Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How do you guys read? (self.Blind)
submitted by HeftyCryptographer21
xmachinaxxx 4 points 1y ago
I’m legally blind. Have not learned Braille and don’t think it’ll be an option for me. To read I need large print with the correct contrast. Bold dark letters work best.
codeplaysleep 3 points 1y ago
For me it's not as simple as picking one.
I can read regular print in small amounts, like filling out a short form or reading a label or a menu (if the restaurant is well-lit), but it causes too much eye strain if I try and read print that size for more than a couple minutes. It's handy to be able to do that when I need to, but I don't enjoy it.
For reading fiction, I will sometimes listen to an audio book. At other times I'll read it on my Kindle. It depends on how I want to experience it, really, as I find them both to be very different in terms of level of immersion and imagination required.
Non-fiction but also non-technical, almost always audio book.
Anything technical needs to be large print.
The daily reading I need to do for work, the conversations in Slack, the things I read surfing the internet, etc. are all large print.
I can read regular print in small amounts, like filling out a short form or reading a label or a menu (if the restaurant is well-lit), but it causes too much eye strain if I try and read print that size for more than a couple minutes. It's handy to be able to do that when I need to, but I don't enjoy it.
For reading fiction, I will sometimes listen to an audio book. At other times I'll read it on my Kindle. It depends on how I want to experience it, really, as I find them both to be very different in terms of level of immersion and imagination required.
Non-fiction but also non-technical, almost always audio book.
Anything technical needs to be large print.
The daily reading I need to do for work, the conversations in Slack, the things I read surfing the internet, etc. are all large print.
Tarnagona 2 points 1y ago
I’m similar to you. I can read regular print (if I have my reading glasses) in small bursts, which means I can read most menus or forms unaided. Large print, if available, is better. And the magnifier on my phone has become invaluable for times when I can’t quite manage smaller print sizes.
Short texts on computer screens are large print. Longer e-mails and documents, I switch to a screen reader.
Everything else is audio of some form, either my screen reader, or an actual person reading (which I generally prefer; the screen reader can get monotonous), although switching to large print for graphs, tables, and in my case, language examples (because the screen reader can’t handle reading non English, nor inter linear glossing in an intelligible fashion). This comes up a lot less now, but I did my PhD in linguistics, and did almost all my reading via audio.
So audio is my primary reading medium, large print second, regular print if necessary, and Braille, well, I can read the alphabet but don’t know it well enough to read whole passages efficiently.
Short texts on computer screens are large print. Longer e-mails and documents, I switch to a screen reader.
Everything else is audio of some form, either my screen reader, or an actual person reading (which I generally prefer; the screen reader can get monotonous), although switching to large print for graphs, tables, and in my case, language examples (because the screen reader can’t handle reading non English, nor inter linear glossing in an intelligible fashion). This comes up a lot less now, but I did my PhD in linguistics, and did almost all my reading via audio.
So audio is my primary reading medium, large print second, regular print if necessary, and Braille, well, I can read the alphabet but don’t know it well enough to read whole passages efficiently.
QuentinJamesP89 1 points 1y ago
Same. I can read enlarged print for a while, but not for any extended period of time. My eye just basically gives out. Audio is the easiest alternative, of course, but I read braille also. Braille is really important and though it's more difficult I'm getting faster as I use it more.
Kelashara 1 points 1y ago
I like using audio for audiobooks, and braille as well. Each format, has its own advantages advantages and disadvantage is, also, I use apps on my phone such as Kindle, voice dream reader, dolphin easy reader, things of that nature so that when I’m away, I can use my phone to read books as well I also use my screen reader on my computer to read material as well as books. I do agree, that sometimes Brown might be a little bit slower, but it all depends on how you want to experience the book that you are reading.
Kelashara 1 points 1y ago
I read braille, I know you EB, and I can read standard literary braille, as well yes, it is said that only 10% of the blind population knows Brown, Burrell is in the essential skill that every blind person should know.
SoapyRiley 1 points 1y ago
Braille or jumbo print via Kindle or Nook apps. Large print books are too small for me to read for any period of time. I can pull off about 20 minutes reading regular print if I need to but the pain in my eyes makes me want to cry. I just learned Braille this year so I’m really slow at it. Anything important needs to be jumbo print or magnified and deferred to a time my brain is in a good mood.
oncenightvaler 1 points 1y ago
I would say it's 60% in Braille, and 40% in audio. I like having Braille books in front of me and like using my Braille display screen, but also like listening to audio books.
CosmicBunny97 1 points 1y ago
I know Grade 1 and working my way to Grade 2 :)
Ilya401 1 points 1y ago
I’m normally using screen readers, and audiobooks. But I do also use a Braille display
RandinoB 1 points 1y ago
Regular print usually but almost always with a magnifying glass. Big print if available.
It’s really useful to have a good quality pocket magnifier for me. They’re hard find what with the market flooded with subpar Chinese made optics.
It’s really useful to have a good quality pocket magnifier for me. They’re hard find what with the market flooded with subpar Chinese made optics.
QuentinJamesP89 1 points 1y ago
What pocket magnifier do you use?
RandinoB 1 points 1y ago
From Midway USA
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007065367?pid=635450
What it lacks in actual magnification it makes up for in quality optics. Very clear an uniform glass lens. All in a quality leather pouch.
Amazon has some stronger ones but the problem is you may or may not get a good one. I have an unbranded 5x in a plastic case like the one above I like. I tried to get another one but it was different when it came.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007065367?pid=635450
What it lacks in actual magnification it makes up for in quality optics. Very clear an uniform glass lens. All in a quality leather pouch.
