[stylist] An Introduction and newly blind questions
Bridgit Pollpeter
bpollpeter at hotmail.com
Tue Jul 16 17:27:45 UTC 2013
April,
Welcome.
I was fully sighted until the age of 22, so I understand what you mean
about a person who learned visually and is now blind. I'm going to list
a bunch of options for consideration. These are merely suggestions you
can choose among, if you wish, and not a list of things I think you must
do.
Have you received any rehab training now that you've experienced
significant vision loss? Either at home or by attending a training
facility? Anyone who is legally blind, no matter the level of blindness,
will benefit from receiving training in the nonvisual tools that help
make us efficient in whatever we choose to do. You can use both
nonvisual and sighted methods, if this works. Those of us using only
nonvisual tools can accomplish just as much, just efficiently in most
cases, too with the ability to use our vision. Once you learn tools like
screenreaders and other nonvisual technology, Braille, cane travel and
other tools and methods, if able to use some sight, you can decide what
works best, and how to incorporate both into your life. My husband has
useable vision still, but he has found that using nonvisual tools like
JAWS and Braille and a cane are more efficient than magnification tools
and his sight alone. He does use magnification when it works but prefers
the nonvisual tools. He's employed full-time along with being a grad
student not to mention being a daddy, smile.
In conjunction with the above, are you working with a local vocational
rehab agency for the blind at all? Some agencies are way better than
others, but they should be able to purchase certain items for you such
as JAWS or magnification programs along with training you on them and
installing them on your devices. They can also help answer these
questions.
Firefox, I've found, doesn't always work with certain adaptive programs
like JAWS. Being a piece of computer software, a lot of variables go
into this equation. How old is your computer? What version of JAWS are
you running? What operating system do you use? What version of Microsoft
do you use? All this can play a part in making a screenreader seem
incompatible and/or slow. It may be the screenreader, it may not. My
knowledge of computers and how they work is limited, so someone else may
have more to say, but I do know that how a program runs in conjunction
with a computer and other programs is all dependent upon what versions
you have and/or whether or not certain devices/programs are compatible
with a given piece of software. And try using Internet Explorer, if
possible. See if this makes a difference.
Also, have you completely uninstalled software and reinstalled?
Sometimes this works.
Here's the good news:
After losing my sight at 22 due to an illness, I attended a training
facility and since then, went back to university, graduating with honors
with a BFA in creative writing, married, had a baby, run a house, edit a
magazine and write. With nonvisual tools, I haven't found most of this
to be anymore difficult or tedious than when I did these things sighted.
I'm not tooting my own horn, as I'm sure a couple will think, I'm trying
to demonstrate that I've gone on to do very normal things after losing
sight, and have done most pretty successfully in terms of my own
abilities and interests. Having been a sighted person and now totally
blind, I've been in both worlds and know the issues, concerns and
struggles you state. Not everything came easy, and some things I do
better and some not so great, but this is the case in life, blind or
sighted.
Specific to writing, along with keeping up in classes while at
university, which was heavy on the reading and writing, I use JAWS to
edit Slate & Style, the NFB Writers' division's magazine as well as to
do my own writing. I wrote a blog for a local website for a couple of
years, though I've moved on from this venture, and I do public relations
writing for various entities. I can write, format, edit and do most
things available in MS Word with JAWS. I use Braille, though to be
honest, I read Braille very slowly, so I rely mostly on JAWS when
writing and editing. In most cases, I can do this stuff just as quickly
as I did sighted, if not quicker in some cases.
So I write all this in an attempt to give you some hope. The road
doesn't stop after blindness, and as many will attest here, life can be
just as full, active and joyful when blind. Yes, there will be times
when a task may take a little longer, and some tools may require more
involvement than doing it sighted, but in my experience, these seem to
be the exceptions rather than the rules. I've worked, taken care of
children, participated in interests and activities both sighted and
blind, and I've found little that takes more time now using nonvisual
tools and methods. A concept I've learned is that doing things
nonvisually isn't necessarily inferior or less efficient than doing it
with sight; different doesn't always equate to being better or worse,
it's just different.
There is a learning curve. Things won't happen over-night, but when
working hard and using something consistently, you will find it grows
easier and more comfortable. You may not do something as well as
another, but as I said, this is the case for all humans. It can be done
though. Most of us here write with some kind of adaptive tools and
technology. We've gotten past the hurdle and know it's possible.
So sorry if I gave you more than you asked for. I hope I've been of some
help, and you can always contact me off-list at bpollpeter at hotmail.com
Bridgit
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of April
Brown
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2013 8:14 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] An Introduction and newly blind questions
Hello,
I am a writer who has been writing for several years. I'm no
longer waiting to be chosen by agents after querying over 60 in the last
years for the start of an unexpected series. I intend to self publish
the series, I am thinking one every six months (4 of six books are
mostly complete and three are in edits). The first will be published
mid December, likely through Smashwords.
