From: Kelly Pierce
Subject: computer users network news #14
Articles should be technology-related. If you can write
about Windows with speech, or low-vision products, your knowledge
is in particular demand. If you feel your writing skills aren't
the greatest, write down what you want to share, and we'll do our
best to help with the writing.
Furthermore, we welcome items to add to the FYI or Treasures
columns. As it says in our Mission Statement, this newsletter is
meant to be a vehicle for communication. We hope you will
participate. Let us not neglect to thank those who have
contributed in the past and who continue to contribute on a
regular basis. They have made the newsletter the success that it
is.
For the fall issue, submit all articles on 3.5-in. disk
(ASCII or WP5.1), on cassette tape, or in Braille, no later than
October 1, 1997, to Cindy Brown on the eleventh floor at Blind
Service Association, 22 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois
60603. Articles should not exceed about 1100 words or 7500 print
character spaces.
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DAVID MCCLAIN: PERSONAL PROFILE
by Nate Branson
"My biggest reward is knowing I've completed the job in the
proper manner."
At 42, David McClain has had several rewarding jobs. He
currently is excited running his own three-year-old computer
consulting firm, McClain and McClain. Working primarily with
visually-impaired individuals, his company offers solutions in
the form of adaptive technology. Visually impaired, himself, and
a vendor with the State of Illinois, McClain has installed modems
on computers for the Cultural Center in Downtown Chicago.
The technology which he uses in his work also has a twin
side. Getting speech to run on a computer is somewhat difficult
because a variety of information must be assembled in such a way
that the text being read is understandable to the reader.
Getting the speech synthesizer to "speak" the words on the screen
involves coupling it with the appropriate screen reading
software--
appropriate, that is, to the particular user's needs and budget.
This is not necessarily easy or quick. But he enjoys the
challenges this work presents.
He worked at Commonwealth Edison from 1979 to 1995. He
started there as a mail clerk, and finished in the Customer
Service department. "Because of my visual problems, they could
not figure out what to do with me. I did everything from
cleaning out closets to customer service." McClain feels that
there were barriers at his former place of employment, but adds
that the ADA (American Disabilities Act) helps because it offers
legal options.
McClain has known and worked with Dave Porter who heads up
Comp-Unique, an adaptive technology and consultation company, for
some time. McClain's move into ComEd's Customer Service
department brought Porter into his life in the job-expansion
role. The job called for mcClain to examine company documents.
After a thorough assessment and conferring with ComEd and
mcClain, Porter
recommended that the way to do the job was with a Closed-Circuit
TV which magnifies text. ComEd bought the four thousand dollar
equipment which enabled mcClain to examine documents. But before
long, his job in customer service was phased out. McClain
accepted a buy-out offer from ComEd.
Now, in addition to his work, he attends DeVry Institute of
Technology and heads the computer repair division for the
Computer Network.
A project mcClain anticipates in the future is working with
touch-screen applications. This technology allows the user to
convey instructions to the screen via a light pen, a remote
mouse, or even a finger. He also wants to combine speech
recognition (the technology wherein the computer operates by
voice command) and speech synthesizer (which speaks aloud the
print which appears on the screen) applications together, which
he notes would be good for the physically disabled. However, the
combination of these two technologies has not yet been fully
refined.
(Nate Branson is an aspiring journalist, having a B.A. from
Roosevelt University.)
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WHAT IS THE COGNOSCENTAE?
by Cindy Brown
Some of us are not familiar with the word cognoscentae, and
to be honest, I have not researched it. If I'm not mistaken, my
memory of high school Latin tells me that cogno has to do with
knowledge. Many of us might associate scent to do with odors.
And, again, in Latin, the ending ae has to do with the plural of
a feminine noun. So, perhaps it refers to a group of "stinkin'
know-it-alls." But leave it to a towering intellect like our
own Dave Porter to come up with such a name for what some of us
smaller minds like to call the governing board.
