Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 85 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#51

Post by saqibs »

I'm a blind dev, and would love to help - contact @SaqibS on Twitter.

1. An iPod/iPad/iPhone with the built in VoiceOver screen reader is going to be much simpler than a PC, and thus easier to get started with. 2. If a PC is required, then try the free/open source www.nvda-project.org. It is very similar to JAWS. 3. A final alternative is a simplified interface for new blind computer users, like Guide (http://www.yourdolphin.com/productdetail.asp?id=30). I don't have much experience with that.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#52

Post by brudgers »

dbbolton wrote: post #50
knob wrote: post #43

I hope you see this, because 1st-hand-experience. My brother is blind. He has been using JAWS for over a decade. I love OSS, and I know many distros have screen readers. Yet JAWS is just out there ahead. If she finds it too complicated: try and simplify things. Remove unneeded icons and menus. Customize her shortcuts. Install TeamViewer (if she is remote). Keep helping her man. The internet, for my brother, is a plac…

Debian has some decent accessibility resources: https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-accessibility/software ORCA is probably the strongest FOSS competitor of JAWS: https://wiki.debian.org/Orca https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/ I don't know whether Debian would be the best choice for OP or not. In my experience, I wouldn't install any new OS for someone unless you are willi…

Malware has not been much of an issue since about the time Vista rolled out. The new model is pretty good and the free Microsoft Security Essentials fills in for 3rd party crapware antivirus packages.

That's not to say that downloading 3rd party applications for Windows doesn't scare me much more than sudo apt-get install...the OS's just invoke different levels of trust in me. Anyway, XP was the last truly vulnerable version of Windows and thankfully it's been laid to rest.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#53

Post by expressABLE »

Does she still have some vision? if so, more of a combination of speech and magnification would be best. For example, Windows full-screen magnifier and either TTS or free NVDA screenreader set to speak only under mouse and with verbosity turned down. iPad has all of this (no matter what the vision). lot of my senior clients with low vis use one. Chris Johnson, Assistive Tech expressABLE

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#54

Post by expressABLE »

Does she still have some vision? if so, more of a combination of speech and magnification would be best. For example, Windows full-screen magnifier and either TTS or free NVDA screenreader set to speak only under mouse and with verbosity turned down. iPad has all of this (no matter what the vision). lot of my senior clients with low vis use one. Chris Johnson, Assistive Tech expressABLE

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#55

Post by drallison »

I would like to suggest that you contact Jim Fruchterman at Benetech (http://benetech.org/) who has had years of experience with computers for the blind. His email is, I believe, jim(at)benetech.org.

About Benetech (from their website): Today, Benetech continues to be a different kind of tech company—a nonprofit—with a pure focus on developing technology for social good. More than two decades after our founding, we’ve grown to include multiple program areas and initiatives that provide technology to improve—even transform—the lives of people all across the world. You can read more about our work through our four main program areas: Human Rights, Global Literacy, Environment and Benetech Labs. - See more at: http://benetech.org/about-us/the-benetech-story/#sthash.qOG9...

Benetech is a not-for-profit and worthy of your support.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#56

Post by dbbolton »

brudgers wrote: post #52
dbbolton wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debian has some decent accessibility resources: https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-accessibility/software ORCA is probably the strongest FOSS competitor of JAWS: https://wiki.debian.org/Orca https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/ I don't know whether Debian would be the best choice for OP or not. In my experience, I wouldn't install any new OS for someone unless you are willi…

Malware has not been much of an issue since about the time Vista rolled out. The new model is pretty good and the free Microsoft Security Essentials fills in for 3rd party crapware antivirus packages. That's not to say that downloading 3rd party applications for Windows doesn't scare me much more than sudo apt-get install...the OS's just invoke different levels of trust in me. Anyway, XP was the last truly vulnerable…

It's more of a PEBKAC scenario. I'm not saying modern Windows isn't secure per se, but they are far less likely to install something they don't want on Mint (perhaps I should have said crapware or bloatware instead), such as questionable toolbars and other "bundled" software.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#57

Post by verelo »

How do the tools available for Mac differ to those available for Windows?

I personally have fallen victim to the hands of malware on my windows PC (doing nothing unusual I feel) which rendered it very frustrating to use, but my Mac has not had any significant issues. I imagine that as someone vision impaired these issues would be catastrophic.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#59

Post by CJefferson »

a2tech wrote: post #5

The Internet is not blind friendly. It sucks, and we need to do better, but for now, blind people are mostly locked out of the Internet. OS X has some really nice screen reading/accessibility stuff builtin and you can have it do things like read books from the iBook's Store out loud. Mail.app has some support for voice control if you're willing to get it all setup before giving her the computer.

Actually, Safari works fine with most of the internet (not everything certainly, but an awful lot of it) with the built in OS X screen reading/accessibility.

Re: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

#60

Post by tl »

brudgers wrote: post #52
dbbolton wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debian has some decent accessibility resources: https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-accessibility/software ORCA is probably the strongest FOSS competitor of JAWS: https://wiki.debian.org/Orca https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/ I don't know whether Debian would be the best choice for OP or not. In my experience, I wouldn't install any new OS for someone unless you are willi…

Malware has not been much of an issue since about the time Vista rolled out. The new model is pretty good and the free Microsoft Security Essentials fills in for 3rd party crapware antivirus packages. That's not to say that downloading 3rd party applications for Windows doesn't scare me much more than sudo apt-get install...the OS's just invoke different levels of trust in me. Anyway, XP was the last truly vulnerable…

As someone who has had to clean an infested Windows 7 machine, I disagree; there is no limit on what users can be convinced to install.
Post reply on HN