Deaf blind

One second is all it takes to know what time it is. That is, if you can see your watch or clock. On the other hand, if you are blind, have low vision, or are deaf blind, it would be a very different situation. You may even think of resorting to the help of others in doing this vital task due to the disability you have.

There are, however, a number of assistive technologies you can use to independently know the time. Below we talk about some of the most common time-related devices and software for blind and visually impaired persons.

LinkedIn used to be one of those social networking sites which I have highly recommended to people with disabilities, as it was one of the most accessible ones. Visiting the site for a couple of minutes one can tell that it was designed, with accessibility in mind. Maybe not anymore?

In an earlier post, I have written about how a deaf blind person does her daily tasks with the help of assistive technology. Let us now focus more on the communication devices that deaf blind people use to connect with other people and exchange information with the world around them.

There are many ways for deaf blind people to communicate. The methods that they use vary with the degree or combination of their vision and hearing loss, their background, and education. And with the recent advancements in assistive technology, deaf blind people are now finding more ways to connect with other people, whether they are sitting side-by-side or kilometers apart.

Without your eyesight and sense of hearing, you may think you’d be unable to browse the Internet, let alone use the computer.

Our friend Ruby has however proven that a day of a deaf blind person can include these activities. Yet although deaf blind persons like Ruby have the assistive technologies they need in surfing the Net, they still find difficulty in accessing certain web sites.

Here, Ruby joins us one more time and shows us the challenges faced by deaf blind persons as they use the Internet.

Having a disability can truly affect many aspects of a person’s life. But try to ask yourself this: What if you had, not one, but two disabilities? You may probably think to yourself, “I’d most likely just stay at home and have someone to take care of me 24/7.”

You are not the only one having this opinion, as many people would think of the same thing. But let us read on and find out if this would really be the case.

Things get more complex when a person has more than one disability. Let's examine what happens when a person is both deaf and blind. The major difficulty in this case is that while blind people are mostly compensated by technology through sound, deaf blind people cannot take advantage of these solutions.

The easiest way for deaf blind people to interact with technology is by touch. All visual and audible information should be converted into tactile information.