[nabs-l] academic library access

Wed Jan 13 05:39:13 UTC 2016

Hi,
I agree with Kaiti in the importance of a pc on campus in a public place 
like the library for access.
It is required by the ADA for accomodations. Also, if your own equipment 
breaks down, it’s a backup, and its nice to have the option of the college 
pc like veryone else.
If you are the first blind student, they can and should have ordered jaws or 
another screen reader and installed it on the compters where students go 
such as the library, computer lab, and tutoring center.
So, if you want it for you or other students after you, I encourage you to 
make that request to your school.

I think they should purchase a screen reader, but at the least, they can put 
NVDA on it.

Good luck,
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 8:42 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] academic library access

Hi, Kennedy,

I just within the past year learned that the library at my college had
a computer with jaws on it.  Apparently the DS office forgot to tell
me where it was, but it had been there all along in compliance with
ADA regulations, and it was nice to have it when my computer was
completely down for the count.  It might be worth talking to your
disability coordinator about.  I'm not sure how far along you are in
your education there, but unless you're close to finishing up having
the conversation about computer access options might not be a bad
idea.

It should be noted that, at the very least, they should put NVDA or
something on a computer and keep it there.  NVDA is free and you can
get an eloquence driver for it.  I believe that Window Eyes, which is
also free, has a Jaws imitation mode.  There shouldn't be any excuse
for them to do nothing.  Hopefully, if you choose to have the
conversation, it would be a productive brainstorming session about a
detail they just somehow overlooked, and even if it takes a while to
implement it might be there for the next blind student who might want
to study at your university.

I'd be interested to find out from the other blind student I know of
on my campus if they also have zoom text on that library for her since
she does not use braille proficiently yet, but it could be useful to
explore what universities are required to load onto library computers
in ADA compliance.

