Looking for applications for the visually impaired

March 2, 2008 2:25 PM

Asking for a friend: What different kinds of software can I suggest to my Visually Impaired (but can see) to use to make his computing sessions more pleasant/productive?

My friend is visually impaired but is not completely blind. He currently uses ZoomText for magnification purposes as well as to change the contrast of the screen (he prefers using black and white invert if that means anything to anyone).

While this software is incredibly helpful it shrinks the screen down to a very small window thus killing any desktop real estate he would normally have. In order to navigate around the screen he has to drag his mouse to the specific area he is looking for which ultimately makes using the computer a slow and arduous task for simple things like application launching and even just switching between applications.

I am asking the Hivemind to help collect anything that could be useful for my friend. He is running a 19" Dell XPS laptop with Windows XP.

The most specific things I am looking for are

1. Suggestions of ways that would make application launching faster (i.e. quicksilver but for windows)

2. Suggestions of hotkeys that could help cut down the time it takes for him to do simple tasks

3. Software similar to that allows him to keep track of the last line that he was reading in a browser or other application if he has to switch apps for some reason

Of course any suggestions or advice is welcomed and encouraged!

posted by iasdf1234 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Suggestions of ways that would make application launching faster (i.e. quicksilver but for windows)

Launchy is fantastic. Unfortunately not yet Quicksilver-fantastic, but still pretty good. By default it scans all of your Start Menu shortcuts. I also add directories only in My Documents, which is very helpful.

Suggestions of hotkeys that could help cut down the time it takes for him to do simple tasks

Here's a bunch. If you list some tasks that he does that are causing difficulty and are not on that list, we can help more.

Software similar to that allows him to keep track of the last line that he was reading in a browser or other application if he has to switch apps for some reason

Software similar to what? But in any case, I think the best solution to trying to use two different applications at once is to get an external monitor. Then you can maximize one application on your laptop screen, and another on the monitor. Much easier than messing around with rearranging windows on one screen, or switching back and forth a lot.
posted by grouse at 2:47 PM on March 2, 2008

@grouse

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/deskmarker.html is what I meant to link to.

I called him to ask other types of activities he finds difficult, I will post more when I hear from him.
posted by iasdf1234 at 2:57 PM on March 2, 2008

Atlanta has a Center for the Visually Impaired. I've been inside their center and it has a very well tricked out computer lab with all sorts of technology specifically geared to blind, but also (and more interesting both to your friend and from the HCI perspective) lots of technology for the low vision community. He should see if his local area has a similar resource. Here's a snip from their site:

<snip>
* CVI will have a Technology Open House the first Tuesday of every month from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Anyone with a visual impairment who is interested in learning more about large print and speech programs are welcome. For more information call John Rempel at 404-602-4311.

* CVI will have a Computer Class for seniors. These classes are being offered to people who are 55 or older with low vision. The class includes 15 hours of training over a 10-week period. The class covers topics such as accessing large print programs, using a word processor, sending and receiving email, and surfing the Internet. The class requires that each participant own their own computer in order to reinforce the skills being taught. Contact John Rempel for more information at 404-602-4311.
</snip>
posted by zpousman at 4:38 PM on March 2, 2008

Learn the windows hotkeys. I own a business that all we do is train visually impaired people how to use computers. The more hotkeys you know the faster you get around on the computer. My business partner uses Zoomtext and rarely uses the mouse anymore. You can assign hotkeys to desktop icons, or just use the standard windows commands to quickly open any destop icon. Try pressing Windows Key+D to minimize everything and put the focus on the desktop. Then press I (for internet explorer). The focus will jump to the first icon that starts with I. If its IE, press enter to open it. If not you can hit I again to jump to the next icon. Use M for Microsoft Office Word, or O for outlook, etc. There's lots more shortcut keys to speed everything up.

It also sounds like your friend is using very high magnification. If the magnification is higher than 6x or 8x, your friend should consider using speech output. Speech output can make it much easier to deal with email or reading documents. With speech, you can often get through the text faster than you can be scrolling through all the text. Zoomtext has a speech option, but you might also want to consider a screen reader like JAWS or Window-Eyes.

Finally, make sure you are using a mouse with a scroll wheel and use the wheel to scroll pages. It's a pain to move the mouse to the scroll bar, click a few times, then try to find your place again. The scroll wheel lets you leave the mouse pointer in the spot you are reading while you scroll the text.

My e-mails in my profile if you want more information. Feel free to contact me if you have more specific questions.
posted by rsclark at 10:32 PM on March 2, 2008

Another suggestion is that AutoHotKey can automate things that don't already have a hotkey.
posted by grouse at 11:43 PM on March 2, 2008

It sounds like your friend is using ZoomText in windowed mode. He should definitly try fullscreen mode. In fullscreen mode the whole screen gets magnificated and you move around just by using the mouse. It takes a little getting used to, but is way more efficent than windowed mode.
Also for setting the kontrast, i would suggest trying to set this in windows and not in zoomtext. you can do this under System Preferences - Display - Design. Switch to windows classic design and you have a bunch of negative contrast options.
This improves performance and usability alot. And images don't look weird, since only the UI is reverted.
You can also increase each font size in the system to huge sizes.
If he has a 19" Screen he could set to UI to something pretty large and it would still be more usable than ZoomText. He could go completly without ZoomText. I just stopped using MAGIc (the same as ZoomText) and I don't miss it

I would also strongly recommend to use Opera as a Browser. It is hands down the best browser for visually impared. You can zoom the whole page in, not just the text. Also you can set webpages to accesebility mode, which renders every webpage with the contrast you prefer, but keeps images looking intact. You can also write your own usercss and add them to your page. This makes the web look EXACTLY like you want it.
Also Keyboard navigation in opera is superior.
If you need help doing this or have any other questions, feel free to MeFiMail me. I am quite experienced doing this.

Also as someone already suggested if he is using a zoom as high as 8x he should definitly consider JAWS or the ZoomText Speech. I know people navigating around their computer with JAWS as fast as you would never dream of doing. Learning Braille and using a braille-display could help alot, but is expensive and time consuming.
posted by kall at 1:34 AM on March 3, 2008