Accessible app: Our Groceries helps the blind (and the sighted) make shopping lists easily and efficiently

Whew. Talk about a long-winded headline. But lately, I’ve had lots of energy. Not only did Pop-up Episode 1 at MKT BAR go off without a hitch (more on that soon—I’ll have a surprise for you in that regard), I’ve been [sort of] relaxing lately with some down time before the culinary adventures begin again.I’ve been sleeping better than I have in years, trying to eat a little healthier, and working out a little more than usual (which, sadly enough, isn’t much). But I’m feeling good. I have a few weeks to shed the apron for the pen; with a personal essay and short story on my revision desk, not to mention that pesky memoir I haven’t touched since my thesis defense, I’m welcoming a change of pace in my daily routine. But what I’m looking forward to the most is being able to wear pajamas, no make-up, and bed-head every day.For me, more leisure time means a few things:

1. More reading of books I’ve queued in my Good Reads app
2. More time to run “30 Rock” in the background while I cook/read/clean
3. More home projects like cleaning my desk, organizing computer files and kitchen cabinets, ordering some cell shades from the hubster’s company
4. More daydreams about new recipes and what I’m going to eat and cook the next day or week or month

The last item on the list means my shopping list-making activity has increased multi-fold. (In case you can’t tell by my entry here so far, I love making lists. And then I love crossing things off a list. It’s the anal retention in me. Love it or leave it.)In our household, I create a majority of the lists, the hubster adds a few of his needs (e.g. Hair gel, shaving cream, lentils, and coffee beans), and we go to the grocery store (or, “gro’ sto’,” as I like to call it) together where he pulls the cart and I hang on the back, his nose buried in our co-created shopping list.Before we hit 2013 and became thoroughly and technologically efficient, I was making shopping lists with a good ol’-fashioned pen and paper (remember those things, Generation X-ers?): I’d scribble in gigantic font on old printer paper, and the hubster would scratch each item off one-by-one as it went into the cart.But now it’s the tech age, and the hubster, being a total geek, could no longer stand my neanderthal ways, and so he found this gem of an app called Our Groceries. It allows me to share several lists with the hubster, and I can even add recipes and, with a single click of a button, add a recipe’s list of ingredients immediately to my various shopping lists.I appreciate how the app is compatible with my iPhone and his non-iPhone. (No, I’m not biased at all.) Most of all, I like how it’s very straightforward and accessible with VoiceOver for the blind. In fact, I love this app so much, I stayed up until 3 AM the other night just creating categories and making lists. I know I’m a list nerd, but that’s what happens when you don’t have a pop-up to plan or an event at which to speak in the near future. You make lots of lists.Try out the Our Groceries app, and let me know what you think. Already a user? What do you think could be improved?P.S. Yes, now you have a glimpse of what’s currently on my grocery list by the screen shot posted. :)