#PSA: If you, like me, have a heck of a time seeing/finding something in a dark colour, empower yourself with some nail polish!

Nail polish works great on metal and plastic, wears well (and can be touched up) and comes in a zillion colours for either matching or contrast.

#MedicalDevices often seem to be #black by default, and this week I finally got so sick of my #CGM reader getting lost in my bedding and/or anywhere else if I set it down, I made it the equivalent of #SafetyYellow.

(This is colour 010 "Marigold Maven" Ultra HD Snap! by Revlon, in case you are seeking the same.)

Not my best work design-wise but as I still needed to use the CGM reader, time was of the essence!

(Also, the polish had dried out a bit and I dodn't know about #NailPolish #Thinners until yesterday).

A bit of painters tape over the touchscreen, charging port, and fine print on the back and the result is a NON-invisible device!

#hack
#disability
#diabetes
#vision
#LowVision
#HighContrast
#Usability

Seriously people, if you're going to put work into making your blog look beautiful you HAVE GOT to see what it looks like with large minimum font size (not zoom). At my default 20pt minimum font size this blog gives me roughly 4 words per line.

I'm not going to read the damn article like this, no matter how good the words are. Yes, I can switch to "Reader View" but I shouldn't have to.

#accessibility #LowVision

Seriously people, if you're going to put work into making your blog look beautiful you HAVE GOT to see what it looks like with large minimum font size (not zoom). At my default 20pt minimum font size this blog gives me roughly 4 words per line.

I'm not going to read the damn article like this, no matter how good the words are. Yes, I can switch to "Reader View" but I shouldn't have to.

#accessibility #LowVision

#PSA: If you, like me, have a heck of a time seeing/finding something in a dark colour, empower yourself with some nail polish!

Nail polish works great on metal and plastic, wears well (and can be touched up) and comes in a zillion colours for either matching or contrast.

#MedicalDevices often seem to be #black by default, and this week I finally got so sick of my #CGM reader getting lost in my bedding and/or anywhere else if I set it down, I made it the equivalent of #SafetyYellow.

(This is colour 010 "Marigold Maven" Ultra HD Snap! by Revlon, in case you are seeking the same.)

Not my best work design-wise but as I still needed to use the CGM reader, time was of the essence!

(Also, the polish had dried out a bit and I dodn't know about #NailPolish #Thinners until yesterday).

A bit of painters tape over the touchscreen, charging port, and fine print on the back and the result is a NON-invisible device!

#hack
#disability
#diabetes
#vision
#LowVision
#HighContrast
#Usability

Sooooo... thinking about the possibility and feasibility of big life changes, namely studying opera seriously in Europe. Would love to connect with other #Blind language learners, especially those using #braille as a component of their learning. Currently learning #French. Am particularly interested in chatting with people who have taught themselves grade 2 French Braille as well as those who are either conversational or fluent and/or who have worked in or currently live in a #Francophone European country. If this is you or you're in any way adjacent to this world, please reach out. Would love to talk to you. Would also love to chat with people who use #MusicBraille / #BrailleMusic in Europe.

#Francophonie #ClassicalMusic #Opera #LanguageLearning #Languages #Français #LowVision #VisuallyImpaired #BlindMasto #BlindMastodon #BlindFedi @mastoblind

PS: if I missed any hashtags or groups, please let me know and I'll add them.

Sooooo... thinking about the possibility and feasibility of big life changes, namely studying opera seriously in Europe. Would love to connect with other #Blind language learners, especially those using #braille as a component of their learning. Currently learning #French. Am particularly interested in chatting with people who have taught themselves grade 2 French Braille as well as those who are either conversational or fluent and/or who have worked in or currently live in a #Francophone European country. If this is you or you're in any way adjacent to this world, please reach out. Would love to talk to you. Would also love to chat with people who use #MusicBraille / #BrailleMusic in Europe.

#Francophonie #ClassicalMusic #Opera #LanguageLearning #Languages #Français #LowVision #VisuallyImpaired #BlindMasto #BlindMastodon #BlindFedi @mastoblind

PS: if I missed any hashtags or groups, please let me know and I'll add them.

By chance, does anyone reading this write or publish nonfiction books? If you do, please take a moment to read about my experiences as a reader.

