[nabop] Seeking advice about print mailings and filing in an office environment

[Judy Jones]

Hi, Mirranda,

I just retired from the state of Idaho last month, but ran an office, had a
case load, and ran a supplies store.  I also am a braille and Jaws user.  I
used my Hims U2 Mini note taker extensively to keep office notes, used the
calendar function, used the calculator to keep track of my budget, and kept
a "rolodex" on the unit.

I had a scanner with OpenBook for getting at larger print documents.

Any hard copy that came across my desk, I brailled on the bottom using a
perkins brailler.  All folders had braille and print labels, the braille
being on the backside of the folder tab.  This allowed me to do all filing,
as I knew what print documents I was dealing with at all times.

I also created labels sheets on the computer, as well as for the occasional
label.  There was also a typewriter in the office we all used, and I used
this to address an envelope, write on a sticky note, fill out a deposit
slip, and for any small paper that required writing.

There were lots of bills to pay, and no OCR technology can do justice to
graph formatting, so I used an Optacon to read the bills, and also to mark
where I would need to sign and date bills and plans.  I also used it to
disseminate mail and check document formatting.

I used a light probe to field incoming calls on the different lines.

In a position like this, the blind worker is always going to be slower
getting at printed information, but the skills to do so must be good enough
to allow one to still be able to work in a competitive environment.  It can
be done.

You may land an office job that does not require you to wear so many hats,
but you will have to be your own problem-solver.

Best wishes.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: NABOP [mailto:nabop-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Miranda B. via
NABOP
Sent: Tuesday, May 9, 2017 12:30 PM
To: nabop at nfbnet.org
Cc: Miranda B.
Subject: [nabop] Seeking advice about print mailings and filing in an office
environment

Hi everyone,

As my college courseload has lessened significantly for the summer and the
remainder of my Bachelors degree will be primarily online, I am considering
applying for part-time employment.

I have previous experience as a business owner for 9 years, but much of my
filing and communication was conducted electronically. Therefore, I am
wondering if any of you have tips related to working with incoming and
outgoing mail and print-based filing in an office environment.

I am completely blind, but I am a proficient Braille reader and JAWS user. I
also have an iPhone and regularly use KNFB Reader for OCR scanning tasks
related to school or home. I also use a printer/scanner here at home with
the ABBY FineReader OCR scanning software on my Windows-based computer with
JAWS.

For filing, I've considered creating print labels via Microsoft Word and
attaching them to file folders, along with Braille labels for my own
reference. I could use the same print labeling technique with
mailings/envelopes.

Any additional advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and have a wonderful week!

 

Best wishes, Miranda

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