Hot chocolate goodness: This morning, it's a chilly 42 degrees here in the northwest US. Lowest temperature it's been since wintertime. Yay!!! So, I'm sitting here in my favorite chair with my cup of Starbucks hot chocolate. I have a canister of the mix and a scoop in a hot cup of milk does wonders for my morning!
Got the word in four today! Tricky one.
I love asking ChatGPT to create simple line drawings for me. This is a simple line drawing of a pumpkin. I don't know if anyone who has a dot pad can access it, but perhaps so. It is just so amazing to feel the images come right onto the dot pad when I ask ChatGPT to create things for me. I always say simple line drawing. https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6acb1c1939588191adf71c1eaeb21212
Split Braille with the Monarch: For some reason, I have been perplexed by Split Braille. I asked Chat GPT to create a summary for me on how to use it with the different options. If you'd like to take a look, here's the link to the guide I've put together with Chat GPT's help: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jc0nho4iufwepvaiwx0a0/Split-Braille-View-and-the-Monarch.docx?rlkey=1fbzf5d5oa8my8eho0q7vt0ic&dl=0
Lookie lookie! During the Artimus II lunar flyby two astronauts at a time were at the windows taking images and having conversations about what they were seeing. We didn’t hear those in the live coverage but all the astronauts described the conversations as incredibly fruitful, and the coverage made vague promises that maybe that audio would be available some day. Well that day arrived! This link is to the Artimus II audio page where you can download short and long versions of those recordings, plus lots of other stuff. Just downloaded it myself and can’t wait to listen! https://www.nasa.gov/artemisaudio/
The Tech-VI announcement list celebrates its sixth anniversary today. It began on October 10, 2020. My reasons for starting it actually began in the 1990s, when I was working for Blazie Engineering. I was keeping up with blindness assistive technology even then. I had been a technology enthusiast since the 1970s when I was exposed to products as low tech as talking clocks and 4-track tape recorders and as high-tech as the Optacon, the Speech Plus Calculator and the Kurzweil Reading Machine. In addition to selling their own products, Blazie Engineering became a one-stop shop for various blindness products, including DOS and Windows screen readers, Braille translation software, speech synthesizers and Braille embossers. I was keeping up with updates to some of those products and forwarding them to my co-workers at the company. How many of them cared enough to read all of those emails I’ll never know but they never asked me to stop so I kept emailing them updates.
In 1998, I began working at AbiliTech, where I was providing technology training to blind children and adults. Most of my co-workers were doing the same type of work and I continued to keep up with various types of blindness technology. I once again took it upon myself to send out regular updates to my teammates on products like JAWS, Connect Outloud, Kurzweil 1000 and other products.
In the late 1990s, Amy Ruell ran a wonderful list called Amy’s Filters and Forwards. Amy was subscribed to many mailing lists and she used that list to forward relevant announcements to her subscribers. Those messages were related to blindness and blindness technology. At one point, Amy began charging a small annual fee for the service, which I gladly paid. I even considered reaching out to her to ask if she’d like assistance in collecting announcements for the list in exchange for me being a part of the business. As she and I had never made contact at that time and she would have likely had no idea of who I was, I decided against it.
In 2002, I moved to Associated Services for the Blind, now VisionLink, where I ran their computer training program. During my 14 years working at that agency, I continued to send my co-workers updates on all types of software. Nobody asked me to stop doing it. I never received a visit from HR, warning me to stop spamming the fourth floor staff.
Even when I moved to Comcast in 2016, I continued to send some updates to members of my team related to Web accessibility and software that we used.
I was also sending various updates to other mailing lists. For the most part, they were received positively but I eventually wondered if it was time for this type of service to have its own dedicated list. I knew about and had great respect for Top Tech Tidbits and I had probably been reading their newsletters since they first started. However, what I wanted to do is to carry on the work started in Amy’s Filters and Forwards, where announcements would be sent individually as separate emails, rather than combining them into a weekly newsletter. I briefly thought about charging an annual fee for the service. I decided against it for several reasons and I stand by that decision. I didn’t know if enough people would be interested in subscribing to a list where they might receive a substantial amount of emails on certain days dealing with blindness technology but the only way to find out was to try it. This is how the Tech-VI list was born six years ago on October 10.
One thing that I had to decide on was the name for the list. I wanted a name that would indicate that this was a blindness technology list. My original name was VI-Tech. I was quite happy with that name and would have chosen it but at the time there was a discussion list called BlindTech. I didn’t want people to confuse the two and so I felt that I had to come up with another name. I reversed the name and came up with Tech-VI. In all honesty, I didn’t care for the name at all. It felt very unnatural but, for whatever reason, I went with Tech-VI for the list’s name.
