[NFBMO] Another fantastic article from the Monitor

[Gary Wunder]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Brett Boyer]

Screen Readers and Street Smarts: How Travel Taught Me Tech

by Brett Boyer

 

>From the Editor: Brett Boyer has been a Federationist since childhood and a
technology instructor at the Colorado Center for the Blind for seven years.
The following article is adapted from remarks he presented at a breakout
session of the Contemporary Issues in Rehabilitation and Education of the
Blind Conference held by the National Blindness Professional Certification
Board as part of the National Convention, and also at the meeting of the
Technology Trainers Division, which he serves as the new president, that
took place later in the week. He emphasizes that Structured Discovery is
more than a way of teaching cane travel and explains how it can be applied
to teaching the use of a screen reader. Here is what he had to say:

 

Before we jump in, let me tell you a little about who I am-because this
isn't just something I teach. It's something I live.

 

I was born blind and grew up in a mainstream school in New Jersey. My first
O&M instructor was Joe Cutter-before he became a Structured Discovery
advocate. So in 1985, what I got was route-based travel: memorized steps,
buzzwords like "square off" and "outdoor technique," fixed directions, and
not much room for creative problem-solving. I was a pretty precocious kid,
which thankfully meant I must've been an explorer at heart. I was definitely
the kind of kid who'd run full speed into the unknown without a cane,
without permission, and definitely without a backup plan. I wasn't asking,
"Will I be okay?" I was asking, "What's the worst that could happen?"
Spoiler: sometimes, it was a chain-link fence. I used to rollerblade around
my quiet little street, totally blind, just vibes-and regularly upsetting
the neighbors. So yeah, I guess I was wired for Structured Discovery before
I had a name for it. Because when I came to the Colorado Center for the
Blind for the first time as a summer student, something clicked. Structured
Discovery just made sense. I didn't need anyone to define it-I just knew it
matched how I wanted to move through the world.

 

When I came back later as an adult student, my travel instructor was Eric
Woods-a tough, no-nonsense Structured Discovery guy from the street. He
didn't sugarcoat anything, but he trusted me to figure things out. And that
trust? It changed everything.

 

Now I get to work at an NFB center where Structured Discovery is everywhere
you look. It's how we teach, how we learn, how we live. And I know that's a
privilege-not every trainer is in that kind of environment. A lot of folks
are still fighting for Structured Discovery to be taken seriously in all
aspects of blindness training, but especially when it comes to technology
instruction. I know teaching tech is not the most popular subject. I don't
know how many of you here are tech trainers or thinking about becoming one.
But even if you're not, I hope this talk sparks something. Because once you
start seeing the connections between cane travel and tech, you can't unsee
them.

 

Let me paint a picture. A student nails every step of a JAWS lesson-opens
the file perfectly, finds the edit box, uses Tab like a pro. Everything's
smooth. But then File Explorer crashes. Or the webpage doesn't load right.
And suddenly, they freeze. That's not a tech problem. That's a teaching
problem. We trained them to follow a route instead of learning to read the
map.

 

But if you've ever taught cane travel using Structured Discovery, then you
already know the answer. We don't need students who can just get through the
lesson. We need students who can recover, who can explore, who can say: "I
don't know what this is... but I can figure it out." It's time we stop
treating technology like a list of commands and start teaching it like we
teach travel.

 

Structured Discovery changed how we teach cane travel. We stopped handing
out memorized routes and started asking: "How would you find it? What do you
notice?" We taught concepts: how to judge traffic, how to listen critically,
and how to troubleshoot when the environment throws you something weird. But
when it comes to tech, too many trainers are still stuck in route mode:
Press Insert+F7. Press Alt. Press Right Arrow three times, then press Down
Arrow. Then press Control+Right Arrow. Tab four times. Check the checkbox.
Say a prayer. Hope nothing changes. That's not independence. That's just
screen-reader Simon Says-with bonus anxiety.

 

Day one of tech class, I teach something simple: Insert+T-title of the
window. If you don't know where you are, how can you know what to do? Just
like in cane travel, orientation comes before problem-solving.

 

In screen-reader terms, orientation means listening for landmarks: "cccEdit
box," "button," "menu," "combo box," "list view." These are the street
corners of tech. When a student hears "edit box," they should already be
thinking: "Is this a place I can type? Is it multi-line? What happens if I
arrow down?" You don't need a script. You need a question and the guts to
follow it.

Here's what I don't care about: whether they remember Control+W. Here's what
I do care about: If they accidentally close a tab, do they know what just
happened? Can they back out? Reopen it? Move forward?

 

One example I use in class: Windows File Explorer just closes randomly. No
warning. Just poof. Most people panic. But my students? They stop. They
check the open windows to see if the screen reader just lost focus. File
Explorer's gone? Okay. Think. Hit Windows+E. Get back in. No drama. Why?
Because we practiced how to respond to the unknown. That's the skill that
matters. That's what gets them through a college exam, a broken app update,
or an inaccessible job portal. Just like when there's a sign on the sidewalk
or a truck parked halfway across the curb. Do we tell our students to go
home and try again tomorrow? Seriously-do we?

 

I've seen tech training turn blind students into obedient robots. Press
this. Then this. Then this. Don't explore. Don't experiment. Just memorize.
That's not teaching. That's programming.

 

I've also seen trainers back off when things get hard. "This is too
advanced," they say. "Let's keep it simple." Let me be blunt: That's not
kindness. That's sabotage. Independence is not born from safety. I want to
say that one more time: Independence is not born from safety. It's born from
struggle; from exploration; from trying, failing, and trying again. If I'm
walking through a foyer and I find a long table in my way, do I stop and
wait for someone to tell me it's okay? Do I stand there and hope the table
magically moves out of the way? I don't know about you, but I go around the
sucker. I mean, I could try to go over it or under it, but that might get
real interesting real fast.

 

Structured Discovery isn't about making life harder-though I've had plenty
of students who might argue otherwise. It's about building confidence, that
inner voice that says: "I don't know this, but I can figure it out." That's
what cane travel teaches. That's what tech should teach too. 

 

When a student says, "Can I try something?" instead of "What do I
do?"-That's when I know I've done my job. When they start talking to the
screen reader like it's a teammate-saying things like "Okay, let's figure
this out"-that's when I know they're not just using tech. They're owning it.
That's when I see real growth.

 

If you're teaching technology-whether full-time or just as part of your
rehab work-you're not just handing out commands. You're teaching mindset.
You're not teaching "press Alt." You're teaching: "Listen for a menu."
You're not teaching "Tab three times." You're teaching: "Look for your
landmark." You're not just building skills. You're building courage.

So here's my challenge to you: Stop asking, "Did they memorize the
shortcut?" Start asking, "What will they do when nothing looks familiar?"
Because that's where independence starts. That's when we stop training
followers . and start building explorers. Thank you.

 

 

Gary Wunder

gwunder at earthlink.net

 

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