The announcement that we all expected
came cutting through the usual noise
of children occupied with toys,
from household chores thoughts deflected,
eyes and ears to screens directed,
sombre is the next announcement
as they hear the dark pronouncement
today life has come to an end
for well loved husband, father, friend
reflecting on a life well spent
Filed under Factual, From the heart, Inspired emotion, Self compositions, Uncategorized
Moment of marriage, lifetime of misery.
Filed under Double tanka, Flash fiction, From the heart, Self compositions
I scan the shelves and my eyes alight upon a magazine I haven’t read for a couple of months. To encourage my desire to maintain a reasonable level of fitness in my advancing years and on the advice of my GP. I remove it from the shelf. As is customary nowadays it is encased in a clear polythene wrapper. Oblivious to the current concern about single use plastic the publishers appear to share my own irritation at the number of people I see reading all the magazines without a thought of purchase, thus leaving the merchandise in second-hand condition, creased pages and dog-eared corners and all. After purchase I get the magazine to the car and head home. Eagerly I tear my way in and as I turn the first page an avalanche of paper leaflets fall onto the table thence onto the floor. Upon retrieval I glance at the inane sheaf of brightly coloured sheets. Amidst the promises of untold riches if I am willing to make a telephone call for a mere two pounds a minute I notice one extolling the virtues of a home stairlift, a winch to raise me from the bathtub and a host of ingenious ideas to make life easier in the home. Very helpful to an expected clientele of people considering conquering all the long distance footpaths in Britain or walking holidays in the country of their choice. At least they haven’t been clogging up the hard-pressed postal system.
Filed under As you read it, Factual, From the heart, Self compositions
From the highest peak
down to the deepest valley,
see Nature’s wonders
Filed under As you read it, Factual, From the heart, Haiku, nature inspired, Self compositions
My thanks to Chris Graham (AKA The Story Reading Ape) https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com, for drawing this article on why much of the internet is inaccessible to blind people to my attention, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49694453.
As many of you who follow my blog will know, I lost the majority of my eyesight at 18-months-old. I am unable to read print and use software called Job Access with Speech (JAWS), which converts text into speech and braille enabling me to use a Windows computer or laptop. For anyone interested in finding out about JAWS, please follow this link, https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/jaws/.
The article linked to above, details a number of problems faced by blind users of the internet, many of which I have experienced whilst navigating the World Wide Web. For example, the piece explains how blind computer users can be faced with unlabelled links on a webpage meaning that what is heard is next to useless. I have myself been faced with a page where JAWS reads “link, link, link”, meaning that the only way in which I can ascertain what the content of a particular link may be is by clicking on said link. This is, obviously a very tedious undertaking and, in many instances I have given up on the site in question and visited a more accessible alternative.
Turning specifically to sites hosted directly on WordPress (such as my own blog), these are, on the whole accessible. For example all the social media sharing buttons on kmorrispoet.com are labelled so anyone using a screen reader such as JAWS will hear “Twitter, Facebook” etc voiced by JAWS. Likewise the comments form is clearly labelled as such meaning that anyone logged into a WordPress account can easily post a comment.
In contrast I have found that many of the self-hosted WordPress sites are not as accessible as those hosted directly on WordPress. For example I often come across unlabelled sharing buttons on self-hosted sites so the only way in which I can determine what the button in question may be, is by actually clicking on it.
Whilst some comments forms on self-hosted sites are labelled with fields such as “comment”, “your name”, “email address”, others are not. In the latter instance the JAWS (or other screen reader user) is forced to guess what each field is or, more often simply to give up on their intention of posting a comment and navigate away from the site/blog in question.
In my experience the vast majority of bloggers care about their readers and wish to ensure that everyone is able to access their sites equally and enjoy the same ability to participate in discussions. However, unless a blogger is themselves blind (or knows a blind screen reader user), its perfectly possible that they have little (if any idea) as to how blind web users access their site/blog.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has links to useful guidance explaining how webmasters can ensure that their sites are accessible to those with site loss. For anyone who is unsure whether their blog and/or website is accessible, you may find it helpful to visit here, https://www.sightadvicefaq.org.uk/independent-living/accessible-website.
Kevin
Filed under Factual, From the heart, Re-blogged
Mournful, I stood observing the once ornate merchant’s houses that looked out over the empty, deserted wharves, My sense of nostalgia rising as I remembered the times before, when with each rising tide the hustle and bustle would begin. The rasping breath of steam-powered cranes as they swung the heavy bales from ship to shore. The grunts of heaving stevedores manhandling the trucks, each piled high with sacks and bale, to the gaping wooden, warehouse doors. The squeal of the pulleys calling the unwary to the hooks plummeting to the ground, hungrily anticipating the next profit-making mouthful to be hoisted.
Filed under Flash fiction, From the heart, History, Self compositions, Uncategorized
With penons flying proudly
see how tall they stand,
not quite in the water
nor yet on the land
standing proud as if on parade
behind a marching band
we salute these natural, flaxen maids
brightening our land
Picture from Bob Williams, Arx Cynuit
They congregated up in the hills, far away from judging eyes. This would be the last time that any of these people would see these Northern barbarians. Fight or die Cobanorum had said and they would follow this exhortation to the end. Far below they could see the torches zigzagging up the heather-clad slope. The Norsemen had beached their boats at sunset and after making their usual offerings to their ineffective Gods had decided the auspices were right for an assault on the lonely village.
Toothless old men, young boys, women with babies at the breast, young girl, all were assembled at the call to repel this parasitic invader. Those who would take their women and children, mock their Christ, their priests, and without compassion, maim, disfigure and take the life of their brave fighting men.
Their weapons were the tools of the field but they had one advantage, they were fighting for their lives, their homes, all that was held dear. Death had no meaning, for life would never be the same if they were defeated. In their favour was the gift nature had bestowed upon them, the sheer sea cliff, the stone, turf-clad walls, built to protect them from this predicted onslaught. All they had to rely on was the knowledge and belief that their courage would be as strong as the mighty earthen banks built over time with the strength of theirs and their ancestor’s own arms.
The result of their struggle is well known and I am happy to tell you of their victory. Thus was the legend born we know as the battle of Arx Cynuit, the last attempt by the accursed Danes to subdue this island race.
The unbroken pact
is a true test of friendship,
death cannot erase
Just a Zen moment,
in the chaos of the day,
sanity restored
Filed under As you read it, Factual, From the heart, Haiku, Self compositions
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