I have been doing linux systems admin for so long that I don't know how accessible Windows admin tools are compared to linux. Last time I was a Windows sys admin, XP was new. And I haven't used Windows daily since Windows 7 came out. But it's pretty easy to do linux systems admin. Most of the major tools use plain text files for config and have command line interfaces. The most common applications platform is called lamp which stands for linux, apache, mysql, and php. All of those tools are configured via text files and operated via the command line. Linux desktop support can be a bit of a problem. The linux screen reader, orca, isn't nearly as good as jaws, window-eyes, or even nvda. Well, since I am only an occasional user of nvda I may not have found all of it's bugs. But for example, orca pretty much stopped working with firefox when firefox was upgraded from 30 to 31 (or something like that). I actually had to switch distros because I couldn't compile the current version of orca on my desktop. You get stuff like that all the time. I don't think it's the orca developers fault. There are so few of them. And they have challenges Windows screen reader developers do not. Considering everything, they've done a fantastic job. So the linux GUIisn't as accessible as Windows. But it's good enough for systems admin work since you're dealing almost entirely with text files and command line tools. I don't know what the job market is like elsewhere but here in Madison, Wisconsin, linux systems admin jobs often go unfilled for months or even years. I know of a department that reissued their job opening 3 times over a 14 month period because they didn't get any qualified candidates. They were looking for someone with a considerable amount of experience but even the entry level positions are hard to fill. I would imagine this is the way it is in most university towns. On 12/29/2014 11:50 PM, John Ylioja wrote:
Hi all,
I'm doing some career exploration in the IT field, and wondering if anyone would have any suggestions on IT related careers that would have a greater likelihood of being accessible, or thoughts on the types of jobs I may want to consider. I'd be looking for an entry level role to start with, since I don't have a lot of experience yet. I've done some help desk work where I've developed customer communication skills.
During my studies, I've had a beginner course in databases, studied the Cisco IT Essentials course through CAVI, and done some programming, courses, though didn't feel programming is one of my strong points. However, I may consider some higher level programming such as PHP without a lot of graphical interface work. I've also studied the basics of command line Linux administration through CAVI.
I haven't had any Windows Server experience, and am wondering about how and what to explore to get a sense of what types of duties would be involved with server administration. One thought I have is to try using an Amazon EC2 server with NVDA's remote access once that is released. I have a Canadian membership to Bookshare, and have found some Windows related books there. Are there any other accessible sources of Windows server material, certification or otherwise?
I'm interested in exploring work from home opportunities, but would also consider working in an office given the right opportunity.
I'm interested in assistive technology and have thought about doing some remote-based software support for other AT users, but have found that the market for that type of thing seems quite small here in Canada, and I'm uncertain I could make a career of it.
Thanks for any thoughts.
John
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