Have you or someone you know lost some vision?

Had some loss for some time and want to gain more independence?

Whatever your circumstances, you can shop for groceries on your own independently with very little help. Wouldn't that be awesome?

There are many ways to shop for groceries when you have vision loss, all with varying degrees of monetary costs and help involved:

Many cities and even small towns have a delivery service / taxi service that can make small deliveries. I would only recommend this for the occasional item that you need "now" - such as a missing recipe item. 

Another similar service that you may want to know about is UberEats for food delivery from restaurants that don't offer delivery.

If you live close to a grocery store, consider walking there, you'll get good exercise, orientation and mobility (O&M) practice, and get familiar with your neighborhood.

The same goes for public transit, take a bus tour of your area and find a grocery store that's convenient on your route. Some advice, the best grocery store on your route may not even be the closest one to your home - pick a store that's easy to stop at and has a return route without many "exchanges" or long wait times.

Some grocery stores have shopping fulfillment services - you call or fill out an online form with your shopping list and can just pick it up at the customer service department. Wal-Mart offers this service in some places and will even put the groceries in your car for you. So use a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft, or your taxi and just have them wait while you go in and claim your order. No long hassle of searching for items on rows and rows of shelves.

If your local grocery store doesn't offer a fulfillment service, you can call ahead and request a personal assistant - an employee that will walk with you and either read you prices and items, or fetch them for you. This also saves time hunting around for items when you can't see things well.

Shop in bulk when you have a ride with a friend or relative. Grab all the big bulk items like toilet paper, paper towels, canned food, pantry items like flour, sugar, coffee, etc. This way you won't have to struggle with getting these heavy or awkward-sized groceries home on your own - whether you're walking, taking the bus, or ride-share. 

​This way you have -

• Reliable transportation
• A large supply of goods stocked up
• Savings
• Less expended energy
• A friendly helping hand
• 
  

Another new service you may want to check out is Amazon Fresh.  A produce and grocery service offered by Amazon.com. They offer an unlimited service for only $14.99 a month and the food is delivered right to your door!

For some extra savings, use these promotional codes when you shop on Amazon:

15% off Peet's Coffee k-cup packs - 15BRAZIL32CT
20% off Gillette Venus Women Razors with Olay - 20VENUS
20% off Gillette Fusion Gel - 20GILLETTE
$30 off Tiger JAX rice cooker - 30TIGEROCT
20% off Global Pet Nutrition soft chews - 20GPN

So, there's many ways to shop when you have vision loss and without losing your sense of independence as well. 

​What other ways do you do for shopping? Share your experiences!

Halloween is almost here!

Need some last minute supplies? Kid change their mind on what costume they wanted?

No Problem!! Check out the Amazon Halloween Shop for all kinds of cool costumes for all sizes!

Ate all your candy before it was time for Trick or Treating? Have some more delivered FAST with Amazon Prime!

Maybe you just wanna curl under the blankets and watch some horror movies? We've got that covered too!

.I’ve recently been asked by Sonic Alert to review two of their products.
 
I was given the Sonic Boom Travel Alarm clock and their NEW Bluetooth Sonic Boom Super Shaker Alarm.

Sonic Alert is a company that specializes in alerting systems for people with hearing loss and for those who are hard to wake up. They sell alarm clocks that have extra-loud ringers and "bed shakers" which are small pods that vibrate for you to feel. They also sell amplified telephones and home alerting systems (visual alerts to important sounds).

​Now the products:

The picture shows the clock portion upright, but it actually can fold flat.

​I tried the alarm in several scenarios:
   - Tucked under two pillows.
   - Between the mattress and boxspring.
   - Clipped to the fitted sheet in between the pillows (on a queen  bed).
   - Clipped to the fitted sheet, but dangling over the side (in case you knocked it off)
   - Clipped to the end of the bed in the middle (by my feet).

It didn't work in only 2 scenarios - dangling off the bed and clipped to the sheet in the middle between the pillows. I figured out why - there was no resistance to the vibrations, meaning there was nothing on top to enhance the vibrating. If it bounced freely, the vibrations are lost - so using a blanket or pillow helps.

