hello,
you are not alone in wanting to avoid knowing the nuts and bolts of
computers in order to use them for a specific goal, such as in grad
school. in many ways, the majority of computer users, blink or not, do
just that. often, many know how to use 1, 2, or a few programs ; and
usually just to perform specific tasks in them. they have learned how to
select and run those programs when the computer has started and how to
save their work before shutting the machine down. there is nothing wrong
with this at all. as a blink there is however, the added challenge of
knowing how to work the screen reading software. if i might advise you,
learning as much as you can to make the latter work effectivly will be the
most valuable investment of your time. if you can make it work when
facing a new software situation, learning the minimun functions of the
software you need will be much easier if you don't have to fight the
schreen reader at the same time. also, talk to others and find which
software "talks out of the box" as they say, ie., it requires little or no
tuning of the screen reader to provide good access the first time. for
many commonly used applications, screen reader configuration files are
aavailable from other blinks or the manufacture. depending on your
requirements, you will need at least a word processor aand text reading
software and perhaps little else and one need only learn those few
commands, often done from menu
choices, to open, navigate around the screen, spellcheck, and save the
work.
i would not rule out wanting to learn some of the nuts and bolts in order
to know what to do when problems occur, or at least to know what it is and
how to ask for help. if you would like, please feel free to contact me
privatly and i will be happy to help in any way you wish.
regards,
dan
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