Tag Archives: visual impairment

Problems posting

I am experiencing problems in creating new posts. The problem appears to stem from some incompatibility between the screen reading software which I use (Jaws which converts text into speech and Braille enabling me to read my computer’s screen) and the WordPress interface. Everything appeared to be fine until yesterday then, suddenly I can not create new posts. I have raised this issue on the WordPress Forums (http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/problems-accessing-dashboard-with-screen-reading-software-jaws?replies=1#post-1509979) and, with a bit of luck the problem should be resolved soon.

The above is being posted with the help of a sighted friend.

Calling All Blind Authors

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I would be very interested to hear from other blind authors either via comments on this post or, if you prefer by e-mail to drewdog 2060 at Tiscali.co.uk )the address is given in this manner in order to attempt to defeat the scourge of the internet, spammers)! One of the frustrations I’m facing is my inability to independently use the Promotions Manager which forms part of Amazon’s KDP Select Programme. While I can click on most of the links in KDP Select without sighted assistance I can’t operate the Promotions Manager independently. I’ve experienced the same difficulty using both Firefox and Internet Explorer so it is not so far as I can ascertain a browser issue. I’ve contacted Amazon about the issue but they don’t seem to know what is causing the problem. As I say I’d be interested to hear from other blind authors either regarding this or any other matter and, of course anyone else who wishes to comment.

Absolution

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“Can I get you a drink?” the stranger asked touching Philip on the arm.

“I’m fine thanks. I’ve just ordered another pint”.

“I’ll get this” the stranger said handing over a £10 note to the barman.

“No really there is no need” Philip protested. Why did people always assume that he was in need of charity simply due to the fact that he was obviously blind, sitting as he was at the bar with his guide dog, Zeus at his feet. He hated being patronised but he had heard the till drawer click shut and the change being returned to his benefactor. He had no choice other than to accept the drink with as good a grace as possible.

“Thanks for the drink”.

“You’re welcome. How long have you been blind.

Philip’s instinctive reaction was to ask “how long have you suffered from terminal nosiness” but he smiled that world weary smile which his friends new so well and said “since birth”.

“What caused it?”

“A blood clot on the brain. They managed to remove it but not before I’d gone completely blind”.

“Christ I really admire people like you. Who looks after you?”

“No one, I live alone but if you know of any eligible young ladies do let me know”. Philip had found that the best way to deal with unwelcome interactions of this nature was to make light of them. Humour was after all better than losing his temper and telling the unwelcome interloper to go and take a long walk off a short cliff.

“Can I get you another pint?” the stranger asked beckoning to the barman.

“No thanks I’ve hardly touched this one” Philip said.

“I’ll have another, its my fifth”.

“I hope you don’t have work tomorrow” Philip said with a smile.

“Sod work. The boss can go screw himself. I feel like getting pissed and if anyone’s got a problem with that then they can get stuffed” the stranger said his voice rising.

“Maybe you should make this your last one Pete” the barman said as he poured another pint of cider into Pete’s glass.

Pete glared at the barman who retreated to the opposite end of the counter.

“My girlfriend had Retinitis Pigmentosa. Have you heard of it?”

“Yes of course it’s a degenerative genetic condition which causes people to go blind over sometimes quite long periods”.

“Yeah. I met this great girl, Ruth her name is. We clicked straight away. We both liked the same kind of music and supported the same football team, Chelsea. She was (is) gorgeous. Big blue eyes and silky blonde hair cascading down her back. We moved in together and everything was great. I’ve never been happier in my life. Another pint Bob”. The barman rolled his eyes but complied with the request. There was a prolonged pause in the conversation.

“So what happened? You speak of Ruth as though she is in the past” Philip asked.

“Ruth started to have problems”. Pete paused for so long that Philip wondered whether he should say something. “At first Ruth complained of problems reading” Pete continued. “She’d hold the paper really close to her face, sometimes she’d even get ink on her nose from the news print. I suggested that she should go to the opticians for an eye test and get some reading glasses. She wouldn’t have it, at least she refused until she walked smack bang into a lamp post. Can I get you another drink by the way mate?”

“No I’m fine thanks”.

