[blindlaw] blindlaw Digest, Vol 107, Issue 8 - law library accessibility

[Kathryn Carroll]

Hi there, You might want to keep in mind that not everyone uses JAWS- for the administrator's sake I wouldn't want the administrator to be confounded by the different software packages out there. I would just be concerned about someone else needing ZoomText or something similar and the administrator not understanding the difference.  Would it be appropriate during the call to ask about other access technology, such as putting a CCTV in the library? A scanner? I do like the NVDA option instead of JAWS. Someone below mentions the USB version of JAWS; for ZoomText, at least, I know that ZoomText has to be installed on the computer itself for the USB startup to work.  Kathryn Carroll Intern, One Billion Strong J.D. Candidate, St. John's University School of Law Class of 2013 Google Voice: (347) 455-1521 Social Media: My LinkedIn Profile, My Site, or ConnectWithMe Make an Appointment with Me From: blindlaw-request at nfbnet.org Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 01:00 PM To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org Subject: blindlaw Digest, Vol 107, Issue 8   Send blindlaw mailing list submissions to blindlaw at nfbnet.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to blindlaw-request at nfbnet.org You can reach the person managing the list at blindlaw-owner at nfbnet.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of blindlaw digest..." Today's Topics: 1. law library accessibility (Daniel McBride) 2. Re: law library accessibility (Aaron Cannon) 3. Re: law library accessibility (Paul Harpur) 4. Re: law library accessibility (Dittman, Robert) 5. Re: law library accessibility (Susan Kelly) 6. Re: law library accessibility (Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc.) 7. Re: law library accessibility (Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:43:29 -0500 From: "Daniel McBride" To: "Blind Law Mailing List" Subject: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: <010d01ce371f$23088d80$6919a880$@sbcglobal.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Members: I live and practice in Tarrant County, Texas. The county has a law library in the courthouse. The library has four computer terminals for use by the public. Not one of the four is accessible for blind persons. Tomorrow, I intend to call the chief county administrator to discuss making at least one of those four computers accessible for blind persons, if not all four. As my own personal use of computers has been through JAWS, I wouldn't know what to suggest otherwise. I would appreciate your comments regarding two issues. First, should I be discussing any accommodation other than JAWS? Secondly, your views on the Americans With Disabilities Act, the concept of reasonable accommodations and how these concepts apply to the public access law library and blind persons. Thank you Daniel McBride Fort Worth ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:39:09 -0500 From: Aaron Cannon To: Blind Law Mailing List Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I'm not a lawyer, so certainly can't comment on the second, but I am a nerd, so will comment on the first. Jaws only makes sense if the computers run Windows. If they are Macs, running a recent version of MacOS, then they will already have a screen reader built in. However, getting the screen reader is only the first step. I'm assuming that the purpose of getting access to the computers is so that you can get access to the software or web sites that are available exclusively on those computers. However, it is possible that the software or web sites you wish to access may not be accessible. My suggestion would be to request that someone from their IT department meet with you at the library, where you both can install a demo version of Jaws, and you can test the software, to see if it is in fact accessible. If they're using the Mac operating system, there may be a learning curve for you to figure out how Voice Over (the Mac screen reader) works. Good luck, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Aaron Cannon On 4/11/13, Daniel McBride wrote: > Members: > > > > I live and practice in Tarrant County, Texas. The county has a law library > in the courthouse. The library has four computer terminals for use by the > public. Not one of the four is accessible for blind persons. > > > > Tomorrow, I intend to call the chief county administrator to discuss making > at least one of those four computers accessible for blind persons, if not > all four. > > > > As my own personal use of computers has been through JAWS, I wouldn't know > what to suggest otherwise. > > > > I would appreciate your comments regarding two issues. First, should I be > discussing any accommodation other than JAWS? Secondly, your views on the > Americans With Disabilities Act, the concept of reasonable accommodations > and how these concepts apply to the public access law library and blind > persons. > > > > Thank you > > Daniel McBride > > Fort Worth > > _______________________________________________ > blindlaw mailing list > blindlaw at nfbnet.org > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for > blindlaw: > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/cannona%40fireantproductions.com > ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:45:39 +1000 From: "Paul Harpur" To: "'Blind Law Mailing List'" Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: <005401ce3727$d3aaee50$7b00caf0$@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" You might consider using NVDA as this is free. -----Original Message----- From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Cannon Sent: Friday, 12 April 2013 12:39 PM To: Blind Law Mailing List Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility I'm not a lawyer, so certainly