[nfbcs] Questions regarding JAWS and NVDA

[Nancy Coffman]

Hello,

I am curious how rehab agencies are deciding  when to purchase software maintenance agreements. Do they buy them with the software purchase? What is the policy when a user requests an SMA after theirs lapses?  I think this is a bigger concern than ever now that Windows updates often and automatically.

Thank you for your thoughts. 

Nancy Coffman

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 10, 2018, at 10:20 AM, Curtis Chong via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Greetings:
> 
> Speaking first as a rehabilitation professional who trains blind people to
> use access technology, I will say that in the training environment, we would
> teach JAWS and not NVDA. While NVDA has the advantage of being available at
> no cost, it has a major disadvantage of not providing over-the-phone
> technical support which is free to the end user. So, in terms of what the
> field of work with the blind needs to do, it must continue teaching JAWS and
> making it available to rehabilitation clients. Also, in the workplace, there
> are many things that JAWS can do which NVDA cannot-not the least of which is
> the ability for scripts to be developed to support those pesky applications
> which would otherwise not work for a person who is blind.
> 
> Speaking as a blind consumer advocate, I am intrigued by the growing
> popularity of NVDA as a viable screen reader for individuals who have no
> funding sources upon which to draw. In a growing number of instances
> (consider the integration of the screen reader with the latest version of
> Mozilla Firefox), NVDA out-performs JAWS in terms of its ability to work
> with Mozilla Firefox, thus causing people to wonder why they should spend
> the money to pay for JAWS and keep service maintenance agreements current.
> Yes, NVDA's default voice is not favored by some people, but you can get
> some really terrific voices from Code Factory for NVDA for around $70 US.
> 
> In terms of NVDA's use in the workplace, I suspect that in other countries,
> it can be found in more employment situations than in the United States.
> 
> Having said all of that, I would be the first consumer to jump up in protest
> if our rehabilitation agencies refused to buy JAWS for their clients simply
> because NVDA was available for free.
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Curtis Chong
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jim Portillo via nfbcs
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:05 AM
> To: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
> Cc: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nfbcs] Questions regarding JAWS and NVDA
> 
> Good morning,
> 
> I have a couple of questions regarding both the differences and uses of JAWS
> and NVDA.
> 
> 
> First of all, does anyone know if NVDA is used much in a work place or even
> school (such as college) environment?  Is JAWS still considered to be the
> leading screen reader for blind PC users?
> 
> Finally, in training environments, such as training centers or personal
> computer training, which screen reader seems to be preferred these days?
> 
> 
> I'm working with someone right now who has NVDA on his computer but who
> would like to learn JAWS because of its wider use in school and work
> environments. This is why I thought it would be good to ask.
> 
> Thanks much.
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
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