But if you want to go the Windows server route, remember that everything one can do in the GUI, one can do in PowerShell; I tend to prefer PowerShell for as much as possible these days. And I disagree with you about .net; yes, VB may be waning, but C#? It's the talk of the freaking town. LOL. -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 10:22 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Exploration of IT and Windows Server related careers Another thing to add is don't forget Network Engineering. I have worked in the field for almost 25 years successfully and ran in to few accessibility issues. Most of the hardware is configured by command line and uses console ports and old serial lines to configure for the first time. You have the advantage of many of the real serious network operators in the sited world also prefer command line and text based interfaces. I presently work for TripAdvisor and we have a large network peered at several exchange points and all controlled by open source tools that are all accessible. I personally use a Mac so also enjoy the local unix shell or Terminal as the Mac folks call it and this works well in my work place. So add to Unix administration the possibility of Network engineering, especially if you specialize in things like large service provider design or complex routing and switching etc. Hope that helps. On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:13 AM, vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca wrote:

Hello John

Job opportunities will depend on where you want to live. Places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton and Charlottetown have a large federal Government presence. Those places might have more jobs come available from time to time. Your next option are the provincial governments: for those look at the capitals for each province since that is where they will have the largest IT facilities. Going down that road, next will be your municipalities.

Outside of the three levels of government your next area will be where there are large employers like insurance companies, telecom groups and call centres.

On the programming side, Java is gaining in popularity. Visual Basic in front of .NET seems to be waning. There are still a lot of legacy systems out there running applications like COBOL on mainframe systems, but those would be your insurance companies, telecom companies and universities.

If you want to work from home, a good field is project management. I don't know what the markets are like for that field in entry level positions.

Vic Pereira Shared Services Canada/Services partagés Canada 9-111 Lombard Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0T4 Vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca 204-781-5046

-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Ylioja Sent: December-29-14 11:50 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Exploration of IT and Windows Server related careers

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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All, I have been in the I.T industry since early 90’s. done a large range of work. Some areas today are not very accessible due to the tools. EG: Helpdesk work that requires you to take control over someone’s else desk. There are workarounds but this depends on the employer if they are happy for you to use the older method of giving the user the instructions on how to do the actions to address the issue. Most employee’s are used to sitting back and letting the I.T support person doing the work for them. :-) I currently work in the Networking sector for Cisco. I work in the TAC and this does have its challenges based upon the above example. Thus I have to use a range of creative methods of addressing the above. Currently I am studying for the CCIE R&S which uses a lot of diagrams. This is the biggest challenge you have, but you don’t need them to understand the theory. It does help, but they are more important if you are going to do labs. If you are blind, then I dolt very much if you will be allowed in the data centre where the actual hardware. In fact, the Ops and engineering groups in large organisations rarely ever visit the data centre. They have field engineers for this. Thus you only need to understand the CLI (command line interface) and how the ports work to understand how the boxes all link up. For training, What you need to have is access to the IOS software and Dynagen. This software allows you to simulate the IOS environment. Then you need to build your own little virtual network. The other option is to purchase low end routers and switches. Then build the physical network. This is always the best approach to learn the network concepts. Legally you should own a licence to run IOS and the easiest method is to purchase a router and switch. You can find cheap options on the net. Another method for learning networking is to buy rack time. Doing certs is always a good idea, gives you the extra level of qualification and confidence. I have never done Admin work, but I would suggest Linux since it is all command line and there is work out there. Windows I get a feeling for has its challenges depending on your skill set and ability of using your preferred screen reader. Sean On 6 Jan 2015, at 4:14 pm, John Ylioja wrote:

Thanks all for your responses.

I've studied some networking material, and there are two things I'm wondering about. Often network topology diagrams that show how devices are connected are not described. I'm also thinking it may be difficult to work with connecting devices without being able to see the labels on the connectors to know which is which. Do you work with a network that is already set up and needs little physical adjustment, and how do you keep track of the relationships between devices, that would be typically shown with a diagram?

With Linux administration, can you do most of it through SSH from a workstation that has a screen reader installed, or do you do anything special at the server end?

On 2015-01-05 9:21 AM, Scott Granados wrote:

...

Another thing to add is don’t forget Network Engineering. I have worked in the field for almost 25 years successfully and ran in to few accessibility issues. Most of the hardware is configured by command line and uses console ports and old serial lines to configure for the first time. You have the advantage of many of the real serious network operators in the sited world also prefer command line and text based interfaces. I presently work for TripAdvisor and we have a large network peered at several exchange points and all controlled by open source tools that are all accessible. I personally use a Mac so also enjoy the local unix shell or Terminal as the Mac folks call it and this works well in my work place. So add to Unix administration the possibility of Network engineering, especially if you specialize in things like large service provider design or complex routing and switching etc.

