Cane

I use one of the straight NFB canes most of the time because I really like the light weight, solid feedback, flexibility, and the types of grip I can use with it. I use a folding version for traveling in vehicles though… Yeah way too many broken straight canes in my past LOL. Wanting to try a slimline ambutech with foam handle to compare though, just don’t have the money ATM. Maybe then I won’t have to spend so much money on new tips dammit! 😠 LOL

Dog

I grew up around my parent’s guide dogs, but I just don’t think I am responsible enough, or have enough work for one where I am in life right now.

Mobile

I use IOS 15 (yep still haven’t upgraded) on an iPhone SE 2020. I tried Android but I didn’t know enough when I bought it and ended up with one that had no flashable ROM, so I couldn’t fix it’s quirks. Probably could have tried harder to figure things out, but the info was so scattered, or not up to date, or just not for beginners. I hope to try again someday when I can afford to buy a proper stock phone, because I certainly respect Android and it’s users, and want to have the knowledge under my belt.

Computer

I use Windows 10, I know I know, booooo! But I just never really got into Mac’s way of doing things, even though I did have one for a few years. I liked some things about it, but Mac’s are just, expensive man. As for Linux, I want to try it someday, but I’m intimidated by the seeming complexity and where ever I turn I hear blind people complaining about it’s shortcomings in the accessibility department. I should still get around to taking a crack at it one of these days though…

Screen Reader

As for Screen Reader, I use NVDA 90% of the time, and JAWS 2022 (my SMA is gone now 😭) for the other 10%. I’ve got my reasons for using both, and would suggest that anyone should have at least 2 solid screen readers on their system, just encase. I tend to use both for what they excel at, for instance JAWS and it’s many tools like skim read or text analyzer, or the ability to put a list of elements in a virtual window and jump to them, proof reading modes, good OCR on pictures, nice built in third party voices, really nice MS Office enhancements ETC. While I use NVDA for speed, ease of use, better compatibility with some programs, and some of the addons that do things that JAWS just can’t, like the automatic output for interactive fiction interpreters addon, the Winamp, goldwave, and VLC addons, auto translation, enhanced windows console support, Japanese Games Translator ETC.

Braille

I can read and write Braille including grade 2 and pre calculous Nemeth quite well, I don’t always remember the more obscure contractions, or some of the weirder UEB rules, and I used to be noticeably faster and more accurate, but I still know allot of it by heart and can read at about 85WPM. I have a focus 40 5th gen display, which I really should use more but I’ve been spoiled by E-Text and Audio Books so it’s hard to make my self use it, and I’ve played around with Braille screen input but never got very good with it, probably partly do to my small phone screen. It seems pretty awesome though, and definitely faster than the standard keyboard for most.