Great post! I enjoyed your discussion of the history of audio games, and especially pointing out the truth behind Apple's motives. I have been totally blind from birth and I was one of those kids who went to a Mac only school, which completely blocked me from participating in computer-based activities. Eventually the district bought me a DOS laptop, but it was only good for wordprocessing. Eventually I learned to connect to the Internet through UNIX, but that was much later. For a couple of decades I absolutely despised Apple for the exclusion I experienced. Our school had lots of educational games some of which probably could've been made accessible, but I never got to play any of them.
Whatever their motives, Apple is now The simplest, if the most expensive, accessibility game in town. A few weeks ago I was reminiscing with a blind friend I've known since we were around 20, and I was saying how frustrating it is that we're really not any further forward accessibility wise than we were then. Sure there are some things we can donow that we couldn't do then, but there are just as many things that we still can't do, or which have been invented since and still not made accessible. Who would've thought that in the year 2026 there would be date selectors on the web that wouldn't be accessible? There have been purchases my husband or I couldn't make because we couldn't select the expiration date for our bank card.
I think 25 years ago I believed that if we just did enough raising of awareness and education the world would change. Unfortunately it seems like in accessibility is one zombie that simply will not die.
"One zombie that simply will not die," why didn't I use that line?
Yeah wondering how we're still here in 2026 is just my default mindset every day. I also had inaccessible Macs in school, and so I was never taught screen readers as a kid, even though they were around by then. But I had the option at the time to use magnifiers (physical, not software) to enlarge things, so that was my patchwork solution. All those computer classes, in retrospect, were such a waste of my time. I could have learned skills then that I had to teach myself later as my vision deteriorated.
Saw your first post - hope you start writing here! As long as you have time/it's not a stress.
Thanks for your encouraging words about my stack! I usually talk myself out of writing by thinking through something over and over until I'm bored with it and never actually writing anything down, so we'll see how it goes. (Lol)) I'm more of a conversationalist than a writer.
The state of accessibility is certainly depressing. Our generation worked really hard to try to educate the public, but it doesn't feel like any of the needles have even quivered and I've run out of energy for dealing with people's ignorance. It's harder than ever to be nice to people when they come up and compliment me on my ability to walk upstairs, use silverware, or do any of those other heroic everyday tasks people get so inspired by. (Lol)
Nowadays I bemoan the fact that I'm just slightly too old to be a digital native. I mentored some younger blind people when I was in my 30s, and the tools they had at their disposal are things I would've given a great deal for when I was in school. They would be assigned research projects, and they could actually do the research independently on a computer! I would be assigned research projects, and then scolded when I couldn't convince my parents that it was their job to help me do them.
assigned research projects, and then scolded when I couldn't convince my parents that it was their job to help me do them.
It sounds like you had another common problem where you were taught to maximize your vision for all it was worth and then some when it would've been better to be teaching you things like braille and Kane travel. It seems like you've certainly masteredmobility skills though. There's a mindset where using vision is infinitely better than using an alternative technique even if the vision is almost nonexistent and relying on it gives the person a terrible headache and takes 10 times longer than using speech or braille wood. it's frustrating when the message is you should be completely independent and be able to get a job and do everything an able-bodied person can on the one hand, meanwhile there are card readers in stores with inaccessible touchscreens with no work-around for blind customers. I wish they would either give us the tools to access the world on an equal footing, or give us financial support so we can care for ourselves and do what we can with what actually exists.
So that's my rent for today. (Lol) maybe reading posts on here will educate some people and help them change their thinking, but if not at least we can make each other feel seen. I really enjoy your humorous posts since laughing is a great frustration management technique.
I mean if you're more of a conversationalist, you can podcast on here too, just saying. And thanks for the kind words! People feeling seen/more people seeing an experience they're not used to, and having a good time while doing it is a lot of what I'm here to do.
I definitely could have used blindness skills earlier on. I think the trainers who want anyone with low vision to learn blindness skills as though they were completely blind are on the right track. And I hear you on the tools younger people get to use. I think that's probably a feeling most generations have as they get older though.
