Accessible Insights Blog

Construction zone: Your feedback is welcome!

Published November 12, 2010 by L. Legendary

As usual, I’m a bit slow on the uptake as far as technical things go, so I’m guessing I am among the last to update my blog to the latest WP version. However, it is my intention to do this soon. Additionally, I plan to add a few new features to the Accessible Insights Blog, and I hope you find them useful, fun, and not the least bit annoying since they will likely slow the site down somewhat. I’ve been trying to keep all of the plug-ins lightweight, but I have noticed some of these add-ons do create a bit of drag.

As I am always anxious to give the people what they want, I thought now would be a good time to poll my readers as to how I can better serve you. Are there any topics, not yet covered, that I can explore for you? Any product questions, how-tos, reviews or other educational insights I can provide? How can I ad value to the site for you? I’m open to suggestions, please write and tell me what I can do to make the site more interesting.

Most businesses would do well to interact with their customers in a way that is somewhat more robust than to simply take their money, although understand I have no specific objection to taking money.

So, while I toil in the back room here, I patiently await your feedback.

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Accessible email and Win 7: Screen reader users silenced again?

Published November 8, 2010 by L. Legendary

About six months ago, in an effort to help solve the problem of email inaccessibility and the release of Windows 7, I posted a few suggestions in an entry entitled, Win 7 work-around for Zoomtext users.

Unfortunately, this information requires an update due to the fact that there has been a recent change to my proposed solution, in the form of a version update to Windows Live Mail. Like an idiot, I clicked on the update consent link before reviewing the new version notes. To my horror, I now have a version of Windows Live Mail that I cannot use at all. This has me so frustrated, and really ticked off. If there is anything within my power to do to advocate for screen reader users to Microsoft, I will. Not that anyone will pay any attention to me whatsoever, but maybe a few of my accessibility tweeps will join me.

First of all, the update to Windows Live Mail changes the look and feel of the interface to that of the “ribbon” design. If you detest that same interface in Word, you won’t like it here. I am using an older version of MS Office on another PC, so I’m still enjoying the quite accessible XP MS Word interface. So, when I saw the new Live Mail version, I was not thrilled. Then, I attempted to use it, and found it to be utterly maddening. the bottom line is, there is no accessibility with Zoomtext, which is the screen reader I use.

Now, for my readers who use Jaws, perhaps you are having a different experience. However, my extreme pathos drove me to Google, whereupon I conducted a somewhat fruitless search into accessible email solutions. Here are the options I’ve discovered so far:

There are several forum posts out there from users who provide a step-by-step means by which to use the Vista version of Windows Mail with Windows 7. While at first glance this seemed doable, I must concede this is not for the faint of heart. If phrases such as “take full administration ownership,” and “change the registry” make you nervous, I suggest that you do not take this on unassisted. I was feeling pretty intimidated by this option myself, so I moved on.

A second option is to find another email program altogether. I found lists of them, just Google “free email for Win 7” and you’ll find a dozen choices. One of them is Mozilla Thunderbird, which I understand has an Outlook-similar functionality. I tried another choice first, called Incredimail, and I was not happy. Incredimail seems like it would be a lot of fun to use if you want to add effects and whimsy to your email messages, it offers myriad backgrounds, ecards, animated graphics, sound effects and more to your communications. I found it to be obnoxious. Cute, but obnoxious. Plus, I couldn’t figure out how to make Incredimail work with Zoomtext.

The Mozilla option seemed the better of the two, but I know little of the thunderbird program. What I do know is this: The email file formats are not interchangeable. You cannot use the .dbx extension, there is some converting required if you want to import your old email messages. I honestly do not know if this is significant. Does it mean that I cannot sync up my laptop and desktop, swap email messages and read them interchangeably? If you know the answer, please share.

