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	<title>tim o'brien photos &#187; low vision</title>
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	<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com</link>
	<description>A blind photographer's exploration of his vision through photography and accessibility.</description>
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		<title>Accessible iTunes: A Truly Large Font</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2010/02/itunes-font-hack/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2010/02/itunes-font-hack/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:31:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[large print]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[color scheme]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[computer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font sizes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fonts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high contrast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[screen reader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[size]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[visually impaired]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[voiceover]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[windows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=2940</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Despite Apple&#8217;s leading efforts in accessibility technology, I have always found iTunes extremely hard to use. Apple&#8217;s major focus has been on VoiceOver and screen reader software compatibility. There are many visually impaired computer users out there (and right here) who have not made the switch to a non-visual interface, preferring to rely on large font sizes, high contrast color schemes and zooming. iTunes is just as beautiful as all of Apple&#8217;s software. It has a lovely color scheme and its layout is aesthetically pleasing. The program is very resistant to large fonts and alternate color schemes. Until today, I have had to rely on zooming, squinting and my low vision aids to navigate my songs and playlists. Now, I have found a hack to fix the problem. Buried in a comment on a earlier post, I found a link to Teridon&#8217;s Resource file hacks for iTunes for Windows. This unhappily named site offers a free bit of software, the iTunes Font Size Editor, that does one and only one thing. It allows you to customize the font size of the song list in iTunes. Teridon puts it this way: &#8220;iTunes gives you two font sizes: &#8220;small&#8221; (which is 8pt) [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>Musings: Vision, Light &amp; Photography</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/03/musings-vision-light-photography/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/03/musings-vision-light-photography/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:25:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blind photographers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[morning coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[photography 101]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strobist]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=2396</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The scoop we use for our morning coffee is coffee colored. This makes it hard for me to see how much coffee is in the scoop. Instinctively, I tilt the scoop so that the nearest light falls across it rather than directly on it. The cross light brings out the texture of the grounds, which stands out in contrast to the smooth shine of the scoop. I am too lazy to bend down and peer into the dogs&#8217; water bowl to see how much water remains. The clear water is too hard to make out. Instead, I give the bowl a nudge with my foot. This is not to see if any spills out, though that happens a bit too often. Instead; the nudge causes ripples. With the right angle, I can see these ripples and can tell, more or less, if the dogs need water. What does this have to do about photography? We all use visual tricks to help us see. What&#8217;s so special about these particular tricks? There is nothing unique about these specific tricks. But being visually impaired, I rely more heavily on these types of visual shortcuts. This heavy reliance provides extra, if instinctual, training [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<title>Take a Short Survey on Small Screen Displays</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/take-a-short-survey-on-small-screen-displays/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/take-a-short-survey-on-small-screen-displays/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:34:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[large print]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AFB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[american foundation for the blind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cell phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[color scheme]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conducting a survey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contrast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[device]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electronic displays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fonts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monitors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[phones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[readability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[short survey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small fonts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[visual displays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=1617</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As seen on the Talking Books Librarian, the American Foundation for the Blind&#8217; is conducting a Survey on Small Screen Visual Displays at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?Mode=Survey&#38;SurveyID=101. Taken from the website: AFB TECH, the technology arm of the American Foundation for the Blind, is currently working to establish standards to improve the readability of small screen visual displays, and we want input from AccessWorld readers. Specifically, we are referring to small visual electronic displays found in products like cell phones, blood glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, alarm clocks, calculators, home appliances, and office equipment. We would like to ask our AccessWorld readers with low vision the following questions, to find out about your experiences using products with small screen displays. Small screens do not have to be inaccessible and hard to read. They also do not need to be redigned entirely from scratch to be improved despite the fact that retooling a poor design for access is not as effective as building in access from the start. Too many small screen use uneccasrily small fonts, have low contrast color schemes and lots of unused blacnk space. The Trader Joe&#8217;s card swipe machine using a blue and grey color scheme that offers nearly no [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>No Access to the NPR iPhone