Our mission is to support applications development using information technology with tools and techniques that do not depend on eyesight. We promote learning and collaboration in the use of computer languages to build useful products and services in society. Such applications benefit people with and without visual disabilities. All guests can read any of the content on the site. Anyone who wishes to contribute content may create an account with log in credentials. We welcome content contributions.

User login

WordPress Accessibility

Submitted by admin on Tue, 05/21/2013 - 11:47
in

Since some have been using WordPress, here is the start of a collection of links about its accessibility.

WordPress › Make WordPress Accessible
http://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/

Accessible WordPress Plug-ins: what does it mean?
http://www.joedolson.com/articles/2011/11/accessible-wordpress-plug-ins-...

Cities: Making Accessible WordPress Themes
http://accessiblejoe.com/cities-csun13/#/cities-csun13/

How do I add a control to a form using the keyboard in Visual Studio Professional 2010

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 03:58

When in solution explorer, after your new project has been created, do the
following:

1. Locate your form. It is usually called form1.cs

2. Press ENTER on this file to open it in the forms designer.

3. Press CONTROL+W, then CONTROL+X to bring up the toolbox.

4. Use the arrow keys to find the control you want (button, textbox, listbox...), then press ENTER on the control name
to drop it on the form.

5. If you haven't done so, go to Window>doc as tabbed document, then press ENTER.

6. Press CONTROL+F4 to close the toolbox.

What resources are available for learning math and math accessibility?

Submitted by admin on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 11:04

http://access2science.com is a site that contains math accessibility information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths/ is a web site for learning math.

Visual Basic Tutorials

in

Here's a collection of Visual Basic and Visual Basic 6 tutorials recently shared by Rick USA and Jamal on the Programming-l e-mail list. Two are for Window-eyes, but all of these can be applied to any screen reader.

Direct TV Scripts By Donald Marang

in

Donald Marang has created scripts he uses to automate recording shows on Direct TV. Here's what he says about them.

NVDA

in

NVDA is an open source screen reader.

NVDA Home Page.

Get NVDA plug-in's from http://stormdragon.us/nvda.

Get information about scripting for NVDA from http://www.webbie.org.uk/nvda/.

Get information about how to install components such as voices and plug in's from http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~hurrikenny/how%20to%20install%20additi....

BlindTunes JAWS Scripts For ITunes

in

John Martin has created a set of JAWS scripts for ITunes. You can join the development team or the mailing list that has grown up around this script set. John welcomes contributions to the scripts and suggestions.

Download the source here:
http://www.BlindTunes.net/BlindTunesSource.zip

JAWS Scripts For Script Manager By The Snow Man

in

You can get a free set of scripts for the
script manager by the snow man, along with many other well-known script sets for JAWS at http://snowmanRadio.com. Here is what Jim says about them.

I use these all the time myself, and find them wonderfully handy.

Some of the features provided are as follows:

Put your cursor on a function call, and press f9 to jump directly to the
body of that function. Press control+f9 to return back to the calling
point. Works only in the present JSS file,as do many of these.

Sample Visual Basic 2010 project for using the Microsoft Translator API

Rick USA has contributed the attached zip archive. It contains a project built with Visual Basic 2010 Express.

How Do I Get The C# Compiler To Work From The Command Line In Any Directory?

Submitted by admin on Wed, 12/07/2011 - 07:22

Thanks to TJ for contributing this to the program-l e-mail group.

You are getting the message:

csc.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or a batch file...

All this message really means is that the system cannot find the program requested, because it is not in the current path of directories it checks.

There are many ways to add a directory to the path. I will show you the one that I use.

Learn Python The Hard Way Gets A Second Edition

Submitted by admin on Mon, 12/05/2011 - 06:04
in

The web book Learn Python The Hard Way now has a second edition. See it at http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

The philosophy behind the book is to get the Python learner good at solving programming problems independently and comfortable with reading documentation and digging for answers. The tutorial takes a gentle pace and really works well.

Mercurial Tutorial

Submitted by admin on Sat, 12/03/2011 - 11:52
in

http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/Tutorial is a tutorial that explaines how to use Mercurial, a decentralized software management system. This kind of software allows team members on a project to work independently of one-another and distribute their changes back to the project without the need to coordinate changes.

SVGToSIG by Amanda Lacy

in

This is a converter which allows owners of non-Tiger embossers to emboss SVG files. This program was tested with files created using the latest version of the free and fully accessible drawing program SVGDraw01, which can be found at dickbaldwin.com. SVG files created using an earlier version of SVGDraw01 or with some other program are not guaranteed to work with this version of SVGToSIG. Note that this program is meant to create files for non-Tiger embossers which emboss at 12 dots per inch.

How to make Backtrack Linux 5 RC1 VMWare accessible with speakup

Submitted by Britta on Sat, 11/19/2011 - 13:54
in

I set the Virtual machine Memory to 1600MB, this is optional.
Wait for Backtrack 5 rc1 to start up.
Type root and press Enter to login.
Type toor and press Enter, to enter the password.
You may need sighted help to do some of the following instructions. Once you get speakup working, the command line will, of course be accessible:

Fix the audio bug in Backtrack 5

The following has been copied from an answer given on the Backtrack Forum :
To get to Backtrack GUI, type startx after you login.

