Re: [SEC508] Audible indicator when pc is working

[Lloyd Rasmussen <lras@loc.gov>]

I don't know what happened with JAWS.  And I don't know whether these users 
are screen reader users or users of a magnification program, where the 
issues might be a little different.

With Window-Eyes, we had pointer announcements in Windows 3.1 through 98, 
then lost them for a couple of versions when Windows 2000 and XP were 
introduced.  The announcement function for W-E was recovered at version 
6.0.  I was happy, because I want to know what my computer is doing at all 
times.  But many users wanted to know how to turn the pointer announcement 
verbiage off, since it was a new thing to them and they didn't appreciate 
the usefulness of it.

I'm not sure I would want a continuously-generated "busy" signal, but one 
at the beginning of the busy period might be acceptable.  On the computers 
I use, I go into the Windows sound schemes and activate sounds which 
indicate when programs open and close.  This often gives a hint about 
background processes that might cause problems, and about programs which 
only partially load.

A complaint by some users about W-E 7 is  that you cannot get speech even 
if you switch to a task that is supposed to be running.  There are some 
situations where W-E hotkeys are disabled inside the busy application but 
working elsewhere.  In other cases, there is no speech unless  a sighted 
person can close the offending program.

Busy situations are often accompanied by increased hard drive 
activity.  But since drives have become so quiet, this cue is becoming less 
useful.  Also, on my previous work PC, I could hear the processor fan 
revving up when the PC had gotten busy.  With multiple cores this may not 
happen as often.

At 11:42 AM 9/24/2008, you wrote:

> Is there any way to have an audible indication that the pc is working
> when the screen reader is suspended?
>
> Sighted users have visual indicators (like the spinning globe) to let
> them know the pc is still processing.  The screen readers will say
> things like "please wait ...", but not always.
>
> I'm sure all screen reader users have had the experienced where their pc
> stops talking and eventually they powered off the pc to start over.  I
> think this sometimes results in damaged files.  Recently we seem to be
> having more incidents of screen reader users powering off their stalled
> computers and having more damaged files.
>
> As a matter of accessibility, shouldn't the operating system also
> provide and audible indicator whenever they provide a visual indicator
> to warn users that the computer is processing?  Or is there a simple
> utility that could accomplish this?
>
>
> Joe Roeder
> Senior Access Technology specialist
> National Industries for the Blind
> phone: (703) 310-0524
Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer, Engineering Section
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress    (202) 707-0535   <http://www.loc.gov/nls>
HOME:  <http://lras.home.sprynet.com>
The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent 
those of NLS.