In all the other situations - Man did it ever work! You could be in a coma and still wake up on time. That's why the name "Sonic Boom" fits it perfectly.

It was very easy to set up, Just install the batteries, one look at the diagram bof where buttons are and I was done setting the time, the alarm & the vibrate alert. It also has a snooze button, night light and options such as vibrate only, buzzer only, and both vibrate and buzzer. 

The only suggestion I have for improving this product is having a pocket in the storage case for the batteries, (as they advise removing the batteries while not in use).

So whenever you receive a new phone call, text, a new e-mail on your smartphone -  it sends an alert to the sonic boom.

The vibrations can be adjusted - short bursts, long vibrate, and so on. Sadly it cannot be set to different vibrations to different alerts. (short bursts for texts and long vibration for email). I don't really care for that option but thought some users might.

I really thought this would be AWESOME for Deafblind people like myself! Why? We often lack peripheral vision and miss seeing the visual alert flasher or the smartphone's own light. Sure, we could just have the phone vibrate in our pocket - but that gets uncomfortable when you're in a chair or on the couch watching TV, reading, or other activities. Stick the Sonic Bomb alert in your couch or chair cushion and you'll never miss anything else.

Another bonus I liked - the Sonic Boom alerter can either be plugged into a wall socket (with included plug adapter) or a USB port. The bonus is that the USB adapter has another USB port for you to plug in your smartphone or tablet into. So only one plug outlet is needed for the vibrating alert and to charge your phone  How cool is that?

Both of these great products and Sonic Alert's other products, can be found on their website, on Amazon, and in my Store.

So never be late for anything while away from home, or miss any more notifications with Sonic Alert.

Eyes may be the window to the soul, but glasses are the frames through which we see the world.

​Read on for our list of the top 10 trends in eyewear.

Wire rim glasses aren't just for your grandpa anymore. Hipsters across the country have latched onto this old school style. Wire frames are a super flattering style that keep the face bright and open. They are also much more lightweight than bulky plastic frames, making them ultra comfortable for all daywear. 

Go artisan with a pair of wood grain glasses frames. This striking style is totally unique, giving your look a stylish finish. Wooden frames add a fresh take on a classic style with their unusual, natural texture. Stand out from the crowd with these unconventional spectacles.

Millions of Americans need magnification to read, but are constantly misplacing their reading glasses. Routinely picking up a new pair from the drugstore can add up fast, which is why many people are exploring more affordable solutions. Reading glasses modeled after old school paper 3D glasses are a super lightweight, affordable solution.

​Say goodbye to the heartbreak of losing a pair of expensive reading glasses, and hello to an affordable, lightweight alternative when you shop Rainbow Symphony for your pair.

Things are looking rosy with these popular blush hued frames. An updated take on last year's clear frame trend, these translucent pink rims are funky, feminine, and youthful. The see-through material keeps your face bright and visible while the rose tone gives the look a playful kick.

This retro style has been crowd favorite for decades for a reason. This old school shape is very flattering, accenting your cheekbones and making your eyes look fresh and alert.​

 For those looking for something super unique, the flea market or second hand store can be the perfect place to dig up a one of a kind pair of frames. Get custom lenses fit to your prescription and you’ll be turning heads all over town.

 A more modern take on horn rimmed glasses, two-tone frames have been popping up on the runways and on the streets. Featuring an ombre fade from dark to light, these lucite spectacles are striking and fresh.

Make a bold statement with a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Wide tortoise shell frames are a dramatic, stylish option to frame your face.

 Frames accented with a wire bridge over the nose, is a fresh, but classic twist on the ubiquitous hipster glasses. This gold accent catches the eye and helps set these frames apart from the pack.

For those who feel that square shaped glasses don’t do their face justice, the rounder Roosevelt glasses are the perfect choice.

 If you’ve been wearing the same pair of glasses for years, it’s time to update something other than your prescription. Check out one of these styles to refresh your most important accessory!