As of today, we have 1955 subscribers and the subscriber count continues to grow. I am still amazed, pleased and humbled that so many of you trust me to provide you with this information and I take that trust very seriously.
At this point, I’d like to offer a few reminders.
1. Please remember that I do not write most of the emails that I distribute. They come from a variety of sources and I always try to ensure that the original source link is provided in the message. If I have my own comments to offer regarding a specific post, I always place it at the top of the message, prefaced with the line “From the Tech-VI list owner.”
2. If the message is something that I wrote, I will clearly put my name in the subject field, such as “From David Goldfield’s Blog.”
3. While this list is and always will be free of cost, I am setting up services for those who wish to send monetary donations. Donations will never be required or even requested but they will always be appreciated. You’ll be able to donate using either Ko-fi or PayPal. I’ll alert all of you once that has been set up.
4. While this list has a focus on blindness technology, I am not available to provide free email support or free training. If you’d like to discuss paid training opportunities, feel free to visit my training page on my Web site. You can also email me with inquiries at info@DavidGoldfield.com. I am also open to discussing possible employment opportunities where my skill set can be utilized; serious offers only, please. Feel free to email me at info@DavidGoldfield.com.
5. If you’d like to browse the Tech-VI archive going back to the very first message from October 10 of 2020, you can do so via this link.
6. Feel free to let others know about the Tech-VI list. I don’t have the time or resources to engage in promotion or advertising. The subscription address is tech-vi+subscribe@groups.io.
7. Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have chosen to subscribe to this list, whether you just joined this week or you’ve been with me for the past six years. Your loyalty and trust are so appreciated. Also, if you are inclined to do so, I will always appreciate your prayers for me and for my family.
I wish you God’s blessings and peace.
Isaias weakens but flooding threat persists as hundreds of thousands grapple with power outages - The Associated Press https://apple.news/AIuFpFykvRAa6kM8-IOvVUw
Making sure everyone in the path of the storm is OK: I'm not sure where all of my followers are, but I do hope you are all OK. It would be great to hear from you.
Mrs. Fields Cookie Book available again from National Braille Press: This is two Braille volumes or an electronic download for your Braille display. Find it at the following link: https://shop.nbp.org/products/mrs-fields-cookie-book?_pos=1&_sid=06134d223&_ss=r
Shiny new email address for my podcast, At Your Fingertips: I would love to have feedback from my podcast, At Your Fingertips: Braille then and Now. Sometimes, I feel like I'm speaking into a void where the only sound is the echo of my own passion for all things Braille. Maybe that's a little dramatic. But, what really makes things interesting and engaging is to have feedback. So, WeLoveBraille@gmail.com is the shiny new email for feedback about my podcast, suggestions for topics, etc. AtYourFingertips was already taken, and so was ILoveBraille, so I went with the aforementioned address. I will mention that it was annoying to have to scan a QR code just to create a dang email account. I don't regularly scan QR codes so that was a thing.
Got the Wordle in five again today.
New feature coming Monday! https://mastodon.social/@OrbitResearch/117415229886190277 #blind #AssistiveTechnology
moths must have been bored out of their minds before we invented clothes and light bulbs
@brian PresentAble exists because Microsoft has not been willing to provide much more than basic access to PowerPoint. So, I guess I will be financially benefiting from the reality that accessibility is almost always an afterthought.
But I would like to add another thought to this discussion: I think products (like Leasey, PresentAble, and others) provide far better access and are far more usable to us as blind people than we will ever get from tech companies. This is because these products are being designed and developed by blind people for blind people. Instead of simply considering accessibility as an afterthought and/or trying to force accessibility into product designs that weren't designed with our needs in mind, we now (more than ever) are doing what sighted people have always had the ability to do. We are solving our own needs. Our products are meant for us. Even if big tech ever committed itself to being accessible, their definition of accessible would never rise to the level of accessibility we define for ourselves when we create Leasey, PresentAble, and others.
For at least 20 years, I was strongly of the mindset that we needed to put all of our effort into getting companies to understand us and better include us. While I don't believe we should ever let companies off the hook, I think we also neeed to embrace the reality that now allows us to define for us what constitutes accessibility for us. Companies will never let us define accessibility in the ways we have defined accessibility in products like Leasey and PresentAble. Companies will always force our accessibility to be a secondary or charitable add-on to what they develop for sighted customers.
