gbarker's comments

gbarker | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

Have you considered a custom tool for your mom to control a screen reader in a way that’s most practical for her? A while ago I spent time with a gentleman who was blind and had ALS. I wanted him to be able to use his screen reader to browse the web even when he had almost no motor ability in his arms. So I built a tool that allows someone to browse the web through just a few key presses on the number pad. (The tool mostly simulates key input which the browser and screen reader are reacting to.) There’s a couple of videos of the tool at http://herbi.org/WebKeys/WebKeys.htm. Some technical details are at http://herbi.org/WebKeys/WebKeysTechnicalDetails.htm, and the source for the tool is at http://herbi.org/WebKeys/WebKeysVSProject.htm.

If you think a tool like this might have potential to be of use to your mom, let me know and I can try to update it in whatever way you think would help. (I can only help with tools running on Windows, as that’s all I know how to build.) Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

(I work in the Accessibility team at Microsoft, but my spare-time Herbi.org projects aren’t related to Microsoft. If you have any questions about the features in Windows for people who are blind or have low vision, let me know.)

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