MetaFilter posts tagged with blind

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

shirobara — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:43:07 -0800

Accessibility is what allows me to use things like a phone, computer, or an ATM. May 9th is all about this. -Tommy Edison, the Blind Film Critic. (previously)

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is today. It's a day to consider how people with disabilities experience the web, software, mobile devices, games and so on, targeted towards designers, developers, usability professionals and others without much experience with accessibility. There are public events scheduled all over the world, as well as other accessibility-related events. To participate on your own, try one of the suggested activities: turn off your mouse or trackpad and use only your keyboard to navigate websites, try using a free screen reader, such as NVDA for Windows or the built in VoiceOver for Mac and iOS, try watching some streaming videos or movies with captions or add some of your own to a video you've uploaded. Then relax with a sample of described video: Katniss, from the Hunger Games, goes hunting. More information about GAAD and accessibility: A short video about GAAD from its founder, Jennison Asuncion, and a 2010 interview with Asuncion, part 1, 2 and 3. His personal Twitter feed, and the official GAAD twitter feed. The post that inspired GAAD, by Joe Devon. What can be done to make games more accessible? Includification provides some guidelines. AppleVis is one of the best resources for blind and low vision Apple device users. Apple devices are very popular with this community, as many other devices have a long way to go as far as accessibility goes. However, Amazon, long criticized for the Kindle's total lack of accessibility, has just added VoiceOver support to the Kindle iOS app. A review of the app here.

"I never doubted that it was all going to work out."

zarq — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:09:47 -0800

A life well lived. On October 4, 1973, Josh Miele (4) was permanently blinded in an acid attack by his neighbor (pdf). 40 years later, Dr. Miele has worked for NASA on the Mars Rover project, he's helped develop "WearaBraille", a virtual Braille keyboard interface, and has a new project launching this month: the Descriptive Video Exchange (DVX), which will allow "sighted video viewers to seamlessly add audio description to DVDs as they watch." "...the Descriptive Video Exchange ... is a tool we have developed at Smith-Kettlewell that gives anybody, anywhere, the ability to describe anything, so that anybody, anywhere else, can hear the description. This technology uses a web-based server to store and maintain all of the descriptions associated with videos available on the web, on DVD, or from streamed sources such as Netflix. The server does not store the videos. The server only stores the descriptions, along with the identification and timing information. The server works with a video player that plays whatever video you want to watch, along with the stored descriptions. This system gets around a couple of interesting problems. For example, many videos simply are not described. There is no way to get a described version because it doesn't exist. That's one problem. With this system, anybody anywhere can volunteer to describe that video from their own home and upload the information. Then you, somewhere else, can take advantage of that description and play it back in synchronization with the video that you want to watch. This system does a sort of end run around a number of the issues related to modifying and distributing copyrighted materials. In today's model for video description, it's necessary to record a described version of a film or TV show and redistribute that version. To do that, it's necessary to get permissions. All sorts of legal and financial issues are involved. Our system does not modify or redistribute anybody's copyrighted material. It simply plays the descriptions along with the material from a legitimate source. That means it becomes much simpler to create descriptions."
A sample of a DVX video (mov file), using The Lion King. WearaBraille: * Video Demo * Technical Specs (pdf) Related article: Seattle Revolution: From Your Eyes and Mouth To Their Ears

The bullet missed his brain but severed his optic nerves

mwhybark — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:51:37 -0800

A Real World Series: Inside the world championship of blind baseball. "It’s different this year. I can’t get last year’s Series out of my mind, even though it ended in the last week of July, when Taiwan took two from Austin on a rainy Saturday in Ames, Iowa, to win the title in the 37th annual world series of blind baseball." As we head into the World Baseball Classic (which opens in Japan and Puerto Rico in two weeks), Peter Richmond writes about the world series of blind baseball for baseball megasite SB Nation. Via Twitter pal @yakyunightowl, who shares my passion for Japanese baseball and the Mariners.

How Blind People Use Instagram

nadawi — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:30:43 -0800

Tommy Edison has been blind since birth. He wants to show you how he uses Instagram (previously).

"As long as you're breathing, life is worth living."

zarq — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 22:24:04 -0800

Six years ago, US Army Captain Ivan Castro was severely wounded in a mortar attack in Iraq that left him permanently and completely blinded. Today, he's one of only three blind active duty Army officers, and the very first to serve in the US Army Special Forces. Thirteen months and 36 surgeries after the attack, Castro ran the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon in 4:14 and the Army Ten Miler in 1:25. And he's still going: In the last 15 months, he's completed 14 marathons. Why? "Because I still can. Because people need to see what's possible." As of June, 2011, Captain Castro had completed "an astounding 18 marathons, 11 half marathons, four Army 10-milers, two 50-mile ultra marathons, two triathlons and an ascent to Grays Peak, one of the highest mountains in Colorado." "...he has met with members of Congress to advocate for wounded veterans' participation in the Paralympics, spoken at military and civilian events to encourage employers to hire the blind, and counseled disabled soldiers. When he visits injured veterans, his message is simple: As long as you're breathing, life is worth living." (Additional photos.) * CNN: True Champion: Blind Army Hero runs marathon * CNN Money: A Soldier's Story: Financial Rehab Accompanying Photos / Audio Commentary. * Photoessay and Article from FoxNewschannel * Profile in the National Review: Captain Extraordinary

Kind of Review

grouse — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:29:34 -0800

Miles Davis does a blind listening test, identifying and rating other jazz musicians.

"There's none so blind as they that won't see."