Now that I’ve already been sucked into the update vortex and as a consequence have no access to the email that had already been saved, I’m stumped. I suppose I can uninstall the updated Windows Live Mail and reinstall the old version, if the OS will permit it. Why in the world do software manufacturers update their products only to set some users back? I’ve had it, frankly. What we need is an open source product that screen reader users can rely on. A brilliant little piece of kit such as is Jarte, Juice and the many other accessible products where the needs of users with disabilities have been taken into consideration. At this point, I’d like to call upon my readers to submit some alternatives to Windows Live Mail. Let us divide the suggestions into two groups: Simple, uncluttered O E look-alikes, and full-featured productivity tools for heavy email users. Thanks in advance for your input.

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Help build an accessible apps library

Published October 29, 2010 by L. Legendary

One aspect of the state of usability we refer to as "accessibility" that has irritated me of late is that some have seemed to play pretty fast and loose with the definitions. Most of us recognize that the term "accessible" has both a connotation and a denotation, both a literal and figurative meaning. With regard to online web development, there are specific "rules" of engagement as to actual techniques used to accomplish web accessibility. For many of us, though, we tend toward the most fundamental of all of the meanings: Can I use it or not?

There’s a practical aspect to what most users and consumers define as accessible. For example, to each situation, I apply my "WSA" standard. I need to be able to access, use or otherwise consume the product, establishment or service without sighted assistance. That means that from beginning to end, it must be possible for me to complete the entire transaction or task on my own.

With the above in mind, I’d like to assemble a list of some of my readers favorite accessible apps for blogs, phones, Facebook and Twitter. I’ve no doubt there are other lists or resources out there, but there is something to be said for a compilation generated by those who have personal experience in real world situations.

Before you begin sending in your ideas, though, ask yourself the following: Does this suggestion rise to the "WSA" threshold?

Here are a few stipulations to consider as a guideline when offering your picks:

1: The web site from which you choose the app must be accessible. This includes the download page.

2: If your pick is a blog app, the dashboard of your blog as well as the app install must be accessible. No fair asking your brother or your assistant to do the install for you. If you know how to do it, you must be able to, using your own access software such as a screen reader, puffer, stylus, touch board or whatever.

3: Once installed, you must be able to set up or configure the app to your preferences unassisted. This also includes the registration process.

4: Once configured, you must be able to use it yourself on your own site, FB page, or phone.

If you have to ask someone to read to you the serial number printed on a sticker on the product packaging, or complete the registration procedure or enter the graphical verification key, or download it from the developer site for you, it is not fully accessible.

So, if your app meets our usability standards from the word "go," as they say, then send me your picks. Hey, I just installed an FB app that I cannot recommend. I got all the way done, installed, configured, etc…only to find that, while I can "see" it on my FB page, I cannot use it! Thanks, FB, for yet another inaccessible tab. Sigh. Well, I hope you all enjoy it, because I can’t.

anyway, I look forward to reading your favorites. help me build an accessible apps library that everyone can use.

LL

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Google to abandon voice recognition directory assistance Goog 411

Published October 23, 2010 by L. Legendary

On November 12, 2010, Google will no longer offer their voice-powered directory assistance service Goog 411. The service began back in 2007, enabling mobile users or anyone who preferred voice recognition to call toll-free and be connected to businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Goog 411 service was the first of it’s kind for Google, and it has served as a platform for other services, now available on Smartphones. In fact, Google plans to speech-enable all of their future products and services.

Right now, if you do not use a Smartphone, and you want to call a business, you can send the name and location of the business via text message to 466453 (GOOGLE) and you will be texted the information, or you can use the free calling features on gmail.

Want to get more info and Google apps? Click here.

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Inclusion Rx: Prescription for a healthier workplace

Published October 12, 2010 by L. Legendary

One of my favorites of the inclusion and diversity topic area web sites is Diversity World. The site is devoted to issues that concern both workers and employers who are disabled and non-disabled. Diversity World is “dedicated to Enriching Workplaces and Reducing Employment Barriers."

They also publish one of the best newsletters on the subject available. I’ve been a subscriber for years. The site provides information and resources that are timely, relevant and interesting.