I am also newly legally blind. I have had three massive
unexplained bouts of vision loss since November. This last one, this
last weekend has left grey and light blue items with a lavender tint.
Fonts that were easy to read a month ago now look spidery.
I need help choosing the best options as a blind writer.
I've tried Dragon. It offered to uninstall Windows for me. After
up to 9 hours of training, I can get it to work at about 20% accuracy
for about an hour at a time. By third use, it crashes my computer and I
have to spend a day reformatting it. I've even tried it on three
different computers.
For a screen reader, I have tried NVDA. I can get it to read one
paragraph at a time in Word or Outlook. It crashes Firefox.
My vision is so foggy many days, I can barely see the computer
screen, and editing is a nightmare.
What suggestions can you offer for a writer who learns visually,
and can no longer see enough to work easily?
April Brown
Writing dramatic adventure novels uncovering the myths we hide behind.
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
stylist-request at nfbnet.org
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2013 8:00 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: stylist Digest, Vol 111, Issue 10
Send stylist mailing list submissions to
stylist at nfbnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
stylist-request at nfbnet.org
You can reach the person managing the list at
stylist-owner at nfbnet.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of stylist digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Member looking for a Collaborative Writing Partner
(Robert Leslie Newman)
2. moving (Eve Sanchez)
3. Re: moving (Robert Leslie Newman)
4. Re: Introducing Myself and Blogging with JAWS (Homme, James)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 15:46:40 -0500
From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
To: "writers nfb" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [stylist] Member looking for a Collaborative Writing Partner
Message-ID: <00e801ce80d3$414f8bb0$c3eea310$@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dear you all,
RE: Member is looking for a writing partner:
Robert, Can you put out a request for someone to collaborate on a play
I'm writing. It doesn't have to be someone from New Jersey as we can
talk via phone and use e mail. They can contact me by phone 908-725-9044
or by e mail classemt at aol.com. in subject line writers division. thank
you. Angela Perone
Robert Leslie Newman
Personal Website-
Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment
http//www.thoughtprovoker.info
NFB Writers' Division, president
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net
Chair of the NFB Communications Committee
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 21:25:59 -0700
From: Eve Sanchez <3rdeyeonly at gmail.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [stylist] moving
Message-ID:
<CACdbYKWhowkYxqP+-sc96mQaSX+pjroJ7=uxZr_dRMG5nWSS3A at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Robert and all, I am moving tomorrow. I will not be online for a bit so
if anyone needs to get a holdf me; my number is (208) 339-2430. I do not
know my address yet, or I should say, I do not remember it. I will let
you all know when I am able and will call you, Robert, so that you
hopefully do not send anything out to this Cottonwood address. Hope I
notified in time, but finally got word today. Hope everybody stays well.
Blessed Be. Eve
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 06:07:49 -0500
From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] moving
Message-ID: <013801ce814b$8b6140e0$a223c2a0$@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Okay Eve ---working on the adult winners today. I'll wait for your next
message from your new address.
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eve
Sanchez
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2013 11:26 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] moving
Robert and all, I am moving tomorrow. I will not be online for a bit so
if anyone needs to get a holdf me; my number is (208) 339-2430. I do not
know my address yet, or I should say, I do not remember it. I will let
you all know when I am able and will call you, Robert, so that you
hopefully do not send anything out to this Cottonwood address. Hope I
notified in time, but finally got word today. Hope everybody stays well.
Blessed Be. Eve
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/newmanrl%40cox.net
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 11:29:07 +0000
From: "Homme, James" <james.homme at highmark.com>
To: "stylist at nfbnet.org" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Introducing Myself and Blogging with JAWS
Message-ID:
<BF85B26B8ED7B647ACAD9C68E89DA5544115E7B3 at HMBREXMP03.highmark.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
Hi Henry,
I know of a blind blogger who uses a plug in for WordPress called
MarkDown. MarkDown is a sort of textual formatting scheme that allows
you to use symbols in your text. The plug in reads your blog posts as
someone reads your site and when it sees the formatting marks, turns
them into HTML. You write the text and put the formatting marks in it.
The plug in stores your text in the WordPress database with your
MarkDown formatting in it.
Here is the page that talks about all of this.
http://www.vocalbranding.com.au/these-are-a-few-of-my-favourite-themes-a
nd-a
ccessible-wordpress-plugins/
Here is the page written by the maintainer of the MarkDown formatting
language. http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/.
Speaking of HTML, I feel that if you want to use HTML, that you need to
turn off the normal editor WordPress uses, so that you can read the HTML
mark-up. Mark-up is another term for formatting.
As for learning HTML, if you want to do that, and you use a blogging
platform such as Blogger and WordPress, you can get away with starting
with a small subset of HTML. MarkDown, though, would probably be a good
way to go because it covers most of what you would use as a writer, in
my humble opinion.
