Lynn I 🗽 on Nostr: Look, I acknowledge I fail here often. I don't always point out unlabeled buttons to ...

Look, I acknowledge I fail here often. I don't always point out unlabeled buttons to app developers and request they be labeled. Right or wrong, mostly what I do is try to figure out what an unlabeled button does, and quite often, I can and do figure it out. When that happens, my mind moves on, and I don't think about blaming the developer or rushing to publicly bring this to everyone's attention. Is this the right way or the best way to handle it? Perhaps not. But, on the other hand, I could probably spend a portion of each day contacting app developers and asking them to label buttons, so I don't feel like I want to be the button labeling patrol.

So here's what I suggest we all do. If unlabeled buttons are important to you in an app you use or you know others use, contact the developer and let them know about unlabeled buttons and how that impacts the use of that app. But please do so in a non-accusatory and respectful way. Don't assume the lack of labeling is a deliberate act designed to exclude. Please make an effort to be respectful when engaging a developer or tech support person. I've seen too much negative behavior lately with respect to comments about Voice Dream Reader developers, and you know what, I've had dealings with their tech support three times over the last couple of days, and the response I've received has been gracious and helpful. I have gotten what I needed. And, oh yes, I also actually took the time to email them, after the fact, to say thank you for the assistance, and to let them know how much I appreciate it. So, hopefully, when they see an email from me in future, they'll think positively about me and positively about my past interaction with them, and they just might want to help.

I also have to say I have concerns about the upcoming podcast where Voice Dream Reader will be featured in a segment. I have great regard and respect for Jonathan Mosen, as a person and as an advocate, so I'm hopeful this podcast segment will be fair and balanced and will ultimately enhance the relationship between the blindness community and future development of Voice Dream Reader. I think it could go either way. I will be heart broken if this app, one I use every single day, is met, down the road, with the developers removing it from the app store because some in the blindness community, and you know who you are, are overly critical, feel entitled, and don't think a subscription cost is fair. Please don't use the opportunity to take this excellent app away from those of us who are happy and willing to pay to support it and its continued development simply because you may choose not to pay for a subscription or choose not to continue to use the app. Please don't spoil it for the rest of us who do want to support the app development and are willing to pay to continue to use it.

I really did start out writing this post about unlabeled buttons and how I personally handle them, but it obviously became something else as I wrote it. The reason for that is because the Voice Dream Reader app is one I use many hours a day because I love to read. Are there other apps I could use to read books? Of course there are. But in my personal experience as a person who is DeafBlind, there is no single app that does as much for me as Voice Dream Reader to enhance my reading pleasure and experience. There is no other single app that utilizes cloud integration in the way Voice Dream Reader does, so I am grateful for it and want to support its continued development, monetarily, and in whatever other ways I can. I wholeheartedly support consumer choice. What I don't support is consumer bullying, the my way or the high way mentality. So please, as a community, let us not support consumer bullying and use it as a mechanism, either overtly or covertly, to achieve an outcome. If you don't like the path developers are taking, respectfully share your thoughts and advocate for change and, ultimately, if you can't or won't do that, then don't use the app or software or piece of technology, but don't go on a crusade to spoil it for the rest of us. This is what I feel some in this community are doing, and that both saddens and angers me. I think, as a community we're better than this, and we should use this platform and other social media platforms to empower others to work for positive and meaningful outcomes, not bullying or shaming.