Steve Sawczyn

  • The joys of a summer cold and the weird voice that came with it

    I’m actually feeling OK, but this summer cold I have has sure affected my voice in an unexpected way. summer-cold-may-19-2024-at-18-05-08-ss.m4a

  • I know I’ve asked this before, but as things change with time, I’m curious what other Micro.blog users are using to allow non-MB users to comment on posts? Thinking of users who receive posts via RSS, Email, or a non-federated channel like LinkedIn.

  • Artist sculpts famous works of art for visually impaired to enjoy

    My sister shared me this story and I thought it was so neat that I wanted to share it with all of you. Note, when activating this link, you may need to find an unmute button as for me anyway, the video starts playing on mute.

    www.today.com/video/art…

  • Do we really need aria-required=“true” any more given that HTML5 has a required attribute already? I know it used to be needed in certain situations, I’m just not sure if that’s still the case.

  • I’d just like to give a shoutout to Excedrin Migraine. Not sure what magic sauce this stuff is made of, but it does wonders for me.

  • I just wanna apologize to everyone for all the GoodReads spam: I really do more than just read books, I really really do. :) I also think I’m somehow posting multiple updates for each book which I’m not sure yet how to fix.

  • Seeking a new VPN provider, does anyone have suggestions?

    I’m looking for a new VPN provider and am curious if any of my readers use one that they would recommend. I’ve been extremely happy with my current VPN provider, ExpressVPN, but $116.95 billed every 12 months is frankly more than I want to pay for a VPN service that I only use occasionally. Ideally, the perfect VPN for me would:

    • Be accessible on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.

    • Allow 3RD party clients to be used if needed, such as if their main client becomes inaccessible because of an update or something.

    • Alert me if the connection has been dropped. After all, a VPN that would allow traffic to proceed normally if the VPN connection drops is not very useful. My work VPN has no trouble managing this, but I haven’t encountered a consumer VPN product yet that does this right — maybe I’ve just been using the wrong ones?

    When reading various reviews for VPN services, they often contain a number of features that don’t interest me particularly although I guess they would be bonuses:

    • Ability to direct traffic through a specific country.

    • Ability to circumvent geolocation restrictions.

    • Additional products unrelated to the VPN itself such as password managers and the like.

    If you use a VPN service that you like, I would definitely love to learn more. And if you can get some sort of referral credit by sharing an affiliate link, feel free to pass that along as well.

  • Tactile marks on currencies

    I have been very interested in tactile markings on currency, in part because it seems like this is a thing the US will never have. What I didn’t realize though is just how many different systems and variations exist throughout the world. Fortunately for me, my good friend Tom, aka The Blind Coin Collector, wrote a fantastic post on the subject which summarizes many of the systems that currently exist throughout the world. I know I certainly learned something new and hope you will enjoy his post as much as I did.

    This post is primarily created to help blind people who travel to a different country and would like a quick reference on how to recognize the local …

    Tactile marks on currencies

  • I’ve known about it for years, but I only just started playing with Ulysses. This might just be the coolest and most VoiceOver-accessible editor I’ve come across on Mac and iOS. @ulyssesapp.social.ulysses.app

  • Not sure if it changed with iOS17, but just checked out Apple’s Podcast app and it seems like it’s had quite a lot of improvements. Not sure I’ll switch from OverCast, but I don’t remember the interface being as intuitive before.

  • Dyslexia is largely considered a visual disability, but what is the experience like for someone who is blind? I was just asked this and genuinely do not know.

  • There are so many online learning platforms out there now – Udemy, MasterClass, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera just to name a few – anyone know how accessible any of them are?

  • Wow, I just saw that Henry Kissinger has passed away. I confess I didn’t know he was still alive, but it’s still a bit of a shock.

  • Is anyone anywhere using Microsoft Teams on Mac OS with either VoiceOver, or with just the keyboard? Finding it extremely frustrating to navigate and not sure if it’s just me, or if something really awful is going on with Teams.

  • A quick note of thanks and a happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate

    Today is Thanksgiving in the US which, while often characterized by large and incredibly tasty meals, is really a time, well, to give thanks. And so I would like to give thanks to all of you, for reading my words, for your comments, and for just being supportive of me and my blogging journey. I realize I don’t blog nearly as much as I should – certainly not as much as I’d like – and yet you’re still here, still reading, for which I’m very grateful. So thank you again and, if you celebrate Thanksgiving today, I hope yours has been a happy one.

  • Wow, I haven’t logged in here via the web in a while and apparently while I was off doing other stuff, a really awesome Bookshelves feature got added. This is so neat.

  • The Take Control Books 20TH Anniversary Sale, an incredible opportunity.

