I haven't quite gotten the hang of replying to messages from this list;
here lately, sometimes they go to the sender and the list, and other
times they only go to the sender. Here's what I sent back to Lauren.
Lauren,
I manage two of the volunteer sites, and I teach the volunteers who work
at them. I would be happy to discuss any specific concerns you might
have about either option off list at
[email protected]
if you like. I've used MyFreeTaxes.com pretty extensively to do returns.
I've added W-2 forms (you would either have to scan your documents so
you could read the numbers off of them or have somebody read them to
you), student loan interest, home mortgage interest, self-employment
income (Schedule C), various credits, and state returns for Alabama. I
have not done the education credits this year, although I saw where that
happens, and I've been told it's easier to do those this year than it
was last year. With MyFreeTaxes, you're not really manipulating most of
the forms and schedules. You're answering questions for the most part,
so they lend themselves very well to access with JAWS. There are some
forms, like the W-2, but even those are very screen reader friendly.
One thing I will say is that if I used Internet Explorer, I could find
the refund monitor, which tells you how your return is looking
throughout the process. (You owe $4 or you're getting back $300). When I
used Firefox this year, I could complete the return just fine, but I
couldn't follow the progress on the refund monitor. Of course, as a part
of the wrap up, it told me what the taxpayer was getting back, so it
wasn't like I wouldn't know when it truly mattered, but I like to
monitor my progress as I step through the various parts of the return,
and I could only do that with Internet Explorer. I don't remember that
being the case last year.
I found the MyFreeTaxes process much more streamlined this year than
last year, and it covers a lot of topics, including some advanced topics
I'm not even trained to do as a tax volunteer. JAWS never hesitated or
gave me any trouble this year. Again, if you want to write me privately
and tell me about the complexity of your return, I can advise you about
whether you should be concerned about doing it yourself. But the
software accessibility isn't a barrier.
Brad
On 1/24/2015 11:08 PM, Lauren wrote:
Thank you for the information. One maybe off-topic question: is the one for
home users as good as if I went to a place where they do it for you if you
are below an income threshold? Would I miss something in the home user
version and did you try out all aspects of it with Jaws?
Sincerely,
Lauren
-----Original Message-----
From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brad Martin
via Jfw
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2015 11:03 PM
To: The Jaws for Windows support list.
Subject: Accessible Tax Software
Sorry if this is off topic, but I don't think it is. I wanted to share some
good news about accessibility.
Last year, the question went around this list about which tax software was
accessible with JAWS. At the time, I was working with two products,
MyFreeTaxes.com for home users and Taxwise Online for tax pros and
volunteers. Both have made improvements in accessibility this year, so I
thought I'd share, especially because this list had a lot to do with the
improvements in Taxwise Online. I'm really excited about this, and I hope it
helps you.
www.MyFreeTaxes.com allows you to use H&R Block online software to prepare
your federal and up to three state returns completely free of charge,
provided your income was $60,000 or less in 2014. It's a partnership between
United Way, Goodwill International, and the National Disability Institute,
and is sponsored by the Walmart Foundation. This is solid software that does
more than just your basic EZ return. (I did a Schedule C return last night.)
It has been accessible since I started using it, except for the dreaded
captcha at the very end of the filing process. I raised this concern with
the MyFreeTaxes partnership, and they addressed that concern with H&R Block.
I'm happy to report that this year, there is an Audio Captcha which is
actually understandable to the human ear. I used it. It worked. Using
nothing more than a web browser and JAWS 15, I filed a return without anyone
having to be present. You can too! I would assume this same audio captcha
was also added to H&R Block's paid online software, although I haven't used
it.
Since My Free Taxes is free, and my income is way below $60,000, I just use
that.
Taxwise Online is more of a commercial product used by professional tax
preparers, as well as volunteers in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and
Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs. Last year, the folks at CCH Small
Firm Services saw my post on this very JAWS list complaining about the
inaccessibility of the tax forms in their product, and they called me at
work. We had a conference call. They showed me that they had a version of
the product that I didn't know about which they believed was
508 compliant. The software menus and interview were and always had been
accessible, but when it came to the tax forms, It still wasn't even close,
although they had been assured by someone that it was fine. The good news is
the folks on this conference call listened to me and took me seriously. They
went back to the drawing board. While it has a few odd behaviors, it's leaps
and bounds ahead of where it was last year, and I give CCH Small Firm
Services a lot of credit for fixing it. I've been pleasantly surprised. I
was even able to use the new Affordable Care Act worksheet and forms in my
training classes this year. Again, it worked with JAWS 15. I haven't tried
with other versions or other screen readers. Taxwise Online only works with
Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, and we know how well Chrome works with
JAWS, so I've only used it with Internet Explorer. Last year, I tried with
NVDA, but it wasn't nearly as successful. I haven't tried with the 2014
software though; I've just stuck with JAWS and it's been good.
So two big touchdowns for accessibility in the tax software world, I'm proud
to report. The first is for home users, and the second is for tax pros and
certified volunteers. I hope these developments help someone--maybe even
you! I'm very happy about them.
For what it's worth,
--
Brad Martin
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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Brad Martin
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
My Facebook page where I post online shopping coupons and deals:
facebook.com/ucoupons <http://www.facebook.com/ucoupons>
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