Hooray for Kindle for PC App with Accessibility Plugin! Good News for Blind and Visually Impaired While I gave kudos to Amazon.com for their free Kindle Apps, a large segment of the population has not been able to read Kindle books because of low or no vision. Image via Wikipedia   Maybe Amazon heard me whining that I have the free Kindle App for PC but can’t actually read Kindle books. Because while searching for something else entirely, good news for blind and visually impaired individuals surfaced: Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin is a free application for your Windows PC.... (Read More ...)

Blogging Success: How Does Google Accessible Search Serve ALL Readers?   First, you may be wondering, “What is Google Accessible Search and why do I care?”   Google Accessible Search is a project of Google Labs. Its function is to make the worldwide web a friendlier place for those who have low vision or blindness. The interesting thing is that by making sure your site is friendly for people with “disabilities,” you also make it a friendlier place for all readers. This is a good thing, because overall, being accessible should increase the engagement (involvement) of your readers. Remember,... (Read More ...)

One of my biggest complaints as a blind person using the computer is the expense of the software I need to use it in the same way that “sighties” (people with sight) do The program I bought costs over $600 and you have to update it every year. Nobody would put up w Image via Netflix ith that for software you use everyday. You can get an entire MS Office SUITE for less than that, for goodness sake! And the program I use, Zoomtext, is the less functional cousin of JAWS, which is twice the price but performs better in some areas. Well now there is a FREE screen reading software that I’ve been... (Read More ...)

I’ve found a wonderful resource thanks to my good friend Gina Gaudio Graves. Let me tell you how it has made my work easier and how it will do the same for YOU. Imagine being away from your computer and wanting to communicate with a group of clients, perhaps to remind them of an upcoming coaching call. What do you do? If you’re me, you use Dial2Do. Pick up the cell phone, call in and tell it “email” then after the prompt asking email who, say the name of the group, leave your message and you’re done. In and out in under a minute. No Getting to a computer, logging into your auto-responder,... (Read More ...)

Service dogs provide invaluable assistance and companionship to their owners, but training them is typically a lengthy and expensive task. More than a decade ago, Gloria Gilbert Stoga had the inspiration to pair prison inmates with eight-week-old dogs and allow them to learn from each other. read more  Read More →

Unless you’re blind or visually impaired, or unless you have some other adaptive need, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to get a cell phone. Anyone else can walk into the store, pick out the phone you want, and go about your business. Not me. Making a cell phone talk is a tall order – or, I should say, an expensive and frustrating one. I spent 3 hours in a T-Mobile store trying to get a T-Mobile G1 “Google Phone”. That was a huge waste of time. The software that supposedly makes the phone talk requires you to have eyesight in order to make it work. I’m now officially on... (Read More ...)

Collin Raye song Quitters will really get you thinking. You might feel sad and/or you might feel inspired. but you WILL feel. This is the song. Collin Raye sings “Quitters”, in which you’ll witness some excellent personal narrative examples. Yes, I have to give you a bit of a storytelling lesson, as your own life experiences (personal narrative examples) are the fuel for you growing your own influence. Your stories can empower both you and other people.  Watch this. “He’s not jaded or bitter. He’s gong to leave the giving up to the quitters.” I have a free... (Read More ...)

Are you a quitter, or a “justdoit-er? The choice is yours. I know so many people who gritch and whine about the littlest things. You’ll notice several personal narrative examples in this post and you’ll learn about the story you are telling yourself. Recently, a friend whined to me that she had to go to Walgreen’s and get reading glasses. She can buy hers for about $10 off a rack. I said, “Mine cost $500 and I still can’t read as well or as fast as you can. Wanna trade?” “Point taken,” she replied. People keep telling me how amazing and inspiring I am. Three people... (Read More ...)

How do you easily add audio to your blog, and why do you want to? You don’t have to be blind or visually impaired to want the computer to talk to you. I know lots of people who like text to speech because they like to listen instead of read. Maybe you’re about to work out but you want to catch up on your favorite blogs or news feeds. maybe you’re in a car and want to maximize your time. Maybe your hands are full with your child or animal. How about reading with your ears? You will still be able to see the pictures and watch he videos. And if you’d like to make your... (Read More ...)

I am so pleased to be making my blog accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Image via CrunchBase Here’s what I am doing; the text of my blog has been, and will continue to be in 12-point type for ease of reading. Now I am pleased to offer audio content, so you’ll notice that any of the articles that are marked in a particular way,  “audio content reader,” will have audio content closely approximating the text. I now have audio on every single post. There is a “Listen” button at the top of each post. When you click it, you’ll be able... (Read More ...)