Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Windows Screen Readers... help! (self.Blind)
submitted by bunnyrapture
Hi All!
My MIL has had low vision for most of her adult life, and at this point it has degraded so that her only vision is a peripheral sliver out of her left eye.
She has always used the computer for basic tasks (email mostly, light online shopping) but in the last year or so, her ability to do so has really degraded, due to a combination of issues. Her software (zoomtext I think it's called) is finicky and only works with certain sites and certain browsers. It is almost impossible to use with her existing email client and hard for us to help her with using remote access. My husband tried moving her to Windows Narrator, but the integration of images and hyperlinks into almost everything really causes it to bug out.
Apologies if there are already a bunch of threads on this that I have missed, but I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for windows programs that might help?
I know that there is a lot of app development for handheld devices, and we are looking into that as well, but for now trying to get her computer operational would be a dream. Thanks so much!
My MIL has had low vision for most of her adult life, and at this point it has degraded so that her only vision is a peripheral sliver out of her left eye.
She has always used the computer for basic tasks (email mostly, light online shopping) but in the last year or so, her ability to do so has really degraded, due to a combination of issues. Her software (zoomtext I think it's called) is finicky and only works with certain sites and certain browsers. It is almost impossible to use with her existing email client and hard for us to help her with using remote access. My husband tried moving her to Windows Narrator, but the integration of images and hyperlinks into almost everything really causes it to bug out.
Apologies if there are already a bunch of threads on this that I have missed, but I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for windows programs that might help?
I know that there is a lot of app development for handheld devices, and we are looking into that as well, but for now trying to get her computer operational would be a dream. Thanks so much!
fastfinge 4 points 5y ago
$1 is free and open source, programmed by blind people, for blind people. What email client is she using? NVDA tends to be happiest with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome for web browsing, and Mozilla Thunderbird for email. Though I believe it also supports Outlook as well.
bunnyrapture [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Thanks so much, we will give it a try! She uses a Shaw email service (a Western Canadian anomaly) but I think we can route it through outlook. The biggest trouble has been trying to read her CNN news blast - there are so many images and hyperlinks sprinkled throughout it that the narrator doesn't know what to make of it. Hopefully NVDA makes it easier to read. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any suggestions of easy ways to get news on demand? I know that radio is great, but if anyone knows of blind-friendly news blasts I would really appreciate it
fastfinge 3 points 5y ago
In the case of CNN: http://lite.cnn.io/en
Also, she should get in touch with celalibrary.ca. They provide text only access to nearly all major Canadian monthly magazines, plus many daily newspapers. She almost certainly qualifies to get registered with them.
For local weather: https://weather.gc.ca/forecast/public_bulletins_e.html
Go to that page and find her the text versions of her local and extended forecast, and bookmark them for her somewhere.
Also, she should get in touch with celalibrary.ca. They provide text only access to nearly all major Canadian monthly magazines, plus many daily newspapers. She almost certainly qualifies to get registered with them.
For local weather: https://weather.gc.ca/forecast/public_bulletins_e.html
Go to that page and find her the text versions of her local and extended forecast, and bookmark them for her somewhere.
bradley22 2 points 5y ago
I'd recommend NVDA.
You can change the voice if you don't like it. Personally I have the voices of the old screen reader I used to use called JAWS.
I believe there are training manuals out there for NVDA but you have to pay for them and honestly that's not worth it in my oppinion when we are hear and I know I personally wouldn't mind helping out in any way that I can.
You can change the voice if you don't like it. Personally I have the voices of the old screen reader I used to use called JAWS.
I believe there are training manuals out there for NVDA but you have to pay for them and honestly that's not worth it in my oppinion when we are hear and I know I personally wouldn't mind helping out in any way that I can.
vwlsmssng 2 points 5y ago
Training will make a big difference when it comes to using a screen reader like NVDA. They all have magical keyboard shortcuts or touch screen gestures that help separate the wheat from the chaff in complex pages. E.g. navigate by paragraph or word, navigate by heading, navigate by hyperlink, read whole page, pause, etc.
If you can't find or afford a trainer then read the manuals, teach yourself (it is a lot easier when you are sighted) and be the trainer yourself.
Using an RSS reader for news will probably give you a cleaner experience than a website.
Try something like this http://www.webbie.org.uk/rssnewsreader/index.htm
The same person does a simplified web browser too
http://www.webbie.org.uk/webbrowser/index.htm
If you can't find or afford a trainer then read the manuals, teach yourself (it is a lot easier when you are sighted) and be the trainer yourself.
Using an RSS reader for news will probably give you a cleaner experience than a website.
Try something like this http://www.webbie.org.uk/rssnewsreader/index.htm
The same person does a simplified web browser too
http://www.webbie.org.uk/webbrowser/index.htm
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