[nabs-l] Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult situations

Thu Aug 27 19:59:35 UTC 2015

Carlos and all,

Some times an accessibility problem needs more than technology to solve it.

I have been at an online university in the past, and I believe we should not settle for spending so much extra time on getting accommodations that we lose focus on our actual assignments.

Let me suggest that you contact Tim Elder for issues related to online accessibility at college. He is a blind lawyer who has often worked on these cases.

He’s on the web at

www.trelegal.com <http://www.trelegal.com/>

or available by phone at 

410-415-3493.

As ever,

Antonio

> On Aug 24, 2015, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Montas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
> 
> Good evening Arielle I  appreciate you writing back to me.  I struggled with things like articles not being in the correct format so that I could read them. I am hoping that by using the new Jaws ocr utility that  this will no longer be an issue.   Another issue I had was the inability to participate with the various discussion boards on Blackboard. I attempted to use the Black-board tutorials but nothing seemed to work. As , mentioned before I have spent most of my time this summer testing the new system called Canvas.  I know that no system is perfect and that their are going to be challenges.   I just feel that because I work full time that I did not deal with these issues because I just got so frustrated  with them.  I feel that one of my issues is that I need to develop better problem solving skills  when it comes to technology issches that I might experience. Perhaps I am not able to communicate in writing as well. So please feel free to contact me off list.  Thanks again for writing in response to my questions.  
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Aug 23, 2015, at 6:23 PM, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Carlos. Your questions are fairly general so I'm not quite sure how
>> to advise. Could you maybe share a specific accessibility challenge
>> you've had and we could brainstorm some solutions? As far as time
>> management goes I think the best thing to think about is just how you
>> can break down your course assignments into manageable daily work
>> chunks, and then to designate a certain number of minutes each day to
>> work on those assignments (when you are not at your job). For example,
>> if you work 9-5, you might designate 6-8 p.m. each weekday and 1-5
>> p.m. each weekend day to working on school stuff. Then figure out how
>> much time you have to complete each assignment and divide that up into
>> daily allocations of work. For example if the class requires 40 pages
>> of reading and a quiz each week you might plan to do 5 pages of
>> reading each weeknight and the remaining 15 pages of reading on the
>> weekend and then take the quiz each Sunday afternoon. Another strategy
>> is to build an extra day into your schedule each week for "catch-up"
>> and use that time to meet with a reader and go over anything
>> inaccessible or just get caught up on work for that week. These are
>> just general guidelines so if you want to share more specific details
>> I may be able to help more.
>> Best, Arielle
>> 
>>> On 8/23/15, Carlos Montas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>>> Good afternoon I wanted to repost the following message because I wanted
>>> some more feedback on some of the questions that I've asked. Thank you so
>>> much and may you all have a wonderful start to the semester.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>> 
>>>> From: Carlos Montas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>>
>>>> Date: August 19, 2015 at 9:28:13 AM EDT
>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>>
>>>> Cc: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at att.net <mailto:carlos.montas at att.net>>
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult
>>>> situations
>>>> Reply-To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>>
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>> 
>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>> 
>>>>> From: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com <mailto:carlos.montas at gmail.com>>
>>>>> Date: August 19, 2015 at 9:24:00 AM EDT
>>>>> To: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at att.net <mailto:carlos.montas at att.net>>
>>>>> Subject: Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult situations
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>> 
>>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> From: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com <mailto:carlos.montas at gmail.com>>
>>>>>> Date: August 19, 2015 at 7:38:42 AM EDT
>>>>>> To: "nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>>
>>>>>> Subject: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult situations
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Good morning to all.  My name is Carlos Montas.  I have been a member of
>>>>>> this great organization for a long time now.  For those of you who do
>>>>>> not know I am a vocational rehabilitation counselor and I am also
>>>>>> pursuing my Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling through the online
>>>>>> program at the University of Kentucky.  I first started this process in
>>>>>> the fall of 2013.  However as my caseload grew, and I ,began to
>>>>>> experience accessability issues with blackboard and  the like I became
>>>>>> extremely frustrated. Now that I have been on the job for 4 years now I
>>>>>> have a better idea of what I am doing as a counselor.  My question is as
>>>>>> someone who is working full time and at the same time going to school
>>>>>> what kinds of suggestions would you give me as it relates to time
>>>>>> management and dealing with possible accessability issues? The
>>>>>> University of Kentucky has moved from Blackboard to a system called
>>>>>> Canvas.  I have spent this summer testing the system out with Jaws and
>>>>>> System Access as well as with my mac.  So far I have not had issues with
>>>>>> Canvas in the testing enviroment.  I withdrew and now I am going to
>>>>>> attempt to complete my Masters.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>>>>>> I start class next week and because of my past I find my self feeling
>>>>>> extremely nervous.  I know that working and going to school is
>>>>>> challenging but I know it can be done I guess the challenge will be for
>>>>>> me to put my past behind me.  thanks for reading this post.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
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