[nfbcs] Questions regarding JAWS and NVDA

[Doug Lee]

Addressing the comment that NVDA cannot be scripted for problematic workplace applications:

I have been scripting JAWS professionally for 18 years and still enjoy doing so. In its time, I also scripted Window-Eyes a time or two for a work situation. Within the last few months, I have completed a contract for scripting
NVDA for a workplace application as well. Work on the addon is ongoing; but it is currently available for use and/or inspection under http://www.cisco.com/go/accessibility

The last of these may come as a surprise to some. In truth, I found it to be something of a process connecting commercial and open-source interests; but it was, and remains, my hope that this effort will open doors for further
workplace scripting of NVDA for situations where it makes sense.

I wish briefly to pause and commend Cisco for funding this initial effort. Jabber is a telecommunications application primarily found in work environments, similar to (and in competition with) Skype For Business and other
similar applications.  At a personal level (i.e., this is Doug Lee speaking, not Cisco or Level Access), I prefer not to force a screen reader user to switch screen readers in order to do a job. Therefore, though I am far more
seasoned at JAWS scripting, I was glad to be able to prepare this initial offering for NVDA users, with some help from the open-source NVDA development community. I believe Cisco has broken ground with this effort in the area
of NVDA support for commercial applications. Again at a personal level, I also believe that the existence of VoiceOver, advances in Narrator, and the increasing viability of NVDA in high-demand situations is truly raising the
importance of a multi-screen-reader view on accessibility and usability.

All that said though, I agree with and actively defend Curtis's last comment: Rehab agencies must still address the current landscape, which includes JAWS being more ready, at this instant, than other choices to handle a wide
array of workplace applications, many of which are custom or customized for specific situations and companies. I say this landscape is changing, but it remains as Curtis called it right now.

On Thu, May 10, 2018 at 09:20:38AM -0600, NFBCS mailing list wrote:
Greetings:
 
Speaking first as a rehabilitation professional who trains blind people to
use access technology, I will say that in the training environment, we would
teach JAWS and not NVDA. While NVDA has the advantage of being available at
no cost, it has a major disadvantage of not providing over-the-phone
technical support which is free to the end user. So, in terms of what the
field of work with the blind needs to do, it must continue teaching JAWS and
making it available to rehabilitation clients. Also, in the workplace, there
are many things that JAWS can do which NVDA cannot-not the least of which is
the ability for scripts to be developed to support those pesky applications
which would otherwise not work for a person who is blind.
 
Speaking as a blind consumer advocate, I am intrigued by the growing
popularity of NVDA as a viable screen reader for individuals who have no
funding sources upon which to draw. In a growing number of instances
(consider the integration of the screen reader with the latest version of
Mozilla Firefox), NVDA out-performs JAWS in terms of its ability to work
with Mozilla Firefox, thus causing people to wonder why they should spend
the money to pay for JAWS and keep service maintenance agreements current.
Yes, NVDA's default voice is not favored by some people, but you can get
some really terrific voices from Code Factory for NVDA for around $70 US.
 
In terms of NVDA's use in the workplace, I suspect that in other countries,
it can be found in more employment situations than in the United States.
 
Having said all of that, I would be the first consumer to jump up in protest
if our rehabilitation agencies refused to buy JAWS for their clients simply
because NVDA was available for free.
 
Cordially,
 
Curtis Chong
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jim Portillo via nfbcs
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:05 AM
To: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
Cc: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
Subject: [nfbcs] Questions regarding JAWS and NVDA
 
Good morning,
 
I have a couple of questions regarding both the differences and uses of JAWS
and NVDA.
 
 
First of all, does anyone know if NVDA is used much in a work place or even
school (such as college) environment?  Is JAWS still considered to be the
leading screen reader for blind PC users?
 
Finally, in training environments, such as training centers or personal
computer training, which screen reader seems to be preferred these days?
 
 
I'm working with someone right now who has NVDA on his computer but who
would like to learn JAWS because of its wider use in school and work
environments. This is why I thought it would be good to ask.
 
Thanks much.
 
Jim
 

-- 
Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
Level Access             doug.lee at LevelAccess.com    http://www.LevelAccess.com
"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes
revenge, and dares forgive an injury." --E. H. Chapin