Hope that helps.

On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:13 AM, vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca wrote:

...

Hello John

Job opportunities will depend on where you want to live. Places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton and Charlottetown have a large federal Government presence. Those places might have more jobs come available from time to time. Your next option are the provincial governments: for those look at the capitals for each province since that is where they will have the largest IT facilities. Going down that road, next will be your municipalities.

Outside of the three levels of government your next area will be where there are large employers like insurance companies, telecom groups and call centres.

On the programming side, Java is gaining in popularity. Visual Basic in front of .NET seems to be waning. There are still a lot of legacy systems out there running applications like COBOL on mainframe systems, but those would be your insurance companies, telecom companies and universities.

If you want to work from home, a good field is project management. I don't know what the markets are like for that field in entry level positions.

Vic Pereira Shared Services Canada/Services partagés Canada 9-111 Lombard Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0T4 Vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca 204-781-5046

-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Ylioja Sent: December-29-14 11:50 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Exploration of IT and Windows Server related careers

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

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

If I have to get on to a customer’s box, this sometimes is done via ssh via a jump box. Otherwise I have to get one of my co-workers to help due to remote control software not being accessible. Ms remote desktop and Citric must have the screen reader installed on the remote end and is a fix point. remote controlling software connects to any pc regardless of platform and requires an audio channel to be present. Thus there is no technical simple solution to address this issue. If you have Mac on one end and windows on the other, everything breaks even if you have the assistive technology there. The company that makes Satogo has a solution for accessing remote desktops which doesn’t work with any of the terminal programs and is not a powerful enough screen reader for my usage. Hense not a solution. I have been seeking for a solution for this for many years. Luckily the team I am in has a lot of work that doesn’t require remote access. Any suggestions are welcomed. But my research has come up with a brick wall. I am looking into a solution requiring someone to develop. Don’t know if it will go anywhere though. Sean On 8 Jan 2015, at 2:21 am, Scott Granados wrote:

Hi Sean, You work in Cisco TAC, that’s very interesting. I would think that’s a bit of a pressure cooker. I worked for Juniper for a while but as a resident engineer. I can’t imagine being in a support setting. How did you deal with the remote access issue and working with the customer’s hardware over net meeting or other tool? How did you solve that problem? On Jan 6, 2015, at 4:57 AM, Sean Murphy wrote:

...

All,

I have been in the I.T industry since early 90’s. done a large range of work. Some areas today are not very accessible due to the tools. EG: Helpdesk work that requires you to take control over someone’s else desk. There are workarounds but this depends on the employer if they are happy for you to use the older method of giving the user the instructions on how to do the actions to address the issue. Most employee’s are used to sitting back and letting the I.T support person doing the work for them. :-)

I currently work in the Networking sector for Cisco. I work in the TAC and this does have its challenges based upon the above example. Thus I have to use a range of creative methods of addressing the above. Currently I am studying for the CCIE R&S which uses a lot of diagrams. This is the biggest challenge you have, but you don’t need them to understand the theory. It does help, but they are more important if you are going to do labs.

If you are blind, then I dolt very much if you will be allowed in the data centre where the actual hardware. In fact, the Ops and engineering groups in large organisations rarely ever visit the data centre. They have field engineers for this. Thus you only need to understand the CLI (command line interface) and how the ports work to understand how the boxes all link up.

For training, What you need to have is access to the IOS software and Dynagen. This software allows you to simulate the IOS environment. Then you need to build your own little virtual network. The other option is to purchase low end routers and switches. Then build the physical network. This is always the best approach to learn the network concepts. Legally you should own a licence to run IOS and the easiest method is to purchase a router and switch. You can find cheap options on the net. Another method for learning networking is to buy rack time.

Doing certs is always a good idea, gives you the extra level of qualification and confidence.

I have never done Admin work, but I would suggest Linux since it is all command line and there is work out there. Windows I get a feeling for has its challenges depending on your skill set and ability of using your preferred screen reader.

Sean

On 6 Jan 2015, at 4:14 pm, John Ylioja wrote:

...

Thanks all for your responses.

I've studied some networking material, and there are two things I'm wondering about. Often network topology diagrams that show how devices are connected are not described. I'm also thinking it may be difficult to work with connecting devices without being able to see the labels on the connectors to know which is which. Do you work with a network that is already set up and needs little physical adjustment, and how do you keep track of the relationships between devices, that would be typically shown with a diagram?

