Seems to me that Microsoft has implemented some very positive changes in Narrator, and that it will be significantly more useful in Windows 8 than it has been in the past. Still, however, I think it will remain another tool to help blind users setup their computers, install their screen reader of choice, and troubleshoot problems if any come up. But I don't think Microsoft ever promised that Narrator would match the absolute power of a screen reader such as JAWS.
On 03/28/2012, tim <[email protected]> wrote: > You might want to rethink that thought after hearing this about > narrator. If not fixed i doubt if it will even help if jaws happens to > crash. > From: John J Herzog [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 1:12 AM > Subject: windows 8 narrator, provides hype and not hope > > Hello everyone, > I just completed a podcast explaining how narrator works in the new > windows 8. Here is the link, and below are my opinions. I urge you to > share this with every blind person you know, before our time to > change things for the newest windows has passed. > > http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15813782/windows%208%20narrator%20demo.mp3 > > Ok, now here are my thoughts. Long story short, Narrator is > incredibly disappointing, and yet Microsoft is emphatically stating > how great the upcoming accessibility will be on their developer blog. > I am sending this podcast to all of you with the hopes that you will > have ideas on how we can encourage blind consumers to pressure > Microsoft to do better. It is clear to me that Microsoft is > interested in nothing more than positive publicity for helping > everybody out, yet does not want to put in the effort to give the > blind a truly usable screen reader. Louis, narrator is no better in > the consumer preview than it was in the developer version of windows > released last September. Microsoft claims that over 100000 changes > were made from the first preview of windows to the current beta. And > yet nothing was done for accessibility in that time. If we do not > voice our disappointment as a community, then the final version of > windows will likely not contain further accessibility improvements. > To Marlaina and everybody else, you need to give this a listen to > understand what Microsoft claims they are doing versus what they are > actually doing. Scott, I know you were with me when I produced this > tonight. However, I cannot find the link needed to submit this to the > blind cool tech web site. Maybe one of you can get this posted to > serotalk? If not, then I hope you all will share this with every > other blind person you know. I normally don't get upset when things > won't work as advertised. However, Microsoft really should know > better than to produce such a flawed access solution. When better > screen readers can be found in free operating systems such as Linux, > there is a definite problem that needs to be addressed. And when they > market accessibility, they really should have a product that stands > up to the claim that it makes windows an inclusive operating system > for everybody. > I don't mean to rant, but give this a listen and let me know what you think. > > Thank you, > John > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