Amazon has some stronger ones but the problem is you may or may not get a good one. I have an unbranded 5x in a plastic case like the one above I like. I tried to get another one but it was different when it came.
QuentinJamesP89 1 points 1y ago
Thanks! I've found the same thing to be true. It's hard to find reliably good magnifiers. There are some expensive ones out there, so it's always tempting to try all the cheap ones on Amazon but the quality is quite varied.
RandinoB 1 points 1y ago
The prices are interesting. Walmart sells a handheld magnifying glass for something like $4. They have sold similar looking ones since at least 1997. Back then, the magnifiers were $7. Also back then they were manufactured in the USA. The newer version is less expensive, made in China, and the curvature of the glass is not very uniform which makes them much more difficult to use.
It’s not just magnifying glasses either. Since I can really only see out of one eye I like using a monocular for distance viewing. Right now there is a glut of low quality monoculars out there. Eventually I resorted to buying a Russian one, which is pretty good, then a Japanese made Opticron. The clarity is so often overlooked but I can see better with a high quality 8x than with a low quality 12x.
Maybe I should start a thread on this topic. I’d like to hear what others think.
It’s not just magnifying glasses either. Since I can really only see out of one eye I like using a monocular for distance viewing. Right now there is a glut of low quality monoculars out there. Eventually I resorted to buying a Russian one, which is pretty good, then a Japanese made Opticron. The clarity is so often overlooked but I can see better with a high quality 8x than with a low quality 12x.
Maybe I should start a thread on this topic. I’d like to hear what others think.
Rosetheweirdo 1 points 1y ago
I use audio and braille.
DrillInstructorJan 1 points 1y ago
Audio. But I would be the first person to admit that audio is not really reading. I used to be able to read print, it's not the same and that is absolutely something I miss.
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
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Remy_C 1 points 1y ago
While I am able to read moderately large print, I admit I do most of my reading via either text to speech or a physical narrator. I read a lot of audiobooks. That said, there are definitely some times where I find braille preferable. Particularly when reading any material where I need to pay attention to the formatting and spelling. I do a lot of writing as well. I’m also a voice actor, but I do tend to use speech when reading lines as well. I’m not fast enough reading braille out loud to make that a viable option.
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
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Remy_C 1 points 1y ago
It is not ideal, and I’m not as good at it as some other people are, but here are a couple of suggestions.
First, if possible, try to read the material ahead of time. Even if you don’t remember all of it, or even most of it, hopefully you will at least remember the general feeling of it. That may help when reading it back.
Second, I like to slow my speech down quite a bit. That way, I can be listening to several words ahead while I’m reading. As long as you don’t slip up with your mouth, which is something I tend to do sometimes, you may be able to do it this Way. I also like to use read by sentence commands so that it’s not just reading it to me in an entirely constant stream. You need some pauses in between now and then in order to catch up and make room for actual human speech pauses. You can do this by line as well if you want to. Sometimes that works better, and other times reading by sentence works better.
Finally, and this may be a little more difficult, if you have the time, put your document in a text editor and do a find and replace command. Replace any punctuation such as commas, exclamation marks, semicolins etc — anywhere where there is a natural pause — and replace them with periods. then when you use your read by sentence command, it will naturally stop anytime there is a punctuation. It does help to have a slightly better grasp of the material during a situation like this. Otherwise you’re going to be putting pauses for the ends of sentences where there is no end of a sentence. Most of the time it’s pretty obvious, but not always. I hope that helps in someway. A lot of the time it really comes down to practice.
First, if possible, try to read the material ahead of time. Even if you don’t remember all of it, or even most of it, hopefully you will at least remember the general feeling of it. That may help when reading it back.
Second, I like to slow my speech down quite a bit. That way, I can be listening to several words ahead while I’m reading. As long as you don’t slip up with your mouth, which is something I tend to do sometimes, you may be able to do it this Way. I also like to use read by sentence commands so that it’s not just reading it to me in an entirely constant stream. You need some pauses in between now and then in order to catch up and make room for actual human speech pauses. You can do this by line as well if you want to. Sometimes that works better, and other times reading by sentence works better.
Finally, and this may be a little more difficult, if you have the time, put your document in a text editor and do a find and replace command. Replace any punctuation such as commas, exclamation marks, semicolins etc — anywhere where there is a natural pause — and replace them with periods. then when you use your read by sentence command, it will naturally stop anytime there is a punctuation. It does help to have a slightly better grasp of the material during a situation like this. Otherwise you’re going to be putting pauses for the ends of sentences where there is no end of a sentence. Most of the time it’s pretty obvious, but not always. I hope that helps in someway. A lot of the time it really comes down to practice.
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
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Remy_C 1 points 1y ago
I’m glad. Sentences are easier to manage because they’re a lot more natural. Reading by line does work sometimes when sentences are super long however. If you like, I do not have any example of me doing this without some severe audio editing, but this was a talk I gave last year. In it I was reading out loud using the manner I described. I did stumble several times, which normally is never a problem during voice acting because audio editing, but this should give you an idea of what reading in this manner is capable of. Keeping in mind that I’m really not very good at reading out loud as a general rule.
https://youtu.be/cII8jL1fyTw
https://youtu.be/cII8jL1fyTw
Trick-Regret-493 1 points 1y ago
High contrast is easiest.
Far_Phrase5858 1 points 1y ago
I use large print or audio
kaishawna 1 points 1y ago
Most times, I read some regular print, but I use braille sometimes
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