Re: Advice for a programmer losing vision?

  • From: Jared Wright <wright.jaredm@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:34:57 -0400

Ha, so much for ILM authorization being worth its time. I can't condone, of course.


JW

On 6/16/2009 12:04 AM, doctor love wrote:
hae bill, you can contact me on skype. I have a version of jaws if you want a coppy. my friend buys jaws every year and then gives us a coppy. I've talked it over with him and he said I can give you a coppy. but, I've download a coppy of jaws from torrents and it's good as well. how ever, I'll give you a coppy of jaws which I got from my friend. If you'd like to contact me, you can on msn at
mackrishi@xxxxxxxx <mailto:mackrishi@xxxxxxxx>
or you can contact me on skype. my skype name is zmackrishi. by the way, I'd like a little help from you also. I'm now learning programing. I've just started. or you can say that I haven't started cuz, I haven't started one. I need to know what I have to learn, and what I have to get. I have vissual basic rite now. and I really want to do this. I heard that this list is the best.

*From:* Bill Cox <mailto:waywardgeek@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2009 2:46 PM
*To:* programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* Re: Advice for a programmer losing vision?

Thanks, Jackie, and everyone for the replies.

I have to say, it's a load off my shoulders knowing that many other programmers succeed with visual impairment. I'm more adaptable than most, and am pretty sure I'll do OK. The emacspeak project looks most promising to me in my situation (long-time emacs hacker, with peripheral vision that should work long-term). I'll be able to use apps I'm familiar with with magnification sometimes (like skype). I'm having trouble installing any speech synthesizer it works with on my Kubuntu 9.04 x64 system, though. I'll post to the emacspeak list, and if I have to, I'll write some support for other speech synthesis back-ends.

Not that it's critical now, but if I'm going to bother writing a back-end for emacspeak to support another speech synthesizer, which synthesizer would you recommend? I've installed both festival and espeak. I've also listened to demos of Cepstral, which sound much better to me.

Thanks,
Bill

On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 2:12 PM, Jackie McBride <abletec@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:abletec@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

    Hi, Bill:

    1st, I do know what you're going thru. It bites.

    U asked a question about whether u should use magnification or
    screenreader. generally speaking, the conventional wisdom has it that
    once you're at 5x magnification or above, productivity decreases to
    such a level that screenreading software should be employed. This is
    not to say that being able to zoom in on a particular spot might not
    be helpful, but that it takes so much time to navigate the screen
    using magnification that productivity suffers. It should also be noted
    that eyestrain using magnification software can result in headache &
    fatigue. Often, if system requirements permit, screenreading software
    & magnification can function together to create a more powerful
    solution than either technology alone.

    Regarding learning braille, there are a variety of factors to
    consider, including tactile sensitivity & desire to learn. I recommend
    it for those who can, but, for example, many w/diabetic
    retinopathy/neuropathy find it to be more frustrating than it's worth.

    I really suggest that u not only avail yourself of the resources on
    this list, which are considerable, but also contact your state
    vocational rehabilitation department/commission for the blind, as the
    case may be. They should surely be able to assist u, especially as it
    relates to learning braille. Also, Hadley School for the blind in
    Winnetka, IL, has braille courses, though I think u probably have to
    be legally blind in order to access those.

    Please let me know if u think I may be of further assistance.

