Blind Kingdom is a discord server that brings the blindness community together.
Topics discussed can be cooking daily living, travel, Recreation and leisure, and so much more.
Though it is called the blind kingdom, anyone, regardless of visual ability, is welcome to join. This space will be a positive influence for everyone.
Please join the Blind Kingdom today!
Join the Blind Kingdomhttps://discord.gg/rc87MUXHt6
While the concept of swipe gestures for navigating devices, such as the iPhone are not new, some people may struggle with them anyway.
Swipe gestures for navigation are what you use to go home, use the app switcher, open notification center, or open control center.
these gestures are important, because they ar necessary for basic device operation.
As explained earlier, you need to start at the edge of your screen in order for the intended functionality to work correctly..
NOTE: while you can practice these gestures on an iPad, I found it easier to practice on an iPhone if you have one available.
So, to go home, first place your finger at the very bottom edge of your screen.
Then, move your finger up until you hear a second click and release your finger.
It is important to perform the gesture in a timely manner, otherwise I have found that VoiceOver focus will move around the screen instead of the actual swipe navigation gesture.
To use the app switcher, repeat the same steps from above only, instead of releasing on the second click, release on the third click.
To use the control center, start at the top edge of your screen and move your finger down until you hear a second click then release.
To use the notification center, use the same steps as described above, but this time release on the third click.
Now that you’ve learned how to use the swipe navigation gestures on newer iPhones and iPads, you’ll be able to not only use your device more effectively, but you’ll be able to use features that are exclusive to this new form of navigation such as the app switcher, which can’t be accessed in an alternative way like you can with the control center
Many sighted people have questions about how a blind person lives their life.
They may ask questions like “How does he/she get dressed?” or “How does he/she get around?”
While it is normal for sighted people to have such questions, the answer is usually “I do it the same way you do.”
With this in mind, I’m going to talk about shaving, an important grooming task that many people do every day.
Grooming tasks, like shaving, are important because it shows that you care about your personal hygiene and appearance.
In addition to that, it will make you come across as someone who is professional and who cares about their wellbeing and thus, will take pride in their work.
Many people may think that is unsafe for a blind person to shave on their own, however, this is simply not the case.
While some types of razors, like straight razors could be dangerous, it’s not the only option.
There are many options in terms of which razor you use, and it all depends on your skin/hair texture.
Generally, razors can be broken down into the blade type and whether it is motorized or not.
Whether you use an electric razor or not is purely a matter of personal preference.
One benefit of using an electric razor might be the efficiency and convenience. However, I use a manual razor now, and it works better for me.
NOTE: some manual razors have a taptic functionality, and that is what I prefer because it cuts more hair.
While electric razors can be useful, it’s important to know the different varieties they come in.
First, there are the generic safety razors, which work somewhat well, but this is dependent on factors like your skin and hair texture.
Second, there are the kind where there are 3 metal pads and the blade is in the middle.
In my experience, I found these razors to be the most ineffective.
If you plan on using an electric razor, choose the former.
Depending on your skin and hair texture, it may be worth trying out single and multi blade razors to see what works best for you.
For example, I have coarse hair, and find that a single-bladed raiser took more time to shave with, because it didn’t catch all the hair.
I use the Gillette Fusion 5 because of its taptic functionality and multiple blades.
Just like choosing a razor, choosing the right shaving cream for you will improve your shaving experience
There are 2 main types of shaving cream, whipped and gel.
I use the gel because it is easier to wash off and creates a coating on my face which I like.
Because of that, it helps reduce the number of nicks and ingrown hairs.
The whipped version, on the other hand was harder to wash off, and it wore off so easy that I felt like the razor wasn’t moving smoothly across my skin.
However, your mileage may vary.
Now, let’s talk strategy.
It’s very important, to make sure you shave of all the hair on your face, so you don’t leave anything unsightly behind.
To start, I go from the top center of my cheekbone to the bottom of my jawline.
I go in long strokes, and go from right to left until I reach my chin.
When I get to my chin, I tuck my lip in, and use my finger to identify where the hairline begins.
I then continue by going from the beginning of that hairline down towards the bottom of my jawline.
I then go back to the top center of my cheekbone and go down tours the bottom of my jawline.
Now I return to the right side of my face midway down my sideburn.
I make a shorter stroke, moving away from my sideburn.
Then, I do the same for the left side of my face.
Next, I flip the razor upside-down and go in short strokes from the bottom of my jawline up towards the top of my jawline, from right to left.
Finally, I use my finger to find any leftover hairs and go over them with short strokes to make sure I get them all.
Shaving is one of the most important grooming tasks people do every day, and blind people are not excluded from that.
I hope I have provided insight into how a blind person can go about doing normal tasks like shaving, just as a sighted person would.
While humanware adds cool new features sometimes, the result is often not what you’d expect.
While these features can be nice to have, you may wish to downgrade due to bugs.
So, can you downgrade the software?
The answer is yes, and you will learn how in this blog post.
Go to Humanware’s Mantis Q40 Support Page
Then, move down by heading until you get to Frequently Asked Questions, then move up by link to get to Version 2.0.0
Now that you have found the correct download, you need to prepare the file for your Mantis Q40
You’ll need a USB drive or SD card to complete this process.
First, copy the file from wherever you downloaded it to and put it on your USB drive or SD card.
Next, rename the file to something higher than your Mantis Q40’s version and build number.
For example, if your version number is 2.4.0 and your build number is 4230, your file name should look something like BrailleReader_V2.5.0_build4500.swu
NOTE: The mantis Q40 must have at least 50% charge and be plugged in to do this process.
To perform the downgrade, insert your USB drive or SD card into the Mantis Q40 and you will see a prompt asking if you wish to install a software update.
Press “o” to move the the OK option, then press enter and wait for the process to complete.
If you are reading any books, you should make a file with some text from the book that matches where you are reading as your spot will be lost.
You will only have to find your spot again once, and everything will be fine from there.
Your braille profile will need to be switched to contracted braille if you had it that way previously.
To do this, press alt + Ctrl + G.
Downgrading the software being a good way to resolve bluetooth connectivity errors for your Mantis Q40, it also unlocks more benefits like being able to open large books, which was a functionality removed in later versions of the software for the Mantis Q40.
Have you ever wondered what TTS customizations you could do on your iPhone?
In today’s post, I’m going to outline how you can install the CerePlay TTS engine for more natural sounding text to speech.
I do not recommend using these voices as daily drivers.
While it can work and there are screen reader variants for these voices, you’ll get better performance with your iPhone if you use a built-in voice.
These are paid voices and as if this writing, cost $0.99.
Without further adieu, let’s get started.
Open the app store on your home screen and select the search tab by dragging your finger along the bottom edge of your screen.
In the search bar type “CerePlay”
In the search results, find the item called “CerePlay – The CereProc Text to speech app” and download.
When the download finishes you’ll find an open button, select to open the app. Swipe right to move through the screen finding a list of languages.
Note that these languages are in no particular order so you’ll have to swipe around to get to all the voices.
Once you’ve selected language and then swipe right to access all the voices under that language. Remember that each voice will be repeated multiple times.
Select a voice to view its details.
On this screen, you’ll find:
If you keep moving down the page, you’ll eventually find options to choose a voice version and they include:
so, That is how you get natural sounding voices for iPhone.