Skills for Access

Name

John

Key technology

Screen reader; screen magnification software.

Specific Issues/Key Terms

Hearing impairment; visual impairment; dual sensory impairment; display customisation.

What's your disability, and how did it affect your learning?

I have Ushers Syndrome, a combination of deafness and blindness. I was born deaf and learned to cope using lip-reading and hearing aids. In my late teens I began to lose my peripheral vision, resulting in total blindness in the dark. As the years progressed so my sight deteriorated to the extent that I now have acute tunnel vision. Recently I've had cataract operations and now use a digital hearing aid.

At the time of studying I had acute tunnel vision and ripening cataracts, and the hearing aid then was a programmed analogue in-the-ear aid. This dual sensory loss meant that I needed a note taker attending all lectures, in order that I could follow the lectures via lip-reading (having to lip-read prevents me from taking my own notes). Lip-reading is quite restrictive in that only about 60% of what is "read" can be accurately understood as many word patterns appear the same. Many people with similar conditions have to formulate two or three sentences in their head until one most applicable to the context and situation becomes apparent. This can be mentally draining, and can be fraught with mistakes, since we have to rely upon intelligent guesswork to fill in the gaps. This is the reason for a note taker to ensure I have the relevant and precise information. Often many lecture rooms didn't have a loop system.

Visually-wise I was experiencing some problems with the following lectures, particularly if the lighting was poor. This presented 2 problems:

1. following information on the blackboard
2. following the lecturer's lips patterns.

The impending cataracts also meant I had blurred vision making these tasks even more difficult. Blurred vision also meant problems with tasks such as data inputting and essay writing, caused by the use of small print.

How do you adapt your computer to make it easier for you to use?

I experimented with the screen reader JAWS and Zoomtext screen magnification software. In the end I set up pages to use an increased font size of 16-18 point in Arial, and once finished the task, I would reduce it to 12 points. A larger screen -a 17 inch monitor - was helpful in helping me to see more of the page in a larger font size. I also experimented with magnifying content using a closed circuit TV device attached to the computer, but encountered problems with desk space.

I also increased the size of the mouse, as my restricted vision caused difficulty in locating the mouse/cursor on screen. This was made more obvious by increasing the "pointer trails" as well as enabling the "location" using CTRL key.

What are the main problems you encounter when you use multimedia?

The main problems I find when using multimedia are with assistive technology software used to access multimedia. JAWS I found to be extremely irritating as I was presented with a voice describing the screen. Because of my hearing problems I found that I was constantly re-doing my action to make sure I had heard properly. In the end I abandoned it due to the fact I was increasingly getting behind in my work.

Zoomtext I found again to be an irritant due to the over increased size on screen display, and being too large meant difficulties in orientation and constant moving of the screen to find out where in relation I am to anywhere! I adapted Word to compensate for this.

I also have constant problems with locating the mouse and wish that it could be made to be more distinctive by applying a different colour, size and possibly flashing? I have to "flick" the mouse to make the pointer end up in the top right hand corner and then track back to wherever I want to be. This again is frustrating and time consuming, increasing the time factor doing any sort of screen work.

How does well-designed multimedia enhance your learning?

It has to be said that computers make anyone with visual or hearing impairments life so much easier than ever before. I am particularly grateful for computers in that we have the ability to manipulate programs to suit our own specific needs. We can to a certain degree use the accessibility tools offered by Windows to cater for a number of requirements.

Internet access has become more accessible again due accessibility features incorporated. We can change things like the text size and colour, and background colour.

Do you have any specific recommendations or advice to designers of media rich material?

I'm able to function providing I can set up the pages as appropriate to my needs, so allowing me to customise pages or resources is a great help to me.