Questions and debates about blindness:

jillio said:
What screen reader do the blind members here use, and do you have a preference?
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jillio,

i've had experience using both of the 2 main screen readers, JAWS and window-eyes. the 2 are pretty similar in terms of functionality except that in my opinion window-eyes uses less overall keyboard commands than JAWS does and it isn't as "chatty" either. JAWS seems to speak *everything* that appears on the screen while window-eyes tends to be more selective. when it comes to blind people and their screen reader preference, there are people in the "die-hard JAWS camp" and the "die-hard window-eyes camp." if you read e-mail lists that center around blindness, it won't be long until you eventually find a thread that concerns the infamous "JAWS vs. window-eyes" debate. it's much like the debates in the deaf community about CIs vs. sign language. the debates are circular in nature and go on and on and on ad nauseum. i'm not a die-hard fan of either screen reader because i think they both have their advantages and disadvantages. much of what a blind person prefers depends alot on their work environment (professional or at home business), the computer applications they use to access documents and what it is they want to get out of a screen reader. it is said that JAWS is better for some websites on the internet than window-eyes is and vice-versa, but what it all basically comes down to is user preference. for example, i can tell you what a wonderful screen reader i think window-eyes is but you won't know that until you've had a chance to try it for yourself. you may be surprised that you prefer the keyboard command structure of JAWS better. in the end, it comes down to what each blind person requires for their own needs. does this help answer your question?
 
Hear Again said:
jillio,

i've had experience using both of the 2 main screen readers, JAWS and window-eyes. the 2 are pretty similar in terms of functionality except that in my opinion window-eyes uses less overall keyboard commands than JAWS does and it isn't as "chatty" either. JAWS seems to speak *everything* that appears on the screen while window-eyes tends to be more selective. when it comes to blind people and their screen reader preference, there are people in the "die-hard JAWS camp" and the "die-hard window-eyes camp." if you read e-mail lists that center around blindness, it won't be long until you eventually find a thread that concerns the infamous "JAWS vs. window-eyes" debate. it's much like the debates in the deaf community about CIs vs. sign language. the debates are circular in nature and go on and on and on ad nauseum. i'm not a die-hard fan of either screen reader because i think they both have their advantages and disadvantages. much of what a blind person prefers depends alot on their work environment (professional or at home business), the computer applications they use to access documents and what it is they want to get out of a screen reader. it is said that JAWS is better for some websites on the internet than window-eyes is and vice-versa, but what it all basically comes down to is user preference. for example, i can tell you what a wonderful screen reader i think window-eyes is but you won't know that until you've had a chance to try it for yourself. you may be surprised that you prefer the keyboard command structure of JAWS better. in the end, it comes down to what each blind person requires for their own needs. does this help answer your question?
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Yes, it does. Thank you very much. We are currently updating computers in the lab at the university, and we have a bank of computers reserved just for our blind students. We have JAWS on them, but I was curious as to whether, during the update, there would be a different screen reader that would be more useful and that disability services should recommend to IT.
 
jillio said:
Yes, it does. Thank you very much. We are currently updating computers in the lab at the university, and we have a bank of computers reserved just for our blind students. We have JAWS on them, but I was curious as to whether, during the update, there would be a different screen reader that would be more useful and that disability services should recommend to IT.
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jillio,

JAWS is an excellent screen reader, so i think your university should be all set as far as that goes. also, freedom scientific has contracts between themselves and university programs which allow the latter to upgrade JAWS when new updates become available. window-eyes does not offer this which is why many universities (like my own) prefer to use JAWS instead.
 
That's fine Hear Again, I'm sorry in the first place you had to feel that way. That was the last thing I would have in mind to have done. I just wanted the rest of you guys like Nika/dreama/typeing/aleser/etc to all be able to reply in a central thread altogether.

But anyways let's not scare the new readers or newcomers off. I'll zip up on my behalf.


