Well come on board.
Sent from my iPhone
On 4 Jul 2016, at 6:36 pm, Omar Iqbal <omar@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello everyone!
Sorry if this email has come through to the list twice, as we have been
having connection issues.
My name is Omar Iqbal and I have just joined the list. I am a fully sighted
entrepreneur and student (currently undertaking a Master's degree in Computer
Science at University) who has a passion for technology and programming.
My brother, Mobeen Iqbal, who many of you on list may have heard of (if not
dealt with), is fully blind and is the main reason as to why I am getting
involved with the VI community. Growing up, I saw how Mo struggled with
technology and from quite a young age I would read things on the screen that
screen readers couldn’t read, as well as acting as his eyes on various
projects he was working on. From there, my curiosity grew more and more and I
started asking Mo about what he was doing and about the technology he was
using. And as I helped Mo and began using computers and technology as a
whole, the more my passion and curiosity for technology grew.
With help from my family, I started ViTech Solutions, a company dedicated to
help VI people with their technology, and bring unique products to market to
solve problems. The way Mo struggled with technology growing up has really
inspired me to help people in the VI community and has motivated me to make a
difference.
Recently I have had some time off from University and I decided that it would
be a perfect opportunity to get involved with the VI community as a whole,
starting off by joining this list and a couple of others. So you may see my
name popping up on various lists. I will try and reply where I can to help
people on list and also chip in on discussion threads to give my thoughts and
opinions.
I can also provide help and advice in terms of programming. I have mainly
developed Windows applications in VB.Net and C# with accessibility as a
priority, and undertaken some web programming.
One example of an application I have developed is called “VTS Label Printer”,
to help visually impaired people print articles for the blind/free matter for
the blind address labels using their laser/inkjet printer. Mo gave me the
idea for the program when he kept bringing me packages he wanted addressing.
He already had a Brother label printer, but he wasn't a huge fan of the
software included. Having sight is a huge advantage when programming as you
can incorporate accessibility and also make the program look good. Often,
many visually impaired developers struggle with visual layouts versus
accessibility. Many sighted developers struggle to understand accessibility
and how their applications interact with screen readers. It’s made me all the
more curious to find out how screen readers handle applications and what can
be improved when writing an application to include accessibility from the
word go. If only more developers took the time to learn to include
accessibility from the start, a lot more applications would be accessible.
I would really like to develop applications for the VI community. So if you
have any programming project ideas, or any custom programs you would like
developing, or if you just have any advice and tips on how I can become a
better developer in general, then feel free to get in touch! I know quite a
few of you certainly know your stuff!
If you want to get in touch, you can contact me on or off list on this email
address. Alternatively, you can contact me via the various mediums listed in
my signature.
Thanks for taking the time to read this email and I look forward to working
with you all!
Best wishes,
Omar.
Omar Iqbal
ViTech Solutions
Telephone: 03432897501
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxx
Website: www.vits.org.uk/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearevits
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wearevits