The site is helmed by Rob McInns, who, as a human services professional, has focused broadly on issues of workforce diversity and more specifically on issues of employment and disability. Rob’s work has been marked by passion and leadership in the quest for greater workforce inclusion for people with disabilities. He has formerly served as the CEO of two direct service organizations for people with disabilities, as Executive Director of the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, as the Coordinator for California Business Leadership Network, and as a Diversity Consultant with IBM.

I particularly appreciate the "Diversity Shop," a place to go to obtain teaching aids, videos and publications suitable for almost any workplace context, communication or conflict resolution training.

Diversity World www.diversityworld.com

DiversityShop www.diversityshop.com/store/

The newsletter is intelligently written, featuring articles and commentary by thought leaders as well as readers who elevate the dialogue pertaining to awareness, access and inclusion. If you search the archives, you may even find one or two of my own contributions. The newsletter is cleverly called Inclusion Rx, and it’s a perfect prescription for all of your workplace diversity ailments!

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Who should be the face of a disability non-profit?

Published October 6, 2010 by L. Legendary

For my readers who have disabilities, here’s a chance to toss in your two cents. What do you think?

Should organizations that represent people with disabilities be managed by people with disabilities?

This may seem like an issue of no consequence, but I recently found myself investigating a local non-profit agency that specifically benefits the local blind community. However, the program manager of the agency is not blind or visually impaired in any way. I found this extremely irritating. It seems to me that the “face” of a disability advocacy organization should be that of a person who represents that demographic group. Or, should it?

On the one hand, the leadership, upper management, board of directors or membership of any organization wants the business to be competently managed, which renders race, ethnicity, disability irrelevant. One might say that this is the core of the issue of equal opportunity. Does this idea extend to organizations which specifically represent a particular group?

Does the choice of a sighted person as manager of a center for the blind suggest that a person who is blind cannot competently handle the operation? It suggested that to me, although in fairness I ought to take the time to find out if there have in fact been other program managers who have been blind. I will. Perhaps I am bent out of shape because her voicemail said, “Miss So and So cannot come to the phone right now, so please leave her a message.” What, she cannot even leave her own outgoing message? Is she voicemail impaired?

I’ll get over it.

In the meantime, I wonder: does a person of Japanese origin head the NAACP? Are the various chapters of the Jewish League run by Southern Baptists? Is the National Organization for Women captained by a person with a “Y” chromosome? I’m just asking.

What’s your opinion?

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Jarte 4.1 now available! Accessible freeware works your words

Published October 1, 2010 by L. Legendary

If you are a screen reader user and have had difficulty finding an accessible word processor ever since you upgraded to Windows Vista, take a look at Jarte. There are plenty of reasons to like Jarte, which by the way, is spelled with an ‘e’ at the end for my text-to-speech friends. It’s by Carolina Road Software, and it’s free. The newest version, 4.1 has lots of great new features, some of which have previously appeared only in the paid version, Jarte Plus.

I’ve tried using Open Office, but I found that it did not work well with my version of ZoomText. Perhaps one might have better luck with JAWS, but I’ve tried several versions of both Open Office and ZT with no result. One of the aspects of Jarte I appreciate is that it supports a screen reader mode that seems to happily cohabitate with ZoomText, and Jarte behaves very similarly to the old versions of MS Word from the XP days.

Here is the “what’s new” list, taken directly from the jarte.com web site:

