ATTN: Mark; Office of the President As a person who is blind and a user of screen reading software, I would like to be able to use off-the-shelf software to handle my own taxes and personal finances. At present, this is not possible with your products, with the exception of the online version of TurboTax--although its access is limited and cumbersome at best.
A larger percentage of the population of persons with visual impairments uses computers than the public at large. We use computers for work, for managing our households, and even online banking. I use the Wells Fargo bank site and find it especially accessible and a good model of how an organization can make their Web service accessible. I use other bank sites and they're generally accessible--although to a lesser degree than Wells Fargo. I believe you would find enough of a user base to make your efforts to add accessibility worthwhile. Regardless, it might well be that even small and relatively simple changes would have a huge impact for those of us who use screen readers. I use the GW Micro Window Eyes software. The staff of GW Micro would surely be helpful in working with you to make your products more accessible; they've assisted other software producers. They might also be able to give you a better sense of the size of the potential market you might attract from making your products accessible. I hope you will consider and act on this request. Best regards, Richard Petty Program Director Independent Living Research Utilization 2323 South Shepherd, Suite 1000 Houston, Texas 77019 713.520.0232, Ex. 122 (Voice/TTY) 713.520.5785 (Fax) [email protected] Richard.petty1 (Skype)If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