So, I believe there will always be a place for Leasey, PresentAble, and all the wonderful products our community has yet to fully develop. The hard part will be getting employers to understand that they need to provide our solutions to us so we can better do the jobs they are paying us to do.
Your weekly accessibility reading is here! Ricky Onsman has rounded up this week's must read articles, podcasts, and videos from across the accessibility world. This week covers a landmark UN resolution on access to assistive technology, WordPress Accessibility Day, keyboard accessibility, assistive technology news, and much more. There is something for everyone.
Check it out: https://reading-lists.kc.vispero.com/2026/10/05/kly-reading-list-october-5-2026/
Employers worry accommodations will be expensive. The reality: most workplace accommodations for blind employees cost little or nothing. A screen reader license, some flexible document formats, a willingness to describe the whiteboard. The expensive thing is the talent you lose by assuming otherwise. #NDEAM
Oh, my, perhaps I've fallen prey to AI fiction but this was too funny not to share. Our collaboration in full.
**As the Strap Turns: A Handbag Soap Opera** 👜😂
It all began innocently enough. Quince sent me an excited notification that its Italian Leather Triple Compartment Crossbody Bag was finally back in stock. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me, and I began investigating its features.
Before I could even finish asking customer service about its construction, the bag was out of stock AGAIN!
And thus began the drama...
**Pearly**, the Lo & Sons Pearl, reclined elegantly on her shelf, casually twirling her strap with its glide adjuster.
"Oh, darling, really. All this fuss over a handbag? Some of us don't need to play hard to get. I'm available whenever you please. And do notice my glide adjuster. No fiddling with buckles and holes over here!"
From across the room, **Modern Pocket**, one of the Baggallini sisters, adjusted her lightweight nylon strap.
"Expensive? Hoity-toity? Darling, we're practical! Lightweight, organized, and perfectly capable of carrying everything a lady requires. And unlike SOME handbags, I don't need three inches of padding to make an impression!"
Her sister, **Out and About**, chimed in indignantly.
"And might I remind everyone that I can accommodate the emergency folding white cane? Some of us have talents that go well beyond looking pretty on a shelf!" 🦯
Pearly gave an elegant little sniff.
"Well, really. Must we discuss nylon in the same breath as Italian leather?"
Modern Pocket replied coolly.
"Considering I've been invited out far more often than you, Pearly, I should think so!"
Just then, **Sierra**, the American Leather Company beauty who had earned her place in the collection, spoke with quiet confidence.
"Ladies, ladies. You may argue about availability and adjustable straps all you like. I'm the one who actually got invited home and stayed."
Pearly was not about to concede.
"Well, Sierra, darling, I was invited home too. Some of us simply weren't appreciated for our considerable substance!"
And considerable substance she had, particularly in those heavily padded dividers for her tablet pocket!
Meanwhile, somewhere in a distant warehouse, **Quince** whispered dramatically:
"But... but... I'm a BESTSELLER!"
The entire handbag collection turned in unison and demanded:
**"THEN WHERE ARE YOU?!"** 🤣🤣🤣
And so concludes today's episode of *As the Strap Turns*, where the leather is luxurious, the nylon is practical, the straps are adjustable, and the inventory is apparently imaginary.
Tune in next time, when Quince's product development team may finally reveal the shocking truth about her mysterious compartment dividers!
**Will Quince ever return? Will Pearly forgive the rejection? Will Sierra maintain her throne?**
I can almost hear the announcer proclaiming, in that wonderfully dramatic soap opera voice, “These are the bags of our lives...” 🤣
Stay tuned! 😂👜
BITS will be offering our life time half off sale yet again. $100 for a life time of access to technology, mentorship, discounts, community, free software, members only courses, opportunities to make money with our partners if qualified and much more! The sale starts the Wednesday before ThanksGiving and runs through Giving Tuesday! Anyone around the world is eligible for membership.
#UsefulAIPrompts. Help me assess a product’s accessibility before I buy it. I am blind and want to understand whether I can use it independently for the tasks that matter to me.
Product:
[Enter the product name, exact model, or a link to its listing.]
My country:
[Enter your country so that models, availability, and return policies are relevant.]
What I want to use it for:
[Describe the main tasks you want to perform.]
Optional information:
- Phone or computer I would use with it:
- Features that are essential to me:
- Accessibility problems I particularly want to avoid:
- Whether occasional assistance with initial setup would be acceptable:
Getting started
Use the information I have supplied. If an important detail is missing, ask one question at a time and wait for my answer.
Establish the exact model before making model-specific claims. Check whether similarly named models, regional versions, or different generations have different controls or features.
Focus on my intended use. Do not assume that every blind person has the same needs, technical experience, or preferences.
