Not too long ago I bought a trendy black latex cover for my mobile ‘phone.
Only when I received it did I realise that ‘black’ meant ‘opaque’ i.e., I could not see through the cover. This wasn’t too much of a problem, so I thought, because I use the ‘phone often enough to know where the numbers, letters etc are on the keyboard. Needless to say, when I started texting and dialling ‘blind’ I got some very interesting combinations!! And it is surprisingly easy to send the message rather than clearing the wrong character I have just entered.
So, my friends are beginning to recognise which ‘phone I use, depending upon the number of half-finished or weirdly spelt texts.
And this led me to think about my friend who is totally blind (visually impaired and then some) about whom I have written a few previous articles (see Blindicles for the Arts, Blind Myths, Legends and Funny Stories: Part 1- Dispelling the Myths, Part 2- Funny Stories). Up until a couple of years ago she used a mobile ‘phone like the best of us, fingers speeding around the keyboard … but only to dial numbers; texting was a mystery and inaccessible at that time. Then, along came ‘Talks’, speech software which suddenly opened up her mobile ‘phone world to texting! Now she sends texts as often as she calls, each one perfectly spelt (she always was good at English). She finds it really funny that my ‘phone cover puts me on (more) equal terms with her regarding which keys are which, and often asks whether I texted her from my blind ‘phone due to the high number of spelling mistakes!! I daren’t tell her that it’s usually my carelessness rather than anything else!
So what started out as a bit of a pose factor for me (the trendy black case) actually made me realise how others have to operate every day, and how simple things that we often take for granted can be a barrier to others … until Mr Inventor comes along and creates something which brings sight to their world, even if only to a small degree.
Until next time …
Tags: blind, blind phone, blindness, cellphone, disability, funny stories, mobile phone, mobile phone software, sms, speech software, talks speech software, texting
31 July, 2008 at 6:01 am |
Blind but your habit can really help you. Good luck!!