sarahmatthews

sarahmatthews, 9 months ago to disability

‘It would be helpful if we could shift the dial a bit more to the reality of blind lives – and not to perpetuate polarised myths. Solutions I can offer include listening to blind people’s views, not placing disabled people in special areas, and having educated and supportive staff who know that sight and blindness are on a spectrum.’ ~ Selina Mills in The Guardian 👏 #blind #disability

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/05/i-cried-with-anger-the-trials-and-torment-when-travelling-with-blindness?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

sarahmatthews, 7 months ago to books

This is a great long read on Naomi Klein’s new book, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, about her experience of being repeatedly mixed up online with feminist turned conspiracy theorist Naomi Woolf #bookstodon #reading #NonFiction

https://newrepublic.com/article/175254/naomi-klein-naomi-wolf-doppelganger-journey-unnerving-world

sarahmatthews, 10 months ago to accessibility

A great article about #accessibility in Forbes | When a company doesn't prioritize inclusiveness early on in a product's development cycle, they are unknowingly boxing out a sizable percentage of consumers with strong purchasing power. With every new design or technological breakthrough, we collectively, as an industry, need to ask, "Have we made this exciting idea of ours accessible to every potential end user?"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/07/24/accessibility-isnt-just-nice-its-good-business/?sh=5408e87b26bd

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to Fashion

🛍️Research opportunity for blind people in the UK | ‘Greetings from our research group at the London College of Fashion! We are reaching out to you with an opportunity to be at the forefront of a study that aims to revolutionize the fashion retail landscape, making it more inclusive and accessible’

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqiNZNw7al6oReA7JLMyKHlJm0whHwgvdLpMPRfN-et0U0IQ/viewform

#blind #PartiallySighted #Deafblind #VisuallyImpaired #fashion #accessibility #disability @disability

sarahmatthews, 10 months ago to Pubtips

I’m loving all the posts for #AltTextCoverDay today so join in if you can!
Here’s a beautiful book I bought earlier this year on a trip to Oxford. We visited the historic Blackwell’s bookshop which is enormous as I wanted to go to the rare books section at the top of the shop to see if they had any first editions of my favourite author, Barbara Pym. She studied at Oxford University and many of her books, which were published in the mid 20th century, are set in the city. I was surprised to find they only had one, Crampton Hodnet, and that it was no more expensive than a standard hardback book. I’m #blind so my husband described the cover and read the blurb for me and even though I’ll only ever read this book in Braille or audio now I had to buy it!
This novel was one she wrote just before WW2 but it was not published in her lifetime. She had a difficult #publishing journey after initial success in the 1950s and was eventually shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Quartet in Autumn in 1977. After her death in 1980 Macmillan finally published this one in 1985.
I’ve read all her books and a recent biography of her, so I love that I get to own this piece of her publishing history which is something she never got to enjoy.
#bookstodon @bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 8 months ago to random

I generally don’t like booking a table in a pub/restaurant online as I find more often than not it’s not straightforward and I get frustrated and give up. Today I called a pub and found that I could book in for lunch using the number keypad on my phone and I received a text message confirmation afterwards. I really liked that option, very quick and simple!

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to Pubtips

Ignore the headline (Keanu isn’t mentioned again) and read this great balanced piece on celebrity authors… I think they’ve always been part of publishing but they’re selling in bigger numbers now - “In 2023, five of the top 20 bestselling paperback fiction books were written by celebrities”. It seems the temptation to tap into a ready-made audience is taking over like it did for the UK children’s book market a few years ago
#publishing #bookstodon #writing #GhostWriters @bookstodon
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/13/keanu-and-co-how-celebrities-became-bestselling-novelists?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to random

Happy Halloween! Design by our 11 year old 🎃

sarahmatthews, 2 months ago to books

I wonder if this book, Julia by Sandra Newman, will make it onto the Women’s Prize longlist next week? It sounds like a really intriguing idea - a retelling of Orwell’s 1984 from the perspective of Julia! I reread the original about 10 years ago now so am very tempted to read it again then read this novel #bookstodon #books #AmReading @bookstodon
https://shows.acast.com/sara-cariads-weirdos-bookclub/episodes/julia-by-sandra-newman-with-daniel-rigby

sarahmatthews, 3 months ago to random

It’s been a good day - had some great conversations and have some interesting volunteering work lined up. Also had an enquiry to teach #Braille to some #Deafblind learners in my local area who’re struggling to find anyone. I’ve no specific experience but would like to help if I possibly can as I do teach blind / partially sighted learners, so I’m now off down an internet rabbit hole to see if I can find some useful resources. Any advise from those in the know gratefully received!

