💻Tech
- Inaccessible Dropdown Menu: The dropdown menu that allows you to select the specific item with issues is inaccessible, even with Screen Recognition enabled. This feature is crucial for reporting the problem accurately.
- Photo Requirement: After managing to get past the inaccessible dropdown menu once, the app now requires you to upload a photo of the item with issues. This step presents another accessibility barrier for visually impaired users.
- Throwing a bowling ball backwards, not in the Nintendo Wii game.
- At the same bowling alley, I took out the bumper and got a gutter ball. We called it getting a gutter ball in a lane with no gutters.
- Tagging the barbecue grill in a game of horseshoes.
- Start and end in the same spot: I usually have my smartphone playing music and I set it on the corner of the pool. The distance of the sound tells me where I am. I also use markers along the length of the pool such as jets, steps and ladders for orientation. Finally, if the sun is out, I can use its position on my face to keep me on track.
- Empty Pool: I’m introverted and blind, making me an object of curiosity to people (another topic, etc., etc., etc.). My favorite thing about the pool in my apartment is I can hit the pool at 7 in the morning and be finished long before the children are out of school. This also makes it less of a problem if I veer.
- The same place for my things every time: My place is just inside the door against the fence. I know how far the pool is from there and I’m most comfortable starting from that spot. I also know how to get from the steps when I get out to my things.
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Start the motor: Skip the stairs, take the plunge. My body deals with the shock of the cold all at the same time and I can get down to business. This is especially helpful on mornings are in the low ‘50’s.
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Warm-up; Move my legs and arms like Gymnast Barbie for the verse and chorus of a song. I like to move everything at the same time so my body doesn’t feel like it has a lot of extra parts coming out of it that I don’t know what to do with, but there are a few ways to go about warming up. Also, to move like Gymnast Barbie, get to a place in the pool that is shallow enough that I can touch if I need to, but deep enough so I don’t stub my toes. Then, move my arms and legs in a dog-paddle motion. I know when my body’s ready to go, another benefit of regular activity.
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Free-style: I prefer to dog-paddle. I do this for a song and a half, or five plus however many laps I can take before I get tired if it’s raining and my phone is safe and dry in my apartment. My pool’s a rectangle with an elbow for the stairs. I estimate it at about four yards long.
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The Big five: I do five of each of the following.
a. Ghost arm: Move around the pool using both legs and one arm in a forward motion. The total number of laps is 10. I alternate arms for a more comfortable workout, or use each arm 5 times consecutively for a more challenging session. My ghost arm, arm I’m not using, can either stay curled against my torso, or it can be used as a makeshift feeler to find walls.
b. T-Rex: Propel myself forward around the pool using only my arms. It gives my legs a chance to rest before the next set of exercises. If I’m not feeling it, I put my feet out behind me and just keep them stationary and remind myself I’m longer than normal when I make the turns. If I want to work my belly muscles (reminder: Not fitness oriented), I point my feet straight down and lift my legs in shallow areas. Another advantage here is my legs aren’t completely stationary durning the time it takes me to do this exercise.
c. I forgot my kick board!: Fold my hands in front of me and use only my legs to go around the pool in a forward motion. Easier for me to write than to do.
d. Bizarro-cycle: Pretend I’m sitting upright on a bicycle, facing my feet out in front of me and use just them to move myself around the pool in a backward motion. If I’m having a hard day, I pretend I’m on an exercise bike and use my arms to help me move. If my back starts to spasm, the bicycle becomes a manually operated crotch rocket that also goes in reverse.
e. Flying chair: Sit in an upright position with my feet in front of me so my toes point up, and my soles are facing out. Then, move my arms in concentric circles to move around the pool in a forward motion. I use this one when my legs have giving up their grumbling about having to go through this routine agin in favor of an outcry to please stop what I’m doing. The extra challenge is to maintain the upright position. If my legs only grumble, this exercise usually stays on the bench as it is very time consuming.
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Cool-down: Return to Gymnast barbie position until my body doesn’t feel like a coiled spring, then a shower.
Thrust Your Opinion On Me! No really. It's fine.
I’m almost sorry when new tech features come out now. They always seem to promote the new wave of people with a “truly unique” opinion they just have to thrust upon you without geeting your concent to become aware of said opinion. I liked the world better when things like religion, politics and personal choices were matters of the heart and not a branding avenue.
