Ever wonder how a blind person gets around a Computer screen? Not too many sighted people think about this, but blind people don’t use a mouse. So how does a blind person move around the desktop?
By using the keyboard, it is very easy to get around in Windows, even if the screen were turned off entirely.
First, one needs a screen reader, so that what is on the screen is read out loud. To accomplish this, there are several options. I use a program called Window Eyes from a company called gwmicro, located here in Fort Wayne. Another good program is called Jaws. Some of my fellow blind friends prefer Jaws over Window-eyes, but both programs accomplish the same task, just one uses different hotkey combinations then the other. I personally like Window Eyes, not just because I can get local support whenever I need it, but also because the keyboard commands are fairly easy to remember for the most part.
There is another solution I will recommend for the partially sighted, called ZoomText from a company called aisquared. Zoomtext has magnification and screen reading enhancements geared towards the partially sighted. Alot of partials don’t know this, but Zoomtext has its own combinations of keyboard commands similar to Jaws or Window Eyes built into it too, but is better for the partially sighted, while Jaws or Window Eyes is geared more for the totally blind. I personally use both Window Eyes and Zoomtext at the same time, because I get the magnification features of Zoomtext, with the screen reading capibilities of WIndow Eyes, which as of late, do function quite well together. In other words, I use Zoomtext to watch videos and play games with my remaining vision, while using Window Eyes to read the text that is on the screen to me since I can no longer read large print anymore. That way, on my laptop for instance, I don’t have to get my face right up against the screen, I can just have it read out loud to me. I think even for people who do have some sight, having text read out loud to you, instead of trying to squint, and get up real close to the display, to see it with your eyes, is quite helpful.
Either of these 3 solutions can be purchased for around $800-900, so there not cheap, but both Window Eyes and Zoomtext have monthly payment plans to make the cost easier. There is also your local states Vocational Rehabilitation office. Alot of times if you need the software for work related activities, they will pay for the software you need. For those who can’t afford the high cost of screen reading programs, there is an open source option called NVDA which stands for “NonVisual desktop Access”. Its aim is to be an open source solution to Jaws or Window-Eyes, but I think its got a long way to go. Again, it uses different keyboard commands then Jaws or Window-Eyes, so your learning yet another set of screen reading hotkey combinations.
Now assuming you have one of these solutions, or are trying one of the demos, how does one who is blind get around a desktop? Well, that is a good question, and is really simple to answer, by using the keyboard. A blind person, or most partials, don’t use a mouse at all, so to get an idea of how a blind person gets around a desktop, one must first put away the mouse.
Once thats done, you may be thinking, well what do I do now?
First, you can move around the desktop by using the TAB key, or go back using SHIFT-TAB. To access the start menu, you can either press the Windows key thats located between the CTRL and ALT keys, or by pressing CTRL-ESC. Once the start menu comes up, you can get around the start menu itms by using the arrow keys. In Windows Vista, you again use the arrow keys, but if you want to switch between the Star Search edit box, the Common Items list, the shutdown / power tasks, shortcuts lists, and the all programs treeview, you just press the TAB and SHIFT-TAB keys to cycle thru the different start menus panes.
Now your probably wondering, how do I get to the system tray icons? For that, you can use a built in Windows hotkey WINDOWS-B This will take you to the System tray icons. To go from one to another, you just use the arrow keys. To click on one of them, just press the ENTER key. To right click on one of them, you press SHIFT-F10 . This brings up the familar right-click context menu, then you just use the arrow keys to move around, and the ENTER key to activate one of them.
There is also a key to jump directly to the taskbar. That key is WINDOWS-T. Then you just use the arrow keys to move around the different taskbar windows. pressing ENTER switches to that window. Windows-M minimizes all windows.
Lets say, for instance, you have Mozilla Firefox open. Lets say you want to jump to the address bar to type a website into the address bar. ALT-D jumps directly to the IE or Firefox address bar.
For most screen readers, the current window must be maximized in order for the screen reader to read its contents completely. If you want to change the window status from minimized, maximized, restored, and close, to bring up that menu, you press the ALT-spacebar. This is the same as if you did a right-click on the windows title bar. neat eh?
Most people know that to close a document, you press CTRL-F4, but did you know you can do that with Windows on your desktop too? You can also access the menus underneath the title bar by pressing the ALT key. If you wanted to access the EDIT menu directly, you can press ALT-E and that brings down the edit menu. Then you can arrow around, press the ESC key to close the menu, or press ENTER to click on an item in the menu. pretty nifty eh?
Even for sighted people, there are times where you mouse may not be working, and you have no choice but to use the keyboard to get around. I’ve had to use the keyboard several times to get Windows to shut down. In WIndows Vista, or XP, its easy, just press the WINDOWS key to bring up the start menu, arrow or tab around, until you get to the shut down dialog. Its pretty easy, but just takes practice.
Screen reader programs, however, make alot of these common tasks easier. For instance, in WIndow Eyes, I can press INS-S to bring up a dialog box listing the current system tray icons, then press the TAB key to click, right click, or double click on an icon I want to click on. Same is true for the Internet. If I want to get a list of links on the current webpage, I just press the letter L while in browse mode, which is on by default. This brings up a dialog listing all the current links on the webpage. I can use another key, the X key, to read the current text on the page to me, or different key combinations to search for text, or to read specific text within blocks of tables. I know alot of web designers have gotten rid of HTML tables, but most screen readers have an option to read text within a table, so it will list all the current tables within a document, just like the list of links, and have it read whats in that specific table. Javascript, CSS, flash, and other visual methods make reading most webpages more difficult for the blind, but still can be done. Its just that most screen readers prefer breaking up text into tables, just like websites used to be written in the old XHTML days before java and javascript and ColdFusion sites became so popular. Window Eyes, for instance, uses the same method of navigating around websites that the old Lynx browser used to do. remember those days? where you just used the arrow keys to move around from link to link? Well Window-Eyes’s browse mode turns IE and Firefox into that old arrow key browse mode, using specific keys like T, E, C, L, and X to read specific content that the blind user is looking for on the page. Its pretty nifty stuff. I personally think Windows browsers should convert back to the old style Lynx browsers, so that they are more friendly to blind users.
Most program are accessible for blind people these days, except for Flash and javascript enabled sites. Email is also fairly accessible using different key combinations in outlook or outlook express. Instant messaging, however, is more difficult, but most blind users I know prefer an instant messenger client called Miranda IM. Right now I’ve been trying to get digsby to work with Window Eyes, but alot of blind people prefer Miranda, because it doesn’t use a bunch of flashy javascript like digsby and other such programs use. Instead, Miranda uses already existing windows dialogs to read and write instant messages, which is much more screen reader friendly.
Feel free to add some more tips for blind Computer users in my comments. I would be interested in hearing what other tips and tricks you guys may have for other blind and partially sighted computer internet users out there.
