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A blind colleague recently joined a new federal agency. The agency is refusing to let him use the NVDA screen reader (free, open source), because it's created by an Australian non-profit which is not registered on SAM.gov (because they're not a vendor).

If you know of how a federal employee has gotten approval to use NVDA, would you let me know what magic words were required?

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This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Waldo Jaquith

Bren
Bren
• •

Hey @NVAccess, do you happen to know how someone working at the US federal government might get permission to use #NVDA, or maybe have a user there who might be willing to share tips?

@waldoj is asking for a colleague. Reading between the lines, I don't think the colleague is doing accessibility work.

(I'm really hoping the secret includes paying for it.)

#nvda @Waldo Jaquith @NV Access
in reply to Bren

NV Access
NV Access
• •
@asparagi Bren, thanks for tagging us! I did reply to Waldo's original post as well. In short, we're happy to work with any agency; we will look into registering on sam.gov as it does come up from time to time.
@Bren
in reply to NV Access

Andromeda Yelton
Andromeda Yelton
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@NVAccess @asparagi FWIW, I registered on sam.gov as a sole proprietorship; it was annoying (and clearly intended for larger companies) but not at all beyond my reach. Not sure if there are special considerations for non-USians. Beware of renewal scams. But go for it; it’s not THAT hard. :)
@Bren @NV Access
in reply to Andromeda Yelton

Bonkers
Bonkers
• •
@thatandromeda @NVAccess @asparagi
The most annoying thing is that you need to renew your data at SAM.gov every year. But the whole process takes a couple of hours initially, and then you just confirm that nothing changed on the following years. But in general, it's not a rocket science.
@Bren @NV Access @Andromeda Yelton
in reply to Bonkers

NV Access
NV Access
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@bonkers @thatandromeda @asparagi Thanks! Definitely one for us to follow up! And of course if anyone's IT department or organisation does need any documentation in order to use NVDA (it's not uncommon, for a lot of organisations, for any new software), we do have a page with answers to a lot of commonly asked questions: nvaccess.org/corporate-governm… And we're happy to liaise with your IT people for anything else they need (like sam.gov in this case)

Corporate & Government

Government and corporate users have specific requirements around security and documentation.  NV Access is pleased to work with organisations around the world. This page contains documentation and …
NV Access
@Bren @Bonkers @Andromeda Yelton
in reply to NV Access

Bonkers
Bonkers
• •
@NVAccess @thatandromeda @asparagi
BTW, the SAM.gov registration includes obtaining an NCAGE code, which makes you recognized in the whole NATO. I hope you get a nice support contract in the end :)
@Bren @NV Access @Andromeda Yelton
in reply to Waldo Jaquith

NV Access
NV Access
• •
We know multiple US federal agencies have approved NVDA. I've heard of sam.gov. We'll have to see what is involved in being listed there. Last time we had an agency ask, they had a form they wanted us to fill in in lieu of being listed on sam.gov. That worked for them, though as people have said, the exact requirements likely differ between departments. We are very happy to answer any questions any department or IT managers have about NVDA / security / data / etc. Email info@nvaccess.org
in reply to Waldo Jaquith

Bill Hunt
Bill Hunt
• •

Reasonable Accommodations is the magic words. The IT operations team has a legal mandate to meet RA requests from any employee. That should unstick things.

If it's a small agency, they may have never had a blind employee before, so someone will need to take the desktop software through the lifecycle, including security testing. That's expensive, and will take months. They can get a risk acceptance signed by the CIO in the meantime.

1/2

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Bill Hunt

Bill Hunt
Bill Hunt
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Threatening a lawsuit in those two cases might shake the tree.

However, most bigger agencies almost certainly have something else if not NVDA. Maybe Jaws. If they have a different product already approved and the colleague just doesn't like that specific product, well they're kinda out of luck.

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Bill Hunt

Cassandrich
Cassandrich
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@krusynth @waldoj. No, when someone needs an assistive device you can't just tell them you're going to substitute your alternative you think is equivalent. This would be like taking away someone's prosthetic and insisting they use a different one you provide.
@Waldo Jaquith @Bill Hunt
in reply to Cassandrich

Matt Campbell
Matt Campbell
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@dalias @krusynth As a screen reader user myself (sometimes; I have some usable vision), I don't think the comparison quite holds. Whereas a prosthetic is a part of the person's body, a screen reader is a tool running on the employer's machine, and many of us are already accustomed to using more than one of them. I think it's entirely reasonable to require the employee to use JAWS on the employer's machine.
@Cassandrich @Bill Hunt
Unknown parent

David Goldfield
David Goldfield
• •
@Bruce_Toews That's an ugly situation. A blind computer user requesting a specific screen reader isn't the same as someone requesting an alternative to the company's Office suite or CRM. It's equivalent to someone needing a larger monitor or an ergonomic keyboard. I suppose you could argue that the screen reader used by a company might also have custom scripts for that company's applications that make that particular screen reader work better than a competing screen reader. Still, a screen reader is a very special type of access and I wouldn't want my employer interfering with how I best use my computer.
Unknown parent

David Goldfield
David Goldfield
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@Bruce_Toews So it's essentially JAWS or Dolphin's Supernova, then? I'm glad that I know JAWS and NVDA equally well but I feel bad for users who only know NVDA who then have to learn a whole new screen reader. Fortunately, Web navigation commands are very similar but configuring the two screen readers uses very different commands and methods.
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