I found this on the web site of the American Foundation for the 
Blind.  Since the reported survey was done nearly a year ago, it 
does not reflect current usage of Windows 95 with speech.  Still, 
I think it provides some perspective worth sharing.

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ACCESSING MICROSOFT WINDOWS WITH SYNTHETIC SPEECH: A USER SURVEY

AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND
National Technology Center
11 Penn Plaza Suite 300
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 502-7642
e-mail: techctr@afb.org
URL: http://www.afb.org/afb
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ACCESSING MICROSOFT WINDOWS WITH SYNTHETIC SPEECH: A USER SURVEY

                    J.D. Leventhal; C.L. Earl

Reprinted with permission from the Journal of Visual Impairment
and Blindness (JVIB) News Service, Vol. 91, No. 1, and is
copyright 1997 by the American Foundation for the Blind, 11 Penn
Plaza, Suite 300, New York, NY 10001.

Windows, Microsoft's graphics-based operating system, is
becoming more and more prevalent in the workplace, and many
blind or visually impaired employees find they need to use
Windows to remain competitive. The purpose of the survey
reported here was to gather information from the user's
perspective. The survey asked blind or visually impaired people
who use Windows with synthetic speech what tasks they perform in
Windows and how comfortable they feel performing those tasks.

The Survey Users of seven Windows-based synthetic speech
programs were selected from the American Foundation for the
Blind's Careers and Technology Information Bank (CTIB) and
contacted by E-mail and telephone. Over 60 persons were
contacted, 39 of whom completed surveys. The survey was
conducted from October 1 to 15, 1996.

Survey Questions Respondents were asked what hardware and
software they use; whether they use a braille display or screen
magnification along with synthetic speech; what Windows or DOS
applications they use; what methods they used to learn Windows;
whether they use Windows at work or at home; why they began
using Windows; and what their overall rating is for how
comfortable they feel in using Windows. Respondents were also
asked if they were able to perform successfully each of a list
of tasks in the Windows environment.

Participants Thirty-one of the respondents were men, and eight
were women. Twenty-four had no useful vision, eight had little
useful vision, five had some useful vision, and two had
considerable useful vision.

Six respondents were computer programmers; five were
rehabilitation counselors or administrators; five were
engineers; and three were attorneys. Other job titles included
telecommunications manager, database administrator, freelance
writer, physicist, and secretary.

The high percentage of male respondents to the survey reflects
the number of men versus women in the jobs the respondents hold.
For example, 75 percent of the 120 computer programmers, 75
percent of the 80 attorneys and 92 percent of the 39 engineers
listed in the CTIB are male. The high percentage of respondents
who had no useful or little useful vision reflects the fact that
CTIB members who have some useful or considerable useful vision
are likely to use screen magnification to access Windows.

Responses
Hardware and software The 39 respondents used the following
Windows-based synthetic speech programs: ASAW (Automatic Screen
Access for Windows) from MicroTalk Software, 3; JAWS (Job
Accommodation with Speech) for Windows from Henter-Joyce, 12;
ScreenPower for Windows from TeleSensory Corp., 5; WinVision
from Artic Technologies, 5; Window Bridge from Syntha-Voice
Computers, 2; Window-Eyes from GW Micro, 8; outSPOKEN for
Windows from ALVA Access Group, 4. Eleven respondents reported
experimenting with more than one Windows-based synthetic speech
program.

Five respondents reported using a braille display in addition to
synthetic speech. Of these, three used ScreenPower and two used
JAWS. Two respondents used screen magnification along with
synthetic speech. Twelve people reported using a mouse in
addition to keyboard commands. Ten people had begun using
Windows 95.

The Windows applications that respondents reported using most
often were word processors--WordPerfect and Microsoft Word.
Telecommunication programs--ProComm Plus and Terminal--and
E-mail packages--Eudora Light and CC:Mail--were also popular.
Twenty-five respondents were using one or more World Wide Web
browsers. Of these, 15 used Netscape Navigator, six used Lynx (a
UNIX-based program), and five used Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Fourteen were not using any Web browser.

All but two of the 39 respondents said that they still use DOS
for some applications. Word processing, mainly WordPerfect, and
telecommunications packages such as Telix, CC:Mail, and Procomm
were the applications most commonly used with DOS.

Training Many respondents commented on the importance of Windows
training. As one person put it, "Before attempting to understand
a screen access package, one should get a firm foundation in the
operating environment."

The most popular training methods respondents reported were:
"Help from friends and coworkers" (33) and "a tutorial from a
synthetic speech manufacturer" (31). Nineteen people reported
using "a tutorial not from a synthetic speech manufacturer."
Reading books was the method of training that had the most
positive impact on respondents' comfort level in using Windows.
A striking finding was the lack of formal training. Only 12
respondents received one or more types of formal training: Ten
respondents received individualized instruction; three attended
general training classes; and only one person attended a class
for blind users at a training center.

Respondents listed several problems associated with training.
The following are two excerpts:
1) "Finding good trainers and good training materials that take
blindness into account is almost impossible. There are plenty of
books on Windows, but they almost all rely on using the mouse
and looking at the screen."
2) "Windows, whether we like it or not, is here to stay and is a
way of life. Many blind people, and those who teach them, do not
seem to fully appreciate the seriousness of this situation. They
spend a great deal of time bemoaning the loss of DOS or
attacking the usefulness of Windows. . . . The fact is that
employment in an office setting is likely to require knowledge
of Windows."

