- Blind-sysadmins - lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Improvements in Microsoft accessibility but more to do.
by Darragh Ó Héiligh 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

Hello, I had the opportunity to briefly speak to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft today. I clearly relayed the message that Accessibility in Microsoft products had improved recently and it would appear that some departments within Microsoft are certainly moving in the right direction but of course more work is needed. He seemed interested in what I had to say and the senior execs that I spoke to afterword agreed. An opportunity like that doesn't come up every day so I thought I'd mention it. Regards Darragh

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Improvements in Microsoft accessibility but more to do.
by Darragh Ó Héiligh 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

Hello, I had the opportunity to briefly speak to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft today. I clearly relayed the message that Accessibility in Microsoft products had improved recently and it would appear that some departments within Microsoft are certainly moving in the right direction but of course more work is needed. He seemed interested in what I had to say and the senior execs that I spoke to afterword agreed. An opportunity like that doesn't come up every day so I thought I'd mention it. Regards Darragh

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Re: [Blind-sysadmins] MS mail verses Hosted exchange
by Ryan Shugart 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

Hi Troy: I moved my ryanshugart.com domain to Office 365 almost 18 months ago and have been very happy with it. The admin experience is pretty easy, and there are a ton of options on what you can do to manage the service based on how deep and involved you want to go into Exchange, etc. May I ask who you’d be moving away from? My former employer had their Exchange hosted through an outfit called Intermedia and no one was really happy with it. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> on behalf of Troy Hergert <thergert(a)vision-forward.org> Reply-To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 10:23 AM To: Blind system administrators <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] MS mail verses Hosted exchange Hi everyone, We are thinking of moving to Microsoft mail from our expensive hosted Exchange environment for Email. My non-profit has a free Office 365 business essentials account from Microsoft's donation program which comes with Email. Wondering if anyone using it for an organization or company finds it reliable? Mostly want it to sync with a smart phone and Outlook in a Windows environment. Thanks. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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MS mail verses Hosted exchange
by Troy Hergert 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

Hi everyone, We are thinking of moving to Microsoft mail from our expensive hosted Exchange environment for Email. My non-profit has a free Office 365 business essentials account from Microsoft's donation program which comes with Email. Wondering if anyone using it for an organization or company finds it reliable? Mostly want it to sync with a smart phone and Outlook in a Windows environment. Thanks.

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MS mail verses Hosted exchange
by Troy Hergert 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

Hi everyone, We are thinking of moving to Microsoft mail from our expensive hosted Exchange environment for Email. My non-profit has a free Office 365 business essentials account from Microsoft's donation program which comes with Email. Wondering if anyone using it for an organization or company finds it reliable? Mostly want it to sync with a smart phone and Outlook in a Windows environment. Thanks.

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possibly off topic: network configs and TVs
by Katherine Moss 28 Sep '16

28 Sep '16

Hi all, I'm preparing to move and I want my network to be as configured to my standards as possible; none of that ISP provides the router configuration stuff. My thoughts are as follows: put my ISP modem into bridged mode and have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter acting as primary router/vpn/firewall; DNS and DHCP would be running as Windows servers (please don't ask, but I don't know why I'm so picky about that). That's all well and good, but since I've heard that EdgeOS plays havoc with ISP-provided cable boxes (running ethernet's not an option seeing that my future apartment is an edition onto the existing house and the only connectivity available is Coaxial (there's not an RJ45 jack to be found!)), I'm looking for a solution where I can still watch a movie or watch Fox without having to pay for cable and introduce a device over which I've got no access or control. I've thought of the following possibilities so far: Xbox running the latest OS (since the gaming side of me's still there, so wouldn't be a waste of money connect to Netflix, Fox, NESN,, whatever with that in addition to music and what not), a chromecast, though not sure how accessible they are,, Apple TV, though not sure how well that would work considering I'm switching to Android on the phone eventually, and finally, my most basic but least-preferred option, get a basic TV with an HdMI output and connect my Laptop whenever I want to watch something, which, isn't often, really. Any other suggestions would be great.

