JAWS software on internet access PC in a public library setting

[Steve Hooley!]

        We are in the same position, redoing our ADA stuff. We were advised
to use Arkenstone Open Book Unbound with an AWE32 soundcard. I would be
interested in feedback.
        We find that the visually impaired patrons generally know the
software from home or school - also we have a student disability office
which trains and makes a few machines available.
>
>
>We are considering purchasing the JAWS software package for use on one =
>of our internet-access PCs in order to enable visually impaired patrons =
>to use the PC.  We run Navigator 3.0 and Explorer 3.0 as well as several =
>ready reference products and a word processor on a Windows 95 client on =
>an NT network.  We would use a Kurzweil (model # 7315-60) as the voice =
>synthesizer and a Pentium PC with 16MB RAM as the workstation.
>
>We would be interested in hearing from anyone who has JAWS installed =
>(especially the 95 version) with regard to:
>
>1) Is the software used with any regularity?
>2) How intuitive is it for visually-impaired patrons - Do they find it =
>easy to use, or hard?  Is it the sort of thing that can be used by a =
>one-time patron, or is it more suited to a regular user who will go =
>through a learning curve with the product?
>3) What are training issues for staff?
>
>We would be interested in hearing from someone running the product in an =
>environment similar to ours with regard to:
>
>1) How easy is it to install?
>2) Does it work well with all the software used on the PC?
>3) How robust is the program - does it crash easily?
>
>Any comments about your experience would be appreciated.
>
>Frank Blair and Lydia Williams
>Independence Regional Library
>Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
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