Well, I'm not quite sure I'm following your point, and it looks like you removed the thread you were replying to, so I may be going off on a tangent. I agree off the shelf products should be made accessible, and the blind and the sighted should use the same products and applications whenever possible. My concern is when this isn't possible though. If, for example, this new GPS app gives me features I don't have in any existing app and makes it easier for me to navigate independently, why shouldn't I take advantage of it? Seems to me that I'm more on par with my sighted peers if I'm able to travel and get around more independently.
Maybe Seeing Eye could have approached Garmin or some other company to add the features and accessibility options the blind are interested in, but I'm not sure they didn't already do that, or that if they did, it was going to be financially feasible for them. Sure, adding these features and options into an application right from the outset may be cheaper than developing a new application, but I do know retrofitting features and accessibility into an application that wasn't designed with that in mind is going to be more expensive. Seeing Eye could have also tried to develop a GPS application that would have the features of particular interest to the blind, as well as appeal to the sighted, but then they'd have to compete with free apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps and MapQuest, as well as differentiate themselves enough from NaviGon or Tom Tom to get sighted people interested in their app.. I'm not sure Seeing Eye is willing to or has the resources to go toe to toe with the likes of Garmin and Tom Tom. On 27/02/13 23:19, Mark BurningHawk wrote: > Wow. well, thanks for making it personal, there. Appreciate that, but not so > much. What *I* personally have a problem with, since you brought it up, is > anything that raises the barriers that sight imposes between blind and > sighted persons, instead of lowering them or making that barrier meaningless. > If this is a white cane versus a black or tan or whatever cane, fine. If it > a GPS app that has a cheaper price but has a sub-level for blind people, > designed by blind people, then I think that's a better way to go than > reinventing the wheel of GPS apps for the blind, charging them and only them > or their agencies more, and relegating the blind to their own separate > portion of the market. Apple has shown by example that this is not > necessarily the result for blind people who use technology. Many sighted > companies--certain US-based airlines spring to mind--merge to provide a more > complete range of services--why couldn't this be a more feasible approach to > a GPS app that is universally accessible? The same argument you use when you say that "one company making devices universally accessible does not make the industry standard," is used all the time to keep whole countries from "going green," by switching to alternative energy sources. > > As for your comparison to canes, I guess you haven't been to any page selling > canes or their accessories lately--if so, you'll find a large list of said > accessories visually designed for matching with your shoes, hand-bag, golf > bag, whatever. And, just to clear this up, I'm a 23-year veteran with four > guide dogs' lives worth of service to my credit, I've lived all over the US > in every conceivable environmental and mobility situation. I'm just very > lucky to be a "basic black," wearing type individual, so I haven't had to > accessorize my black lab much. Oh, and they have tons of guide dog harness > accessories, not to mention the usual run of silly doggie booties and > sweaters and the lot. > > You say that "Some things are just better when they are done with the blind > person in mind," I have to ask, "Who is doing these things?" a sighted > overlord? Things done with me in mind have almost killed me too many times > to count, sir, and if you must know, it is things done with me and my good in > mind that I have a huge objection to. So should every thinking person. > > Mark BurningHawk > Skype and Twitter: BurningHawk1969 > Home page: Http://MarkBurningHawk.net/ > -- Christopher (CJ) chaltain at Gmail -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
