EATT
Equal Access to Technology Training
A project aimed at increasing computer literacy among people with vision impairments.
EATT is part funded under the
EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme
Download PDF version for printing (112KB)
A Braille printer version is available on request from your local EATT partner.
The second half of the Introductory IT Course is aimed at enabling the students to use the PC and a number of standard Windows applications with the help of ZoomText.
It is important that the students understand that they can control the Windows interface using menus and not just with keyboard shortcuts. Once they understand menus, they will be able to transfer this knowledge from one program to another.
In Part 2, you should teach the students how to use menus for executing commands in all programs before giving them the corresponding shortcuts.
The main theme of this session is using the Start menu, with particular emphasis on
The session also examines Windows interface elements such as the title bar, menu bar and toolbar and how to use them.
Student should be encouraged to carry out tasks using the three possible methods, namely
While some partially sighted users may feel comfortable using the mouse, others may find it difficult. Be aware of what each student's capabilities are and work with them to find the most appropriate way for them to operate the computer.
After this session the students should be able to
Here are some suggestions for how you can teach this session.
In Part 1 the students used the Start menu for shutting down and rebooting the computer.
In this session, the students should learn that from the Start menu they can
Let the students check the title bar of the application windows and dialog boxes as often as possible. This will help them understand where they are working and what they are doing.
Clarify the difference between menus and shortcuts.
We recommend working with menus for the following reasons:
Many people with vision impairments change the colour settings in the Windows display.
Experience from the pilot shows that students find changing the colour settings difficult, so we suggest that you do this for them.
However, if you feel your students are capable of changing the Windows colour scheme, you can include it in this session.
Place a short note to the students in the My Documents folder on each of their machines and demonstrate how to open it from the Start - Documents - My Documents submenu.
During Part 2 the students should become familiar with the Online Help in different programs. Teach them how to navigate the Help interface. We suggest using the index for searching the Help.
Demonstrate different examples of dialog boxes, such as
Explain the meaning of the text and buttons in the dialog box.
Students should spend time scrolling with
Then they can decide which method suits them best.
Have them work with different scroll speeds when using the keyboard and different mouse alignment settings when using the mouse.
Although this option was demonstrated in Part 1 you should repeat it in this session.
Note that you can change the size of the lens, overlay window, and H and V split.
E-mail is fast becoming the most common method of written communication, so it is important that the students know how to write, send and receive e-mails. They should also be able to open e-mail attachments.
Before you start teaching e-mail think about whether it would be easier for your students to use
This session also covers the reader tools DocReader and AppReader.
Since e-mails can often include large amounts of text, this is the most appropriate point to introduce reader tools.
After this session the students should be able to
Here are some suggestions for how you can teach this session.
It is important to make sure that the students understand what's going on in the e-mail program. Go over the inbox and outbox system again if you need to.
You can e-mail the program for this session to the students. Send more than one mail. Attach files in some of the mails.
For moving between the To, CC, and Subject fields and the body of the message, have the students use both the mouse and the Tab key.
Teach the students how to open and close the program, using menus, button or icon clicks
And have them switch focus several times between the folder list and the message list.
Be sure the students understand the To, CC and Subject fields.
Revise how to type the @ symbol.
Print a list of the class members' e-mail addresses in large font. You might also attach the list to one of the e-mails that you send the students.
Give the students time to e-mail each other or families and friends.
Have the students open a mail and then turn on DocReader. Check the ZoomText Help for the keyboard shortcut that launches DocReader. It varies between versions.
Before the lesson adjust DocReader on all the students' machines to read slowly. This is particularly important for ZoomText Level 1 users - those who use the magnifier only.
Level 2 users, who also use the ZoomText screen-reader, should start slowly as well in order to get accustomed to the speech synthesizer.
Let the students practise navigating the DocReader window.
Once they're comfortable with DocReader, have them practise reading the same e-mail in AppReader.
Give a concrete example of an e-mail attachment. For example, show the students a letter with a picture attached by paper clip.
Explain how the paper clip icon denotes an e-mail attachment.
Have the students open an attached file and read it using DocReader.
Teach the students to launch the Help by press F1. Have them read the Help topics on attached files and address books.
For people who are new to computers, we recommend using Outlook Express for e-mail. You can make its layout as simple as possible by displaying only the folders list and message list, and by adjusting the font sizes and colours.
Webmail interfaces can be difficult for low vision users to deal with. On the other hand, having access to a webmail service means the students would be able to send e-mail from anywhere in the world.
Choose according to the needs of the class and what you think is best.
The aim in this session is for the students to be able to use Word and save and open files.
After this session the students should be able to
Here are some suggestions for how you can teach this session.
Consider using the Windows Display settings to change the colour of the application background.
Choosing a stronger colour than the normal grey makes it easier for low vision users to see whether there is an open document on-screen or not.
Ensure that your students are familiar with the following elements of the Save As dialog box:
The students should save their documents using the File menu, the Save toolbar icon and the Ctrl + S keyboard shortcut.
Start concentrating more on the custom toolbar you created in Part 1. After the students have become used to this, you can introduce the standard toolbar.
You may want to enable large icons for the toolbars.
Show the student the different ways of working in the Open dialog box:
Have the students launch the spell-check from the Tools menu and by pressing F7.
Create a document with lots of spelling mistakes and have the students check it.
Let the students experience the different ways of selecting text with a mouse. Watch how each student copes with the different methods and advise them accordingly.
This may also be a good opportunity to introduce styles in Word. Have the students select different paragraphs and change the style.
Many people with vision impairments complain that they can't read letters they receive.
This is now possible using a scanner equipped with optical character recognition (OCR) software. You scan in the document, the OCR program recognises and saves the text, and the student can read it using assistive software.
Demonstrate how this is done and let the students have a go.
Watch how the students use ZoomText and advise accordingly.
Show them how to change the font size in DocReader.
Instead of answering every question the students ask you, encourage them to use the Online Help in Windows, Word, and ZoomText.
This session takes a more detailed look at the Internet.
After this session the students should be able to
As in the corresponding session in Part 1, it is difficult to specify an exact plan for this session, as the personalities and interests in the group will dictate a lot of what you cover.
Here are a few suggestions
Remind the students to fill in the evaluation form before they leave the class.