Where can I find information about the C++ language?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/14/2011 - 02:57

http://www.cplusplus.com. This site contains both non-technical and technical material

about the C++ language. There is also material about the C language here.

If you want to learn about Win32 programming, check out http://www.winprog.org/.

Where can I find a JavaScript Document Object Model reference?

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/06/2011 - 07:46

You can find a full Document Object Model JavaScript Reference at http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/default.asp.

What mailing lists exist for blind programmers?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:57

Blind Geeks -- Where Blind People Learn Programming
http://BlindGeeks.org

BlindWebbers -- List for blind and visually impaired web authors
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/blindwebbers/

dev-accessibility -- Accessibility of Mozilla products to those with disabilities
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-accessibility

Dolphin Scripting Forum -- Discuss scripting speech, braille, or magnification with Supernova
http://www.yourdolphin.com/scripts/scripting_forum.asp

GW-Scripting -- Discussion list for information regarding the development and use of Window-Eyes scripts

Is there job training specifically for blind programmers?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:55

Lion's World Services For the Blind has a curriculum called Enterprise Solutions Programming -- a 10-month course which prepares clients to work in a wide
range of programming environments including .NET and others. Exams for Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) are offered through the program.
http://www.lwsb.org/enterprise_solutions_programming.asp

What programming languages are most useful on Linux?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:52

To contribute to the community, it is helpful to know one or more of the following languages:

* Bash schell scripting. This may be the easiest language to learn in Linux, and it is very powerful. Bash scripts are used throughout most Linux systems
to control practically everything.

Bash Guide for Beginners
http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/

Main Page - Linux Shell Scripting Tutorial - A Beginner's handbook
http://bash.cyberciti.biz/guide/Main_Page

GNU Bash Reference Manual
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html

What distributions (distros) of Linux are accessible?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:50

You can use a screen reader on another computer to log into any distro remotely, and then use it accessibly in a console mode session. Some mainstream distros
can be made to come up talking, without sighted assistance. There are blind programmers who love Debian, Arch, Knoppix, and Gentoo, for example. Ubuntu
Lucid currently holds a small lead over other main-stream distros in terms of default accessibility on the Gnome desktop, though more experience hackers
often prefer other distros.

Is there an IDE designed with screen reader support?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:48

Sodbeans is being developed at
http://sodbeans.sourceforge.net/

What tools are recommended for building installation programs?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:46

Inno Setup
http://InnoSetup.org

NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page

Is there a simpler language available, e.g., one that does not involve object oriented programming (OOP)?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:45

AutoIt is a Visual Basic-like language that is freely available from
http://AutoItScript.com

What tools are recommended for developing with the Python language?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:42

Install Python from
http://python.org

Install the wxPython package for creating accessible GUIs from
http://wxPython.org

For Windows development, install the Python for Windows extensions at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/

Also install py2exe, a package for building stand-alone executables from
http://py2exe.org

Alternatively, install ActivePython from http://www.activestate.com/activepython/downloads/. ActivePython comes with some Windows extensions and ActiveState's PyPM, which you can use to easily install, upgrade, and remove Python packages and modules.

What tools are recommended for developing with the Java language?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:40

Install the Java Development Kit (JDK) from
http://JavaSoft.com

Also there is the Java Access Bridge (JAB), which should be installed for each Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on your computer. A direct download URL for the
JAB is
http://www.renovation-software.com/files/tgsdk/accessbridge-2_0_1.exe

Eclipse is an accessible IDE especially tailored for Java development. It is available from
http://eclipse.org

Also there is the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT), a Java package that produces accessible GUIs on Windows and Linux. SWT comes with Eclipse.

What accessible text editors may be used for programming?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:38

This answer intentionally excludes Integrated Development Environments (IDE's).

Boxer
http://TextEditor.com

EdSharp
http://EmpowermentZone.com/edsetup.exe

NoteTab
http://NoteTab.com

TextPad
http://TextPad.com

SciTE
http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

Notepad++
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Is it possible to build .NET programs without Visual Studio?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:36

C#, Visual Basic, and JScript .NET command-line compilers are part of the .NET Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK), which is freely available at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx

Later versions of the .NET Framework include these command-line compilers in the distribution of the Framework, itself. Usually, a shortcut is put on the
Windows Start Menu for opening a command prompt with PATH and other environment variables set so that these tools are found when run. You could also search

Are other IDEs available for .NET development besides Visual Studio?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:28

Sharp Develop is an open source, cross platform IDE for .NET languages, available at
http://www.icsharpcode.net/opensource/sd/

Eclipse is an open source, cross-platform IDE for Java and other languages, available at
http://eclipse.org

A plug in for C# development with Eclipse is called Emonic, available at
http://emonic.sourceforge.net/

Are there tips for using Visual Studio with a screen reader?

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 06:27

A collection of tips has been gathered from blind programming lists, called "Nonvisual Development with .NET," posted at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/ndn.htm

Syndicate content

Book navigation