“Well I’ll have one anyway” Pete said signalling to the barman who reluctantly filled his glass. “It was a really bad gash Ruth had. The hospital had to put stiches in it. After that I insisted she go for an eye test. The optician prescribed glasses but suggested Ruth go to the hospital for more tests. She was diagnosed with RP, not a thing they could do. In tine she’d go completely blind”.

“I’m sorry to hear that but I’m sure you where supportive, that you did your best to find out about RP and to help your girlfriend to adjust to losing her sight”.

“You don’t know what its like. I’d met this vivacious sporty girl who was always doing things then, suddenly she changed”.

“Changed?”

“Yeah she couldn’t play sports anymore. She became so depressed, very teary”.

“But I’m sure you tried to support her?”

“I didn’t know what to do. You don’t expect your partner to become disabled. The girl I loved changed completely. It wasn’t the Ruth I’d met”.

“A person is not defined by their disability. Surely you saw beyond your girlfriend’s RP. You tried to connect with the lady you had fallen in love with?”

“I didn’t know what to do. Every time I suggested going out somewhere she would always make an excuse so I started doing more and more things on my own. I met this girl, Karen in the supermarket. I helped her carry her shopping to the car and one thing led to another. We swapped phone numbers, met up the next day and went back to her place. Well you can guess what happened next”. Anyway one of Ruth’s girlfriends found out what was happening and told her. Ruth was devastated. She moved back in with her parents. I haven’t seen her since”.

Philip sat at the bar not knowing what to say.

“Say something. Anything. I couldn’t help what happened could I?”

“I can’t answer that” Philip replied.

“But look at it from my point of view. I didn’t sign up to be with a blind girl did I?”

“I don’t have all the facts so, quite honestly I’m not in a position to comment”.

“So you think I should have stayed with her then?”

“Only you can answer that question my friend” Philip said.

“You think I’m an arsehole don’t you? Perhaps that’s what I am. I drink because I’m an arsehole who wants to forget what he’s done”.

“Mate I can’t give you absolution. I’m not a priest but one thing I do know is that alcohol won’t solve anything. Do yourself a favour and go home”.

“Do you think that I’m a bad person?”

“That is for you to answer. I can’t give you absolution. Thanks for the drink. Take care of yourself”.

Philip got off his stool and picking up his dog’s harness exited the pub.

“Absolution” that was for priests to bestow not for him Philip thought as he walked home.

The Silly Things I Do

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Do you ever do silly things? I certainly do particularly when I’m thinking about my writing. A few days ago, having finished with a piece of kitchen roll I threw the remains of the paper towel into the bin. Well that is what I meant to do. In fact the kitchen roll had a ducking as it ended up in the washing up bowl, not the waste paper basket! On another occasion I went to put the dog’s bowl away in the fridge. A highly logical place for storing a dog bowl! Well I’ll need to concentrate on matters other than writing this morning as the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association are visiting to check on how my guide dog, Trigger and I are working together. This is a routine visit which all guide dog owners have but I will still be on my best behaviour as will Trigger!

Tales of the Unexpected

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I have for so long as I can remember enjoyed stories with unexpected endings. As a child growing up in Liverpool I watched ITV’s Tales of the Unexpected (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_%28TV_series%29). Each episode featured a different tale all of which ended unexpectedly.

Tales of the Unexpected was in the back of my mind when I wrote Sting in the Tail (http://newauthoronline.com/2013/03/16/sting-in-the-tail/). In the story a highly educated and charming fraudster meets his match in the most unexpected manner in the form of a blind girl, Laura. The fraudster makes the fatal mistake of perceiving Laura as a poor disabled woman who poses no threat, indeed he determines not to defraud her as stealing from a blind woman is a step to far even for a hard bitten criminal such as him. The fraudster’s fatal mistake is to assume that disability equals intellectual inferiority rendering Laura a helpless victim who he, in a rare moment of conscience determines not to exploit.

Sting in the Tail is above all a story who’s aim as with all stories is to provide enjoyment to the reader, however, as a registered blind person I am also interested to explore how people can, quite erroneously conflate disability with what used to be known as feeble mindedness. As the fraudster finds to his chagrin in Sting in the Tail this is a costly error!

Cyborg?

