May 16, 2019 is the eighth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD); when people are encouraged to talk, think and learn about digital access and inclusion. This year, we ask both users and developers to get involved. Here's how you can participate.
Opinion
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I would rather walk face first through a giant spider web than go shopping. I truly hate walking into large cavernous spaces with grumblings, rumblings, and piercing screeches resounding, rebounding, and reflecting from every surface. I tire of unbridled children pawing at my guide dog, and I could really do without the adults who treat shopping as a contact sport. Make that three giant spider webs that I'd be willing to walk through. If I cannot escape to the parking lot, I mentally retreat and perform my primary function as the designated guardian of the shopping cart and purse.
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This post has been updated to include tips for using the image description feature based on feedback received from the Applevis Editorial Team and members of the Applevis community.
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I'm basically lazy. If technology exists that lets me spend more time sitting on my butt, I'm all over it. I control my thermostat with an app, use Google Hangouts for virtual meetings, and don't remember the last time I walked to a mailbox—that's why God invented email.
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Personal note: When I first began to write this blog, I was in the middle of experiencing Hurricane Harvey firsthand. As I tend to approach any adversity with a light-hearted touch, my story below reflects that attitude about my own circumstances. Still, I am sadly aware of the toll on lives that Harvey caused in Texas and of the on-going impact from other storms now ripping across many islands and moving towards the mainland. My heart goes out to all those who have been affected.
Morgan Watkins
September 7, 2017
And now, my story...
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I was sitting in my office. The lease had expired, the air conditioner was broken, and a fly crawled across my arm. I slapped him with the open palm of my hand and sent him out of the game.
Someone knocked at the door.
“It’s open,” I said.
I heard a dog’s claws on my linoleum floor, then a lady in high heels. She smelled pretty as a rose, and her dress swayed like tall grass in a cool summer breeze. The dog led her to a chair. She sat.
“I’m lookin’ for somebody to help me find something,” she said.
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I started taking piano lessons for the first time in the so-called days of yore -- that is, when I was 12 years old and, like many teenagers, didn't appreciate the value of getting my feet wet in the field at that opportune age. I was simultaneously attending English classes and, given the fact that I didn't have a piano at home to practice, I even came to the conclusion that the time I might spend at, or on, the piano can be devoted to English. As an Iranian I knew how mastering English could provide me with a whole host of opportunities -- something I don't regret to this day.
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It's hard to believe that it was 8 years ago that the first Apple Watch was released! I wasn't someone who dived straight in with Apple's new smart watch, but I did watch the reviews with interest and eventually, in 2016 I finally got a series 1 watch, which was actually the second version of the watch (just to make life confusing). I remember reading David Goodwin's one year anniversary blog post and a lot of his points really resonated with me.
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Intro
On November 21, 2016, I picked up my new MacBook Pro from Best Buy. It has 512GB of storage, 8GB of ram, the Touch Bar in place of function keys, and the low end of the available processors (a still-respectable 2.9GhZ Core i5). I have only owned one other Apple laptop in the past: an 11-inch Air with just 64GB of storage, from 2012. I also have a Mac Mini from 2011, which I've since upgraded with more ram and a solid state drive to make it faster.
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Last month David Woodbridge shared with us 13 reasons why he wanted an Apple Watch. In response, I gave some reasons why I would not be buying one.
However, the voice giving me what seemed like good reasons for not buying an Apple Watch was ultimately outshouted by another which kept insisting that I really, really wanted one.
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When writing last November about my short time with an 11-inch iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard Folio, I commented on being generally disappointed by the performance of VoiceOver on iPad and concluded that the iPad had little to offer for my use case and circumstances.
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On December 30th 2021, a wildfire incinerated nearly a thousand homes and retail establishments in Boulder County Colorado. I live a safe 8 miles from the destruction, but others were not as fortunate. I know many families who lost everything.
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Don and I met during college Orientation in late July 1972. He was 18 and I was 17. Don was blind and I was heading in that direction. I have retinitis pigmentosa and had already lost my night vision. Don and I saw advantages to becoming roommates. He would teach me essential future blindness skills and, per his request, I would hide his bottle of Southern Comfort.
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As the iPhone X was for iPhone and the Series 4 was for Apple Watch, the 2018 iPad Pro is a significant step forward for the iPad. Sporting a completely new and striking design with slimmer bezels than ever before, it is powered by a processor capable of outperforming those in several current MacBook models; gains Face ID biometric authentication that works in any screen orientation; and switches from Apple's proprietary Lightning port to USB-C.
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I save soap. When I travel, I do not rip-off hotel towels, coffee cups or blankets. That would be wrong. However, I do collect little bars of soap. I generally find one bar at the hotel room sink and another on the side of the tub. I unwrap one to use, and then put the other in my luggage. Before the maid comes by the next day, I surreptitiously slip the moist and somewhat diminished bar into a plastic doggy bag and stash it in a drawer. When I return to my room, I find two brand new cakes of soap waiting for me. It is almost magical!
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Intro
I've used Apple's original AirPods since the fall of 2017. About two months ago, in June of 2019, I found a good sale and upgraded to the second generation. I knew the sound wouldn't be any different, but I was intrigued by other features. I wanted the Hey Siri support, the reduced latency, the better connection, and the automatic speaking of new messages.
Now I'm here, ready to tackle the big question: is it worth upgrading? To make things a little easier, I'm going to call the two models AirPods 1 and AirPods 2 from time to time.
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In October of 1999, during a business trip to California, I had the opportunity to attend an exclusive private party on the retired luxury liner, the RMS Queen Mary. The former flagship of the White Star Line was reserved for this one very raucous bash. For me, parties usually involved two or three old friends and a single bottle of good wine. However, this was a fancy-pants event and because I am a plain old vanilla guy, I was now in way over my head.
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I really meant to finish reorganizing my home office last month. I like things orderly. I pulled everything out of my office closet with the intention of throwing just a few things away. Not a good idea. Now my treadmill is stacked with random boxes and unmatched luggage. My stationary bike has become a temporary home for my displaced leashes, coats, and sweaters. My desk is in there, cleverly hidden under uprooted technology, Braille magazines, and cables galore.
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More than twenty years ago, I was attending a MacWorld Expo during a business trip. One of my favorite distractions at these events was to hunt down any Macintosh software that used speech. Self-voicing software was rare and VoiceOver did not exist. I remember visiting with an exhibitor about their new product. I never clicked as to what the application might do for me, but the vendor promised that it would talk. Good enough. I relinquished $35 for a diskette and ran back to my hotel room to play with my new toy.
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It seems so surreal. I am in an airport. I need to go to the public restroom. I find the serpentine tiled entrance to the enclave and I work my guide dog inside. It is vacuous and sounds reflect from every direction off the hard tile walls and floor. I have no idea where the porcelain fixtures are located. I am not even sure if I am in the right bathroom. I move slowly, reaching out, hoping that I do not touch something wet or, worse, the back of someone's neck. Even if I accomplish my original goal, the nightmare is not over. In dreams of entrapment, there never seems to be an exit.