[nabs-l] Using a Mouse as a Blind Individual

[Jewel S.]

Dear list,
Have you ever considred using a mouse as a blind individual? I
haven't...I mean, what's the point of using a mouse if you can't see
the pointer, right? Wrong!

Today, I found a new reason to use NVDA...not instead of JAWS, but at
the same time as JAWS. No, I'm not using two voices together (have you
ever done that accidentally? It's hard to understand anything because
of the dual voices). I set NVDA to silent (Insert + N, Preferences,
Synthesizer, then chose Silent from the first menu). Keep your JAWS
running (or if you use NVDA or another as your primary, keep that
voice going...you'll need it still!). Now, go into Mouse Setting
(Insert + N, Preferences, Mouse Settings). Here, you can tell it to
use audio coordinates, speak when you're over text (character, word,
line, paragraph), speak when you're over an icon (like on the
desktop), and it will also speak that you are over a link, button, or
other element.

Now, this next part is for people with some residual vision. No, you
don't have to have much. My vision is 3/350 in one eye and light
perception only in the other, so if your vision is better than mine,
you'll likely benefit from this.

In Control Panel, go to your mouse settings (this is different
depending on which system you have. I type mouse in the search box,
but I have Windows 7). You'll probably want to have high contrast, so
if you have a black on white theme, pick the extra large black mouse.
If you have white on black like I do, which is higher contrast, choose
the extra large white mouse pointer (this is in pointer option). Check
the box for it to locate the mouse when you press control, and give
the mouse a trail for extra size (for me, this makes the mouse look
like it's moving, which is a need of mine, since I have trouble seeing
things that are not moving). You can give the mouse just a little
trail or a very long tail, depending on your preferences. You'll also
want to change the speed to 10 percent (the slowest speed) until you
get good at moving the mouse, as the faster the mouse, the harder it
is to be accurate.

Now, with your black background and white mouse, or white background
and black mouse, look closely at the desktop. Press the control key to
locate the mouse, or move it around to listen to what NVDA says. It
will tell you when you are getting close to icons. The higher and
louder the beep, the closer to an icon or window.

Using these tools, I was able to click and drag a window, choose a
colour from a color wheel, and click an inaccessible drop-down menu.
It wasn't easy, and it probably took me about 5 times as long as a
sighted person would take (maybe longer), but I did it, and thus many
previously inaccessible sites and features of programs are not
accessible to me, and they can be to you, too! Even if you don't have
any sight at all, NVDA's mouse features will allow you to, with a bit
of practice, manuever around the desktop and click inaccessible items
with your mouse!

I hope you find this helpful, and I'd love to hear how it goes for you
guys. If this is something that everyone except me already knew about,
sorry. I'm just so excited that I can use a mouse again after 2 years
(since I lost my sight), and I wanted to share with you guys.

Good luck and have funm,

-- 
~Jewel
Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com