I am not working on my MCSE.  However, I am working on my MCP, MCDBA and
ultimately MCSD.  I am doing it using LOTS and LOTS of VERY BIG books.  My
dear, sweet husband has cobbled togeter enough computers of my to have a Win
95, a Win 2000, and a Win NT Sorkstation and even a Win NT Server.  And he
has "aquired" all the software I will need to to every thing necessary.
(God, how I HATE Microsoft.  But, I MUST remain employabe.)

Mary Blanton

Mary Blanton

Justin Philips wrote:

> Getting an MCSE on Windows 2000 is hard enough when all your senses are
> working fine. But when one of them isn't-especially sight-the task is
> doubly or triply hard.
>
> by Keith Ward
> courtesy of MCP Magazine Print - January 2002, pg. 18
> http://www.mcpmag.com/news/
>
> 1/1/2002 — That's the challenge facing many students at iTec, a Little
> Rock, Arkansas-based company that started a program doing just that last
> year.
>
> The catalyst for the program, according to Shannon Goins, director of
> training for iTec, was when "some people came in off the street and
> wanted training and were totally blind. Their complaint was 'no one
> wants to accommodate us, no one knows how to accommodate us.'"
>
> Neither did iTec. After some research, they partnered with Lions World
> Services for the Blind, also a Little Rock company, to offer MCSE
> training. The first class of three students graduated in November 2001,
> the second one started in August, and the third class is scheduled to
> get under way in February. The classes are nine to 10 months long.
>
> It takes about four times as long to train their blind or severely
> visually impaired students as it does students with normal vision. The
> reason, said Goins, is that "It's not so much they're having difficulty
> understanding, but learning how to navigate. They have to know how many
> times to tab to go to a certain thing.so that if I say everybody set up
> a (DHCP) scope, they need to learn how to do this efficiently."
>
> Blind students use a program called JAWS that reads the screen
> information to the user. Goins said to get an idea of what it would be
> like to train for your MCSE and be blind, "turn off your monitor and
> throw away your mouse."
>
> Taking the certification tests also presents unique challenges. One
> blind student who just barely failed 70-222, Migrating from NT to 2000,
> had a lot of trouble with the large number of drag-and-drop questions
> and diagrams on the test. Relying on his special reader doesn't help
> much on those types of questions.
>
> All three students (one is blind and two are severely visually impaired)
> from the first graduating class are still working toward their MCSEs,
> and are hopeful of obtaining them soon. In the meantime, they have all
> reached their most important goal: employment. All three have secured
> networking jobs with the Internal Revenue Service.
>
> When it comes to finding IT work for blind students, Goins said it's
> been a "mixed bag" so far. "When we first call and talk to them, some
> places have said 'no way can we do this.' We're also trying to find
> employers that have positions where the students can fit in and not
> cause massive changes for employer," which can be difficult, Goins
> explained. But she is starting to see some changes. "Initially there's a
> lot of resistance (by employers), but once they have initial exposure to
> what they'll need, it's not a problem."
>
> As for the students themselves, it's opening up a whole new world.
> Often, the blind work at lower-level jobs, which some employers think is
> all they're useful for. Having an MCP or better, Goins said, can
> obliterate that perception. "Students tell us they're so excited to see
> something at such a high professional level being offered to them. It's
> a lot harder, but they can do it."  end of news article
>
>         Keith Ward, MCSE, is senior editor for MCP Magazine. He was a
> journalist for 10 years before getting certified, and has written for
> The Washington Times, World magazine, The Augusta Chronicle and The
> Gettysburg Times, among other publications. You can contact Keith about
> "Blind Ambition" at [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask] Ambition> .
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html