Re: Help for a blind friend

http://www.counterpunch.org/~blinux/

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 8:10 PM, Haworth, Michael A. <
Michael_Haworth-MpF0zXX3aryHdZQakrT3ElaTQe2KTcn/@public.gmane.org> wrote:

> OK, I know that this is a LUG, and not a M$ group, but I have a problem and
> everyone here is more resourceful than anyone else...
>
> I have a blind friend who has been using Windows XP and Outlook Express 6
> for years with no problems. Recently she moved and switched service from
> Comcast to AT&T uVerse (BIG mistake). The tech that set up her computer to
> use the new POP and SMTP servers had no clue what he was doing and totally
> fracked her setup. I have managed to recover all of her emails, but her UI
> is screwed to pieces (remember - blind - not easy for her to adapt to
> something that she can't see...). AT&T says that she needs to transition to
> their webmail solution, that it would "let her have better access to her
> email and it would look the same no matter where she accessed it from" - I
> am disgusted by people that only know the scripted answers!
>
> Now for the question - is there another mail client out there that is
> friendly to blind people (supports tabbing and arrow navigation between
> windows and fields), supports JAWS (text-to-speech app for Windows that uses
> MS Active Accessibility), and can be configured to meet her needs...
>
> OR
>
> My Google-foo seems to be weak in this area - Is there a distro of Linux
> specifically made with blind people in mind?
>
> I have been speaking with her about giving Linux a spin, and am currently
> working on acquiring the hardware necessary to get her up and running, but
> she is extremely leery of change (primarily because of her lack of vision).
> I know that Linux would allow me to use Festival, Orca or KMouth, and that
> it's much more flexible in what it would allow her to do - I am being
> cautious though. She has found some other people in the support group that
> she is part of that use Linux and is haring some really good stuff...
>
> Any help on the immediate need of replacing Outlook with something more
> configurable (I have tried Thunderbird - her reader app didn't get along
> with it) would be appreciated. It might be that there is no way of doing it
> and I have to tell her that I can't help her on the Windows side, if that is
> the case then I will have to do it...
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance/help.
>
>
> Michael Haworth
>
>
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-- 
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org

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