[nabs-l] Accessibility work arounds for Google Docs, When is Good, etc.

Wed Aug 27 01:43:14 UTC 2014

Hi all,

Sorry I'm responding late.  I moved into my house at school this
weekend and have been preparing to start classes tomorrow.

I agree with Tyler on the Chrome and Chrome Vox front, I'm really
waiting for more success with JAWS.  One problem I may be having is
that I am not using JAWS 14 or 15, which Tyler mentioned worked a
little better, but the problem is I'm restricted in which version I
use because 13 is glitchy enough with an older software package I need
to do homework for my music classes.

On the other hand, Doodle sounds like just the solution I'm looking
for.  To answer your question, Katie, When is Good is a scheduler
which works a lot like Doodle, but instead of checking boxes for
times, the availability shows up in a table which is image-based.  To
select the times you want to show for your group as an administrator,
or to select the times you are free to meet as a group member, you
have to click the times you are free in the table and they'll
highlight.  Doodle sounds like the perfect solution to the problems
I'm having with When is Good.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

On 8/24/14, Bill K. Dengler via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> From http://chromevox.com :
> "ChromeVox is a screen reader for Chrome which brings the speed,
> versatility, and security of Chrome to visually impaired users."
>
> Bill
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett
> via nabs-l
> Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2014 6:55 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Accessibility work arounds for Google Docs, When is
> Good, etc.
>
> hi,
> so what's chromevox? if it's a screen reader just for google, I agree.
>
> Google needs to get on the accessibility bandwagon.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Littlefield, Tyler via nabs-l
> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 11:54 PM
> To: Bill K. Dengler ; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Accessibility work arounds for Google Docs, When is
> Good, etc.
>
> chromevox is far from intuitive. I also am not really thrilled about the
> idea of a self-voicing shell on top of a web browser to make sites that
> should already be accessible more accessible. Jaws 14 is much better with
> this since Google has been all over aria lately, I hear jaws 15 has better
> a11y support as well, but I've not tried it as of yet.
> On 8/21/2014 11:40 PM, Bill K. Dengler via nabs-l wrote:
>> What about Google Chrome/Chrome vox? I've always been able to access
>> Google Docs/Sheets/Slides that way.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
>> Shelton via nabs-l
>> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 10:05 PM
>> To: Katie Wang; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Accessibility work arounds for Google Docs, When
>> is Good, etc.
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll particularly check out the
>> article Katie Wang just posted for ideas.
>>
>> I think most of the time we use the spreadsheet feature on Google
>> apps.  I tried to use this last year, along with the accessibility
>> tips in Google help files, and had significant problems with it.  It
>> was much easier to use Windows magnifier to read the screen visually,
>> which in itself didn't make the task very easy and strained my eyes
>> after a few minutes.  We also use the calendar, and this has worked a
>> little better for me once I manage to get the events to display in
>> list format rather than in calendar view.
>> using Jaws 13 I had issues getting to the button to make this view
>> change, but I have always used IE, which could have been the issue there.
>>
>> Like I said, google forms for surveys, and of course gmail, have
>> worked fine for me.  I can't really use the dropbox idea, which is
>> unfortunate because as easy as it would make life for me, it wouldn't
>> be easy for the file to be continuously updated by various chapter
>> members, and I would also be subject to missing information due to not
>> having access to those updates if the person in charge of updating the
>> dropbox file forgot.  Like I said the 20 something other girls in the
>> chapter already have their system, so we're trying to find ways to
>> make it accessible for me with the existing platforms we have rather
>> than to change platforms entirely for the chapter.  I would love to
>> use dropbox though rather than Google drive, and will probably see if
>> it can be managed for a committee, or projects I may undertake with a
>> small group of people.
>>
>> When is Good is still going to be problematic.  Does anyone know of
>> work arounds for that?  I've been sending my schedule and availability
>> to people who send out the surveys, but I always feel a little awkward
>> about it because I know sometimes there is other information listed in
>> the survey that I am not privy to.  E.G, only certain meeting times
>> will be shown as possible options, or the survey creator will put a
>> note in the survey for people to read that I miss out on.  I'll keep
>> sending my availability via email if I have to, but if anyone has
>> happened to find a way to make When is Good work, or has found a
