|
Computer Technology Center
Going Online
Not a day goes by when we don't hear about the Internet. From research to shopping to just sending an email to a friend, everyone is using some aspect of the Internet to make their lives easier. With speech and large print software, there is no reason for blind people to be left behind from the rest of us who are driving on the information superhighway. ASB's Gateway Technology Center addresses this most important aspect of computing with our five-week course which exclusively focuses on using the Internet.
What is the Internet?
Some people mistakenly believe that the Internet is just the World Wide Web. We start the course by dispelling this myth and explaining just what the Internet is and what it has to offer, from file sharing to discussion forums. We even go into a little bit of history and talk about how the Internet began.
How do I Get Online?
Now that you know what it is, the next logical question is "how do I get online?" We'll talk about the various options available, from dial-up modems to super fast cable and DSL connections.
What is Email?
Perhaps writing back and forth to each other is the thing most of us do when we use the Net. We'll introduce email and talk about its many uses and benefits.
Sending your Letter
We'll show students how simple it really is to compose an email message and how to send it from the comfort of their very own keyboard. No postal stamps required.
Forwarding a Letter
Perhaps you received an email that is so interesting that you want to share it with someone else. This is known as forwarding a letter, and we'll explain how to do this.
Storing your Letters
Just as you don't want all of your mail cluttering up your mailbox, the same is true for email. We'll teach students how to create their own mail folders so they can store their email into different folders to avoid unnecessary clutter.
File Attachments
What if you have an important Word document you need to send off to your boss? We'll teach students how to attach other documents to email messages, as well as how to open attachments someone might send to them.
What is the Web?
What is this tangled thing known as the Web? We next talk about what it is and why it is so appealing to so many people.
Exploring the Web
We'll start our journey into the world of the World Wide Web by reading a few simple Web sites. We'll talk about what a link is and how to access them.
Extra, Extra …
We'll show students how easy it is to read breaking news for free from popular Web sites such as the BBC, CNN and the Washington Post. They will see how having access to the Web is better than having a newspaper!
Getting a bit More Complicated …
Some Web pages have lots of pictures and other annoying elements which can get in the way when you're using a speech program like JAWS or Window-eyes. While we won't promise that students will be able to read any Web page they find, we'll try and help them to decipher some of these more complex Web sites.
Searching
The ability to find information is one of the things which makes the Web so useful. We'll show students how to search for things they are interested in by using Web sites such as Yahoo or google.
Customizing JAWS for the Web
JAWS has many features which can be adjusted which makes it easier to read complex Web pages. We'll spend some time going over this set of options.
|
