Writing Blind Characters: Sensitivity Reading And Other Info - A Big Pinned Post
Hi! I wanted to make a pinned post with links to notable posts on my blog. I know my blog may be hard to scroll through because some posts are pretty long.
Call me Bee. I’m a blind/low vision person who uses they/them pronouns. I am over 18. My love for reading, writing, and editing drew me to create a blog like this, along with a desire to see more blind characters in accessible stories. This lead to me becoming a sensitivity reader for blind characters.
I like reading fantasy, romance, books with lgbt+ characters, and action stories. I also love literary stories. I will also read fanfiction, scripts, image descriptions, etc.
I provide sensitivity reading in exchange for donations. If you’re interested, here are my current rates. I charge rates to reflect the work that goes into sensitivity reading.
Before requesting a reading, check my availability.
I also answer questions for free!
Here is my main blog, my WordPress blog.
Here is my Throne account.
You can find a post I made here and input from followers.
These posts may be helpful for some of the more common questions, or may help you plan out your story so that you don’t have to fix it later on. Reading these posts may also help you develop richer, more detailed questions.
1. Things To Include or Avoid
Things I Want to See More of/Less of in Blind Characters
A post I wrote about myths that harm blind people (which you will want to avoid in your writing)
[Not by BlindBeta] - An article on misconceptions about blind people
A post about if blind people face who is talking, move their eyes, or try to make eye contact
A post on giving blind characters canes, guide animals, or other mobility aids, as well as how to choose one
Here is a thread that might help readers get an idea of what ableism is like. It includes a post why hiring blind actors is important, two responses that having ableist ideas including viewing blind people as burdens in employment, and a few responses from blind people, including myself. Here is the post.
Here is a post on ableist assumptions when asking questions and making jokes and how to avoid this. Here is the post.
A resource post for everyday ableism
A thread on Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, and my addition, plus a video link to more information. This deals with erasure and distortion of history. Here is the link.
Writing Blind Characters Accepting Being Blind — When You Aren’t Blind Yourself. A post on why I don’t want to see this type of story, especially because this is also often a result of the trope about going blind through accidents / incidents / trauma. You can read it here.
An ask about characters who were already blind going through eye trauma and possibly losing their eyes - making the accidents / incidents / trauma narrative better
Trope Discussion- The Blind Prophet / Blind Seer - A post where I discuss this trope and problems I usually find with it, as well as how to avoid these problems if you want to use this trope.
Trope Discussion- Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes
Trope Discussion - Tokenism/Having Only One Blind Character
Trope Discussion - Blind Characters Feeling Faces
An ask that includes using a cane as a weapon.
A review of Blind by Rachel DeWoskin and why sensitivity readers are important
Common problems I come across when betaing.
A post on the spectrum of blindness
[Not by BlindBeta] A post by @askablindperson with practical advice on how to respectfully and efficiently help blind people. Helpful for real life situations and for writing characters. Read it here.
A relevant blog that be helpful is @accessibleaesthetics
Here is my long post about making your specific content accessible for blind people (a general overview with different types of content)
An ask about writing tags, including information about whether to include hashtags, lowercase letter, capital letters, emojis, and emotions.
And a post containing information about one way to add audio description to YouTube videos
And an ask with tips for making descriptions
An ask about where to put image descriptions
A helpful ask about adding ALT text to tumblr GIFs and pictures!
It also contains ideas about when to use ALT text or an image description.
An ask about adding image descriptions to many images (incorrect quotes, specifically at once), with demonstration by @mimzy-writing-online
An ask about sci-fi names and screen-readers, plus an excellent reblog with tips by @mightyoctopus.
A thorough master-post about different types of writing image descriptions on tumblr!
A list of symbols screenreaders will read.
An ask about much detail to include in image descriptions plus a helpful reblog post. Spoiler: include detail according to the focus of the post. Include most relevant details first.
[Not by BlindBeta] A helpful post on image descriptions titled ‘More Detail Isn’t Always Better’. Read here to learn more about how relevancy matters when deciding how much detail to include.
[Not by BlindBeta] Another post on making your art accessible
[Not by BlindBeta] Another excellent post about the importance of relevancy when considering what to include in image descriptions. This time, it details why more detail is sometimes better. It all depends on what is being described.
For writing multiple blind characters:
Here is my post on stories with only one blind character.
Here is a post wherein I guide a writer in creating multiple blind characters using an alternative universe I made up where most of the main characters in The Owl House show are reimagined as blind.
Here is a question about writing multiple blind characters in short stories. In this post, I challenge the idea that writing multiple blind characters is unrealistic.
Here is a post about O&M and a reblog from someone else emphasizing the importance of giving blind characters a community.
For comics, games, and drawing blind characters:
Read here about ideas for making games and visual novel games accessible through audio description and large print.
Read about image descriptions, alt-text, and audio transcripts for comics plus more relevant links.
A question about where to describe characters in image descriptions for comics
Read here about under what circumstances blind characters should be drawn with noticeably different eyes and alternative ways to explore blindness through art.
Read here for more tips for drawing blind characters.
