[Blindtlk] learning Jaws

Wed Mar 20 11:24:07 UTC 2013

At the National Library Service we primarily use Window-Eyes.  Because of 
the need to get software upgrades approved through a lengthy process, most 
of us are still on version 7.2, but 7.5 is coming soon.  We use JAWS for 
some testing, and some of our staff members are more comfortable with JAWS. 
I could write a lot about how JAWS came to have such a dominant position, 
but I don't have time; I've got to go to work.

Note that it isn't that hard to learn another screen reader.  Historically, 
Window-Eyes tried to have you use keystrokes and procedures that Microsoft 
and other programmers had established, while Freedom Scientific wrote a lot 
of scripts in their proprietary language to minimize the number of 
keystrokes needed to accomplish certain tasks.  Scripts are harder to 
maintain; programs can change and the script needs to be rewritten to some 
extent.  This philosophical difference has diminished somewhat over the last 
5 years.

If you do data analysis in Excel, both screen readers should be very 
capable.  I don't think Access is fully covered by either screen reader, and 
Access is becoming old technology.  With Version 8, Window-Eyes is trying to 
catch up with JAWS in web access, which has become very important on and off 
the job.  And both screen readers have problems with dynamic web pages that 
don't follow the guidelines developed by the Worldwide Web Consortium.

You can learn a new screen reader.  Get moving.

I gotta go!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Peter Wolfe
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 1:27 AM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] learning Jaws

David and others,

    I'm disappointed in the rehabilitation that I was given cause they
should have splayed the negatives and positives of all assistive
technology to me as a student not the way they did it. I do have a
pessimestic point of view and will get on with it but feel like I
could change something with the inefficient and broken system in
rehabilitation. Can someone give me an example of Window-Eyes really
being used in the federal government? Honestly the CAP program whether
at the Department of Defense, IRS, Social Security and other agencies
have all reported using Jaws not even a whisper about Window-Eyes. In
fact, I was in Washington D.C with nobody even knowing about
Window-Eyes at all just saying from direct experience.

    Lastly, I am going threw the training and it won't take a mobnth
or two out of my life just wish there were more clearly defined
guidelines. More comprehensive research needs to be done in a
consistant format with the human resources department at the OPM too.
I wish all positions would give standard applications that are used
and if they are capable to use with existing assistive tech by
volunteer surveys of blind workers too. It could take only six months
for such measures to be finished and it would aid everyone to do so.
I've already e-mailed OPM with no word back. I want change and maybe
I'll be taken more seriously by the establishment as a worker.

sincerely

On 3/19/13, Mark Tardif <markspark at roadrunner.com> wrote:
> I use JAWS, and like it, but I do know some people who prefer Window-Eyes.
> I suspect your learning more than one screenreader is probably not a bad
> thing because while agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service purchase
> JAWS, you just never know when you might run into an employer who has 
> blind
>
> employees who use Window-Eyes, and you will be grateful that you know it.
> So, may I gently suggest that you try to think differently about having
> learned Window-Eyes in the past, and instead of looking at it as a 
> possible
>
> set up for failure, try to imagine that not only will it not hurt, but it
> might benefit you.  Just my opinion.
>
>
>
> Mark Tardif
> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Andrews
> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 6:08 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] learning Jaws
>
> Window-Eyes is not as bad as you make it out to be.  It is a good
> screen reader -- just not the market leader.  Unless you have no
> aptitude for computers, learning a new screen reader isn't the end of
> the world.  Many of the concepts and principles are transferrable.
>
> Don't set yourself up for failure -- just get on with it.
>
> Dave
>
> At 10:13 PM 3/18/2013, you wrote:
>>David,
>>
>>
>>     YIn hine sight, Jaws is the more powerful screen reader with
>>numerous functionality and script writing that GW-Micro simply doesn't
>>have. I wish that my Vocational Rehabilitation counselors would have
>>informed me of this reality not allow me to learn it on my own.
>>Instead the assistive technology instructors at E.H Gentry in Alabama
>>being experimental just allowed me to blindly use window-eyes.
>>Honestly I feel like I was setup for failure cause at that time that
>>hardly anybody thought that I'd graduate from community college and
>>ultimately get a scholarship from a major four year university like
>>Auburn. I agree with all of your statements David that Window-Eyes for
>>all intensive purposes is like Apple for personal usage and Jaws is
>>better for professional usages so W.E is just a toy at this point in
>>time.
>>
>>
>>     How long do you guys or gals think it will take to learn Jaws with
>>skills enough for a entry level in the federal government? I'm a
>>pretty quick learner like four months is all it took for me to learn
>>braille literary I and II with contractions and that is pretty fast
>>for Gentry. I'm also the first blind student to come threw their halls
>>to pass the GED the first time too! I
>>'m looking at perhaps a week of evaluation, four weeks of Jaws and
>>food preparation training with a little outside orientation and
>>mobility and perhaps a three month temporary work paid experience with
>>a federal agency whether Social Security, Veterns Administration,
>>Department of Treasury or Labor that could perhaps lead to a perminent
>>job with those agencies! Any ideas or suggestions on the screen reader
>>or programs to consider or what Windows application to master with
>>Jaws would be nice. I don't know whether to try to push the braille
>>display or if just the IRS TSR or other jobs only require it or what
>>the emphasis should be on. This is my challenge being blind that I
>>don't know without any clear guidelines of the usajobs.gov job
>>descriptions of what applications they use. However, I do know
>>Microsoft word, Excell and internet explorer are musts in any federal
>>job.
>>
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Peter
>>
>>On 3/18/13, David Thomas <david.w.thomas at me.com> wrote:
>> > I believe that learning jaws is paramount to a blind persons success.
>> >
>> > Yes there is window-eyes but that is not the most popular screen
>> > reader.
>> > Jaws is used in the government and in most businesses.
>> >
>
>
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-- 
Cordially,
Peter Q Wolfe, BA
cum laude Auburn University
e-mail: yogabare13 at gmail.com
"If you don't stand up for something your willing to fall for anything"
Peter Q Wolfe
"Stand up for your rights"
Bob Marley

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