This semester, I discovered that I need some extra help with some of my data science coursework involving physics and statistics, so I went looking for online tutoring services that could help me. I was thrilled to learn that my library has a partnership with…

Recently, I was talking to a faculty mentor about interesting reading apps for kids, and the app Novel Effect came up as a great way to encourage students to read books, stories, and poems out loud. While I’ve always felt fairly comfortable with reading text…

Since I started attending college outside of Washington DC, I have met many friends that have lived all over the world and that speak multiple languages, including Hindi, Greek, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Russian, and more. I love when my friends teach me things about their…

For one of my college design classes, I had to rent a MacBook from the library and work with it for about a week. I had never used a Mac prior to this, so I messaged one of my friends and asked them to help…

Over the weekend, an image went viral of a woman holding a blindness cane and using a phone at the same time. Many people assumed that the woman was faking her vision impairment because she was looking down at her phone. The reality is, many…

A few semesters ago, I had to switch around a bunch of my classes. I went through my school’s class database and made notes of the new classes I wanted to take and their course registration numbers. After writing down all of the information, I…

Exploring the life and career of David Bowie with the “David Bowie Is…” augmented reality app, based on the traveling exhibit

As someone with low vision and a strong sensitivity to flashing lights, I rely on very observant friends and audio description services to be able to watch YouTube videos. My favorite service that provides audio description for YouTube videos is YouDescribe, because the voices are…

Since he is used to helping me with various tasks, my brother decided to download the Be My Eyes app and learn how to be a Be My Eyes volunteer. I use the Be My Eyes app often, and was curious to see what guidelines…

During my senior year of high school, I was researching assistive technology apps and found a Be My Eyes review. I was interested in the concept of having a sighted person available to help me whenever I need them. I didn’t really use the service…

Yesterday, a close friend of mine gave me a handwritten card. They asked if I would have trouble reading it, as they weren’t sure how to read handwritten cards using assistive technology. Luckily, there are many options  for people with vision impairments to read handwritten…

I’ve been working towards learning more about programming and coding languages outside of the classroom, because I want to stand out more when applying for jobs after college. One of my favorite ways to learn is through interactive apps, especially free ones, so I was…

Yesterday, Instagram announced that users could now add alt text and image descriptions to their posts, or have alt text automatically generated for them. While there are many great examples of how to write alt text and image descriptions for personal and product posts, there…

With the new update for Instagram that allows users to add their own alt text and image descriptions to their posts, comic artists now have an opportunity to share their creations with people who are vision impaired. While it may seem difficult to write alt…

How to write alt text and image descriptions for your Instagram posts