[NFB-Blind-Crafters] Notes from class on using Ravelry with a Windows screen reader

[Dixie]

Hi Tracy,

 

Nicely done notes on Ravelry.

 

I am not able to attend on Tuesday evenings as that is when we host a Bible
study at our house.

 

I do though have something to add.

 

on Face Book there are groups to join in which you can get links to free
patterns on Ravelry.

 

I am a member of two of these groups that are just for knitting patterns,
but there are also crochet, and I would imagine loom knitting face book
groups as well.  Each day several patterns are posted to the Face Book
group.  All of which are free patterns on Ravelry, or there is a link on
Ravelry to find the pattern out there on the web.  Some are always free, and
others are free for a specific time period, then become paid patterns after
the stated time.  Many designers will post their patterns free for a day, or
a week or so to drum up interest in the pattern, then switch it to a paid
pattern once it has piqued people's interest.  Often times the pattern has a
price but there is a coupon code to get these limited time free offers.

What I do is read the posts on Face Book, and when I find a pattern of
interest, I click on that one to open the post.  In the post there is a link
which takes me directly into the Ravelry website for that pattern.  I read
the information about the pattern on the pattern page.  Click on buy it now.
Then hit F for form fields a couple of times and it take me to the coupon
code field.  I enter the special coupon code, then hit enter.  I can then
see that the price of the pattern has changed.  Sometimes even though it
says it is $0 I still need to click on PayPal to checkout, but it then
checks out without any cost.

Once the pattern is saved to my library, it is mine to keep even though the
free offer is a limited time offer.

 

It is fun, kind of like a treasure hunt,  collecting the patterns while they
are offered free, then going back and looking at the pattern at a later time
to see what I have gotten.

 

 

Dixie

@-> + <-@

 

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters <nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione via NFB-Blind-Crafters
Sent: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 9:02 AM
To: 'List for Blind Crafters and Artists' <nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org>
Cc: carcione at access.net
Subject: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] Notes from class on using Ravelry with a
Windows screen reader

 

Here are my notes on using ravelry.com with a Windows screen reader.  I'm
pasting them below my signature, and attaching them in a file for easy
saving. 

Thanks to everyone who came, and to Maryann and ReNae for their help.

Tracy

 

Using ravelry.com with a Windows screen reader

You need an account to get patterns, unless they are written on a page.
Creating an account is free and easy, and they don't send spam.

 

There is a blog on the home page, which lists patterns that may be seasonal
or whatever the writer thinks is interesting.  There is also a list of
trending patterns, some events, tips, and other stuff.

I can use h to jump to headers and see what's happening, if I feel like it.
The image descriptions on the homepage are good, but other places not so
much.

 

The most useful thing on the homepage for me is Search.

I usually hit control-home to be sure I'm at the top of the page, then f for
forms.  The first form field is a combo box that defaults to patterns, which
is what I want.  The other choices are people, projects, and yarn.  It's one
of those pesky combo boxes where, every time I arrow down to a choice, it
automatically picks it and throws me out back to the top of the page.  Using
control-arrow in the combo box solves that problem, but, as patterns is the
first choice, I don't really use the combo box.

There is also an Advanced Search on the homepage, which will let me browse
by some categories, like yarn weight, but I find the ordinary search more
useful, if I word it right.

 

The other day, I wanted to look for patterns using a cable pattern called
"tree of life", which is basically a series of V's with a trunk running down
the middle.  It's an Irish motif, and prettier than my description.

So, in the search field, I first type the craft I want, knit.  You could put
loom knit or crochet instead.  There might even be other choices.

Next, I put in the name of the pattern I want, tree of life, and last I put
written, since I'm only interested in written patterns.

Now the search field says:

knit tree of life written

and I hit enter.

If, instead, I have a favorite designer, I could put that person's name in
the search, along with anything else I wanted, sweater, for example, and
search for their patterns.

 

If I get 0 or few results, I think of another way to say what I want.

For example, a while back I wanted a dishcloth pattern with a buffalo on it.
I tried "knit dishcloth buffalo" and "knit cloth bison", but the best search
I thought of was "knit buffalo cloth written", which got me a few results,
and I found one I wanted.

If someone has told you a pattern name, put that in.  The more you can put
in, the better, but sometimes your search fails because you spell something
differently than the author did or put in too much.

For instance, when I put in "knit tree of life written English", I got
nothing.

 

Now I'm ready to look at my results.  They are at heading 1, so I can hit h
or 1 and jump right to them. 

If I arrow down, it tells me I have 2 pages of results, and I'm on page 1.

Each result is in a list, so I hit l to jump to the next list if I'm not
interested in where I am.  Jaws says "list of 3 items", and I arrow down
once to see the name of the pattern. The list also has the author's name, in
case I want to see their other patterns. 

The first list link is "tree of life hat".  Let's see what that is.  Hit
enter on the link.

 

The top of the page has some navigation and copyright stuff. 

The info I want starts at heading 2, so I can hit h or 2 to jump to it, then
arrow down.

It tells me the yarn and gauge, needle, garment sizes, English language,
that it's colorwork, and that it has both charted and written elements.

When I see charted and written, I get suspicious.  Some patterns have
written instructions for the basics and charts for the interesting bits, so
I can't use them.  Others have written instructions for everything, and
charts for people who prefer to look at a chart.  Reading the author's notes
can make it clear, but not always.  There is a link to contact the author
and ask questions.  There is also a link to any errors found in the pattern.


I see this hat has colorwork and duplicate stitch, neither of which is my
thing, so I'm using alt-left-arrow to go back to my results.

 

Some authors have comprehensive, clear notes, and others don't.  Some give
their patterns descriptive names, and others don't.  If I find a pattern
that's interesting and free, I'll probably get it and figure out more about
it.  If it's not free and I can't tell much about it, but it sounds
interesting, I'll look for someone who can describe it to me, either a
friend or AIRA.  I know there are pictures on the results page, because
people look at them for me, but Jaws doesn't see them at all.

 

When I go back to results page, I'm back at the top.  I can hit h to go back
to the results header, then v for visited links, or I can use control-f to
open Jaws find and put in a name to jump to a place to resume browsing
patterns.

 

If I find a pattern I want, I can use Jaws to search for "available". If it
finds it, it will say it's free or it costs something.  If it doesn't find
it, I can arrow around and try to find a way to get it.  Some say "out of
print" and don't seem to have any way to get them.  Some say "out of print",
but send me to another website, like a yarn company or Etsy. 

If it's a Ravelry download, there will be a link to get the pattern, which
will open a new page with a download link.  I used Jaws find to search for
"PDF", which jumps right to the right place.  

Or I could use Jaws to search for download.  There are several occurences.
I use F3 to search for the next one until I find "download PDF", where I hit
enter.  It works similarly to buy a pattern that's on Ravelry.

Once I've got the PDF, I open it and save it as text, if at all possible.  A
text file opens faster than a PDF; I can edit it if I want, and I can put it
in my NLS braille eReader to work on.

ReNae copies the text file to her Victor Stream text files, and listens to
it there.

 

As you can tell, using Ravelry isn't totally easy, but you can find
interesting patterns you wouldn't find otherwise.

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