Sometimes life happens. It can be pretty frustrating when it does, especially when it interferes with our plans.
In February of 2013, I lost just enough central vision that I could hardly read regular print anymore–including most of the stuff on my phone and computer. I wasn’t surprised because I have non age-related macular degeneration. I can’t say expecting a likely change didn’t make it easier, though.
Of all the activities I do for Simply Great Lives, blogging has been the most challenging. I have not brought about about a satisfactory solution where I can easily blog without relying on my failing vision or on the kindness of a family member. That’d usually be Nathan, my 14-year old who’d surely rather be doing something else.
Here are some of the ways I’ve posted 3 blogs every other week:would
- Create the content and post it using John’s old Linux notebook computer. I could never get the screen reader to behave like I wanted it to, so this was a highly visual exercise.
- Create the content on my iPhone using a combination of voice recognition and the voiceover keyboard. Then I would copy and paste it into the mobile WordPress app.
- Write the content on a Braille notetaker device that had been loaned to me (which I believe was no less than a miracle). Unfortunately, when I would go online to post the blog, the JavaScript would crash the machine. And I couldn’t copy and pasted to email it to Nathan because the copy and paste feature wasn’t working properly. So I could save it as a Microsoft Word document onto a USB drive and handed to Nathan to post it for me.
I’m not writing this blog today to complain. In fact, I’m really super excited. Tomorrow I will be getting a new Braille notetaker that’s robust enough to go online to post my blog.
I know there will be a considerable learning curve as I learn how to use the new device. I chose a Braille style input rather than the normal QWERTY keyboard to force myself to get really good at Braille.
I am highly motivated to learn to use the machine. And the timing is perfect because we’re just almost done with our book. So, I believe I will be posting blogs with grace and ease within just a few weeks. Hooray!
