Tag Archives: reading

The Silence Is Deafening

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One of the joys associated with e-books is the fact that most are accessible to people with a visual impairment. As a blind book lover who is not able to read print I relish my ability to read e-books either on my Kindle or using the Kindle app on my iPad, via the text to speech facility (on the Kindle) or by Apple’s in-built screen reader, Voiceover on my iPad.

I was disappointed to find that a book recommended to me by an acquaintance (and available in the Kindle store) does not have the text to speech facility enabled thereby rendering my purchase of the title in question pointless as I would be unable to read the work in question.

As an author I can understand the legitimate desire of writers to protect their work from copyright theft. All of my books are Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected rendering them virtually impossible to copy. However all of my books as with the majority of those available in the Kindle store have text to speech enabled thereby allowing visually impaired individuals to purchase them. I would never disable text to speech because, by so doing I would be locking out blind people from the possibility of reading my works independently.

I have sometimes heard it argued that authors disable text to speech because their book is also available as an audible download from companies such as audible.co.uk/audible.com. If the book is available as an audio download then what is the point (the argument goes) in providing a text to speech enabled version of the book on Amazon.

In answer to the above I would argue that visually impaired readers should have the same choice as to how they access books as their sighted friends and acquaintences. If a copy of a book which does not have tex to speech enabled is available from Amazon and, in addition as an audio download then the sighted reader has a choice of either purchasing the Kindle book or the audio download. In contrast the blind reader has only one choice, to download the audio version as the Kindle book is inaccessible to him or her. This is, to my mind grossly unfair as blind people should (as stated above) be afforded the same opportunity to access books as their sighted compatriots.

Certain works are only available as inaccessible (non text to speech) enabled Kindle downloads with there existing no audio alternative. Consequently blind people have their ability to access such books severely curtailed. They can request a sighted friend to read the book which negates their independence or request a charity such as the Royal National Institute of The Blind (RNIB) to record the work or transcribe it into braille. However the latter option can be time consuming and can leave the visually impaired person feeling like a second class citizen who must rely on others for his or her reading enjoyment.

I won’t name the book or the author as I hope to be able to make contact and persuade them to make their book available, on Amazon with text to speech enabled (there appears to be no audio alternative).

Most authors who sell their books on Amazon do make them available with text to speech enabled and I am, as a blind person grateful to the vast majority of writers who do the right thing. To those authors who don’t enable accessibility for visually impaired people, I am sure that most of you do not realise that the effect of your decision is to make the lives of blind readers difficult by reducing their choice of reading material. If you are one of those authors please look again and ensure that your books are accessible to all not just those who can read print.

In conclusion this post is not aimed at the vast majority of writers who make their works accessible by enabling text to speech (on the Kindle) or Voiceover (on Apple products), it is aimed at the minority of authors and publishers who do not do the right thing.

Must Be Funny In A Rich Man’s World

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Sometimes I think that it would be far easier for me as an author where I to be fortunate enough to possess an independent income relieving me of the necessity to engage in paid employment. I leave my flat at around 7:30 am and usually get home between 6:30-7 pm by which time my brain wants to rest and, if I do write the tiredness sits on my shoulders like some giant succubus but without the delightful distractions offered by that mythical creature. On occasions I am able to shake off that guileful demon and write (much of my collection of short stories, The First Time was written in those long, dark winter evenings after work). While I felt a great sense of satisfaction after having spent several productive hours writing into the late evening, on the morrow my body and brain cried out in protest. Consequently most of my writing (other than blog posts) takes place during the weekend when I can sit undisturbed plugging away at my stories.

A good friend who is retired frequently spends the entire morning writing. I am envious of his ability to do this. Long gone is the necessity for him to spend a large portion of his day working for others. My friend is the master of his own time which he uses to good effect.

I would love to be able to write for 4-5 hours a day knowing that I had an independent income to sustain me. No concerns about the need to earn money to pay the bills, just the joy of writing filling my mornings. Having said that my participation in the world of work gives me a wider perspective on the world. There have been writers (some of them great) who have possessed independent means relieving them of the necessity to work. However participation in the hurly burly of society as opposed to being cloistered in the library of one’s house on a country estate furnishes the author with a broader understanding of the world with all it’s foibles, but if anyone wants to leave a landed estate to me in their will I will, reluctantly accept the bequest (it would be rude to do otherwise)!

Kevin

The Wonderful Team Membership Reader Award

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I was surprised and delighted to be nominated for the Wonderful Team Membership Reader Award by Manchester Flick Chick, http://manchesterflickchick.wordpress.com/.

