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 (148KB)
A Braille printer version is available on request from your local EATT partner.
Download MP3 audio file for student (33,309KB)
Teachers can give this MP3 audio file or transfer it to CD for the student to listen to at home. For students who do not have access to a CD player or MP3 player, an audio cassette version is also available. Contact your local EATT partner.
Welcome to this Introductory IT Course.
We hope that after taking this course you will have a greater understanding of what people with vision impairments can achieve using a PC and that you will have learnt some basic IT skills.
The course aims to make you more familiar with the PC as an everyday tool that allows you to perform a wide range of tasks, such as writing documents, sending e-mails, or finding information on the Internet.
This course is comprised of a series of short sessions on a range of subjects. Each session includes a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and a number of mini-exercises.
Try to find time to practise the exercises between sessions, either at home or at the training centre. Make sure that your home computer has the same keyboard layout and overall configuration as the one you use in class.
The course is divided into two parts.
The first part aims to show you the basics of what you can do with a PC. You will see how it's possible to write letters or send e-mails even if your vision is low or totally impaired.
You will be introduced to assistive software, that is, software designed to improve the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. This course is based on one such program, JAWS, a screen-reader which tells you what your PC is displaying on-screen using synthesized speech.
This is a more thorough investigation of the JAWS screen-reader and the PC in general. You will learn how to open and close programs, save and open files, create documents and e-mails and surf the World Wide Web.
The aim of Part 2 is to get you to a point where you can use JAWS to work on your own, and to qualify you for further IT training.
Lots of people with vision impairments use computers for reading and writing. Even though it may seem hard to learn, most people agree that it was worth the effort.
Be patient, have confidence in yourself, and, most of all, have fun!
In this session we will cover the following topics:
PC is short for personal computer.
The components of a PC can be divided into two broad categories:
Some of the computer's most important hardware components include the following.
The system unit is a case or cabinet that contains all the components that make your computer work. It normally sits on a desk or on the floor.
Some of the key components contained in the system unit are
This is where the programs and your work are displayed on-screen.
If you have a vision impairment, you can find out what is happening on-screen by means of a screen-reader, such as JAWS.
The mouse is a pointer device for marking and selecting on-screen items. As you move the mouse across a flat surface, an on-screen arrow, known as a cursor, follows its movements.
Any action that can be done using a mouse can also be done from the keyboard, so you can ignore the mouse. What your sighted colleagues do with a mouse, you can do with your keyboard.
The keyboard is an essential part of your computer. It is the mechanism by which you tell the computer what to do by pressing individual keys or combinations of keys.
You must be familiar with all the keys in the keyboard to be able to navigate your PC using JAWS.
The keyboard is divided into five main sections:
Here is a list of the most important keys:
A printer is a machine connected to the PC for printing documents.
When using JAWS, you need to have speakers plugged in to your PC so that they can hear the screen-reader. Alternatively, they can use headphones to avoid disturbing other people in the same room.
A scanner is a device that can copy images or text into your computer so that they can be stored in electronic format.
Software refers to the electronic data that is stored on your computer. Some of the software programs that you will need to use are listed below.
JAWS is a screen-reader program that reads out whatever is currently displayed on screen using synthesized speech.
Normally, JAWS automatically launches when you start up your computer.
Microsoft Windows is the most important program on your computer. It is your computer's operating system, a special program that controls how the hardware and software interact with each other, with other devices, and with you, the user.
When you turn on your computer, the first program that runs is Windows.
When the PC starts up the first thing to appear on screen is normally the Windows desktop. Compare it to a real desktop where the tools you need often are used. Here you can add shortcuts to programs and files that you use frequently.
The Windows Start menu is activated by pressing the Windows logo key or the Ctrl + Esc key combination.
From the Start menu you can
The Windows taskbar is normally located along the bottom of screen. It tells you what programs are currently running.
Turn on your computer and listen to the different sounds it makes as it starts up. Listen out for
Let the teacher shut down the PC. Try to start the PC several times until you recognise the pattern.
To launch JAWS, press Ctrl+ Alt + J.
To shut down JAWS, press Insert + F4 followed by Enter.
Sometimes you will want to interrupt the screen-reader. You can do this by pressing the Ctrl key.
