It’s very quickly become apparent that I’m going to benefit from having access to hardcopy Braille when studying. This isn’t actually much of a surprise. I find having a copy of a text I’m studying really useful, and there’s something about being able to see it on paper that makes such a difference. Although I…
Relearning how to study
I went to my first day school today. At the Open University, tutorials take place online, and are generally held during the evening. However, rather than you needing to go to tutorials several evenings in a row, they’ll often run a Saturday day school where you can attend all the relevant tutorials in one day….
Access Picture Smart: AI image recognition in JAWS
I recently shared a post on LinkedIn and Facebook, listing some lesser-known features that are built in to my screen reader that I find very helpful when I’m working. I thought I’d take a deeper dive into the features I feel increase my productivity and help me get the most out of my technology. Whether…
University, interesting books, and the death of blogging
I’ve been back at university for almost two weeks now, and it still feels strange to write these words. For those who don’t know, I decided to get a second undergraduate degree, studying Classical Studies at the Open University. This means studying online rather than going to a university in person, and I’m also doing…
Breaking down instructions nonvisually with ADHD
I’ve been very open about the fact that I am both blind and have ADHD, and as a result I seem to be the go to person for non-visual ADHD strategies. I’ve been thinking of putting a post together for a long time where I share these strategies but the irony of having ADHD is…
Assistance on the Railway Fails Again
Once again, a disabled person has been left on a train. When I was scrolling social media earlier today I saw a post by Tanni Grey-Thompson, former Paralympian and Member of the House of Lords, stating that she had to crawl off a train yesterday. Tanni is a wheelchair user, who is forced to request…
A complicated loss
In December 2022, three months into my PhD, I dropped out. It was objectively the right decision, but that doesn’t mean that thinking about it isn’t painful. I had applied for my PhD at a time when life seemed if not simple, then like it was heading in the direction I wanted it to. I…
Where are the Latin Books?
I’ve been exploring learning Latin. It’s going to be something I learn as part of my degree, but I wanted to get a head start as I know already that I’m likely to face some accessibility challenges once I reach that module. It is also several years away, and I am eager to learn and…
More fun with tactile graphics
Since I wrote the first post on trying to create tactile images a couple of days ago, I haven’t stopped. It’s as though now I’ve started to be able to connect with the world in a way which I haven’t had access to before, I can’t stop. Yes, I’ve been able to touch tactile images…
Pursuing the unseen: my quest to create tactile images
I fairly recently acquired a tactile image printer, sometimes known as a swell paper machine. Essentially, you print or draw onto a specific type of paper, then run it through a machine which heats it up. Darker lines will then be raised, creating a tactile image. Blind people experience so much image poverty. That is,…