Summer 2007

Computer Training Program Coordinator Nancy Lopez-Swaney presents Nelly Barnett with her certificate of completion

We are pleased to congratulate our first two students to complete Computer Training Program classes: Nelly Barnett, production planning assistant, and Roosevelt Stevenson, sales and marketing representative for Base Supply Centers – Fort Lewis.

The Computer Training Program (CTP) exists to increase and support independence, self-sufficiency, and upward mobility in the workplace of blind adults through appropriate training and access to computer technology. Classes include training on the use of assistive technology like electronic screen-readers, screen magnification software, or refreshable braille displays in conjunction with common computer applications. Both Nelly and Roosevelt completed classes in using JAWS screen-reading software with Microsoft Excel.

“I found out [the Lighthouse was] offering classes online and you could work at your leisure,” says Roosevelt. “I needed skills for my job working with spreadsheets. I’d worked with a private instructor before, but just got the basics. Working with JAWS dealing with Excel is a totally different ballgame.”

JAWS stands for Job Access with Speech. It uses electronic voice technology to audibly read each line of a computer screen. “I wanted to learn Excel working with JAWS because that is my primary [assistive] software,” Roosevelt explains.

Roosevelt Stevenson

Nelly found JAWS to be a valuable alternative to ZoomText screen-magnification software as her vision has changed. Nelly has macular degeneration in which the part of the retina responsible for central vision called the macula deteriorates over time. “With ZoomText, the magnification can get so big that I lose perspective. JAWS is much faster, especially when my eyes are tired,” she explains. Nelly plans on taking a second CTP class this summer using JAWS with a range of computer applications.

Since moving to the United States from Peru over four years ago, Nelly has learned as much as she can about assistive technology. “When I got here, I found out about technology and how it can help blind people,” she says. “I was very interested in all the accommodations, especially computer technology.”

On the job, Nelly uses JAWS and ZoomText to access email, web browsers, word processing, and other office applications. She uses Excel skills gained in the CTP to prepare utilization reports for the machine shop. She also uses Excel at home for preparing her family’s budget.

CTP classes improved Roosevelt’s skills and confidence with both JAWS and Excel. “I wanted to be able to get around a spreadsheet without losing data,” he says. “For instance, I got a spreadsheet recently with about a thousand names [of customers]. I need to know how to highlight them when I make a call and how to get to a particular name. Now I can go through an annual budget and find our top fifty customers. That’s been helping me out.”

He concludes, “It really helps me with my job. I learned how to be more efficient and quicker using JAWS with little or no assistance.”

To learn more about the Computer Training Program, please contact Program Manager Amy Koehl – Phone (206) 436-2106 – Email: akoehl@seattlelh.org.

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