https://kathiecomments.wordpress.com/2023/06/05/digital-access-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-user/

Digital Access: a day in the life of a user
05/06/2023 //
1
                At a recent committee meeting, I was asked: What is the current state of digital access for those of you who use screen readers? Here’s a report about one day’s usage by one heavy user.
                Every day I read and respond to the hundred-plus emails that go to my county and university email boxes. Personal emails are generally quite accessible, even including some emojis, but some of the advertising emails are not very accessible.
I monitor a couple hundred podcast feeds and those are totally accessible.
I skim health, books, religion and science sections of six newspapers on NFBNewsline, created for the blind, so totally accessible. On the other hand, I struggle to read the front-page headlines and the obituaries from the local newspaper which is quite inaccessible and is not interested in becoming more accessible. They  say without even looking into it that they can’t afford it.
I found three books I want to add to my TBR list, none of which are available in accessible format from the Public Library, Libby, The National Library Service or Bookshare. Two are available for purchase on Kindle, which is accessible. The third book which I couldn’t find anywhere in accessible format and which I really, really wanted, triggered my last-ditch approach which is email the author and plead my case for a final draft of the book. I promised not to share it and offered to pay the regular price. The author emailed back the same day and she sent  it, “Consider the Lilies” a book of poetry by Connie Wanek.
                I use Alexa to check the weather forecast and to get a recipe for some bluegills a friend brought me. I also play a few word games every day on Alexa; we seniors have to keep our brains sharp!
                Then of course, I have to do Wordle, which was made accessible by a plug-in developed by a kind volunteer, not the New York Times that now owns Wordle.
                As I review my electronic  packets for upcoming meetings, they are mostly quite accessible. Sometimes spread sheets of numbers being read by a screen reader make no sense, so I arrange for a staff member or another committee member to go over them verbally with me and I take notes on my 65-year-old Braille writer so I can participate knowledgeably in the meeting.
                Participating online in meetings is largely accessible, especially by Zoom. Other platforms are less friendly, but if there’s a phone-in option, it’s still doable. If people give their names when they speak and somebody stops and reads the chat aloud occasionally, they are accessible.
                Then there’s the fun stuff:
·        Checking this week’s  New York Times best sellers lists, all three of the new books I want are available from Bookshare—yes!
·        Over half of the Facebook posts by “friends” have some description like “peonies” of the picture they post, as opposed to the AI-generated “may be flowers”. My nagging for pithy descriptions and typing out book titles instead of just a picture of the book they recommend, has worked some.
·        A recent NPR story about an Ada Limón poem being sent on an upcoming mission to Jupiter caught my fancy. Folks from all over the world can sign on a chip that will be sent on this mission to Europa. Of course, Calvin and I signed on!
                Here’s the last bit of Poet Laureate Limón’s beautiful poem:
“O second moon, we, too, are made
of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark.”
                So, in a word, the current state of digital access is “glass half full”, I’d say. It takes about three times as long because I can’t point and click, and I may have to try several ways to get what I want, but I usually get it done. Partly it’s doable because I persist, but mostly because digital content creators are becoming more aware and responsive to the needs of those of us who use assistive technology. Whether it’s because it’s the law, or because they just plain care and want to share the good stuff, all efforts are appreciated.
CategoriesAging

https://kathiecomments.wordpress.com/category/aging-2/