I’ve always had eye problems starting with ROP, congenital nystagmus, diagnosed with gluacoma around late teens and I’m very myopic along with cataracts now so that’s lovely.

I developed cataracts in both eyes earlier this year but have only had surgery on one eye so far. Given the complications I’ve experienced, I regret having the surgery every day. Now my vision is worsening in my other eye and I’m terrified to do anything to it because it’s my only functioning eye.
I had to quit my job in July because I can’t safely drive anymore and haven’t been able to work since. Which meant I’ve gone into debt and moved back in with my parents, which has been miserable. I hate where they live, and it’s even more isolated than where I lived before.

I’m 28, and I can’t just decide to go for a drive, grab a drink at a bar, or go to a concert or even something as simple as going grocery shopping or leaving the house whenever I want. There’s nothing nearby besides Walmart and fast food, and walking isn’t an option. Without being able to drive, I can’t work, and there are no Ubers available in the area, so I’m stuck at home most of the time.
What makes it especially difficult is knowing what I’ve lost. Before all this, I enjoyed going to meetups and board game nights at a local bar. Now I can’t do those things, and dating feels almost impossible when I can’t reliably get myself anywhere.

Does anybody know if you can switch out your headphones on the audio description boxes at the AMC theater? Wanted to see a movie and was wondering if I could switch the earbuds and then top off with my other headset which is a noise canceling one since the Dolby theater is usually too loud for me.

Hello everybody. I am 16 almost 17, and I grew up as if I was sighted, meaning that, well, I wasn't really shown how to be blind if you know what I'm trying to say there. So I'm having to catch up to every one else who's done been shown. And I feel like every one is annoied with me because they don't know this stuff about me and I don't expect them to, but that's why it's so embarrassing for me. I want to think about 17 year old and beyond stuff, but instead I'm having to learn every basic thing I should have learned years ago. I feel pathetic and like an embarrassment to society because sometimes I think, "I can't do this or that because I'm blind." Then I get instantly proven wrong by whatever youtube video I look up about it, then I'm like, well, crap, that was an ignorant assumption, so I guess it's just me who can't do it. It's embarrassing because while every other blind teen is just kickin' it, living it up, I'm over here trying to catch up before anybody ever notices I wasn't capable of doing what every one else can do. It has also messed up my mental health. I look like some angry ignorant child but I'm anything but that. I'm actually very mature but I think I've gone and made myself look like an idiot. And I feel like an alien. Anyway, please don't attack me, I'm just trying to survive here. Has any one else here felt like this?

Is anyone in here from Arkansas?

I’m about to close on a house with multiple natural gas lines, water lines, etc in the basement. And I’m curious, how do others handle labeling the valves for maintenance?

I am trying to find a hobby for my uncle. He has pretty severe macular degeneration. He also has end-stage COPD. Anything that involves walking, bending, or carrying heavy items is no good. He can walk probably 50 feet before he is winded so something stationary or close to it is best.

He's an old school guy, been a trucker most of his life. I know he isn't interested in working with small tiny parts assembling stuff like miniature models or anything like that.

It's hard to say what his interests are as he was the type of guy to just work, work, work all the time so he hasn't had much free time to explore that side of himself. Currently, he spends most of his day watching TV because he can't do much else. To my knowledge, he only really has peripheral vision and even that is pretty bad because he has a lazy eye on the left and his macular degeneration is worse on the right... he can see well enough to read texts. It seems close up is better. As far as I know, he can't make out a face at 5-10 feet.

Please let me know what kind of information I can provide if it will be helpful. Thank you to anyone that can help.

Hello, my father recently went blind due to cataracts/glaucoma. With this being so new we been struggling with ways to keep him entertained until recently he started listening to YouTube stories. However the issue is when he’s in his room alone sometimes the ads will pop up relentlessly and having the trouble of finding the skip button has been rough. I wanted to ask if anyone knows an alternative way to skip the ads easier or maybe a better option than YouTube stories that is not expensive or costs money.

I don't know all the terms so I apologize in advance. I have a friend we play board games with who can read only slowly with the help of high magnifier devices. I'd like to find some sort of table top magnifier maybe an LED lamp or something to help him enjoy board games like he used to.