One way to learn the keyboard is to use JAWS Keyboard Help, which tells you what keys have been pressed as you press them. Your key presses will have no effect while Keyboard Help is running.
You can launch Keyboard Help by pressing Insert + 1.
Start JAWS Keyboard Help and find the following:
Always be sure to shut down the computer correctly. The following keys are used for shutting down the PC:
Make sure you know where these keys are.
To shut down your computer:
Your computer will now shut down. Try starting it again. Shut it down and start it up several times until you feel familiar with the process.
10)Press Insert + F12. What time is it?
Answer: Press the Power button on the system unit.
Answer: Press the Windows logo key, select Shut Down, and then press Enter.Select the Shut down option and press Enter.
Answer: Press Ctrl+ Alt + J.
Answer: Press Insert + F4 then Enter.
Answer: Press the Windows logo key or press Ctrl + Esc.
Answer: Press Esc.
Answer: Press Enter.
Answer: Press Ctrl.
Answer: Use the up arrow up and down arrow keys.
This session deals with the following topics:
Every time your computer starts up, it loads the operating system and other basic software. This is known as booting the machine.
Sometimes you may need to reboot your computer. If it is getting increasingly slow, a reboot can be a good idea.
To reboot your computer:
Sometimes your computer may simply stop working. No matter what keys you press, nothing happens. This is known as a "crash".
You have two choices when your machine crashes:
Every time you reboot your machine, try to follow the sounds it makes. If the start-up process stops - if you hear no sound from the hard disk for more than two or three minutes - press Esc.
While you can set up keyboard shortcuts to launch different programs, a common way to launch a program in Windows is from the Start menu. Here we're going to launch a simple text editor program called Notepad.
To launch Notepad from the Start menu:
E-mail, or "electronic mail", allows you to use your computer to send messages electronically over a network of computers such as the Internet.
There are many different programs designed specifically for creating, sending, and receiving mail. Some web sites also provide a service known as "web mail" where you can access your e-mail using a web browser, without having to install additional software on your machine.
A popular e-mail program is Microsoft Outlook Express. Your teacher will show you how to launch it.
To be able to send and receive e-mail you need a computer with access to the Internet and an e-mail address. Here is an example of an e-mail address:
The easiest way to read through a file, such as a text file, word processing document or e-mail, is to use the arrow keys:
Open a document on your PC - ask the teacher to help you.
Use the down arrow key to read through the document line by line.
Here are some tasks that you can try outside class.
Try pressing these keys:
Ask your teacher to help with this exercise.
Answer: Press the Windows logo key or Ctrl + Esc.
Answer: Press Esc or press the Windows logo key again.
Answer: Press the Windows logo key, select Programs and scroll through the list of options until you find the program you want. Then press Enter.
Answer: Press the Windows logo key, select Shut Down, then select the Restart option and press Enter.
Answer: On most English language keyboards, you type the @ symbol by pressing Shift + apostrophe.
Answer: Use the down arrow key to read down through a file.
In this session, we will be dealing with
The word processor is one of the most useful programs on your computer. It enables you to create, modify and read all kinds of documents, such as letters, e-mails, reports, and even courses like this.
Before PCs became commonplace, most business communication had to be written on typewriters. This was problematic for people with vision impairments, as they had no way of checking what they had written. They had to rely on sighted people to check for typing errors.
Today, typewriters have largely been replaced by word processing software.
Using a word processor, you can
Microsoft Word is one of the most popular word processing programs.
To launch Word:
At the top of every program that runs on Windows you'll find the title bar.
The title bar tells you the name of the program and the name of the current open file, for example Document 1 - Microsoft Word.
Press Insert + T to hear JAWS read the title bar of your current program.
Below the title bar you'll find the menu bar.
All programs have menus. A menu is a list of options that allow you to perform different tasks within the program. Most programs have at least four or five menus in the menu bar.
To go to the menu bar, press the Alt key once. You can then scroll from menu to menu and down through each menu using the arrow keys.
To leave the menu bar, press Esc.
Try moving to the menu bar and escaping several times. Listen to what JAWS tells you about the Word interface as you go.
The first menu in the left corner is called "Files". It contains a number of different options, such as saving your work, printing a document or closing the program.
Working with menus is covered in detail in Part 2 of this course.
