Re: PeopleSoft programming with a screen reader
- From: Alex Midence <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 14:14:13 -0600
Hi, Beverly,
I'm a little disturbed that you were told that programming was
becoming far too point and click driven for a blind person to do
implying that this is a field that is closing to us. While designing
visually appealing gui's using a rad tool is indeed problematic for a
blind person, many on this list can and do write many worthwhile and
well-written programs using text editors like EdSharp (itself written
by a blind programmer), Jarte, Emacs, Vim and other such tools. There
are also those who use integrated development environments like
Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, netbeans and others. They are not
restricted to any given language either as there are some who can
program in Python, c++, Java, c#, Perl, Javascript and Visual Basic to
name but a few. There are blind programmers working at places like
the Free Software Foundation, Google, and the Fcc. They also don't
just restrict themselves to Windows but can be found developing
software for Mac, Linux, and Unix along with other less well-known
operating systems. I guess what I am trying to tell you is that you
can still program even though you are not sighted and it doesn't have
to be pointy clickedy either. You may need to concentrate on under
the hood type stuff and have someone else gusy up the user interface
for you, what I've heard refered to as a themer or UI designer, but
you can still be productive.
As for People Soft, I personally don't know much about it from a
programming perspective. I was going to use it in customer service as
an end user at a job I had a few years ago but, we wound up going with
another solution. Back then, I heard that accessibility with it was
spotty in places unless you were able to get someone to do some
scripting for you in Jaws. I was using Jaws 5.0 at the time so,
things may have changed by now, you never know. On another note, if
you can't work with PeopleSoft, perhaps the web development and Java
programming might also be worth looking into. Your lack of vision
need not keep you from this either as there are blind web developers
out there and quite a few Java programmers as well. One of the best
IDE's for developing solutions in Java is Eclipse and it is known for
its excellent accessibility. Even better, Eclipse can be used to
write code in several languages and is accessible across two platforms
that I know of and possible 3. I've used it in Windows a bit and in
Linux as well. I'll let others far more experienced at programming
than I tell you about its ups and downs (I'm a beginner, yself, you
see), but there's stuff out there which you can use with the assistive
tech you have.
If worse comes to worse and you find you can't code for a living at
your current employer, there's always a big need in the open source
and free software community oin Linux as well as in windows for people
to make a lot of what is out there better. So, if you want to code
again because it's what you like to do, there are many options open to
you.
Best regards,
Alex M
On 2/4/11, Homme, James <james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi,
> I asked a sighted friend of mine some pointed questions about this. From
> what he says, it may be doable, but PeopleSoft is such a big platform that
> it depends on the area of that platform that you want to work with. My
> friend uses a facility something like Visual Studio to drop stuff onto a
> screen layout, but he told me that the stuff has property windows where you
> c an type stuff in to change properties, which moves it around. I can
> investigate further if you need me to do that.
>
> Jim
>
> Jim Homme,
> Usability Services,
> Phone: 412-544-1810. Skype: jim.homme
> Internal recipients, Read my accessibility blog. Discuss accessibility
> here. Accessibility Wiki: Breaking news and accessibility advice
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Beverly Wieland
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 5:54 PM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: PeopleSoft programming with a screen reader
>
> I am interested in applying for a PeopleSoft programmer/analyst position,
> but am totally blind and have no idea how feasible this might be with a
> screen reader. I have a B.A. in Computer Science and worked for nearly 14
> years as a programmer/analyst using a 4th generation language called
> Natural. Natural was on an IBM mainframe and was completely accessible as
> it used English statements and punctuation. I have spent the past 12
> years doing computer help desk work, as my supervisor believed that
> programming was becoming too much "point and click" for a blind person to
> easily do. The job was a lateral move with the same salary, and I enjoy
> helping people. So I took it. But I miss programming terribly and would
> like to get back into it. People
> Soft is used at the university where I work for all student, financial and
> HR applications. So this is the only programming available with the
> exception of java and web page creation.
>
> Does anyone have experience in this area? Failing that, any advice for
> me? I was thinking of applying and offering to test everything I would
> need to do with adaptive technology as a condition for accepting the
> position. Is this a good idea, or unnecessary? Obviously my department
> would need to know whether I can perform the job responsibilities.
>
> I am currently using JAWS with an 80-cell Braille Window.
>
> Many thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.
> Beverly Wieland
> bwieland@xxxxxxxx
> IT Help Center
> University of Delaware
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