@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

BlindGordon

@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space

Blind author from Scotland. I write historical fiction novels, mostly set in Roman times, with some WW1 thrown in.
Website: www.gordonanthony.co.uk

I’m a big football (soccer) fan, having supported Dundee United for more years than I care to remember. Some people say being blind is the best way to watch them because you can’t see how awful they are.
Interests include history, rock music, German beer, playing guitar very badly, and using accessible tech on PC & iPhone.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ChrisMayLA6, to books
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

At the risk of reigniting a debate that has been had in my timeline in the past... here's a report of a University of Valencia that looked at over 20 paper examine the differential effects of reading digitally & on paper.

The research confirms my experience (my own & in the reading of my erstwhile students) that reading digitally is less likely to lead to long-term educational (knowledge) benefits...

@bookstodon

https://www.upmpaper.com/knowledge-inspiration/blog-stories/articles/2024/makes-you-learn/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=PaperBecauseItsReal2024&utm_term=&utm_content=Image

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon That confirms my own feelings. However, as I am blind, I rely in digital reading. When doing research, I tend to use Kindle books, but I make sure I turn digital pages manually rather than let the screen reader read the entire book in one go. That way, I can re-read a page if I find an important passage, or go through the page slowly, line by line. Kindle also allows me to make notes I can refer back to. I need to work at these habits because it is much harder to go back through a digital source than a print one if you are looking for a specific passage.
Digital & audio books are fine for casual reading, but studying takes a lot more effort.

BlindGordon, to history
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Another fascinating historical discovery in Scotland. Anything which helps increase our understanding of the Picts is good news, and this find sounds very unusual and important.

Pictish stone of 'international significance' set to be excavated near Doune https://www.thenational.scot/news/24172167.internationally-significant-pictish-stone-set-excavated/?ref=rss

MonaApp, to random
@MonaApp@mastodon.social avatar

Thank you for your continued support! I’m pleased to announce the next big upgrade, Mona 6, will be globally available on the App Store starting February 26, 2024.

Mona 6 includes a redesigned picture description editor, improved post composer with post scheduling and automatic thread conversion, and also, a long list of new shortcut actions for automation and the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro. Please stay tuned. https://geo.itunes.apple.com/app/id1659154653

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@MonaApp I’ve got the updated app now. Only 1 issue. If I try to share a linked article from my RSS app, nothing happens after I select Mona from the Share options. Only option is to copy the link, then switch to Mona and paste the link into a new post. It’s not a huge problem, but I thought I’d better mention it.
I have shut down my phone & restarted it, but it made no difference.

BlindGordon, to kindle
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

I do hate it when tech companies come up with “improvements” to their systems. Some time ago, I created a Books List on my to keep a note of books or authors I’d like to read when I had time to purchase them. It was easy to ask Alexa what was on the list to refresh my memory of books to search for.
But Amazon must have “improved” their system, so now when I ask what is on my Books List, Alexa reads me the titles in my library. If I wanted to know that, I’d ask what books were in my Kindle library. Now, to check my Books List, I need to open the app and type the question into the app to see the list. This is not always very convenient.
I was going to create a new List called Library, but I thought she might simply repeat my Kindle Library again, so I’ve now got a list called Bookshelf. That seems to work. At least, it does for the moment. No doubt will break it before too long.
I do seem to spend far too much time battling against in my attempts to make life easier.

BlindGordon, to microsoft
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Thank goodness for the Disabilidty Answer Desk available via .
My PC completely froze this morning. JAWS & Narrator completely silent. I couldn’t get anything to work. Eventually, I hit the Reset button. Big mistake. When I called for sighted assistance when the PC remained stubbornly silent, I learned it was configuring Windows updates. The PC restarted OK, but none of my MS apps would open. Word, Excel, Outlook all returned error messages.
The expert at MS took control when I called via Be My Eyes and did some magic. He got them all working again within 10 minutes. What a relief that was.

