Posts by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
(DIR) Post #APY6DB7yhcTdIe7KE4 by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-11-13T03:32:35Z
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I don't know what either of them looks like but based soley on vibes i think Tommy Wiseau would be a natural for Elon in the biopic
(DIR) Post #AQ2F8QJnUOscDb51zk by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-11-27T01:38:11Z
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Cricut cutting machines, ubiquitous in schools, libraries and makerspaces, can be used to make embossed or stenciled tactile graphics. A Braille embosser costs at least $1500 — Cricuts cost a fifth of that or less. Today I learned that I can handle the hardware and make great stencils: all that holds a Blind maker back is a set of unlabeled controls in the software. Does anyone know somebody at Cricut I could talk to about making the interface more accessible? Boosters beloved on this one!
(DIR) Post #AQ2F8SH2DdrIHbnqy0 by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-11-27T01:48:10Z
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As background, I'm a Blind technologist and educator. Five years ago I founded the Dimensions Lab at New York Public Library — we believe it may be the world's only free and open lab for DIY creation of tactile graphics. We offer graphics and Braille embossing, swellform, thermoform, 3d printing and analog drawing tools, + Cricut now. It's mission-critical for us to find a way to use cricut that doesn't involve a sighted interpreter, so that in good conscience we can teach and recommend it.
(DIR) Post #AQ2F8TwY0mevSeEWJM by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-11-27T01:51:20Z
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Sighted people tend to think that images are inherently difficult for Blind people to handle but nope — tactile graphics have been around in some form for centuries. Our actual barriers are avoidable image poverty, not getting enough exposure to get good; tough times getting training; expensive equipment; and inaccessible processes/interfaces. Cricut is just a couple of software button labels away from becoming a powerful lever to lift every one of those barriers.
(DIR) Post #AQ2F8VadtCKEZI03Rg by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-11-27T02:02:46Z
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Let me acknowledge colleagues who inspired me to try this — tactile artists Ann Cunningham and Nicole Johnson, and the incomparable John and MaFe who use Cricut to power a mail-and-Zoom tactile art club in Colombia. If you want to learn from the champions, here's their tutorial: https://btactile.com/drawingclub
(DIR) Post #AQJCGTMb3S3znur3pY by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-12-05T21:01:07Z
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Mom owns an antique store: i work in tech. When i was growing up i made fun of my mom's business voicemail, which repeated her open hours twice and specified what goes in a message. These days i put deadlines in the subject of an email, then in the email twice — once in the overview, again in the action item. I also tell recipients exactly what i want to know in their subject and body of reply. Mama i get it now
(DIR) Post #AQOiu6MIArYwMXS6rY by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-12-06T20:22:52Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
So many friends and colleagues posting cute content about OpenAI. Y'all do know you're doing advertising / cultural normalization work for Peter Thiel, Elon and the effective altruism creep show right? The tool may have productive, even joyful uses — but this is a situation where a few impressive and charming party tricks can distract us from the immense collective harms being done by the co-founders. Please check in with yourselves before choosing how to engage this.
(DIR) Post #AQOiu80k1xVpUHNvY8 by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2022-12-06T20:27:58Z
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BTW as recently as a week ago i was posting my own cute content about Craiyon, an offshoot of generative art tool Dall-E. Turns out that project has roots in the same toxic soil, and i've been reading up on how the normalization of this tech stands to pilfer paying work from human artists. When we use and promote these tools, we may get moments of delight — but we'll be paying them off for years. That's what they want, but it isn't happening on my watch.
(DIR) Post #AXgjEff0HPSrIsGlUW by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2023-07-14T03:28:07Z
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Today i let a little girl at the library play with my guide dog out of harness as a reward for finishing a Braille lesson her mom wanted her to have. For five minutes kiddo and doggo are happily visiting, wagging, talking and giggling. And then … i hear this rattle. i investigate. Guide dog Ellie has wriggled under her harness and has halfway put it on unassisted. She has now mastered the timeless library worker classic: "I’d love to keep chatting but i need to get back to work!"
(DIR) Post #AXmplmUZfKAMinK2AS by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2023-07-17T13:22:42Z
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I was in a great mood this morning — fast-walked to the trainwith my guide dog, loving the teamwork appreciating the birds. Dressed up and confident as hell. Then we step onto this subway car and some absolute zombie of a sighted person wordlessly grabs me around the bare elbow so hard that I feel fingernails. This is not how you offer a seat, folks. This is how you replace somebody’s good vibes with a fight-or-flight response: thoughts scattered, heart racing, body tense as a bow. Can we not?
(DIR) Post #AiojdQxfjTXkipvlM8 by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2024-06-09T22:10:47Z
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If you had told my 10-year-old Blind girl self that in 30 years i’d be taking pictures of a touchscreen with another touchscreen to find out from a conversational AI down on land how much longer the flight is; and that this is somehow easier than making the airline fix their website so i can read the damn time for myself; she would have been mad, but maybe not entirely surprised
(DIR) Post #AkdrYM0GZlSzZdivbs by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2024-08-05T01:05:39Z
7 likes, 12 repeats
As a Blind person i never thought i would be on social media savoring photos. But the communal Mastodon alt text game is so strong that sweet, poetic or silly descriptions abound on my timeline. Thanks to legions of people who take time to write a meaningful description of the ephemera they post, i learn so much about insects, plants, buildings, memes — all dispatches from a dimension of the world that i otherwise wouldn't experience. If you're wondering whether anybody reads these things: YES.
(DIR) Post #AkgYRPhh6VNdMutSgS by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2024-08-05T17:56:26Z
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Hi everybody! I’m doing my best to read through all the comments. Some questions you may have about Blind people and images might be answered in this article I wrote last year: https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/06/15/1074036/ending-image-poverty/amp/
(DIR) Post #B2OqAk0qsCPBcl4I5o by ChanceyFleet@mas.to
2026-01-18T03:53:49Z
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Blind people now have AI image description and these days a Blind person will send another Blind person just an AI description of a selfie, with no source photo. In the complex AI discourse i would just like to say that AI image description has changed the game for Blind folks. It's a hell of a ride at age 43 to read my first picture book and first graphic novel. AI is complicated but textualizing images is brilliant