>> comparable service that is accessible I can tell my chapter about, I
>> would really appreciate it.
>>
>> On 8/21/14, Katie Wang via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hi Kaiti,
>>>
>>> I recently came across the following blog post about the
>>> accessibility of Google apps. According to the author (and a number
>>> of other blind people I know), most features of Google apps are
>>> actually now relatively accessible. I haven't personally had a chance
>>> to test out the tips/suggestions mentioned here but hope you will
>>> find them helpful. Good luck!
>>> http://www.marcozehe.de/2014/07/08/accessibility-in-google-apps-an-ov
>>> e
>>> rview/
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Katie
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/21/14, minh ha via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> Kaiti,
>>>>
>>>> Can you give a little bit more information about which features of
>>>> google drive you are having problems with? I've been figuring out
>>>> the functions of google drive bit by bit and have found that
>>>> although a little challenging at times, most of the apps are
>>>> accessible. From my experience, firefox seems to work best with the
>>>> suite of apps; I'm using Jaws 13 but have also used it with Jaws 14.
>>>>
>>>> Minh
>>>>
>>>> On 8/21/14, Sofia Gallo via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Kaity
>>>>>
>>>>> This isn't a work around, but what about dropbox? I use Exel
>>>>> worksheets with the desktop app?
>>>>>
>>>>> Sofia
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Aug 21, 2014, at 2:22 PM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
>>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi NABS,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm in a fraternity which relies heavily on Google Apps to
>>>>>> organize events, set up calendars for the chapter, make sign up
>>>>>> sheets for bake sales and other table activities, etc.  We also
>>>>>> frequently use the site When is Good to find times for committee
>>>>>> meetings and other small groups to get together to work on
>>>>>> projects.  As you all know, this creates an accessibility
>>>>>> nightmare for me, since I can't access any of the information
>>>>>> easily.  While I didn't have much success in working with last
>>>>>> year's exec board to work around these issues, the president for
>>>>>> this year and I have met and discussed these problems.  Though she
>>>>>> has no prior experience with these issues and is just another
>>>>>> student, she is willing to help me look into other options which
>>>>>> might make it easier for me to have access to the chapter
>>>>>> information.  She has expressed interest in reaching out to the
>>>>>> Office of Learning Resources where our disability staff works, and
>>>>>> seems to be making a good effort, for which I am really
>> appreciative.
>>>>>> However, the president and I agreed that one of the issues we
>>>>>> might face if alternative ways of accessing the existing systems
>>>>>> aren't available to me, might be getting the chapter to make changes.
>>>>>> Last year the big issue was, "We've been using google docs for
>>>>>> years, and that's the system we've already set up, so just do the
>>>>>> best you can with it."  I had a job in the fraternity which
>>>>>> required me to use a Google Docs spreadsheet to monitor sign ups
>>>>>> for events, and it was very difficult for me to give back to the
>>>>>> fraternity to the best of my ability because of that technical
>>>>>> problem and the accessibility issues.  The president knows I am
>>>>>> completely capable of being a valuable asset to the fraternity,
>>>>>> and that if given the proper access to the tools we use I could do
>>>>>> a fine job of organizing and/or leading projects alongside my sisters.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Though I will be living in the house with her and several other
>>>>>> exec board members this year, I do not want to have to rely upon
>>>>>> them to complete when is good forms and to check the calendar.  I
>>>>>> think that I could use my living situation to closely work with
>>>>>> these board members to educate them about the accessibility issues
>>>>>> I have with Google and to work for a positive solution to the
>>>>>> problem.  I am asking if anyone on this list has found work
>>>>>> arounds for using Google docs and When is Good forms in these
>>>>>> situations.
>>>>>> So far the only thing I've managed to work out is the google forms
>>>>>> app we use to take surveys for the chapter, but not having access
>>>>>> to things like sign up sheets and the calendar are really big
>>>>>> problems I hope to solve this year.  Any suggestions would be great.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Kaiti
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the
>>>> dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was
>> vanity:
>>>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
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>>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Kaiti
>>
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>
> --
> Take care,
> Ty
> http://tds-solutions.net
> He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that
> dares not reason is a slave.
>
>
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-- 
Kaiti