that sounds like a wonderful solution to the problem.
The genius I worked with today didn't now about VO off the top of his
head, but was very willing to learn and take the time to find
resources. He and I did figure out dragging and dropping, though it
took us a while to get it working. He was extremely helpful, and I
had a good experience. Now, I've gotta try dragging and dropping on
my own and see if I can replicate what we did. :) My Ipod was simply
switched out for a new one which we registered and synced with my
macbook.
Out of curiosity I asked him how much training the apple store techs
have with VO, and he told me that they are told the basics of what it
is, but not really how to use it. I told him the idea someone posed
about writing out a basic little guide for apple store techs about VO,
and he thought that was a great idea.
This was the first voiceover case he had dealt with, but he handled
everything well and ended up being very helpful.
Olivia
On Sep 22, 2008, at 9:45 AM, John Panarese wrote:
Hi Scott,
This makes perfect sense to me. For those who have not been on
the list as long as some of us, this topic has come up from time to
time in the past and, usually, is done so constructively and without
the accompaniment of fire starting to make it into an issue of
global economic proportions.
The idea that Greg Kearney has posed on a number of occasions,
which I think makes the most sense, is Apple appointing an
Accessibility "Guru" or "evangelist", or whatever title one would
like to utilize. This individual would have the job of both setting
up a central area where accessibility questions and support would be
addressed as well as arranging for demonstrations and presentations
for both blindness agencies and local Apple stores.. Greg, if he
wishes, can provide additional details, as I am really lumping it
altogether in a brief summary.
The other aspect to this is to try to be a bit more realistic
in ones ideas and expectations. Like any other retail store, Apple
stores hire local people looking for jobs and what such employees
are taught or what training they are given is probably not enough to
cover every product and every aspect of every product. If Richy is
still on the list, since he does work for an Apple Store in Alaska,
he is probably better suited to talk about this matter.
Should the staff know a little something about VoiceOver if a
blind person or other interested individual comes into the store
asking about it? Of course, but walk into any retail computer store
and ask questions about JAWS or Window-Eyes or even ask more
technical questions about specific mainstream software and you will
have the same results. And yes, since I have been involved in
contracting hell for the last fourteen months now, I can tell you
that walking into a plumbing store and asking the clerk specific
questions a contractor needs to know about does not garner one a
ready answer. Believe me when I tell you, knowledge about products
being sold in a store, regardless of how specialized that store
might be, is not a given by any means.
Take Care
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]
Internet, http://www.tvi-web.com
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS FOR PORTSET SYSTEMS LTD, COMPSOLUTIONS VA,
PREMIER ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INDEX, PAPENMEIER, REPRO-TRONICS,
DUXBURY, SEROTEK AND OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY
IMPAIRED
AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE
MAC VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT
On Sep 22, 2008, at 5:31 AM, Scott Howell wrote:
THen Chris, what you and all the others out there who feel strongly
about this, is write to Apple. Yes, if you write a letter making
this a suggestion, then they will see that it makes good business
sense to make this option available or ensure their technical
support staff has more information on VoiceOver or it's covered in
training in greater detail. THis also holds true with the Apple
stores and hey, you always have the option of offering to come in
and talk to some of the folks at your local Apple store or any
place that sells a Apple products and volunteer to give them some
basics on VoiceOver. You could even write up a little set of basic
instructions and give a copy to your local store. Should you have
to do this? Of course not, does or would it make a difference? I
bet it would. The point is and don't take this the wrong way. You
can sit here on this list and yack about what Apple should or
shouldn't do or how they can improve themselves, but it's an
entirely different thing when you take some action and try to make
Apple aware of these things. SOmetimes you start at a local store,
sometimes a note to Apple Hq or [EMAIL PROTECTED] There are
ways of doing something and although I agree they shouldn't need us
to push, but remember it is a big company and things can tend to
run quite slow. Point is you gotta sqweek now and then to be heard,
just like the ungreased wheel.
Does this make sense?
