[Trainer-talk] accessible software in the work place

[Zach Mann]

Hello Fellow Federationists,

My name is Katie and I'm a blind job seeker applying for work as a
recruiter for a temp agency. Some technology access questions have
come up in my job search and interviews, and I'm hoping you can answer
them:

1) I'm interviewing with 2 companies who will be using Avionte CRM
software. Neither company has had the software installed yet so it's
impossible for me to test it. Does anyone have experience using this
software with either JAWS for Windows or NVDA? I tried calling the
company directly but they couldn't tell me whether the software had
been tested with screen-reading technology. Does anyone know off-hand
if this software is accessible?

2) Does JAWS or NVDA provide parameters/guidelines for software that
is accessible? Many of the software programs I'll potentially be
working with are web-based databases. If either of these
screen-reading technologies provided specs for compatible software, I
would know easily if a particular software program would be
accessible, and if the software was not, I could more readily explain
what the company could do to make it so. Does anyone know anything
about specs to determine software and screen-reader compatibility?

3) If software is not found to be accessible, are there companies out
there who could provide consultation services who could tell the
developers what might be done to make the software accessible? As I'm
not a developer or programmer, I'm not familiar with the jargon and
specific language needed to explain potential fixes. Can anyone
provide any information about companies which might provide this
service?

If anyone could provide answers to any of these questions, I'd be most
grateful. Please email me at watsonkm05 at gmail.com <mailto:watsonkm05 at gmail.com> with information.
Thank you for your time and assistance.

All Best,

--Katie