Would Accessibility be a big deal?

[EightBitz]

Originally Posted by Colen

As far as I'm aware, they didn't use anything beyond magnifiers / running at a lower resolution, so no special software was involved - it sounds like they may have had a different level of vision from what your friend does, so the situation may not be the same.

Edit: Also, by "operate the user interface", can you tell me more about what you'd be looking for JAWS to do? From a brief skimming of the documentation, it looks like (for internet explorer, at least) it uses custom hotkeys to let the app be accessed via the keyboard? Or would it just be used as a screen reader?

My friend's reply was rather long, so I emailed it to support rather than post it here.

[Colen]

Originally Posted by EightBitz

Sure. All I meant by "unplug your monitor" was, that's his experience. I didn't literally mean, "you should unplug your monitors".

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

EDIT: Just emailed him to request more info. I'll post his response here.

Thanks. From my (very brief) scanning of the JAWS web site, it appears to do 2 things:

1) Screen reader - based on the position of the cursor (and maybe the mouse, but I'm not sure?) it speaks what's "nearby".

2) Keyboard-based UI control - using keys on your keyboard, you can control an app that would normally require a mouse. (I'm not sure if this is a "standard" thing they do, or something specific to a web browser.)

It's unlikely we can do anything about #2, but it's possible we can address #1, depending on how exactly JAWS works. (There doesn't seem to be any developer documentation on their site, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what we'd need to do before getting in touch with them.)

PS: "You should unplug your monitor" sounds like some sort of odd backhanded insult.

[EightBitz]

Originally Posted by Colen

Thanks. From my (very brief) scanning of the JAWS web site, it appears to do 2 things:

1) Screen reader - based on the position of the cursor (and maybe the mouse, but I'm not sure?) it speaks what's "nearby".

2) Keyboard-based UI control - using keys on your keyboard, you can control an app that would normally require a mouse. (I'm not sure if this is a "standard" thing they do, or something specific to a web browser.)

It's unlikely we can do anything about #2, but it's possible we can address #1, depending on how exactly JAWS works. (There doesn't seem to be any developer documentation on their site, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what we'd need to do before getting in touch with them.)

PS: "You should unplug your monitor" sounds like some sort of odd backhanded insult.

I apologize for that. I didn't mean it that way. I only meant it to be a clear contrast between someone with low vision who could make use of magnification, and someone who's completely blind.

[EightBitz]

Originally Posted by Colen

Thanks. From my (very brief) scanning of the JAWS web site, it appears to do 2 things:

1) Screen reader - based on the position of the cursor (and maybe the mouse, but I'm not sure?) it speaks what's "nearby".

2) Keyboard-based UI control - using keys on your keyboard, you can control an app that would normally require a mouse. (I'm not sure if this is a "standard" thing they do, or something specific to a web browser.)

It's unlikely we can do anything about #2, but it's possible we can address #1, depending on how exactly JAWS works. (There doesn't seem to be any developer documentation on their site, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what we'd need to do before getting in touch with them.)

PS: "You should unplug your monitor" sounds like some sort of odd backhanded insult.

In his reply to me (which I emailed to the support email), he indicated that you can get a free version of JAWS with a limitation that it only works for up to 40 minutes at a time. There is also a developer's license which would have to be negotiated.

[Alistair]

One of my computer science professors used JAWS when he had to use a GUI (which he avoided if at all possible) due to complete sightlessness. I never saw him use a mouse. It was all keyboard navigation. With your UI paradigm, let's just say should you undertake this task, it would be something I would think of to comfort myself when one of my projects is going sideways to feel better by comparison.

[Colen]

Originally Posted by EightBitz

I apologize for that. I didn't mean it that way. I only meant it to be a clear contrast between someone with low vision who could make use of magnification, and someone who's completely blind.

No problem, I didn't take it that way at all, I just thought it was kinda funny.

Thanks for forwarding the email. At a first glance, it looks like reworking Hero Lab to improve accessibility with JAWS would involve basically redoing the entire UI, which is not something we can tackle in the near-term. I'll try running JAWS myself and see what I find.

[Alistair]

JAWS works best if you are using system windows and user interface components and don't stray very far off of it. For example, the vanilla Java UI of "that Open Source program" probably works pretty well with JAWS.