The rules of the Award are as follows:

 

  1. The Nominee of the Wonderful Team Membership Reader Award shall display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar (being blind I have yet to get a sighted friend to help me copy the logo).
  2. The nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days. This can be done at any rate during the week.
  3. The nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award Nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day period
  4. The nominee shall make these rules or amended rules keeping to the spirit of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award known to each reader he nominates.
  5. The nominee must finish this sentence and post: “A great reader is .”.

 

 

http://atopsyturvyworld.wordpress.com/

http://seumasgallacher.com/

http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/author/thestoryreadingape/

http://judysp.wordpress.com/

http://kevs-domain.net/author/cooper1963/

http://300stories.wordpress.com/

http://bottledworder.com/

http://belsbror.wordpress.com/

http://adventuresinlowvision.wordpress.com/

http://interestingliterature.com/

http://mcwatty9.wordpress.com/author/mcwatty9/

http://laurie27wsmith.wordpress.com/author/laurie27wsmith/

http://storyshucker.wordpress.com/

http://emilyspoetryblog.com/author/emilyardagh/

Many thanks to everyone who follows or comments on my blog both those named above and the many others, I appreciate you all.

Its All About Me, Really!

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An interesting short piece on the use of social media by authors. The article argues that users of social media should ensure that the focus of their posts is not solely on “me”, rather the focus should be on building a community and providing space for your followers to express themselves and participate. For the piece please visit http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/newsletter/nov13-using-social-media.php

Reading Blind

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Growing up as a blind person in the 1970s and 1980s there existed extremely limited opportunities for a visually impaired  book lover like me to slake my thirst for books. Then (as now) only a fraction of the books available in print could be found in braille so if you wished to read Wuthering Heights then all fine and dandy, however if you wished to enjoy the latest thriller there was virtually no possibility of obtaining it in braille.

I supplemented my reading of braille books by listening to spoken word cassette versions of the classics together with books of more recent vintage such as Where Eagles Dare. However many of these recordings, although often professionally read where, for all that abridgements of much lengthier books. While some books no doubt might benefit from being abridged many others did not but, as a blind reader I had, by and large to make do with what was available.

The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) offered (and still provides) a talking book library of full length works ranging from the classics to the latest detective stories. Again, however only a relatively small proportion of the books available in print found their way onto the shelves of the Talking Book Library. All this changed with the coming of the e-book and, in particular the invention of the Amazon Kindle.

I received my first Kindle, as a Christmas present in 2011 and it opened up a world of print literature which had, hitherto been barred to me. My Kindle possesses a text to speech facility which enables me to have most of the books in the Kindle store read aloud. A few authors/publishers do not enable the text to speech facility but most do.

For a long time the Kindle app for the Ipad was inaccessible but this has now changed and my poor Amazon Kindle languishes in a cupboard feeling most unloved while the Kindle app on my Ipad is used on an almost daily basis. With Voiceover (Apple’s screen reading software) it is extremely easy to navigate around my Kindle library, to select and listen to books. The disadvantage to the Kindle iPad app is that it is not possible to purchase books although one can send an e-mail to yourself or add the title to your wish list as a reminder that you wish to purchase a title.

Amazon has recently released two further Kindles both of which the RNIB have reported as being even more accessible than my ancient Kindle, http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/reading/how/ebooks/accessibility/amazon/Pages/kindle_devices.aspx#H2Heading1.

The world has certainly come a long way since I sat, in the school library lost in Palgrave’s Golden Treasury. I can still recollect the feel of the cloth bound volumes the braille worn down by countless fingers. I still read braille and enjoy doing so, however vast vistas of literature have been opened up by the Kindle and other similar devices which would, until recently have been beyond the dreams of visually impaired people.

For my Amazon author’s page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Can I give you my card?

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A couple of weeks ago I ordered 50 business cards from moo.com (http://uk.moo.com/products/business-cards.html) to promote my website, newauthoronline.com. The cards say

“Kevin Morris author” followed by the address of my website, newauthoronline.com and details of how to contact me. There is also a picture of me together with my guide dog Trigger, pint in hand (obviously it is Trigger rather than myself who is clutching the pint)!

I am impressed with the cards, however moo.com advise that they are not wholly satisfied with their quality. They will, as a consequence be sending 50 additional cards completely free of charge. Whoever said that good customer service is dead was wrong, it lives on in the form of moo.com!

For my Amazon author page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.