    On 6/15/09, Haden Pike <haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
    > The orca screen reader, part of gnome, supports magnification.
    >
    > Haden Pike
    > Email: haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx>
    >
    > --------------------------------------------------
    > From: "Holdsworth, Lynn" <Lynn.Holdsworth@xxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:Lynn.Holdsworth@xxxxxxxxxxx>>
    > Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 11:16 AM
    > To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
    > Subject: RE: Advice for a programmer losing vision?
    >
    >> And there must surely be a plethora of free and cheap screen
    >> magnification solutions for Linux. Anybody know anything about
    those?
    >>
    >> -----Original Message-----
    >> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    >> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] On Behalf Of Tyler
    >> Littlefield
    >> Sent: 15 June 2009 16:09
    >> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    >> Subject: Re: Advice for a programmer losing vision?
    >>
    >> Bill,
    >> Something you might check out is the speakup project found at:
    >> http://linux-speakup.org
    >> They have a mailling list, and a good community.
    >> Basically speakup is the community for one of the linux screen
    readers
    >> that is out, that uses espeak,flite,or festival.
    >> HTH,
    >>
    >> Thanks,
    >> Tyler Littlefield
    >> Web: tysdomain.com <http://tysdomain.com>
    >> email: tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    >> My programs don't have bugs, they're called randomly added
    features.
    >>
    >> ----- Original Message -----
    >> From: "Bill Cox" <waywardgeek@xxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:waywardgeek@xxxxxxxxx>>
    >> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
    >> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 9:03 AM
    >> Subject: Re: Advice for a programmer losing vision?
    >>
    >>
    >>> Thanks, Jim.
    >>>
    >>> It makes me feel a lot better to hear you say that.  I've been
    here
    >>> before,
    >>> with the typing problem, and there wasn't much of any
    community at the
    >>
    >>> time
    >>> to help.  Yes, I will most likely stay in the linux world,
    though I
    >> would
    >>> not rule out controlling linux boxes through cygwin bash
    shells and
    >> emacs
    >>> like I did before.  I also hope to help with development of
    some of
    >> the
    >>> tools being used.
    >>>
    >>> Bill
    >>>
    >>> On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Homme, James
    >>> <james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>>wrote:
    >>>
    >>>>  Hi Bill,
    >>>>
    >>>> You can definitely be productive as a programmer in your
    situation.
    >>>> According to me, you have come to the right place to ask
    these kinds
    >> of
    >>>> things. We have a lot of great people on this list. Do you
    want to
    >> stay
    >>>> in
    >>>> the Linux world?
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> Thanks.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> Jim
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> ----------
    >>>>
    >>>> Jim Homme, Usability Engineering.
    >>>>
    >>>> 412-544-1810.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> Note: I will reply to email and voice mail within four hours.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> "Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people
    >> with
    >>>> talent.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> "Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> "Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> "Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
    >>>>
    >>>> - Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> *From:* programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:
    >>>> programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of
    *Bill Cox
    >>>> *Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2009 10:32 AM
    >>>> *To:* programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    >>>> *Subject:* Advice for a programmer losing vision?
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>> Hi.
    >>>>
    >>>> Sorry if you get a lot of first-time dumb posts, like this.
     I've got
    >> a
    >>>> rare genetic defect that's causing me to lose my central vision.
    >> It's a
    >>>> lot
    >>>> like macular degeneration, but I'm only 45 years old.  I've
    been a
    >>>> programmer all my life, and have succeeded in dealing with
    disability
    >>>> before.  I could not type for three years.  I mostly program
    in C on
    >>>> Linux.
    >>>>
    >>>> What tools should I learn, what forums should I join, and
    what skills
    >>>> should I develop to stay a productive programmer?  I'm very
    good at
    >>>> building
    >>>> custom environments, which I did when I couldn't type.  For
    example,
    >>>> should
    >>>> I bother with Braille, and which screen readers are best for
    mail,
    >> web
    >>>> browsing (and which browser?), and controlling shells and
    emacs?  I
    >>>> expect
    >>>> to have peripheral vision for a long time.  Do programmers
    with only
    >>>> peripheral vision fare better reading text up close, or using
    screen
    >>>> readers?
    >>>>
    >>>> Thanks,
    >>>> Bill
    >>>>
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    --
    Change the world--1 deed at a time
    Jackie McBride
    Check out my homepage at:
    www.abletec.serverheaven.net <http://www.abletec.serverheaven.net>
    & please join my fight against breast cancer
    <http://teamacs.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=1790196&pg=personal&fr_id=3489
    <http://teamacs.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=1790196&pg=personal&fr_id=3489>>
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