BlindGordon, to Scotland
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Well, the stormy weather has wrecked my travel plans for the holiday break. No trains running north from Edinburgh at all today. It’s inconvenient, but at least I’m safe & warm in my home. Others have not been so lucky. Horrendous floods, and some homes without power thanks to strong winds, lots of rain & snow.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Using tech is a constant battle with .
I thought I’d watch the new Frasier series on Paramount Plus. I found it OK, started the playback and then tried to start the Audio Description. The advice from Paramount is to click on the bubble in the top right corner. Bit of a fail their straight away as I want the AD because I can’t see elements on screen. Still, I found the top right corner of the screen, but there was nothing there.
Eventually, I turned off Voiceover and asked my wife to turn on the AD. She found the bubble no problem, so another accessibility fail that Voiceover can’t detect it.
However, when she went into the options, there was no AD. It seems Paramount haven’t added an track to this programme. That’s very disappointing. I suppose it’s the sort of show I could watch without and follow most of the humour, but this is really disappointing.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

A couple of days ago, I went online to arrange travel insurance for a short holiday break planned for next year.
The Go Compare website was tricky to navigate. It was technically accessible, but not at all easy to use. Still, I eventually answered all the questions and found a suitable policy. This was from Admiral Insurance. That’s when the problems really started. Again, the website was mostly accessible, but horrible to use. At one point, I was completely stuck because it would not accept my home address input. I had to resort to an AIRA agent taking over my PC via TeamViewer in order to complete the purchase.
Today I received a text message from Admiral asking for my feedback on using their online service. I was keen to tell them exactly what I thought of it, but that is not possible because the survey site is not accessible, containing a host of unlabelled fields. I suppose that is one way of ensuring they never get negative feedback from screen reader users.
Do programmers never get any tuition in when they are learning how to code?
I am most definitely not very gruntled at the moment.

BlindGordon, to Scotland
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

This may sound silly, but my son & I, both of us blind, have booked flights to Munich for the game at the opening of . We don’t have tickets for the game, so will probably end up in the Fan Zone. But what a great experience it’s going to be.

BlindGordon, to apple
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

I know Microsoft Word has never been the greatest app for using on Mac OS, but I always managed to create & edit documents without too much trouble. I haven’t used it for a while, but today I wanted to work on a document, only to find it is now completely unusable. I get no Voiceover feedback when typing, none of the navigation keys seem to work, so I can’t edit the text on the rare occasions when I can get VO to read the document. I can’t select text or do anything much. I know there have been some updates to the Word app in recent weeks, but I never expected to be unable to use it with Voiceover.
Does anyone have any idea why this might be happening?
I have restarted the MacBook, and even deleted a Voiceover Activity I had set up ages ago for Word. This has made no difference to the problem. Tearing my hair out here.

BlindGordon, to random
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@MonaApp The Mona App is great, but there are still focus issues when reposting. I sometimes discover I’ve reposted an entirely different post to the one I had selected. Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but it would be helpful if the original post could be identified using Voiceover before I hit that Repost button.

simon, to random

When browsing the web or using apps with web views on iOS, I've noticed an increasing trend of the keyboard disappearing when I explore above it. This ranges from irritating to problematic. If I'm trying to type in a search field and look at autocomplete results, the keyboard disappearing causes the results to go away. I'm not sure how to prevent this; it seems like it shouldn't be happening at all and I don't think webpages know where the VoiceOver cursor is, so it might be an iOS bug. I'm sick of reporting those, but I will. I'm just wondering if anyone has other information or websites / code that can fully reproduce this.

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@simon i’ve not experienced this myself, but Jonathan Mosen’s Living Blindfully podcast had a short feature on similar things happening to some users. the suspicion was that it is linked to having bluetooth keyboards linked to the iPhone. even if the keyboards are not connected, the suspicion is that they can cause the on-screen keyboard to disappear. the proposed solution was to have a bluetooth keyboard connected. That sounds like a workaround for a bug that really shouldn’t be happening.

david, to history

Has anyone listened to the latest theories on Richard III's murder of the Princes?

Philippa Langley and a massive team have worked for seven years to prove the Princes were not murdered in the Tower.

Podcast : https://podfollow.com/gone-medieval/episode/177b82aa71d267709ac57caead96cf469f7731a2/view

Also on the UK TV on Channel 4: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-princes-in-the-tower-the-new-evidence

I was fascinated, and quite convinced by the latest findings.

What does everyone else think?

@histodons

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@david @histodons I’ve just finished watching the Channel 4 programme. Initially, I was sceptical about so many previously unknown documents turning up, but they do appear to be genuine. On balance, I’m leaning towards this revised view of history, especially considering that Henry VII had a vested interest in dismissing the claimants as imposters. It will be interesting to see whether orthodox historians push back against this new evidence.

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@david @histodons It certainly is. Of course, it can be argued that many in Europe had a vested interest in finding people who could overthrow Henry.
One way to obtain further evidence would be get DNA from the 2 skeletons, but it looks as if that’s unlikely.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

At last! The new Whatsapp for Mac is accessible with Voiceover. I’d given up trying to use the original version on my MacBook, but the new version seems fully accessible.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Well done to AIRA for fixing the problem connecting to their agents when using Ruimen audio sunglasses. The app has been updated, and I made a call with no problem.

