[nabs-l] Efficiency and Productivity

Mon Aug 25 17:08:09 UTC 2014

Good morning, my brother in blastoma, Kurt,

Thank you for such a succinct and well-stated summary of what we're 
capable of. For, in my experience particularly with recently being 
saddled with an speed retarding brain damage, I often lose sight of 
this fact which, to many blind people ought to be  common sense, you 
know, kind of a no big deal? hysterical in its obviousness?
for today, Car
408-209-3239

, Kirt via nabs-l wrote:
>Arielle,
>As always, great points. Maybe I should rephrase my comment and say 
>that navigating The Internet in general and doing online research in 
>particular are things which I am fortunate enough to have a talent 
>for. I'm totally blind, I'm far from the only blind person who has 
>this particular skill with years of rigorous study and practice, so 
>blindness in and of itself does not need to be a barrier to 
>completing online research at a rate that is more than acceptable 
>academically and professionally,
>Best,
>Kirt
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Aug 24, 2014, at 5:53 PM, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I always thought it was a little silly to talk about whether blind
> > people work slower or faster than sighted people. The truth is that I
> > don't time myself nor do I time my colleagues. And, any such argument
> > assumes that all sighted people work at some uniform speed--which is
> > not true. I might work slower on the Internet than a Web-savvy sighted
> > person, but I can probably work faster than a sighted person with no
> > computer traning. I can almost definitely write a research report
> > faster than a sighted 18-year-old who's neverwritten an APA-style
> > research report before. And finally, speed isn't the only metric of
> > success. Accuracy and thoroughness are equally important. I may not be
> > able to skim a textbook easily, but by reading every sentence of a
> > chapter, I am probably studying the information more deeply than
> > somebody who quickly skims.
> > Instead of trying to work as fast as some idealized sighted person, I
> > think it's more important to focus on meeting the demands of a job and
> > performing as well as possible. Some job tasks require adherence to
> > deadlines, in which case efficiency does matter. But then the goal
> > should be to adhere to the deadline, not to race an idealized sighted
> > employee to the finish.
> >
> > Arielle
> >
> >> On 8/24/14, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >> Rahul,
> >> Ah, I understand now with specifics. I have issues with powerpoint.
> >> unfortunately, there is just more steps for us in that program. 
> use a reader
> >>
> >> for the graphics if possible. For pdf files here are a few commands to
> >> help.
> >>
> >> Go to page: control shiftN
> >> Next page: right arrow
> >> Prior page: left arrow.
> >>
> >> Ashley
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rahul Bajaj via nabs-l
> >> Sent: Friday, August 22, 2014 4:55 PM
> >> To: Cindy Bennett ; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> >> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Efficiency and Productivity
> >>
> >> Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement, everyone. I am sure
> >> most of the suggestions that you guys have given will be immensely
> >> helpful.
> >> I'm pasting below the text of the mail that I sent in response to
> >> Arielle's query which, unfortunately, only went to her:
> >> Arielle, I am using JAWS 15 on a Windows 7 machine, so the technology
> >> is fairly up to date. Some problems are with regard to specific
> >> features such as
> >> reading comments, footnotes and using track changes in Word; finding
> >> text and reading comments in PDF documents; preparing long PPT
> >> presentations with
> >> graphs and charts; using the internal applications designed by my firm
> >> which are almost always partly inaccessible, etc.
> >> Even otherwise, I take a lot more time than my sighted  colleagues for
> >> reading long 50-100 page documents.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Rahul
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> On 23/08/2014, Cindy Bennett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >>> Hi Rahul,
> >>>
> >>> I think your list of challenges may have just gone to Arielle. Would
> >>> you mind sending them to the list? I think she gave some great
> >>> solutions though. As for speed of JAWS, I gradually increased mine 5
> >>> points and then waited a couple of weeks and then increased it again.
> >>> I do slow it down 10 points when I am reading textbooks or other heavy
> >>> material.
> >>>
> >>> Cindy
> >>>
> >>>> On 8/22/14, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >>>> Also, if you use Gmail, you can send a PDF to yourself as an
> >>>> attachment, then click "view attachment as HTML". You'll get an HTML
> >>>> version that is very easy to navigate with JAWS.