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team viewer
by Kathryn Jedynak 28 Sep '16

28 Sep '16

Hello all: The company I work for is thinking to buy team viewer. Does anyone use team viewer with screen readers? Do all of the versions work with screen readers, or is there a specific version that does. Thanks in advance. Kathryn

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possibly off topic: network configs and TVs
by Katherine Moss 27 Sep '16

27 Sep '16

Hi all, I'm preparing to move and I want my network to be as configured to my standards as possible; none of that ISP provides the router configuration stuff. My thoughts are as follows: put my ISP modem into bridged mode and have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter acting as primary router/vpn/firewall; DNS and DHCP would be running as Windows servers (please don't ask, but I don't know why I'm so picky about that). That's all well and good, but since I've heard that EdgeOS plays havoc with ISP-provided cable boxes (running ethernet's not an option seeing that my future apartment is an edition onto the existing house and the only connectivity available is Coaxial (there's not an RJ45 jack to be found!)), I'm looking for a solution where I can still watch a movie or watch Fox without having to pay for cable and introduce a device over which I've got no access or control. I've thought of the following possibilities so far: Xbox running the latest OS (since the gaming side of me's still there, so wouldn't be a waste of money connect to Netflix, Fox, NESN,, whatever with that in addition to music and what not), a chromecast, though not sure how accessible they are,, Apple TV, though not sure how well that would work considering I'm switching to Android on the phone eventually, and finally, my most basic but least-preferred option, get a basic TV with an HdMI output and connect my Laptop whenever I want to watch something, which, isn't often, really. Any other suggestions would be great.

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deploying windows server 2012 r2 request for guidance
by Edgar Scott-Davilla 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

