Adapting Bingo for Impaired Vision
Oct. 9th, 2019 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
allbingoOne of my blind friends alerted me that a bingo card is difficult or impossible to use via screen reader. So I came up with some other options ...
Bingo is a grid with 5 squares in a row (B-I-N-G-O) and 5 squares down. (It can have other numbers, like 3x3, but 5x5 is standard.) So you can name the squares: B1 is the upper left corner, O5 is the bottom right corner, and so on. This would be very easy to lay out on cardboard with any raised line material. People have used a spot'n'line pen, glue, string dipped in glue, wikisticks, and so on.
One prompt goes into each square. Then you try to fill prompts so they form a line in any direction: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. There are other shapes, but start with those because they are the simplest.
If you have low vision, try printing out the card in large font, or even print individual words and place them on your grid. It doesn't matter if your card winds up 5 feet square, as long as you can read it.
If you have no usable vision, consider making a tactile card.
To avoid the online grid, simply choose 24 prompts from the text list of prompts in the fest and assign them randomly to the squares. The middle square is typically Wild Card (use any prompt) or Free Space (you don't have to fill it). If you wish to Braille your bingo card, I suggest randomly distributing the numbers 1-24 in the squares. There should be enough room in a reasonably sized card to Braille two numerals. Then simply number your prompts, and match the number of the prompt to its position in the grid. You could Braille your prompts directly, but long ones wouldn't fit and you'd have to make a new card for every fest. Do what works for you.
Another idea: for a more tactile experience, simply glue random small items to the grid -- a penny, a piece of macaroni, a hex-nut, a piece of corduroy, whatever you have. Then try to connect each item to the fest's overall theme. Frex, corduroy could mean corduroy pants in autumn, striped wrapping paper in winter, plowed fields in spring, and heat waves in summer.
EDIT 10/9/19: You can also buy Braille bingo cards. To use that version, you would need to note which numbers are on your card (they go higher than the 24 used in a 5x5 creative bingo card) so that you could match those to a prompt list. But you wouldn't have to make a card, and a purchased card would be very sturdy and easy to use.
I hope this helps.
Bingo is a grid with 5 squares in a row (B-I-N-G-O) and 5 squares down. (It can have other numbers, like 3x3, but 5x5 is standard.) So you can name the squares: B1 is the upper left corner, O5 is the bottom right corner, and so on. This would be very easy to lay out on cardboard with any raised line material. People have used a spot'n'line pen, glue, string dipped in glue, wikisticks, and so on.
One prompt goes into each square. Then you try to fill prompts so they form a line in any direction: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. There are other shapes, but start with those because they are the simplest.
If you have low vision, try printing out the card in large font, or even print individual words and place them on your grid. It doesn't matter if your card winds up 5 feet square, as long as you can read it.
If you have no usable vision, consider making a tactile card.
To avoid the online grid, simply choose 24 prompts from the text list of prompts in the fest and assign them randomly to the squares. The middle square is typically Wild Card (use any prompt) or Free Space (you don't have to fill it). If you wish to Braille your bingo card, I suggest randomly distributing the numbers 1-24 in the squares. There should be enough room in a reasonably sized card to Braille two numerals. Then simply number your prompts, and match the number of the prompt to its position in the grid. You could Braille your prompts directly, but long ones wouldn't fit and you'd have to make a new card for every fest. Do what works for you.
Another idea: for a more tactile experience, simply glue random small items to the grid -- a penny, a piece of macaroni, a hex-nut, a piece of corduroy, whatever you have. Then try to connect each item to the fest's overall theme. Frex, corduroy could mean corduroy pants in autumn, striped wrapping paper in winter, plowed fields in spring, and heat waves in summer.
EDIT 10/9/19: You can also buy Braille bingo cards. To use that version, you would need to note which numbers are on your card (they go higher than the 24 used in a 5x5 creative bingo card) so that you could match those to a prompt list. But you wouldn't have to make a card, and a purchased card would be very sturdy and easy to use.
I hope this helps.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-10 02:24 pm (UTC)Awesomeness!!
Even better! :D
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-10 06:43 pm (UTC)When it's a simple change, like providing information about alternatives, I do it. Not everything is necessarily feasible, but usually something can be made to work.
>>I do childcare in my school district & we have a couple gluten free kids & I feel bad that we have to exclude them all the time. They want to do bagel breakfasts & we're not even allowed to buy gluten free bagels for them. How sad is that?<<
I see more awareness of dietary issues now, but honestly most of the responses are abusive. A lot of those involve taking food away from people, either the whole group or select individuals. Since food is a human bonding thing, that is ruinously harmful, but most people don't see it. Plus overcontrolling other people's food runs up the risk of eating disorders, and even more so disordered eating of wider variety.
Meanwhile over in Terramagne, there are whole allergen-free restaurants and other restaurants with an alcove for preparing allergen-free foods. Blues Moon doesn't have room to cook halal but they have enough Muslim customers that they made arrangements for halal plates that can be heated up as needed. I figure if I keep describing saner ways of doing things, maybe more people will replicate them here.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-10 11:32 pm (UTC)I hear you! That's awful! Peeps can't help having an allergy. I know, right? Food is Love. :D It's terrible. Everyone's an individual & while 4 chicken nuggets & 6 tater tots may be enough to fill most kindergartners' bellies, it might not be enough for a big kid. There was this kindergarten boy who was nearly as tall as I am, I know that's not enough for him. If he's hungry, they tell him to eat more veggies, like kids are going to want that. XD
NICE! You're right! Maybe if peeps see things like that, they'll be more likely to do it themselves. Sometimes it's the small steps that make the biggest difference! :D
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-11 12:28 am (UTC)And then people wonder why eating disorders skyrocket. >_<
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-11 01:27 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-11 03:03 am (UTC)* Allowing food corporations to engineer food to be addictive, the same as tobacco companies did with cigarettes, and with similar results. Oh wait, I misspoke. Junk food kills more people than smoking.
