I completed my degree, I secured a job, and all seemed to be going on smoothly. I was slowly but surely starting to achieve my goals and aspirations. However, unexpectedly and abruptly, life took a major turn. It came to a complete halt! 

You may be curious as to what transpired. My circumstances resembled that of an individual, soaring at great heights in the sky, only to plummet into a valley below. Let’s rewind. 

I graduated with a degree in computer science and engineering. I got a job at an on-campus interview and was ready to fly high with my dreams and career, but this is life! We do not know what will happen in the next moment. 

One day I was not feeling well and went to a doctor for treatment, and during the treatment, I lost my eyesight due to a drug reaction. Since I was born with normal vision and had no eyesight problems, nor did I ever wear glasses, it was very hard for me to digest the fact that I could no longer see and had lost my vision. 

Coping with vision loss 

My life came to a complete stop because as a computer technician, I was no longer able to see and work on the computer. I do not know what happened. Thousands of questions, and was not able to think of anything good, I was completely broken from the inside and did not know how to continue and what to do next. I was not able to use my phone, read any books, go outside, work on the computer, travel alone, and many other things and I felt like I was living in a nightmare. 

I was not aware of what lay ahead for me as there was no one to help me and guide me. My parents were also very sad and did not know what to do and tried to find a solution. 

Discovering Assistive Technology 

During the treatment, I visited one of the famous hospitals in India where a doctor suggested me a rehabilitation center and showed me how people with visual impairment live their lives, learn many things, and solve challenges. One of the staff took me to the computer lab and what I saw there amazed me. One of the instructors who was visually impaired, shared her knowledge and experience with computers and cell phones, how they use them and work with them. 

She turned on her computer, opened Gmail, quickly logged in, opened the inbox, composed a message, and sent it to me. I was shocked because within a split second she was doing all the tasks on one computer and as I watched it all happen, I was speechless and got goosebumps. I felt like OMG! I felt like fate has given me a new life and a new opportunity. 

The moment I experienced this and understood that life never ends, I found a new turning point in my life as ‘Assistive Technology’. Technology that supports me to learn, grow and live my life like others. At a point where I had lost all my hopes and dreams, this technology became my guide and mentor and helped me get back to my life. 

At first, it took me some time to learn and understand how it works because I was a sighted computer user before I lost my vision and the transition to learning how to use computers with screen readers took some time, but I learned and now I can say with confidence that I can work on the computer, read newspapers, do online transactions and online shopping, and much more. 

After learning computers with JAWS (Job Access with Speech) and NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) and magnifier in Windows 10, I learned assistive technology in cell phones such as Talkback in Android and Voiceover in iOS, which made my life smoother and gives me back the confidence that “I CAN”. 

The power of assistive technology 

I am happy to share that this turning point of ‘Assistive Technology’ has changed my life and other people’s views, even though I am a person with visual impairment – how I use computers, laptops and mobile devices and do my daily work and also help others when needed. It was like a boomerang for me. 

During my journey with assistive technology, I became acquainted with the term ‘accessibility,’ which was completely new to me. To learn more about it, I enrolled in a small course. There, I discovered that accessibility is a platform that can help me build a career and find employment, while also allowing me to contribute to making the digital world more accessible.  

Accessibility to the rescue 

Through my studies, I was fortunate enough to secure a job at BarrierBreak, one of the most reputable digital accessibility companies in India. Here, I have gained a deeper understanding of assistive technology and how it can be used to make digital products more accessible. In my role as an Associate Accessibility Tester, I test and suggest various remediation techniques to ensure that digital products like websites and mobile apps are more inclusive and accessible to individuals like me, who rely on screen readers to navigate their daily lives.  

BarrierBreak: a place of Inclusion, Growth, and Support

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work at BarrierBreak, a company that not only offers equal opportunities for growth and development but also emphasizes the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest technologies and best practices. Through both training and hands-on experience, I have gained a deeper understanding of web and mobile apps accessibility, WCAG, ARIA, and A11Y concepts, which has bolstered my confidence in my role. 

What makes BarrierBreak different is the feeling that everyone is part of a team and that everyone helps and supports each other. I have been fortunate to work alongside a team of the best mentors, who have consistently been available to help me grow and provide the best solutions to clients.

As a member of the BarrierBreak family, I have learned to embody the company’s core values of I3ON – Inclusion, Innovative, Integrity, Ownership, and Nurture – which have served as a guiding force in both my professional and personal life. I am deeply grateful to assistive technology and to BarrierBreak for providing me with this opportunity, and I sincerely hope that it serves as a turning point for many others, enabling them to lead smoother, happier lives. 

This article by Gayatri Murthy is a part of our BB Geek series where BarrierBreak team members share their expertise on accessibility and inclusion, drawing from their extensive experience in the field.

The post Turning point: The day when assistive technology came into my life appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

As a screen reader user, when I was a student we had completed our studies with the help of braille and audio books. Digital products such as mobile, laptop etc. were not available till some time back. Now a days, schools, colleges, universities, eBook publishers etc are providing books in PDF format to their readers. Students with visual impairment, too prefer study material in an accessible PDF format which enables easy access to information.

For students with visual impairment who are using screen reader, let us know more about accessible PDF and how to navigate within. 

PDF reader 

Acrobat reader DC is the preferred application to access the PDF documents and it has lots of in-built accessibility features. It is available for different platforms such as Android, iOS, Mac, Windows etc. Check to know how to use Acrobat Reader on Windows: 

Navigation 

Here is the list of quick navigation keys available to help navigate within the document : 

• If you are aware about page content or after reading the table of content, you can jump directly to specific page with the help of Control+Shift+N 
• Control + F  to find the content within the book. 
• You can jump directly to table by help of T and shift + T to previous table. 

