Hi Kaye,
A former neighbour of mine is totally blind and is now living in
Melbourne. I sent her your email and her response included the
following points that may assist your friend (they are direct quotes
from her email to me ).
* My very first thing to say is that WA Guide Dogs and Vision
Australia operate in Perth, and they both have techno people who
can and do assist. In my experience Vision Australia is better.
They really would be/should be the best to answer her very
helpfully specific needs.
* I am presuming that she would qualify for NDIS, which I believe
would then/should help pay for various items. I know though that
it is a mammoth piece of bureaucratic work trying to get onto it
but, again, they have Social Workers at both those agencies who
should be able to help with that.
* I purposefully got a new Iphone 16, as I was told that anything
less would not be able to link with AI; this one does and it’s
relatively ok for that. But, don’t talk to me about Voice Over;
it’s a nightmare; and altogether it is rare that I manage to send
any message, read any message without frustration. But They
(whoever they are), always insist that Iphones are the best for
Blindees, so I guess I have to believe them.
* Personally, I just use audio books, and she can get a Victor Stream
Reader from Guide Dogs WA on which can be downloaded audio books,
podcasts. And I know you can download books and podcasts onto an
Iphone as well, but a Victor Stream Reader is totally Blind
friendly; you can even get international radio stations on it –
yes, I love it; it’s small and totally portable with a long life
rechargeable battery! No, I don’t get paid by them to advertise!
I hope this information is of some assistance to your friend.
Kind regards,
Graham Rabe
From: WAMUG <[email protected]> on behalf of Kaye and
Geoff via WAMUG <[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, 24 June 2025 at 10:09 am
To: “WAMUG_Mailing_List” <[email protected]>
Cc: Kaye and Geoff <[email protected]>
Subject: [WAMUG] Help for Mac user who is blind
Hi,
I have a friend who uses Mac computers, but who has just gone from
partly sighted to totally blind. She has been trying to navigate her
way around Siri and Voice Control, but has a lot of problems getting it
to work for her. To complicate matters she is bi-lingual - French and
English - and uses the computer with both languages (native born
French).
Her laptop is old, and runs Monterey (10.12). I checked, and it can't
be upgraded beyond that. She has tried to list her needs, and I'll show
you what she sent me (this email from her was dictated, hence the odd
words):
> I still have a problem switching from voice control to dictation.
> When I disable voice control I do not manage to go on dictation even
if I click dictation.
> There might be another Parramatta I cannot find. The micro Image does
not appear and it doesn't take my voice.
> I haven't managed together things read to me in French either .
> I am also trying to analyse exactly what my needs are and what I will
use from now on.
> I would not use graphics any more. I will not use spreadsheets or
calculations any more. I will use emails and write them and I want to
be able to classify them in different boxes. I want to be able to keep
documents and classify them so that I could find them easily my topic.
> I want to be able to photo Graaf important documents and keep them
together in case I lose them.
> I want to be able to Connect whatever device I have to a bigger
monitor but I don't know for how long it will keep helping me.
> I still want to be able to write texts who is kind of the word
processor and keep it if I want to write a book for example.
> I want to be able to transfer documents with a USB key or whatever
works now.
> I want to have the latest possibilities with AI so that I can do
everything by voice.
> I start thinking that a computer might be and overkill for all those
requirements.
> I do not know if an iPad or the latest iPhone can do all that.
> I truly want to upgrade to the latest know. But I want to choose the
right device with maximum efficiency for my needs now.
> Maybe you can help me disentangled all that.
Can anyone help with information about any of this, especially about
what device might be most useful for her. In particular, if she could
get a single device that would let her use dictation and speech and act
as a phone at the same time. She is also interested in getting a
stand-alone device to scan and read back letters and books - does
anyone know of anything that might suit?
Cheers, Kaye
--------------------
Kaye and Geoff
[email protected]
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