Further to my previous efforts to create tactile graphics, I’ve been messing about with creating them using my braille embosser. There are clear advantages to this over using a tactile image printer, mostly cost. A box of 1000 sheets of braille paper costs around £65, whereas a box of 100 sheets of swell paper for…
Category: Education
Adventures in producing Braille for university
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…
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…
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,…
The Politics of Braille
Braille, the tactile writing system used by blind people across the globe is a writing system which is easily identified as being linked with blind people and blindness. It may be the first thing, perhaps along with guide dogs, that people think of when asked what they associate with blindness. Yet the adoption of Braille…
Teachers Change Lives
I’m pretty critical of the education system. I’m pretty critical about everything actually, I’m just that kind of person. Despite this, I look back at my experiences in school very fondly. I am able to do this because I was fortunate enough to have so many wonderful teachers who shaped my life in different ways….