3. Blind/Low Vision Person Reviews Blind Characters Series
Toph Beifong in The Blind Bandit episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender
Garret in Quest For Camelot movie (1998)
4. Other Asks That May Be Helpful
Here is an ask about guide animals and creating your own fantasy guide animal
It contains information about guide dogs, guide horses, emotional support animals, links about choosing between a cane and guide dog, and some qualities a guide animal should have. Note that I am not a guide user myself. This is simply a starting place.
An ask about writing in Braille.
[Not by BlindBeta] Here is an article from the above link about how Braille works.
[Not by BlindBeta] And another link taken from my post on writing in Braille with more information on tools used to write Braille.
[Not by BlindBeta] And here is a post on Braille literacy and why Braille is not obsolete now that there are audiobooks
My thoughts on giving blind characters powers.
This is specifically about sense-based powers and echolocation.
Some thoughts of blind characters going blind through accidents.
Another post that covers possible accident- / incident- related blindness and avoiding tokenism. It may not all be applicable to the asker’s story, but I tried to cover everything I could think of to help, just in case.
A more in-depth explanation of what I mean by “going blind through trauma”, aka more of the trauma- / accident- / incident-based blindness. Link here.
An ask about portraying eye conditions before they had names.
An ask about things to keep in mind when writing about blind spots or central vision loss.
An ask about naming assistive technology/ devices before they were invented.
An ask on writing disabled characters with ableist myths/legends. And a follow-up.
An ask on blind characters and clothes
An ask about assistive devices: telescopes.
An ask that touches on having clairvoyant blind characters. (Spoiler, this is a trope and avoiding tokenism is especially important here.)
An ask on going blind from light magic, temporary cure, and describing blind eyes as unfocused. Read here.
A post that discusses temporary cures and why the cure trope is a problem.
A post with a brief history of Braille and raised print. Plus a helpful reblog on characters knowing Braille vs print letters by @askablindperson
Tips for Roleplaying Blind Characters
An ask on blind characters in video games and D&D and my advice on both accessibility and a reminder that blind characters have strengths too. Read it here.
An ask on writing abled characters who are afraid of losing vision without being ableist
An ask about making houses accessible for blind characters
An ask about writing blind characters in fights and possibly losing sight after injuries
Read about Legal Blindness here with links to legally blind YouTubers.
A post with some ideas for options when writing or drawing blind characters who also use support canes. I don’t use a support cane myself and so these are ideas based on research with links included.
A post by @cripplecharacters for going up and down stairs while using canes. Read it here. I also wanted to include links to videos. Here is Lucy Edward’s video. Here is video by Can See Can’t See about finding stairs outside, in which she descends concrete stairs.
5. Posts About Toph From A:TLA
A collection of posts about writing Toph Beifong that might help writers.
My review of The Blind Bandit.
A post about a popular fanfic trope and myths about blind people’s eyes. Also my own personal issues with some ableism in the Avatar fandom. Read the post here.
A post on why avoiding tokenism is important even when you have a well-liked blind character.
I wanted to provide some other sources. While I am happy to take questions, I am not the only blind person here. Community is important and in the interest of supporting that community and reiterating that to non-blind followers, I wanted to include other blind blogs/disability blogs. Feel free to send questions to any number of us. We may even reblog each other’s posts to add ideas and different experiences. This will offer richer, more nuanced knowledge for you to draw from. If you wish, you can send me a private message and I can also contact other blogs for you with your questions.
Here is a blog that takes questions for disabilities and similar topics in general: @cripplecharacters
Here is a blog by a blind writer who also takes questions about writing blind characters: @mimzy-writing-online
And here is another blog by a blind person who answers questions: @ps-im-blind
And another helpful blog on accessibility and blindness issues: @askablindperson
Also, while I am currently the only blog specific to sensitivity reading for blind characters, here is a blog that can help you find sensitivity readers for your characters who have multiple marginalized identities. Feel free to check out the other blind sensitivity readers by searching “Blind” in the search bar. I think it is good to have a few readers, if they are available to you.
Here is the blog: @sensitivityreaders
How Should You Contact Me?
Asks (anonymous or otherwise) are fine. I also respond to private asks.
Private Messages are fine as well.
More Information About Sensitivity Reading Services:
After you have read the linked posts, you can clear up any residual confusion and obtain needed clarification with me via message or ask.
Send me a message with your request. Please include:
1. The word or page count of your project
2. A bit about the project itself, such as if it’s a book or a script, what it’s about, etc
3. If the blind character is a main or supporting character and if you want a full or partial read
4. Any concerns you may have or specific sections you want me to pay special attention to.
5. Any deadlines you may have.
From there, we will work out rates, proof of donation, and the logistics of the reading itself, such as providing my suggestions.
Do I Have a Ko-Fi or Other Way to Give Personal Donations?
As of now, no I do not. However, instead you can:
- Make a small donation to the links on my Rates page
-Contribute to my Throne account iced coffee fund
If there is anything I can do to make this blog more accessible for others, let me know. Feel free to send any questions you may have. Thank you for reading and sharing my posts!
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