Hi Keith

One place to start would be the CAD tool itself:

--How much magnification / zoom capability does it support?

--How does it do metadata for all the design elements and how well does 
his organization populate what is already supported? The screen reader 
or screen enlarger would need ways to access all of that kind of 
descriptive info but some organizations do everything visually and do 
not populate all the documentation fields that would help in the first 
place.

--Does the CAD tool do its own interface or does it have a browser 
interface? Different browsers will do different things as far as 
choices about how to magnify and what screen elements to preserve or 
suppress at increased magnification. IE7 or 8 have better Zoom than 
earlier versions but Firefox or Opera offer other clear choices.

If you Google accessible UML diagrams you might also find some info 
that could offer pointers for this situation.

My last thought is just to for the client to think specifically about 
what info he needs to do bids and then to concentrate on alternative 
methods to get what he needs. I wind up doing that a lot for some data 
model stuff but I know there are blind users out there who do more of 
this than I do.

Best

Dorene Cornwell
Seattle WA



-----Original Message-----
From: Bundy, Keith <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:57 am
Subject: [VICUG-L] Cad Programs with Screen Readers

We are working with a client who has partial vision in oneeye and none 
in the other.  He works at an electrician’s shop, andhis boss would 
like for him to remain there doing bids for the company. I am wondering 
if anyone has worked with a cad program usingeither a screen reader or 
screen magnification.  We’re not sure thathe can use ZoomText or Magic, 
but we’d like to know all options. Thanks for your 
thoughts.  KeithBundyAssistantDean for Student DevelopmentADAAcademic 
CoordinatorDakotaState University820 N.Washington AvenueMadison, 
SD57042Phone:605-256-5121Fax:605-256-5854Email:[log in to unmask] 

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