❔As the tech transbian of the family, I'm trying to get my mother to regain some of the independence blindness (add an overprotective partner to the mix for maximum effect) took away from her by re-teaching her to use the computer. When she lost her sight she used JAWS or NVDA (I can't remember which one) and she even wrote a couple of books with that, but a fatal update broke compatibility with the program and neither her nor her partner knew how to deal with that situation, so she started relying on other people for computer stuff.
So, fedi people with disabilities, I'm asking for pointers on this. Accessibility software of any kind, if there are updated versions of either JAWS or NVDA that run on modern Windows (don't tell her to delve into Linux, that ain't happening in the near future. One baby step at the time.) or any alternative software to those programs, voice controls, resources for learning, anything. All info is welcome. Thanks in advance!
@EnaWasHere sounds like she was on an old version of JAWS then. If you’re in the US, there’s a subscription now that’ll keep it updated. NVDA is free. I would normally not recommend JAWS, but I’d also say go with whatever she was used to.
@EnaWasHere oh goodness, I just bet she had a bunch of her nvda addons go tango uniform. Nvda still exists, and I'd say a lot of the addons are mostly fixed, though that is still a problem plaguing this particular screen reader. Jaws (jfw) is still also existing, but is super damn expensive, and honestly... if she used nvda, have her get back with that one. I believe, the websight for it is http://nvaccess.org I'm using it here myself :)
@EnaWasHere Both Jaws and NVDA work with Windows 11 and 10, and as far as I know, both of the latest screen reader versions should work on both windows versions. I would personally recommend NVDA because it's free, I use it daily. I believe Jaws just went to a really expensive subscription model, $600 per year from what I've been hearing, and you can only get a less expensive price point by calling them. But I'm not a jaws user so don't quote me on anything jaws. Feel free to let me know if I can help further
@EnaWasHere @brainwane You can also contact @freedomscientific or @NVAccess on here if you have more specific questions. I'd also recommend checking out @bitsacb which is a whole group of blind folks dedicated to assistive tech. And if you're on Reddit, the folks on r/blind are always pretty helpful. Best of luck to you and your mom.
I was talking with her and she confirmed to me that she used NVDA, but that the disability association she is on gives JAWS to its members for free (they cover 100% of the subscription I think), so both are options for her. She says she found NVDA easier and she believes she can remember how to use it if she studies a bit. Apparently the issue arose when they changed their computer for a newer one and tried to install it with the same old executable she had on an old cd or something. I assured her that the good people of the fedi lands swore there's a new version that should go butter smooth and she thanks all of you for the feedback 🫂✨
@dotsonapage @EnaWasHere @NVAccess @bitsacb Thanks, Kerri! Ena, we would be happy to answer any questions you or your mom have regarding JAWS. We also have a lot of training resources available to help her get started. You can message us on Mastodon or contact us through our website: https://support.freedomscientific.com/Forms/ContactUs
@Kaliah @EnaWasHere $600 per year is what they charge employers. If you’re not using Jaws for work, there is a $100 per year option. There was a bunch of confusion and misinformation recently because of bad communication from Vispero, but the $100 per option is still there
@SyHoekstra @EnaWasHere Ah, okay. Thanks for clarifying. Like I said I'm not a Jaws user and don't follow Jaws particularly closely, so my information could very easily be wrong. Take it from the experts lol
@EnaWasHere if she has any usable vision there are magnification software, but having no usable vision myself I"M a little clueless on that score. I boosted ya post though :)