Setting SMART Goals

Setting a goal is a great way to get started working on something you would like to achieve. Whether its getting a job, completing a degree, losing weight, or whatever, establishing a goal will provide a solid foundation for getting it done! Click Here for information on establishing a SMART goal and give it a try. After going through the information click comment below and let me know what you think.

Touchscreen: A Good Choice!

The touchscreen interface (available on smartphones and tablets for many years) is now available on many new computers. This interface offers the user more flexibility through direct contact and interaction with what is on the screen. No more dependence on keystrokes and mouse clicks. This cutting edge innovation in interface technology is especially profound for users with nonstandard eyesight (blindness or low vision) for several reasons. First of all, for people with low vision using the mouse pointer can be time consuming and a source of general frustration even with screen magnification software. The steps involved in completing simple tasks are literally cut in half. For example, using a mouse to select an icon on the desktop requires the following steps -

1. Finding the desired object.
2. Finding the mouse pointer.
3. Placing the pointer on the object
4. Clicking the mouse while keeping the pointer in place.

Using a touch screen, selecting an icon on the desktop only requires half of the steps -

1. Finding the desired object
2. Touching the object with a finger.

 Less steps will result in greater efficiency, accuracy, and satisfaction especially for the user with usable, but nonstandard eyesight. Secondly, for the user who is totally blind, relying completely on a rather detailed keyboard command structure to navigate the the screen is no longer the only option. Using a touchscreen with a screen reader, the user who is blind can search the screen using a grid pattern or simply swipe directionally on the screen to identify and select the desired object. Physically touching the screen also provides the user who is totally blind a much quicker orientation to the actual layout of various screens enabling them to identify similarities and differences for future reference.

 Next, the gestures used for touchscreen computing are very similar to those used on smartphones and other mobile devices already being used by many people with nonstandard eyesight. The transfer from hand held device to computer is a simple matter of logistics. Learning a series of gestures and flexible combinations of gestures is much more intuitive than memorizing a bunch of route keystrokes that may or may not work in a given situation.

 Finally, the touchscreen does not conflict with typical keyboard or mouse use; it simply provides the user another option for interacting with the computer and ultimately achieving task completion independently. This is especially true in the case of a totally blind user. As anyone who has used a screen reader with the keyboard seriously will likely attest, many situations arise when a keystroke will not address a specific object or event on the screen. Using a touchscreen, the user has the option to simply locate the object in question using gestures on the screen and touch the object to have it identified by the screen reader.

 In summary the touchscreen interface incorporates the sense of touch into everyday device use for everyone. This feature is now available on many desktop and laptop computers. This is an extremely positive development for users with nonstandard eyesight. If you have nonstandard eyesight make sure your next computer has a touchscreen. You’ll be glad you did!

Victor Reader Stream

                Hello Class. My name is Chuck and today I would like to speak, or in this case, type, about a piece of special tech that I can honestly say has changed my life: the Victor Reader Stream, made by Humanware.

It is more than an Ipod for the blind, as I have heard it described, it can allow you to read text files, (it has a text to speech engine)  (rtf, txt, html, and with an upgrade, pdf as well) listen to music, read library books, either web Braille or audio books, read books using audable.com or bookshare books, and record college lectures or short notes. I’ve even used it to record radio stations… although that is tricky… I tried to record a church service once, it didn’t work though… Anyway, it is simple to operate. It uses a telephone style keyboard to input commands, and sd cards for memory. This means that it can have almost unlimited memory depending of course on how many sd cards that you have. You may also use the bookmark feature to mark places that you wish to return to later in any of the files on the sd card, whether they be book or note. You may have 2000 bookmarks in the Stream before the internal database starts overwriting the oldest bookmarks. You may also upgrade the stream via website when another version of the stream comes out for free.

The only downside to the stream is the fact that it costs $400 a unit and as far as books in special formats go, such as bookshare, audable,  books from the library of congress, either audio or web Braille, or books from Rfbd, (Recording For The Blind And Dyslexic later called Learning Ally)  (for those of you considering college) special “keys” or files that enable books in specialized formats, to be played on the Stream are needed. If you wish to obtain such keys, you have to jump through a few hoops to do so. Once done, however, it is only a matter of downloading the material from the chosen provider, once to the computer, unzipping said material, and then downloading the unzipped material from the computer to the proper folder on the sd card. That is another downside to the Stream. If one downloads the wrong filetype to the wrong folder, the said filetype won’t play. Other than that, the Stream is simple to operate. It comes with a wealth of instruction in various formats including it’s own internal user guide.

As I have said at the beginning of this article, the Stream has changed my life. Thanks to it’s Portability, (it is about the size of a deck of cards) it can be carried anywhere. Also, the average battery life of the Stream on a single charge is 15 hours. The only exception is if the playing speed is increased. As I said, the Stream has changed my life. I highly encourage the totally blind to get one if possible. Thank you for your time and attention.

Hi

Im so happy to be a part of this class.

Ride the Wave!!!

Please add your comments and knowledge to this post. SS

Look for solutions in the mainstream first.

Products and services that are readily available and appealing to the general public will be plentiful, easily maintained, and usually much cheaper. What do you think?

The IPad: Ready, Willing, and Able

The IPad is Apple's latest contribution as it continues to lead the way to a very different way of how we manipulate information, work and entertain ourselves. Like most things Apple produces the IPad is accessible right out of the box.

Click on the work IPad in the paragraph above to go check it out! Click Here and read about the accessibility features of the IPad.

Click the comment link below and comment on your first impressions of the IPad. Tell me specifically what you think this means for the Blind. Do you think this will effect other products for the blind.

Its a Good Time to be Vision Impaired

I realize the title of this post may sound a little crazy to some but let me explain. Although being vision impaired is never desirable today's digital technologies give those of us who are vision impaired the best opportunity we have ever had to be able to compete with our sighted peers. I use the term "compete" in the sense of equal opportunities to go to school, gain and maintain employment, and generally participate in mainstream society. I have posted a new blog called Technology Round-up, a list of links and information regarding technology for people who are blind or vision impaired.

Click Here to visit technology Roundup. After you have viewed the blog come back to this post and leave me a comment about the Technology Round-up blog. Let me know if you found the information useful and any information you think I should include that you did not see on the blog.

Technology and How We Live

Technology has been a big part of the human experience from the very beginning. Today with the following two questions i would like to start a discussion about technology.

1. What is technology?

2. How has technology impacted you in your life?

To respond to these questions click comment below and type your response. Then click the Post Comment button in the bottom left corner.
You will have to select Google Account from the drop down box.
You will then be prompted to enter your user name, pass work, and you will have to type the security word.
If you have any trouble with this let me know.