Kaye Speed, 68, loved her career in accountancy but losing her sight 21 years ago made it difficult for her to continue.
She now has just 1% of her eye sight remaining.
She has attended Vision Australia’s computer classes so she could re-learn Microsoft office and Excel as a blind person so she could continue her accountancy work on a volunteer-basis. She is currently the Treasurer for Blind Cricket Victoria.
She has also learned how to use her iPhone and read emails.
Eager to find out what technology was available to help her continue her career, and to help her in her every day life, she has attended Texpo on and off for the last ten years.
She says she’s found the range of products fantastic and now uses things in her everyday life that she found out about at Texpo – for example, she purchased a CCTV one year and she downloaded an app that detects the colour of her clothes in her wardrobe so she knows what colours she’s wearing. She uses an app called ID mate, where she puts barcodes on things like eggs, left-over food, wine etc and is able to re-record the barcode, using her iphone, so it play-backs what the item is.
"It helps me know the difference between a bottle of white or red wine, or the date of the left-overs so I know when its not edible any more. It's such a useful app," she says.
Kaye will be back at this year's Texpo and encourages those who are blind or have low vision to do the same.
The latest technology for people who are blind or have low vision will also be on display with exhibitors travelling from around the country and internationally to attend the open days.
For more information, visit www.visionaustralia.org/texpo