[BlindKid] Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for It

Deborah Kent Stein dkent5817 at att.net
Thu Oct 10 16:02:39 UTC 2019



Dear Heidi,

Your story is a very important one! Please contact me offlist. Perhaps we can develop an article for Future Reflections.

Debbie Stein
Future Reflections
Dkent5817 at att.net



-----Original Message-----
From: BlindKid [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of H Scheffer via BlindKid
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 9:44 AM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children) <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Cc: H Scheffer <hpscheffer at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindKid] Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for It

I’m so sorry for what you are goi g through. I’ll share with you our journey and outcome. 

I realized in middle school a Perkins Brailler for math and basic computer with Jaws training wouldn’t cut it. I thought there must be a better way considering tech advances and where we all are today, blind people should have the same advantages with tech. I found Dr Robinson, she’s on this list and often pitches in with her knowledge. 

My road for the following 8 months was hard to say the least. I requested Dr Robinson be my child’s tech teacher. She does Skype lessons. My daughters TVI knew nothing about Jaws and the real powers of it. She had gotten someone in the state to give her some lessons but we’re meaningless. After I learned all that can be done with Jaws I thought that’s the way to go. It was a hard fight!!! Emergency IEP’s, requests for tech assessments, no one knew how much really a blind person can do on a computer!!! After many meetings, state specialists visits, and much begging and crying requesting this (unusual) set up we were approved!!! 

Fast forward, to HS she did Power Points, inserted pictures, music, chose fonts, colors, did ALL MATH on her laptop with a Braille display, and all all work on it, all tests, AP classes, College Board tests (who I also fought for accessibility) all state tests (who I also had to fight for accessibility), was able to keep up with her peers, and get the same work done as all others. 

My daughter is now in college, doesn’t have issues other then a small here and there situation as any other student would, and all I can say an IPad or a MAC are not the tools for a blind student. They need a laptop with Jaws and a Braille display. My daughter has a Mac she uses for music stuff, has an iPad she left aside once she got a hang of the laptop and never looked back. 

Mine and her only regrets are wishing we had started earlier on learning Jaws, it is soooo powerful and can do so much it takes a long time  to learn all the commands. 

You can look at YouTube videos of Dr Robinson and her website is yourtechvision.com I’m not trying to sell you anything, just sharing our journey, my daughters outcome would not have been anything close had it not been for tech training!! I’m passionate about it as I’ve seen the drastic change. When she met with her professors they never thought how easy it would be to provide access to their 1st blind student, and the disability office doesn’t hear from her as there’s no need. 

All the best,

Heidi 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 10, 2019, at 10:08 AM, Coccovizzo,Linda A via BlindKid <blindkid at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello all. My husband and I went to my oldest daughter's conferences the other day, and one of the things we kept hearing from all of the teachers was their frustration with her not being able to access things in a timely manner. The students in the high school are using Macs provided by the school, so when work sheets are put up on Canvas, the students are able to just access that work. Both of my girls were provided with Macs, but little to no training to use them. So, they continue to use the iPad and braille display. Since the vision team doesn't know what they are doing, then they don't seem to think the Mac is necessary. However, they aren't able to keep up with the demand. It is ridiculous for the brailests to have to go up and retrieve the work, put it into an accessible format for the kids, and then get it back to them, either in electronic, or hard copy braille. There is no way they are getting this work on time. I understand that some things just won't be able to be made accessible, and may have to be modified,. However, my girls aren't even close to being on an even playing field with their peers.
> All of this being said, I'm not even sure the Mac is what they need to be using. This is an even bigger fight, because the powers that think they be, are saying that Windows based computers cannot be on their network. Of course I am not buying that. So, the input I would like from all of you is:
> How accessible with screen reading software is Canvas, Aside from the file formats that are being used? Is there a platform that works better with Canvas? My guess would be Windows with Jaws. Where would I be able to find definitive information to back up what people have experienced? I believe I am going to need all of the facts I can find to help me, and other families in this fight. I am really looking forward to your responses.
> Thank you all!
> 
> Linda
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