Did you know that there's about 15.3% of adults in the United States who have trouble hearing, and 9.4% of adults who have trouble seeing?

So if these adults cannot access your website, you're losing customers.

Several factors impede your potential clients ability to read your website.

These include:

• Busy background - text on top of a photograph without a blank background to differentiate background and text is hard to read.
• Busy font - picking a unique font like calligraphy is hard to read. You could try enlarging the space between letters to improve it somewhat, but keep the fonts simple.
• No contrasting colors - Using dark text on a dark background, or vice versa, is hard ti make out. Use contrasting colors such as black on white, white on black, and similar strong contrasts.

These are a simple website overhaul update to fix and can help your other customers as well.

​Simple is better.

This is the number one complaint I've seen among the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Even taking it to Social Media after "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" turned off their subtitles midway through their trailer.

Subtitles don't just benefit the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, they also benefit Seniors with hearing loss and consumers shopping online with their volume muted.

Please don't trust YouTube to do it for you by "automatic captioning" - watch one for yourself and you'll see they suck! It's easy to upload a written transcript, have Youtube sync it, then correct any timing errors.

Almost every website has images, nothing wrong with that, but not providing alternate text is where you can go wrong.

Blind and visually impaired viewers would like to know what your pictures are about too.

Another inconvenience about images are about restaurant menus. Many blind and visually impaired people (including myself) likes to preview a restaurant's menu online before going to eat there. This is mainly due to restaurants having inaccessible menus - no braille or large print versions available. But many online menus are photos only and have no descriptions at all.

So offer alternate text versions of all your images for screenreaders and braille readers to access.

The older captcha system was inacessible to low vision users, screenreaders for the blind, and the Deafblind who could not see the visual clue nor hear the audio clue.

The newer Captcha systems are getting better nowadays (such as Google's ReCaptcha Reboot (the "I am not a robot" option).

​So be sure to update your captcha system and offer accessible alternatives.

When opening a new account, or posting something online, or when requesting account changes, many sites require user verification.

Some sites are great and offer options for contact - text, email, saved security questions, or phone options that we can chose from depending on our disability.

There's two Sites that have been a bane of mine for the last several weeks:

• Twitter - I wanted to open a separate account for this website to keep business and personal separate. Twitter demanded a phone verification, no text or email option. I tried with my CapTel phone, then I asked my son to listen for me (which defeats the purpose of being "independent") to where Twitter shut down the notification code due to "technical difficulties". Tweets to and an email garnered no response for two weeks. I finally received an email stating that my account was accidentally "scooped" up by bots as being malicious.
• Fiverr, A freelance gig site - Tried posting a gig to earn a little money, but when it was time to post it I was required to verify myself. The options were an SMS text or a Phone call.  I tried BOTH, but kept getting a message that my number cannot be used. After an email to them I find out I have to use a "REAL" number. Not a free TextMe App or VoIP numbers. Well excuse me, if I could afford cellphone contracts or phone plans instead of MagicJack I wouldn't NEED Fiverr for "extra money" now would I?

So please offer more ways for people with disabilities to verify themselves.

Using the wrong terminology to identify various people with disabilities can turn these people away from your site.

Before writing up an article, describing a product, or even inventing a product, please do your research. It's easy to "Google" a disability topic and read social media posts, blogs and support agency websites and pick up on the terminology used by that group.

For example, don't use the outdated "Deaf and Mute" to describe the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Some don't even like the term "Hearing Impaired" either. Also don't go inventing your own terms to sound trendy like saying "hearingless".


Following these simple guidelines to prevent losing 18.1% of your potential customers. People with disabilities are a larger customer base than people with a Hispanic background (13.3%). So it's worth the investment to make these simple tweaks to your website for more clients.

 This week is Read an E-book Week at Smashwords. 

My e-book is 50% off!! Just enter the coupon code RAE50

​The sale runs from March 5th to March 11th! I'd appreciate it if you check my book out!

Check out all the other e-books on sale too and happy reading!