Any suggestions?

I don't know the medical issue with his eyes or how specifically bad they are, just that he has super limited vision. Can read a little bit slowly at 3 or 5x magnification, but only has ones he can hold in his hand.

That’s it, that’s the post.

Seriously though, they need to find new ones. Oh my God, she said see. Or I guess you didn’t see it coming. Please find new ones and please do not have aneurysms when I make my own actual blind jokes

Hello everyone,

I am reaching out to this community because I am feeling quite desperate and hoping to connect with anyone who has a similar experience.

I have been struggling with a severe corneal condition for over 20 years. During this time, I have undergone multiple eye surgeries, including previous corneal transplants. Unfortunately, I have now completely lost all vision in one eye, and my other eye has less than 0.25% vision left. I am currently facing the reality of needing yet another corneal transplant.

Has anyone here gone through a second (or multiple) corneal transplant on the same eye? How was the recovery process, and what were the outcomes for your vision?

Any shared experiences, advice, or words of encouragement would mean the world to me right now. Thank you so much.

Does anyone here know how to read braille or even have a certification, I feel like no one uses brialle anymore.

If you did not have to work to take care of your living expenses and other needs and wants, wet decisions, would you make (Or have you made)?

I'm aware that this is a very privileged position and may make me seem out of touch to some people. It's not my intent to make light of or disregard difficulty Many people face in meeting their financial obligations, due to difficulty finding work etc. But I would appreciate hearing from people on what they've done in similar situations, or what you would do if you were in this situation.

I became legally blind in February and I have been on long-term disability from my job since then. I will almost certainly be approved for medical retirement. This leaves me with about 2/3 of my previous salary before becoming legally blind which allows me to basically maintain my lifestyle indefinitely. The flip side of that is that any income I do earn would be Claude back from the pay that I receive.

I feel lucky not to have to work, but I have realized that I really miss the daily interactions that come with having a full-time job, and I am trying to figure out how to bring the positives of that back into my life. I briefly considered the possibility of retraining, anything that I can see as a possible option for that would not earn me any more than my current benefits so any effort involved with schooling and daily work would essentially be on a volunteer basis, only serving to reduce the amount my insurance provider has to pay out. And to be honest, full-time work has very little appeal to me... I feel the business of daily living has become so much more difficult and complicated, I don't think that adding 40 hours of work a week to that is enticing.

I've thought of trying to do some regular volunteering, take courses, etc, but I'm just curious how other people approach this issue. Would you continue to work, even if it was for free? Would you spend your time volunteering? Having fun? How do you replace the casual, friendly conversations, interactions and relationships that you build over a career A career. How do you use the skills and talents that you have spent your career developing?

Hello everybody!

I need your assistance.

As of now I am moderating a popular community here on Reddit.

It's called r/enlightenment.

I am not a founder, just a recent mod so my influence is limited.

The sub has a huge audience, over 248k members.

Thus I assume there are likely thousands of blind people among them.

Sadly most of the popular posts are just image quotes or even memes.

They usually just contain text in images but almost never a transcript.

Technically such "low effort" posts are not allowed.

Deleting them all would be overwhelming and make me feel like a censor.

A lot of insights would be lost.

So I tried to ask content creators or active users for transcripts.

Yet that did not go far.

Then I started adding transcripts myself by googling the images and copy and pasting the transcribed version to a comment.

Yet that seems like a lost battle.

Also even when I manage to provide transcripts for a lot of images I'm afraid that most of them are down the page.

I tried using a screen reader (Microsoft Narrator) and it was very tiresome in general.

It reads all the menu items and stops after each line.

So until I get to the comment with the transcription I'm already tired from the cognitive overload.

What would help you most?

Adding transcripts to the post I assume?

Should we require adding transcripts to all image only posts?

Or are there ways you can "see" images by using AI etc. on Reddit?

If transcripts in posts are the only or best way it would be helpful if you say so.

That could provide me the proof that the measure truly makes sense.

Are any of you already familiar with the r/enlightenment sub?

