7.35. Configuration recommendations for visually impaired or blind users¶
This chapter will cover recommended configuration settings for the various parts of the IDERI note software suite for visually impaired or blind users. Depending on the degree of visual impairment of a user, it might already be sufficient to turn on high contrast settings for a particular user. The two most important components of the IDERI note software suite that users interact with, the IDERI note client and the IDERI note administrator respect high contrast settings.
For users with lower vision, where high contrast settings are not of any particular use, e.g. users that need screen readers to work with their computer, a number of configuration settings can be done for the various parts of IDERI note, and this is what this chapter is all about. Since improvements in accessibility are to be expected from release to release of the various parts of the IDERI note software suite, it might be helpful to recheck the information presented herein once a new release of this documentation is available. The first few of the following paragraphs will deal with general recommendations and subsequent ones will focus on specific parts of the IDERI note software suite.
7.35.1. Use the .sbak files that are installed with the IDERI note components¶
For the usage of the popular JAWS® screenreader software, various components of the IDERI note software suite ship with files with the extension .sbak. These files can be found after installation of the component in the component’s installation directory and should be imported into a running JAWS® installation for accessibility improvements tailored to individual subcomponents of the IDERI note component. Please note that JAWS® sometimes fails to properly detect these files as valid .sbak files when directly importing from the installation directory. The reason for this is unknown, but might have to do with path lengths. In that case, copy the .sbak files to a directory with a short path name such as c:\temp and try to import the files from this location.
7.35.3. Configuration recommendations for the IDERI note administrator¶
The following is a non-exhaustive list of configuration recommendations of IDERI note administrator for blind or severely visually impaired users and is expected to grow over time:
- Import the intadmin.sbak file into JAWS® for improved accessibility.
- Use the menu mode of IDERI note administrator instead of the ribbon mode: The ribbon user interface that is the standard configuration of the IDERI note administrator is not very well suited to be used with the keyboard and is difficult to navigate with the keyboard when using JAWS®, although it is fully accessible with UI automation. NVDA users can fully navigate the UI automation tree of the IDERI note administrator’s ribbon user interface but might find the menu driven operation of IDERI note administrator easier as well. In order to switch to menu driven operation mode, activate the ribbon tab labeled “Settings” and uncheck the checkbox labeled “Ribbons” on the “Application style and language” ribbon panel.
7.35.4. Configuration recommendations for the IDERI note client¶
The following is a non-exhaustive list of configuration recommendations of the IDERI note client for blind or severely visually impaired users and is expected to grow over time as well:
- Import the inthstry.sbak file into JAWS® for improved accessibility.
- Prefer to use the old-style message dialog over the messenger like user interface that is the default after client installation: The messenger style user interface is intended to be used for sighted users and its design goal is to be as unobtrusive as possible. For blind users the behaviour of this user interface variant of the IDERI note client is probably too unobtrusive to notice, unless the client is configured to automatically read out the content of an IDERI note messenger-like message window in the moment it appears on the screen. The old-style message window variant has the exact same functionality as the messenger-like message window but is better suited to be used with screen readers.