April 2020
Navigating The Web The Way I See It
An opinion piece
Summary
Stephanie Bolinger a totally blind screen reader software user describes how someone with vision loss learns to use Jaws. . She interviews her Adaptive Technology Instructor at Independence for the Blind of NWFL
For his perspective in what is involved in learning to use the software.
By Stephanie Bolinger
April 29, 2020
Navigating The Web The Way I See It
When a visually impaired person wants to use the internet how do they do so? Well there are several screen reader options but my primary tool is job access with speech better known as Jaws. “Jaws is a very difficult piece of software to teach but as with many new learned subjects practice and patience is the key to success” Shawn Blankenship, Adaptive Technology Instructor at Independence for the Blind. Jaws is a software that helps the blind and visually impaired to successfully navigate a computer. Although it is a complicated software to learn it is worth the hard work with the reward of gaining more independence. This program was tough to wrap my head around. I simply wanted to give up and cry a countless number of times but I kept pushing forward trying my best.
I have not been blind my entire life however in becoming completely blind as an adult I had to relearn the basics as with most other subjects. It was important that I started by learning to navigate the key board as well as basic knowledge of the computer. “For A person who is totally blind explaining the various items such as what is a desk top and a file system are very difficult to explain. One must use hands on examples such as a real file cabinet system to explain the point.” Shawn Blankenship. After a little time I finally understood the basics of the computer. With this new found knowledge under my belt I went on to learn that everything that I would now do on the computer would be with the use of the keyboard because Jaws does not work with the mouse. After a series of efficiency testing the Jaws software lessons became my primary focus. Learning to navigate through documents and the internet with the program not only helped me to understand how Jaws worked but also allowed me to begin to feel comfortable with it. The basics; easy and fun, but actually learning Jaws was another story, I didn’t feel that I was smart enough. “One of the hardest parts of teaching the blind assistive technology is actually getting them motivated to believe that they can successfully use the software proficiently.” Shawn Blankenship. . I eventually mastered basic navigating and successfully completed the program. Thankfully all of the lessons were at my own learning pace, as it took more hours than one might be more comfortable with saying aloud, but here goes; three years on and off. Did I mention that it was difficult? Now that I am out of the program I still practice every day so I do not forget what I have learned. I feel confident in my skills with Jaws because of not giving up on myself. Sometimes in life we all have things that will cause us to struggle but nothing can hold us back except for ourselves.
Thanks to my training I now have a super cool career as a Web Accessibility Analyst where I use my computer all day long by testing websites for accessibility for people like myself who live with disabilities. Although I am confident in my software skills I am not always as confident in websites. Without the needed accessibility it is difficult for me to navigate the web in order to shop, learn and so much more. Websites should have descriptions on items such as graphics and items for sale. The most frustrating part of navigating restaurant websites are that most menu’s do not have food descriptions or prices. Before I go out to eat I prefer to look up the restaurants menu myself so that I do not have to ask a friend or family member to read me every single item listed and most embarrassingly have to ask (How much is that?) over and over again. In preparing for marriage, I wanted to surprise my groom to be with a honeymoon stay on the beach however I had to ask for help since I could not access the booking calendar with my Jaws software. If websites are not made fully accessible to me then even Jaws can not give me the independence that I strive for daily. If I would have quit learning Jaws just because it was not easy I would not have my job today but even still I need business owners of all scales to help me in my efforts of total independence by making their services and products accessible to me.
Instructor Shawn Blankenship from Independence For the Blind gives his method of order of teaching lessons;
Learning the operating system and file maintenance which includes creating desktop icons, creating new files within file explore and learning computer organization. After the client completes goal operating system they will start learning about word processing which entails creating, editing and saving new documents. While the client is learning how to perform these tasks I will incorporate the lesson on Jaws reading commands. For example using the left and right arrow keys will allow the client to read the document character by character. The next task in my training is to teach the client how to send and receive emails using the platform Microsoft Outlook. Along with learning how to send emails they will learn how to send attachments. They will also learn about the other features in Microsoft Outlook. The client will then start to learn how to navigate the internet by using your basic key boarding commands but also to learn the hot key commands. An example of these hot key commands would be that the client pressing the letter H will allow the client to move quickly through the headings on the web page. These are just some of the skills that I as an Adaptive Technology Instructor teach my clients.
Source
Article quotes and last paragraph are a direct quote from an instructor’s perspective by Shawn Blankenship
Adaptive Technology Instructor at Independence for the Blind of NWFL