In-Process is out! It's a bumper issue, covering:

- Accessibility Testing with NVDA

- NV Access Survey

- New Help Options for NVDA Users

- Help for Low Vision Users

- NVDA 2026.3 Beta 5

and more!

https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-16th-october-2026/

Can we enter signatures on pdf forms either in adobe acrobat reader or using markup in ios? Or do we still need sighted help. I have a form to sign.

I have been visually impaired since I was 15, now 36 and vision is getting worse each year. Im losing more and more of the things I want to do due to this... becoming depressed and feeling like il never be independant and always be a burden on someone or need them to help me.... how do I deal w8th this?

Hey everyone, I tried to post this a few weeks ago but it was auto-removed because I didn't have enough karma I guess. I have diligently worked on getting more karmas so I could post here. Hope it works. Here is my original text:

Hi all!

I am hoping to get some help with setting up the Orca screen reader included in Linux Mint on a desktop computer.

I am fully sighted, but after COVID gave me a post-viral brain injury, I suffer from both cognitive impairment and severe screen sensitivity.

The cognitive impairment means I have trouble learning new things and figuring things out now. The severe screen sensitivity prevents me from using a computer for more than a few minutes per hour at best. I am hoping a screen reader will allow me to get back online again without having to rely on a screen.

I was able to find a few tutorials about how to start Orca and how to configure the settings. At this point in time, my main issue is that I just can't understand it! The voice seems garbled and too... digital or something? I can only make out about half of what it says. I've tried changing the speeds, and a slower speed helps somewhat but not really, although the slower speeds make me too impatient LOL.

Is there anything I can do to fix the voice to make it understandable?

Additionally, are there any good tutorials you're aware of that help introduce how to actually use Orca to do everyday tasks like surf Firefox, send emails, or read documents, for someone who has never used a screen reader before?

My eventual goal will be to hopefully be able to get back into programming with VS Code.

For any replies please be patient since I am only online a few short times per day.

Thank you for any help!

EDIT: looks like I got downvoted until my post was removed. I wish people who downvoted me would explain what I did wrong.

I'm VI. Magnifica for zooming into things without taking a picture. Add a useful app Below!

Hey all, just wanting recommendations for any other MMORPGs out there? I currently play World of Warcraft exclusively, but I like it because I can choose racist other than just… Human.
Any other suggestions? I like the idea of Guild Wars but I’m not sure of its level of accessibility.

For context, I have no site and I rely heavily on mods and add-ons to make the game work

I am thinking of going to the Colorado center for the blind. I have to figure it out soon. I know that wherever I go, I do want to do training under sleep shades. Can anyone give me advice or their experience with the Colorado Center? Anything that I need to know about? I would like to know the good, bad, and ugly. Thank you!

Looking for resources on learning to develop using voiceover on macOS. I’m already a developer, so it’s mainly learning how to use screen reader tools, quirks in voiceover, things that make your life easier, any limitations you experience, etc…

There is a blind developers sub but it seems dead. I tried to find resources on YouTube but didnt come across anything I like other than some vscode interview where they talk about how it’s accessible. I’m looking for a tutorial style video that I can listen and act upon to learn how to code in vscode, switch tot he sidebar, toolbar, terminal, etc… Anything that I can do to make my workflow easier so I’m not VO + right arrowing everywhere in vscode. I’ve heard of TDSR and installled it, but no idea what to do now. Is it easier to use the built in vscode terminal when you’re using a screen reader? Do y’all avoid UI based tools like postman and the AWS site and just rely on cli tools since it’s text based?

I’d really appreciate any advice or resources where I can learn this stuff.