Under the menu bar you'll find the toolbar. There are a number of different toolbars in Word, each one containing small images, known as "icons", symbolising different functions. Sighted users who use the mouse often use icons instead of menus or shortcuts.
Under the toolbar, or toolbars, you'll find the document area. This is where you type your text. Think of it as a sheet of paper.
In the upper left corner of the document you'll find the text cursor. Compare it to your pencil, or the head of your Perkins machine.
When using a word processor some keys are important.
Enter creates a new paragraph.
Spacebar creates a space between letters or words.
Backspace deletes letters or spaces to the left of the cursor.
Arrow keys move the text cursor left, right, up and down in the document.
Here are some tasks that you can try outside class.
Practise this several times.
Start JAWS Keyboard Help.
Find the position of these keys:
Answer: Press the Windows logo key, select Programs, then Microsoft Word, press Enter.
Answer: Press Ctrl + Alt + W.
Answer: Press Enter.
Answer: Press the spacebar.
Answer: Press Backspace.
Answer: Press the right arrow key.
Answer: Press the left arrow key.
Answer: Use the down arrow key.
Answer: Use the up arrow.
Answer: Press Insert + T.
Answer: Press Alt once.
Answer: Press Esc.
In this session, we will be looking at
The Internet is a massive network of computers that spans the globe. It is a source of information and entertainment for millions of people all over the world.
Here are just some of the things you can do on the Internet:
The possibilities are endless.
A key part of the Internet is the World Wide Web, a vast collection of pages written in a special type of text, known as hypertext. Groups of web pages produced by single individuals or organisations are known as "web sites".
Hypertext allows the creators of web pages to include links to other parts of their site or to entirely different web sites, thus making it easy for users to quickly jump from one web page to the next. Navigating from page to page like this is known as "surfing" the Web.
Every web page has its own address. Web addresses normally take the following format:
To be able to view web pages and surf the Web, you need a program called a web browser.
These days, most computers come with web browsers preinstalled. One of the most popular web browsers is Microsoft Internet Explorer.
To launch Internet Explorer:
Internet Explorer will launch and display the web page designated as your home page.
Once you enter a web page, JAWS starts reading from top to bottom.
It will provide a lot of information when the page first loads, such as the number of links on the page and the address of the page. You can interrupt the speech by pressing Ctrl.
You can read the page by using the arrow keys, as you do in a Word document.
JAWS will tell if you hit a hyperlink by using the word "link", followed by the title of the link.
Sometimes, as you surf from page to page, you can lose track of where you are on the Web. If you find yourself in this position, simply retrace your steps to you find a familiar page again.
To step back to web pages you've already visited, press Alt + left arrow or use the Backspace key.
The Web is a great source of information on all sorts of topics, but how do you go about finding the information you want? Some web sites are designed specifically for this purpose. They are known as "search engines".
Search engines are covered in greater detail in Part 2 of this course, but for now, try visiting one of the most popular search sites, Google.
To perform a search using Google:
How many results did you get?
Answer: Press the Windows logo key, select Programs, select Internet Explorer and press Enter.
Answer: Press F6 or Ctrl + O. Enter the address of the web page and press Enter.
Answer: Press Ctrl.
Answer: Scroll through the page using the arrow keys.
Answer: Press Enter.
Answer: Press Alt + left arrow.
Answer: Press Alt + right arrow.
Answer: Press Alt + F4.
The following is a list of the most important keystrokes and keyboard shortcuts in the main programs that you'll be using.
A complete list of keyboard shortcuts is available in the Help for the various programs.
Display the Start Menu: Windows logo key or Ctrl + Esc
Close the Start menu: Esc
Close a program: Alt + F4
Focus on the menu bar in a program: Alt
Exit the menu bar: Esc
Create a new paragraph in a document: Enter
Insert space between letters and words: Spacebar
Move cursor in document: Arrow keys
Delete text: Backspace
Print document: Ctrl + P
Go to the address field: F6 or Alt + D
Go to the previous page: Alt + left arrow
Go to the next page: Alt + right arrow
Start JAWS: Ctrl + Alt + J
Stop JAWS: Insert + F4
Interrupt JAWS: Ctrl
Launch JAWS Keyboard Help: Insert + 1
Read the title bar of a program: Insert + T
