[ARCHIVED] JAWS guide to Canvas

[roswalker]

Does anyone have a guide to Canvas using JAWS. I have asked Canvas help and they have said it is up to JAWS to provide it - but JAWS clearly doesn't provide guides for every piece of software available and Cnavas is a closed environment anyway. 

It would be really useful to have a guide just to the basics about moving around the different screen areas. 

Thanks for any help 

Ros Walker 

[ericwhitmer]

Hey Ros, try this discussion that came up in the related content: https://community.canvaslms.com/thread/19504-quick-overview-of-jaws-and-canvas 

I hope this helps!

[roswalker]

Thanks for that. Unfortunately, it really doesn't answer the question. The links that Dana provides to JAWS are just overall JAWS commands. I have literally spent HOURS just sitting and pressing all the various commands to find out what they actually do within Canvas. I am trying to find quick and easy ways for our blind students to navigate around Canvas - and it really isn't easy. At my last university, we used Brightspace, and it was brilliant as they have a blind employee who is able to provide all sorts of help with accessibility - not just for blind students either. We had regular webinars and users with various disabilities shared and there was a whole bank of good practice materials. It just feels like the buck is being passed here when there are probably a lot of us who want to provide much better support and documentaion for our VI users. I do feel like I have probably managed to document the main points now, but it would just be so helpful to get some real feedback from VI students who use it regularly or from somewhere that has evolved proper documentation. 

[ericwhitmer]

Here's an open source software similar to JAWS, called NV Access, it only works on Windows though.

Maybe this can meet your needs? NV Access 

[ericwhitmer]

Here's the Official Canvas Accessibility Guide. Maybe this might help.

[DebeeArmstrong]

Wow! I'd love to write such a guide. I have taken thirty courses in Canvas as a JAWS user and I am now creating my first course as an "instructor". (I'm actually staff for disabled student services.)

Unfortunately, this is my last week of vacation and the Fall quarter will be crazy busy for me.

But over Christmas vacation it would be really fun to do it.

How would one go about submitting such a guide?