SuperNova Screen Reader Case Study: SuperNova helps to provide technical support in the Civil Service.

The efficiency in response time is vital.

Paul Holliman is IT Support team member for a large Civil Service department based in the Midlands providing support for over 700 users of a local area network based on the Microsoft Windows® NT 4.0 platform.

Typically, users phone/e-mail our help line with pleas for help, ranging from simple administration tasks to more involved issues such as non-booting workstations or an inability to connect to the network. Calls are fed into a network database and support staff pick them up for action.

A call can be passed between team members if a member is deemed to have stronger skills to resolve all or part of that call. More and more of the support can be done from the office and in the first instance, users can often be piloted over the phone. In addition, server support and help with the Microsoft Office 97 suite can be done from the desktop workstation, which hosts access technology well."

Paul uses SuperNova Screen Reader. Installed onto the computer, SuperNova works within the operating system and when on-screen changes occur, produces speech output. This then enables a visually impaired user to operate the computer in the natural sense, but by listening to the audible output, rather than looking at the monitor.

Developed by Dolphin's research and development team based in the Midlands, the core of the software is Dolphin’s own "Off Screen Model", which is a pixel-by-pixel analysis of the screen. Using this data, SuperNova is able to react quickly and automatically to provide the optimum speech output with the minimum of user intervention. Within a technical support role, this efficiency in response time can be vital. As Paul says;

SuperNova’s automatic approach to analysing screen data saves what would otherwise be precious time taken to customise the screen reader to get good access to data. Its ability to run comfortably with most of the latest specification workstations has been a great advantage. Undoubtedly SuperNova’s Navigation Mode and Graphic Labeling ability feature highly for me, since I am frequently presented with screens produced from in-house applications and these have to be made to speak within a few seconds."

SuperNova is compatible with a wide range of application software, without the need for any additional configuration files. However, for users with particular requirements SuperNova’s settings can be adjusted to provide levels of speech output. For example, punctuation announcement, whether capital letters are indicated, automatic description of font colours, font size and character attributes. These settings can also be saved for specific application programs, SuperNova loading them in automatically when the application starts. In a sophisticated working environment, these features can be important.

As a service provider whose clients have varying degrees of IT knowledge, Paul commented;

It is essential that a visually impaired person can use terminology which their client understands, such as being able to refer to mouse control, colours and fonts without fear of not understanding the subject. This information is all readily available from SuperNova".

From the development perspective, I am always involved with the team members who are designing our future workstation builds and desktop architecture so that we are sure that SuperNova is happy with everything before the new design is rolled out to users."

The search for employment, and being able to maintain a secure position within a high profile employment situation is difficult. The design of access products needs to consider the pressures of work, and provide an effective tool which does not add to the daily pressures. It is worthwhile letting Paul take up the story of his experiences again.

Work in IT is changing in nature very rapidly and some of the traditional jobs done by visually impaired people are disappearing. This job was originally offered to me on a trial basis and hinged completely on SuperNova's performance in NT. However, here I am. As well as being a good quality product, SuperNova is easily the most cost effective solution I have encountered in the market place. Furthermore the upgrade pricing structure makes keeping up with versions a viable proposition."

Having worked in the field of manufacturing access products for visually impaired people since the early 1980s, Dolphin Computer Access relies on its close working relationship with users.

The Dolphin Product Support Team has one of the fastest response rates amongst the vendors of access products. All my questions have been answered promptly and if answers are not immediately available, appropriate authorities have been consulted and feedback provided. In some instances, I have even received replies from development staff directly, which gives a clear indication to me that Dolphin staff are aware of the kind of work some of us are tackling. I have also found a high degree of flexibility amongst staff, and solutions to issues which satisfy all parties can usually be reached."

I think it worth stating that one of the key reasons why Dolphin’s products have become our officially endorsed access tools within the Department is the care that is clearly taken to produce good quality program code. We believe that this is the prime reason why these products mean that we can more accurately predict when an application scenario can be made accessible and when not."

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