[jaws-uk] Re: SPSS statistics package
- From: "Denis Tocher" <dentoc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:30:18 +0100
Hello Graham,
The OU Knowledge Network website offers the following guidance to students
on the accessibility of SPSS.
Hope it helps,
Denis
[The Open University - Knowledge Network]
SPSS
SPSS is a statistical analysis program widely used in education and
industry. It is currently the only known package that can be used at all by
screen reader users, but not all of the features are accessible.
The only screen reader known to work with SPSS in any useful way is JAWS for
Windows, but customisation scripts are required.
One set of scripts that we are aware of can be downloaded from the Freedom
Scientific website at
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_support/BulletinView.cfm?QC=426.
A new set for SPSS version 14 was released by Richard Orme at the RNIB in
February 2007. Download SPSS JAWS scripts.
Stata software claims to be fully accessible (to the USA Section 508
standard) and may be a suitable alternative but is more expensive and
students may require alternative instructions to carry out activities.
R is free application which offers some useful functionality for screen
reader users as it has a command line mode and JAWS can read this without
scripts.
Summary
Features known not to work even with scripts are:
creating variables for data entry (after version 9)
reading output tables created in SPSS
Possible partial fixes are:
Use version 9
Supply students with SPSS files with variables already created
Export results to another application such as Excel (exporting to HTML has
not been tested)
Use an alternative statistics package
For students who have no useful vision, the most practical solution is to
use sighted help to input data, describe graphical output and export
necessary tables to an accessible format.
Discussion
Users can, by and large, conduct any analysis and produce output using the
JAWS scripts, but can't use JAWS to read any tables, graphs or other output
which SPSS generates.
Ways around this are for students to work with a sighted helper, or export
to Excel, or export to Notepad with a Braille display (although this works
only with a very small amount of SPSS output). Outputting to HTML might
also be a way forward but this has not beeen explored.
For versions of SPSS later than version 9, it is not possible to create
variables for data entry, using a screen reader. As with reading output,
sighted help is needed for this, or a student could be sent a file where
the variables have already been created and some of the data added. It would
then be possible to use JAWS to navigate the datasheet and add more data.
If a user wants to work without a sighted helper then he or she is going to
need to know how to import and export to other packages and then also know
how to use those other packages.
-----Original Message-----
From: jaws-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jaws-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Graham Page
Sent: 18 September 2008 19:26
To: jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jaws-uk] SPSS statistics package
Hi. Does anyone know if recent versions of SPSS are accessible with JAWS
for Windows? I know that scripts were written a few years ago. I am asking
in particular about version 15 of SPSS.
Regards
Graham
Graham Page
Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax: 0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype: gabriel_mcbird
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