Fizz — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:39:33 -0800

Atlas for the Blind, 1837: "From the spectacular David Rumsey Map Collection, the 1837 “Atlas of the United States Printed for the Use of the Blind“, embossed heavy paper featuring lines, letters and geographical symbols, destined to help blind children to visualise geography. Here’s the whole book with zoomable pages." [Via: Socks-Studio]

Technology Enhancements for Sensory Impaired

netbros — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:10:07 -0800

Recent technologies developed at American universities are making communication easier for the sight and hearing impaired. Last summer a Stanford undergrad developed a touchscreen Braille writer that stands to revolutionize how the blind negotiate an unseen world by replacing devices costing up to 10 times more. Thanks to a group of University of Houston students, the hearing impaired may soon have an easier time communicating with those who do not understand sign language. During the past semester, students in UH’s engineering technology and industrial design programs teamed up to develop the concept and prototype for MyVoice, a device that reads sign language and translates its motions into audible words, and vice versa.

Blind Piano Prodigy

Doohickie — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:50:56 -0800

Rachel Flowers plays some of rock's toughest compositions on keyboard. Oh, and jazz and classics too. Impressive, for an eighteen-year-old. Who is blind.

The Emperor's New (Old) Violin

unSane — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:08:19 -0800

In the world of violins, the names Stradivari and Guarneri are sacred. For three centuries, violin-makers and scientists have studied the instruments made by these Italian craftsmen. So far no one has figured out what makes their sound different. But a new study now suggests maybe they aren't so different after all.

Blind Photography

spock — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:37:44 -0800

Blind Photography "Taking a picture is so easy, you just need a camera, decide at which moment to shoot, press the button and you have your picture. Why can't the blind do this?" (Previously 1, 2)

Blind girl runs with help from guide dog

I am the Walrus — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:55:07 -0800

Inspiring story of the day: Legally blind high school girl runs on the cross country team with help of her guide dog. via

$1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = $14?

desjardins — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:36:57 -0800

Blind Man vs. Paper Money - the Blind Film Critic demonstrates the problems of using (American) paper money. Unsurprisingly, just getting cash out of an ATM poses its own problem. In 2008, the District Court ruled that the Department of the Treasury must provide meaningful access to U.S. currency for blind and other visually impaired persons. In May of this year, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner approved adding tactile features, high contrast numerals, and the implementation of a currency reader program. These will be implemented in the next currency redesign following the redesigned $100 note. Video demonstration of folding techniques and iPhone apps for identifying money Additional information on how to identify money More info on iPhone apps

blind, a film by Shoda Yukihiro

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:32:42 -0800

blind is a short film (5:17 - in Japanese w/ English subtitles) set in post-nuclear Tokyo. The film may be viewed at the blind website, at Vimeo or at YouTube. Parents please be advised: although the film features a young child, viewing by young children is not especially recommended, as they may be frightened.

Growing New Senses

nangar — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:58:28 -0800

More evidence of brain plasticity: Some blind people are able to use echolocation to perceive space and objects around them in surprising detail, even though the time differences in echoes necessary to do this are two small to be consciously perceived. An fMRI study by Lore Thaler, Stephen Arnott and Melvyn Goodale revealed that people who are especially adept at this use their calcarine cortex (a.k.a. V1 or primary visual cortex) to process spatial information from the echoes. The original paper. A shorter discussion. (Previously)

"Seeing is more in your brain than in your eyes"

Manjusri — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:24:47 -0800

Erik Weihenmayer is a gay -- excuse me, I mean blind -- climber, mountaineer and author who counts the Seven Summits and the Nose of El Capitan among his accomplishments. Erik's recent efforts have been assisted by the Brainport, an experimental device that allows him to sense visual information via his tongue.

Blind dog gets his own dog guide

dancingfruitbat — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:29:24 -0800

Guide Dog Loses Eyes, Gets His Own Guide Dog There is a video at BBC News as well.

Pete Eckert

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:51:52 -0800

Pete Eckert is a photographer who is also blind. His process is briefly hinted at here.

"There is a wonder in reading Braille that the sighted will never know: to touch words and have them touch you back."

Fizz — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:37:12 -0800

"The blind teaching the reader." An interesting interview that looks at how the blind read from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blogger SB Sarah.

Blind as a B.A.T.

gman — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:00:14 -0800

Bart Hickey is an incredibly inspiring blind auto mechanic who owns his own shop called B.A.T. Automotive. [SLVimeo]

Keep Your Eyes On The Road Not

Xurando — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:55:13 -0800

Visually impaired people are riding bicycles. Andreas Bocelli rides a bicycle. And then there's this.

An animation involving a dog, a girl, and imagination.

Han Tzu — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 07:33:28 -0800

SLYT Something I found last night that I thought was quite wonderful and appropriate for a lazy Sunday. I was really impressed with the way they handle sense in this, and it made me warm and fuzzy. I hope this isn't too terrible for a first post.

Learning to see via an iPhone

nomadicink — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:02:45 -0800

A blind man uses a mobile phone to "see":

I have never experienced this before in my life. I can see some light and color, but just in blurs, and objects don’t really have a color, just light sources...I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color queues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house.

Braille is disappearing

mcwetboy — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:30:11 -0800

Braille is facing extinction, says Canadian newsweekly Maclean's, thanks to strained budgets, audiobooks and text-to-speech. "In the 1950s about half of all blind children learned Braille, says the U.S. National Federation of the Blind. Today, that number has fallen to 10 per cent -- and it's about the same in Canada. For some, like NFB director Mark Riccobono, that means we're letting blind children grow up as illiterate as Braille's 19th-century contemporaries. 'If only 10 per cent of sighted children were being taught [to read],' he told Maclean's, 'that would be considered a crisis.'"

Porn for the Blind

grandsham — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:02:25 -0800

Tactile Mind is a pornography magazine for the blind. While porn for the blind has been done before, this is the first offering with raised pictures of naked bodies.