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I became blind at 18 months old. My blindness is as a result of a blood clot on the brain (it could have killed me or rendered me severely mentally impaired, however, fortunately the clot only caused the loss of my sight). Although I am registered blind I possess some residual vision. I can see outlines of objects and I put the lights on when it gets dark as light helps me to avoid colliding with objects. As a child I was taught how to use a white cane however, as an adult I rely on my Labrador/retriever cross, Trigger for mobility when travelling outside.

Being blind I was interested to read an article in today’s Daily Mail (9 February) regarding the development of a bionic eye which possesses the potential to enable some visually impaired people to see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275981/The-blind-soon-science-soon-market-high-tech-cyborg-eye.html#axzz2KOAWg0Do. The article is worth a read despite the terrible typographical errors! However I am not about to put Trigger out to grass (or whatever one does with retired guide dogs)! The causes of blindness are complex and not all of them are amenable to treatment. For those for whom the bionic eye works it is, obviously a wonderful and liberating invention but for many other visually impaired people this invention is of academic interest only. We will continue to live and enjoy our lives as unenhanced humans, no bionic eyes for us.

(Kevin Morris is a writer. For his collection of short stories, The First Time please visit the Kindle store on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk).

Does he take sugar?

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I am registered blind and live alone in London. I frequently shop independently (the shop assistants locate the items I require and I pay using either card or cash). I am, almost always unaccompanied on shopping trips, consequently the interaction is purely between myself and the shop assistant.

I spent the Christmas festivities visiting my mum and her partner in Liverpool. While there I visited a branch of W H Smiths and purchased a book, as a Christmas present for my sister. I paid for the item using my debit card and given that the transaction was between myself and the sales assistant I was surprised when she attempted to hand my receipt to my mum! My mum is non-disabled so I can only assume that the assistant felt more comfortable interacting with a non-disabled rather than a disabled person. The incident was resolved with the assistant handing the receipt to me (my mum refused to take it and I continued to hold out my hand)!

Having experienced similar incidents I’m able to see the funny side and my mum and I laughed about it afterwards. Had I been alone the assistant would have had no alternative other than to hand the receipt to me, however due to the presence of a non-disabled individual she automatically attempted to pass the paperwork to that person rather than the rightful recipient, yours truly!

On the whole attitudes towards people with disabilities have (and continue) to improve in the UK. In 1995 the Disability Discrimination Act came into force outlawing discrimination against people with disabilities in the fields of employment and service provision. The legislation has been strengthened since 1995 and has been superceeded by the Equalities Act. However despite the implementation of legislation and greatly improved social attitudes people with disabilities such as myself continue to encounter misunderstanding and, on occasions prejudice as is exemplified by my experience in purchasing a book in W H Smiths. What is the solution? Greater integration of disabled people into mainstream society is vital. As a child I attended several schools for visually impaired children and it was only on attending university that I entered mainstream education. Today greater numbers of children with disabilities are being educated with their non-disabled peers. The exposure of non-disabled children to those who are disabled is to be welcomed and will assist in enhancing understanding, however the incident in Smiths demonstrates that more education is required.

(Kevin Morris is a writer. For his latest book, The First Time” please visit https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-first-time-by-kevin-morris-availible-at-waterstones-for-only-0-98/).

Jaws (but not the shark)!

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I am registered blind which in my case means that I’m not able to read print. I can, however see outlines of objects and I turn the lights on when it is dark otherwise I tend to bang into things! I’m often asked by people who are unfamiliar with visual impairment how I access technology, consequently I thought that the below post might be of interest to people who have had no (or very limited contact) with blind and partially sighted people.

My Sony Vio laptop is equipped with software called Jaws which interprets what is on my PC’s screen and reads it back to me in speech and braille. I don’t use a mouse but rely on keyboard shortcuts some of which are unique to users of the Jaws software. For example in order to bring up a list of links on a webpage I press insert f7. This key combination produces a list of links which I can cursor through. When Jaws reads a link which I wish to activate I press the return/enter key to select it and Jaws reads the webpage. Again in order to bring up a list of headings the Jaws user activates insert F7. He/she is then able to cursor through the list of headings displayed on the webpage. As a child I was taught to touch type using a quirty keyboard which has stood me in good stead when using computers.

