[BlindMath] Seeking Help with Excel Data Analysis Tools

Thu Jan 30 02:39:34 UTC 2020

Hello Elizabeth,

Your frustration is justified; there are plenty of things you can do in Excel, but it will be quite hit and miss until someone tries. I argue that the person who tries should not be you though.

The staff for your course made the software choice. It is up to them to assure you that what they are asking of you is actually possible. If (more likely when) it isn't, it is those same staff who must take the responsibility to make sure they provide a substitute way of achieving the same learning outcomes as expected of your classmates.

I'd be asking the staff what they are hoping you will achieve. The access to the software is no different to the access issues around learning material. If they want to be sure that you understand how a histogram is constructed, then perhaps they need to modify the assessment so that it can be proven that you know what has to happen for a histogram to be made. Assignment exercises are a useful tool for staff to employ to check this. Imagine how long it would take them to have a one on one discussion with every student. They don't have time so they demand that a histogram be made. The discussion approach may well prove to be the reasonable accommodation that works best for both of you.

I'm a little perplexed by the comment about your reader etc. If this human is making sure you understand what needs to happen to make the graphs, and at some stage you can prove that, then you are not cheating. You are getting to the endpoint that matters using the tools that meet your needs.

I think some thinking about the long run outcome needs to be considered. No one I've met who considers themselves to be a statistician would ever construct a histogram using a process that involved making the wrong graph and modifying it as is required in Excel. We use proper statistical software. As a blind person, the options for maximising independence in the workflow are pretty limited. SAS and R. Practically everyone who knows me knows my bias towards R as a better option. If I'm honest, I would have to look up a suitable tutorial to make a histogram in SAS, but I can do it in a few commands in R.

Just for the moment let's imagine you have a data file stored as a csv file (easy to construct in Excel) with variables in columns and observations in rows (usual  format for all statistical software). In R, I only have to type

MyData = read.csv("MyFile.csv")
hist(MyData$Variable1, main="My first histogram", xlab="something useful")

and I have a histogram that has used Variable1 from my data that was originally stored in MyFile.csv; I've changed the default title and x axis labels because I know the defaults are less than perfect.

If you want to know what that histogram looks like, then you could make use of my add-on package called BrailleR (it would need to be installed). 

You would add two things to the above commands.
Insert a line that says library(BrailleR) up front, and add VI(...) around the last line so that it now reads

VI(hist(MyData$Variable1, main="My first histogram", xlab="something useful"))

You would still get the histogram on screen to put in your assignment and you'll also get something like:

This is a histogram, with the title: Histogram of Wind
"Wind" is marked on the x-axis.
Tick marks for the x-axis are at: 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 
There are a total of 153 elements for this variable.
Tick marks for the y-axis are at: 0, 10, 20, and 30 
It has 11 bins with equal widths, starting at 0 and ending at 22 .
The mids and counts for the bins are:
mid = 1  count = 1 
mid = 3  count = 4 
mid = 5  count = 11 
mid = 7  count = 38 
mid = 9  count = 27 
mid = 11  count = 38 
mid = 13  count = 10 
mid = 15  count = 17 
mid = 17  count = 4 
mid = 19  count = 1 
mid = 21  count = 2

printed out for you in screen reader friendly text. I can tell that the graph I wanted is therefore ready to put in my report.

There are also tools to get an interactive exploration tool that hosts this graph and more descriptions than the above static block of text. That can wait a bit as it requires the user to have an installation of R etc.

Anyway, my real point is that there are options that will give you greater independence than is possible with Excel. The onus is on your teachers to help you get to the learning outcomes for the course. Those staff also need to know that better options exists. If they want to force you to use the same software as the rest of the class then they need to help formulate the plan that works for them and doesn't leave you feeling like a cheat. If in fact, the use of superior software is allowed, then they should also be ready to assist or find staff that will assist. No one deserves to be left hung out to dry.

HTH
Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Mohnke via BlindMath
Sent: Thursday, 30 January 2020 1:40 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Seeking Help with Excel Data Analysis Tools

Hello Jonathan,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email. It is rather disheartening to hear that the data analysis tools add-on in Excel are not accessible, and there is nothing that can be done to make any of the items in this add-on accessible.

