I wonder if he is referring to things under the hood like the Apple
Accessibility API and such. While VO generally provides full access to
everything on the Mac, if you're wanting to plug stuff into VO
underneath (like Flash accessibility) are the APIs consistent? Have they
been shifting and changing with each release? I don't actually know but
the developer might see VO as shifting sand while the user is productive
and happy. It could be that I'm in the lobby with the comfy chairs and
tinkling fountain but down in the basement the plumbing is full of leaks
and things to knock your head on.
CB
Cara Quinn wrote:
darcy, I absolutely agree 100 percent! I'm using Mac exclusively
right now, and as I've mentioned here before, I work to a huge degree
on the web all the time for castings, and dealing with agents and
such. So for someone to arbitrarily say that VO, (my current
exclusive means of speech output) is less than 'mature' is a bit
uninformed at the very least.
On top of that, it's also a bit of a catch 22, as VO will never be
seen as mature without at least some degree of flash access, which to
some degree mirrors that of JFW / WE on the Windows side. So it's a
self-fulfilling prophecy, yes?…
Anyway, I personally am in tremendous need of flash access which I
know I can get with JFW, and would be forced down that road if it
weren't for extremely irritating work-arounds or conventional site
links which could vanish at any moment as some of the sites I work
with regularly are updated. So I'm on a bit of a tenuous thread here
so to speak. I love the Mac side though, and as it's a joy to work
with in large part, I'll stay with it here as access improves or I'm
forced in another direction for certain tasks.
I'd hate to see that happen, but if people keep making arbitrary
uninformed claims or decisions about VO and it's user base / perceived
lack thereof, that may happen.
here's hoping it doesn't though!
Thanks for your note and keep up the wonderful work! You guys rock!…
Smiles,
Cara :)
On Jun 9, 2008, at 11:27 PM, Darcy Burnard wrote:
Hmmm, wonder if Mr. Kirkpatrick has been reading a little too much
access world.
Seriously though, who gets to decide if a product is mature or not?
I've been a Mac user for two years now, in in the last year, I bet I
could count on my fingers the number of times I've turned on my
windows machine.
This is a cop out in my opinion. They can keep saying this
indefinitely.
Darcy, who now has something more to talk about on Screenless
Switchers tomorrow.
On 9-Jun-08, at 11:12 PM, Greg Kearney wrote:
Got this back from Adobe. Not sure how to reply perhaps the user
community could give Mr. Kirkpatrick an education.
Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Andrew Kirkpatrick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: June 9, 2008 8:09:29 PM MDT
To: "Greg Kearney" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: Adobe accessibility
Greg,
Tried to chat with you from your site. Unfortunately, VoiceOver is
not
ready for real use as a tool for blind users to gain access to many
applications and access to HTML content with VO is hardly mature.
As a
result, we have not focused on supporting the Mac accessibility API in
the Flash player yet.
The Australian law doesn't require cross-platform accessibility,
particularly when there is no mature tool on one of the platforms in
question, resulting in no users requiring screen reader access in that
environment.
AWK
Lloyd Rasmussen at the Library of Congress suggested I communicate
with you concerning accessbility of Flash content with in the
Macintosh environment with VoiceOver.
Later this month I will be traveling to Australia where I will be
working on accessible websites. Australian law requires that web sites
be accessible. I have been unable to interact with any Flash based
content with VoiceOver on a Mac.
I am wondering if this is an issue that is being addressed or not as I
will need to advise my clients as to the legal use of Flash content.
Thank you for your time.
Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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