[gui-talk] Economic stimulus online tax preparation

[Les Kriegler]

Hi Steve,

Well, I'm really hoping that when Window-Eyes 7 comes out with its scripting
capability, someone will script tax software programs like TurboTax and
TaxAct.  I was hoping to use Window-Eyes this year with TaxAct, but I
couldn't even reclass the Windows and have the text from the buttons read.
IN previous years, one could do this, but you could not save the state of
the window when you exited, meaning that you'd have to reclass every time
the program was launched.  So JFW is really the only option for use of
TaxAct, and their scripts haven't been updated for this product in a few
years.  This is the problem with packages that come out every year; Quicken
is another example of this occurrence.  Well, at least I can still use the
product, otherwise, I'd be on-line trying to fill out a return, or worse,
hiring the job out.

Les 

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 1:55 PM
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Economic stimulus online tax preparation

Joel,

I appreciate you taking the time to respond and I'm glad the site seemed to
work better today.  There was much discussion with TurboTax several years
ago at which time they did some work on their site.  Unfortunately, their
software is still a very mixed bag, which seems to be the case for all tax
software.  

While I can't say for certain, I have noticed before that when we get close
to April 15, the TurboTax site in general is very variable in its response
time.  This is likely due to heavy usage.  If a page takes a long time to
load or if the loading starts and stops, it seems to confuse screen readers.
I've seen this with both JFW and Window-Eyes.  Sometimes the screen reader
seems to think a page has finished loading when it hasn't.  My guess is that
something like this may have happened to you yesterday or perhaps some sort
of maintenance was happening.  naturally, this is all speculation, though,
based on a little experience.

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:35:22 -0700, Joel Deutsch wrote:

>hi Steve,

>thanks for responding. I just went back to that site to try it again 
>and, if it still resisted my attempts, to get the URL and paste it into 
>my reply so you'd know just where I'd been.

>But I think I understand what happened, now, because this time I was 
>fortunate that Jaws somehow chose to focus on some text that came up 
>after I pressed the Create User ID button. I could see that the screen 
>changed, yesterday, when I pressed that control, but when nothing that 
>sounded like a form came up, in fact Jaws didn't automatically speak 
>anything at all, I thought that the shift I'd seen on the screen must 
>have been some sort of Jaws-inaccessible page element appearing, thus 
>defeating my attempt at access.

>But when I went back and clicked on Create User ID again just now, 
>again I saw the screen change but this time Jaws said "One more thing." 
>And I knew I must not have missed a form, but rather that there was an 
>intervening step before arriving at the form.

>So I explored the new screen, or page, or whatever, and found the 
>friendly-style  boilerplate requiring me to accept the terms and 
>conditions before being allowed to proceed. Very ordinary thing, but 
>Jaws had not let me know what was happening the first time, or even 
>given me a hint. I can't account for why it was clear today, but I'm 
>glad it was. So I checked the Agree box and was allowed to click on the 
>proceed button, which immediately takes me to the kind of forms field I
expected to find myself at.

>So, maybe it will all work better than I feared it might. But what 
>happened yesterday was pretty mystifying. Dead silence after I clicked 
>the first control, and thinking that it was some sort of invisible 
>form, I didn't bother to try exploring what turns out to have been a new
page.

>Glad to hear you've been collaborating with them or consulting for them 
>about accessibility. That's great. I'll continue this today or 
>tomorrow, and if anything else inexplicable happens, I'll check in and 
>tell about it. But I'm assuming it will go well.

>Thanks,
>Joel
>you hear mysteifyingofound whatver interfening than therincassible You 
>see, fortnate .
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 9:33 AM
>Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Economic stimulus online tax preparation


>Joel,

>At one point, the TurboTax web site was said to be completely accessible 
>including the forms.  From what you are saying, this may have changed.  Can

>you
>describe what happened after you pressed the "register" button?  Were you 
>able to determine that there was text that JFW didn't see at all, or was it

>a case where
>you could read the text with JFW but not find the verious controls?  If
this 
>site has changed, I need to get the word to those who worked TurboTax
before 
>regarding
>their web site.  Thanks in advance.

>On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:17:08 -0700, Joel Deutsch wrote:

>>Thanks for the input, Les. I appreciate hearing about your experiences.
I'm
>>just so accustomed to dealing handily with so many forms I encounter
online
>>using Jaws that I was surprised to find myself faced with obstacles like
>>this.
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: "Les Kriegler" <kriegler at nycap.rr.com>
>>To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 3:21 AM
>>Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Economic stimulus online tax preparation


>>Hi Joel,

>>This is why I have not used on-line forms in order to complete tax
returns.
>>I know some have done it, but I'm not certain what problems were
>>encountered.  I have been using TaxAct with the Jaws scripts for several
>>years now, and I find that is the best option for me at this time.  I buy
>>the Deluxe version which includes the software for completion of Federal 
>>and
>>State returns, and one free federal filing for $17.

>>Les

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
>>Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 10:10 PM
>>To: GUI-Talk
>>Subject: [gui-talk] Economic stimulus online tax preparation

>>I've gone to the IRS Web page for free tax return filing in order to apply
>>for my economic stimulus payment. There's a list of links for a number of
>>tax prep services you can use, with a couple of qualifications restricting
>>some of them by state or incomeor age. That leaves me with a few to choose
>>from.
>>First I clicked through to the Turbo Tax site and began the process of
>>registering and getting started. But immediately I found that this service
>>isn't likely to work for me, because when I clicked on the button to
>>register, I think some sort of Java-based form popped up, which my Jaws
>>screen reader can't "see" and allow me access to. I can fill out all sorts
>>of online forms, so long as they are presented in HTML like the Web page
>>itself, but a Java form is impossible, and I have to imagine that other
>>forms on the Turbo Tax site are likely to be similarly inaccessible to me.

>>So I thought I'd just stop before driving  myself nuts going from one
>>service to the other, trying to figure out which would work, and ask here 
>>if
>>any Jaws user has filled out a tax form this way and, if so, which service
>>they used, and was there any trick to understanding it and navigating 
>>around
>>the service and the forms?

>>Thanks. For anyone who wants to see those options, I'll paste in the URL
of
>>the IRS page below.

>>Thanks to anyone who can recommend one of the services. The only two
>>qualifiers apart from appropriate income status that concern me are age
>>requirements, some of which want you to be under 54, others over 65,. (I'm
>>63) and some list the states in which you can reside and use their 
>>services,
>>and for me California (CA) must be listed.

>>Here's the address:

>>https://www.completetax.com/CT/Login/CTLogin.aspx

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