Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (May 21, 2020), and if someone told me that I would be celebrating accessibility and using assistive technology on a public platform, I would not have believed them. When I was a teenager, I wasn’t very confident with using assistive technology and felt embarrassed about “needing help” or having to do things differently, and wanted to hide my disability as much as possible. Over time, I learned various strategies for not only using assistive technology, but for improving confidence about using assistive technology and making it something I look forward to using, or incorporate as a natural part of my day. Here are my favorite tips for improving confidence about using assistive technology in honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
Show how assistive technology can be used outside of the classroom/in multiple ways
I was working with a young student who was still getting used to their changing vision, and they mentioned to me that they didn’t like having to rely on visual assistance apps for reading their math homework because it was hard to position the camera correctly. While we worked on getting the assignments in other formats, I also showed them some different ways they could use their visual assistance apps to help them with other more “fun” tasks, such as:
- Reading a picture book with a younger sibling or student
- Identifying different snacks in the kitchen
- Reading signs at a local museum
- Getting information about different plants and animals they encountered on walks with their family
- Reading handwritten notes from their friends
Once the student saw how many different things that they could do with visual assistance apps and learned more about positioning the camera, they felt much more comfortable using these types of apps in classroom or academic settings.
Related links
- Ways To Use Visual Assistance Apps For Virtual Classes
- How I Use Google Assistant While Traveling
- How To Describe Flowers for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- How I Use Be My Eyes With Low Vision
- Recognizing Images With Seeing AI
- Reading Handwriting With Assistive Technology
- Tips For Writing Letters To Visually Impaired Recipients
- How I Use My Phone As Assistive Technology In Class
Find ways to customize the appearance of the device
I love being able to customize my favorite assistive technology and accessibility settings whenever I can because it allows me to add a personal device to many of the tools that help me on a day-to-day basis. Some examples of how I customize the appearance of my devices/settings include:
- Having blindness canes with different colored segments. I have blindness canes that are purple, pink, and green/gold to match my school colors
- Changing my large mouse pointer to be a fun shade of turquoise instead of white
- Adding a colorful, high-contrast background to my iPad and computer so that I can easily see icons, instead of using a boring solid color
- Setting my phone wallpaper to be one of my favorite photos in full view, since I use a gesture-based homescreen that doesn’t have any icons, or using a rotating gallery of photos
- Wearing glasses frames that are my favorite colors and that complement the tint of my glasses well, so it is less obvious that I wear dark glasses
Other fun ideas for customizing assistive technology include:
- Adding fun stickers/cases
- Naming assistive technology tools. My friends all named my blindness canes, so I have Prince (a purple cane named after “Purple Rain”), Barbie (a pink cane), Sunshine (a yellow cane), Mason (a green/gold cane), and Abra-cane-dabra (a pencil tip cane I use for demonstrations)
- Customizing audio feedback
- Designing custom icons for programs
Related links
- How To Order Custom Colors for Blindness Canes
- Mouse Pointers and Low Vision
- Choosing Wallpapers and Backgrounds With Low Vision
- How To Create A Custom Android Home Screen For Low Vision
- How Tinted Glasses Help My Light Sensitivity
- Choosing A Phone Case With Low Vision
- How To Customize Icons In Windows 10
Find other people who use the same tools
I never met another person who was blind or that had low vision until I was in college, as I was the only student in my school district who was identified with low vision. I have had the incredible honor of meeting other students who were in the same position as I was because I know firsthand how valuable it can be to see someone else with the same disability or using the same technology.
If meeting another student isn’t an option, other great ideas include:
- Reading blogs of others with similar disabilities
- Watching YouTube videos
- Attending virtual or in-person meetups/events
- Reaching out to people on social media
As a side note, I am always happy to talk to students or blog readers- feel free to use my Contact page to reach out for questions!
