[Blindmath] Computer operating systems and accessibility

[Jared Wright]

I feel for the end user Windows still provides the most explicit levels 
of access, just because a lot of time has been invested into the 
commercial screen readers for it. If you're willing to invest in one of 
those, you will have access to a lot of what you encounter on the OS. 
Linux has a larger variety of  potential solutions. Most require a 
little computer DIY willingness, but depending on what you're doing, you 
may be able to put together a Linux setup that does everything you want 
even more efficiently than Windows. That said, you might encounter 
software on Windows that just doesn't have as developed a counterpart on 
Linux. Since everything in that arena is free, it can't hurt to just 
dual boot it with another OS. Regarding Mac, I'll just say I'm hardly 
impressed and will let anyone who wants to talk on its merits do so 
separately.

JW




On 6/4/2009 1:27 PM, Tamara Smith-Kinney wrote:
> Hi, all.  Since my major considerations in purchasing a new computer system
> have to do with whether I will be able to achieve my goals with it in the
> future, I thought I would ask this question here.  I am not, by nature, a
> lover of Windows and would like to make a change to Linux or Mac.  I'm
> actually think of a dual- or even triple-boot set up, but while I'm shopping
> want to find out what others are using and how.
>
>
>
>
>
> How do Mac, Linux and Windows stack up in terms of accessibility and the
> ability to interface with adaptive software and technology?  I was a
> computer consultant when I got my beloved but now geriatric current system,
> so I went with Windows because that was what all my clients used and I
> needed to know how to answer their questions and do my thing with their
> systems.  I was living in a very rural part of the state, so had a small and
> not entirely savvy market to work with, so my services involved a little bit
> of everything.
>
>
>
> So then life happened - specifically violent crime - and three years later
> I've got my body back to some sort of working order.  And everything has
> changed!  I might as well have a nice resume as a dinosaur wrangler! /lol/
> I love the rapid changes in technology and applications when I'm in the game
> and racing to keep up with them, but it is very odd to once again be a total
> ignoramus.  I had to go to the teenagers in the neighborhood to learn about
> what's going on with the internet.  /lol/
>
>
>
> Well, I have a long way to go, but the tech market here crashed and burned a
> few months ago, so I'm back to consulting as my best option to get into the
> field again.  I think I want to focus more on the application
> design/development end of my skills and talents, since that's really the
> best fit for me.  But I use graphs and flowcharts heavily, so need to be
> able to work with them and create them.  I would also like to aim towards
> systems design/analysis, so there's the math and graphing again.
>
>
>
> That all may be a pipe dream, but I want to build in the foundations for it
> when I buy my new system.  So the operating system's capacity for
> interacting with adaptive software and tools is the Number One
> considerations.  Besides, one thing I *will* do is go on studying math!
> Last I check, three years ago, I can't go to any college in this city - and
> it's our state's major metropolitan area - to study  math if I'm going to be
> all unrealistic and want textbooks I can read or a means to complete
> assignments and other such frivolities.  I would add a smile for sarcasm
> there, but that's actually what I've been told, and I do not find it
> amusing.  I like studying math in a university setting, being around others
> who are studying math because they love it, soaking in all the extra
> knowledge one can get from a professor, and I want the credit for my career,
> but.  I'm a sort of compulsive self-studier anyway, and I can't stand being
> a math ignoramus anymore, so I plan to learn to do math nonvisually, then
> find materials to use in taking my skills to the next level, and the next
> one after that.  Maybe domeday I will find a way to take a test so that I
> can get that college credit for it, which is a good thing to have on the
> resume!  /smile/
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
>
>
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