Realtime Reflections of WWDC2024 KeyNote
It’s #WWDC2024!!! Watch this thread for my reactions. And watch the actual event on Apple’s Official Events site
My latest entertainment is generating an Eleven Labs voice, then using that voice to create the following clip that plays whenever I push a wrong key.
Are we seriously not able to sync ringtones between our Mac and our iPhones in 2024 using voiceover? All the articles I can find on how to do it tell me to drag and drop, but I don’t know where to drop the file and all my attempts are failing. Does anyone know how to go about this?
#A11y issue with #UberEats app and proposed solution
Accessibility Issue with UberEats App
The main point I’m making is that there appears to be an accessibility issue with the UberEats app when using VoiceOver on iOS devices. Specifically, the issue arises when trying to report a problem with an order. Here’s a clearer explanation: When attempting to report an issue with an order on the UberEats app while using VoiceOver (the screen reader for iOS), there are two main problems:
Suggested Solution
I propose that Uber should allow users to mark themselves as needing a stable experience for accessibility reasons. This would prevent beta features or experimental updates from being rolled out to those users, ensuring a consistent and accessible experience. Additionally, I suggest that other technology companies could benefit from adopting a similar approach, where users with accessibility needs can opt-out of receiving beta or experimental features that may introduce accessibility issues.
Only a few people will enjoy it, but I got to be filmed using my 🍏💻 using Elloquence and have a Freedom Scientific JAWS🦈 come up in my Gmail when I opened. Randy’s bag of random brand technology is officially open.
Mature Reflection Concerning Apple's Disrutptive ipad ad
After thinking about it, here’s what I’ve decided about the Apple #iPad ad that stirred the pot:
Aple is known as a disruptor. Because our society approaches certain topics with outright polarization, the only way to continue being a disruptor is to meet society where it is. In other words, the company wanted to wake us up and it worked. We’ll all remember even if we don’t actually watch said ad.
💻 If Apple Just makes VoiceOver more functional on any of the new OS’s this year, I’d be happy. screen readers’ updates don’t need to be exciting. Stop regarding them as headline makers and think of them a bit more like antivirus software that way. 🧑🏼🦯
Let My Changeling Go! A memoir of Championing Discord in the Blindness Community
I want to take a minute to express my displeasure (growing whenever I think on it) with Discord. To some of you, it will seem like not a big deal. For those of you who have experienced something like this, you’ll understand. I’m not actually trying to get something done, I’m just talking about it to talk about it.
Background
I wrote my guide for using Discord with screen readers. I expanded and maintained it until 2022 when I became too ill to keep up with the changes, give participation to feedback in Discord’s accessibility server, or write 300 words a week to correct terminology and descriptions for UI changes that were minor, but could potentially cause screen readers to behave unpredictably. For my time and dedication and work to convince as many members of the blindness community as possible to embrace Discord, I received a T-shirt with their logo just before they changed said logo.
Username
I was also a Nitro subscriber and had been for a few years when Discord changed their policy concerning usernames. Prior to, I was Changeling#0001. I checked in preparation for the change, I researched and found that the accounts with changeling in their names, the one where the name was just changeling and no other words were inactive. When it came time for me to choose, I found one of the inactive accounts had gotten my preferred username, Changeling.
No Reply
I contacted support and explained. I then politely requested a change be made so I could have my username. I sent that email back in April of 2022; no response has come. I even tried DMing the account owner and asking if they’d mind switching since they weren’t using the account.
Turning Point
This is when I decided ed that no longer would I offering my services as an accessibilitye consultant for free. Compensation needn’t be monetary, but it needs to go beyond the proverbial Coke® and a smile. See my about page for ways get in touch.
Your Turn
Has this ever happened to youou? Share in the replies.
What We Worry About: A Repost of someone who is exercising their right to be disgusted
I don’t necessarily agree with the tone of this post, but I do the sentiment. Also, this is my way of reminding you living blind is not a case of God bless us, and we don’t all sit around eagerly awaiting some afterlife where we get back what we never had. This is what we worry about. Sit with that on your next long commute that takes significantly longer by bus, why don’t you. You should.
📗 Yes And
📗 Yes And
Definition
Pronunciation: Yes. AND!
Derived from the shorthand of the first rule of improv.
No questions. Always respond with Yes and… Before adding more detail to said improv.
