Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the
hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the
inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.
Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head
here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4
hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's
really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely
love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love
the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and
Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get
more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a
very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people.
The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been
involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee
still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it
has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and
less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the
moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech
industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the
oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last
Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their
weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than
making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out,
I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a
consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new
software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as
possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me
because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and
absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when
infront of the server.
People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find
solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there
are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be
getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the
roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release
SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!
When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it
right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?
Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very
helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software
developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that
they are throwing out there.
Rant over.
Regards
Darragh Ó Héiligh
Fujitsu
Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas,
Fredrick Building,
South Fredrick Street,
Dublin2
Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559
Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie
Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie
From: "John Heim"
To: "Blind sysadmins list"
Date: 09/04/2012 20:14
Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers
Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org
Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a
virtual
machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The
remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no
talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on
the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up
getting
sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a
blind
person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.
In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have
trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be
difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.
In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it
specifically
to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but
if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I
also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The
remote
GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts
of
it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could
get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the
virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files
themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will
have
to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole
point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud
somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while
operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater
challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote
Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I
don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows
virtual machine in order to access it remotely.
The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and
then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the
virtual
machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset
was
physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that
was
that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from
the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer
explanation, let me know.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Moore"
To: "Blind sysadmins list"
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM
Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers
HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in
people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx
any other show stoppers?
HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST
Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035
The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk
Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be
responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk
and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex
technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to
ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to
server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for
both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and
maintaining existing support documentation.
The successful candidate will have:
a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or
equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a
well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer
and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and
security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum
three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual
Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB;
in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows
2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp;
XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience
administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls;
experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery
planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP
protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server
hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb
and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and
interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly
self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities;
strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills
with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex
technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both
technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and
facilitation skills.
cont’d on page 2…
2
The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of
approximately 350
employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment.
Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12
by April 9, 2012:
Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department
The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton
PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail:
koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089
WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
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