[blindlaw] Need Recommendations for Legal Billing, Accounting, and Document Management Software

Wed Feb 8 22:16:39 UTC 2012

I need recommendations for legal billing, accounting, and document
management software that works with Jaws, magic and other accessibility
software.

I use Abacus Law and Abacus Accounting, which are fantastic programs, but I
can not even start up JAWS or MAGIC on my computer without my computer
freezing.  Then, to actually get jaws to work with abacus, it does not
work!!  My computer never freezes otherwise.  Simila5r to Susan's
experience,. I asked Abacus techs,  prior to the purchase whether it worked
with Jaws/accessibility software.  They insisted it did, a complete
misrepresentation.  And now I'm stuck, losing my vision so I need JAWS, and
need to transition all my client billing and matters to something else. 

Sincerely,
Marina A. Cordova
Attorney at Law
551 W. Cordova Road, # 234
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Office (505) 467-8395
Fax (505) 467-8746
PLEASE NOTE MY CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS TO: law at cordovaesq.com

"Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need . . . Happy are the ones
faultless in [their] way, the ones walking in the law of Jehovah.   Uncover
my eyes, that I may look at the wonderful things out of your law."  Matthew
5:3; Psalms 119:1,18

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Susan Kelly
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:20 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Cc: BCAB Discussion List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Accessibility of Document Management Software

My office (county public defender) just started using JustWare, manufactured
by New Dawn Technologies, a couple of months ago.  It has been a nightmare
even for those not needing accessibility programs because by its very
nature, it requires a minimum of 3 to 5 extra steps to do anything in the
e-file.  I use JAWS & MAGic, and a co-worker who is paralyzed uses Dragon;
because of the need to determine how the programs would respond with our AT
software, we were not even trained with the rest of the office as to the use
of JustWare.  The trainings for the others took over two weeks of 3-hour
daily sessions, and continuing refreshers to deal with problems that seem to
be encountered on a nearly daily basis.  To be fair, I do not think that our
office purchased the entire package, and our network itself has likely
caused many of the program errors that the rest of the office is enduring.

When our office was originally searching for a program, my direct supervisor
made sure to question all product reps as to the accessibility of their
programs, including whether it had been tested with specific accessibility
software, whether it could be adapted in terms of visual layout, etc.  Not
one company had any idea about what she was referring to, and when pushed,
simply stated that because the programs were internet based, they "must" be
accessible.

On the bright side, we are slowly finding commands and work-arounds that
should eventually allow me to use JustWare.  It is very frustrating, and
some of the problems seem to revolve around the "mixed media" (for lack of a
better description) nature of the program.  It is internet-based, but many
of the pages are more like a Word document, while others are like a virtual
internet document.  This means that certain commands will work in one area
of the program, not others, and there is no clear way to determine which is
which other than working through them and memorizing the peculiarities of
each.  Moreover, what works one hour may not work the next - and there are
certain sections (like the Case Notes) which will not permit me any access
(other than visual, which is almost
impossible) to edit.  Rather, I have to type my notes in Word, and then copy
them over to the appropriate section.  Long story short, it is painfully
slow and inefficient.  We are compiling a "cheat sheet" of JAWS navigation
commands that work with each section, so if your office ends up with this
monster, I will be happy to send it a copy.  

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Gerard Sadlier
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 8:53 AM
To: blindlaw
Cc: BCAB Discussion List
Subject: [blindlaw] Accessibility of Document Management Software

DEar all,

My firm uses an electronic document management system. I have a meeting with
them next week to discuss accessibility issues and to test it out.

I wondered:
1 What experiences listers have had with such systems,
2 Any accessibility issues which have come up,
3 Any solutions that listers have employed and
4 Any questions which I should ask.

As many of you may know, I use jaws.

Best Ger

--
Best wishes

Gerard Sadlier

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