On 1/12/16, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Carly,
>
> No one was "fixating" on anything.  Ashley was asking for suggestions
> and several of us were throwing out what we do to accomplish the
> things she asked about.  No one said using human readers was not an
> option, but having access to the actual article itself in some
> electronic form has its benefits, and for some students scheduling
> every little research session out with a human reader would be a huge
> undertaking and burden to the task at hand.  No one was saying
> technology is the only way to go, but it certainly has benefits and
> makes things easier, which was precisely what it is supposed to do if
> I'm not mistaken.  If you prefer to use human readers over technology
> then that is your choice, and everyone has the right to like what
> suits them best.
>
> On 1/12/16, Carly Mihalakis via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Afternoon, "STOMBERG,
>>   Seems, you are fixating on a single strand of
>> the idea of accessing the illusive printed word
>> and fixating on it, regarding it as inherently
>> prohibitive, the fact seems to be that yes, with
>> enough hammering out, two people can find
>> schedules that give. However, if your technpology
>> chooses not to be functional for what you need to
>> get done, your hands are as good as tied, getting
>> work done remaining a pipedream. This is to say,
>> use everything you have at your disposal, nothing
>> works all the time for every scenario! Perhaps,
>> Remaining open and  flexible might be a key to your success, don['t ya
>> think?
>> Car57 PM 1/12/2016, STOMBERG, KENNEDY via nabs-l wrote:
>>>Kaiti, You bring up a very good point! I am
>>>the  only blind student at my college, and the
>>>first blind student there in twenty years, not
>>>to mention the firststudent who relies comletely
>>>on Braille. As a result, my campus has no
>>>computers with JAWS or other screen readers,
>>>asside from my own personal laptop. This means
>>>that if something happened with my technology, I
>>>would have to rely solely on a human reader.
>>>However, I do try to avoid human readers if I
>>>can, that way I am only bound by my own
>>>schedule. On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 11:41 AM,
>>>Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l < nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>wrote: > Hi, Carly and all, > > Of course the
>>>choice to use technology or work with another
>>>person is > a personal choice, but in my
>>>experience technology works a good 80% of > the
>>>time at least (in that 20% I'm counting when PDF
>>>files from the > library are not innately
>>>accessible).  IN that case, what I do as >
>>>stated before is get human intervention in the
>>>form of my disability > services converting the
>>>files to a readable format for my >
>>>computer/notetaker.  That's what they're there
>>>for, after all. > > I have used readers before,
>>>but I think I'd dread using them on > something
>>>as extensive as a research project where
>>>multiple, long > articles or books need to be
>>>read.  It is essential, I think, to have > a
>>>copy of the printed material at your disposal so
>>>you can see how > statements are punctuated and
>>>how exactly the author worded them when > citing
>>>in your paper.  It also allows for you to draw
>>>your own > conclusions without some other person
>>>unintentionally adding their > interpretation
>>>into their reading or screwing up the reading
>>>because > they're not familiar with the subject
>>>you are studying. > > Lastly, I usually avoid
>>>readers because I hate the idea of being >
>>>beholden to someone else's schedule to get my
>>>work done.  I'm not > above asking for help and
>>>have used readers in the past for short >
>>>projects, but to do something like extensive
>>>research reading like a > thesis or senior
>>>capstone project like I did last semester would
>>>be > crazy.  I worked on it whenever I had free
>>>time because the project > was so large,
>>>including late at night and over the weekends
>>>when a > human reader probably wouldn't have
>>>been available because of their > own life
>>>commitments. > > Also, even in cases when
>>>personal technology goes down, there should > be
>>>a few different places one could go to have
>>>computer access. > Colleges are supposed to be
>>>required by ADA law to have an accessible >
>>>computer in a library for public accommodation,
>>>and if not I've used a > computer in the testing
>>>center before when nothing else was working. >
>>>Think about it; if a sighted student's laptop
>>>went down they'd have > plenty of other
>>>computers to use to get their work done, so as
>>>blind > students if our work goes down having
>>>access to a computer at least > somewhere on
>>>campus is a reasonable accommodation. > > > On
>>>1/11/16, Carly Mihalakis via nabs-l
>>><nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote: > > Good morning,
>>>everyone, > > > > What about when tech doesn't
>>>work? At least when > > a reader is humanoid,
>>>you are likely to get work done. > > CarAt 03:46
>>>PM 1/9/2016, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l
>>>wrote: > >>Hello Kennedy, Glad you shared your
>>>thoughts. I > >>guess we just have to do what we
>>>can do and get > >>help with human readers.
>>>Readers are great when > >>they work well and
>>>are dependable, but I've had > >>many unreliable
>>>readers. I am glad someone gets > >>the
>>>frustration with ebsco databases. They
>>>are > >>terrible. What I learned from a good
>>>librarian > >>though Ii s something that saves
>>>me so much > >>time. Before, I did the same
>>>search in several > >>ebsco databases. This
>>>librarian showed me how to > >>search all ebsco
>>>databases at once, or you can > >>pick which
>>>databases you desire to search by > >>checking
>>>the boxes. So, once you pick the > >>databases
>>>you want, you press a button and it > >>sets it