Research
Search current manufacturer documentation, including manuals, support pages, accessibility information, and relevant software release notes.
Also look for first-hand accessibility reports from blind users, specialist reviewers, or organisations that have tested the product.
- Prefer reports that identify the model, software version, and tasks tested.
- Give dates where they matter. Flag older reports that may no longer reflect the product.
- Distinguish manufacturer claims from documented operating instructions and independent testing.
- Explain any disagreement between sources rather than silently choosing one.
- Do not treat a lack of accessibility reports as proof that the product is accessible or inaccessible.
- If you cannot browse or inspect a source, say so. Do not imply that you have checked it.
- Do not rely on advertising phrases such as “easy to use”, “voice enabled”, or “accessible design” as evidence of nonvisual access.
Assess the complete experience
Consider the tasks relevant to this product, including:
- Identifying controls, buttons, sockets, and orientation.
- Initial setup, pairing, account creation, and network connection.
- Everyday operation and changing settings.
- Reading status, progress, results, warnings, and error messages.
- Recovering from mistakes, connection failures, or unexpected modes.
- Cleaning, maintenance, replacing consumables, and resetting the product.
- Installing updates and repeating setup after a reset.
Distinguish between assistance needed once during setup and assistance needed repeatedly during normal use.
Controls and feedback
Explain how I would actually perform important tasks without sight.
- Are physical buttons distinguishable by touch?
- Do controls have fixed positions and predictable behaviour?
- Can settings be identified reliably, or must I remember a starting state and count button presses?
- Does the product provide meaningful speech, tones, tactile feedback, or accessible text?
- Do sounds identify particular states, or merely confirm that something happened?
- Is important information shown only through lights, colours, symbols, or a visual display?
- If there is a touchscreen, is there documented screen-reader support or another verified way to complete the same tasks?
- If voice control is available, which functions does it cover, and what happens when it fails?
Do not assume that physical buttons make the whole product accessible, or that a touchscreen makes it inaccessible.
Companion apps and online services
If a phone app, computer program, or website is involved, assess it separately from the physical product.
Check compatibility with my device and screen reader where relevant. Distinguish between an app being available on a platform and being usable with its screen reader.
Explain whether the app is optional, required only for setup, or required for everyday use. Identify any essential tasks that remain inaccessible even if other parts of the app work.
Mention relevant dependencies such as internet access, subscriptions, cloud services, or a particular operating system. Do not describe an app-based workaround as reliable unless there is evidence for the specific task.
Present the findings
Begin with a short practical verdict focused on my intended use: promising, suitable with limitations, probably unsuitable, or insufficient evidence.
Then use clear headings and short lists to cover:
1. Tasks that appear usable independently.
2. Tasks that require a workaround or assistance.
3. Important unknowns.
4. Questions to ask before buying.
For each significant finding, make the evidence clear:
- Documented: supported by a manual or other specific manufacturer documentation.
- User-tested: reported by someone who actually tried the task; identify the relevant setup where known.
- Unverified: plausible, claimed, or suggested, but not established by the available evidence.
Manufacturer documentation is not the same as independent verification. Do not claim that the whole product is accessible because one feature works.
Describe workarounds realistically, including their inconvenience and limitations. Treat tactile labels, memorised sequences, camera assistance, and help from another person as workarounds rather than built-in accessibility. Do not assume they suit my needs.
Questions before purchase
Give up to five specific, practical questions to ask the seller or manufacturer. Focus on unresolved issues that could affect my decision.
Ask about particular tasks rather than simply asking, “Is it accessible?”
Include a way to test the exact product, such as a demonstration, a trial, or trying it with my own phone and screen reader.
Include checking the applicable return policy, especially whether opening, setting up, pairing, or briefly testing the product affects eligibility, and whether return costs or fees apply. Verify the seller’s terms where possible rather than assuming them.
Finish with the most useful next step, such as testing a particular function or obtaining written confirmation of an essential feature. If the evidence is insufficient, say what would resolve the uncertainty.
Accessibility and style
Use clear headings, short paragraphs, and simple lists that work well with a screen reader. Do not use tables, emojis, decorative symbols, or asterisks for emphasis.
Explain unfamiliar technical terms briefly. Give source links descriptive labels, and keep them close to the findings they support.
Be practical and candid. Do not offer blanket reassurance, invent test results, or describe a product as fully accessible without evidence covering the relevant tasks.
Output only necessary clarification questions or the assessment. Do not add acknowledgements, commentary about what you will do, or generic closing offers of help.
Got the wordle in five. A little tricky for me today.