[nabs-l] Grade deductions for visual mistakes

Wed Nov 19 07:17:27 UTC 2014

Hi Kaley,

 I understand how frustrating it is to make a paper visually appealing.
 However, if you want to be held to the same standard as your sighted
 peers, I think there are a lot of great ways you can learn to maximize
 the accessible tools available and use a reader to assist you with
 visual nuances that you may not be able to do accessibly. If you are
 making mistakes with punctuation, perhaps you can set your screen
 reader to read all punctuation. This way, you would hear when there
 are two periods.

 I had some great teachers who were often understanding if I made a
 mistake once in a while that was clearly do to inaccessible
 formatting, and luckily, they gave me constructive feedback. But, I
 think it is essential to get in the habit of formatting documents the
 best you can, because in some cases such as applying for jobs, even if
 you attend a networking event with your resume, writing, aka your
 resume, an email, or a cover letter will be the only impression you
 get to make. I think it is very reasonable for teachers to count off
 even for little mistakes like that, because they are prepare you to
 write professionally.

 If I am completing an assignment worth a lot of my grade or reputation
 like a conference paper, I always vet it through a reader. If I am
 collaborating, often I will offer to do something extra , or something
 that would make it fair for the sighted person to do some of the more
 complex formatting. For example, when doing group work, I try to be
 proactive ahead of the group and create a rough PowerPoint with a lot
 of great content. So then they are just editing content and then it
 isn't such a big deal to ask them to choose a scheme that looks nice
 or to insert appropriate photos.

 If an assignment isn't worth a lot, or if I am just turning in
 something for my advisor to look over, I wil format it to the best of
 my ability but not worry about vetting it through a reader. My
 professors and collaborators are often fine with this, because I do
 turn in documents that are grammatically correct. Often, my mistakes
 come with unpredictable Microsoft formatting.

 One thing I have learned is that if I am editing something that
 someone has already assisted me with such as my resume, and I need to
 add a new heading for example, I will copy and paste an existing
 heading. I will then write just next to the heading and delete the
 original characters. Often, my text takes on the formatting
 characteristics of the original text. So try to do that if you can
 remember. I have also learned to ask questions. If I am working with
 someone who is doing formatting as a part of their contribution, I ask
 them how the document looks and why they made the choices they did.
 Over time, I have remembered some things that look good and now
 incorporate them into my formattting.

 I think it takes a while for all of us to learn how to format papers
 to the best of our ability nonvisually and we learn when we need to
 ask a reader for help. However, if you are concerned about formatting
 mistakes affecting your grade, be proactive. Ask to meet with your
 teacher to go over the most common mistakes you make, and the two of
 you can brainstorm to come up with ways you can minimize them in the
 future. I think that if you are proactive, and if you do make an
 effort to turn in papers that look appropriate according to the
 assignment, if you make small mistakes, your teachers will be much
 more forgiving and might use them as opportunities to educate you
 rather than dock points.

 Even when you get really good at formatting, things happen. For
 example, one time, I turned in a blank paper because I didn't realize
 my printer cartridge was empty. Also, to minimize some of the
 automatic formatting in word, I will select all and left align and
 make sure it is the right font, size and style such as regular. I then
 go back and change all of the things that would be different such as
 centering headings and bolding important words. I tend to forget if I
 do these things in process, so I save it all for the eend. Other
 people may have other ideas,, but those are a couple of the strategies
 I use.

 Cindy

On 11/18/14, Helga Schreiber via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Kaley. I think regarding this issue that you are having, I think you
> should talk to your professor about it since it is not your fault that you
> are making this visual mistakes. In fact, I think that some of you guys here
> will agre with me in this, I know that we really don't want to rely in
> sighted assistance when it comes to help us on the format of our papers in
> doing the formatting of them, but I think we should in some situations. In
> particular for me, when I do or write some kind of paper, I do all the
> formatting of it, but I usually ask one of my family members if they can
> help me check if I have the right formatting and if it looks like the
> Professor wants it. However, if they can't help me with that, I usually go
> to my writing center and ask a tutor if they can help me with the formatting
> of my paper. So have you tried to ask one of your sighted friends to help
> you with the formatting of your paper, or go to the writing center and ask
> one of the tutors to help you with the formatting before you turn it in to
> the Professor? I'm just wondering. Hope this help! Hope to hear from you
> soon. Thanks and God bless! :)
>
> Helga Schreiber
>
> Fundraiser Coordinator for Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Delta Iota chapter.
> Member of National Federation of the Blind and Florida Association of Blind
> Students.
> Member of the International Networkers Team (INT).
> Independent Entrepreneur of the Company 4Life Research.
> Phone:  (561) 706-5950
> Email: helga.schreiber26 at gmail.com
> Skype: helga.schreiber26
> 4Life Website: http://helgaschreiber.my4life.com/1/default.aspx
> INT Website: http://int4life.com/
>
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
> believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Nov 19, 2014, at 1:24 AM, kcj21 via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello all,
>>      When writing a paper, I have Zoomtext Appreader read my paper aloud
>> and I use Spell Check. However, occasionally, there are small formatting
>> mistakes that I don't notice. Unfortunately, I usually get a slight grade
>> reduction for these visual mistakes. Once, I got points off because I had
>> two periods and recently, I lost a few points because my paragraph wasn't
>> indented, but it was definitely separated from the previous paragraph.
>> What do you guys do in these circumstances. Should I explain these visual
>> mistakes to my professor?
>>
>> Best,
>> Kaley
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-- 
Cindy Bennett
1st Year Ph.D. Student, University of Washington
Human Centered Design and Engineering

Treasurer of the Greater Seattle Chapter and of the National
Federation of the Blind of Washington
Affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind

clb5590 at gmail.com