I will have to check my version of browser to see if it will be supported in future by Blogger.com.
In the meantime, I would like the "Blogger Team" to please put on a blindfold, then point the mouse and click on the icon to the right of the green bunny, or whatever it is.
Many people with disabilities are living well Under the Federal Poverty Level. Many of us have computers a decade old or More. We Might be able to come up with the bucks to replace the hardware. But specialized Software, adaptive devices which allow us to speak what we want the computer to do, or Screen Reading software, no Chance!
I Hope Blogger will take Boby recommendations (ADA recommendations) into account as it continues to update.
Those of us with disabilities are looking at probable cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. We can't count on anything improving financially in the future, any more than unemployed people can.
Every time I contact Tech. Support for Anything, from Any Company, the conversation goes something like:
"Ok, now what I need you to do first is tell me what lights are on, on your modem."
"I'm blind, I can't see to do that. All I can tell you is that a bit of heat seems to be coming from the left most light and the one just to the right of that, but no heat is around the third light."
"Right, but which color is the light that isn't heating up?"
"I am Totally blind and can't give you that information."
"Have you tried unplugging your modem for a few minutes then plugging it back in?"
"Yes. And I still can't get onto the Net."
"Push the Reset button."
"Where is it?"
"It's that little Green button on the back."
Etc. I say there isn't a button, the tech. says I need a small pointed object to push it, only Then do I figure out it is Inset into the device, it is not a protruding Button at all.
Another conversation:
"Click on the green bunny at the top right of the screen and tell me what the hour glass does."
"I would like to, but I'm blind. I cannot See the screen."
"Oh, how amazing, you use a computer and your blind? That's great. Now the green bunny is located . . ."
"I can't See to point a Mouse (rodent)."
"Well it isn't hard, you can Drag and Drop . . ."
"I must use Keyboard Commands to make my computer do Anything. Do you know the Keyboard Command to move the green bunny?"
"Sure, just click on the . . ."
If the technician were from a different country where blind people rarely have the opportunity to achieve any independence, this conversation might make sense. The Technician would have No Frame of Reference for a Blind person Using a Computer. It would be like announcing to him or her that a Martian is munching the surge protector.
I am deaf enough not to be able to understand soft-voiced English speakers who will not raise their voices. Sometimes I find the kindness and Attempts to help Greater among overseas technicians.
But these are American, U.S. Tech. Support? people!
So, I always write ignored E-mails asking how much trouble it would be to have One technician for the U.S. who Knew about adaptive computer technology. Well Blogger.com, what's Your answer?
Showing posts with label Blind Style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blind Style. Show all posts
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Someone Has Always Paid
For every benefit that a people enjoys, Someone has Always paid a price. In S. Africa it was Nelson Mandela and many other African and mixed race people, many of whom lost teir lives. In the U.S. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Hampton, Medger Evers and Malcom X, depending on your point of view. Many men and women (nearly all African Americans) were beaten and jailed.
In Native America N. and S., it has Been Anna Mae Aquash, Leonard Peltier, and the parents of Rigoberta Menchu. In many places it is tribes like the Tunica and Houma peoples of Louisiana who have not received recognition, and thus No Federal Help.
Among blind people those who paid for my civil rights are the piano tuners, chair caners, and basket weavers and beggars of the 1940's. Among deaf-blind people it was Helen Keller, who mastered ten Differing systems of Braille and literally read in an unheated house until her fingers Bled. She convinced Congress to standardize American Braille, And helped push for the establishment of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which has a branch in each state, delivering via mail Braille, large print, and recorded, " talking books" to print disabled people. When an organization for the blind refused to pay her and Annie Sullivan a decent salary they said Forget It, and joined a circus.
In recent times we have had pioneers like Mr. Richard Kenney, former president of the Hadley School for the Blind, educating people around the world via Braille, large print, and taped materials, in correspondence courses ranging from poetry to computer skills. And there is Robert J. Smithdas, of the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults.
If I have misspelled any of these names I offer my honest apology. I cannot know how to spell a name which I haven't read in Braille.
It seems to me that there is a fundamenal difference between those who pay the price for the advancement of themselves and their people and those who are asked by our Government to pay or risk paying the ultimate price, their lives, for a political goal.
The Dalai Lama is Very careful when talking of the Chinese Government's politics to Differentiate Between the Chinese People and their Government.
