1. posterid:22027
  2. JAWS on a laptop vs. a Chromebook

Re: JAWS on a laptop vs. a Chromebook

Richard Holloway
 

Thanks Betsy. We don’t even mind the laptop route, but what I’m hearing now from other sources is more about things like collaborative Google Documents which apparently don’t get along with JAWS, even on a conventional PC... (Many users editing the same document at once for group projects, for example.)

The documents could be converted to be used on a PC, but they are then detached from the other students’ work.

This is starting to look like a train wreck waiting to happen, but it may be we can work around this to some degree with JAWS and a modified approach by the staff.

Has anyone here managed successful access to any of the Google Docs through JAWS? I was reading before of various issues with the Chrome browser. Do those issues come into play here?

Thanks again!

On Mar 2, 2014, at 1:42 AM, Betsy R. Gruba <betsy@...> wrote:

I'm about 99.8% sure it will not work with JAWS. Here's why
1. It's a thin client meaning no hard drive
2. It's Googles own Linux based operating system
3. The keyboard is different, example no Caps Lock key
4. All data and apps are stored in the cloud.

My professional opinion you'll need a laptop.

Dr. Betsy R. Gruba, MBA, Ph.D.

On Mar 1, 2014, at 11:35 PM, Richard Holloway <rholloway@...> wrote:

Has anyone here used a Chromebook computer yet? Any idea how their accessibility stacks up against JAWS on a PC? (If I understand correctly, Chromebooks are notebooks using a non-windows [and non-Mac] OS by Google?) The only other thing I have heard about them is the apps are generally web-based?

A potential middle school for our daughter (she’d be only blind student in the school) is planning to issue Chromebooks to the students starting next year. I’m wondering what the chance is she would be able to access enough info on a Chromebook, or how likely it is she could still access the information from what apparently is a collection of web-based applications using what I suspect would be a more accessible setup, be that JAWS on a Laptop, he Apex, or even a Mac with Voiceover.

Sorry, my post may be hard to follow. I guess there are two questions:

1. How is the built-in accessibility of a Chromebook?
and
2. Are the documents on the web-based Google apps likely to be accessible with a PC running JAWS?

Feel free to reply off list— I’m not trying to start a massive discussion here on the matter. I just have no experience with these Chromebooks at all, yet we need as close as possible to the same level of access as her sighted peers enjoy.
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