With Linux administration, can you do most of it through SSH from a workstation that has a screen reader installed, or do you do anything special at the server end?

On 2015-01-05 9:21 AM, Scott Granados wrote:

...

Another thing to add is don’t forget Network Engineering. I have worked in the field for almost 25 years successfully and ran in to few accessibility issues. Most of the hardware is configured by command line and uses console ports and old serial lines to configure for the first time. You have the advantage of many of the real serious network operators in the sited world also prefer command line and text based interfaces. I presently work for TripAdvisor and we have a large network peered at several exchange points and all controlled by open source tools that are all accessible. I personally use a Mac so also enjoy the local unix shell or Terminal as the Mac folks call it and this works well in my work place. So add to Unix administration the possibility of Network engineering, especially if you specialize in things like large service provider design or complex routing and switching etc.

Hope that helps.

On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:13 AM, vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca wrote:

...

Hello John

Job opportunities will depend on where you want to live. Places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton and Charlottetown have a large federal Government presence. Those places might have more jobs come available from time to time. Your next option are the provincial governments: for those look at the capitals for each province since that is where they will have the largest IT facilities. Going down that road, next will be your municipalities.

Outside of the three levels of government your next area will be where there are large employers like insurance companies, telecom groups and call centres.

On the programming side, Java is gaining in popularity. Visual Basic in front of .NET seems to be waning. There are still a lot of legacy systems out there running applications like COBOL on mainframe systems, but those would be your insurance companies, telecom companies and universities.

If you want to work from home, a good field is project management. I don't know what the markets are like for that field in entry level positions.

Vic Pereira Shared Services Canada/Services partagés Canada 9-111 Lombard Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0T4 Vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca 204-781-5046

-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Ylioja Sent: December-29-14 11:50 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Exploration of IT and Windows Server related careers

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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Hi, to answer the network questions. The diagrams can be described and a lot of times if we’re working on say a white board I’ll just have the person describe the topology. As for ports, many times you can figure out by feel what’s what especially as you gain more experience. In my professional live now though I don’t touch equipment that frequently. There are remote hands people who specifically do this and follow directions as part of the procedure so this is not as much of an issue as it was at first. The good news is everything is low voltage and safe to handle so there’s little risk from getting in there and working with the wiring. On Jan 6, 2015, at 12:14 AM, John Ylioja wrote:

Thanks all for your responses.

I've studied some networking material, and there are two things I'm wondering about. Often network topology diagrams that show how devices are connected are not described. I'm also thinking it may be difficult to work with connecting devices without being able to see the labels on the connectors to know which is which. Do you work with a network that is already set up and needs little physical adjustment, and how do you keep track of the relationships between devices, that would be typically shown with a diagram?

With Linux administration, can you do most of it through SSH from a workstation that has a screen reader installed, or do you do anything special at the server end?

On 2015-01-05 9:21 AM, Scott Granados wrote:

...

Another thing to add is don’t forget Network Engineering. I have worked in the field for almost 25 years successfully and ran in to few accessibility issues. Most of the hardware is configured by command line and uses console ports and old serial lines to configure for the first time. You have the advantage of many of the real serious network operators in the sited world also prefer command line and text based interfaces. I presently work for TripAdvisor and we have a large network peered at several exchange points and all controlled by open source tools that are all accessible. I personally use a Mac so also enjoy the local unix shell or Terminal as the Mac folks call it and this works well in my work place. So add to Unix administration the possibility of Network engineering, especially if you specialize in things like large service provider design or complex routing and switching etc.

Hope that helps.

On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:13 AM, vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca wrote:

...

Hello John

Job opportunities will depend on where you want to live. Places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton and Charlottetown have a large federal Government presence. Those places might have more jobs come available from time to time. Your next option are the provincial governments: for those look at the capitals for each province since that is where they will have the largest IT facilities. Going down that road, next will be your municipalities.

Outside of the three levels of government your next area will be where there are large employers like insurance companies, telecom groups and call centres.

On the programming side, Java is gaining in popularity. Visual Basic in front of .NET seems to be waning. There are still a lot of legacy systems out there running applications like COBOL on mainframe systems, but those would be your insurance companies, telecom companies and universities.

If you want to work from home, a good field is project management. I don't know what the markets are like for that field in entry level positions.

Vic Pereira Shared Services Canada/Services partagés Canada 9-111 Lombard Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0T4 Vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca 204-781-5046

-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Ylioja Sent: December-29-14 11:50 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Exploration of IT and Windows Server related careers

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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