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ShinyLeftPad 10 hours ago

Blind people can't change video speed? The control is available right there.

kochb 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, the audio speed can be adjusted.

Whether that control you see visually is actually accessible to a blind user is a different matter entirely. Further, it maxes out at 2x, but a blind person would typically screen read at the equivalent of 3-6x.

ShinyLeftPad 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Huh, 2x is low even sometimes for sighted people.

Related, it seems like YouTube recently paywalled speed increase beyond 2x. Another way in which it's not cheap to lose sight, I guess.

the_other 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Another way in which it's not cheap to lose sight, I guess.

True.

We can frame it even more strongly: "default societal practices actively discriminate against people with disabilities; they intentionally, consciously choose to make life harder for people who're disadvantaged".

thrownthatway 7 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

entrope 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Another way in which it's not cheap to lose sight, I guess.

Seems like it would be a win-win to have a user setting to opt out of video in exchange for ungating that feature.

jofzar 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No they are saying that the audio playing for tts would be at like 2.4x what's in the commercial.

ShinyLeftPad 10 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't get it. The speed of TTS can be adjusted, right?

Pretty sure there's enough blind people who don't listen to voice at insane speeds, because they listen in their non-native second language or for whatever other reason. What's wrong in using lowest common denominator that's 100% accessible to those people as well as people who want faster speeds? Unlike "too fast", "too slow" doesn't get entirely inaccessible, it's just boring.

Such a random reason to criticize for.

superchink 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don’t think it’s meant to be criticism. It’s an interesting piece of information that gives a peek into how those with vision impairment consume content. There’s nothing wrong with it; but it was enlightening to consider the experience for those of us who have not been forced to.

ShinyLeftPad 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Seems like I brought my own negativity into this...

hombre_fatal 8 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't think you did.

Some blind people listen to things at superhuman speeds, but not all blind people. Using a normal reading speed is a sensible choice for an ad trying to appeal to blind people since you don't want to intimidate those who don't use superhuman speeds.

Going from that to "heh a sighted person made this because it's normal speed" is simply incorrect.

It was the sort of statement an HNer might make to showcase some trivia they have about some other group, but they oversold it.

isityettime 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Pretty sure there's enough blind people who don't listen to voice at insane speeds, because they listen in their non-native second language or for whatever other reason.

Yes, for lots of reasons. It takes practice to get up to a high speed with a given TTS. People who go blind later in life are just beginning, and it can take a long time for them to get up to really high speeds. You may also need to reset somewhat when you change from one TTS to another. And blind people's ears are subject to problems just like anyone else's; if your hearing isn't great you may need slower speeds or higher volumes or both. That's why even though most people use screenreaders at much higher speeds, the defaults when you turn on a new device are painfully slow. You have to set a conservative default so people with less experience/worse ears/whatever can get by.

Anyway I don't think it's a criticism. It's just noting that it doesn't depict how most people will use end up using it, and if you're curious about what typical usage sounds like, you should look for another example.

stavros 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No. It's not criticism. What they're saying is that the video was shot with a default that a sighted person could understand, because any blind person would naturally have their speed set to much higher than that.

It's like how in videos that teach people a foreign language, everyone speaks slowly and uses simple words, even though native speakers don't talk like that at all. The GP is simply saying that an actual blind person would be way more efficient at it, but they made the video with inefficient settings so sighted people could understand what was going on.