Can I ask, and this is probably a really stupid, but does MS have a
mac section responsible for this sort of thing or vice versa? How does
it work? I would have thought, that there was some level of co-
operation between Mc and MS?
But, if i remember correctly, when MS released Vista - and from what
I've read and heard, it's a stab at Mac for Windows, they were
criticized for delaying and so they released perhaps before they
should of have done. I think perhaps the same is true of Office, in
the past, MS has released Office in the final quarter,, and so it
hardly seemed worth it. Now by releasing early they might be trying to
monopolize their own market with their shiny new Office product, which
will eventually force people to upgrade to the 2008 version.
Best James
On 17 Jan 2008, at 20:15, Simon Cavendish wrote:
It is not necessarily about going to court but about making as much
noise as we can wherever we can, privately, in the media, on the
internet, everywhere: talk talk talk and shout. The public at large
have no idea what we have to put up with and yet they often hear
that those so called disabled people linguer on benefits and are a
drain on the society. The society at large do not know what
difficulties we face, and people's memory is short. So when they
hear Mac or Microsoft have done something in accessibility, they
think all is well. So we have to keep a gentle but sustained
pressure on, I feel, or else we get forgotten. Apple is not off the
hook, Microsoft is not off the hook. We know it's about profits and
money and so on. There's a degree of honesty in everyone and we have
to tap into it. Companies ultimately respond to what customers think
about them so we have to talk about what hurts us.
Simon know
On 17 Jan 2008, at 17:36, Dan Keys wrote:
Hello,
But the question is, "How many lawyers does Microsoft have?" They
have no interest in accessibility at all. After all, what's
Narrater really worth, a part of the OS?
But also, Apple should really be encouraging developers to write
accessible programs.
Also, I agree that Apple isn't off the hook completely either.
Still Works really isn't truly accessible.
I hope Open Office comes through with an accessible group of
applications.
Dan
On Jan 17, 2008, at 7:14 AM, Simon Cavendish wrote:
Dear Greg and the Listers,
I entirely agree with Greg's words. It is a shame for Microsoft to
have produced a flagship version of its main suite ignoring
accessibility for visually impaired people and print impaired
people in the presence of the fact that Microsoft must be aware of
its obligations with regard to accessibility as outlined above. I
should imagine that it is against the ADA law and the Disability
Discrimination Act, 1995, in the UK. It would require though a
major representatives of business to take Microsoft to book on
account of this omission. The fact is that Microsoft must have
known that Mac OS platform is already accessible to blind and
print impaired people and to ignore this warrants an uproar.
Let us all protest in whatever ways we are able to.
With best wishes
Simon Cavendish
On 17 Jan 2008, at 14:26, Greg Kearney wrote:
According to Microsoft this morning Microsoft Office 08 is not
accessible to the blind or print disabled using VoiceOver. So
don't bother going out and buying it. I will now editorialize:
At some point someone is going to start raising the issue of
consumer products, in this case Microsoft Office, not being
accessible and if producing such products is actionable under the
Americans with Disabilities Act. That aside what in the world is
Microsoft thinking? This was a product that was delayed because
the code was changed to Xcode and here we have a major
productivity application that is not accessible? Microsoft should
be ashamed of itself and I for one would like to have someone
from Microsoft offer some kind of explanation for this oversight.
It is one thing for some small company with limited resources to
not have an accessible application it is inexcusable for a
company the size of Microsoft to re-write a major application
like office and not have it be accessible. If Xcode would not
compile non-accessible application we might have avoided this. It
is interesting to note that the only accessible spreadsheet for
the Mac, Tables, is the work of a lone programer who managed to
do it with out the resources of a Microsoft or Apple.
On a related note developer at Sun have been asking questions
about accessibility on a developer list at Apple so perhaps there
is hope that Sun will be developing an accessible version of Open
Office. Let's hope so anyway. And let's hope that someone at
Apple is able to get and explanation from Microsoft as to why an
application written after VoiceOver's release is not able to be
used by the blind and print disabled. And Apple your not off the
hook here either Pages and Numbers are not accessible either I
might add.
Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