In the same way, I respect our service men and women. But I do Not always agree with what our Government asks them to do.
My uncle was among those who payed a heavy price to teach the American public to Differentiate between returning Vietnam veterans and the Government which sent them to war. He was from California. And when he returned from three tours of duty in Vietnam people spat on him, shrieked at him, calling him a "baby killer" and much more. He felt completely betrayed by his own people. And it was many veterans of the Vietnam War who gave All of us the Americans with Disabilities Act. I thank you and am Sorry you suffered so Much!
The reasons service men and women sign up to join the military are honorable. They may want a college education to better the lives of themselves and their families. This is a Commendable goal. They may want to protect our country from attacks like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. This is Also a Commendable goal. So I have no quarrel with our returning service men and women. I think they are Entitled to the best medical or mental health care we can provide. They are also Entitled to our respect!
But I did and still do disagree with the Government's decision to send troops into Iraq in the first place. I have always thought that our Government was heavily influenced by multi-national corporations to engage in that war. Iraq has the second largest amount of oil under its land, after Saudi Arabia. And companies which provide everything from "security" for American personnel to military hardware and armaments have done Extremely well in business during the war in Iraq.
Yes, Saddam Hussein was a despot who gassed his own people, there is No Way in which I can condone that. But We, as a nation, cannot Afford the loss of life of service men and women and the civilian casualties caused by going after every Despot who won't do what our Government and its corporate partners want! That is why I am Also against our intervention in Libya. They too have oil, by the way.
On a personal level, those paying the prices of disability and death in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, are doing so for honorable reasons. But I distrust the reasons of corporations to whom the deaths of our service people and the civilians of other countries mean little, and our Government which I think listens to Those corporate interests Far Too Often.
It is again, honorable Americans who are paying a price, along with Non-combatant civilians, but who are they paying it For this time?
In Native America N. and S., it has Been Anna Mae Aquash, Leonard Peltier, and the parents of Rigoberta Menchu. In many places it is tribes like the Tunica and Houma peoples of Louisiana who have not received recognition, and thus No Federal Help.
Among blind people those who paid for my civil rights are the piano tuners, chair caners, and basket weavers and beggars of the 1940's. Among deaf-blind people it was Helen Keller, who mastered ten Differing systems of Braille and literally read in an unheated house until her fingers Bled. She convinced Congress to standardize American Braille, And helped push for the establishment of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which has a branch in each state, delivering via mail Braille, large print, and recorded, " talking books" to print disabled people. When an organization for the blind refused to pay her and Annie Sullivan a decent salary they said Forget It, and joined a circus.
In recent times we have had pioneers like Mr. Richard Kenney, former president of the Hadley School for the Blind, educating people around the world via Braille, large print, and taped materials, in correspondence courses ranging from poetry to computer skills. And there is Robert J. Smithdas, of the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults.
If I have misspelled any of these names I offer my honest apology. I cannot know how to spell a name which I haven't read in Braille.
It seems to me that there is a fundamenal difference between those who pay the price for the advancement of themselves and their people and those who are asked by our Government to pay or risk paying the ultimate price, their lives, for a political goal.
The Dalai Lama is Very careful when talking of the Chinese Government's politics to Differentiate Between the Chinese People and their Government.
In the same way, I respect our service men and women. But I do Not always agree with what our Government asks them to do.
My uncle was among those who payed a heavy price to teach the American public to Differentiate between returning Vietnam veterans and the Government which sent them to war. He was from California. And when he returned from three tours of duty in Vietnam people spat on him, shrieked at him, calling him a "baby killer" and much more. He felt completely betrayed by his own people. And it was many veterans of the Vietnam War who gave All of us the Americans with Disabilities Act. I thank you and am Sorry you suffered so Much!
The reasons service men and women sign up to join the military are honorable. They may want a college education to better the lives of themselves and their families. This is a Commendable goal. They may want to protect our country from attacks like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. This is Also a Commendable goal. So I have no quarrel with our returning service men and women. I think they are Entitled to the best medical or mental health care we can provide. They are also Entitled to our respect!
But I did and still do disagree with the Government's decision to send troops into Iraq in the first place. I have always thought that our Government was heavily influenced by multi-national corporations to engage in that war. Iraq has the second largest amount of oil under its land, after Saudi Arabia. And companies which provide everything from "security" for American personnel to military hardware and armaments have done Extremely well in business during the war in Iraq.