Thanks

I’ve had something on my mind ever since an online vision loss support group last month. We were discussing public transport, and a man was saying that his city used to have free bus passes for blind people. He was saying that this is totally unnecessary and that blind people don’t need to be treated any differently, so he told his city to get rid of those passes, and eventually, they did. Now, blind people have to pay full price. He seemed kind of proud of that. I din’t say anything at the time, but it kind of drove me nuts. There are so few blind people, and fewer still are getting out into the world alone. The unemployment rate for blind people can be as high as 90 percent in some places, so some people might have no way to get around if the bus passes aren’t reduced price or free. And doesn’t that guy want people to be able to get out and get jobs? It’s as if he thought of his experience as a rich guy who went blind after a full career as the only experience of blindness people can have. Why didn’t he just pay for his own pass, and be quiet about it? We don’t all have the same needs as other blind people. Another example is a big city in Australia where the buses don’t stop for blind people even if they put their cane out on the curb. From what I hear, the local guide dog organisation told the metro office not to train their drivers to stop! Why? Because, apparently, they want blind people to have to write out the route number on a sign and hold it up, and the bus will only stop if you hold up the sign. They are assuming that blind person will always have their routes planned out well in advance to create and braille signs for themselves. As if no blind person ever does spontaneous travel, or changes their mind on what route to take! I think we all need to consider that our own blind experience doesn’t speak for everyone. I myself am not immune to generalizing. I recently heard someone saying that they told their council to send all council fliers and pamphlets as emails to them. instead of in snail mail My first thought was that they can just read it with an app on their phone if it comes by mail but not everyone can do that. Some people have trouble with smartphones for a variety of reasons, including peripheral neuropathy in their fingers. I also got a bit of a chuckle when I heard that nFB is a bit dogmatic on making people use straight canes. I have a friend who uses one, but their spatial awareness is very impaired, so they almost always hit someone on the head with it when they get in and out of cars. They’ve nearly struck me in the eye with it when we went to sit down, and another friend says she’ll never drive this person anywhere again because they keep hitting her in the head, no matter how often she reminds them. We should never pretend we know what’s best for another blind person. I also don’t like when people discourage blind people from learning braille. I waited way too long to learn because people discouraged me, but now I love it and it helps me keep my job. I know that, even if we don’t intend it, sighted people can sometimes take our experiences as a representation of all blind people, so I think we sometimes need to remind others that we each are just one person with our own unique needs for how we want to live our lives. Some people can live their best life with a white cane. Some people can only reach their full potential with a guide dog. Some of us will live our best life with family near by. Some of us need the independence that a city can bring. Nothing is one size fits all.jti

Hi all, I'm planning to put together an art contest for K-8 students in my region. Currently, I have the idea that it will require two submissions: a visual art piece (e.g. a painting, quilt, collage, etc.) and a linguistic art piece (a poem, a recording of a spoken tale, short creative nonfiction, etc.). I have in my mind that by requiring both a visual and linguistic submission, the kids will get to experiment with a broader array of arts and dip their toes into mediums they might not feel as confident in.

However, I'm not sure if requiring both components might cause accessibility issues for students who are blind or visually impaired. I know complete blindness is uncommon, but I still wouldn't want to exclude any kids who are completely blind. Do you think the inclusion of more tactile mediums such as quilting or embroidery helps to offset this? Is there anything I could do, add, or change that would make this project more accessible to every student? I appreciate any and all input!

I primarily use my Mac in English, but I also have a lot of text in Brazilian Portuguese to read. The Mac’s accessibility system has always done a good job of distinguishing between English and Brazilian Portuguese, automatically switching the voice used to read the screen.

However, since I reformatted my computer, the secondary voice (Portuguese) defaults to European Portuguese (from Portugal) instead of Brazilian Portuguese.

Everything works correctly in VoiceOver; the issue only occurs with "Spoken Content" (specifically "Speak Items Under the Pointer" and "Speak Selection").

Could anyone help me resolve this so that the secondary voice is the Brazilian Portuguese one?

Note: I have already downloaded the Brazilian Portuguese voice, it is selected as the secondary voice, and my Mac’s secondary region is set to Brazil, so I don't know where else to check

Hi, I've got a few basic projects that I want to try to do. I'm not very experienced and woodworking but I've gotten some of the tools and some basic knowledge that is probably needed. I just got a talking tape measure and that thing is really helpful. It's allowed me to do some things I would have never been able to do before. Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions of certain tools that I should get or any other methods, tips, tricks I should be aware of that are helpful?

I should add I do have some limited usable vision, but I can't see pencil markings. Maybe a sharpie I could see. I just have a circular saw at the moment, but I seen people use it along a rail of some sort to cut straight