I'm not sure what you mean when you say Microsoft has had at least 2
opportunities to fix the OS but you should be aware that Microsoft scaled
back narrator at the request of the National Federation of the Blind.
Yes, it's true -- the NFB asked Microsoft to *not* minclude a decent screen
reader in Windows XP. Their reasoning is that if narrator was any good, it
would drive Freedom Scientific out of business. And then they'd be dependent
upon Microsoft for their screen reader technology. That, in turn, would lead
to an inferiour product.
I argued on the nfb-talk list that VoiceOver is proof that their reasoning
was invalid. First, VoiceOver is pretty darn good. Secondly, they
wouldn't have been dependent upon Microsoft. There already are alternatives
like speakup and VoiceOver.
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Poehlman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by
theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 6:17 AM
Subject: Re: FCC seeks comment on their implementation of Section 508
It's not an insult. All I'm saying is tha in what I see as the real
world, there isn't much accessibility as a result of section 508
companies really doing accessability. What has made most of it happen is
small companies trying hared to keep up with the reality of large company
business decision to continually without care or interest in a cure to
stomp on us. Microsoft has had at least two opportunities to fix the
most used os in the world and has chosen not to. That notwithstanding,
people need real access and the "standards" don't really fullfill that.
On Apr 5, 2007, at 6:19 AM, Access Curmudgeon wrote:
sounds like you need to get out into the real world.
What is with the insult? But thanks for trimming back your message at
least.
