Is typing or writing the same as "saying" for the sake of Sefirat Ha'Omer?

Question

In an effort to ensure that we only count the Omer with a bracha properly, we are careful not to say what day it is until we have counted formally -- this is discussed and explored here.

But is writing or typing the same as "saying"? If I write out a Dvar Torah before I daven ma'ariv and include "Today is Lag Ba'Omer" or if I am in an internet chat room and I write "in a few minutes I will count 37 days of the Omer" do those count as having "counted" so as to prevent my saying the bracha?

I'm not sure if there are other cases in which one is commanded to speak something to such an analogous extent that there is a concern over writing it but if there is another situation, do the laws of writing vs. speaking apply there as well?

Answer 1

Shaalos U'Teshuvos Rabbi Akiva Eiger 29 says that someone who wrote the number of the day of Sefira he must count still with a Bracha והדבר ברור שצריך לחזור ולספור בברכה.

Birchei Yosef 489:14 discusses someone who wrote a letter and in the letter wrote the number of the day in Sefira - that he has to count with a Bracha לאו כמספר בפיו ולא עלתה לו.

However the Kaf HaChaim 489:84 says that if someone wrote the day in Sefira and forgot to day it he may continue saying it with a Bracha on the following days. This indicates that there is some value to writing.