I have to also strongly agree here as well. It is certainly
frustrating to face the uphill battle we seem to be dealing with
accessibility, companies and publications in regard to VoiceOver, but
taking a confrontational stance never accomplishes much at all.
If I had the time, I'd also like to take all of the useful and
helpful posts from this list and write a, "how to" guide to answer
questions about using VO with various applications and how to make
the less VO friendly apps u
John D. Panarese
Managing Director
Technologies for the Visually Impaired, Inc.
9 Nolan Court
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Tel/Fax, (631) 724-4479
Email, [EMAIL PROTECTED] net
Internet, http://www.tvi-web.com
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS FOR PORTSET SYSTEMS LTD, COMPSOLUTIONS VA,
PREMIER ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INDEX, PAPENMEIER, REPRO-TRONICS,
DUXBURY, DANCING DOTS AND OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY
IMPAIRED
On Jul 12, 2006, at 12:37 PM, Josh de Lioncourt wrote:
Hi Rick Boggs and all,
I would like to applaud your message, quoted below. This is sadly
a highly prevalent problem in the VI community at large, though
whether or not the ratio is any higher than other groups I am not
qualified to say. As a developer of software for the blind, I've
run into this sort of thing time and time again, and know that many
others in the accessible games industry have as well. Some
developers have left the business because of it.
I am a big fan of Apple in general and Mac OSX with VoiceOver in
particular. I wrote a note to Access World after their totally,
and rather obviously, biase review of VoiceOver last year, but
didn't receive any response whatsoever. However, having
experienced messages like the one Mr. Vega sent, including a few
from him in the same tone in the distant past, I understand how
disheartening and defensive this sort of tone can make a person in
any field.
Nastiness will never get you anywhere, and I hope that others will
take your message, Rick, to heart.
At 08:10 AM 7/12/2006, you wrote:
I certainly understand the frustration involved in
continuously being misunderstood or misrepresented or treated in
an unequal or undeserved manner. However, it just seems counter
productive to rudely rail on those who errantly report inaccurate
information or refuse to inform themselves about issues that we
care about. Being polite and professional with individuals
representing companies that do not provide accessibility to their
products or services or to those who issue publications with
information about such things may not have a high ratio of
success. On the other hand, rudely venting an insulting folks
(which I have been guilty of myself at times) has never once
produced any beneficial result in my experience.
I am concerned about this very type of behavior when it comes to
dealing with DigiDesign regarding accessibility of ProTools. This
is a company that has, in the past, done more than most companies
do, and their actions did result in accessibility, though not
perfectly so.
I suggest two ideas here. First, we should always attempt to
persuade, and persistently so, using every known motivator,
consiering the interests of the person or company we wish to
convince.
Second, regarding media and communication, we might choose to
become more effective at harnessing our own knowledge of core
issues and utilizing some of the fine writing skills in our midst
to generate our own accurate articles, press releases, and such
communications.
If I had the time and the hands-on experience with Voice Over that
most on this list seem to have, I'd sift through the hundreds of
saved emails addressing a myriad of technical issues and write a
comprehensive review of my own, finding various published outlets
to distribute it.
But, I am still stuck on os9 with outSPOKEN, so I do not feel
prepared to comment on Voice Over yet.
My point is that we all might take a lesson from the unfortunate
communication shared on this list regarding the "no mensa" review
of Voice Over.
All respect and props to the one who shared it here, despite his
own regrets about the tone of it.
I marvel at the skills and knowledge of folks on this list. HOpe
my comments are taken well.
Rick Boggs
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