Yes, Saddam Hussein was a despot who gassed his own people, there is No Way in which I can condone that. But We, as a nation, cannot Afford the loss of life of service men and women and the civilian casualties caused by going after every Despot who won't do what our Government and its corporate partners want! That is why I am Also against our intervention in Libya. They too have oil, by the way.
On a personal level, those paying the prices of disability and death in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, are doing so for honorable reasons. But I distrust the reasons of corporations to whom the deaths of our service people and the civilians of other countries mean little, and our Government which I think listens to Those corporate interests Far Too Often.
It is again, honorable Americans who are paying a price, along with Non-combatant civilians, but who are they paying it For this time?
Saturday, July 2, 2011
June 23, 2011
BlindStyle
There are generations of us blind people, educated at state schools for the blind from the 1940's through the 1970's (and in some cases later) who have our own way or Style of doing things.
Examples: 1. We don't put pictures on the walls. Of what use is a flat glass or flat plastic in a frame? I have heard, but do not know if it is true, that many sighted deaf people mostly brought up in state schools for the deaf don't put up pictures either. Why not? Because there were Never any pictures in their rooms at School. Institutions housing a large number of children don't go in much for encouraging personal style in room decorating.
2. As a blind weaver of tapestries I made a vow Never to create Anything which wasn't as interesting to Feel as to look at. I have sold a couple of tapestries, and I make centers for flowers with tactile objects which are also eye pleasing. I weave Tapestries, (more like making a quilt in some ways than beautiful but Flat weaving) because the combination of stitches is endless. I can work in a crochet chain stitch, make spirals, French knots, and more. I remember colors and my partner used to say that there wasn't an explanation for where I got a sense of balance within a piece of work.
3. When I set up my living room the way I wanted it, a sighted friend didn't like it. There are two comfortable chairs facing the TV, each with a surface to set food or a drink on at hand, but the long couch is on another wall.
For me this makes Perfect sense. I rarely watch a movie with more than 1 or 2 people at a time. So I can either sit in a comfortable chair next to 1 friend, or sit at the end of the couch next to the TV and hear it better that way anyhow.
But sighted people seem to like to drape themselves on the couch or lie on it and watch TV together or alone. I can hear the TV just as well lying down as sitting up, if I'm sitting on the couch closest to it.
But it feels all wrong to every Other sighted person I've asked. Even if it is less comfortable, the largest seating area Should face the Tube.
But they Do like my wall decorations, a "burden basket ) with rolled tin cones at the bottom which sound like rain when rattled, , an embroidered tapestry I bought with my partner at a "fair trade" store once, a tapestry I made for my partner and now have back, and a piece of blue leather my partner put on the wall with billows in it (wrinkles?) so it looked like a cloud, with and embroidered and fringed "Buddhist auspicious symbols" banner coming down from it.
I do have a very Few flat pictures, but they are Buddhist ones and I know what each one is by its placement, or I Will know this, when I get them set up.
So what do I do about the Living Room? Some people say, "If you want sighted friends in your place you'd Better make them feel at home." By I have Adapted and Adjusted to the needs of sighted people all of my Life. I don't usually Like TV, it is Stupid! And if we watch a movie I'll get More comfortable chairs for those afflicted with sight to sit in and Face the tube.
I am the only one living here now. If at some later time I choose to allow another person to live here, of course, I'll have to compromise. But for now I think I'll try it my way and see if my friends can't adjust.
I like playing cards, having intelligent discussions, listening to audio books, (like most sighted people, I prefer to do something else while I listen, like weave or sew. Most of them like to drive, not my thing, unfortunately.)
4. I have two pieces of jewelry I think Should go together. One has a turquoise and coral eagle on it. The other is silver (like the silver surrounding the eagle) and has a turquoise spiral swirling through it. Why do I think they should look good together? It's an Idea combination. To me that Swirl of turquoise (green of growing, blue of nourishing water) is a symbol for life. And the eagle, turquoise and red coral, (red for success, red coral for healing, and Eagle for vision, the wisdom to look Far) these things make a sort of blessing prayer in jewelry. Life being healed, nourished, and cooled (influence of silver) to succeed by the wisdom to look or see far.