>>>to that search. Then I limit it to > >>certain
>>>types of articles so I do not get > >>hundreds
>>>of book reviews. It works great, and I > >>wish
>>>I had known that before. I suggest that
>>>if > >>you need many ebsco databases that you
>>>have a > >>librarian show you this trick. Press
>>>B to get to > >>the buttons. My experience is
>>>also that some > >>librarians are great, and
>>>some are not. Yeah, a > >>mixed bag of good and
>>>bvad ones. It takes more > >>skills and patience
>>>to describe what they are > >>doing, and some do
>>>not have it. They typically > >>show students
>>>what they are doing on the screen, > >>and since
>>>I cannot see the screen, they have
>>>to > >>verbalize it. I was researching Queen
>>>victoria, > >>and needed biographical info not
>>>online through > >>databases. So, I used
>>>readers. I got an > >>extension on the project
>>>as I needed more time > >>as my readers took
>>>longer to find the info and > >>they cancelled
>>>sometimes on me. Well, we pretty > >>have much
>>>the same experiences. Man, if I ever > >>have
>>>free time and find an ebsco contact
>>>for > >>accessibility, I'll write to them.
>>>Ashley > >>-----Original Message----- From:
>>>STOMBERG, > >>KENNEDY via nabs-l Sent: Saturday,
>>>January 09, > >>2016 5:28 PM To: National
>>>Association of Blind > >>Students mailing list
>>>Cc: STOMBERG, KENNEDY > >>Subject: Re: [nabs-l]
>>>academic library access > >>Ashley, It honestly
>>>depends on the type of > >>research you are
>>>doing. You are so right about > >>the Ebsco
>>>databases, though. They are a > >>nightmare! If
>>>you're looking for scinitific > >>journal
>>>articles, I find that Google Scholar is > >>very
>>>accessable. Bookshare or Learning Allz > >>might
>>>also be an option, if they have the
>>>books > >>you need. I have had both good and
>>>bad > >>experiences with librarians. And I
>>>deffinitely > >>agree that it's frustrating to
>>>still need > >>readers in this day and age! It's
>>>kind of > >>redicubous! Good luck with your
>>>classes this > >>semester! Kennedy Stomberg On
>>>Sat, Jan 9, 2016 > >>at 3:47 PM, Vejas
>>>Vasiliauskas via nabs-l < > >>nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>wrote: > Hi, > If you have a > >>Bookshare
>>>account, you could try looking for
>>>the > >>book > there.  If you're working on a
>>>research > >>paper of some kind, Bookshare >
>>>usually has some > >>good books on the topic
>>>you're researching. > I > >>never used the
>>>databases in high school; do you > >>find using
>>>them helpful? > Vejas > > > > ----- > >>Original
>>>Message ----- > From: Ashley Bramlett > >>via
>>>nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org > To:
>>>"National > >>Association of Blind Students
>>>mailing list" < > > >>nabs-l at nfbnet.org > Date
>>>sent: Sat, 9 Jan 2016 > >>16:22:05 -0500 >
>>>Subject: [nabs-l] academic > >>library
>>>access > > Hi all, > > IÃ¢€™d like to > >>hear
>>>ar about the level of support
>>>and > >>accessibility of your > library and
>>>the > >>resources it has. > IÃ¢€™ve writritten
>>>about my > >>struggles before.  The gist is that
>>>many > >>library > databases have access
>>>issues.  The > >>ebsco ones are the worst.  Its
>>>hard to > open > >>the pull down list of
>>>options, but I think I > >>finally did open
>>>them > with spacebar.  I find > >>that databases
>>>run through Oxford and proquest > >>are >
>>>generally user friendly
>>>and > >>accessible.  Jstor is fairly decent, but
>>>seems > > >>like most articles are image pdfs or
>>>display on > >>the screen as images.  I > kept
>>>wondering why > >>jaws was saying graphic and
>>>the next line said > >>page 1 > of > 5 or
>>>however many pages it was; > >>then it occurred
>>>to me that the text must > be > >>an image; so I
>>>found the pdf link to download > >>it. > The pdf
>>>was an image too, so I had to > >>convert
>>>it. > > Generally, when I was in
>>>the > >>university setting, I got support from
>>>the > > >>reference desk.  They retrieved books
>>>for me and > >>other students had to > find >
>>>them by call > >>number.  I got pretty much the
>>>same support as > >>other > students.  I was on
>>>my own with access > >>barriers.  Sometimes, I
>>>was able to > get a > >>library assistant to sit
>>>down with me and look > >>at the database and >
>>>then email me relevant > >>articles.  This
>>>worked much faster than > >>jaws. > > Now, to
>>>learn more, IÃ¢€™m taking > >>classes at at
>>>Northern virginia community > > >>college, nova,
>>>while looking for work. > > Many > >>Nova
>>>reference staff are great and in fact go > >>the
>>>extra mile.  They > explain well how
>>>to > >>search databases.  Others seem to
>>>struggle how > >>to > verbalize
>>>things.  Normally, they demo the > >>task and
>>>have the information > seeker watch > >>what
>>>they are
>>>doing > > > >>___________________________________
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>>> > >> > >></x-flowed> > > > > > > > >
>>>_______________________________________________ >
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>>> > > > > > -- > Kaiti Shelton > University of
>>>Dayton-Music Therapy > President, Ohio
>>>Association of Blind Students 2013-Present >
>>>Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind
>>>Performing Arts > Division 2015-2016 > > "You
>>>can live the life you want; blindness is not
>>>what holds you back!" > >
>>>_______________________________________________ >
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>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Kaiti Shelton
> University of Dayton-Music Therapy
> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
> Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
> Division 2015-2016
>
> "You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"
>

-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
Division 2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"

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