Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom?

Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by knob on Thursday May 14, 2015 @03:37PM (#9547104)

I hope you see this, because 1st-hand-experience.

My brother is blind. He has been using JAWS for over a decade.

I love OSS, and I know many distros have screen readers.

Yet JAWS is just out there ahead.

If she finds it too complicated: try and simplify things. Remove unneeded icons and menus. Customize her shortcuts. Install TeamViewer (if she is remote).

Keep helping her man. The internet, for my brother, is a place where his limitations are minimized.

Yet to have the world open up in front of you, is all worth it. My brother (just as me), speak spanish. He uses JAWS still the same, although the bulk is in english.

Let me know if I can help you in any way.

PS: If anybody can point me in a direction to help OSS screen reader software, please do let me know. Would love to contribute back.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by chrmaury on Thursday May 14, 2015 @04:04PM (#9547257)

NVAccess.org manages the NVDA screenreader which is free and open source. It's what I rely on to use a computer.

It's also stealing massive market share from JAWS.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by dbbolton on Thursday May 14, 2015 @04:38PM (#9547446)

Debian has some decent accessibility resources:

https://wiki.debian.org/accessibility https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-accessibility/software

ORCA is probably the strongest FOSS competitor of JAWS:

https://wiki.debian.org/Orca https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/

I don't know whether Debian would be the best choice for OP or not. In my experience, I wouldn't install any new OS for someone unless you are willing and available to help the person until they get the hang of it.

My parents have been using Linux (formerly Debian and now Mint) for over a decade after they got fed up with Windows. I still have to help them from time to time, but I think that would also be the case with Windows, except I would be trying to remove malware instead of showing them how to burn a DVD or what have you.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by brudgers on Thursday May 14, 2015 @04:53PM (#9547519)

Malware has not been much of an issue since about the time Vista rolled out. The new model is pretty good and the free Microsoft Security Essentials fills in for 3rd party crapware antivirus packages.

That's not to say that downloading 3rd party applications for Windows doesn't scare me much more than sudo apt-get install...the OS's just invoke different levels of trust in me. Anyway, XP was the last truly vulnerable version of Windows and thankfully it's been laid to rest.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by dbbolton on Thursday May 14, 2015 @05:38PM (#9547732)

It's more of a PEBKAC scenario. I'm not saying modern Windows isn't secure per se, but they are far less likely to install something they don't want on Mint (perhaps I should have said crapware or bloatware instead), such as questionable toolbars and other "bundled" software.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by tl on Thursday May 14, 2015 @06:19PM (#9547908)

As someone who has had to clean an infested Windows 7 machine, I disagree; there is no limit on what users can be convinced to install.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by psykovsky on Friday May 15, 2015 @05:38AM (#9549655)

There is no anti-virus against human stupidity.

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Re:Ask HN: How do I put together a computer for my blind mom? by psykovsky on Friday May 15, 2015 @05:37AM (#9549652)

The Microsoft Security Essentials bit would be very true if they didn't end up installing other crapware AV's on top of it, which happens more often than not, at least on the Windows computers I get my hands on. And even using more than one AV they still manage to get their browsers hijacked, etc.

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