@NoahCarver@c.im
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

NoahCarver

@NoahCarver@c.im

#Blind vocalist, skier and #a11y / #accessibility enthusiast studying voice at Eastman School of #Music. Advocate for #Braille& #MusicBraille / #BrailleMusic availability as well as digital #MusicNotation software accessibility. Proud #Maine islander. Words matter. Personal account; views expressed are my own and not affiliated with any institution, organization, employer, etc. Follows, reblogs, and favorites ≠ endorsements. Posts searchable via Tootfinder. 🌻 #fedi22

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drew, to random

I'm old enough to remember when Chrome rolled out automatic alt text descriptions, in the ancient past of 2019. https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/accessibility/get-image-descriptions/

So controversial! We faced immediate backlash. "How dare you?" they said. "Google is taking all the good alt text production jobs!" they said. Nevertheless, we persisted, in the face of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Wait, I'm sorry. Actually, nobody said anything like that. Man! That would've been so stupid, right?

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@drew Is this more anti-AI garbage from the wider Fedi? If so, I’m not surprised. This corner of the Internet is particularly opposed to anything AI, even if it might help people. i’ve been through this discussion many times. It’s exhausting.

menelion, to Youtube
@menelion@dragonscave.space avatar

There is a polyglot on that keeps calling Latin alphabet "American" and Spanish language "Mexican" (for humorous purposes, of course). Like: "The language X is easy to learn because it uses the American alphabet". Comments are always priceless.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@menelion Is this language Simp by chance?

NoahCarver, to random
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

Gotta say, I appreciate PayPal. Getting an email both when Walmart debits the initial charge for grocery delivery as well as when they inevitably refund me for items which the store doesn't have adds a certain piece of mind that all is as it should be. It's perhaps superficial, but still greatly appreciated nevertheless.

mckensie, to random

Hey everyone! I've got some very good news! So did you guys think that the natural voices would be exclusive to narrator? Did you guys think the natural voices wouldn't even make it to other screen readers? Well, you all thought wrong! Because guess what? Thanks to a video on YouTube, I found out there is an NVDA addon for these voices! And it even works on windows 10! You can get this addon at datajake.braillescreen.net, TTS, synthesizers for NVDA, and titled neural voices. The rest of you guys can thank me later! Feel free to boost this post! It deserves one!

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@datajake1999 @DavidGoldfield @mckensie I mean... it's likely just hooking into an API somewhere. Doubt it's outright illegal.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@jscholes @datajake1999 @DavidGoldfield @mckensie Oh, I see. So this isn't using the downloadable natural voices but instead phones home with the text being said by the screen reader? If so, that's no good. If internet goes out, there'll be no speech, for example.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@mckensie @jscholes @datajake1999 @DavidGoldfield Interesting. Why the API keys, then? HMMM...

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@jscholes @drew @datajake1999 @DavidGoldfield @mckensie Perhaps the API key is simply used to pull voice data from Microsoft's servers?

NoahCarver, to random
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

In future, I will never, ever, ever, ever again by anything from Western Digital or any of its subsidiaries/brands. Just had a year-old top-of-the-line NVMe SSD die for no good reason. Honestly, I have no idea how much data I’ve lost. In future, I will also be much more militant about taking off-line backups.

TheQuinbox, to random

Stupid and dumb discovery of the day. Having a Foobar2000 FooYoutube window open will completely 100% make both firefox and chrome not send proper accessibility events to my NVDA. Furthermore, it doesn't happen in a devbox VM to try and repro, because of course it doesn't; it wouldn't be a day without technical bullshittery.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@TheQuinbox Beautiful. /S

Any idea why this is happening?

FluidEscence, to random

So, Talkback has accessibility actions right, so why in the hell does literally no app use them? That's annoying! Rar!

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@FluidEscence @jscholes He's still not wrong, though. Unfortunately, folks aren't utilizing them nearly enough for all the above reasons.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@FluidEscence @jscholes Yeppers, hence my choice to remain using iOOS.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@evilcookies98 @FluidEscence @jscholes I understand that, but also, TalkBack has support for things (Braille for example) which other screen readers either do not implement or implement in really crappy ways. Commentary has no Braille display support, and one must buy a Braille keyboard app which is in every way inferior to the TalkBack option which one gets for free. Also, Commentary is not the most secure option shall we say. If you're not using Commentary, there really aren't any options other than TalkBack.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@evilcookies98 @jscholes @FluidEscence Brailleback is not, and will not be, maintained at all. In other words, it's not a viable solution, either.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@evilcookies98 @FluidEscence @jscholes That's possible, but not all that likely in the grand scheme of things. Also, you and I are clearly tinkerers. Most folks are not and don't want to bother with this.