Hello. I am totally blind, and am wanting to deploy windows server 2012 onto a machine that was running Ubuntu linix. I am wanting to know what the easiest and least painful way to get this accomplished without sighted assistance, as it is hard for me to get it. Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of blind-sysadmins-request(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 7:00 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Blind-sysadmins Digest, Vol 103, Issue 23 Send Blind-sysadmins mailing list submissions to blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to blind-sysadmins-request(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org You can reach the person managing the list at blind-sysadmins-owner(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Blind-sysadmins digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Microsoft SCCM again. (matt.bsa(a)wh1t3.net) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:03:38 -0400 From: <matt.bsa(a)wh1t3.net> To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. I spend a fair bit of time in the SCCM console; we are running 2012 R2 SP1, possibly build 1606. I can confirm that this version is at times a pain to use but is almost completely accessible at this point. I typically administer SCCM from a Windows 7 workstation with the console installed locally. My screen reader of choice is Window-Eyes. I should give NVDA a shot though. SCCM can certainly do the things you need. We have 3000 workstations and 700 servers in our environment and we handle software deployment, software updates, compliance reporting, desired state configuration, etc. My team recently completed a migration from SCCM 2007 to 2012. 2007 was definitely more accessible (except for reporting--that's much better with SQL 2014/SCCM 2012). Fortunately for me, our test environment was already in place, setup by another part of our infrastructure team. My team got to go in, setup a new SQL instance, install SCCM, test interoperability with SCCM 2007, and then blow it away when done. There are benefits to working in a larger IT environment==--sometimes. I'd be happy to answer any questions. -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Thursday, 22 September, 2016 21:56 To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hi Darragh: I certainly understand where you?re coming from as I?ve been faced with the same issue. It definitely is a time issue and I can see that. If it helps at all, when I had to do that very thing, I was able to build a Windows Server 2012R2 VM on my laptop, download all the SCCM install bits onto it (including the client prereqs it asks about during the install.) I then removed all network access from the VM, promoted it to a domain controller, installed SQL server and then the version of SCCM. Again I won?t lie, it did take about a day to do, but at the time it was my best option, so I just had to shrug and do it. One option you might look at is the Hydration Kit for Configuration Manager. It is basically a way to build a lab through automated deployment scripts. This is not an MS solution but I know it has been used quite successfully by several people: http://deploymentresearch.com/Research/Post/485/Hydration-Kit-for-ConfigMgr- 2012-R2-SP1-with-SQL-Server-2014-SP1 You?ll need two VMs, either Hyper-V or VMWare. But this should do everything for you from install the base OS to create the domain and then install Config Manager. It does require some eyes to start with but then can be left alone. I know MS does offer some pre-built VMs of trial software, but I think that?s mainly operating systems, I don?t know of Config Manager is included. Who did you talk to at MS before about this request? Ryan -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> on behalf of Darragh ? H?iligh <d(a)digitaldarragh.com> Reply-To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 1:18 AM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Thanks for getting back to me Ryan, It isn't all that straight forward to run up a test environment. I would need to do the following which constitutes a major use of time and resources. 1. Make the benefits of SCCM known to the IT director. 2. Provision test servers. Our test and dev platform is undergoing a major redesign at the moment. 3. Implement a test domain. Again, we don't have this at the moment. The plan for the implementation of this is under way. 4. Install SCCM and integrate it with AD. 5. Test SCCM for accessibility. All this work would take a minimum of a full day. I don't have the capacity to undertake this yet. I have asked MS before if a VM with a test SCCM machine could be made available for testing accessibility enhancements between versions as this is not a tool that you can just spin up when you want to test it. Especially if you are just looking at implementing it for the first time into an environment. Regards Darragh -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Thursday 22 September 2016 04:30 To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hi Darragh: The latest (1606) build of SCCM has gotten a lot better in terms of accessibility. I am not going to lie and say its perfect, there?s still a lot of work to do, but you can now navigate lists and the tree, and you can get to areas you couldn?t before. The ribbon needs a lot of work, but I?d suggest throwing up a test environment and seeing how it works for you. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> on behalf of Darragh ? H?iligh <d(a)digitaldarragh.com> Reply-To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 3:11 PM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hello, I'm in a position where I should recommend SCCM as it would fulfil a number of needs. ? Silent software deployment ? On demand software deployment ? Replacing WSUS ? Software inventory ? Replacing some group policies. Can anyone with SCCM installed tell me if the latest version will allow me to independently administer these areas please? Novell Zenworks is the currently used deployment system but I'm encountering a few things that it just won't do as well or won't do at all. There's about 10000 workstations and about 500 servers. About 40% of the servers are Linux based. Suggestions very welcome. Thanks _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins ------------------------------ End of Blind-sysadmins Digest, Vol 103, Issue 23 ************************************************

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deploying windows server 2012 r2 request for guidance
by Edgar Scott-Davilla 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