    I am a long time reader of the Take Control series of books which cover a wide range of mainly technology topics. The thing I love about the Take Control Books series is that they provide value whether you are new to a particular topic, or whether you consider yourself more advanced. Well written, thoroughly researched, and especially for those of us who can’t see the screen shots, very descriptive, the Take Control Books are definitely worth checking out. Even better, they’re having an awesome 20TH anniversary sale during which all their books are priced at 2003 levels or, put another way, all of their awesome books are priced at $5.00. You can read more about their 20TH anniversary or check out their awesome catalog, but hurry because this sale ends tonight, at 11:59:59 PM, Saskatoon Canada time. Now if you’re like me and you read that last sentence and are thinking “Gosh, I’d love to get a few books, but somehow I’ve forgotten how the time in Saskatoon matches up with my local time zone.”, don’t feel bad because this handy resource will let you view the ending time of this sale in your local time.

    I don’t often recommend sales like this on my blog, but I felt I should make an exception in this case because the Take Control series has proven invaluable to me over the years and they may prove similarly for you as well.

    Have you ever read any of the Take Control books? Did you decide to purchase any from this sale? Let me know in the comments.

  • Testing integration with the Fediverse

    Recently, WordPress introduced a feature to enable blogs hosted on WordPress.com to be directly integrated with the fediverse. This is particularly exciting to me as I think the Fediverse has the potential to really bring people together in ways that “traditional” social media is not able to accomplish. Now if you’re reading this and wondering, “What the heck is the Fediverse?” you’re not alone. I’ll talk more about that and what the integration means to me and what it means for the blog in a future post, for now, I just want to test that things are working.

  • An introduction to Accessibility Advocacy: an Interview With Steve Sawczyn

    I’m truly honored to appear in AccessWorld, Summer 2023 edition. Also, n extra thank-you to Steve Kelley for taking an interest in helping to tell my story.

    https://www.afb.org/aw/24/6/18363

    About The American Foundation for the Blind

    The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a non-profit organization that has been working tirelessly since 1921 to create a world of inclusion, independence, and opportunity for individuals with vision loss. They provide advocacy, resources, and programs to support the blind and visually impaired community.

    One of AFB’s flagship publications is AccessWorld, a magazine dedicated to technology and accessibility for people who are blind or visually impaired. AccessWorld covers a wide range of topics, including assistive technology, accessible websites and apps, educational resources, employment opportunities, and more.

    AccessWorld serves as a source of information and inspiration for the blind and visually impaired community, as well as professionals and advocates in the field. It features in-depth articles, product reviews, and expert opinions to help its readers navigate the ever-evolving landscape of accessible technology.

    To learn more, you can visit the AccessWorld website at https://www.afb.org/aw/

  • If I had to give up one word that I use regularly, I think that word would be, "disability"

    Daily writing prompt
    If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?
    View all responses

    WordPress has these daily writing prompts and while I often just ignore them, this one caught my attention. If i had to give up a word that I use frequently, I think that word would be “disability”. Disability is a word that is really hard for me to avoid, especially given my work and given that, well, I have a disability. And yet I feel the word often seems to create division. In many respects it’s a sort of label: Does that person have a disability? Do they identify as having a disability? Are they a person with a disability? Are they disabled? If two people use the word disability, are they even talking about the same thing?

    No matter how we phrase it, I find the word, disability, to be very labeling and rarely is that a good thing. This isn’t to say that I have anything against people identifying with their specific “disability”, (I actually think that doing so is a positive thing), but the word “disability” itself has come to encompass so many things that it’s becoming challenging to define. Consider the CDC’s definition of disability:

    A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).

    CDC | Disability and Health Overview

    Heck, that definition describes a lot of people before they’ve had their first cup of coffee in the morning, doesn’t it? The interesting thing about the CDC’s definition is that it talks about “more difficult to do” and not inability to do. I think that’s great except I don’t think it’s possible to remove the word ability from disability, no matter how it’s defined.

    So, if I think of a word that I use too often and would love to get rid of, “disability” is the word that comes to mind for me. And yet if I were to challenge myself to not use the word for a week, or even a day, I’m not entirely sure I could do it.

  • Recalling Details About People Without Remembering Their Name, Is There An App For That?

    I’m just going to come right out and say it: I have a really hard time remembering names. It’s not a blindness thing; it’s a me thing. I can remember the most obscure details about people, but when it comes to important stuff like names, my brain often just goes blank. I’ve often wished I had an app that would let me keep track of information about a person so that I can find their information later based on some detail I remember. In my head, I’m envisioning a sort of personal LinkedIn where I could search something like “Works at XYZ, does training, hates mushrooms” and have it return the person’s name. Now, you’re probably reading this and wondering, what do mushrooms have to do with anything? I enjoy talking to people, learning about their lives, and often, that leads to discovering things we may have in common. I don’t like mushrooms myself, and so while I may not remember a person’s name or exact job title, I likely would remember if they told me that they don’t like mushrooms.