Anyway, whatever you want to call it, it meets the second
Wednesday evening of every month. Its members include Dan
Neuwelt (facilitator), Anna Byrne (who prefers to be called
minutes-taker rather than the title secretary--the latter seems
to connote onerous responsibilities), and the various team
leaders such as Kelly Pierce (Lynx Squad), Jim Ferneborg
(Outreach), (Outreach), Sandra Saunders (Membership), Dan TeVelde
(Preview Crew), Cindy Brown (newsletter editor), Dave Porter
(Peer Training and Project Coordinator), as well as Carlos
Hranicka, Larry Bickhem, Pennie Lilly, Maurice Tanter (all
members at large). All members of the Computer Network are
welcome to attend.
What goes on there? The agenda for each meeting includes
the planning of various projects and activities and
organizational problem-solving.
To become more involved in the operations of the Network,
join us any second Wednesday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30.
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BLIND TECH QUESTION AND ANSWER
by Kelly Pierce
Subject: Typing software
Q. My boyfriend recently lost his sight due to
complications with Diabetes. He is a computer programmer and
would like to get back into the swing of things.
I have found several websites about speech synthesizers,
screen readers, etc. But, he needs to start at the very
beginning. Unfortunately, he was never a typist. Rather he was
a "one-finger" programmer and so he needs software that will
teach him how to type. Is there any software available that will
teach a blind person how to type?
Thanks!
A. I don't recommend typing software for the new blind
computer user who doesn't know how to touch type. Life is
complicated enough without needing to get accustomed to speech
synthesis and learning typing and how to use a screen reader all
at once. I suggest he use taped typing lessons that include
instruction as well as drill and practice sections. This route
has been successful for thousands of blind persons before and
after the computer revolution. One popular typing series is
"Typing in 10 lessons" by Ruth Manary. The Illinois Department
of Rehabilitation Services (800-275-3677) uses another series,
which is of high quality and equally effective. Your local DORS
home rehabilitation teacher can provide it for him.
The Hadley School for the Blind (800-323-4238) offers taped
typing series and courses. Hadley is a correspondence school
specifically tailored for the blind. Students complete
assignments and send them back for review and feedback. You can
assist your boyfriend in reviewing his work with the other
tutorials.
A computer equipped with speech synthesis is not necessary
for a blind person to learn to type. He just needs a way to save
his work for review and evaluation. Of course, any word
processing program works fine as a standard typewriter.
Your boyfriend might consider connecting with actual blind
computer users, such as the Blind Computer User Network. There
he can meet fellow blind computer users, some of whom are
programmers, who are doing the things he wants to do. He can
find out what works and what doesn't, learn how blind people use
their computers on the job, discover how people re-learned their
computer following vision loss, and much other hard-learned
experience and advice. This feedback and information sharing is
especially helpful if he is considering purchasing adaptive
hardware or software, such as speech synthesizers or screen
readers. He does not need to be isolated and alone.
As avid about computers as we are, we believe that simply
learning them is not sufficient to be ready to resume work.
Blindness affects the whole person, not just one part of that
person. Consider a comprehensive adjustment to blindness
training program where one can learn the alternative techniques
of
independent travel, braille, home management, and typing, as well
as developing the confidence to navigate the public attitudes
that often lead to misunderstandings about the abilities and
lives of blind people. I recommend Blindness Learning in New
Dimensions in Minneapolis (612-872-0100). Executive Director
Joyce Scanlan has been at the helm since the center's inception
10 years ago, and she and a core group of blind Minnesotans have
turned it into one of the nation's top training centers for the
blind. This writer is a graduate from that program.
Whatever he decides, we look forward to seeing your
boyfriend at an upcoming meeting of the Chicago Computer Network.
Above all, we encourage him to take action and travel on the path
of
independence.
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THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
contributed by Anna Byrne
Random comments and questions
recently overheard at a Network meeting:
1. "It's not hard to meet expenses--they're everywhere!"
2. "Do witches run spell-checkers?"
3. "Who is General Failure? and why is he reading my disk?"
