Mouse is no help to blind computer user

By Carl Heintze

Every time I get discouraged or feel down I think of my friend Wally. He has overcome more obstacles in life than I ever want. Chief among them is being unable to see. Wally has been legally blind since he was a teenager, the result of a childhood infection.

That has not stopped Wally from being a full-fledged, participating citizen in the world. I sometimes forget he is not sighted and take it for granted that he can see what I can. I sometimes have the feeling that he can see more than I can. He cannot, of course, but he does not let it stop him

He is married, has two children and five grandchildren, has worked as his own boss and for others, and has managed to do almost anything I can do and then some. How Wally does this is beyond me, but I ascribe a good deal of it to just plain guts.

He now is learning how to use a computer. This may not seem like much of a task, but I suggest you turn off the monitor on your computer. If you were Wally you would be dependent on a software program like Jaws, which reads every command on the screen aloud. This is time-consuming and can be frustrating, partly because of the mechanical voice of the reader and because you hear the same things over and over again.

Wally has memorized the keys on the computer keyboard. What is tougher is memorizing the steps involved in running various software programs. Although computer software menus and programs are similar, most also are slightly different. He is aided by small buttons pasted to the important keys on the computer, but doing anything on the computer depends on his ears, his fingers and his memory.

Sighted computer operators are able to use the mouse. Following the cursor around the screen when the mouse moves is not an option for Wally. The cursor and the mouse are of no use to him. It must all be in his head.

Although it has taken him longer than a sighted person to learn how to run his PC, Wally has made remarkable progress. He is able to write letters and to send and receive email, which is an immense boon to him.

Unlike a lot of unsighted people, Wally has never been able to use Braille. His fingers just are not sensitive enough to read the dots which make up Braille letters. It was almost impossible for him to communicate by writing. He could not read what he had written and had to have someone read what he had written back to him.

Wally could not read books except with such programs as Books Aloud. He has a faithful volunteer reader who comes to his home a couple of times a week. She reads the newspaper, bills and other information to him and his mind stores up this knowledge.

Indeed, memory has a lot to do with how he gets around the house and where he goes when he walks. He knows how far it is to a certain corner and which way to turn to make a circuit of several blocks. He can tell by feel many things you and I figure out by looking: the sizes of nuts and bolts, for example.

Wally has put his skills to good use through his volunteer efforts. He helps advise the Valley Transit Authority on problems faced by the handicapped. He can steer sighted people around the bus, light rail and CalTrain routes. He has memorized them all.

This skill even extends to automobile travel. He can tell you where you are by following in his mind the route you are driving, the number of turns, the distance, the stop signs and so on.

One night Wally and I were walking to my car after a meeting. In the dark parking lot, I could not see the door handle. Wally reached out and put his hand on it immediately.

I think he has second sight. Whatever it is, I wish I could do as well.

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Carl Heintze is a frequesnt contributor to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

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