[Blindmath] updated software review page

[Godfrey, Jonathan]

Hi all,

I recently obtained a licence for the statistical software known as Stata. It had been five years since I last played with Stata because there is no longer  a demo version to download. I've updated my statistical software review page following my experimentation today. The page is at:
http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/statsoftware/

The Stata section now reads:

Stata

Stata can be used by blind users. I attended the 2011 Stata workshop<http://icchp-su.net/?q=node/87> facilitated by Bert van Landeghem. See details of his other Summer University workshops at 2010 Stata workshop<http://icchp-su.net/?q=node/31> and 2012 Stata workshop<http://icchp-su.net/?q=node/155>, but note that this time Bert mentions R as well as Stata. I used Bert's notes from 2011 on version 14 of Stata in June 2016 to see how much had changed in five years. It might be that little has changed, but perhaps some of my approaches to experimentation has changed too.

A copy of all commands and associated output, or the commands alone, can be saved in log files. These log files need to be saved as plain text so that you can read them using a browser of your choosing. The reason for opening a plain text file in a browser is that the log file will be updated as you issue new commands in Stata; pressing f5 to refresh the browser will get the added content from the log file on screen for you to review. This use of a browser is laborious. Use of text files that contain the commands you want to issue is a better idea. These are called "do" files by Stata.

Access to the help documentation for Stata commands is best obtained by searching the internet because the built-in help does not work with a screen reader. Some menus are accessible, while others are less so; I find this inconsistency irritating to say the least. When these dialogues are accessible the underlying commands that these dialogues generate can be copied to the clipboard for insertion into a "do" file.

Typing commands at the command prompt is an option worth considering for simple jobs; it can be made simpler by learning that a command can be abbreviated to a few letters if it is then unambiguous, and tab completion can help enter the names of variables. For example, if my data set includes a variable called "MaleLifeExp" and there are no other variables starting with an M in my dataset, the command "summarize MaleLifeExp" can be shortened by typing "su Ma" and hitting the tab key followed by the Enter key. You should get into the habit of saving your commands using a log file. This is much easier than trying to save the work you've already done. The necessary command will be of the form: "cmdlog using Today.txt"

When you start to use the "do" file way of working, you will soon find that the highlighting of text will not be read aloud by your screen reader. These files are just plain text files though so perhaps the most pragmatic thing to do is to open the file using your favourite text editor software.

Last version tested: 14


Cheers,
Jonathan