Hello and welcome. S.J. Wells here with you today. Last week I decided to try another platform for my author blog. Blogger is great, but there are a few things about it that don’t fit my needs. What I want is an actual website that I can update as I am able. So, what I have learned from the experience is what I’m going to share with you today.
Note: For those who use screen readers, I am using Voice Over on a MacBook. My internet program is Safari.
Remember KWL charts from school? Yeah, well, I didn’t either, but that’s probably because charts don’t help a person who is blind as much as they might help a sighted person. But, as a homeschool mama of 2 sighted children, I’ve learned about them. In the spirit of a KWL chart, here we go.
K (What I already know)
- How to use Voice Over and Safari
- How to create a blog
- What I want out of a website
W (What I want to learn)
- Is this new platform friendly for screen readers?
- Will I be able to enter the information by myself?
- How much does it cost?
- Will it be pleasing to sighted people’s eyes?
L (What I learned)
- Wordpress is speech friendly, mostly.
- Yes, I could enter the information by myself. However, I did need sighted assistance choosing a theme and color for the font.
- When at first you don’t succeed, wait a while and try again with less frustration.
As you can probably tell, it wasn’t a quick process. I had to practice and keep trying until I got the results I wanted. What I needed in big supply was patience and time. I had to learn how my speech program worked with the software. Sometimes, this meant losing the content of a page and having to create it all over again. Sometimes, this meant fixing a page more than once to get the desired result. Sure, I got frustrated. No, it didn’t work out great every time. Yes, I needed help from someone who can see. But, I kept trying, and now I have a new website, and I think it looks pretty good. Go check it out for me, and tell me what you think. The address is
This passed week seems to be a time for new things. My family just took in a kitten who will be 8 weeks old on Sept. 2. I never took care of a kitten before, but my daughters wanted one, so I am trying to be patient and learn. This process, as far as the kitten is concerned, takes using my hearing as often as possible.
My encouragement for you, faithful readers is to keep trying, no matter your disability. Try, fail, learn from your mistake and try again. Don’t be afraid of something, just because it is new. Embrace it and use it for your good. Blindness, deafness, paralysis, all of these do not have to define you, if you don’t allow them.
Now, for some upcoming news. We, the Adkins and Wells team will be presenting at the WV Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind in Charleston, WV on Saturday, Sept. 9 at approximately 11:00 AM. We will be talking about writing, blogging, education, homeschool and our project, a textbook for children called, “Ducking into UEB”, a book that teaches Unified English Braille to children in grades 4-12 and older readers. If you’re interested to come and hear us and want more information, check facebook.com/adkinsandwells/. We will be creating an event, there.
We hope you have enjoyed today’s post. Questions or comments? Please feel free to drop us a comment below or contact us via email at adkinsandwells@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you. Here’s wishing you many blessings and a wonderful weekend. Catch you back here next Thursday.
I'm looking forward to the event!
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