So since Nika and Typeing and dreama read text on monitors in the form of magnification, they are actually able to see in some form? Or is there something I'm missing? This just opened my eyes to realize that seeing is just as diverse as hearing, one step further.
 
that's okay, naisho. thank you for accepting my apology.

if anyone would like to ask me questions about technology for those who are totally blind or anything else about blindness/deafblindness, i'd be happy to answer them.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
JAWS is pretty cool, i like the british voice.
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i like perfect paul the best. of course, that's the voice i've been using ever since it was originally released with the dectalk speech synthesizer in the 1980s.

have you ever heard whispering wendy before? that voice cracks me up everytime i hear it. :laugh2:
 
Hear Again said:
i like perfect paul the best. of course, that's the voice i've been using ever since it was originally released with the dectalk speech synthesizer in the 1980s.

have you ever heard whispering wendy before? that voice cracks me up everytime i hear it. :laugh2:
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Nope, i havent, when my zoomtext deom is over, i'm going to redownload the jaws demo, and i will try.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
Nope, i havent, when my zoomtext deom is over, i'm going to redownload the jaws demo, and i will try.
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try it. i think you'll get a real chuckle over it. JAWS also has a child-like voice, but i can no longer remember the name of it.

i do know there's a voice called beautiful betty. i liked that one too.
 
Hear Again said:
try it. i think you'll get a real chuckle over it. JAWS also has a child-like voice, but i can no longer remember the name of it.

i do know there's a voice called beautiful betty. i liked that voice too.
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Thanks, thats cool, ohh, you wanted to know how classes are going... message on the way...
 
i wanted to address naisho's question about those who are legally blind. just as hearing varies greatly for those who are hard of hearing and deaf, the same is true for those of us who are legally or totally blind. *generally* (although not in all cases) people with 20/200 vision have a pretty good amount of residual vision which allows them to read large print. they are called partially sighted or legally blind. there are also people who can only see large shapes and color, but no detail. still there are others who can tell the difference between light and dark color contrasts although they may or may not be able to identify the colors they are seeing. these people are said to have what is called light perception. some of them may report colors looking slightly different from the way they are supposed to. others are only able to see shades of yellow and black. finally there are people like myself who cannot see anything at all and are considered totally blind. does that make sense to everyone? if not, i'll try to explain it again in a different way.
 
Hear Again said:
i wanted to address naisho's question about those who are legally blind. just as hearing varies greatly for those who are hard of hearing and deaf, the same is true for those of us who are legally or totally blind. *generally* (although not in all cases) people with 20/200 vision have a pretty good amount of residual vision which allows them to read large print. they are called partially sighted or legally blind. there are also people who can only see large shapes and color, but no detail. still there are others who can tell the difference between light and dark color contrasts although they may or may not be able to identify the colors they are seeing. these people are said to have what is called light perception. some of them may report colors looking slightly different from the way they are supposed to. others are only able to see shades of yellow and black. finally there are people like myself who cannot see anything at all and are considered totally blind. does that make sense to everyone? if not, i'll try to explain it again in a different way.
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There can also be field limitations, where, even if a person has a good aquity then they can still be considered legally blind 20 degrees is the baseline for legal blindness when it comes to field limitations. as a person with 5 degrees i can only tell you what that is like.
 
i also wanted to point out that just as no 2 people with the same audiogram hear the same nor do 2 legally blind people see the same. they could both have a visual acuity of 20/200. one may be able to read newspaper print while the other cannot and must use a cane for mobility.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
There can also be field limitations, where, even if a person has a good aquity then they can still be considered legally blind 20 degrees is the baseline for legal blindness when it comes to field limitations. as a person with 5 degrees i can only tell you what that is like.
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that's right, typeingtornado. i forgot about field limitations. thank you for mentioning that.
 
Hear Again said:
that's right typeingtornado. i forgot about field limitations. thank you for pointing that out.
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No problem.

I agree with your previous statement too, I have a friend sitting across the table from me, and as i hold a book up close to my face, the person with the same aquity may hold it much farther away.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
There can also be field limitations, where, even if a person has a good aquity then they can still be considered legally blind 20 degrees is the baseline for legal blindness when it comes to field limitations. as a person with 5 degrees i can only tell you what that is like.
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what is your central visual acuity?
 
typeingtornado19 said:
No problem.

I agree with your previous statement too, I have a friend sitting across the table from me, and as i hold a book up close to my face, the person with the same aquity may hold it much farther away.
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that's a perfect example, typeingtornado. <smile>
 
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