[NFBCS] Some Access Questions for Intro CS Class

Tue Aug 4 20:06:24 UTC 2020

Hi Natalie, all,

Natalie, I am a fairly new Python programmer so please take what I say here with a grain of salt. 😊
There are many programmer experts here, so hopefully they can correct me if anything I've said here is incorrect. The below is from my own experience.

I have PyCharm on my computer, the documentation has settings for JAWS in its documentation. If memory serves, you need to change one of the variables in one of the text based configuration files to make it work with JAWS. PyCharm is a Java based program.

Second, sometimes we have no choice and have to use whatever application helps us complete our tasks in an accessible manner. However, my advice would be to look into whether the programs your professor and colleagues are using, go to their web sites if you haven't already and see if they have accessibility information in their knowledge bases or manuals. I have to take various courses at work and for professional development and it's sometimes difficult when I'm using one software application  and everyone else is using something else entirely. If you're stuck trying to teach yourself how to use a new program while everyone else is using the same tool, that might cause a problem during classroom assignments. However, if you find a program that works for you that you can accomplish tasks in a timely manner, by all means use it. Every situation is different. 😊

I've heard that Visual Studio Code is accessible for Python, though I've never used it myself. Notepad++ is usable, though you will need to make sure you have a way to check that your text is properly indented, I use a Braille display, Jaws place markers, and NVDA. The latter has some configuration settings to tell you when you haven't indented your code properly.

Please email me privately if I can help further.

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Timothy Breitenfeldt via NFBCS
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 3:43 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Timothy Breitenfeldt <timothyjb310 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Some Access Questions for Intro CS Class

Hi Natalie, I use python all the time.
I am not personally sure about PyCharm, I think I remember looking at it and it not being very accessible or accessible at all, but not sure on that one.
Github is great, I would recommend downloading the git client here:

https://git-scm.com/downloads

There are other ways of using Github, but the git command line interface is my preference. Don't get sucked into using the github web interface, it is a pane, and most people don't touch it much except for grabbing links to clone or pull requests.

At this point, not sure what platform you are on, weather windows, mac, or linux, and the screen reader you are using, however, assuming windows, yes the python repl is great.
I personally use NVDA on Windows, but either way, if on windows, you can either change the NVDA cursor or JAWS cursor to read the window. I can give more detail on either depending on which you are using.
An alternative, there is a great command prompt keyboard shortcut in windows 10, control plus m, which turns on mark mode. This allows you to press up and down arrow through your command prompt window output without changing the screenreader cursor. You can also use your usual selection commands to select text and copy it from the window. Press escape to get out of mark mode.

Web pages is pretty ambiguous, but screen readers are designed to handle the reading of web pages, assuming that the web developer did not do anything crazy,and forget about accessibility.

I tend to use ED Sharp for writing python code, and running in the command line, you won't get things like auto complete and other fancy things that a standard development environment will give you, but ED Sharp was created for screen readers, and handles indentation great, which is very important for python as you will eventually see.

Here is the ED Sharp download page:

https://github.com/EmpowermentZone/EdSharp

This is a windows only code editor, so if you are using a mac, you will have to look into something else. I don't have a lot of experience using a Mac, but some.

Hope this helps,

Timothy Breitenfeldt

On 8/4/20, Natalie via NFBCS <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello:
>
> I'm new to the list and apologize if these issues have been explored 
> before.
>
>
>
> I will be taking a university intro CS class this fall and have been 
> in contact with the professor around what platforms will be used to 
> troubleshoot accessibility. Below is a list of some programs I was 
> hoping to gather info about.
>
>
>
> *	PyCharm, a tool for writing Python code
> *	GitHub, a widely used code hosting platform where students store
> their code
> *	Repl.it, provides a way to embed live code samples into the course
> web pages
>
>
>
> Does anyone know if the above are screen reader accessible and if not, 
> do you know of any good alternatives?
>
>
>
> I tried a quick test of repl.it and was able to see the code, but 
> could not seem to access the output.
>
>
>
> Any info is appreciated. Thanks!
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Natalie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 

Timothy Breitenfeldt

Phone: 509-388-7262

Skype: timothyjb310 at outlook.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybreitenfeldt/

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