Re: [libreoffice-users] Accessibility issues - BLIND USER

Hi :)
Sorry i didn't forward this to the right list earlier!  Have you had any luck solving the problems? 
 I'm not sure if you are subscribed to the right lists so i have made sure you are being CC'd so 
that you get the responses.
Apols and regards from
Tom :)  





> ________________________________
> From: les <hlhowell@pacbell.net>
> To: Wes Will <wwill@siu.edu> 
> Cc: LibreOffice User Support Mailing List <users@global.libreoffice.org> 
> Sent: Wednesday, 20 February 2013, 17:03
> Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Accessibility issues - BLIND USER
>
> Hi, Wes,    
>     There is an Braille institute in LA, just off the 101 near Universal
> City as I recall.  They should be able to shed some light on these
> issues.  
>     Here is their EMAIL address:
>     la@brailleinstitute.org
>
>
>     Or you can contact a local institute near where you live and they might
> be able to help.  
>
>     There are other options in California, but I just know a bit because my
> wife had a vision impaired friend.
>
>     As my own vision is failing and I have a friend whose vision is also
> failing, this topic will become more and more important to me as well.
> Screen readers suck on even their best days, but given the
> alternatives....
>
> Good luck.
>
> LesH
> On Wed, 2013-02-20 at 01:33 -0600, Wes Will wrote:
> > Greetings.  Just signed up for the list.  Have NOT had the time yet to 
> > get to the archives and dig for prior messages to this list regarding 
> > blind users, so if this is already old news, please forgive me and drop 
> > a link to the pertinent archives.
> >
> > I will assuredly be delving for this topic as soon as it is possible. 
> > I'll likely wait for daylight, it is presently 0100 hours here (U.S. 
> > CST) and it has been a long day.
> >
> > The problem is that I have been talking LibreOffice up to the heavens to 
> > a blind friend.  He is stuck in a WinBlows environment, has the 
> > latest-version-but-one of the JAWS screen reader, and has been scorched 
> > by M$ Turd one too many times.  It -does- read through his screen 
> > reader, but their "ribbon" foolishness has made the thing completely and 
> > utterly useless to him.  Simple things that he has always been able to 
> > do with a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-O for opening a new document for 
> > instance) no longer work.  One keyboard command might do one thing if a 
> > certain 'ribbon component' is active, and a completely different thing 
> > if another is active.  He needs a reliable productivity suite, and I 
> > think LibreOffice -ought- to be perfect for him.
> >
> > Except that it ISN'T.  He installed it, and was greeted with SILENCE 
> > from his screen reader.  Keyboard commands, like that Ctrl-O, work fine. 
> >    It just won't read the screen to him.  Nightmare time for a totally 
> > blind person who just wants it to talk to him like all the other 
> > applications he uses.
> >
> > So I start looking, and I find that there is a REQUIRED additional JAVA 
> > API that must be installed.  Roadblock ONE.  It's on an Oracle site, 
> > which ISN'T all that 'blind friendly' and requires license acceptance 
> > via a bloody MOUSE CLICK on the web page.  "MOUSE" and "BLIND" do NOT go 
> > together.  I can get him by that, eventually, by downloading it myself 
> > (done) and sending it to him, but then it goes to roadblock TWO.  The 
> > API installer is NOT 'blind friendly' either, requiring that he unzip 
> > the package, find the correct file for his OS, start it, and then answer 
> > (BY MOUSE-CLICKS AGAIN!!) several pages of information.  I cannot walk 
> > him through this, as I do NOT use Microsoft ANYTHING.  I cannot simply 
> > do it for him - he is in California and I am in Illinois.  There is a 
> > 3000 kilometer gap between his keyboard and my hand.
> >
> > Is there ANY WAY that the correct API can be embedded into the 
> > LibreOffice package, or put there as an option in the install process?
> >
> > I.E. start the LibreOffice install; somewhere near the beginning be 
> > presented with "Add Accessibility Java Extension API to LibreOffice;" 
> > select "Accept Oracle License Agreement;" Continue installation WITH the 
> > added Java API automatically being unpacked and installed in the proper 
> > place.
> >
> > Or even a previously-accessibility-extended-install version of the 
> > LibreOffice suite installer.
> >
> > Can anyone get me past these roadblocks?  I'm at a loss here, I DO think 
> > that FOSS software will work well for him, but getting it to actually 
> > WORK in the screen reader environment is already a messy, complicated 
> > thing for a BLIND MAN.
> >
> > Are there work-arounds or things that can be done to accomplish this?
> >
> > Another thing I noticed in the documentation for accessibility:  The 
> > JAWS screen reader Version listed as being compatible with the (JAVA 
> > Accessibility API-Enabled) LibreOffice suite was SEVEN...  They are up 
> > to version FOURTEEN, and he is using TWELVE.  Has anyone checked these 
> > out for compatibility?  Again, I cannot, since it is a Win-Only 
> > application.  If I can get my friend in California past this whole mess, 
> > I will gladly have him test it out for compatibility and report back 
> > here so the documentation can be updated.
> >
> > Ideas?  Links to information?  Go suck an egg?  What should I do here?
> >
> > --
> > Wes Will
>
>
>
>
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