http://www.counterpunch.org/~blinux/

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 8:10 PM, Haworth, Michael A. < Michael_Haworth@pas-technologies.com> wrote:

OK, I know that this is a LUG, and not a M$ group, but I have a problem and everyone here is more resourceful than anyone else...

I have a blind friend who has been using Windows XP and Outlook Express 6 for years with no problems. Recently she moved and switched service from Comcast to AT&T uVerse (BIG mistake). The tech that set up her computer to use the new POP and SMTP servers had no clue what he was doing and totally fracked her setup. I have managed to recover all of her emails, but her UI is screwed to pieces (remember - blind - not easy for her to adapt to something that she can't see...). AT&T says that she needs to transition to their webmail solution, that it would "let her have better access to her email and it would look the same no matter where she accessed it from" - I am disgusted by people that only know the scripted answers!

Now for the question - is there another mail client out there that is friendly to blind people (supports tabbing and arrow navigation between windows and fields), supports JAWS (text-to-speech app for Windows that uses MS Active Accessibility), and can be configured to meet her needs...

OR

My Google-foo seems to be weak in this area - Is there a distro of Linux specifically made with blind people in mind?

I have been speaking with her about giving Linux a spin, and am currently working on acquiring the hardware necessary to get her up and running, but she is extremely leery of change (primarily because of her lack of vision). I know that Linux would allow me to use Festival, Orca or KMouth, and that it's much more flexible in what it would allow her to do - I am being cautious though. She has found some other people in the support group that she is part of that use Linux and is haring some really good stuff...

Any help on the immediate need of replacing Outlook with something more configurable (I have tried Thunderbird - her reader app didn't get along with it) would be appreciated. It might be that there is no way of doing it and I have to tell her that I can't help her on the Windows side, if that is the case then I will have to do it...

Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance/help.

Michael Haworth

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I have heard and would think it possible that emacs would be the best interface for a blind person. mike

On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 7:39 AM, Billy Crook billycrook@gmail.com wrote:

I have heard at least two blind GNU users state that they have used JAWS, and the switched to gnome's ORCA screen reader, and found it to be substantially better. Any GNOME based distro should be fine so long as she sticks with GTK-based apps. Specifically Orca takes queues from the GTK window layout framework which do not exist in KDE or non-gtk windows. Nothing is going to be perfect. Especially when someone is looking for an excuse to complain about it, but Orca is supposed to be pretty darn good.

As for dealing with ATT? See if a mention of the ADA to ATT support's supervisors makes ATT support more eager to help. The ADA entitles any disabled person to rain sulfur and brimstone down upon any business that doesn't bend over backwards to placate the handicapped.

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 13:10, Haworth, Michael A. Michael_Haworth@pas-technologies.com wrote:

...

she is extremely leery of change (primarily because of her lack of

vision)

I would encourage you to disregard that. Everyone who is leery of change will find some justification to be leery of change. Many blind people have found Orca superior to Jaws. And take this chance to get her away from using ISP-provided email for heavens sake. Don't present things as an option, and people won't choose to be leery of them. _______________________________________________ KCLUG mailing list KCLUG@kclug.org http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug

Well in emacs you have a textual self describing system with interfaces to all system components. What else would a blind person want? at least you can do almost everything from inside emacs.

On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 8:09 AM, Jack quiet_celt@yahoo.com wrote:

Wow, I find that one hard to believe! I'm quite sighted and find emacs impossible to use. I'd hate to see how confused a less PC literate person fared.

Ok, so maybe, I don't actually find it "impossible" to use, just a very major nuisance,with a very large learning curve.

This is a Windows user we are talking about after all, and not an old Unix coder.

Jack

--- On *Tue, 6/21/11, Mike Dupont jamesmikedupont@googlemail.com* wrote:

From: Mike Dupont jamesmikedupont@googlemail.com Subject: Re: Help for a blind friend To: "Billy Crook" billycrook@gmail.com Cc: "Haworth, Michael A." Michael_Haworth@pas-technologies.com, "KCLUG (E-mail)" kclug@kclug.org Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 1:48 PM

I have heard and would think it possible that emacs would be the best interface for a blind person. mike

On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 7:39 AM, Billy Crook <billycrook@gmail.comhttp://mc/compose?to=billycrook@gmail.com

...

wrote:

I have heard at least two blind GNU users state that they have used JAWS, and the switched to gnome's ORCA screen reader, and found it to be substantially better. Any GNOME based distro should be fine so

---

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This showed up in one of my news feeds this morning...

http://raphaelhertzog.com/2011/06/24/people-behin-debian-sam-hartman-kerbero... On Jun 20, 2011 1:10 PM, "Haworth, Michael A." < Michael_Haworth@pas-technologies.com> wrote:

OK, I know that this is a LUG, and not a M$ group, but I have a problem

and everyone here is more resourceful than anyone else...

I have a blind friend who has been using Windows XP and Outlook Express 6

for years with no problems. Recently she moved and switched service from Comcast to AT&T uVerse (BIG mistake). The tech that set up her computer to use the new POP and SMTP servers had no clue what he was doing and totally fracked her setup. I have managed to recover all of her emails, but her UI is screwed to pieces (remember - blind - not easy for her to adapt to something that she can't see...). AT&T says that she needs to transition to their webmail solution, that it would "let her have better access to her email and it would look the same no matter where she accessed it from" - I am disgusted by people that only know the scripted answers!

Now for the question - is there another mail client out there that is

friendly to blind people (supports tabbing and arrow navigation between windows and fields), supports JAWS (text-to-speech app for Windows that uses MS Active Accessibility), and can be configured to meet her needs...

OR

My Google-foo seems to be weak in this area - Is there a distro of Linux

specifically made with blind people in mind?

I have been speaking with her about giving Linux a spin, and am currently

working on acquiring the hardware necessary to get her up and running, but she is extremely leery of change (primarily because of her lack of vision). I know that Linux would allow me to use Festival, Orca or KMouth, and that it's much more flexible in what it would allow her to do - I am being cautious though. She has found some other people in the support group that she is part of that use Linux and is haring some really good stuff...

Any help on the immediate need of replacing Outlook with something more

configurable (I have tried Thunderbird - her reader app didn't get along with it) would be appreciated. It might be that there is no way of doing it and I have to tell her that I can't help her on the Windows side, if that is the case then I will have to do it...

Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance/help.

Michael Haworth

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message and any attachments are for the

sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential, trade secret or privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited and may be a violation of law. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this message to an intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

---

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