The British Museum and VocalEyes team up for upcoming exhibition
We all want to get back to traveling, and especially going to museums again. Many in the visually impaired community have concerns about the dynamics of COVID-19 and returning to travel destinations like museums. In the meantime, it is great to see museums like The British Museum offering virtual options to visit and learn about their exhibitions.
Tantra: Audio Described talk Describing ten prominent pieces from the collection is an online event happening this October. from the article:
VocalEyes(Opens in new window)‘ Lonny Evans leads this audio-described event, which provides evocative visual descriptions of 10 key works from the Tantra enlightenment to revolution exhibition, alongside images of each object. Lonny will be joined by exhibition curator Imma Ramos as we explore this radical South Asian philosophy from its birth in India to the present day.
VocalEyes is a London-based charity that provides blind and partially-sighted people with opportunities to experience and enjoy art and heritage.
This event is designed for blind and partially sighted audiences, but all are welcome. The event includes live captioning delivered by Stagetext(Opens in new window).
Part of the public program accompanying the special exhibition, Tantra: enlightenment to revolution (24 September 2020 – 24 January 2021).
To attend this online event
Click ‘Book now(Opens in new window)‘ to secure your place. We are hosting the event on Zoom – a free video conferencing system that requires users to register in advance. If you do not already use Zoom, you can sign up using this registration link(Opens in new window).
If you have any access requirements or need assistance booking this event please email access@britishmuseum.org or phone 020 7323 8971.
The event is being held via Zoom, a video service which I have personally found to be very easy to use. Once you register, they will send you an email with a link that will bring you directly into the virtual stream on the day of the event.
If you would like more information, here is a link for the event from the British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/events/tantra-audio-described-talk
And here is a link from the Museum Association reporting on a survey VocalEyes, (a London-based agency helping to make content more accessible for sight impaired viewers) recently conducted around the concerns of returning to normal activities amid the COVDI-19 pandemic.
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My Photography: https://www.tahquechi.com
Twitter and Instagram: @nedskee
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ just got more accessible to blind audiences
It makes me happy that many of the streaming services are catching up with audio describes content for the sight imp[aired. Apple TV has always been a bit ahead of the curve in that department, but now Netflix has taken the first step to making a popular animated series more accessible. Avatar: The Last Airbender is now available with audio description. I’m looking forward to watching the series again and hearing what I missed on my initial viewing experience.
I’m personally overjoyed that streaming companies are taking the audio described content to heart, and even game companies are taking audio content by the reigns with the new The Last of Us which can be played completely without sight. Now, if we can only solve the issue of dialogue in another language. I have always found it difficult to wat5ch shows like Breaking Bad which have a large non-English component to the stories. While the addition of non-English language adds context to a show, those of us who can’t see find it a bit difficult to read the subtitles. Listening to the way the actors deliver the line allows for picking up some context of the story told in a non-English language, but I’m sure much of the story that is driven by non-English subtitles is not on the sight impaired. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about the lack of accessibility and I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth I am happy that there is change happening and that content is becoming more accessible. It is just something that should have happened a long time ago.
Here is an article on the Last Airbender series, which can be watched on Netflix now with audio description.
Google adds new accessible functionality to Docs
If you are a Google Docs, Sheets or Slides user you will be happy to learn that Google has added a new shortcut command to instantly toggle Braille displays:
Google is making it easier for visually impaired people to use its Microsoft Office alternatives. The biggest change is a new shortcut — Ctrl+Alt+H on Windows, and CMD+Option+H on Mac — to instantly toggle Braille support in Docs, Sheets and Slides.
The free Google productivity applications have long been a step behind Microsoft Office in terms of overall accessibility. The last big accessibility access update for the suite of applications was in 2018, when they added magnifier and voice over functionality. I’m glad Google is still working toward accessibility and making it easier for their blind and visually impaired users to surf the web and be productive using their applications.
I love to hear from my readers! if you have questions about this or any other article here on Blind Travels, feel free to use the contact form on this site or friend me on Instagram or Twitter. I’ll happily follow you back and we can converse there.
My Photography: https://www.tahquechi.com
Instagram and Twitter: @nedskee
Staying fit during the new normal
Depending on where you live, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult or worrisome to get out and get that much needed exercise. Just watch TV for a few minutes and you will be inundated with apps and companies offering virtual options for getting fit in this crazy new normal we are living in. The biggest downside to these virtual (and most in-person classes) is they aren’t geared toward those of us who are visually impaired. I don’t know about you, but taking a yoga class and learning how to do all the poses correctly was a big challenge. I have found that having an instructor that is aware that it is difficult or impossible to see what the instructor is doing is the difference between being successful and frustrated. The Lighthouse for the Blind is offering some great virtual options for getting rid of those pandemic 15 pounds.