I'm starting to play around with WordPress myself. I'd be glad to share
what I learn with anyone who wants to talk about it on this list. And
while my coffee is flowing through my veins, if anyone wants to have a
look at the site I'm using to play with WordPress, and please feel free
to send me material privately, visit http://www.popciclejokes.com/. Note
that the site address is misspelled. That joke is on me, because I can't
change the domain name unless I want to buy a new one, which I don't.
<grin>.
Thanks.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
stylist-request at nfbnet.org
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 8:00 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: stylist Digest, Vol 111, Issue 8
Send stylist mailing list submissions to
stylist at nfbnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
stylist-request at nfbnet.org
You can reach the person managing the list at
stylist-owner at nfbnet.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of stylist digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. also new on the list (Sophie Trist)
2. Re: also new on the list (Vejas)
3. Re: also new on the list (Bridgit Pollpeter)
4. introducing myself, and blogging with JAWS (Henry Macphillamy)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:41:04 -0500
From: Sophie Trist <sweetpeareader at gmail.com>
To: Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [stylist] also new on the list
Message-ID: <51ded211.837f310a.30db.768a at mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed
Hey! My name is Sophie Trist, and I'm also new to the list and to the
writers' division. I'm sixteen years old, and I've loved to write ever
since I was a little kid. I love anykind of writing, but my passion is
fantasy. Right now, I'm working on getting my first book published. I'm
still in the early stages, but it's coming along! I look forward to
getting to know all of you!
Yours sincerely,
Sophie
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:24:39 -0700
From: Vejas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
To: Writer's Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] also new on the list
Message-ID: <51dedc82.aabc340a.18df.ffffca62 at mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed
Hi Sophie,
My name is Vejas, and I'm also 16. Actually, I remember you from
Braille challenge and the NABS list. Also, quite a while back I saw
your review for the book Louisiana's Song in Stone Soup. We share
writing and have discussions about various things related to writing. I
can't really tell you what I'm working on, because I'm kind of having
writer's block. Vejas
----- Original Message -----
From: Sophie Trist <sweetpeareader at gmail.com
To: Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:41:04 -0500
Subject: [stylist] also new on the list
Hey! My name is Sophie Trist, and I'm also new to the list and to the
writers' division. I'm sixteen years old, and I've loved to write ever
since I was a little kid. I love anykind of writing, but my passion is
fantasy. Right now, I'm working on getting my first book published.
I'm still in the early stages, but it's coming along! I look forward to
getting to know all of you!
Yours sincerely,
Sophie
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/alpineimagin
ation%40gmail.com
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 16:13:44 -0500
From: Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] also new on the list
Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP302B2D3B1CAFC1C029F6306C47B0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Welcome Sophie. Great, another fantasy lover! I admire your ambition.
I'm 32 with a degree in creative writing, and I'm finally working on a
novel. I've written short stories, nothing longer than 30 pages, and
lots of personal essays, but this will be my first attempt at a novel,
at least a disciplined attempt.
Look forward to seeing you on the list. Would love to read something of
yours.
Bridgit
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sophie
Trist
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 10:41 AM
To: Stylist
Subject: [stylist] also new on the list
Hey! My name is Sophie Trist, and I'm also new to the list and to the
writers' division. I'm sixteen years old, and I've loved to write ever
since I was a little kid. I love anykind of writing, but my passion is
fantasy. Right now, I'm working on getting my first book published. I'm
still in the early stages, but it's coming along! I look forward to
getting to know all of you!
Yours sincerely,
Sophie
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40hotmai
l.com
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 21:15:35 +1000
From: Henry Macphillamy <henry.macphillamy at gmail.com>
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] introducing myself, and blogging with JAWS
Message-ID:
<CAD51g5UUQT6nXeamR8CHUjndZ5kR5U8W340S-pN6iVE2-XtOGA at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hi all,
My name is Henry, and I'm a Braille and JAWS user from Australia. I was
googling for resources on blind writers, and this list was one of the
first hits that popped up. I've been writing a blog at:
http://www.macphillamysmusings.wordpress.com
I know absolutely nothing about editing html, and have been writing my
entries on my Braille Sense, or with Microsoft Word, and then copying
and pasting when I think they're publishable. I'm wondering if there are
any bloggers out there who use JAWS, and if so, how on earth do you do
it? which blogging sites are most accessible? and how do you deal with
the presentation side of things... bulleted lists, embedding links, etc
etc. any tips, advice and or other resources would be very much
appreciated. I would really like to make my entries more professional
looking, as well as embed links to other posts, articles and such. If
you want to contact me off list, my email is:
henry.macphillamy at gmail.com Cheers, Henry
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
_______________________________________________
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
------------------------------
End of stylist Digest, Vol 111, Issue 8
***************************************
________________________________
This e-mail and any attachments to it are confidential and are intended
solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender
immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient,
you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this e-mail without
the author's prior permission. The views expressed in this e-mail
message do not necessarily represent the views of Highmark, its
diversified business, or affiliates.
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
_______________________________________________
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
------------------------------
End of stylist Digest, Vol 111, Issue 10
****************************************
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40hotmai
l.com
More information about the Stylist
mailing list