Driving blind
February 22nd 2009 01:28
NetGuide reports in its latest newsletter that a New Zealand software company, Accomplish Ltd, has created a first by producing accounting software for visually-impaired people.
Accomplish Ltd’s General Manager, Grant Hewson, says that he believes the 2009 edition of CashManager is the first accounting software anywhere in the world that’s been beta tested by blind people and proved successful.
Normally, blind people will use screen reading software to verbalise letters or numerals as they are typed. The same software also tells the user where the cursor is in pull-down menus, dialogue or command boxes. Partially-sighted people often use screenreaders and magnifiers.
The idea behind the new version of CashManager was inspired to a great extent by Dunedin-based Terry Bartlett, who used it in his own company. He’s an entrepreneurial person, and is blind. His company teaches clients to touch type, designs Web pages, and provides advice on IT and accessible technology. It also assists customers with property management and even organises coal and firewood deliveries.
Bartlett jotted down ideas and ways in which Accomplish could modify their software to make it more user-friendly for blind people, something which the company responded to enthusiastically.
A spin-off from the ‘blind’ version of the programme is that CashManager has become more user-friendly to all manner of users, including those with occupational overuse syndrome, people with limited mobility and even those who prefer keyboard shortcuts to a mouse-driven approach.
Accomplish Ltd’s General Manager, Grant Hewson, says that he believes the 2009 edition of CashManager is the first accounting software anywhere in the world that’s been beta tested by blind people and proved successful.
Normally, blind people will use screen reading software to verbalise letters or numerals as they are typed. The same software also tells the user where the cursor is in pull-down menus, dialogue or command boxes. Partially-sighted people often use screenreaders and magnifiers.
The idea behind the new version of CashManager was inspired to a great extent by Dunedin-based Terry Bartlett, who used it in his own company. He’s an entrepreneurial person, and is blind. His company teaches clients to touch type, designs Web pages, and provides advice on IT and accessible technology. It also assists customers with property management and even organises coal and firewood deliveries.
Bartlett jotted down ideas and ways in which Accomplish could modify their software to make it more user-friendly for blind people, something which the company responded to enthusiastically.
A spin-off from the ‘blind’ version of the programme is that CashManager has become more user-friendly to all manner of users, including those with occupational overuse syndrome, people with limited mobility and even those who prefer keyboard shortcuts to a mouse-driven approach.
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