[stylist] Magnification and screenreaders

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Jackie,

Beating dead horses seems what we seem to do best around here, grin.

FYI, first, especially for those in training or thinking about it, your
rehab agency should provide you with the opportunity to work with
whatever computer program you want. As a consumer, you have the right to
request to view and play with various screenreaders and magnification
programs, and they should not be able to deny you the program you decide
upon regardless of their personal inclinations.

I know written communication can sometimes be confusing in terms of
presentation and meaning, so I want to say up-front that this is not a
judgment on anyone or meant to be personal; despite what some think, I
tend to go into situations with an open mind, and especially where
blindness is concerned, I know, and accept, we all have our particular
ways of doing things. I prefer one way, and you may prefer another, and
this is okay. The only thing I ever care about is efficiency and
challenging one another to truly try.

Having said all that, I now say this, smile.

Keeping in mind that my background initially was as a fully sighted
person for 22 years, then experiencing partial vision for a time before
losing most of that vision, I wish to pose a question. Regardless of the
level of "useable" vision anyone has, if it does not allow one to read
print well even with magnification, does not it fit one's best interest
to just learn and use a screenreader, whether it be JAWS, Window Eyes or
something else?

In my own personal experience, observations and opinion, a screenreader
is useable by anyone- fully sighted, partially sighted or no longer able
to use vision at all. Instead of struggling to find the right
magnification program, and then still dealing with not being able to use
it all of the time, or use that sight well, does not it seem to make
more sense to use a screenreader only?

For my husband and I, switching to JAWS only allowed us greater
efficiency and speed when using a computer. We no longer strained what
vision we had (or have, in Ross's case, grin) we were not slowed by the
process of double checking what we just read or wrote; we didn't have to
bother with switching between magnification and text-to-speech. It just
made life easier.

Yes, we have to learn how to operate and manipulate screenreading
programs, but like most things in life, the more you use and practice
something, usually the better we become.

As I often say, if technology or science develops a "cure" for my
blindness, and I choose to do it, I think I would continue to use JAWS
at times just because, even if fully sighted, vision can be distracting
especially when roaming the internet. This is why society finds it
difficult to believe that a person could live with few limitations when
blind because we live in such a visually oriented society. We have
constant visual distractions that lead most to believe life just
wouldn't be livable without that sight.

So for those unsure of what magnification program to use, and those
finding it still not reliable and/or tedious when using vision, why not
just use a screenreading program? And if you have to switch between the
two already, again, why not just use the screenreader? Use sight to view
pictures or graphics, if possible, but when it comes to reading and
writing, it seems simpler to just use a screenreader. And once again, I
also speak from personal experience.

So there it is. I have nothing against magnification, and if still
possible, of course I would use my vision when convenient, but it seems
to make more sense, and seems easier, to rely on a screenreader for
reading and writing, regardless of length. I mean, if you're legally
blind, there's a reason you are diagnosed as so, and I see no reason to
not use nonvisual tools in order to not strain vision and find more
efficiency when working on a computer. When I switched to JAWS only, I
feel like things opened up for me, and I found myself able to work
longer and quicker, not to mention more efficiently most of the time,
when on the computer.

While re-reading this before sending, I realized how many times I
switched POV, but I'm too lazy today to fix it, LOL!

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:42 -0700
From: "Jacqueline Williams" <jackieleepoet at cox.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Zoom Text comes from AISquared RE: Does anyone
	use	MAGIC or have experience with it?
Message-ID: <B4EB243266304F028F408FDEC167AED0 at JackiLeePoet>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

Robert and all,
I might as well join in on beating a dead horse.
When I went to the Tucson Center for Blind Veterans, I was given lessons
in JAWS and Zoomtext. They recommended this highly and did not teach
Magic. 
When I returned to Mesa, and was assigned a home teacher, she
recommended I get Magic instead. In fact, Voc Rehab ordered it for me,
and she confirmed that it was made by Freedom Scientific and thus was in
all ways compatible. A year or so ago, when I got my update of JAWS,
Magic was included with it. As to a preference, with either I have to
make the magnification so great that I see only a tiny fraction of the
material. My mind does not process it. It can be useful for checking one
character, however, though installed, I choose to do without. If the
transition back and forth was a bit smoother with the voice and other
features, and habitual use, it might be valuable. 
Jackie