can't comment on the second, but I am a nerd, so will comment on the first. Jaws only makes sense if the computers run Windows. If they are Macs, running a recent version of MacOS, then they will already have a screen reader built in. However, getting the screen reader is only the first step. I'm assuming that the purpose of getting access to the computers is so that you can get access to the software or web sites that are available exclusively on those computers. However, it is possible that the software or web sites you wish to access may not be accessible. My suggestion would be to request that someone from their IT department meet with you at the library, where you both can install a demo version of Jaws, and you can test the software, to see if it is in fact accessible. If they're using the Mac operating system, there may be a learning curve for you to figure out how Voice Over (the Mac screen reader) works. Good luck, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Aaron Cannon On 4/11/13, Daniel McBride wrote: > Members: > > > > I live and practice in Tarrant County, Texas. The county has a law > library in the courthouse. The library has four computer terminals > for use by the public. Not one of the four is accessible for blind persons. > > > > Tomorrow, I intend to call the chief county administrator to discuss > making at least one of those four computers accessible for blind > persons, if not all four. > > > > As my own personal use of computers has been through JAWS, I wouldn't > know what to suggest otherwise. > > > > I would appreciate your comments regarding two issues. First, should > I be discussing any accommodation other than JAWS? Secondly, your > views on the Americans With Disabilities Act, the concept of > reasonable accommodations and how these concepts apply to the public > access law library and blind persons. > > > > Thank you > > Daniel McBride > > Fort Worth > > _______________________________________________ > blindlaw mailing list > blindlaw at nfbnet.org > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for > blindlaw: > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/cannona%40firean > tproductions.com > _______________________________________________ blindlaw mailing list blindlaw at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindlaw: http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/paulharpur%40gmail.com ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:50:24 +0000 From: "Dittman, Robert" To: Blind Law Mailing List Cc: Blind Law Mailing List Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Daniel I think the idea is a good one but perhaps you might consider writing up a proposal for the city council to consider such as this is what you could do to increase accessibility as opposed to taking the offensive track of beatings them into submission V What type of law library programs are they using, LEXIS-NEXIS, Westlaw, etc.? Once we know the type of research software they are using then we will be better able to know if the screen reader alone will be enough. That was the hardest part I had hospital was to gain access to legal research. Met by the way you do know or maybe you don't that resources such as fast case and find law as well as the Texas bar website are useful and excessive accessible. Good luck on your quest and if you want to call me to have someone to bounce a battle plan off of feel free to do so take care and good luck Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 21:46, "Paul Harpur" wrote: > You might consider using NVDA as this is free. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aaron > Cannon > Sent: Friday, 12 April 2013 12:39 PM > To: Blind Law Mailing List > Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility > > I'm not a lawyer, so certainly can't comment on the second, but I am a nerd, > so will comment on the first. > > Jaws only makes sense if the computers run Windows. If they are Macs, > running a recent version of MacOS, then they will already have a screen > reader built in. > > However, getting the screen reader is only the first step. I'm assuming > that the purpose of getting access to the computers is so that you can get > access to the software or web sites that are available exclusively on those > computers. However, it is possible that the software or web sites you wish > to access may not be accessible. > > My suggestion would be to request that someone from their IT department meet > with you at the library, where you both can install a demo version of Jaws, > and you can test the software, to see if it is in fact accessible. > > If they're using the Mac operating system, there may be a learning curve for > you to figure out how Voice Over (the Mac screen reader) works. > > Good luck, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. > > Aaron Cannon > > On 4/11/13, Daniel McBride wrote: >> Members: >> >> >> >> I live and practice in Tarrant County, Texas. The county has a law >> library in the courthouse. The library has four computer terminals >> for use by the public. Not one of the four is accessible for blind > persons. >> >> >> >> Tomorrow, I intend to call the chief county administrator to discuss >> making at least one of those four computers accessible for blind >> persons, if not all four. >> >> >> >> As my own personal use of computers has been through JAWS, I wouldn't >> know what to suggest otherwise. >> >> >> >> I would appreciate your comments regarding two issues. First, should >> I be discussing any accommodation other than JAWS? Secondly, your >> views on the Americans With Disabilities Act, the concept of >> reasonable accommodations and how these concepts apply to the public >> access law library and blind persons. >> >> >> >> Thank you >> >> Daniel McBride >> >> Fort Worth >> >> _______________________________________________ >> blindlaw mailing list >> blindlaw at nfbnet.org >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for >> blindlaw: >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/cannona%40firean >> tproductions.com > > _______________________________________________ > blindlaw mailing list > blindlaw at nfbnet.org > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for > blindlaw: > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/paulharpur%40gmail.com > > > _______________________________________________ > blindlaw mailing list > blindlaw at nfbnet.org > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindlaw: > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/rdittman%40stmarytx.edu ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:38:10 -0700 From: "Susan Kelly" To: "Blind Law Mailing List" Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" When I first started losing my vision 4 years ago, I used a program called WinZoom - it was a very helpful magnification / narration program which is quite useful to persons who still have a decent amount of residual vision. It is fairly intuitive and does not have the learning curve of JAWS or Zoom Text. While it probably wouldn't help users who need JAWS or a similar heavy-duty program, it would be good on the other terminals - magnification is much more clear than that I remember being standard on a Windows computer, and is useful even to folks who still have the eyesight to be driving, etc. It does seem that at least one terminal should have JAWS, though - and maybe the braille output option as well? And MAGic or some other magnification program. Good luck - I still have problems convincing others in the profession that I can still use a computer just like before. -----Original Message----- From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daniel McBride Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 6:43 PM To: Blind Law Mailing List Subject: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Members: I live and practice in Tarrant County, Texas. The county has a law library in the courthouse. The library has four computer terminals for use by the public. Not one of the four is accessible for blind persons. Tomorrow, I intend to call the chief county administrator to discuss making at least one of those four computers accessible for blind persons, if not all four. As my own personal use of computers has been through JAWS, I wouldn't know what to suggest otherwise. I would appreciate your comments regarding two issues. First, should I be discussing any accommodation other than JAWS? Secondly, your views on the Americans With Disabilities Act, the concept of reasonable accommodations and how these concepts apply to the public access law library and blind persons. Thank you Daniel McBride Fort Worth _______________________________________________ blindlaw mailing list blindlaw at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindlaw: http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/susan.kelly%40pima .gov ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:44:12 -0600 From: "Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc." To: "Blind Law Mailing List" Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: <588D5FC8160845FD84175759C6A78143 at victory2> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Dear Mr. McBride: I think it would be unfair to recommend a particular screen reader over the other. If you recommend Jaws, and I walk into the said library desiring to use NVDA, there will be a problem. The librarian will assume that I am a Jaws user just like you when in fact this may not be true. As such, whereas the library will be accessible to you, it will remain largely inaccessible to me. If you are able to load your screen reader of choice on a USB flash drive, I believe that requesting access to the library's computer using the screen reader loaded on your USB flash drive will be the best approach. My understanding with respect to Jaws though is that a copy of Jaws does have to be installed on the particular computer to be used in order for the portable version on a USB flash drive to work. If this is correct, perhaps, for temporary use only, you may need to investigate NVDA, System Access to Go, and Window-Eyes! Of the three screen readers suggested above, Window-Eyes may require the installation of a video driver on the computer in question before the portable version on a USB flash drive would work. NVDA, however, DOES NOT rely on video driver hooks, and, if memory serves, I believe that System Access To Go can be used directly off the Internet. As you can see sire, no one method fits the bill. Not all blind individuals use Jaws and, if the goal is to make the library's computer accessible to other blind atorneys or paralegals in your area, the considerations outlined herein do become necessary evils! Sincerely, Olusegun Denver, Colorado ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:49:07 -0600 From: "Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc." To: "Blind Law Mailing List" Subject: Re: [blindlaw] law library accessibility Message-ID: <621DF70B58144F6298FA666DC5EFBDC7 at victory2> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Dear Mr. Cannon: Well sir, Jaws is NOT THE ONLY screen reader for Windows. Supernova, NVDA, System Access To Go, Window-Eyes and another one whose name begins with the letter "C" but I don't recall the rest of it--are others! You may use Jaws and love it; but this may not be the case for other blind lawyers and paralegals needing similar access. Sincerely, Olusegun Denver, Colorado ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ blindlaw mailing list blindlaw at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org ------------------------------ End of blindlaw Digest, Vol 107, Issue 8 ****************************************