Simplification for expression of the often complex state in which two conclusions are true at one time and are technically thought of and are not necessarily exclusively separate from each other, meaning these two conclusions can always be true at the same time, but many people cannot function in a way that allows for true validity of both conclusions, usually for reason of bias, inexperience, or yes and. Depending on the situation, there can be more than two valid conclusions. Bias, inexperience, pride, self-preservation, yes and.
Being able to function in a state of yes and is an indicator of emotional maturity if not good or gradually improving mental health.
Other examples not given as many yes and situations involve socially polarized statements and ideas typically found allover the place.
Sonos: Pride cometh before the customer experience.
📅 It’s time for Google IO2024!!! 🎰
The actual event doesn’t start until 13:00 Eastern for me, but watch this post as I’ll be replying to it with my impressions. You can also interact in real time if you’re registered on the Fediverse.
💻 📚 Apple Card kept my Audible membership from being renewed multiple times. I lost 4 credits and two days of fighting with the two entities to get the thing fixed. Thing is, I almost didn’t renew because the Audible app and Airplay are always at odds on the best of days.
Swimming or Whatever
Why?
I’m live in the blind community, and one of the things that comes up is trouble accessing physical activity. Reasons for this include but are not limited to access to transportation, accessing the gym, following visual cues in group classes, etc. This means that any time a blind person appears to be getting regular exercise, other blind people want details. That’s why I’m posting this. It’s not an exercise video, just a blog post by someone stuck on the idea that even written casual information needs some structure.
Disclosure I Hope Makes Me less Intimidating
I’m not particularly fitness oriented. I call any sporting event Sportsball, and some of my highlights in this portion of human existence include:
I’m also the one ordering the supersized order of fries This is why anyone who knows me is saying, An exercise routine? You? It’s also why this is not a training material
The fact of the matter is endorphins help manage my chronic pain and are cheap, comparatively speaking. Exercise is also good for helping to manage circadian rhythm disorders, from my own research to deal with my stuff. The existence of necessity combined with my general contempt for gym memberships, exercise videos, etc. (a completely different story) allow me to go into this with the understanding that I have no reason to be attempting physical activity. I don’t care what I look like. I’m there to meet a need. I have, however, included a screenshot of a recent tracking session(https://starshipchangeling.net/uploads/2024/image.jpg) recorded by my Apple watch to show the results for myself.
I bring this up to tell you that if you are a blind person and if you want to be successful at something like this, you’ll have to get comfortable with the idea that, when it comes to your exercise, you’ll tell someone what their opinion is when you want it as long as you’re not in any danger. You may even need to say so out loud. If you can get comfortable with that, you can own your exercise and are more likely to stick with it/return to it following a break. This is an underlying principle of fitness in general, I believe. The turning the not worrying about what I look like long enough to do the exercise is my personal struggle as a congenitally blind, fitness disoriented person.
Considerations
I live in Florida. My pool is outdoors, useable most of the year and appears to be open 24/7, though the earliest I have been out there is 7 in the morning. I based these adaptations on my own comfort and needs.
The Routine
Before we begin, one final disclosure. The names of the moves are what I call them in my head. That’s all. I didn’t invent the moves, and please don’t spend your energy replying to me with corrections. I really had to do some personal rewiring to get here, so on my starship, I call the moves what I call them. If you’re reading this and yelling, “That’s not what that’s called!” At your computer, please relax. You can call these exercises whatever you like in your house of no imagination.
Conclusion
When I first sat down to write this, I hadn’t intended for it to be a long-form post. I also hadn’t intended for it to be all about me. However, as I was reviewing the first draft, the part about not being fitness oriented, it hit me that the only way to write this in a way appropriate to my station was to make it personal. I’m not an exercise instructor, but a troubleshooter. In this case, the thing I needed to fix was my own personal attitudes toward exercise.
I’ve enjoyed the water since forever, so I’ve figured out ways to enjoy pools independently. There’s also just something about the smell of a swimming pool, the mix of chlorine and sun lotion, that I find invigorating. Combine that with changing what I was doing according to how my body felt before, during and after, and that’s how I found what worked for me. And the music, of course. That works for me more than trying to keep time.
All I wanted was a link I could give people that ask what I’m doing so I don’t have to keep repeating myself. I need a way to count words because based on the length of this, I’m the only one who read it. :P