There are other items or tools we will be using in the data analysis tools throughout the semester. I was hoping that I would find a way to be able to participate as a student in the completion of these various assignments. However, if my reader is simply reading through the directions and doing all the work for me by following these instructions, then what role am I playing as a student in the completion of these various assignments?

I can understand your analogy of baking a cake verses buying a cake. However, I am not quite sure how applical this analogy is to me as a student. If as a student I need to complete an assignment, or write a term paper, or take a quiz, then it definetly does matter how I go about completing these tasks. If I allow someone else to do these things for me then it is considered cheating.

Again, it is really disheartening and frustrating that there is nothing that can be done to make the data analysis tools add-on in Excel accessible. I thought Excel was a rather accessible program. But apparently I was wrong, and now this is just another accessibility challenge I need to figure out while maintaining academic honesty.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Godfrey, Jonathan via BlindMath
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:28 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Godfrey, Jonathan <A.J.Godfrey at massey.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Seeking Help with Excel Data Analysis Tools

Hello Elizabeth,

I find your desire to work independently quite commendable.

I would argue that if you are in the driving seat it doesn't really matter whose hand is clicking the mouse. The point is that this exercise is teaching you something about histograms and the way they look. Excel is just being used to make you undertake a set of tasks manually using a digital tool. Other software options would make the histogram correctly with a single command, but using that software then means you discuss the appearance of a histogram once it is completed. 

I'd liken the difference to buying a cake from a bakery as against baking one at home by starting with the ingredients. You start with a desire for cake and all going well, you get to eat cake. The question is, was all that work doing the measuring and mixing really worth it? You could read about how to make a cake; you could even watch a cooking show to learn how a cake is made.

The designers of the course you are taking have decided that you need to get your hands dirty. I'm not going to argue their pedagogical choices, but let's just say that I have made it very clear to my colleagues that I will not teach students how to do statistics using the wrong tools, notably Excel.

As you have discovered, Excel does not offer a sensible way for a blind person to make a histogram. The set of tasks you must undertake are extremely difficult to undertake using a screen reader, and there is practically no way to know if the outcome is really what you were hoping for. There are bound to be more tasks that are equally impossible or burdensome to think about though. You cannot afford to spend six hours on a  task that your classmates get done in six minutes, and on the assumption that the staff teaching your course are decent people, they'll agree.

I do think that you will need to lean on the course teaching group for assistance. They are asking for something unreasonable. I do suggest that you demonstrate what can and cannot be done using a screen reader to show them why you've had to invest so much time thus far. I'd also then ask them to show you how they would complete the tasks they are asking you to do without touching their mouse. You'll have to do that diplomatically though, whereas I get to be much more direct as an equal living thousands of miles away!

Best of luck,
Jonathan

---
A. Jonathan R. Godfrey PhD, MInfSc, BSc, BBS.
Senior Lecturer in Statistics
School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Mohnke via BlindMath
Sent: Wednesday, 29 January 2020 3:26 AM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org; nfbcs at nfbnet.org
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Seeking Help with Excel Data Analysis Tools

Hello All,

I am currently enrolled in a statistics class that uses the data analysis tools in Microsoft Excel. However, I am having a difficult time figuring out how to use the data analysis tools in Microsoft Excel.

Our first Excel project assignment was to create a histogram using the data analysis tools. I have spent about six hours trying to complete this assignment without much success.

I am using a laptop running Windows 10 with Excel 2016. I have tried using the data analysis tools to create a histogram with both JAWS 2019  and NVDA without any success.

I also tried using my old desktop computer running Windows 7 and Office 2013  with an older version of JAWS. It looks as though I may have been able to complete the steps for creating a histogram through the data analysis tools, but I am only able to see it as part of the Excel worksheet in colums and rows. So I have no idea if it actually shows up visually as a histogram. And it does not appear as though I have the ability to edit any of the labels or close the gaps between the bars in the historgram as described in a class video.

Does anyone know if it is possible to independently use the data analysis tools in Microsoft Excel without any sighted assistance? Do the data analysis tools not work as well with a screen reader in Office 2016 compared to Office 2013? If I need to use sighted assistance to complete my Excel project assignments using the data analysis tools, how would I go about doing this in a way that does not feel like the sighted person is doing all the work for me?

Ideally I would like to be able to find a way to complete my Excel project assignments for my statistics class on my own. However, the amount of time I am spending trying to figure this out is simply not sustainable for the rest of the semester. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Elizabeth
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