Headings 

Headings are used in the accessible textbook to understand the content structure of the book.  Assistive technology, such as screen reader users can navigate the accessible textbook using any of options given below: 

• You can jump headings by headings within the textbook with the help of H for next and shift + H to previous heading. 
• Press down arrow to access the content below heading. 
• Press insert plus F6” to open the dialog box of headings when using jaws and press insert plus F7” to pool up the list with NVDA. 

Links 

Links used in an accessible PDF textbook help users to navigate page to page and specific chapter using bookmark link. Use the following quick navigation keys to navigate link to link: 

• Use the tab key to navigate the next link and shift +tab to previous link. 
• Press insert plus F7 to pool up the list of links. 
• Press enter to activate the link. 

List 

Similar to headings, you can access the lists in your accessible PDF using the shortcut key L or read through the content using the Up or Down arrow keys. 

Table

An accessible PDF helps interpret the table and provides students with visual impairment with lots of option to access the tabular content. Students can use different keyboard commands to jump to a table, read one cell at a time, listen to the table headers, read entire row, read entire column and even jump to a cell. 

Tip: You can get additional information about jaws screen reader shortcut keys on freedom scientific and nvaccess for NVDA. 

Accessible PDF textbooks or learning materials have truly enhanced the reading experience for students using a screen reader or a student with visual impairment.  

Need help with making your PDF accessible? Write to us at sales@barrierbreak.com.

The post As a student with visual impairment, how to navigate an Accessible PDF textbook? appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

Having worked with multiple screen readers over the years has always excited me as it gives me one more option to explore. Especially screen readers that are bundled with the operating system as we do not have to install additional software in order to use our computer.

In the past, have already tried my hands with VoiceOver on Mac, ChromeVox on Chrome Book, TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on an iPhone, so decided to try my hands on Narrator for Windows.

Let’s start with the basics of Narrator.

Narrator Basics

Press Windows Logo key + Control + Enter to turn Narrator on and off!

As soon as we launch Narrator, the QuickStart guide begins. The purpose of QuickStart is to help users learn basics of Narrator quickly. This is certainly a good-to-have feature when you are learning Narrator but later on it is something that users will get annoyed with. Microsoft has done the right thing by providing users with an option to prevent it from starting automatically each time Narrator is launched.

Simply select the checkbox “Don’t show this guide again” to prevent the QuickStart guide from starting automatically. One can turn it back on by selecting the “Learn Narrator basics with QuickStart” link available in Narrator Settings.

Just like any other screen reader, Narrator also has a key assigned to it which is referred to as Narrator key”. In fact, Narrator has two keys!

By default, both Caps lock and Insert keys function as Narrator keys. We can change the Narrator key any time from the Narrator Settings.

We can also lock the Narrator key so we do not have to press it for every keyboard shortcut!

Press Caps lock + Z to lock the Narrator key.

Tip: Press Ctrl key to silence Narrator temporarily.

The following table lists few of the basic Narrator commands for accessing information:

Tip: Press Caps lock + F2 to show the commands for interacting with the current item!

Having learnt the basic commands of Narrator, let’s now move ahead and find out how to browse the web using Narrator.

Narrator works pretty well with Microsoft’s Edge browser. So let’s get started!

Reading web pages

By default, Narrator switches to Scan mode while reading web pages using Edge. One can toggle Scan mode On/Off by pressing Caps lock + Spacebar in any application.

Narrator remembers the previously used Scan mode setting for an application and switches to it when you launch the application again. For edit boxes on the web, Scan mode is turned off automatically to help users type the text with ease.

Another important option that Narrator offers to its users is to work with different views. There are 11 views that users can chose from:

• Items
• Characters
• Words
• Lines
• Paragraphs
• Headings
• Links
• Form fields
• Tables
• Landmarks
• Suggestions

To cycle through different Narrator views press Caps lock + Up Arrow or Caps lock + Down Arrow

Switching between different views is especially helpful if you are using Narrator on a touch screen device. Yes that’s right, Narrator also supports touch screen gestures!

Along with reading text, Narrator identifies different web page elements, such as headings, lists, links, images, tables, form fields, etc. to help users access and interpret the information with ease. The following table lists down the commands to access different web page elements.

Apart from the above one can press number keys 1 to 9 on the Numeric row to jump to the headings at different levels on a web page. Yes, that’s correct 1 to 9 headings! Narrator gives options to jump to headings at level 7, 8 and 9 which are not commonly used on the web.

Just like any other screen reader, Narrator also provides users with several commands for accessing tabular information. So let’s find out the commands for accessing tables using Narrator.

Reading tables with Narrator

Tip: Press Caps lock + Ctrl + F to find text on a web page!

All in all Narrator has matured in to a useful screen reader option for users with visual impairments and is certainly a useful option not only to browse the web but also test web pages for accessibility!

The post Browsing the web using Narrator appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

1. Low Vision doesn’t mean that you are “blind”- On the contrary it means that you have a reduced level of vision that cannot be fully corrected with conventional glasses.

2. It doesn’t mean that you can’t read ever again – If your sight is not deteriorating, there are so many low vision aids that can help you to continue to read with magnification and high contrast.

3. If you can’t see the computer screen, don’t worry. Don’t be scared you don’t have to be forced into learning a screen reader software or braille. Check out Supernova Magnifier & Speech video and see how you can use your vision to continue to be independent.

Want to try all these fabulous technology, call Nishant at +91-7738204474 or email us at info@barrierbreak.com

Don’t be scared of low vision, if you have a child who has low vision or a parent who is facing challenges with age, don’t worry. Technology can empower you to live life to the fullest!

The post 3 Myths about living independently with Low Vision! appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.