Two Weeks ago I promised a blog post on how to write good, descriptive alt text tags for photos and images to make content more accessible to blind users. Last week I broke my wrist, so typing has been out of the question. Instead, I am learning the lost art of dictation.
Dictation, in the context of writing, takes place when one person speaks the Contant they wish written down and another person writes it. Or, at least, that’s how it used to be done. Nowadays, computers have taken the place of secretaries and clerks in this respect. I am dictating this blog post using an accessibility feature on my iPad.
It used to be quite normal for people to dictate pages and pages of content. They practiced it from their school years into their careers. I, however, have only ever dictated as much as three or four sentences in a text message before this. I am quite pleased when I can manage an entire, coherent paragraph!
As I explore and develop this fascinating new skill, my blog posts must necessarily be shorter. I have no intention of taking a six week break from the Dark Side, but I will concentrate on my Flashback series now. I hope to get back to more complex content in a couple of weeks.
While I am learning to dictate, and learning how to do most of life with one hand, I am also learning how to use my non-dominant hand for all the things I can still manage. Because, naturally, I broke my dominant wrist… Today your favorite blindfluencer reminds you that a new year is a great time to challenge yourself to learn new skills and discover your own latent super powers!
Look on the Dark Side 