Introduction
This is part 1 in a 3  part series on how to speed up your computer using accessible system utilities. There are many software packages out there to help you speed up your computer and increase the performance of it. However, many of them are not accessible so blind or visually impaired computer users cannot use them. In this first post, I discuss CCleaner.
What Is CCleaner
CCleaner is a free program that can clean unneeded files from various programs saving you hard disk space, remove unneeded entries in the Windows Registry, help you uninstall software and select which programs start with Windows. It works on all versions of Windows.
Here are instructions on how to use the utility:
- Download CCleaner and install it onto your computer.
- At the end of the installation, it will have a check box to run CCleaner. Uncheck it and do not run it from the installation screen. This is because there is an easier way to run the utility. Â
- Tab to the finish button and press enter on it to complete the installation.
- Minimize to your desktop
- Press the letter R until you arrive at recycle bin
- Press your application key
- Down arrow until you hear Run CCleaner and press enter
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That’s all there is to it. CCleaner will run and remove all junk files off of your computer and clean up your registry. As it runs, a screen shows and will disappear after the cleaning is complete. This operation normally takes 1 minute or less to complete.
The default cleaning options chose by the program upon a new installation are normally all you need. However, if you want to adjust any of the cleaning options of CCleaner, follow these steps:
- Minimize to your desktop
- Press the letter R until you arrive at recycle bin
- Press your application key
- Down arrow until you hear Open CCleaner… and press enter on it
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The CCleaner main screen appears and is accessible. You can tab through all options and press enter on the cleaner button, registry button, tools button, or options button. After pressing enter on a button, there is a tree view on the screen that populates and lets you select or deselect items to clean. You can tab to this tree view and then use your down and up arrow keys to move up and down the tree of items to clean. Press your space bar to select or deselect an item to clean.
There are many options you can experiment with so feel free to explore. There is also a check for updates button that will check for a newer version of CCleaner and if available, it will download it and install it for you. I recommend running CCleaner once a week.
If you know of any other accessible system utilities, please leave a comment below and share it with everyone.
Thanks and talk soon,
Justin
There are several screen readers available for the blind today. Some of them are commercial products, while others are free and open source such as NVDA for Windows and Orca for Linux. Although the free and open source screen readers offer blind computer users complimentary alternatives, they are primarily  designed for home users. So then, who are the three screen reader companies who have developed screen readers to help blind and visually impaired persons sustain employment?
Those three companies are GWMicro which makes the Window Eyes screen reader for Windows, Dolphin Computer Access which makes the SuperNova screen reader for Windows, and Freedom Scientific which  makes the  Jaws for Windows screen reader for Windows. These brands of screen readers provide us the opportunity to work in a business as a blind or visually impaired individual.
Certainly each brand has strengths and weaknesses. In other words, things we love about them and  things that flat out annoy us! Let’s look at some of the features that all of them share that can help us work within a business.
- Internet access either via Internet Explorer or firefox.
- Email via Microsoft Outlook, windows live mail, outlook express, etc.
- Chat via windows messenger, AIM, google talk, or a common chat application
- Remote desktop abilities for working from home
- All Microsoft Office applications
- Reading adobe pdf files
- Support for most versions of windows: 2000, xp, ME, Vista, 7
- Support for Braille display
- Supports 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows
 These screen readers really do share most of the same core   features for helping us sustain employment. So this brings me to my next thought. Which screen reader do you feel is the  best on the market and why? What features of your screen reader makes it stand out above the rest? What are the  features of your screen reader that you really appreciate that the competition does not have?
Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Thanks!
/Justin