NoahCarver, to mastoblind
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

PSA to blind and low vision travelers!

whenever using sirens and lights, emergency vehicles (ambulances, fire apparatuses, etc.) ALWAYS have the right-of-way. Be hypervigilant when crossing streets. PAY ATTENTION! Do NOT cross when sirens are barreling towards you. They likely cannot stop/swerve in time to avoid hitting you. Do NOT be the person who learns this fact the hard way.

PS: I am physically fine. Deeply shaken, but am not hurt. I have no idea how, but I somehow tuned out the siren coming at me until someone yelled for me to stop crossing. Had I not heard the person yelling, I likely would have been hit and at the verry least seriously injured. In other words, I made a serious mistake that could have killed me. I still don't know how I did it. I am posting this in the hope that this does not happen to someone else. Please, learn from my mistake.

@mastoblind @main @podcast

ppatel, (edited ) to android
@ppatel@mstdn.social avatar

Re my last boost, looks like HID support for Braille displays via bluetooth is coming in Android 15. This should let devices like the Brailliant BI 20X, 40X, The Mantis, and the Humanware NLS EReaders connect to devices running Android 15 via bluetooth. Fantastic news.

Clarification: These devices can be connected to Android devices via USB cables right now. The new support is for HID over bluetooth, enabling us to use our displays wirelessly.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@ppatel About time. This has taken much longer than it ever should have. Also, I hope to see some fixes to support for the Mantis Q40. The bugs which showed up while using that display with TalkBack were bad enough that I gave up on Android altogether because I literally couldn't get what I needed done on my phone anymore.

NoahCarver, to random
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

IF there was just one thing which I could tell my younger self, it would be read more and get your reading speed up. Braille learners, practice makes better. Don't put it off. Read with both hands, and get that speed up. You will thank yourself later.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@singingnala @BrailleScreen @TheQuinbox I would love to know how you manage that speed. Seriously. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

NoahCarver, to random
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

It has taken me 4 or so hours of studying to rid myself of the notion that the German word for towel, "das Handtuch," is neuter (das) rather than masculin...

ppatel, to random
@ppatel@mstdn.social avatar

So him's big surprise was a new 40-cell Braille Display that's competing with the Humanware BI 40X? Unless I'm mistaken, it's $500 more than the Brailliant.

https://hims-inc.com/product/braille-emotion/

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@JonathanMosen @ppatel How do they expect users will pan the display without thumb keys or a reasonable equivalent?

NoahCarver, to random
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

When you've managed to crash word 5 times within 15 minutes, it's probably time to take a break.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@TheQuinbox Any better options?

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@ppatel @TheQuinbox Fantastic news. How is table support in Libre Office Writer? When I used it as primary word processer during Freshman year of high school (before I discovered that my school offered free Office) it was not exposing table headers to NVDA. That was a huge problem at the time and one of the many reasons why I dumped it in favor of Office, though I don't remember the other reasons at the moment as it's been so long. Wish I had kept a journal back then... ah well.

alexhall, to random

I don't think my state is doing the NLS braille displays yet, but when/if they do, can the displays be used with computers? I'm starting to think I can deal with 20 cells if it means quiet operation, no wires, and a modern device I don't have to worry about. I still have my MPower, but it seems not to like my serial adapter on Windows 11. I also have my 40 cell from 1998, but I was never able to get that to work, not even directly through BrlTTY on Windows 10.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@jpellis2008 @Bri @jackf723 @alexhall Unfortunately, there also appears to be a JFW driver issue in that JFW will happily treat the Zoomax displays as 40 cell when they’re only 20. I have reported this to FS and was assured it would be fixed with the latest update, but if memory serves, it wasn’t mentioned in the release notes and I have not tested it yet.

NoahCarver,
@NoahCarver@c.im avatar

@Bri @jpellis2008 @jackf723 @alexhall Wouldn’t say that. Sure, the Zoomax display isn’t my favorite, but it would be perfectly workable if software support for it wasn’t so lacking.

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