Low Vision

Free options for blind/low vision users that can help with accessing online images that do not contain alt text or image descriptions that can be read by a screen reader

On July 7th, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual event with the West Virginia affiliate for the Association for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (also known as AERBVI or simply as AER). During the event, I shared some of…

When I was in middle school, I began to experience academic ableism in the classroom, primarily from my teachers. While I was fortunate to have many wonderful teachers who helped me to develop a love of learning and a sense of belonging in the classroom,…

Almost five years ago, I was sitting in my dorm room at George Mason University, bored out of my mind and trying to figure out what to do for the weekend. My homework for my assistive technology class was finished at this point, and I…

Over the weekend, my friend and I had the awesome opportunity to watch Mischief Movie Night In with audio description. We’re both huge fans of The Play That Goes Wrong, so when we learned that Mischief was going to be doing a virtual broadcast that…

While I have had a strong love for assistive technology for many years now, my love for banana bread is much more recent. I thought of banana bread just like I had thought of blindness canes and screen magnification software in years past- I thought…

I’ve had a lot of conversations with people on social media about alt text, including common myths about alt text and how to write alt text. Alt text isn’t really talked about a lot, and many people have misconceptions about what it does or how…

As a user with low vision and a neurological condition, I rely on accessibility settings for iPad so that I can access information and interact with different types of content. However, there are some cases where I do not need to have settings enabled constantly,…

Today (4 January 2021) is World Braille Day, a day that commemorates Louis Braille’s birthday and that celebrates the tactile system for reading and writing that he created that is used by people who are blind or visually impaired from all around the world. While…

One of my favorite things that I’ve written about on Veronica With Four Eyes is all about creative uses for Microsoft Office Sway, especially using Microsoft Office Sway with low vision or for low vision audiences. Below, I am linking a preview of some of…

This weekend, I had the opportunity to give a flash talk about writing media descriptions for current events as part of the Protest Access-a-Thon, an event hosted by a group called Protest Access that focuses on making content related to protests and current events accessible…

This semester, I noticed a new tool within my online classes called Blackboard Ally that could transform the way that I access materials as a student with low vision that fluctuates frequently. I’ve been using Blackboard Ally for about a week and a half now,…

Recently, I received a message from a Teacher of the Visually Impaired asking about the most common tech skills for virtual classes that I use in college, as they were helping to prepare their students for taking online and hybrid classes in college by giving…

Recently, I was browsing Pinterest looking at different outfit possibilities for a casual dress that I’d just purchased online, and I started thinking about how to write alt text for casual outfits that I often see online. These images are frequently shared on social media…

One of the common stereotypes I first believed when I was told that I should consider buying a blindness cane is that all canes are one size fits all and that it’s as easy as choosing a random cane online and checking out. However, I…