I keep encountering nonfiction books in which most of the text is large black letters on a plain white background, which I can read. However, other text in the books is difficult or impossible to read, due to a lack of contrast between the text and the background. In some books, special information is contained in boxes that have gray backgrounds. In other books, especially books about wildlife and nature, there are full-page photos with black text ON the photos. For example, one book had black text on a photo of the ocean, which meant that the black text had a gray-blue background. In still other books, pages are of random colors.

If you have good eyes and can read black text on a dark background, you are fortunate. Please be aware that not all of us share that good fortune. If you want to reach a wider audience, please ensure that all black text is printed on a light-colored background.

This applies to all books, including books for children. There are children with low vision. There are also countless adults with vision problems who read to children or who simply like children's books. (The large print in many nonfiction books written for children makes them especially attractive to adults who lack 20/20 vision.)

Some people reading this post may be thinking that technology provides the solution to unreadable text. Although technology is great, there is no substitute for being able to read a book directly. For example, if I'm riding a bus, I use one hand to hold onto the bus and the other hand to hold onto my book, and there are no hands left for holding a gadget that could read the book to me.

Thanks for reading this.

#books #publishing #accessibility #vision#LowVision

By chance, does anyone reading this write or publish nonfiction books? If you do, please take a moment to read about my experiences as a reader.

I keep encountering nonfiction books in which most of the text is large black letters on a plain white background, which I can read. However, other text in the books is difficult or impossible to read, due to a lack of contrast between the text and the background. In some books, special information is contained in boxes that have gray backgrounds. In other books, especially books about wildlife and nature, there are full-page photos with black text ON the photos. For example, one book had black text on a photo of the ocean, which meant that the black text had a gray-blue background. In still other books, pages are of random colors.

If you have good eyes and can read black text on a dark background, you are fortunate. Please be aware that not all of us share that good fortune. If you want to reach a wider audience, please ensure that all black text is printed on a light-colored background.

This applies to all books, including books for children. There are children with low vision. There are also countless adults with vision problems who read to children or who simply like children's books. (The large print in many nonfiction books written for children makes them especially attractive to adults who lack 20/20 vision.)

Some people reading this post may be thinking that technology provides the solution to unreadable text. Although technology is great, there is no substitute for being able to read a book directly. For example, if I'm riding a bus, I use one hand to hold onto the bus and the other hand to hold onto my book, and there are no hands left for holding a gadget that could read the book to me.

Thanks for reading this.

#books #publishing #accessibility #vision#LowVision

To #Blind and #LowVision Linux users:

Which #Linux or #BSD distributions are you able to install without assistance? Are there any that work better with screenreaders and other assistive technologies out of the box?

I'm trying to understand how much of the problem is specific to distributions, their installers or differences in windowing system such as Wayland breaking screenreaders vs X11.

#accessibility

To #Blind and #LowVision Linux users:

Which #Linux or #BSD distributions are you able to install without assistance? Are there any that work better with screenreaders and other assistive technologies out of the box?

I'm trying to understand how much of the problem is specific to distributions, their installers or differences in windowing system such as Wayland breaking screenreaders vs X11.

#accessibility

#FreeBSD provides the Ports Collection, a convenient way to install applications. Some ports allow users to configure options before building and installing. By default, this configuration is done through an interactive menu in the terminal.

To improve readability and #Accessibility especially for users with low vision or color blindness, it's important to offer simple and customizable color options. These features have recently been implemented and documented in the preview version of the FreeBSD Accessibility Handbook:
https://freebsd-accessibility-9d667f.gitlab.io/en/books/accessibility/colors/index.html#colors-ports

The next step is to extend these features to all terminal-based graphical components.

I'd love to hear from you:
Do you use any accessibility features in the terminal?
Which color-related assistive technologies make the biggest difference in your daily workflow?

Together, we can make FreeBSD more accessible for everyone. #ThePowerForEveryone #FreeBSD #Accessibility #OpenSource #LowVision #ColorBlindness #AssistiveTechnology #AccessibilityMatters

FreeBSD offers a wide range of accessibility features for users with low vision. Some of these features are built directly into the system, while others are available as installable packages, including:
Window scaling, Visual feedback to locate the mouse cursor, Highly legible fonts tailored for low vision, High-contrast themes, Magnification tools, and much more.

I'd love to hear from you: Do you use any accessibility features? Which assistive technologies for low vision make the biggest difference in your daily computing?

Together, we can make FreeBSD more accessible for everyone. #ThePowerForEveryone

#FreeBSD#Accessibility#LowVision#AssistiveTechnology#OpenSource#TechForGood#Inclusion#VisualAccessibility#Community#UNIX