[blindlaw] Seeking Sighted Assistance for Reading Documents

[Rahul Bajaj]

Hi Everyone,

I hope this message finds you well. While I am able to read most
documents independently after converting them into an accessible
format, I have to rely on sighted assistance from time to time.
This is obviously the case when handwritten documents are involved,
but also when the quality of the converted documents is not so good as
to enable me to decipher some pieces of information such as dates of
events or the page numbers of the written submissions on which the
annexures I need can be found.
In this respect, I was wondering if any of you could comment on: (1)
the principles that you adopt to decide when you want to rely on a
sighted reader as opposed to using assistive technology; and (2) for
those of you who work in a law firm, have you formally asked the firm
to make someone available to you for this purpose, or does this work
on an ad hoc basis?
Further, is your sighted reader generally an intern, a secretary or
someone else?

Best,
Rahul