John,
I believe 508 and 504 were in force before xp was released and there,
they could have made an accessibility impact. They don't have to
build in a screen reader. In fact, I'd discourage anything resembling
current screen reader technology implementation. There is lots that
can be done to help everyone that they refused to do in xp and refused
to do again in crappa.
On Apr 5, 2007, at 9:31 AM, John Heim wrote:
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.
