[BlindKid] Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for It

Thu Oct 10 19:19:16 UTC 2019

Hi Linda and all,

I am sorry to hear of your children's difficulties. Heidi is correct on the
way to go and her daughter is one example of so many other very successful
stories. PC is open source technology which means you can add anything you
need to a computer to do anything you want--A thousand people will have a
thousand different experiences based on what they put on their machines. Of
course, add Jaws, NVDA and braille display and a blind child is
unstoppable. Mac is closed source which means if you have a thousand
people, they will all have the exact same experience. Mac is doable, just
slower and more limited.

Canvas is VERY accessible just as the majority of everything else.
Unfortunately, people--especially our students, do not know this because
they must have the instruction to know how to use the tools to access their
education.

The point is--you must have a very knowledge Tech instructor and it takes
years---minimum 5 years of someone using it every day with a keyboard and
of course using all the programs your kids need to know how to teach it.
TVIs do not receive this instruction with their degree and you must use it
everyday to know how to teach it. A TVI is NOT a tech instructor. You can
have both and if that TVI is using that tech and all programs every day,
they will have a good chance of knowing how to teach your children.

The best teams are a  great TVI at the school who do what they do best and
then an assistive tech instructor.

So you want to find a tech instructor like the above and have that tech
instructor teach exactly what your child needs in real time so they can
learn how to access their work and get it done just like their peers, right
in school.

* Dr Denise M Robinson*

*Denise M Robinson, TVI, PhD*

Specialist-Technology/Blind Skills | Teacher of the Blind and Visually
Impaired
425-220-6935 | www.yourtechvision.com
*Life* isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning to
*dance* in the rain!

[image: TechVision Logo]
“Helping the visually impaired see their world changed through technology”
"While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done."
--Helen Keller

On Thu, Oct 10, 2019 at 12:04 PM Deborah Kent Stein via BlindKid <
blindkid at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
>
> Dear Heidi,
>
> Your story is a very important one! Please contact me offlist. Perhaps we
> can develop an article for Future Reflections.
>
> Debbie Stein
> Future Reflections
> Dkent5817 at att.net
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindKid [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of H
> Scheffer via BlindKid
> Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 9:44 AM
> To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children) <
> blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: H Scheffer <hpscheffer at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [BlindKid] Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for
> It
>
> I’m so sorry for what you are goi g through. I’ll share with you our
> journey and outcome.
>
> I realized in middle school a Perkins Brailler for math and basic computer
> with Jaws training wouldn’t cut it. I thought there must be a better way
> considering tech advances and where we all are today, blind people should
> have the same advantages with tech. I found Dr Robinson, she’s on this list
> and often pitches in with her knowledge.
>
> My road for the following 8 months was hard to say the least. I requested
> Dr Robinson be my child’s tech teacher. She does Skype lessons. My
> daughters TVI knew nothing about Jaws and the real powers of it. She had
> gotten someone in the state to give her some lessons but we’re meaningless.
> After I learned all that can be done with Jaws I thought that’s the way to
> go. It was a hard fight!!! Emergency IEP’s, requests for tech assessments,
> no one knew how much really a blind person can do on a computer!!! After
> many meetings, state specialists visits, and much begging and crying
> requesting this (unusual) set up we were approved!!!
>
> Fast forward, to HS she did Power Points, inserted pictures, music, chose
> fonts, colors, did ALL MATH on her laptop with a Braille display, and all
> all work on it, all tests, AP classes, College Board tests (who I also
> fought for accessibility) all state tests (who I also had to fight for
> accessibility), was able to keep up with her peers, and get the same work
> done as all others.
>
> My daughter is now in college, doesn’t have issues other then a small here
> and there situation as any other student would, and all I can say an IPad
> or a MAC are not the tools for a blind student. They need a laptop with
> Jaws and a Braille display. My daughter has a Mac she uses for music stuff,
> has an iPad she left aside once she got a hang of the laptop and never
> looked back.
>
> Mine and her only regrets are wishing we had started earlier on learning
> Jaws, it is soooo powerful and can do so much it takes a long time  to
> learn all the commands.
>
> You can look at YouTube videos of Dr Robinson and her website is
> yourtechvision.com I’m not trying to sell you anything, just sharing our
> journey, my daughters outcome would not have been anything close had it not
> been for tech training!! I’m passionate about it as I’ve seen the drastic
> change. When she met with her professors they never thought how easy it
> would be to provide access to their 1st blind student, and the disability
> office doesn’t hear from her as there’s no need.
>
> All the best,
>
> Heidi
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Oct 10, 2019, at 10:08 AM, Coccovizzo,Linda A via BlindKid <
> blindkid at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hello all. My husband and I went to my oldest daughter's conferences the
> other day, and one of the things we kept hearing from all of the teachers
> was their frustration with her not being able to access things in a timely
> manner. The students in the high school are using Macs provided by the
> school, so when work sheets are put up on Canvas, the students are able to
> just access that work. Both of my girls were provided with Macs, but little
> to no training to use them. So, they continue to use the iPad and braille
> display. Since the vision team doesn't know what they are doing, then they
> don't seem to think the Mac is necessary. However, they aren't able to keep
> up with the demand. It is ridiculous for the brailests to have to go up and
> retrieve the work, put it into an accessible format for the kids, and then
> get it back to them, either in electronic, or hard copy braille. There is
> no way they are getting this work on time. I understand that some things
> just won't be able to be made accessible, and may have to be modified,.
> However, my girls aren't even close to being on an even playing field with
> their peers.
> > All of this being said, I'm not even sure the Mac is what they need to
> be using. This is an even bigger fight, because the powers that think they
> be, are saying that Windows based computers cannot be on their network. Of
> course I am not buying that. So, the input I would like from all of you is:
> > How accessible with screen reading software is Canvas, Aside from the
> file formats that are being used? Is there a platform that works better
> with Canvas? My guess would be Windows with Jaws. Where would I be able to
> find definitive information to back up what people have experienced? I
> believe I am going to need all of the facts I can find to help me, and
> other families in this fight. I am really looking forward to your responses.
> > Thank you all!
> >
> > Linda
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