To maintain a safe environment, the classes require pre-registration and are held over Zoom. Lighthouse is offering classes in Cardio, which happens every morning and a weekly yoga class. Lighthouse for the Blind also offer many other interesting virtual meetings on a variety of topics like technology, Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Virtual board game night and meditation. All you need to do is contact the instructor for the class and they can set you up. Here is a link and some additional information:
Lighthouse for the Blind article on the Cardio class, which has a link to the calendar where you can sign up for all the great classes. You can contact and RSVP for Cup of Cardio and find out about other LightHouse Health and Wellness events by contacting Amber at ASherrard@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7353.
https://lighthouse-sf.org/2020/08/31/get-your-cupful-of-cardio-weekdays-with-lighthouse/
Japan’s tactile paving helps visually impaired travel.
visually impaired easioerThis is such a great innovation. Seiichi Miyake came up with the idea for the two types of paved stones after seeing a visually impaired man with a can almost hit by a car. One of the two types of pavers has long shapes to denote travel direction and the other has the bumps we are used to seeing in the states at corners to represent caution. I often wonder what kind of support would be required to see this sort of innovation or implementation in the United States, then I remember than we don’t even have a viable way to represent bathrooms for the visually impaired who don’t read braille. I love that the paths created by Seiichi Miyake are bright yellow, making it easier for those who are not completely blind more able to travel a safe route.
Japan has always been on the forefront of supporting their visually impaired citizens, it would be amazing if the United States adopted even some of the ways other countries support their disabled citizens. Please take a moment to read this interesting and informative article on this innovation.
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Twitter and Instagram: @nedskee
My photography: https://www.tahquechi.com
Are you blind? dealing with social distancing as a visually impaired person.
Before I got my guide dog Fauna, walking into objects and people was a fact of life. I would often lose focus while walking and veer off my line especially when I was in a store trying to find a particular product. Blindness is often referred to as the invisible disability. I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard the classic “gee, you don’t look blind” line in my life since the car accident which robbed me of all but a tiny portion of my sight. Before this year, brushing up against someone while wandering through the store was no big deal. Picking up a piece of fruit to feel for bruises was something I just did every time to ensure that I was not buying a bruised up apple or banana. Since the lockdown and subsequent easing of restrictions, being blind in a visual world has become even more difficult in so many ways.
The signs
One of the best parts of getting a guide dog is that my “invisible” disability has become a whole lot more visible. My white cane did indeed identify me as someone who was visually impaired, but with the guide dog it is a whole new experience. Just this past weekend, my wife and I were in the store and a middle aged couple with the man pushing the cart quickly ran up and stopped in front of me. My wife explained the situation: “They walked up to you and slammed on the brakes, the man gestured with his hand in a waving motion for me to move past them. He had a look on his face that he was clearly put out and didn’t understand why I wasn’t moving. The female member of the couple looked at the male and yelled at him pointing to my guide dog”. He apologized profusely knowing that he was in the wrong. I graciously accepted his apology and moved on about my business. The moral here is that we are all in our own world and all have things to do. But perhaps taking time to consider what others are going through with this pandemic might make you a bit better person in the long run. I can’t see the arrows on the floor, and I often wonder what it would be like to be forced to traverse the world with a cane or worse, if I had enough vision to travel on my own but not be able to read or see signs on the floor denoting the proper direction for a given aisle.
Another story
I always enjoy reading about the way other people with visual impairments solve the problem of living day to day with vision loss. Here is a great article I found written by MARY MAMMOLITI about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and how she learned to to deal with the situation around her.
https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/08/9953679/social-distancing-for-the-blind-visually-impaired
I love to hear from my readers! if you have questions about this or any other article here on Blind Travels, feel free to use the contact form on this site or friend me on Instagram or Twitter. I’ll happily follow you back and we can converse there.
My Photography: https://www.tahquechi.com
Instagram and Twitter: @nedskee
Sharing is caring
I am feeling the summer sadness. I am supposed to be getting ready for a trip to Alaska right now, but like everyone else I’m stuck at home thinking about travel. My dad used to call it having itchy moccasins – yes, he was Native American. I love to travel near and far and it makes me happy to be able to report back to my readers about my adventures. This isn’t going to be another blog post whining about not being able to travel however, today I’d like to take our time together to talk about how you can help others with your knowledge.
Sharing is caring
This website came out of a large curated list of notes I kept when I traveled to new locations. Each time I visited someplace I’d write down the location of the check in desk in the lobby, where the food was and even the bathrooms. This became a cheat sheet for me to use when I visited a location again. After a while, it dawned on me that I had created a list of important information that travel review sites like TripAdvisor don’t offer. Sure, there are travel tips out there for blind and visually impaired travelers, but until now nothing that told me where things are in a property. I took the knowledge I had accumulated after years of travel and created this website, and it continues to grow, and makes me happy to have a platform to share with you.
