[stylist] Thea, New Kid

Wed Mar 12 03:16:27 UTC 2014

Thea,
Regarding Rapsidy ... That's how lots of stuff happens. It's a shame it has
to come down to that, but it does. When I was 16, I sent a letter (as in a
real snail letter) to the Library of Congress asking for a list of books
about Retinitis Pigmentosa. The librarian wrote back that she was so sorry
that all she could find were a couple of academic articles from medical
journals, which she copied and sent to me. It wasn't until 1970, when a
well-off family haed a kid with it that they even started studying it.

I don't know about the WP 2014 theme. I'm using 2010, which is fairly
accessible. I have it set up to have what they call a "static front page" so
it looks like a regular website. It still has a blog though.

As for your article being moved to a blog... If it's like you want it, find
the About page under All Pages, enter on the linked title to open the edit
field for that page and find the body of the article. Put it on your
clipboard and then go to Posts/add new -- you might have to go back to the
Dashboard first to find it. That will open the edit page for a new post.
You'll have to give it a title and just paste the article into the body edit
field.
HTH,
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Miss Thea
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 11:51 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Thea, New Kid

Hi, Donna,
I tried with a volunteer, but www.triond.com didn't like one of the tags, so
when I deleted it, I ended up back with a clean slate, as if Alice never did
any of the work.
Sorry, this site just isn't worth it.
I have other issues besides blindness, i.e. depressive disorder, etc., and
some pain issues.
I simply haven't the energy to mess with it.
On another topic, Rhapsody, I used that service for all the years I lived in
America.
Part of it was inaccessible. Letters, emails, and phone calls did nothing.
Do you know how Rhapsody eventually became accessible to us?
Some guy went blind. Some guy who just happened to have a wildly successful
attitude about who he is as a person, a loving wife and friends to help,
plus he was a kickbutt computer programmer.
That's how Rhapsody Blind and BlindTunes were created.
Pretty sad, huh? Some guy had to go blind, in order for two music services
to become accessible.
I actually have a WordPress blog on etopia press, and there's an article on
my "about me" page.
I'm just not sure how to move that article to a blog.
All I had to do was choose a theme, and I chose the first one I came to: the
2014 theme.
It didn't require sight; all one needed to do was click a link, and voila!
Alice said it looked fine.
With this WordPress blog, I can share with the social media, and when the
novel is finished, maybe I could check out the possibilities of Kindle, or
where I might get an editor and try to publish it the old-fashioned way.
Thea, AKA 1TactileWriter
-----Original Message-----
From: Applebutter Hill
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 12:46 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Thea, New Kid

Thea,
I really have to check this one out. I never heard of such a thing; all of
the online photo uploaders I've worked with have other options to insert
photos. I know that Jaws has a drag and drop feature, but I've never had any
success using it. And, of course, this site might not be properly labeled
for Jaws anyway.

Also, do you have the option to use a text or html editor instead of the
visual or WYSIWYG editor? If so, it might have an option to insert photos
via a hotkey. I learned to use html years ago on Suite 101, because it is
ultimately easier than trying to use toolbars to format. My website that I
use to promote my novel is hosted by wordpress.com, and they have a text
editor with an insert photo hotkey option. I still like getting someone
sighted to look at it, because Jaws doesn't recognize the difference between
a real photo and a graphic with an 'x in it to indicate that something went
wrong with the upload.

I hear your frustration, girl, and I deal with it every day. The trick is to
realize what your up against, do what you can to bring attention to the
issue and keep moving forward. The sighted world seems to think the worst
thing about being blind is stuff like not seeing the faces of your loved
ones, but I say it's dealing with this kind of crap.

Have you checked out any of the other online  magazines? Here's a link where
they rate the top 50. Many of them don't pay, but it still can be an outlet
for your writing.
http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php

If you want to stay on the site you've been using, you could consider trying
to get a volunteer or even paying someone like a reader; get everything done
that you can do by yourself and then have them put the picture in. Maybe you
could get a bunch of articles ready, get someone to put the picture in all
of them and save them as drafts, so you can publish on your own schedule.
HTH,
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Miss Thea
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 4:45 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Thea, New Kid

Hi, Donna.
There is a place where you can upload photos, but it is still inaccessible,
as you have to drag and drop images.

All I want is my name in print--a hardcover or paperback with my John
Hancock and a great story inside, that people can get lost in.
I don't mind doing the work; I don't mind doing hard work. But I DO mind
wasting my time, and there's not even a way for me to express my displeasure
by cancelling my account.
I guess I could just let it go, and concentrate on the things I can do,
which is why I'm here.
Nice to meet you, too.
Thea

-----Original Message-----
From: Applebutter Hill
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 8:11 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Thea, New Kid

Hi Thea,
Welcome to Stylist. I wrote for a bunch of online magazines for years, but
not this one. I'm thinking of a couple of things.

First, what would a person do if they had their own photos? Is there an
uploader? It seems bogus that they would force people to pick and choose
from stock photos and not have an option to upload photos of their own.

I'm saying this, because, if there is an uploader that you can use, there
are sites where you can get free, high quality photos that you could
download and then upload to this site. The captions are usually clear enough
to get the idea what the photo is, and as long as you credit the
photographer or the group, you can use them without fear.

As far as your efforts to bring this to the attention of the site go, it is
something we need to do, but it rarely results in positive changes. I used
to write for Suite 101, which had revenue sharing and required a photo with
each article. It was accessible until they re designed their site. I wrote
to them many times, and I was assured that accessibility was a priority for
them. They even asked me to do beta testing on the new site, which I did.
Nothing ever changed. Ultimately they dropped their journalistic standards,
such as they were, and at that point, I really wasn't interested in writing
for them anyway.

Suite 101 is a Canadian company, so they don't fall under our laws. But, the
laws we have in the US are not being enforced even on government websites.
The irony to me was that when Suite 101 started becoming less accessible, I
was in the midst of writing a series of articles on web accessibility.

Anyway, it's nice to meet you, and I look forward to getting to know you.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Miss Thea
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 5:36 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Thea, New Kid

Hi, everyone.
I'm Thea, I just joined the list, and I write all kinds of stuff: fiction,
nonfiction, and fan fiction. I guess that about covers it, eh?
I used to publish articles and short stories on www.triond.com but they
require an image with each submission.
I had sighted help for a while, but once the sighted help disappeared, I
found I could not use this site because of its image requirement.
It's not a Captcha I have to fill in. This site requires, along with the
article, your selection of a category, which you can choose from a combo
box: health, news, politics, women ... Then after the body of your article,
you add tags. Let's say you've chosen "women". Your tags could be birth
control, birth control devices, IUD, etc.
Then there's a question mark where a chosen image should go. You hit the
"get image suggestions" button, and images are supposed to present
themselves.
At this time, you have to be able to see the image and drag it to the
question mark.
Last but not least, you have to check the box that says you are the original
creator of this work, and click submit.
Piece o' cake ... if you can see.
Has anyone ever tried or found some way around this difficulty?
The site is www.triond.com
My emails to them about this barrier have netted me no response.
The site is free, and supposedly, you can create a following, if you're
prolific enough, and you can earn money, be it ever so small.
I don't mind that. I DO mind this inaccessibility, and the company's
apparent lack of interest.
Anyone ever tried this www.triond.com
While I had sighted help, I published articles and stories, so I have a
small portfolio if you like.
Now the sighted help is gone, and I'm stuck.
Any help appreciated,
Thea
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