App</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/no-access-to-the-npr-iphone-app/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/no-access-to-the-npr-iphone-app/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:50:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[large print]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[audio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone app]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPod]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ipod touch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[npr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[npr programming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[photo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading glasses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Touch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=1529</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had two best men at my wedding. Their tandem toast revolved around my relationship to BPR. Addiction may be the word they used. So, as I was browsing the iPhone app store on my iPod Touch, I could not resist testing out NPR Mobile when I ran across it. NPR Mobile is an unofficial app, put together by a volunteer and released gratis. From the web site: NPR Mobile 1.0 is an easy-to-use application that will help you find your favorite NPR programs and segments. I’ve found that with it, I am able to expose myself to additional NPR programming that my local station doesn’t carry. Often times, when I wake up in the morning, I half-hear a story on Morning Edition, and want to come back to it later in the day. With NPR Mobile, I’ve been able to do this, and hear the full story on my time. It does exactly what it is supposed to do and it does it with a simple elegance. But how does it look from a low vision perspective? Since I was curious about the accessibility of the app, I look a look at their sotry, Some Technology Leaves The Blind [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Read it to Me: Kindle 2.0 has Text-to-Speech</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/read-it-to-me-kindle-20-has-text-to-speech/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/read-it-to-me-kindle-20-has-text-to-speech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:33:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[large print]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon kindle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[audible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[audiobooks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[device]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[e book reader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-Book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[font sizes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[image zoom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPod]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ny times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading text]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[size]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[text]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[text speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[text to speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[variable speed playback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=1519</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The NY Times, along with every other news source, is reporting on the new version of Amazon&#8217;s e-book reader, the Kindle.Buried among all the other changes is one important accessibility feature: text-to-speech. According to the Times: Giving Voice to the Kindle: The Kindle 2 also has text-to-speech built in. “Any book, blog, magazine or personal document can be read aloud,” Mr. Bezos said. Users can switch between reading text and hearing it read by a fairly computerized voice. “It’s very easy to go back and forth between reading and listening,” Mr. Bezos said I have tested out the first version, as my wife has the Kindle 1.0. With its adjustable font size set to the maximum, I can read the text fairly easily with my low vision reading glasses. I look forward to testing out the new text-to-speech feature when I find someone with the new version. The new Kindle&#8217;s text-to-speech offers two voices, male and female, and does not offer variable speed playback. I really like the variable spped playback on the iPod, though I wish it had more than three settings. We will have to wait on reviews of the reading quality, but Nuance, who provides the Kindle&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/read-it-to-me-kindle-20-has-text-to-speech/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Dual Monitors &amp; the Visually Impaired</title>
		<link>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/dual-monitors-the-visually-impaired/</link>
		<comments>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/dual-monitors-the-visually-impaired/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[large print]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dual monitor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dual monitor support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[idea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low vision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magnifiaction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magnification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magnification software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monitor settings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monitor system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monitors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[text]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[windows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.timobrienphotos.com/?p=1414</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while back, I thought I had a great idea. I still think its is a great idea, but I was beaten to it. One of the major reasons I rarely use magnification software is that I find the process disorienting. You lose either the whole screen or an important piece of it to the magnification window. Switching back and forth between the views has always felt more costly than just fishing out my low vision reading glasses. It occurred to me that a dual monitor system might be the solution. I have not forked over the money for a second monitor and video card yet, so I have not had a chance to test my idea. [If you have a spare set, feel free to drop me a line.] Apparently, this idea occurred to commercial magnication software companies already. Zoomtext offers Dual Monitor Support with its latest version, 9.x. From the ZoomText web site: Primary with 1x displays a magnified view on your primary monitor and an unmagnified view on your secondary monitor. This mode is useful when a low-vision user and normal-sighted user are working together on the same system. The low-vision user can zoom-in to the desired [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.timobrienphotos.com/2009/02/dual-monitors-the-visually-impaired/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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