[nabs-l] accessibility of ebsco databases

Wed Jan 14 20:10:09 UTC 2015

I just select the pdf and hit alt s, or tab over  to save.  Opening them and
using them is a different story, but saving them is not a problem.
Sometimes, 
They are very "not user friendly".   Try robo braille if you can; you can
send files there and it will make them accessible.  If I have completely
missed the boat on this thread, and not helped you, then I apologize. 
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Antonio
Guimaraes via nabs-l
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 3:05 PM
To: Ashley Bramlett; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] accessibility of ebsco databases

Ashley,

I'm not sure which databases are giving me this trouble, or even what
journals do this,

My main issue is that sometimes it can take 30 minutes to do what a sighted
person could do it for. For instants, saving a PDF file is extremely
frustrating for me as a blind user.

I am a savvy computer user, and I am discouraged from doing research because
of this.

It is painstakingly difficult to do certain things. It should not be so,
especially in this day and age.

 I would be willing to unite forces with people to make recommendations..

 It takes anywhere from implementation with Cloud services like dropbox, to
making a really good, accessible app for saving these files. No reason not
to do it in 2015.

Antonio

On Jan 14, 2015, at 2:11 PM, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hello Bridgit,
> Glad your shared becausebecaus e its comforting to know I'm not alone.
> Accessing my folder and its contents is a challenge. What I do is email
everything in my folder to myself.
> Then, I save them. Then, I either scan them or have to use an old
fashioned reader.
> I can find the edit boxes by pressing tab. But the combo boxes are not 
> working.
> 
> I can help you with the  search limiters. I am able to  check boxes to
limit it to peer reviewed and full text.
> If you use jaws this works.
> I would imagine window eyes uses the same commands or similar ones.
> 
> Here is  the procedure.
> 1. After you type in your search terms, find the phrase, Limit your
results.
> Its near the bottom. You can find this by pressing the find command which
is control F.
> Type in Limit. After exiting  the find box, your screen reader should 
> be there.
> Then go line by line to see what you wish to select.
> 
> 2. If you are not familiar with the limiters, go line by line to explore
options first.
> Press down arrow to do this.
> If jaws is stuck in an edit box, press escape to get out. Jaws says "list
of 13 items" as I begin this.
> Here in the limiters are your options to limit to full text,  peer
reviewed, certain dates, etc.
> 
> 3. Then go back to the top of the limit results list.
> Press letter x to go line by line. X is the hot key to jump to check
boxes.
> 4. Press space when you hear your screen reader say full text or scholarly
article, or whatever you need to check.
> This checks the boxes.
> 
> 5. Find the search button to start searching. That is very hard to find.
> Still, I may sound expert, but really I struggle due to accessibility.
> A librarian worked with me one on one to help navigate it and tell me what
search limiters to put in place for best results. That is how I know what
the phrase is to limit your results.
> 
> I do not know how helpful your librarians are, but if you can, I 
> suggest getting an appointment with one of them because not only will you
do searches with them, but they will suggest sources that are a good fit for
your assignment.
> I know not all schools have one on one meetings, but its worth asking for.
Also, if I could not do something do to access, the librarian would use the
mouse to help me out.
> 
> HTH,
> Ashley
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Bridget Walker
> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 1:25 PM
> To: Ashley Bramlett ; National Association of Blind Students mailing 
> list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] accessibility of ebsco databases
> 
> Hi Ashley,
> I go to college in New York. I have a problem finding the check boxes that
say "full text" "peer reviewed" I can usually get to the edit fields ok. I
have a difficult time accessing the articles I have selected in my folder. I
can get to my folder and go through the list but, like you said, the PDFS
documents do not work. I have been tore lying on iBooks but, when I'm in the
middle of a paper siting on the computer gets difficult because I can't copy
any correct spellings easily.
> I hope this helps.
> Bridget
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Jan 14, 27 Heisei, at 12:51 PM, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> As I conduct research at the library, I run into access issues with many
databases.
>> Not only are the pdf files hard to read with the full articles in them,
but searching poses problems with jaws. When trying advanced searching, I
cannot change the combo boxes from the default And to say "or".
>> 
>> Has anyone had issues with ebsco databases? If so which ones?
>> Another challenge is finding the search button.
>> 
>> The head of the library at Northern virginia community college, called
nova for short, where I'm taking electives, is going to send EBSCo a note
about access. But it would be helpful to know other problems.
>> 
>> If you are a student in a Virginia college and experience database
problems, please also write me off list. Maybe we can have a conference call
on this.
>> I'd like to hear from other students in Virginia schools so we can write
jointly to Ebsco and tell them the problems and request they fix them.
>> The same goes for other databases.
>> 
>> When I asked about research a few  months back, some of you mentioned
accessible databases which you used, but for every accessible database, I
would guess there are 3 that are semi accessible.
>> 
>> Thanks.
>> 
>> Ashley
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