[BlindKid] The best computer overall? was RE: Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for It

Thu Oct 10 16:28:09 UTC 2019

Steve, I agree with you there. Everything I see in regards to Canvas itself speaks to accessibility with Mac and Voiceover. I don't have a Mac at my disposal to really get in there and figure out what does and doesn't work. And, I probably should have added to my message my overall concerns with accessibility of other necessary software with Voiceover versus Jaws, because I think the uses for blind students go far beyond Canvas. Canvas is just the beginning of the issues students have. It is also very important that instructors are made to understand how to make their content accessible. I don't think the vision team even knows the first thing about how to find that information, let alone how to share it with the teachers. I saw enthusiasm from those teachers that night, that nearly brought me to tears. One teacher was told by our vision team that there were no tactile graph options for biology, so he stepped up and created his own! Another teacher found an online OCR site on her own so Sarah could have the assignments on time.

As far as the screen reader, Jaws has the OCR capabilities that I'm not sure are available with Voiceover. It also has very intuitive verbosity options for programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel, and so much more. The main concern I have, is how imperative it is that accessibility not be broken by an update. Jaws is an external program, that is updated often. Sometimes when MAC OS updates accessibility is broken in a major way, and users have to wait until another update happens for the bugs to hopefully be fixed. Since accessibility isn't necessarily a priority, those bugs may or may not be fixed in the next update, leaving the user to wait and hope for fixes in future updates. I think it is great that the MACS and iOS devices are accessible out of the box, but I am not convinced they are the answer for blind students.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindKid <blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Steve Jacobson via BlindKid
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 10:22 AM
To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children) <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at outlook.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindKid] Questions About Canvas, and the Best Platform for It

I am uneasy with the assumption that VoiceOver cannot be used in that environment.  Is there anybody on this list that might be able to speak to using VoiceOver on a MAC with Canvas?  

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindKid <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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