Hello. I am totally blind, and am wanting to deploy windows server 2012 onto a machine that was running Ubuntu linix. I am wanting to know what the easiest and least painful way to get this accomplished without sighted assistance, as it is hard for me to get it. Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of blind-sysadmins-request(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 7:00 AM To: blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Blind-sysadmins Digest, Vol 103, Issue 23 Send Blind-sysadmins mailing list submissions to blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to blind-sysadmins-request(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org You can reach the person managing the list at blind-sysadmins-owner(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Blind-sysadmins digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Microsoft SCCM again. (matt.bsa(a)wh1t3.net) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:03:38 -0400 From: <matt.bsa(a)wh1t3.net> To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. I spend a fair bit of time in the SCCM console; we are running 2012 R2 SP1, possibly build 1606. I can confirm that this version is at times a pain to use but is almost completely accessible at this point. I typically administer SCCM from a Windows 7 workstation with the console installed locally. My screen reader of choice is Window-Eyes. I should give NVDA a shot though. SCCM can certainly do the things you need. We have 3000 workstations and 700 servers in our environment and we handle software deployment, software updates, compliance reporting, desired state configuration, etc. My team recently completed a migration from SCCM 2007 to 2012. 2007 was definitely more accessible (except for reporting--that's much better with SQL 2014/SCCM 2012). Fortunately for me, our test environment was already in place, setup by another part of our infrastructure team. My team got to go in, setup a new SQL instance, install SCCM, test interoperability with SCCM 2007, and then blow it away when done. There are benefits to working in a larger IT environment==--sometimes. I'd be happy to answer any questions. -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Thursday, 22 September, 2016 21:56 To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hi Darragh: I certainly understand where you?re coming from as I?ve been faced with the same issue. It definitely is a time issue and I can see that. If it helps at all, when I had to do that very thing, I was able to build a Windows Server 2012R2 VM on my laptop, download all the SCCM install bits onto it (including the client prereqs it asks about during the install.) I then removed all network access from the VM, promoted it to a domain controller, installed SQL server and then the version of SCCM. Again I won?t lie, it did take about a day to do, but at the time it was my best option, so I just had to shrug and do it. One option you might look at is the Hydration Kit for Configuration Manager. It is basically a way to build a lab through automated deployment scripts. This is not an MS solution but I know it has been used quite successfully by several people: http://deploymentresearch.com/Research/Post/485/Hydration-Kit-for-ConfigMgr- 2012-R2-SP1-with-SQL-Server-2014-SP1 You?ll need two VMs, either Hyper-V or VMWare. But this should do everything for you from install the base OS to create the domain and then install Config Manager. It does require some eyes to start with but then can be left alone. I know MS does offer some pre-built VMs of trial software, but I think that?s mainly operating systems, I don?t know of Config Manager is included. Who did you talk to at MS before about this request? Ryan -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> on behalf of Darragh ? H?iligh <d(a)digitaldarragh.com> Reply-To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 1:18 AM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Thanks for getting back to me Ryan, It isn't all that straight forward to run up a test environment. I would need to do the following which constitutes a major use of time and resources. 1. Make the benefits of SCCM known to the IT director. 2. Provision test servers. Our test and dev platform is undergoing a major redesign at the moment. 3. Implement a test domain. Again, we don't have this at the moment. The plan for the implementation of this is under way. 4. Install SCCM and integrate it with AD. 5. Test SCCM for accessibility. All this work would take a minimum of a full day. I don't have the capacity to undertake this yet. I have asked MS before if a VM with a test SCCM machine could be made available for testing accessibility enhancements between versions as this is not a tool that you can just spin up when you want to test it. Especially if you are just looking at implementing it for the first time into an environment. Regards Darragh -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: Thursday 22 September 2016 04:30 To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hi Darragh: The latest (1606) build of SCCM has gotten a lot better in terms of accessibility. I am not going to lie and say its perfect, there?s still a lot of work to do, but you can now navigate lists and the tree, and you can get to areas you couldn?t before. The ribbon needs a lot of work, but I?d suggest throwing up a test environment and seeing how it works for you. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins-bounces(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> on behalf of Darragh ? H?iligh <d(a)digitaldarragh.com> Reply-To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 3:11 PM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Microsoft SCCM again. Hello, I'm in a position where I should recommend SCCM as it would fulfil a number of needs. ? Silent software deployment ? On demand software deployment ? Replacing WSUS ? Software inventory ? Replacing some group policies. Can anyone with SCCM installed tell me if the latest version will allow me to independently administer these areas please? Novell Zenworks is the currently used deployment system but I'm encountering a few things that it just won't do as well or won't do at all. There's about 10000 workstations and about 500 servers. About 40% of the servers are Linux based. Suggestions very welcome. Thanks _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins(a)lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins ------------------------------ End of Blind-sysadmins Digest, Vol 103, Issue 23 ************************************************

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