But to a sighted person the issues would be: are the colors of turquoise the same? The second piece of jewelry Has no coral, no red. They may be similar in style, but do they Look good together?
My question: if they are both beautiful and meaningful to me, and they both have turquoise and silver, Who Cares? So we have a different perspective.
Nobody's right or wrong, just Different. And compared to the world's big problems, the differences mean nothing. But in a small life they have effects. I hope this has been interesting for someone to read.
Good night.
BlindStyle
There are generations of us blind people, educated at state schools for the blind from the 1940's through the 1970's (and in some cases later) who have our own way or Style of doing things.
Examples: 1. We don't put pictures on the walls. Of what use is a flat glass or flat plastic in a frame? I have heard, but do not know if it is true, that many sighted deaf people mostly brought up in state schools for the deaf don't put up pictures either. Why not? Because there were Never any pictures in their rooms at School. Institutions housing a large number of children don't go in much for encouraging personal style in room decorating.
2. As a blind weaver of tapestries I made a vow Never to create Anything which wasn't as interesting to Feel as to look at. I have sold a couple of tapestries, and I make centers for flowers with tactile objects which are also eye pleasing. I weave Tapestries, (more like making a quilt in some ways than beautiful but Flat weaving) because the combination of stitches is endless. I can work in a crochet chain stitch, make spirals, French knots, and more. I remember colors and my partner used to say that there wasn't an explanation for where I got a sense of balance within a piece of work.
3. When I set up my living room the way I wanted it, a sighted friend didn't like it. There are two comfortable chairs facing the TV, each with a surface to set food or a drink on at hand, but the long couch is on another wall.
For me this makes Perfect sense. I rarely watch a movie with more than 1 or 2 people at a time. So I can either sit in a comfortable chair next to 1 friend, or sit at the end of the couch next to the TV and hear it better that way anyhow.
But sighted people seem to like to drape themselves on the couch or lie on it and watch TV together or alone. I can hear the TV just as well lying down as sitting up, if I'm sitting on the couch closest to it.
But it feels all wrong to every Other sighted person I've asked. Even if it is less comfortable, the largest seating area Should face the Tube.
But they Do like my wall decorations, a "burden basket ) with rolled tin cones at the bottom which sound like rain when rattled, , an embroidered tapestry I bought with my partner at a "fair trade" store once, a tapestry I made for my partner and now have back, and a piece of blue leather my partner put on the wall with billows in it (wrinkles?) so it looked like a cloud, with and embroidered and fringed "Buddhist auspicious symbols" banner coming down from it.
I do have a very Few flat pictures, but they are Buddhist ones and I know what each one is by its placement, or I Will know this, when I get them set up.
So what do I do about the Living Room? Some people say, "If you want sighted friends in your place you'd Better make them feel at home." By I have Adapted and Adjusted to the needs of sighted people all of my Life. I don't usually Like TV, it is Stupid! And if we watch a movie I'll get More comfortable chairs for those afflicted with sight to sit in and Face the tube.
I am the only one living here now. If at some later time I choose to allow another person to live here, of course, I'll have to compromise. But for now I think I'll try it my way and see if my friends can't adjust.
I like playing cards, having intelligent discussions, listening to audio books, (like most sighted people, I prefer to do something else while I listen, like weave or sew. Most of them like to drive, not my thing, unfortunately.)
4. I have two pieces of jewelry I think Should go together. One has a turquoise and coral eagle on it. The other is silver (like the silver surrounding the eagle) and has a turquoise spiral swirling through it. Why do I think they should look good together? It's an Idea combination. To me that Swirl of turquoise (green of growing, blue of nourishing water) is a symbol for life. And the eagle, turquoise and red coral, (red for success, red coral for healing, and Eagle for vision, the wisdom to look Far) these things make a sort of blessing prayer in jewelry. Life being healed, nourished, and cooled (influence of silver) to succeed by the wisdom to look or see far.
But to a sighted person the issues would be: are the colors of turquoise the same? The second piece of jewelry Has no coral, no red. They may be similar in style, but do they Look good together?
My question: if they are both beautiful and meaningful to me, and they both have turquoise and silver, Who Cares? So we have a different perspective.
Nobody's right or wrong, just Different. And compared to the world's big problems, the differences mean nothing. But in a small life they have effects. I hope this has been interesting for someone to read.
Good night.
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