[BlindMath] data analysis question

Wed Apr 4 23:32:19 UTC 2018

Thanks so much. It looks like excel will be the best option for now.  But I  haven’t found a commands sheet that’s very helpful, or a good screen reader excel  tutorial. If you are familiar with the program, I’d appreciate the information. 
Best,
ZH 

> On Apr 4, 2018, at 3:43 PM, Sarah Jevnikar via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Zhen,
> Excel might be the most user-friendly means to start, though R or similar
> programs might be more robust ultimately.
> 
> By naming a region of cells, any user can automatically have their column
> and row titles read to them just by navigating a sheet. This works
> independently of a screen reader. I can send you specific instructions if
> that would help.
> 
> Excel uses mainly standard keyboard commands. Tab or the arrow keys move
> between cells. Control-c copies, control-v pastes, control-x cuts. Control-g
> allows you to move to a specific cell. Control page up and down moves
> between sheets. To edit the contents of a current cell, use f2. The = sign
> will tell Excel you'd like to start typing a formula, which can include cell
> coordinates, numbers, and other data.
> 
> JAWS has a command (control+shift+d) that will list all the cells with data
> in a sheet.
> 
> I appreciate Excel looks intimidating at first, but it is fairly
> straightforward. I'd be happy to jump on a Skype call if you need a
> step-by-step walk-through, but I think it might be an idea to figure out
> exactly what you'd like to do with the program and then we can go from
> there.
> 
> Cheers,
> Sarah
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve
> Jacobson via BlindMath
> Sent: April 4, 2018 1:08 PM
> To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
> Cc: Steve Jacobson
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] data analysis question
> 
> Zhen,
> 
> I don't know if you have received other answers, but there are things you
> can do with Excel and with JAWS that can make some of this easier.  First,
> though, I would say that it is well worth taking time to get familiar with
> some of the less obvious parts of Excel so you can make the best use of it.
> Learning about some of its functions and how to enter formulas would be a
> good start.  
> 
> There are JAWS commands that can allow you to have row and column titles
> repeated as you navigate by cell.  I used a similar function with
> Window-Eyes and have seen the JAWS keys to do this but don't have experience
> with this.  In addition, you can tell Excel to freeze certain rows and
> columns so they always remain on the screen.  This means that you could keep
> row labels and column headings on the screen as you move around the
> spreadsheet.  You may actually find that this is too much information,
> though, although I think there is an option to just have a key to press to
> read the row or column label when you want that information.  
> 
> There are excel options to sort and filter data which can help if you get
> good at doing that.  Sorting on a particular column can quickly show the
> smallest or largest.  Temporarily creating cells that can receive results
> from a function in a formula can be useful as well.  Even knowing the
> minimum, maximum, average, and standard deviation of a given column of data
> can give you a pretty quick picture of the data.
> 
> I have not done the kinds of work you are describing, but I've had to use
> Excel to deal with data on the job and know I've only scratched the surface.
> There are likely others here who could provide more details.  In addition,
> if you get data in Excel, it is possible that you could export it into a
> statistical package like R to do certain kinds of analysis that might be
> done there more easily.  I have no experience with that.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of zhen
> holmes via BlindMath
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2018 11:53 AM
> To: nfb-science at nfbnet.org
> Cc: zhen holmes <zhen.m.holmes at gmail.com>; blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [BlindMath] data analysis question
> 
> Hi there, 
> I was wondering about how to best access and manipulate data. Here's  the
> story. I have the opportunity to work on a really ml research project
> involving presolar grains and aminoacid abundances. It would involve mining
> data from papers, creating tables, and making new plots. My question is how
> best to accomplish this. Some people I have spoken to recommend excel, but
> I've heard its not very screen reader friendly in terms of reading data.
> When you are in a table, without being able  to know what row and collum you
> are in, it would seem to me that the numbers would very easily lose their
> meaning. Even so, if that is a good option, is there a good list of jaws
> commands for excell? I haven't been able to find one. Another suggestions
> was to utilize a reader to get a better overview of the numbers and to start
> making extrapolations and to find internal assumptions on my own. Obviously
> that doesn't solve all the plotting problems, but it is something and would
> u simultaneously solve the problem that pre 2002 papers aren't accessable to
> begin with. At any rate, any suggestions would be welcomed. For the record,
> I will be posting this to both the math and science lists. 
> thanks and best, 
> Z H
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