Reasons for using Windows Twenty-seven respondents said that
they started using Windows because they had to at work. Many of
these people had to change to keep their jobs; others changed to
be able to share files with coworkers. Reasons for switching
mentioned by other respondents included the following: no new
applications are being written for DOS; "the graphical user
interface is here to stay"; and Windows is needed to access
multi-media applications. One respondent, whose job required her
to switch to Windows, made the following comment on some of the
positive aspects she discovered about the switch. "I like [the
Windows] file manager better than copying files and disks in
DOS. You have to do very little retyping of filenames. I [also]
like the ability [in Windows] to work in more than one program
at a time." Five respondents stated that not knowing how to use
Windows would negatively impact their employability: "Any blind
person not learning Windows is severely limiting [his or her]
job marketability," wrote one respondent. Another wrote: "We can
no longer expect DOS to be improved upon, and must migrate to
the GUI if we ever hope to be on an equal footing with our
sighted colleagues."

Tasks Performed in Windows Respondents were presented with a
list of 12 Windows tasks and asked if each was something that
they "do successfully," "find troublesome" or had "never
attempted." The following tasks could each be accomplished by
more than half of the respondents: navigating from window to
window, formatting a document in a word processor, running a
spell checker, installing new applications, and reading and
replying to E-mail messages.
Significantly fewer respondents (8) were able to look up
information in an encyclopedia, and only 14 attempted this task.
A majority of the respondents had trouble accessing reference
books and other CD-ROM-based information sources. According to
one respondent, "In the Groliers Encyclopedia it is possible,
but very tricky, to locate specific articles. The actual
research is simple, but the reading of the article is more
difficult." Only 20 respondents had ever tried to fill out forms
on the Internet--a fundamental activity for most sighted users
and essential for any blind user wishing to take advantage of
the wealth of information available in this accessible format.
At the same time, a large number of respondents had not
attempted to perform several of the tasks they were asked
about--17 never searched for information on the Web; 23 never
entered or read data in a database; and 29 never played games.

The tasks that respondents classified most often as
"troublesome" were formatting a document (7) and filling out
forms on the Internet (8). One respondent wrote, "Some of the
aspects of indenting and such are difficult since I can't get a
good idea of where I am with respect to the left margin of the
page." Another wrote, "One problem with [Microsoft] Word is in
some documents when cursoring you get lines from the top of the
document in between lines further down. You recognize something
you read before but it gives it to you again."

Comfort Level Respondents were asked to give an overall rating,
on a scale of 0 to 10, of how comfortable they felt using
Windows, with 10 as "ready to write and make a multi-media
presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint" and 0 as "totally
clueless." Half reported comfort levels above five, and half
rated themselves at or below five. This ratio is encouraging;
the number of people who would have given themselves a rating
above five would certainly have not been so high just a year
ago. The authors' observations, conversations with CTIB members
and discussions on the Internet all indicate that Windows-based
synthetic speech programs continue to improve. Nevertheless, a
significant amount of user discomfort with Windows still exists.
As one respondent wrote, "Although I have not too much
difficulty grasping the concepts of Windows screens and
operations, I have rarely felt anything but lost while actually
running it!"

What it all means The results of this survey make clear that
many blind or visually impaired employees believe that they need
to use Windows to keep their jobs. Almost all of the respondents
said that they had to start using Windows at work or that they
knew they would soon have to make the change from DOS.

Although respondents reported success in performing most of the
basic functions, such as running a spell-checker and installing
an application, many were not successful or had not attempted a
number of advanced functions, such as looking up information in
an encyclopedia or filling out forms on the Internet. These
results clearly show that the respondents were on a mission to
get up and running in a new operating environment to keep their
jobs. Only after they were able to perform the tasks of their
jobs would they put time and effort into learning to surf the
Web, participate in chat groups, and play games.

To compound the challenge that accompanies learning any new
system, of the 26 people who responded that they had to use
Windows at work, only 12 received any formal training. A task as
daunting and visual as the Windows environment is much easier to
master through formalized instruction than by individual trial
and error, as these two responses show: "One-on-one training is
the most effective if you can get it." "It would be easier if I
took the time to learn it. I'm learning as I go along on a
need-to-know basis."

Recommendations Based on the results of this survey, state and
private blindness agencies should make more opportunities for
training available. Instructors should increase their efforts to
train blind and visually impaired people to use Windows rather
than DOS.

Consumers and their employers must be made aware of and take
advantage of training. When training does not exist, consumers
and consumer groups must push to make it available.

The constant change in Windows-based synthetic speech programs
has brought new versions on the market monthly and sometimes
weekly. It is essential that users obtain upgrades to keep up
with the latest improvements and additions. The authors observed
that numerous problems cited by respondents had been corrected
in more recent versions of the synthetic speech programs they
were using.

The results of this survey show that people who are blind or
visually impaired working in a variety of jobs are functioning
in the Windows environment and that some even enjoy using it.
Judging by the tasks that some users can perform successfully,
Windows-based synthetic speech programs are now beginning to
provide adequate access to a variety of applications. As the
programs continue to improve and more and better training is
available, the act of using Windows with synthetic speech will
become less frightening and more desirable.

Jay D. Leventhal, senior resource specialist, and Crista L.
Earl, consultant, Technical Evaluation Services, National
Technology Center, American Foundation for the Blind, 11 Penn
Plaza, Suite 300, New York, NY 10001. (The second author was
formerly customer support specialist at GW Micro.)

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