An optional Quick Bar feature has been added that provides instant access to a number of frequently used features.
In addition to left aligned tabs, Jarte’s ruler now supports right, center, and decimal aligned tabs.
A new Stay on Top option has been added to the Options menu.
A global hot key can be defined for the Clip List menu. This makes it easy to access the Clip List while using programs other than Jarte.
A new Paste Board feature displays a special document tab that automatically records everything copied to the clipboard.
A new Line Guide feature displays a colored, translucent, moveable, horizontal bar that can be used to highlight a line of interest in a document.
Jarte’s interface background pattern can be changed to one of the installed backgrounds, extra backgrounds provided on the Jarte web site, or to any custom background. Previously, this feature was exclusive to Jarte Plus.
Jarte’s various color selection palettes now include a new row of color selection buttons to which the user can assign custom colors.
Jarte now supports the keyboard’s Scroll Lock key. When Scroll Lock is enabled document scrolling can be performed using the up and down arrow keys. The Scroll Lock state is displayed in the status bar. This feature can be disabled.
Jarte will now automatically mirror the left and right page margins, and the header and footer lines, between odd and even pages when printing double-sided printouts.
If the "underline" font attribute is selected for the header/footer font then Jarte will draw a solid line across the printed page under the header line and above the footer line.
Jarte will now perform a descending order sort when the Sort feature is selected while pressing the Shift key.
Clicking the "Go to Top" button on the Find Bar while pressing the Shift key will now cause the text cursor to move to the bottom of the page instead of the top.
Pressing the Shift key while the mouse is positioned over a tab causes the full file path of the document to be displayed in Jarte’s title bar.
The position of a table column can now be easily moved via the Edit Table window.
The Options menu on Jarte’s Find Bar now includes "Insert Carriage Return" and "Insert Tab" items which make it easy to include those characters in the search text.
The status bar can now switched to a text based status bar. This may be preferred by users who use Jarte’s Minimal Layout. Right click on the status bar and select "Use Text Status Bar".
Double clicking an empty area next to the tabs will now start a new document.
Many other small tweaks and enhancements have been added.

Here’s the link:

Download Jarte

Considering that this little gem is free, it is wonderfully robust and feature-rich. Happy writing!

LL

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AI Squared to offer Zoomtext training

Published September 22, 2010 by L. Legendary

On November 30th through December 1st in Hartford, CT, AI Squared is teaming up with the NEAT Center to give a unique "outside-of-the-box" training.

Maurie Hill, an Ai Squared Product Advocate and ZoomText user herself, will be providing a unique training opportunity highlighting which ZoomText settings and features work best in specific situations. The class is geared toward trainers to give them tips on ZoomText training techniques. To give a few examples, you’ll learn how to customize ZoomText for different vision impairments. Additionally, now that Windows 7 has been out for a while, you’ll learn the optimal Windows 7 settings for ZoomText users. Plus you’ll find out what’s new in the latest version of ZoomText 9.18.9 – so new, we haven’t even released it yet!

Steve Famiglietti of Oak Hill will not only be supporting Maurie in this endeavor, but will be providing the lab space and PCs at the NEAT Center at Oak Hill.

Charlie Collins, owner of Vision Dynamics and an avid ZoomText user and dealer, will tell us about the latest low vision technology tools. He’ll also be delivering a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles and how he’s achieved so much success.

Please join us in the heart of foliage season in Connecticut and go back home with a more informed perspective on helping your customers use the software they need most. The cost is $500/student if you sign up by October 15th (after that it goes up to $650). You’ll receive a free ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard – a $99 value!

If you’d like to sign up, please call the NEAT Center at Oak Hill at 860–2869 or send an email to info@neatmarketplace.org.

DETAILS:
When:

Tuesday and Wednesday, November 30th – December 1st, 2010
9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Where:
The NEAT Center at Oak Hill
120 Holcomb Street
Hartford, CT 06112
Corner of Coventry and Holcomb Streets on the Oak Hill Campus
Ai Squared Manchester Center, VT (800) 859-0270 www.aisquared.com

Of course, if there are any questions you may have about Zoomtext before then, feel free to write me here!

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Accessible Insights blog is on vacation!

Published August 6, 2010 by L. Legendary

Hello, loyal readers:

I’ll be taking a sabbatical of sorts for the remainder of summer. Time for a break! I’ll resume posting sometime after the Labor Day holiday, although if I find something particularly juicy I’ll make a quick post here. Also, I’ll continue to monitor comments, so feel free to browse through my posts and add your thoughts.

Thank you so much for your patronage and readership over the past year. if you would like to write to me directly, please do. Just click “contact” on the Accessible Insights home page, and I’m sure to write you back.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and please look for new posts in about a month or so.

Click here to go to home page

Follow me on Twitter: @accessible_info

Find me on Facebook: Legendary Insights

Link to me on Linked In: Eloquent Insights

Best,

Laura

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