idea. No matter how crazy it is, just let me know, maybe it helps. :)
I am looking for a way to be able to use something that's a bit similar to post it notes. Especially the 'stick it all around the house whenever something comes to mind' component is pretty important to me since I tent to forget things due to hyper focusing on other things (shoutout to my aspergers 😂).
A bit of background story: I am a tech geek and love using all the smart assistants and my iPhone, but when it comes to some things like organizing and scheduling things, I like to have the visual component involved as much as possible (although I'm blind since birth, might be hard to understand). Also I don't really want to have to look through a zillion of things on my phone to find the right note. I've tried the tech approach, and after a while I am just not motivated enough anymore to scroll through all the stuff I have to remember at some point, let alone to keep up organizing all of it.
For scheduling for example I have a magnetic whiteboard, and then I use my braille embosser to make my calendar pretty much like a sighted person has it, with the week days at the top and then the days organized table-like below that. Same with my weekly routine planner. Then I got magnetic RFID tags I stick to my calendar for more information about events like the time, the location or a phone number. The cool thing about this is that i can pretty much have a quick overview of 4 months (that's the max I can fit on a sheet) with one 'swipe' of my hand over the whole page, feeling for the tags and reading the date next to it. Also if i really need to hear the information about events, that is super quick as well since I just have to point this stylus I got which reads the tags and instantly speaks them. For my daily routines and weekly planner I use different shapes of magnets to know what to do or to check things off a list, combined with the tags mentioned above.
So does anyone have any creative ideas how I could go about getting something similar to sticky notes? I don't have a braille typewriter, and embossing the note every time would take too long since I have to format the text before I can emboss it. I remember when I was a kid my mom got a few of those small credit card like devices you could use to record short notes and they were all around the house as well due to them being tiny, magnetic and very cheap, but they don't seem to exist anymore and I have no idea what they are called. I own two digital recorders but they are expensive, so I wouldn't want to get a lot of those just to record short notes (probably not longer than 30 seconds). I can also write print, so if there's a pen of some sort that makes tactile lines I would be fine with that as well.
Sorry for the long post, hope someone has an idea. No matter how crazy it is, just let me know, maybe it helps. :)
TwoSunsRise 6 points 1y ago
Have you tried Pen Friend? They are little (or big) stickers that this special pen can read. Basically, you put the sticker on something, touch the pen to it and record a message while holding down a button. Then, whenever you need to hear that message, just tap the sticker with the pen and it repeats it back to you. The cool thing is that you can record new notes anytime you need, so a sticker can be reused infinitely.
https://www.penfriendlabeller.com/products/penfriend-2
https://www.penfriendlabeller.com/products/penfriend-2
mamiice97 [OP] 2 points 1y ago
Hi, and thanks for your reply! Yes, actually the penfriend is what I use to label my calendar. Sadly mine broke / doesn't recognize any labels anymore, so I assume the tip is broken. Bought a new one though. That's what I currently use (or used before it broke) for sticky notes, but it can be annoying to carry the device anywhere I go. It's the easiest solution though if there's nothing else that is basically stand-alone.
TwoSunsRise 1 points 1y ago
Ah, darn! I wasn't sure what the RFID was but that makes sense that it's essentially the same thing. I hope you find something else that works!
CosmicBunny97 4 points 1y ago
Hmm I wonder if it’s possible to use a slate and stylus with a Post-It note… I’ve just recently figured out a way to create a planner, but it’s currently with a standard A5 notebook and the Braille isn’t as crisp as I like so I plan to try it with a sketchbook. I would also love to know if you figure out any strategies :)
mamiice97 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Hi, I haven't really thought of trying to put a postit in a slate, so thanks for the idea! That might actually work since the paper is not super thin.
If you need help with ideas for your planner let me know. I have a whole system behind it that obviously has the calendar with 4 months but also a weekly planner for events and routines with habit tracker and notes on the whiteboard.
If you need help with ideas for your planner let me know. I have a whole system behind it that obviously has the calendar with 4 months but also a weekly planner for events and routines with habit tracker and notes on the whiteboard.
oskarmbr 3 points 1y ago
mamiice97 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Hi, yes I already use RFID tags and they have voice recordings linked to it, it's basically just a penfriend labeller. It can just be annoying to carry the device around all the time. Thanks for your ideas, I will look into it!
retrolental_morose 3 points 1y ago
thermal label printers can print QR Codes, which are readable by iOS and Android cameras.
You can encode at least twice the amount of text in a QR as you could have handwritten on a post-it.
not as quick but an opsion with a relatively low investment.
You can encode at least twice the amount of text in a QR as you could have handwritten on a post-it.
not as quick but an opsion with a relatively low investment.
Shadowwynd 2 points 1y ago
I personally prefer the Talking Label Wand over Penfriend, but it is the same basic concept.
I found these recorders on Amazon ($16 each): https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Products-Voice-recordable-Seconds/dp/B0749MTY18
They record for 40 seconds, two-button operation (one for play, one for record). They are wall mountable, and magnetic. They have a little bit of space for a photo or a bit of braille.
I found these recorders on Amazon ($16 each): https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Products-Voice-recordable-Seconds/dp/B0749MTY18
They record for 40 seconds, two-button operation (one for play, one for record). They are wall mountable, and magnetic. They have a little bit of space for a photo or a bit of braille.
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