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Recently I started to experience some dark spots in my vision. On my way to the ophthalmologist I was reflecting on vision and how my life now seems to depend o

by honua 11y ago

Recently I started to experience some dark spots in my vision. On my way to the ophthalmologist I was reflecting on vision and how my life now seems to depend on it. I actually wondered if I would still read Hacker News if I were blind. I understand that my perspective may be very ignorant, but I would be glad to know more about your daily life such as: what device you use already to read Hacker News? What you do for work? What technology most interests you? Thanks for sharing your first comment, it's really helped me already.

ndarilek 11y ago
It's hard to answer your questions definitively but I'll give them a shot: What device do I use?: I don't use any one device. My main computer is a laptop running Linux and the Orca screen reader, but I've used Windows and NVDA before. I've had multiple Android phones/tablets and have used IOS. Last decade I used OS X heavily but transitioned away after a few years. Most devices have some level of accessibility built-in these days, so there isn't one single thing I'd use, just as a sighted person might use a laptop/desktop at their desk, a phone on the go, etc. What do I do for work?: Again, probably the same as many here. I've done contract development on Android and the web, and am currently launching my own company. Nothing surprising or different. What technology interests me?: I guess it depends on the day. :) I'm a web and mobile developer so tend to be more up on things like React, React Native, etc. I particularly enjoy working with mobile tech because there are lots of ways in which a mobile device with camera/GPS/lots of processing power/numerous connectivity options can tell me things about my world given the right apps and services. 8 years ago, running an errand meant I grabbed my phone, MP3 player, bluetooth GPS receiver and the PDA to which the receiver paired that ran accessible mapping software. Now I just grab my phone and it's much more capable on its own, handling GPS, OCR for reading documents, etc. I think there are a number of ways mobile tech can improve how we interact with our world, and I'm starting companies to explore those.

by honua 11y ago

ndarilek 11y ago

It's hard to answer your questions definitively but I'll give them a shot: What device do I use?: I don't use any one device. My main computer is a laptop running Linux and the Orca screen reader, but I've used Windows and NVDA before. I've had multiple Android phones/tablets and have used IOS. Last decade I used OS X heavily but transitioned away after a few years. Most devices have some level of accessibility built-in these days, so there isn't one single thing I'd use, just as a sighted person might use a laptop/desktop at their desk, a phone on the go, etc. What do I do for work?: Again, probably the same as many here. I've done contract development on Android and the web, and am currently launching my own company. Nothing surprising or different. What technology interests me?: I guess it depends on the day. :) I'm a web and mobile developer so tend to be more up on things like React, React Native, etc. I particularly enjoy working with mobile tech because there are lots of ways in which a mobile device with camera/GPS/lots of processing power/numerous connectivity options can tell me things about my world given the right apps and services. 8 years ago, running an errand meant I grabbed my phone, MP3 player, bluetooth GPS receiver and the PDA to which the receiver paired that ran accessible mapping software. Now I just grab my phone and it's much more capable on its own, handling GPS, OCR for reading documents, etc. I think there are a number of ways mobile tech can improve how we interact with our world, and I'm starting companies to explore those.