Related links
- Tips To Deal With Conference FOMO
- How I Talk About Disability With New Friends
- Questions To Ask Other Students With Low Vision
- How Students Can Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Think of assistive technology as a secret weapon, not as a crutch
To be clear, I’m not trying to imply that having a disability is a superpower or some sort of secret advantage- I don’t take offense to the word disability or being referred to as disabled. However, one of my favorite tips for helping to improve confidence about using assistive technology is to think of it as a secret weapon that can be used to complete different tasks or fun activities, instead of as a crutch or as something tied to negative feelings.
As an example, here are some thoughts that I first had when I started using large print more often in my classes:
- I can’t believe that my vision is so awful that I can’t read small print anymore/I must be doing something wrong if I can’t read this
- This text seems large enough to be on a billboard
- Do the kids in the class think it is weird that I get different-looking assignments than them?
- I can’t find anything to read
- Why can’t I read my music? What note even is that?
- What if I tried to go back to smaller print?
Now that I have been regularly using larger print as my vision has changed over the years, here are some of the ways I look at it:
- I can easily increase the font size on my favorite technology so I can read it no matter what
- If I can’t see something, I have the tools to be able to read the information in large print or with a screen reader
- No one in here notices that I get large print, they are focusing on their own assignments. If they have a question, I can answer it.
- There’s an online library where I can find any book I want in a format that works well for me, and my eReader supports large print too
- I can enlarge music on my iPad or on paper, and adapt my other favorite activities to include large print
- The fact that I can’t read smaller print doesn’t mean that I am less worthy of being educated or reading for fun- I can adapt things as needed or ask for help
Related links
- How To Use Text-To-Speech With Low Vision
- How I Document Accessibility Preferences With Low Vision
- Reading Bookshare Titles With Microsoft Word
- How I’m Using My eReader To Support Virtual Learning
- My Large Print Music Binder
- Addressing The Trauma Of Sight Loss
- I Don’t Need An IEP!
- Dealing With Anxiety About Accommodations
Use humor to help with adapting to new situations
I love being able to make myself and others laugh, and have used humor many times with being able to better accept different changes with my disability and technology needs. While I don’t always feel comfortable with other people making these jokes about me unless they are my friends or also have disabilities, I do love seeing people laugh with me as I learn to use a new tool or adapt to my changing disability.
Some examples of jokes/humor I have used include:
- Referring to a video magnifier I used in high school as “the dinosaur” because it looked like a vintage computer and couldn’t fit in the classroom. I would tell people I was leaving the classroom to visit a dinosaur when I had to go use the magnifier.
- Writing a short bio for a student profile that said “I explore new places and run into walls. Sometimes both at the same time.”
- I incorporated my blindness cane into my Halloween costume for a party- I went as a bat/”blind as a bat”
- Jokingly referring to standard-sized print as “text for ants” since it seems so small to me
- Telling my friends that a large test booklet I received for a standardized test was large enough to stretch across the cafeteria, in order to help me feel less embarrassed over the large test and having to take the test in another room
- Finding humorous ways to incorporate using a human guide for certain activities. In college, I mentioned to one of my friends that people might find it weird we had to work together, so they suggested we wear matching outfits so people would know we were together, which made it easier for us to find each other for the activity as well
While it’s difficult to teach someone how to joke about their own disability or technology, it is helpful to see others have a positive attitude about their own disability or technology, which is why I try to model this behavior as often as possible.
Related links
- My Talk At A Future Date: What I Wish I Learned About AT Before Starting College
- My Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
- Paper Size and Low Vision
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
- Dealing With Paparazzi/Unwanted Attention: College O&M
- Dealing With Imposter Syndrome: College O&M
- Incorporating Blindness Canes into Halloween Costumes
Summary of tips for improving confidence about using assistive technology
- Show how assistive technology can be used outside of the classroom/in multiple ways
- Find ways to customize the appearance of the device
- Find other people who use the same tools
- Think of assistive technology as a secret weapon, not as a crutch
- Use humor to help with adapting to new situations
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