BlindGordon, to apple
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Yet another reason not to update your iOS and Watch OS yet. Early releases always seem to be full of bugs, and this one sounds horrible. At this rate, I’ll be waiting for iOS 17.2.
PSA: Bug caused Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 beta to drain iPhone battery https://9to5mac.com/2023/10/10/bug-watchos-10-1-beta-drain-iphone-battery/

BlindGordon, to random
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@doubletap If you’re having accessibility issues with X, keep in mind that Spring is in the air. Keep it quiet, but somehow the Spring app can still give you access.

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@fireborn @doubletap I’m not fighting to keep it. I don’t use it much at all these days, but it is useful for keeping up with local events & my football team. Is I could get that info elsewhere, I’d be happy to leave X altogether, but many organisations haven’t moved over to Mastodon yet.
I agree that having one individual in charge is problematic, especially when that individual is a supporter of right wing extremists, but while he sets the tone for his rabid followers, there are still some nice people on that platform. The good thing about Spring is that it only shows posts from people you follow, so all the other stuff is cut out.

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@fireborn @doubletap Yes, Spring could go at any time, but it’s working fine just now, so I may as well use it rather than struggle with the X app which is increasingly horrible to use.
And no, comments & opinions from fans are not available elsewhere. I don’t see an issue with using X for info & opinions if it’s the best source.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

I thought I’d use the RNIB online shop to get some new liquid level indicators. Everything went fine until I reached the payment section. They’ve obviously outsourced this, and the page killed both JAWS & Narrator. I could not complete the info because neither screen reader would give any feedback at all. I had to get AIRA to help. It worked, but it’s a poor show that a leading sight loss charity has a website which is not fully accessible.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

I really love the Be My AI feature in Be My Eyes. My son is away on business just now. He sent back a few photos of the town he’s staying in. I was able to have them described to me in great detail by Be My AI, so I could share in the family chat about them. What a wonderful feeling.

BlindGordon, to accessibility
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

Hoping someone can help me with this annoying little app problem.
I’m using the Prime Video app on iPhone, using Voiceover. Prime has a feature where you can add programmes to a Watch List, but the problem following recent updates is that I can no longer find my Watch List in order to access my favourite programmes quickly.
Does anyone know where the Watch List has been hidden?
Thanks.

bigblind, to accessibility

question: If you have a floatin button that's not part of the normal flow of a web page, like a launcher to open a support chat popup, where would you expect that button to appear in the tab order?

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@devinprater @sarajw @bigblind @zersiax @tink My preference would be for all buttons to be in a set location so I know where to find them.

devinprater, to accessibility

I’m enjoying Mona’s ability to turn off boosted toots from those who boost undescribed images, and stuff in italic or bold fonts, that mess with my screen reader. So they can keep boosting, and I don’t have to even come across it. I love the clients for the blind on Windows too, but goodness it’s nice using a client that has full support for Mastodon.

Like, I’m just tired of continuously asking or posting about Alt-text or media descriptions or italic fonts and on and on. Digital accessibility just doesn’t get talked about, even here, to where it’s in our social consciousness. I mean I’m not saying every post should be all screen reader this and accessible that, but I think if we talked about digital accessibility as much as we talk about, say, cats, I think more people would get it. There are tons of resources out there. There are, I’d say, a good hundred blind people on Mastodon, and even more of people with other disabilities. And yes, we should include every disability, not just certain kinds. I think I’m started to get why a lot of blind people just don’t even do the whole advocating thing. It’s hard, some sighted people are gonna lash out at you. And it’s like trying to climb a slippery hill with no shoes or socks on. You’re gonna fall back down and have to start all over again. Cause it almost never sticks. People without disabilities are just gonna see something and boost it. Like, they don’t have to think about it. They see it, so it’s there.

But until pigs fly, I’m glad we can at least control what we see on here, at least a little. I’d love to be able to just get rid of any inaccessible content. No I don’t need to be told that that’s hard. I know. Everything about accessibility is hard because it’s foreign to non-disabled people and it doesn’t affect them personally. I get it. Every day I get it.

BlindGordon,
@BlindGordon@dragonscave.space avatar

@devinprater Sorry, I must have misunderstood. I thought your original post said you were enjoying being able to stop boosts of undescribed images. I didn’t think that was possible, ence my question. I’m not sure whether I’d use it even if it was possible, but I was curious.

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