[BlindMath] FW: Accessible applications for R

JooYoung Seo jooyoung at psu.edu
Tue Aug 25 17:53:50 UTC 2020


Hello,

I am JooYoung Seo, who had been interning at RStudio for the
accessibility project until last week.

Although RStudio 1.3 Server began supporting screen readers, it is
still at its early stage and expected to be reasonably  accessible in
v1.5 or later.

To cut to the chase, I would like to recommend using Dr. Godfrey's
workaround, which is using the command-line approach.

If you have any other follow-up questions about RStudio's
accessibility, please contact them at accessibility at rstudio.com.

Or, if you would like to discuss more about data science for the blind
using R, please feel free to send me an email off the list.

I was working for RStudio IDE and Shiny over the summer.

Last but not least, the best liserv that you might want to discuss R
things would be "BlindRUG -- Blind R Users Group":
https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindrug_nfbnet.org

Hope this helps.

All the best,

JooYoung


On 8/25/20, Joseph Polizzotto MA via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Everyone:
>
> I am working with a blind student whose data science class requires RStudio
> Server and the version being used is 1.2.    I am reopening this thread to
> see if anyone has had success using the 1.3 version of RStudio Server.
>
> The article available at this link speaks to the accessibility enhancements
> to the RStudio Server version 1.3
> <https://blog.rstudio.com/2020/03/04/rstudio-1-3-preview-accessibility/>
> for screen reader users. Can anyone attest to this improvement? If so, what
> areas might still be inaccessible to a screen reader user?
>
> Finally, I was wondering if the recommendation to use R-Resources that
> Jonathan mentioned previously is still the best resource if the student is
> unable to use version 1.3 of RStudio Server.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Joseph
>
> On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 10:30 PM Godfrey, Jonathan via BlindMath <
> blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> My reply to Cricket only went to her (by accident). It is forwarded for
>> anyone else's interest.
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Godfrey, Jonathan
>> Sent: Wednesday, 3 April 2019 6:28 PM
>> To: 'Cricket X. Bidleman' <cricketbidleman at gmail.com>
>> Subject: RE: [BlindMath] Accessible applications for R
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> BrailleR was named for its visibility not the code. I couldn't think of
>> any other word that would resonate with the general public as being
>> synonymous with blindness. Some might ask why not just use "blind"
>> somehow,
>> but searches found this word appearing in numerous packages already, none
>> of which had anything to do with blindness.
>>
>> A braille display is always useful, but not necessary. I've tried to keep
>> lines of text I generate short enough to fit within  a 40 cell display.
>> I hope that also keeps lines short enough for screen reading software to
>> announce without overloading anyone's mental gymnastics.
>>
>> A fairly detailed run through of many BrailleR functions and tools is in
>> the BrailleR in Action text; I thought a link for that was on the page I
>> suggested, but go to https://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/BrailleRInAction
>>
>>
>> Btw: I struggle whenever a student decides to switch operating systems
>> mid-semester, and that goes for blind students as well. Save this sort of
>> adventure for the holidays.
>>
>> HTH
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Cricket X. Bidleman <cricketbidleman at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, 3 April 2019 6:09 AM
>> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <
>> blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Godfrey, Jonathan <A.J.Godfrey at massey.ac.nz>
>> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Accessible applications for R
>>
>> Hi Jonathan and all,
>>
>> Thanks for the suggestions. I can't get Linux because since I'm already
>> taking stats, I don't have time to learn an entirely new operating
>> system.
>> I also don't plan on pursuing stats much further, so I think it would be
>> better to stick to Windows.
>>
>> Jonathan, you referred me to your page, which has informationa bout the
>> Braille R project. It's very helpful, and I downloaded the Use R
>> 2016 zip file, and installed the Braille R library. I was looking through
>> your tutorial files, and it looks like there are a few demonstrations of
>> various concepts. What I couldn't find, though, was a guide showing how
>> the
>> Braille library works, whether a Braille display is necessary in order to
>> use it, etc. Was that somewhere else on the site? Thanks!
>>
>> Best,
>> Cricket
>>
>> On 4/1/19, Godfrey, Jonathan via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> > Hi Cricket,
>> >
>> > RStudio has never been accessible. I have discussed the problem with
>> > their staff at all levels every year for perhaps the last six years,
>> > maybe even more. I've had discussions with the CEO, the Chief Data
>> > Scientist, various technical developers, and numerous sales team
>> > members. I like all of the people from RStudio I've talked with, but
>> > until such time as they make a definite plan to fix the access issues,
>> > we won't see much change. Life without RStudio isn't that bad though.
>> >
>> > A common reason for wanting to use RStudio is the excellent tools for
>> > writing R markdown documents. These are just text documents though
>> > that get processed into very accessible HTML files. The process can be
>> > done using ordinary R without RStudio. Your course tutor should know
>> > how
>> this is done.
>> >
>> > R is accessible. Please visit
>> > https://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/BrailleR
>> >
>> > I have been showing blind people how to use R for about ten years. I
>> > use R almost daily, mostly by way of writing R markdown documents. I
>> > do so using an ordinary old text editor and my own text editor that is
>> > full of useful shortcuts etc.
>> >
>> > HTH
>> > Jonathan
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cricket X.
>> > Bidleman via BlindMath
>> > Sent: Tuesday, 2 April 2019 4:02 PM
>> > To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
>> > <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>> > Cc: Cricket X. Bidleman <cricketbidleman at gmail.com>
>> > Subject: [BlindMath] Accessible applications for R
>> >
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I'm currently starting a statistics course, in which we are learning
>> > R. I just installed R Studio and unfortunately, it does not seem to be
>> > accessible with either JAWS or NVDA. Do you have any suggestions as to
>> > applications I could use instead, or workarounds for this? Thanks so
>> much!
>> >
>> > Best,
>> > Cricket
>> >
>> > --
>> > Cricket X. Bidleman (she/her/hers)
>> > Stanford University | Class of 2021
>> > BA Candidate | Communications
>> > Accessibility Consultant | Stanford University Computer Science
>> > Communications Intern | AIRA Secretary | California Association of
>> > Blind Students (CABS)
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > BlindMath mailing list
>> > BlindMath at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > BlindMath:
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/a.j.godfrey%40m
>> > assey.ac.nz
>> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
>> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > BlindMath mailing list
>> > BlindMath at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > BlindMath:
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/cricketbidleman
>> > %40gmail.com
>> > BlindMath Gems can be found at
>> > <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Cricket X. Bidleman (she/her/hers)
>> Stanford University | Class of 2021
>> BA Candidate | Communications
>> Accessibility Consultant | Stanford University Computer Science
>> Communications Intern | AIRA Secretary | California Association of Blind
>> Students (CABS)
>> _______________________________________________
>> BlindMath mailing list
>> BlindMath at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> BlindMath:
>>
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/jpolizzotto%40berkeley.edu
>> BlindMath Gems can be found at <
>> http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
>>
>
>
> --
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>


-- 
--------------------
  JooYoung Seo, CPACC
  Ph.D. Candidate (ABD),
  RStudio's Trusted Data-Science Instructor
  Learning, Design, and Technology
  Learning and Performance Systems
  The Pennsylvania State University
  Site: https://www.jooyoungseo.com/
  Phone: +1 (814) 777-5825
  E-mail: jzs323 at psu.edu



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