    I’ve tried keeping track of details in the Notes field of contact cards, in Microsoft OneNote, Word documents, Apple Notes, and similar systems, but while these apps work for storing information, recalling, or searching for it has not worked well for me. I can’t imagine I’m completely alone in this. My guess is that people who work in sales, regularly attend conferences, or who interact with many people for whatever reason, could have similar struggles. If you are such a person, I’d love to learn any tips, tricks, apps, or other techniques that you’ve found helpful. Please reach out directly, or if you comment right here on this post, others may find the info helpful as well. Thanks in advance… Oh, and if we meet up somewhere and I don’t seem to remember you, please be a bit patient with me. After all, I probably do remember that you love apple pie, and of course, I remember that you have great taste when it comes to the blog content you read. :)

  • 10 Ways to Make Your Site More Accessible

    I don’t remember if I’ve posted this before, but even if I have, I think it’s always good to have a reminder when it comes to making blog and other content more accessible.

    wordpress.com/blog/2020…

  • Playing around with Aiko, an amazing, accessible transcription app for Mac and iOS

    I recently heard about this fantastic app, available for both Mac OS and iOS, called Aiko which leverages AI technology to transcribe audio. What sets Aiko apart from similar solutions though include, in part:

    • It’s free, totally free.

    • Audio can be dictated directly into the app, or a pre-recorded file can be imported. I’m particularly excited about this second piece.

    • Everything happens on the end-user’s device, nothing is sent to the cloud.

    • Multiple languages are supported, we’re talking a lot of languages: 100 languages according to Aiko’s home page.

    I was excited to test out this fascinating technology and so to really put it through it’s paces, in a sub-optimal recording environment, I decided to record some audio using my Apple Watch, while standing outside with lots of traffic and other background noise. What follows is the unedited output of my little experiment. I’m also adding the actual recorded audio, so that you can get a sense of the crummy audio I gave Aiko to work with.

    Hello, and thanks for joining me today.

    I’m playing with an app called AIKO.

    It’s an app that leverages Whisper, which is a technology made by OpenAI, the folks that brought us ChatGPT.

    Now unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of months, I’m sure you’ve heard quite a lot about ChatGPT and the fascinating possibilities it opens up to us.

    Anyway, Whisper, and on top of that this AIKO app, allow transcription of audio.

    The interesting thing about it is that you can record directly in the AIKO app, or you can import audio, say from a file that was pre-recorded.

    For example, you might have a pre-recorded audio file of a lecture or a class.

    You would be able to import it into this AIKO app, transcription would happen, and then you would have the output as text.

    For my test today, I’m standing outside in front of my house recording on my Apple Watch with traffic going by.

    And the reason I’m doing this is because I wanted to come up with a very sub-optimal recording environment, just to better understand how the technology would deal with audio recorded in such an environment.

    I’m also trying to speak as naturally as I can without saying words like um and uh, things that I think often get said when speaking.

    The interesting thing about AIKO and the way that it transcribes audio is that it supposedly is able to insert punctuation correctly.

    I’m not sure if it does anything about paragraphs or not, but as the speaker, I don’t have any way of controlling format.

    Once you run a file or recording through AIKO, the output is rendered as text.

    However, there are a few things you can do with it.

    First, you can of course copy the text into some other application.

    The other thing that you can do is have the text be timestamped.

    The reason that this can be handy is that you can use that then to create files that can be used as closed captioning for videos.

    Anyway, it is kind of loud out here, and so I will go back inside.

    I also didn’t want to make this too long because I’m not sure if it’ll work at all or how accurate it’ll be, but my plan is to post this to the blog without editing it.

    Stop, stop, stop.

    Aiko-generated transcription from my Apple Watch recording.

    One final note, the dictation ends with the words “stop stop”.  I didn’t actually speak those words, but because I have VoiceOver activated on my Apple Watch, they were picked up in the recording as I located and activated the stop button.  This is definitely incredible technology and the price certainly can’t be beat. From an accessibility perspective, I found Aiko to be extremely accessible with VoiceOver on both Mac and IOS and since it is a native app using native controls, I feel confident that it will work with other assistive technologies as well. You can find more information about Aiko, including FAQs, links to app store pages and more here.

  • There’s an Internet outage here which has been going on for a few hours. No idea how I’m supposed to make coffee, use my microwave, start my Instant Pot, do the laundry, adjust my thermostat, or unlock my front door. Isn’t the #InternetOfThings great? :)

  • When Success Means Buying a Smaller Suit

    Recently, I got to participate on the Parallel podcast talking about, of all things, accessibility and fitness. The reason I phrase it this way is that anyone who knows me probably knows that fitness and I don’t normally go together in the same setence, let alone the same podcast. From the show description:

    Starting or maintaining a fitness program is a challenge for anyone. If you have accessibility needs, you might experience barriers related to touchscreen devices, coaching that doesn’t address a hearing or visual disability, or a need for accommodations related to physical limitations. With its Fitness+ service, Apple has taken on some of these issues, and opened up the program to many more people with disabilities, We’ll talk with a Fitness+ user, and someone who has worked on Apple accessibility teams.

    https://www.relay.fm/parallel/80

    Talking about anything fitness related has always been challenging for me and so I want to particularly thank the ever-awesome Shelly Brisbin for being brave enough to include me. I also want to especially thank Sommer Panage and the other unsung heros that dare to dream of a more accessible world, and work so hard to make that a reality.

    Parallel can be found everywhere great podcasts can be found, more info about the episode and how to subscribe to Parallel, which you should totally consider doing whether you listen to this episode or not, can be found on Parallel’s home page.

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