4. Why doesn't DOS ever say, "excellent name for file name!"?
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FYI
Tribune Increases Access for Blind Readers. The Chicago
Tribune company issued the following statement on Wednesday, may
7, 1997:
To better serve its visually impaired users, the Chicago
Tribune on the Internet - http:\\www.chicago.tribune.com --
in the near future will offer non-graphical identification and/or
description of hypertext links in order to make navigation of the
site simpler. The link to the Site's index will also be
repositioned so that it becomes one of the first items to appear
on homepage of the Site. In addition, a user Ombudsman will be
available to users with disabilities to address their
concerns relating to the Site. These changes are being made
because a visually impaired user, Kelly Pierce, expressed
concerns
regarding these issues.
*************************
Currently, the entire contents of the print edition of the
newspaper are on the Web as well as loads of additional
information. This resource has opened up employment
opportunities as the entire jobs section, including the Sunday
classifieds are on the Web. The search engine for employment
listings is compatible with older versions of Lynx. Previously,
access to many of the sections of the newspaper, such as business
or local news, was limited only to users of Lynx version 2.7,
which was released in February of 1997. We know of only one
Internet service provider in the Chicago area, Ripco
Communications (773-665-0065), that has installed Lynx version
2.7. Older versions had difficulty
traversing the several levels of Web pages required accessing
pages that contained complex graphic designs called frames.
Also, some links on pages were not labeled in text, causing
confusion for the blind computer user. It was the presentation
of information that was the barrier.--contributed by Kelly
Pierce.
Public Domain Publications Available on Diskette. A
diskette catalog of all public domain publications (including
fiction and poetry) which are available on disk can be obtained
by contacting Richard Feltzer, Samizdat Express, P.O. Box 161,
West Roxbury, Ma 02132; (617) 469-2269; http://www.samizdat.com.
--contributed by Debby yStein.
The following radio and TV shows may be of interest
to our readers:
Sundays--11:00 AM, "TV.com," ABC, channel 7 in Chicago;
Sundays--3:30 PM, "Life on the Internet," Channel 20 in Chicago;
Sundays--4:00 PM, "Computer Chronicles," Channel 20 in Chicago;
Tuesdays--9:00 PM, "Real Computing," WDCB, 90.5-FM, Glen Ellyn;
Fridays--8:30 PM, "Computer Chronicles," Channel 20, Chicago;
Saturdays--2:00 PM, "CNN Computer Connection," CNN (Cable News
Network).
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TREASURES!
Planning on upgrading to a Pentium and wishing for a home for
your 486?
Got a Braille 'N' Speak classic you aren't using any more? an
old synthesizer? an out-of-date, beginner-ready copy of a
computer tutorial?
List what you've got in the Treasures column, the Computer
Network's home for wonderful things that their current owners
have used and loved and don't need any more! Anna Byrne is your
contact person. You can reach her by leaving your name and phone
number on the BSA voice-mail line, and be sure to indicate you
want to speak to Anna Byrne. That number is: 312-458-9006.
FOR SALE: AN INDEX BASIC BRAILLE EMBOSSER
perfect working condition, bought new in 1993
Braille translation software included
$1,500.00 or best offer
contact: Vileen Shah, 773-631-3234.
FOR SALE: "USING MS-DOS 5"
in 14 magazine-size Braille volumes;
details basic DOS commands for beginners and experts;
excellent foundation for knowledge of DOS;
DOS 6 and 7 not included.
price: $28.00 or best offer.
Contact Albert Anderson:
phone: 773-761-2209
e-mail: colfax@ripco.com
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NAME THAT NETWORK!
We're looking for a new name for the Computer Network.
We latched onto our current name by default. Originally, we
chose the name "Computer Users Network"--not particularly
original --but discovered we had to relinquish the middle word,
users, because it was, indeed, not original. In fact, another
group had already claimed it.
But, besides, neither of these names communicates what we
are --i.e., a group of blind and visually-impaired computer
users.
Members have been working on coming up with a fitting
acronym such as VISION or SIGHT OR ...
We know you can help us out. So please communicate your
ideas to either Pennie Lilly or Maurice Tanter by leaving a
message for one of them on our voice-mail line: 312-458-9006. Be
sure to indicate you want to speak to either Pennie or Maurice.
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