The world of technology can be a frustrating one for users of screenreading software such as Jaws. For instance many captchas (the visual puzzles which the PC user must solve in order to send contact forms etc) are inaccessible to Jaws and similar software. Jaws sees an image which it is unable to interpret. Ah there are audible captchas I hear you say. Indeed there are, however many of these are virtually impossible to solve due to the background noise which distorts the words being read. Again some sites do not even employ audio alternatives to visual captchas meaning that visually impaired computer users either give up in frustration or are forced to rely on the assistance of family and friends.

There is a very useful Firefox plug-in known as Webvisum which is designed to make the lives of visually impaired Firefox users much easier. One particularly useful feature of Webvisum is the ability to send a captcha electronically and have it solved. This isn’t 100 percent effective, however it does, in my experience work in the majority of instances. I’ve no idea how the Webvisum plug-in performs this magic trick but it is certainly a godsend for me and other visually impaired people.

One of my passions in life is reading. As a child I devoured braille books and spent hours listening to talking books provided by the RNIB’s Talking Book Library. The problem with braille books is that they are very bulky (The New Oxford Book of English Verse is comprised of 10 braille volumes and takes up quite a bit of space on my bookshelves). In addition only a tiny percentage of books produced in print are available to readers of braille. Talking Books are wonderful but, again only a comparatively small amount of the books available to readers of print make it onto this format.

The introduction of Amazon’s keyboard Kindle has greatly enhanced the ability of the visually impaired to access the same books as their non visually impaired family and friends. By activating the Kindle’s text to speech facility it is possible to have the latest crime thriller read aloud to you.

While things are by no means perfect from the point of view of blind technology users the advent of access software and it’s incorporation into mainstream products such as Apple’s I-Pad (Voiceover) continues to enhance the lives of the visually impaired.

(For my online novel, Samantha please visit https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/samantha-part-1/. For my book, The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories, available on Amazon in the Kindle Store please see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/my-books/.

Reading and the visually impaired

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E-books possess many advantages. Unlike print books one does not need to spend hours browsing around bookshops to find the book of your choice or, alternatively wait for several days for that print book you have ordered online to arrive. With the click of a mouse one can order Oliver Twist and have it delivered to the e-reader of your choice in minutes (often seconds). Again for those with limited space e-books are a godsend as a Kindle or other e-reader can hold a multiplicity of books in a tiny space. One group who have benefited enormously from the growth of e-books are the visually impaired. For centuries those with no vision had to rely on the kindness of family or friends to access the wonderful world of literature. Following the invention of braille a door was opened allowing blind people who mastered it to access books, however the number of titles availible in braille is tiny compared to the vast array of print books availible to sighted individuals. For the blind book lover wanting to read the classics, for example Great Expectations or War and Peace, both titles are availible in braille. However for a long time blind people struggled to keep up with the reading habits of their sighted family and friends as most contemporary literature is not availible in braille due to the costs of producing it. Again braille books take up a great deal of space (the New Oxford Book of English Verse runs to 10 thick braille volumes while it’s print counterpart is a single book).

The Kindle, the I-Pad and the I-Pod all have in-built voices (in the case of the more expensive version of the Kindle this is known as text to speech while Apple’s software is named voiceover). The technology allows people with little or no sight to access e-books opening up a world of literature which was largely closed to them hitherto.

To my knowledge Kindle’s web browser is not easily accessible (if at all) to blind people, however the visually impaired may access Amazon’s website using screenreading software such as Jaws which converts text into speech and braille and purchase titles with ease. Once a title is downloaded to the Kindle it is possible for a blind person to navigate around the menus, select books etc. While it is difficult for blind people to easily skip through the sections of a book using the Kindle, listening to a book from start to finish presents few (if any) difficulties.

Unfortunately a number of e-readers such as the Cobo are currently useless from the point of view of blind people as there is no ability for the visually impaired individual to have books read aloud. It is to be hoped that those manufacturers of e-readers who do not, at present build in speech capability will, in the future incorporate this facility making their products viable purchases for those with little or no vision. The world of reading should be open to everyone not just those who have vision.

(For my collection of erotic short stories “The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories”, by K Morris please visit http://www.amazon.com/other-erotic-short-stories-ebook/dp/B00A6H75Y6/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1353136476&sr=1-2&keywords=the+girl+at+the+bus+stop. If the link doesn’t work please visit Amazon’s Kindle Store and search for “The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories” by K Morris).