[Athen] Assistive tech compatibility?

[Al Puzzuoli]

Hi Rachel,
The only issue I see is with MathPlayer. Unless things have recently changed, the problem is that the plugin only works with outdated versions of Internet Explorer. I believe IE9 was the last supported version. It might be practical to designate a few stations as MathPlayer enabled, and prevent those stations from doing browser updates, but you definitely wouldn't want to roll out IE9 campus-wide!
Al Puzzuoli
Information Technologist
Michigan State University, 
Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities,  120 Bessey Hall East Lansing, MI  48824-1033
517-884-1915 
http://www.rcpd.msu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Thompson, Rachel
Sent: Wednesday, July 9, 2014 11:31 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] Assistive tech compatibility?

Hi, all.

Many thanks to those of you who shared your expertise about onscreen keyboards and what has worked on your campus.

I would like to ask for more input related to our campus-wide assistive technology proposal. We are exploring the possibility of installing the following tools campus-wide. In some cases, these tools have overlapping capabilities, but at the same time, we may have students who have experience using NVDA, but not JAWS, etc. If adding an extra tool dos not bring an added financial or support burden, we will likely include it.

 
  
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard (may not be necessary because of native onscreen keyboard tools) JAWS
  
 
 
  
MathPlayer
NaturalReader
NVDA



Read: Outloud University
Read and Write Gold

Window-Eyes
ZoomText





At this point, we have determined cost for our campus public computers and computer classrooms. I am looking into what technical challenges or incompatibilities these programs might have that add to the workload of our campus support teams (separate for each college, libraries, central IT), As I looked at the technical requirements and common troubleshooting/support issues for each program, I came across the statement below from AI Squared¹s ZoomText site. Have you had problems running multiple AT programs on your campus machines, either in an AT lab or in a computer facility used by all students/faculty/staff?

We have to figure out if we are heading in a good direction. Our goal is to make it so our students and others who could benefit from the tools do not have to wait for a specific machine or go to a separate location to access the resources they need. I hope to test these tools on our most commonly used computer image and can share here any problems that arise.
If there is interest.


³Compatibility with Other Accessibility Programs Most accessibility programs install a chaining display driver that is always active, whether or not the accessibility program is currently running. When two or more accessibility products are installed on the same machine, there is the potential for compatibility problems with the  accessibility programs. It is also possible that installing multiple accessibility programs may cause a crash when the system boots.

Some accessibility programs, including ZoomText 10, utilize DCM (Driver Chain Manager) to improve compatibility with other DCM compliant accessibility programs. ZoomText 10 utilizes DCM on Windows XP systems and Windows Vista systems that are equipped with older video hardware.
If you are running other accessibility programs on your system, check with the manufactures of each program for compatibility information and upgrades recommended for improved compatibility with other accessibility  programs.² From http://www.aisquared.com/support/more/release_notes#10.1

I welcome your input on this.

Rachel

Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
Director, Emerging Technology and Accessibility Center for Instructional Technology University of Alabama http://accessibility.ua.edu







On 07/09/14, 9:17 AM, "Brad Held" <Brad.Held at ucf.edu> wrote:

Dear Rachel,
My thoughts. UCF is a Windows 7 campus (for the most part; just a few Macs and Windows 8.1). With features like, resizing of the keyboard (to get larger letters), text prediction, number pad, and alternate input (hover keys and scanning), the on-screen keyboard in W7 is sufficient enough for our campus needs for accessibility and equal access. Plus it is built-in!

Click-N-Type is updated and maintained, but still looks like a Windows 95 program, I am sure this is for accessibility, but still a polish image is important. The W7/8.1 and Mac on-screen keyboards look modern. Again, just my preference for campus wide. For an AT lab, I think having Click-N-Type is a good freeware solution. An even better paid solution is Applied Human Factors - REACH on-screen keyboard. It has smart keys (dictionary base spelling), smart list (solid word prediction), scanning, mouse/pointer assistance, and completely customizable with lots of templates.
http://newsite.ahf-net.com/reach/

**Have to mention: The windows ease of access center is housed in the control panel. The simple command of 'Windows key + U' to access it is sometimes locked out due to administrative settings. This is a common security measure to stop students from messing up the computers in labs, etc.  Work with your IT departments to ensure students have access to it.
You can also  add a desktop shortcut to all the programs (magnifier, narrator, speech recognition, on-screen keyboard), or make sure they can be found in the start menu under accessories.

I hope this information helps. I appreciate your commitment to creating an accessible educational experience!

Brad Held
Assistive Technology Coordinator
Student Disability Services
University of Central Florida
Ferrell Commons 7F, Room 185
Orlando, FL 32816-0161
(407) 823-2371

-----Original Message-----
From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Thompson, Rachel
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2014 2:28 PM
To: athen-list at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Athen] Onscreen Keyboard

We are deciding what tools need to be on public computers campus-wide.
Some suggestions from other institutions from a few years ago included Click-N-Type, but I wonder if the PC and Mac native onscreen keyboards have caught up with user needs. Do your users who prefer an onscreen keyboard use the ones included with the Mac OS or with Windows? Do you know of reasons why we would install Click-N-Type as well?
http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

Any input would be helpful.

Rachel

Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
Director, Emerging Technology and Accessibility Center for Instructional Technology University of Alabama http://accessibility.ua.edu



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