Getting Started, Staying Connected

Keeping in touch with coworkers, updating supervisors, collaborating with classmates and submitting work are all musts in the telecommute reality of education or employment. With both on the rise Google provides Gmail and Hangouts services that make keeping in touch as easy as connecting an Internet ready device to the web. That is, until you access the web with screen reading, text-to-speech technology. Then, things get a bit more complicated.

Note the important distinction between “a bit more complicated” and “impossible. I have been utilizing Gmail services for at least 8 years, maybe longer. I can’t remember when I created my first Google account. In that time my primary method of accessing the web has been using Internet Explorer and JAWS for Windows screen reader.

I don’t claim to be the top expert on Google accessibility, but I can attest to usability over the years. Gmail has never been the most, or least, accessible e-mail platform available. In recent years, as HTML 5 has emerged and Google has begun leveraging the new web 2.0 I’ve found that if I want to just access my messages it is most easily accomplished through an e-mail client like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail.

That is, until recently. AS a graduate student attending online courses and working in groups that included people from around the world I was forced into a situation where I needed to access advanced Gmail features including the Hangouts Web App that can be accessed through a variety of methods. I had to explore all of the methods to figure out which was going to best serve my needs. In the process I had to learn to access the newest Gmail standard web interface, or how to navigate Google Plus. The documentation is most complete for using Gmail, and with my experience as a JAWS instructor I am adept at using manuals to learn to use an unfamiliar tool.

In the next few posts I will share what I learned about using Gmail Web Apps to access my e-mail and the Hangouts Web App. There is still a lot for me to find, and learn, but I hope that the explanations that follow will help someone else traverse the variety of existing documentation. Working professionals and students burning the midnight oil may not have the time to follow link after link, and interpret the instructions that have been provided in the Google documentation to the same level of success as a trainer. It would be ideal if the Web Apps were as intuitive for those using screen reading technology as it seems to be for those who do not require adaptive tools for accessing the technology, however this is the nature of the beast at this time.

AS Google continues to grow, and change with the demands of the web these documents will become outdated. I cannot promise that I will be able to keep up with the changes and continue to provide the most up-to-date information here. I always welcome questions and comments.

Why Focus on Google Accessibility and Web Apps?

I am an assistive technology (AT) specialist with a state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency. The mission of the agency is to promote and enable persons who are blind or visually impaired to pursue independence, employment, and accomplishment of life goals. In order to best assist consumers of VR services obtain their goals I’m responsible for keeping an eye, or ear if you will, to the ground and watch for trends that could provide consumers with a competitive edge when setting, pursuing and obtaining goals.

I am also a consumer of the technologies that I train people to use. I feel that it is my personal responsibility to ensure that they receive access to the best, most common, tools for pursuit of their goals. I would expect nothing less if I were in their shoes.

In 2013 I began the Assistive Technology Studies and Human Services M.S. through California State University, Northridge in an effort to better meet my personal goal of keeping a closer eye on trends, and improving my professional network. By the fall of 2014 I had observed the increase in use of Google products for education and business. So began this project of creating accessible, and meaningful, training materials to help my consumer’s access, and leverage, all of the advantages Google has to offer.

The big question is why Google, and not Microsoft or Apple? The simple answer is simply experience and exposure. When I began my studies in 2013 I attended a Google Accessibility workshop at the #InternationalPersonswithDisabilities (#CSUN) conference. Apple and Microsoft were not offering such pre-conference workshops. CSUN uses Gmail, and #GoogleWebAppsforEducation. I also use Gmail as my primary personal e-mail service, because of the ease of setup a few years back.

While I do not feel as though Google has yet reached the same level, quality, consistency of access to products and services as Apple, or that companies like #FreedomScientific or #AISquared offer to Microsoft products, I cannot ignore the price tag, the availability or facts like:

5 Million Businesses use #GoogleWEbAppsForWork (https://www.google.com/work/apps/business//)

Google’s share of the U.S. search market is 67.5% and 87.1% of the mobile search market. (Smith, 2014). 

In 2012 Google reported that 7 of the 8 Ivy League schools, and 70% of the top 100 schools in the U.S. were using Google Web Apps (Schneider, M. (2012).

Another consideration I have recently been exposed to is the concept of telework, or telecommuting. “Telework continues to be associated with greater accountability, job satisfaction, and empowerment. … fewer teleworkers intend to leave their agencies for a new position, and more teleworkers report feeling accountable for achieving results and would recommend their place of work” (Archuleta, K (2013). It is estimated that employers who allow their employees to work from home just 50% of the time could see an annual cost savings of $11,000 per year, and employees who work from home only 50% of the time could see a cost savings of $2,000 - $7,000 per year. (Global Workplace Analytics)

Considering the incredible advantages for employees and employers, in the form of cost savings,  that telework/commute opportunities offer employers the demand for information technology (IT) services to make telework a reality are in high demand. Google Web Apps meet that demand. They are available anytime, anywhere there is an Internet connection. There is less money and effort, on the part of the business owner, to maintain IT infrastructure and employees have the opportunity to save money and give more to their personal commitments at home. It sounds like a win – win, and for my consumers in a rural state, who desire the rural life-style, and have limited access to reliable transportation for employment I could not overlook Google tools.

Now, to my own experience. When I began my studies in 2013 I was unable to collaborate, in real-time, with class mates. We were required to work in groups for some activities, and I was left out of this experience because of a lack of access to Google Tools like Docs, Drive and Hangouts. I made due with e-mail communication, discussion boards available through the course management system and use of the BlackBoard Collaborate software that is only minimally usable with a screen reader. By the time I finished my studies, just a year and 10 months later Drive, Docs, Slides, and Hangouts were my preferred method of communicating and collaborating with my peers. The access to the web apps, that are a core component of Web Apps for education and Work, provided a more complete, and fulfilling, educational experience.

I have been following the Google Accessibility train, and I simply like where it is going. I struggle to learn to use tools like Google ChromeVox, but I have to keep in mind that the system is not intuitive to me because I have experience with, and have mastered, other systems. In addition, Google Tools are under development, and in transitional phases.

This is why I have decided to focus on, and share my experiences.

References:

Archuleta, K (2013) Telework Report: Status of Telework in the Federal Government. Retrieved from http://www.telework.gov/reports_and_studies/annual_reports/index.aspx

Google (n.d.) https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/

GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com (2013). Latest telecommuting statistics. Retrieved from http://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/telecommuting-statistics

Schneider, M. (2012). A New Way of Doing Things On Campus. Official Google Blog. Retrieved from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-new-way-of-doing-things-on-campus.html

Smith, C. (2014, October 28). By the Numbers: 60 Amazing Google Search Statistics and Facts.