[stylist] Pet PVS- spelling and grammar errors and nonvisual tools

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Yes, we all make errors, and even the best writer will accidentally use
a their when they mean there or a too when they mean to, but, and this
is just my experience, of those I know using vision over screenreading
programs, only a handful ever have communications free of spelling
errors, and this includes some professional cases such as websites. Like
Donna, having once been a "partial," I know how easy it can be to think
you know what you wrote and see but are wrong in the end. For me
personally, since no longer being either fully sighted or a partial,
it's easier to pick up on spelling errors when using screenreaders. And
if you use Braille, you do pick up on those pesky homonyms, grin. If you
have a vision loss that makes reading print difficult, tedious and not
ensuring accuracy, and you are a writer or professional, it behooves you
to learn screenreading programs and Braille in order to cover yourself
in terms of writing errors. Yes, we all make mistakes or forget to fix
errors, but that's a given and usually do to a lack of knowledge or just
not taking time. If the errors are because your vision is not picking up
on these things, that's an entirely different issue, and one that can be
remedied by using screenreading programs and Braille.. The partials I
know, myself included, who adapted to using the nonvisual tools as well,
attest to the benefit of using them, and how it improved their written
communication skills.

That all being said, I also know people who make plenty of errors even
when using the nonvisual tools. Homonyms will not be easily picked up on
without Braille since they sound correct even if the wrong usage, but
when a word is completely misspelled, a screenreader will make it
obvious since it will not sound right, and in my opinion, it's an
example of not double checking things and speeding through.

Either way, people make mistakes- that's a fact. But when the problem is
in large part due to vision loss, many find using nonvisual tools
greatly improves their written communication skills- this is also a
fact.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 7
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:11:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: loristay at aol.com
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [stylist] Pet PVS
Message-ID: <8CED8F3ADBA135A-1E40-123E7 at webmail-m054.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

It doesn't seem to matter whether one is sighted or blind.  So many
words sound alike and are spelled differently that it's easy to make a
mistake.  If one is just hearing it, the misspellings may not be noted.
Lori