sarahmatthews, 9 months ago to random

It’s a gorgeous day here so I’m sitting outside enjoying some sun while I free up some space on my phone by deleting downloaded #audiobooks from Dolpim Easy Reader. It’s nice to see the books Ive read over the last year or so… seeing Larry’s Party by Carol Shields has made me want to read something else by her, that was a stunning novel! #bookstodon #AmReading

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to random

Just had a very enjoyable chat with a researcher from the London College of Fashion, talking about what makes an in-store shopping experience more accessible for blind people. I realised that over the years I’ve developed strategies without really knowing it like going shopping when I know it’ll be quieter so I get better customer service and there’s more room to get around shops, and that I’m very loyal to places where I’ve had good customer service. Sadly it turns out that as a result I mainly shop in large shopping centres these days if I’m looking for clothes. I do miss being happy to just spend the afternoon wandering around all kinds of random independent city centre shops but it’s just too stressful now!

sarahmatthews, 5 months ago to random

I’ve not had an advent calendar for years but the boys spotted a Terry’s Chocolate Orange one this year and knew I’d like it, yum! So I put little sticky Dymo Braille labels on the windows but they’re all falling off already 🤣 oh dear, gonna have to do audio ones instead I guess

sarahmatthews, 4 months ago to bookstodon

A great list, via Electric Literature, this one’s definitely going on my reading list! - Almost Surely Dead by Amina Akhtar “Amina Akhtar, founding editor of The Cut, has written a novel about a woman who, having gone missing for a year, becomes the subject of a true-crime podcast. “Part thriller, part family saga, part supernatural horror, Almost Surely Dead will surprise you in the best way possible”
#bookstodon @bookstodon
https://electricliterature.com/75-books-by-women-of-color-to-read-in-2024/#content

sarahmatthews, 8 months ago to random

After reading this I really want to go and see this artwork and get somebody to describe it for me, maybe the Tate will do an audio described event | ‘I want it to hit people in the gut’: Chris Ofili on his epic, three-wall Grenfell fresco | Chris Ofili | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/12/chris-ofili-grenfell-fresco-requiem-tate-britain https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/12/chris-ofili-grenfell-fresco-requiem-tate-britain?utm_source=press.coop

sarahmatthews, 8 months ago to nature

This is a lovely project! 🍃 via The Guardian | ‘Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us a piece written by a child aged 8-14.
The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with #nature – whether it’s a snuffling hedgehog, a soaring bird of prey or a thriving rockpool… What did your encounter with nature make you think about? How did it make you feel?’
Deadline: Monday 2 October
#writing #bookstodon #environment #children
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/27/nature-lovers-guardian-young-country-diary-writers?utm_source=press.coop#maincontent

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to bookstodon

The winner of The Booker Prize will be announced this evening… I enjoy following it and this year only Western Lane really tempted me.i did look for it on audio but couldn’t find it. Anyway, here’s a good summary of the shortlist:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67518323?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
#bookstodon @bookstodon.

sarahmatthews, 9 months ago to disability

This is a lovely article about Hayley who set up a Braille greetings card business in the UK recently called Dotty About Braille, via Blind New World | ‘What’s really surprised me is the global response I’ve had – I’ve sold to 10 different countries all over the world, and I’ve typed #Braille in German, Dutch and French!’

