[NABS-L] College computer concepts course

[Steve Jacobson]

Terri,

I have not taken a class like this in a while and can't say much about what you should expect from your Disability Services Office.  However, since I have had to take training courses where I've had to sort through similar issues, I have a couple of things to offer that might be helpful.

Probably the biggest issue that you will face if you have not already had to face it, is that such courses are usually very dependent upon using the mouse to carry out actions.  It is likely that this is not going to be effective for you.  Much of what can be done on a Windows or Apple computer can be done using a keyboard, but the level of knowledge of using the keyboard to perform actions instead of a mouse may not be there with your professor or by your DSS office.  Whether this is right or wrong is not really the question, it simply is likely the case and we have to find ways around that to succeed.

So much of how you approach this is dependent upon your individual characteristics that it is hard to know what will be most effective.  One extreme approach, which I have used in the past, is to try to learn everything you can from such a course without regard to accessibility.  This would mean you would need a "reader" to describe screens to you and to do the mouse clicking so you can learn the concepts as they are taught to everybody else.  This actually works better than you might think because there are concepts that will be taught that are not dependent upon the mouse.  If you learn how others are dealing with the course, later you can take the time to find out how to more accessibly carry out the same tasks.  In addition, you will be able to concentrate on finding accessible ways of doing the particular things you actually want or need to do, rather than trying to find ways of doing everything accessibly even though some of it you may never use again.  This approach may not feel right, but it actually can work.

A less extreme approach would be to get a syllabus or schedule of what will be covered when in your class.  This would allow you or your Disability Service office to get a list of keyboard shortcuts for the particular software that you could study before you have to deal with it in your course.  Microsoft has many lists of keyboard shortcuts and equivalents on their website as does Apple.  The problem with this approach is that you may not understand what some of these keyboard shortcuts do until the equivalent topic is covered in your class.  This also means extra work and study on your part.  Also, by sharing the list, some of us may be able to help you anticipate software that is not very accessible so you can work around that to get through this course.

Part of this process will also have to be for you to learn more about the assistive technology that you are using.  If, for example, you have not used a computer before but have used a note-taking device, you will have to figure out if you are going to use a screen reader and which screen reader.  There are some functions within a screen reader that won't be known at all by your professor that can help you.  For example, JAWS for Windows has some ability to analyze Microsoft Word formatting which can help you find problems of which you might not be aware.

Finally, as you start to learn how all this works, you will find that you will be able to guess at ways certain mouse functions can be done on the keyboard.  In addition, asking occasional questions of other students, those you may know or those on this list, might give you quick answers that will get you past problem points.

I hope some of this is helpful.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Terri Stimmel via NABS-L
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2024 6:01 AM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Terri Stimmel <icecreamlover76 at outlook.com>
Subject: [NABS-L] College computer concepts course

Hello everyone,


As I have mentioned here before, I am attending a local, community college in my area. I don't believe that they have worked with too many blind people. Although, they do work with people who have different disabilities. I get the feeling though, that a lot of the people they work with, have such disabilities as, autism, and things of that nature.


Anyway, I am currently taking a computer concepts course. It is a basic course, from what I understand. It will cover such things as, Microsoft Word, and all of those products. As well as maybe a couple of other things. But it isn't anything too crazy! This is a course that I have to take. It is one of the requirements.


So what I was wondering is, is there anyone here who has dealt with this sort of class, in the last few years, or so?

How did you get through this class?

What were some things that needed to be done? Either, things that you needed from the professor? Or, things that the disability services office needed to do?


I have a pretty decent professor. He wants to make this class work for me. And, he is even trying to help me, a little before class.

Also, I am able to use my own laptop. They are not having me use one of the computers in the classroom. We use Canvas, quite regularly, to upload our assignments. That is the easy part.


I am really struggling with this class. I don't know how to perform a lot of the tasks that he is asking of us. And, he doesn't know what to do, either. I have been trying to research things, and find the answers.
That way, we can both learn together.


However, trying to do this, while managing my other three classes, is turning out to be rather difficult. And of course, the disability services office, does not have too many answers. Which really doesn't surprise me, because they do not have the experience.


Any thoughts, and advice on all of this, would be very much appreciated!


Thank you,


Terri


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