* Allowing factory farms to destroy the soil to the point that their produce is less nutritious.
* Forbidding people to eat except at regimented times trains them to ignore signals of hunger or satisfaction, instead gorging at the allotted times in hopes of not getting hungry before the next meal.
* Forbidding children to walk to school, play outside, or pretty much go anywhere.
Then society blames children for being fat, lazy, isolated, and otherwise unhealthy -- despite children deciding precisely none of these things.
And then they wonder why kids prefer to spend time in a videogame world where they can actually DO THINGS.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-11 02:16 pm (UTC)That's insane! I do knwo, when they take out the fat, they add more sugar. And I have to laugh at 100 calorie popcorn. If you make regular popcorn (this based on label reading of microwave popcorn) I've found regular popcorn has LESS calories when it's popped, than the 100 calorie kind. XD
We never walked to school, not cuz it wasn't safe cuz of abductions, but cuz of peeps who drive badly. Even as an adult, I've been nearly run over by drivers who fail to give me right of way. XD At least we were able to walk or ride bikes in high school to go places, since no one was home to drive us. XD I remember going to the park down the block, only when Mom had time to go with us. XD Sadly, you almost NEVER see kids playing outside & I don't even live on a busy street. XD You learned how to g4et along with peeps, cuz adults only interfered if there was bloodshed/violence. XD I work in childcare & these don't know how to entertain themselves, when they need to. XD It's insane! XD
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-12 02:24 am (UTC)Not just that. When they take out fat, they often add sugar and salt, along with ingredients -- usually synthetic -- to replace the role of fat in that recipe. Take out sugar, and they often raise the fat and salt, plus artificial sweeteners and fillers. Among the more appalling is silica which is basically powdered sand. You have to watch for that one even in stevia, an herbal sweetener. Take out salt, they often boost the fat and sugar, plus adding other flavor enhancers, of which MSG is a leading choice. >_<
Trying to find relatively crap-free food is very hard now. Trying to find some that is also tasty is even harder. That's why I get so excited about the few really good examples. Seeds of Change now offers a 7-grain microwave pouch that is fairly healthy, tasty, fast, and affordable.
>>We never walked to school, not cuz it wasn't safe cuz of abductions, but cuz of peeps who drive badly. <<
Ah. That's a very different problem. Sturdy barriers can help. Some cities have very good divisions between street traffic and sidewalks.
>>Sadly, you almost NEVER see kids playing outside & I don't even live on a busy street.<<
I saw some yesterday. It was the first I had seen in a while. They were throwing a football back and forth across an intersection and running around in the road. These weren't kindergarteners, they were junior high or high school age. Darwin Award in the waiting.
>> You learned how to g4et along with peeps, cuz adults only interfered if there was bloodshed/violence. <<
Yeah, that turns out to be very important, and without opportunities to manage their own time and relationships early on, kids don't learn how. By the time they're released from custody at 18 or 21, it's often too late and they can't learn it well.
>> I work in childcare & these don't know how to entertain themselves, when they need to. XD It's insane! XD <<
Sad, but hardly a surprise. Colleges have been complaining for some time that the kids arriving are completely unprepared to run their own lives, so the colleges have stepped up control. Businesses have been complaining for some time that the graduates don't know how to run their own lives or work, so they're scrambling around trying to find actually usable workers. Think about how much worse that's getting.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-10-12 04:36 pm (UTC)Sounds like it. Our organic/health food section is really small, plus if it's bread it's mixed in with all the other breads out there. XD As for Seed of Change, I've never heard of that brand... *thinks about it* Then again, I might have. There was a new brand of "meat" they had in a cold case. It was intriguing, but I have to watch with veggie meat as I have food allergies & sometimes they stick in stuff I can't eat. XD The veggie burgers I can eat as called Beyond meat & they cook up like a real burger & if add Peter Luger sauce (or your fave steak sauce)& a slice of Swiss cheese, I swear when you pop that puppy on a bun, it tastes like a real burger! :D
Barriers wouldn't work as the streets aren't really that busy; it's drivers that feel they have the right of way over pedestrians as well as being in such a hurry, they roll through stops signs. *They do this all the time to make a right onto a busy street, something they can do on red anyways. XD) We got universal busing when a kid, who lived across the street from the middle school, got hit by a car on the way to school. XD
That's good in a sense, but in another, they must know the kids who were riding their bikes with no helmet & not looking where they're going. XD Then again, I've seen a few contenders for the Darwin Award in the morning on the way to work. Jogging in the dark with the traffic, so you don't see them until you're right on top of them, & wearing dark colored sweats. XD It's like they suddenly appear in front of you. XD The dog walkers are just as bad, doing pretty much the same thing. I have to be at work at 6:45 in the morning, so when I'm out there at 6:30, it's DARK, even with street lights. XD
I totally agree. I believe it. One of my online friends teaches nursing & the stories she tells... it just makes you NEVER want to end up in a hospital. XD It's scary.