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Tomorrow I'm going to be speaking to a small group of #blind students at a local high school. Apparently the teacher wants me to help motivate them to learn more about assistive technology, which they've fallen behind on; she specifically mentioned JAWS, but I've asked if I can talk about NVDA as well. It might help to have some ideas for fun things to do on a PC, things a high-schooler would enjoy, that require some mastery of a screen reader.
#blind

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in reply to Matt Campbell

Baethyn
mastodon - Link to source
Baethyn
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Well there are the video games that have had mods created for them, the audio games that are out there that rely on keyboard controls, classic MUDS. Then there is Reaper and Audacity that allow audio recording and manipulation. Programming or building a webpage. Social Media with something like Tweesecake and Mastodon (please don't use that abomination formerly known as twitter). Talk about AutoHotkey and how it can used maybe? I'm out of ideas for now.
in reply to Matt Campbell

Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source
Matt Campbell
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Follow-up question for #blind people who play text-based interactive fiction (a.k.a. text adventures): Which IF interpreters work best with Windows screen readers, particularly JAWS? Lectrote (github.com/erkyrath/lectrote) wasn't bad the last time I tried it with NVDA, though you have to be a somewhat advanced user to find the right download (on the GItHub releases page) and unzip it. Wondering if there are better options.

GitHub - erkyrath/lectrote: The IF interpreter in an Electron shell

The IF interpreter in an Electron shell. Contribute to erkyrath/lectrote development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHub
#blind
in reply to Matt Campbell

Matt Campbell
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Matt Campbell
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It seems to me that interactive fiction / text adventure games reward mastery of a screen reader more than, say, audio games developed specifically for blind people, or the mainstream games I've seen that have added accessibility via their own TTS and other audio. And for those lucky enough to have a Braille display, they can use that as well when playing IF.
in reply to Matt Campbell

Matt Campbell
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Matt Campbell
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I might demonstrate my favorite IF game, Counterfeit Monkey by Emily Short (i7-examples.github.io/counterf…), while talking with the students tomorrow. That game is all about manipulating words, so it should go over well in a school environment. There's an in-browser player, but at least with NVDA, that has some annoying verbosity at every prompt. Would be nice to have a Glulx interpreter that works really smoothly with Windows screen readers.

Emily Short - Counterfeit Monkey

A page for the game Counterfeit Monkey by Emily Short.
i7-examples.github.io
in reply to Matt Campbell

Timothy Wynn
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Timothy Wynn
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If you're allowed to use add-ons, then may as well check out the IF Interpreters add-on. It does tell you which ones it works with too:
github.com/nvdaes/ifInterprete…

GitHub - nvdaes/ifInterpreters: Maintenance of ifInterpreters NVDA add-on, developed by Nick Stockton

Maintenance of ifInterpreters NVDA add-on, developed by Nick Stockton - nvdaes/ifInterpreters
GitHub
in reply to Timothy Wynn

Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source
Matt Campbell
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@twynn I'm hoping I can use my own laptop to demonstrate stuff while I'm there. As for what the students can use, I'm still waiting for an answer on that.
@Timothy Wynn
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Kyle Smith
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Kyle Smith
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I mis IF games. The first ones i played were bundled with the Braille Note MPower. I wish I could still play these games today. I've often thought that in some ways IF's are just muds without the networking.
in reply to Kyle Smith

Matt Campbell
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Matt Campbell
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@spaciath And yes, IF and MUDs have very similar interfaces. But I think a well-made single-player IF game is still worthwhile.
@Kyle Smith
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Liz Hare PhD
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Liz Hare PhD
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would it be too advanced to show them how contributing to open source projects like NVDA works?
in reply to Liz Hare PhD

Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source
Matt Campbell
• •
@lizhare I'll have a total of an hour and a half, including Q&A, so I guess I could demonstrate writing a simple Python program or NVDA add-on if I plan well.
@Liz Hare PhD
in reply to Matt Campbell

lizzard
mastodon - Link to source
lizzard
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oooh, good idea and good pick for a well written playable game. I'd like to know more about which interactive fiction clients work best with which screen readers!!
This entry was edited (1 month ago)
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Earsmeardius
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Earsmeardius
• •
JAWS is a scam. My mum had JAWS on her computer but the licensing was a nope. I installed NVDA and she's used that ever since.
in reply to Matt Campbell

the esoteric programmer
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the esoteric programmer
• •
using music making software? playing games? making them? also, I hope you'll talk about the fact that there are more screenreaders than jaws, such as you said, nvda, but also orca 😛
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