#blind #PartiallySighted #LowVision #disability

https://blindnewworld.org/becoming-dotty-about-braille/

sarahmatthews, 6 months ago to random

I like that when I’m half asleep and having a slow day that I can go into the kitchen and make my breakfast on auto pilot, but this morning some pesky sighted person in my life has switched the jars around and I got a handful of pasta instead of porridge oats! 🤣 #blind

sarahmatthews, 7 months ago to nature

The link in my original pinned post no longer works as the charity I wrote the blog post for has merged with another organisation! So here’s another article I wrote back in December 2020 for a great project called Sensing Nature if you’d like some info about me 🍃 #blind #nature
https://sensing-nature.com/response-to-nature

sarahmatthews, 3 months ago to Pubtips

🙌Great to see the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist announcement! The one I’m most likely to read is Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein, Here’s the full list #bookstodon #publishing @bookstodon | “From gripping memoirs and polemic narratives, to groundbreaking investigative journalism and revisionist history, these 16 titles will change the way you view the non-fiction section of the bookshop.
Whether you are a seasoned non-fiction reader or considering trying for the first time, with this list you have at your fingertips a breadth of titles that reflects the quality and ambition of non-fiction writing by women around the globe that spark curiosity and might just change the world.”

https://womensprize.com/announcing-the-2024-womens-prize-for-non-fiction-longlist/

sarahmatthews, 7 months ago to random

After sorting my hardcopy #Braille books I have two to give away to any UK reader who fancies them, to be sent out via Articles For The Blind. Both are grade 2 contracted Braille:
Book 1 is Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark (SEB) in two old style RNIB volumes
Book 2 is The Awakening by Kate Chopin (SEB) in six new style RNIB pamphlets
Any takers? 📚📚
#blind #PartiallySighted #VisuallyImpaired #Deafblind

sarahmatthews, 2 months ago to art

At the weekend I attended a brilliant event at the British Library in central London for blind and partially sighted people themed around portraits. I was excited to go because unusually there was the opportunity to get creative in response to the audio described works.
The workshop was run by artist Karly Allen who obviously had years of experience because her description of the 2 artworks we were introduced to was comprehensive and very natural.
We talked about a portrait of novelist Hilary Mantel by Nick Lord and a marble bust of King George III by Peter turnereli from the British Libry’s collection and were given a tactile drawing of them both which were printed using a Zychem machine which I desperately want to get my hands on now! I found them really pleasant to feel and although I did need the description to make full sense of the diagrams I felt they were very useful.
After the descriptions we were given a small circular frame and some clay along with some tools and Karly talked us through ideas of how we could get creative. I decided to use the various tools to draw into the clay which I’d filled the frame with and smoothed down. It was hard to get started and I experimented a bit and smoothed it out and started again several times. I kept in mind that the frame would be filled with plaster of paris and the clay discarded to make a tactile relief sculpture so whatever I drew would come out backwards. I cheated a bit and didn’t attempt a portrait as working in this way was new to me and my first attempts were awfully confusing! I decided to do an illustration of a flower instead because as I’m totally blind I couldn’t go back and add to the marks I’d made, I just had to go for it in one go, imagining the drawing as I went. I did ask my PA to tell me where there were some gaps so I could ad a couple of details which was helpful. I wasn’t the only person to take this approach.
We had a break for lunch and then went up to see the 2 artworks in the galleries and discuss them further while our sculptures set.
It was so exciting to feel the end result when we returned and we passed our creations around which got us talking to new people. Before the workshop I’d felt nervous about trying to do something creative again after 10 years of being blind and although it was frustrating at first I was relieved to find that we were encouraged to just get stuck in and have a go in any way we felt comfortable. I’ll definitely be returning to the library for future events of this kind!
#blind #PartiallySighted #Deafblind #audiodescription #TactileArt #art #creativity #inclusion #libraries #Disability

sarahmatthews, 7 months ago to random

I’ve only ever used Alexa for simple things like asking the time, the wether, news and playing music from Spotify or the radio. From what I understand these things will remain free as they plan to charge for all the new extras like AI features that I have no interest in. They’ve always been trying to get me to buy extras and that’s fine, I just ignore it, so this development comes as no surprise. Honestly if I wasn’t blind I probably wouldn’t have one of these devices but it really is handy in my daily life

kimlockhartga, 5 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon Just out of curiosity, how close are you to your reading goal for the year? I need to read 12 more books to meet the goal I set for myself. 📚📚📚📚

Not everyone works the same way, of course. We've discussed before that reading goals are counterproductive for many. Having a goal really helps me, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just like reading for pleasure and reading to write a review are very different processes.