COVID-19 additions
Since the lockdown and subsequent inability to travel, I have taken time to expand the content here on Blind Travels to include educational materials geared toward those who are fully sighted. A visually impaired person has a unique view of the situation around them, and I am happy to give space here on the site to help those who are fully sighted learn to interact more effectively with those of us who are blind and visually impaired. The new series I have started “Questions with a blind person” gives fully sighted visitors who have questions about being blind a safe place to ask them. I get questions all the time via email and twitter, and love to take time here to answer them here on the site. Being blind is a bit of a mystery to many people and I love that I can offer a space here to answer questions about living daily while visually impaired.
What can you do?
If you are visually impaired, share your knowledge. Write an article, start a blog, or offer to answer questions on social media about being blind or visually impaired. Be aware that you will get some really silly questions and some rude ones too. Have a thick skin and have fun with it. I’d love to offer this space up for guest bloggers. If you are interested in creating a post for this blog that answers a question, or offers a travel tip or review of a destination I would love to share it with my readers. I’m happy to give full credit to the post and links back to your social media, blog or website. If you don’t have a place to post it online, I’m happy to post it here. Follow me on twitter and drop me a message or use the contact form here on Blind Travels. I have found it incredibly rewarding to share knowledge with others.
If you are fully sighted and have questions about the blind community or what it is like to be blind, feel free to drop me a message on Twitter or use the form here. Starting a respectful conversation is the best way for everyone to learn more about each other. It is ok to talk to blind people, it is perfectly acceptable to ask what is it like to… or how do you…
I love to hear from my readers! Please follow me on my social media links below and I will happily follow you back. If you have any questions about this or any other article here on Blind Travels, don’t hesitate to drop e a message.
My Photography: http://www.tahquechi.com
Instagram and Twitter: @nedskee
Artists supporting disabled artists.
All of the photography here on Blind Travels was taken by me. I have degrees in Fine Art Photography and Studio Art Photography, when I finished my degrees I spent years trying to find a gallery that would exhibit my work. The area I lived in had an art community that was very difficult to break into and it wasn’t until a few years after struggling to get my art shown that someone finally believed in me and was willing to give me a chance. Once my work was shown, the dam broke and since that time my work has been featured all over the world in magazines and news broadcasts. I am so grateful for being given the opportunity to show my work and I have struggled to find a way to give back to the art community so that other disabled artists do not have to endure the troubles I did to get that first show. My online virtual gallery started a few years ago is now accepting submissions for art from disabled artists.
Disabled Art is a virtual gallery featuring art exclusively from disabled artists. The exhibitions rotate featured artists shows every 90 days and featured artists work is displayed on the front page of the gallery. If you are a disabled artist or you know one please let them know about this opportunity. All the information you need can be found at the link below.
http://www.disabledart.com/show-your-work/
Three quesitons with a blind person part 3
I just published part three of my series “Three questions with a blind person” Please feel free to pass this series along. I’m interested to hear what you think about this series, did I get it right? is there something you would like to share the answer to with my sighted readers? Feel free to drop me a message and let me know. The best way to make things better for everyone is to provide positive education about those of us who are visually impaired.
Guide Dog tips – something special
With many states lifting travel restrictions, it is time to think about how you can make the transition back into traveling easier for your guide dog. Whether I am traveling across town or across the country, I always have a backpack with a few things my guide could use “just in case”. I always have a ration of food in case I get stuck somewhere, as well as waste pickup bags and a special toy.
Many of our guides have gotten used to more downtime with the Coronavirus restrictions, so as we open up and begin traveling, I have employed a trick to make travel time a bit more special. I always carry a special flavored bone in my bag of tricks. My guide Fauna loves the peanut butter flavored Nyla bones, so I porously do not provide them for her to chew when we are home. She has a couple other flavors, but I always save the PeanutButter ones for travel. When we reach our destination, or even just take a break from a difficult route I take out the PeanutButter bone and let her enjoy it for a while. IT is such a simple thing and I don’t feel like I am keeping her from enjoying her favorite toy, rather I consider it as making the time she gets to spend with that toy a bit more special.
Here is a link to the bone I use. I have found the Nylabone brand lasts longer than most dog bones, especially since my guide is an extreme chewer.
I love to hear from my readers! Please follow me on my social media links below and I will happily follow you back. If you have any questions about this or any other article here on Blind Travels, don’t hesitate to drop e a message.
My Photography: http://www.tahquechi.com
Instagram and Twitter: @nedskee