[nfbcs] Using R with screen readers under Windows

[Godfrey, Jonathan]

Hello,

I've just been forwarded a couple of messages from this list and subscribed as a consequence.

While I might be known to some, I think it might help others to know who I am. I live in New Zealand and work as a lecturer in statistics at Massey University. At this point in time I know of only one other blind lecturer in stats (Theodor Loots in South Africa). I also know of some other blind people that teach statistics as part of their principal subject.

I use R almost every day and practically no other statistics software. I've written several articles that are open access that may be of interest. In 2014, Theodor and I wrote a software review in the Journal of Statistical software (volume 58) about the merits of the four most commonly used options in university settings. This covers R, SAS, SPSS, and Minitab.

In 2013, I wrote an article that appears in the R Journal about using R as a blind person. I noted the problem mentioned about the cursor locking up in the terminal window. A reader of that article (sighted) was playing with the terminal and a demo version of JAWS on his own PC when getting ready for teaching a blind student in early 2014. Quite by accident he muffed an Alt+Tab combination and hit the Alt key alone. He noticed that this seemed to return focus and get things back on track. I have tested this with several screen readers and operating systems (it never happened under XP by the way) and we then published an addendum to the first R Journal article in the middle of last year.

As part of my research work, I am developing tools that help novice blind users of R get to the things they need with as little pain as possible. The tools have ended up being so useful that I am using them for my own needs as well. The work is packaged and available via CRAN using the package name BrailleR (note the capitals at each end there).

I also maintain a set of web pages that are fully accessible for screen reader users (aside from the graphs of course) at
http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz
This has pages of how to do x,y, and z  that were originally developed for my sighted students but include some material on setting up R for blind users.
There's also a more thorough run down of my views on statistical software that expands on the JSS material.

Lastly, I've decided this week that I need a dedicated email list for my project and the people interested in knowing more about using R as a blind person. I think the messages on this list reinforce the need to do so. I can't monitor every list where such questions might arise, but the list might be more easily found by those in need.
Setting that up is on my to-do list for the coming week. Job #1 is finding a host (suggestions welcome).

OK, enough for now. It's Saturday here and there are physical jobs that need doing at weekends that are calling me.
Jonathan