“Access for All” ADA Visit Creating Cultural Exchange: Demoing My Assistive Technology

I was honored to do a demonstration of my screen readerprogram as well as how I operate my iPhone when WeCohosted the “Access for All” International Visitor Leader Program from the US Department of State and the Minnesota International Center this summer.

During the demonstration portion of the presentation, I showed the group how I use my screen reader to navigate the web. I pointed out various components of websites that were problematic for me, such as CAPTCHA and unlabeled buttons. I explained my frustration of having to click on every button just to figure out the purpose of each of them, and how it was impossible to understand the audio for most captias due to the background noise in many of the audio clips.

I then went on to show the group how I go about my daily tasks at work. I demonstrated how I complete tasks in Google Calendarand in Microsoft Outlook. I also showed the different functions I use in Microsoft Word and Excel, such as managing documents and spreadsheets as well as creating tables, charts, and graphs. The group was very impressed with how efficiently I was able to perform these tasks.

At the end of my demonstration, I did a quick overview of how I use my iPhone. I showed how I browsed the web, and I pointed out items that worked better for me on my phone, such as video controls and buttons. I also described some of the apps I used, particularly the currency and color identifier. A couple of the group members were especially impressed with the currency reader because they were curious about how sight impaired people identified money.

It was a very pleasant experience giving the demonstration of my assistive technologyto the visitors. They were friendly and outgoing, and they seemed very interested and impressed in what I presented to them. We established some good connections and relationships with this group, and I look forward to WeCo having more opportunities to be part of events like this again. Read more blog posts about the “Access for All” International Visitor Leader Program hosted by WeCo on WeCo’s IT accessibility Information Blog.

Written by Guest Blogger Nina, Administrative Specialist/Certified Test Consultant