[Blindmath] Statistical Analysis Software

[Godfrey, Jonathan]

Hi all,

In addition to the book Tim pointed people towards, I would suggest the software review page at
http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/statsoftware/

You'll see that I rank software in the following order: R, SAS, Stata, SPSS... the rest... 
Where the rest are poor options for anyone using a screen reader.

Tim commented that SPSS is not accessible. I agree, but others disagree. The point of difference is that as far as I am concerned, software is not truly accessible if we must tie ourselves to a particular screen reader or adaptive technology solution. There are people working quite happily with JAWS and SPSS so for them it is accessible. It is also possible to send a file containing a set of SPSS commands  for processing which then provides access; this is not the usual way of working as SPSS is primarily aimed at being driven via the GUI.  So until such time as an SPSS user works in the same manner as their sighted peers with any major screen reader, I will give it the thumbs down. 

I accept that I have set the accessibility bar quite high and I make no apologies for doing so. IBM makes claims about the accessibility that it would be extremely easy to refute, but they are not the worst offenders in this regard. My current "worst offender" is Minitab.

Please also note that there  is a list dedicated to discussing R issues being hosted by the NFB. It is called "BlindRUG" where RUG is the commonly used acronym for R Users Group.
To join the list, send a message to:
BlindRUG-request at nfbnet.org 
with the single word: 
subscribe 
in the subject line. You will be sent a confirmation message to the address from which the message was sent within a few minutes. Simply reply to that confirmation message and wait for the initial welcome message with the standard list admin notes and a few initial pointers.

Cheers,
Jonathan





-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tim in 't Veld via Blindmath
Sent: Tuesday, 12 April 2016 4:03 a.m.
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Cc: Tim in 't Veld
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Statistical Analysis Software

Hi,
For more information on using R with a screen reader consult Jonathan Godfrey's book at http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html
Unless you have very specific reasons to choose another package, R is your best option if you are a screen reader user.
I don't know much about SAS but SPSS is inaccessible, even though IBM claims otherwise in their documentation. There are a few tricks to get output but you'll have a very limited and ineffective experience at best.
Tim

On 4/11/2016 5:31 PM, Vincent Martin via Blindmath wrote:
> "R" is the most accessible, followed by SAS and I think SPSS is 
> probably third.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
> Syed Rizvi via Blindmath
> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 10:57 AM
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Syed Rizvi <syedrizvinfb at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Blindmath] Statistical Analysis Software
>
> Hello All,
>
> I was seeking suggestions on alternative techniques for performing 
> statistical analysis, accessible software applications, etc.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Syed
>
>   
>
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