Our country has a very strange approach to what we used to call blind.
Here's Microsoft's take on "blind".
Hmmm.. they get away with this, because "blind" no longer means "cannot see". Basically, because the National Federation of the Blind has redefined blindness. https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics
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So here's the situation...
I have a good friend, who is brilliant, but has been totally sightless since he was six. He has worked as a college professor, and later as a desk manager for Marriott, where he used a version of "Jaws" (a computer programmed to allow for the totally blind to do basic business operation and to some extent to use the internet.) Though the program has promise for browsing the internet the way you and I do, it is expensive (nearly $1400) and not too intuitive. We've tried the 30 day trial.
For some time, I have been telling my friend about the whole world of knowledge that is there for the taking, and that I thought it would be possible for him to use the computer by using the different programs that we're used to... ala Siri, Okay Google, Cortana, Narrator, Speech Recognition... and some less well know programs like NVDA.
We now have some 25 hours into trying to make his new computer accessible to do simple search, read, or listen-to sites.
The YouTube videos (instructions) while well intentioned are basically worthless as tutorials. Dozens of Google searches for help almost always come back to the same type of instructions, that are either incomprehensible, or assume the the "user" has some vision, and can use the mouse to locate information, or oversimplify the initialization of speech recognition or narrator type programs.
We've been working at "narrator" and the 77 commands that one must memorize, and have been able to program the computer to start in the program we want to use. That's about as far as we've been able to get, without using the mouse to initiate "Cortana" or a start point for Narrator.
The frustration level is beginning to rise. What sounds like a simple solution is becoming very, very difficult. Google has made it more difficult by eliminating "okay Google" for desktops and laptops... which were the last bastions for verbal access.... (reason given... only 5% use the commands and the "listening" background program slowed the browser.).
So... we decided to start out with Windows 10, and the built in "Cortana". Problem is, with no vision, getting to it, and the microphone to use voice search is something I haven't figured out.
While there are between 3.4 million and 8.4 million visually impaired in the US, statistics for the totally blind are harder to come by. Good luck in finding that number.
Seems like a simple, easily solvable problem, eh? Thoughtful solutions invited, but before you do, think of how you would describe Windows to a totally sightless person... and how they might get to an item on a Wiki page (for instance).
Just a small corner of the world.
Here's Microsoft's take on "blind".
Configuring Windows for people who are blind or have impaired vision
Using Display in Control Panel, people who have impaired vision or are blind can select larger fonts and icons, increase the size of screen elements by using a lower screen resolution, or change the size of windows and window borders. Using Mouse in Control Panel, you can adjust mouse properties to display larger or more visible mouse pointers and control the speed and animation of the mouse pointer.
When using Windows-based programs, you can change font sizes and colors, background color, and window size. In some programs, you can magnify the elements that are displayed in the program's window.
Using the Properties or Default dialog boxes in MS-DOS programs, you can change font types, sizes, and colors, background color, and the size of the cursor and program window.
Hmmm.. they get away with this, because "blind" no longer means "cannot see". Basically, because the National Federation of the Blind has redefined blindness. https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics
............................................................................
So here's the situation...
I have a good friend, who is brilliant, but has been totally sightless since he was six. He has worked as a college professor, and later as a desk manager for Marriott, where he used a version of "Jaws" (a computer programmed to allow for the totally blind to do basic business operation and to some extent to use the internet.) Though the program has promise for browsing the internet the way you and I do, it is expensive (nearly $1400) and not too intuitive. We've tried the 30 day trial.
For some time, I have been telling my friend about the whole world of knowledge that is there for the taking, and that I thought it would be possible for him to use the computer by using the different programs that we're used to... ala Siri, Okay Google, Cortana, Narrator, Speech Recognition... and some less well know programs like NVDA.
We now have some 25 hours into trying to make his new computer accessible to do simple search, read, or listen-to sites.
The YouTube videos (instructions) while well intentioned are basically worthless as tutorials. Dozens of Google searches for help almost always come back to the same type of instructions, that are either incomprehensible, or assume the the "user" has some vision, and can use the mouse to locate information, or oversimplify the initialization of speech recognition or narrator type programs.
We've been working at "narrator" and the 77 commands that one must memorize, and have been able to program the computer to start in the program we want to use. That's about as far as we've been able to get, without using the mouse to initiate "Cortana" or a start point for Narrator.
The frustration level is beginning to rise. What sounds like a simple solution is becoming very, very difficult. Google has made it more difficult by eliminating "okay Google" for desktops and laptops... which were the last bastions for verbal access.... (reason given... only 5% use the commands and the "listening" background program slowed the browser.).
So... we decided to start out with Windows 10, and the built in "Cortana". Problem is, with no vision, getting to it, and the microphone to use voice search is something I haven't figured out.
While there are between 3.4 million and 8.4 million visually impaired in the US, statistics for the totally blind are harder to come by. Good luck in finding that number.
Seems like a simple, easily solvable problem, eh? Thoughtful solutions invited, but before you do, think of how you would describe Windows to a totally sightless person... and how they might get to an item on a Wiki page (for instance).
Just a small corner of the world.
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