Great post! I enjoyed your discussion of the history of audio games, and especially pointing out the truth behind Apple's motives. I have been totally blind from birth and I was one of those kids who went to a Mac only school, which completely blocked me from participating in computer-based activities. Eventually the district bought me a DOS laptop, but it was only good for wordprocessing. Eventually I learned to connect to the Internet through UNIX, but that was much later. For a couple of decades I absolutely despised Apple for the exclusion I experienced. Our school had lots of educational games some of which probably could've been made accessible, but I never got to play any of them.
Whatever their motives, Apple is now The simplest, if the most expensive, accessibility game in town. A few weeks ago I was reminiscing with a blind friend I've known since we were around 20, and I was saying how frustrating it is that we're really not any further forward accessibility wise than we were then. Sure there are some things we can donow that we couldn't do then, but there are just as many things that we still can't do, or which have been invented since and still not made accessible. Who would've thought that in the year 2026 there would be date selectors on the web that wouldn't be accessible? There have been purchases my husband or I couldn't make because we couldn't select the expiration date for our bank card.
I think 25 years ago I believed that if we just did enough raising of awareness and education the world would change. Unfortunately it seems like in accessibility is one zombie that simply will not die.
"One zombie that simply will not die," why didn't I use that line?
Yeah wondering how we're still here in 2026 is just my default mindset every day. I also had inaccessible Macs in school, and so I was never taught screen readers as a kid, even though they were around by then. But I had the option at the time to use magnifiers (physical, not software) to enlarge things, so that was my patchwork solution. All those computer classes, in retrospect, were such a waste of my time. I could have learned skills then that I had to teach myself later as my vision deteriorated.
Saw your first post - hope you start writing here! As long as you have time/it's not a stress.
Thanks for your encouraging words about my stack! I usually talk myself out of writing by thinking through something over and over until I'm bored with it and never actually writing anything down, so we'll see how it goes. (Lol)) I'm more of a conversationalist than a writer.
The state of accessibility is certainly depressing. Our generation worked really hard to try to educate the public, but it doesn't feel like any of the needles have even quivered and I've run out of energy for dealing with people's ignorance. It's harder than ever to be nice to people when they come up and compliment me on my ability to walk upstairs, use silverware, or do any of those other heroic everyday tasks people get so inspired by. (Lol)
Nowadays I bemoan the fact that I'm just slightly too old to be a digital native. I mentored some younger blind people when I was in my 30s, and the tools they had at their disposal are things I would've given a great deal for when I was in school. They would be assigned research projects, and they could actually do the research independently on a computer! I would be assigned research projects, and then scolded when I couldn't convince my parents that it was their job to help me do them.
assigned research projects, and then scolded when I couldn't convince my parents that it was their job to help me do them.
It sounds like you had another common problem where you were taught to maximize your vision for all it was worth and then some when it would've been better to be teaching you things like braille and Kane travel. It seems like you've certainly masteredmobility skills though. There's a mindset where using vision is infinitely better than using an alternative technique even if the vision is almost nonexistent and relying on it gives the person a terrible headache and takes 10 times longer than using speech or braille wood. it's frustrating when the message is you should be completely independent and be able to get a job and do everything an able-bodied person can on the one hand, meanwhile there are card readers in stores with inaccessible touchscreens with no work-around for blind customers. I wish they would either give us the tools to access the world on an equal footing, or give us financial support so we can care for ourselves and do what we can with what actually exists.
So that's my rent for today. (Lol) maybe reading posts on here will educate some people and help them change their thinking, but if not at least we can make each other feel seen. I really enjoy your humorous posts since laughing is a great frustration management technique.
I mean if you're more of a conversationalist, you can podcast on here too, just saying. And thanks for the kind words! People feeling seen/more people seeing an experience they're not used to, and having a good time while doing it is a lot of what I'm here to do.
I definitely could have used blindness skills earlier on. I think the trainers who want anyone with low vision to learn blindness skills as though they were completely blind are on the right track. And I hear you on the tools younger people get to use. I think that's probably a feeling most generations have as they get older though.