I have a new W11 laptop which needs to be set up for a visually impaired home user person. She already has a older PC with "Dolphin" (https://yourdolphin.com/) assistance but wants to move away from that product. I have just been looking at the accessibility functions in W11 and they seem reasonable. I can see that the magnifier can be turned on / off from the keyboard and the narrator is then also available. Are they any other windows accessibility short cuts I should be aware of? Are there any other set up steps I could carry to make the PC easier for her to use?
Set up new W11 for visually impaired
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britechguy
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There is no "one size fits all" (or even close) answer to this question.
You would need to ask, first, what Dolphin product(s) [Dolphin is the company] she has been using (as there are many) and determine whether the accessibility features now available on Windows might already do those things. If she's been using something like the screen reader that Dolphin produces, but does not wish to stay with them, then I would suggest installing the NVDA screen reader, which is free [though I encourage actual users to donate, because that's how it's maintained] and open source and very full featured. It also has a massive library of community maintained add-ons that allow for increased ease of access to a wide variety of programs and other situations.
Narrator can be used, but it is typically not an easy transition for users of other screen readers. Microsoft is slowly improving Narrator to have a command structure that's more in line with all the other existing screen readers, but it's not there yet.
It's all about feature matching when it comes to a user with visual impairment or blindness. And knowing what they use and how they use it for already established stuff on their existing system should be your guide to what you seek on the new one.
You would need to ask, first, what Dolphin product(s) [Dolphin is the company] she has been using (as there are many) and determine whether the accessibility features now available on Windows might already do those things. If she's been using something like the screen reader that Dolphin produces, but does not wish to stay with them, then I would suggest installing the NVDA screen reader, which is free [though I encourage actual users to donate, because that's how it's maintained] and open source and very full featured. It also has a massive library of community maintained add-ons that allow for increased ease of access to a wide variety of programs and other situations.
Narrator can be used, but it is typically not an easy transition for users of other screen readers. Microsoft is slowly improving Narrator to have a command structure that's more in line with all the other existing screen readers, but it's not there yet.
It's all about feature matching when it comes to a user with visual impairment or blindness. And knowing what they use and how they use it for already established stuff on their existing system should be your guide to what you seek on the new one.
Markverhyden
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Just an observation for when I'm working with consumers. Regardless of their capabilities. Don't rearrange furniture on blind people unless you have to. Pun intended. People get set in their ways. Especially things like computers. Long ago I lost count of the number of people, no challenges of any type, who complained <app> wasn't working because the icon wasn't where it always had been. So I'll devote plenty of effort mirroring the previous environment to the new one. Classic shell is a perfect example.
britechguy
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@Markverhyden
Amen to what you observe!! Now I'll not contradict it, but come back to what I was saying earlier.
This illustrates why it's important when working with those who are blind or visually impaired to either ask, or observe, how they do things like fire up programs, if they work with the taskbar and/or system tray and, if so, how.
Most blind computer users use keyboard shortcuts to an extent almost incomprehensible to most sighted users who "point and click" for everything. Some prefer to put desktop shortcuts on the desktop, but they virtually never care where they are located, because it's first letter navigation via screen reader that gets them focus on the program they want to open. Even with desktop shortcuts, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to those, and some people do for their favorite programs. I can fire up NVDA (screen reader) with CTRL + ALT + N. Many others have virtually stopped using the desktop and get to almost anything via Windows search. I very much fall into that approach myself. Also, with the advent of the WinKey + Digit command in Win10/11 to direct fire up items you've placed in your taskbar (up to the first 10, starting with the digit 1 and ending with 0) many blind users have their "greatest hits" programs, e.g., File Explorer, Word, web browser of choice, email client, arranged in the taskbar in a specific order and use WinKey + Digit to fire them up.
When you can't point or click in conjunction with it, the way you use the computer is quite alien to most sighted persons. Even those of us who work with this population on a constant basis have to be very careful that our preference about how we do something is not presumed to be the client's preference as well.
Amen to what you observe!! Now I'll not contradict it, but come back to what I was saying earlier.
This illustrates why it's important when working with those who are blind or visually impaired to either ask, or observe, how they do things like fire up programs, if they work with the taskbar and/or system tray and, if so, how.
Most blind computer users use keyboard shortcuts to an extent almost incomprehensible to most sighted users who "point and click" for everything. Some prefer to put desktop shortcuts on the desktop, but they virtually never care where they are located, because it's first letter navigation via screen reader that gets them focus on the program they want to open. Even with desktop shortcuts, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to those, and some people do for their favorite programs. I can fire up NVDA (screen reader) with CTRL + ALT + N. Many others have virtually stopped using the desktop and get to almost anything via Windows search. I very much fall into that approach myself. Also, with the advent of the WinKey + Digit command in Win10/11 to direct fire up items you've placed in your taskbar (up to the first 10, starting with the digit 1 and ending with 0) many blind users have their "greatest hits" programs, e.g., File Explorer, Word, web browser of choice, email client, arranged in the taskbar in a specific order and use WinKey + Digit to fire them up.
When you can't point or click in conjunction with it, the way you use the computer is quite alien to most sighted persons. Even those of us who work with this population on a constant basis have to be very careful that our preference about how we do something is not presumed to be the client's preference as well.
This is very true. The couple of blind clients I have zip around better than most sighted people.
Custom shortcuts are so helpful. And it is frustrating when MS or other companies change the layout or process.
Jaws is an amazing and feature-rich program.
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