> >>>> Arielle
> >>>>
> >>>>> On 8/22/14, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>> Hi Rahul,
> >>>>> Thanks for clarifying. I have a few quick suggestions and others may
> >>>>> have
> >>>>> more.
> >>>>> 1. Try increasing the speech rate of JAWS by opening the JAWS program
> >>>>> and pressing Alt to get into the basic menus. Increasing the speed
> >>>>> should make reading line by line go faster. You don't want it to be so
> >>>>> fast that you can't understand, but just try increasing by 5 or 10%.
> >>>>> 2. I suggest partnering with a sighted colleague, if possible, to work
> >>>>> on the PowerPoint charts and any inaccessible software. You can still
> >>>>> do the majority of the thinking, but just utilize the sighted person's
> >>>>> efficiency with the mouse-clicking in those situations. There is
> >>>>> nothing wrong with using a reader, hired or otherwise.
> >>>>> 3. To quickly read Track Changes comments, use
> >>>>> control-shift-apostrophe.
> >>>>> 4. Sometimes it's necessary to ask your employer if you can use a
> >>>>> different program to do the work; for example reading a file in Word
> >>>>> instead of in PDF format.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Good luck and congrats on the internship!
> >>>>> Arielle
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> On 8/22/14, Derek Manners via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >>>>>> Hello, I can definitely understand how you feel. I think there are
> >>>>>> three
> >>>>>> things I'd keep in mind.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 1. Any new job takes time to get in a rhythm where you are getting
> >>>>>> things
> >>>>>> done quickly.
> >>>>>> 2. Practice makes perfect, just as any job takes time to learn, so
> >>>>>> does
> >>>>>> using assistive tech.
> >>>>>> 3. It's perfectly fine work at your own pace. Your goal should be to
> >>>>>> do
> >>>>>> the
> >>>>>> best you can under the circumstances and just look for ways to do
> >>>>>> better.
> >>>>>> I
> >>>>>> work faster/hard than some of my sighted colleagues and I work
> >>>>>> slower/less
> >>>>>> hard than others.  The main thing employers want to see is improvement
> >>>>>> and
> >>>>>> a
> >>>>>> good attitude.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Best
> >>>>>> Derek
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> On Aug 22, 2014, at 3:19 PM, Rahul Bajaj via nabs-l
> >>>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> >>>>>>> wrote:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Hi all,
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I often find it hard to maintain the same level of productivity as my
> >>>>>>> sighted colleagues. I guess this can primarily be attributed to the
> >>>>>>> fact
> >>>>>>> that I have so far been merely a casual user of assistive technology
> >>>>>>> which
> >>>>>>> is perhaps why I am not able to use it as expeditiously as I should
> >>>>>>> be
> >>>>>>> able to in a professional setting.
> >>>>>>> That being said, my uniform experience has taught me that jaws is
> >>>>>>> often
> >>>>>>> unresponsive and unreliable. This makes it virtually impossible to
> >>>>>>> work
> >>>>>>> with the same level of efficiency as a sighted person.
> >>>>>>> Most blind students get double the time that their sighted
> >>>>>>> counterparts
> >>>>>>> get for writing exams. However, this is not really a feasible option
> >>>>>>> in
> >>>>>>> the private sector where you are not only required to do your work
> >>>>>>> well
> >>>>>>> but are also expected to complete your tasks expeditiously.
> >>>>>>> My inability to meet the latter requirement has often been a source
> >>>>>>> of
> >>>>>>> frustration for me during my internships. My employers have never
> >>>>>>> raised
> >>>>>>> any objections about my inability to complete the same amount of work
> >>>>>>> as
> >>>>>>> my sighted counterparts within a given time period. I guess this is
> >>>>>>> reflective of the low expectations that society has from blind
> >>>>>>> people.
> >>>>>>> Be that as it may, this has greatly reduced my job satisfaction and
> >>>>>>> has
> >>>>>>> been a major cause of concern.
> >>>>>>> I'd like to know what you guys think about this. Has anyone here had
> >>>>>>> a
> >>>>>>> similar experience?
> >>>>>>> What strategies would you recommend for effectively grappling with
> >>>>>>> this
> >>>>>>> challenge?
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Best,
> >>>>>>> Rahul
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>>>>
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Cindy Bennett
> >>> Treasurer of the Greater Seattle Chapter and of the National
> >>> Federation of the Blind of Washington
> >>> Affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind
> >>>
> >>> clb5590 at gmail.com
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>
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