In an effort to hop on to the social networking bandwagon (an utterly arcane
way to express the need to participate in an utterly of-the-moment form of
online communication), I have recently crept in to Twitter. Already, I have
a Linked In profile, my virtual assistant Andrea is building a Facebook page
for me, I have four web sites and this blog. To manage all of this
activity, keep it current and to attempt to
better communicate with my customers, I have really needed to find an
accessible solution to enable the greatest flexibility and independence.
Recently, I have discovered two accessible insights that may work for you.
The first is what I use to send updates to the Accessible Insights blog.
the blogging platform I’m using is Word Press, which is actually pretty
accessible all on it’s own. Again, it was my virtual assistant, Andrea of
Action Jackson virtual Assistants who set up the account and “pointed” it to
my site, but I found while exploring Word Press that there were many
features that I could use without sighted assistance, with only the use of
my screen reader software, Zoomtext. However, I spend a great deal of time
parked in front of my email inbox, and I wanted to find a way that I could
quickly and easily post blog entries from my totally accessible, familiar
and well-worn Windows Mail interface.
What I discovered was a neat little web-based “handshake” between my email
inbox and blog, called Blog Mailr. No, that is not a spelling error. If
you are using a screen reader to read this, you should know that “Mailer” is
spelled without the ‘e.” Their special little piece of unique, I guess.
everybody’s got to have a thing, right?
Go to www.blogmailr.com and read about how it works. The technical
aspect is beyond me, but the upshot is that you can send blog posts from
your email program. It’s a beautiful thing.
Accessible solution 2: Same idea different context. If you are one of the
millions of ‘Tweeple” out there who camp out on the Twitter site chirping
and tweeting away, take a look at Nutshell Mail. Go to
www.nutshellmail.com. You can get regularly scheduled (you choose)
email updates that allow you to keep track of your various social networking
activities, both incoming and outgoing. You can receive your tweets and
email messages from Twitter, My Space, Facebook and more. You can send
tweets, retweets, direct messages and perform other functions right from
your email inbox. Read the nutshell Mail site thoroughly, including the
blog. It’s entertaining and informative. To paraphrase one of the Nutshell
Mail blog entries: If you would prefer to live in the meatspace rather than
the geek-o-sphere, then you need Nutshell Mail. I agree. It’s another way
to make your life a little easier, more accessible and therefore, more
enjoyable and less stressful.
LL