[blindkid] MacBook Pro

Fri Feb 26 14:07:12 UTC 2010

FYI there are trends happening today which are opening the eyes of techies
to the importance of assistive technologies.  Red on!
According to the AP, efforts are underway to make the Web more accessible. 

What if you could not use a traditional keyboard or mouse interface? Have
you ever been frustrated by the distorted letters a webpage uses to prove
you are human, as if you could be a chicken typing the keys. Well movement
is underway to help make the Web available to people with severe
disabilities.

 Websites of today are like the entry way to a business, and there is a big
market in making the business open to as many people as possible.

Studies tell  us that there are about sixty million of us with some kind of
disability.

The World Wide Web Consortium, which develops standards for the Web, has
issued guidelines for designers to help them create more accessible sites.
They include providing text labels for images, captions on audio and video
and making keyboard shortcuts for people who can't use a mouse.

"When the Web is designed well, it is so enabling. It allows people to
contribute on an equal plane," said Shawn Lawton Henry, outreach coordinator
at the consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative.

While most federal government Web sites are required by law to be
accessible, companies have no legal obligation to incorporate the features.

But Jim Thatcher, who developed the IBM screen reader, which blind people
use to read the Internet, said the threat of civil rights lawsuits has
motivated some companies.

Last year, Target Corp. agreed to pay $6 million in damages to plaintiffs in
a California class action lawsuit who were unable to use its Web site.
Thatcher, who was an expert witness during the trial, said there were many
links on Target's site that were unintelligible to screen-reading software.
He said there have been improvements since the settlement with the National
Federation of the Blind.

Apple Inc. also reached an agreement with the state of Massachusetts to
alter the program iTunes to make it accessible to the blind.

"No question that companies are seeking more help since those cases," said
Thatcher, who is working with Amazon.com on its site.

Apple's iPhone has been praised for its accessibility features, including
screen reader audio that comes standard on the machine.

Knowing how disabled people use the Web is the first step to making the Web
accessible, experts say.
At Yahoo Inc. headquarters in Silicon Valley, an "Accessibility Lab" allows
programmers and developers to try various assistive technology software and
hardware.

The lab's directors, Victor Tsaran and Alan Brightman, show visitors how
screen reader software works, and make them try Braille keyboards, a
head-controlled mouse, joy sticks, trackballs and other tools employed by
disabled users to navigate the Web.

"Our goal is to make people feel more at ease with disabilities," explains
Tsaran, who is blind. "And our task is to make technology work for people.
Accessibility is a big, big, big, big part of that."
The lab, which opened almost two years ago, is available to Yahoo employees
as well as developers from other companies.
"Our feeling is everything should be as accessible as possible," Brightman
said. "Let's not compete over whether a disabled person can use your site."

Guy Thomas, of San Leandro, who has little arm movement because of a
neuromuscular disability, plays a lot of games on the Internet, using a
trackball and mouse stick. He said there are some games that have made
adaptations for otherwise challenging moves, such as hitting one key while
holding down another. Those improvements, he said, are essential to letting
him enjoy the new games on the Web.

"When you're playing a game, it's one of the few places you don't have to be
disabled. You're just a guy, playing a game," he said. "But if you run into
an obstacle, it's the same as if I was on a basketball court unable to throw
a ball to the hoop."

Experts say accessibility features make a better Internet for all.
For example, the ability to zoom in on a map or magnify font was conceived
for people with low vision but it's helpful for anyone.

"It's like sidewalks. You build a wheelchair ramp and not only is it a
better sidewalk for those users, but for strollers, luggage, delivery
people," Brightman said.

Yahoo recently made upgrades to its home page to add labels that make it
easier for people using screen readers to jump around the page. The Internet
company also has added audio CAPTCHA image verifications for users who can
neither see nor comprehend the distorted words.

Google Inc., whose programmers have used the Yahoo lab, recently introduced
automatic machine-generated captions for videos on its YouTube site to make
them accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired. It's all about being
aware," said Henry of the Web consortium. "Often if you don't know anyone
with a disability,

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Richard Holloway
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 12:44 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro

The NFB actually already sued Target over web concerns back in 2006.

Here is a USA Today article from when this was first filed:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-25-blind_x.htm

If you google Case No.:  C 06-01802 MHP you can find many details of  
the NFB case and the settlement.

Part of me wants to jump on board and say yes, make everyone comply  
but in reality the very nature of the web makes that unrealistic or  
really just plain impossible. While we may be able to get a big  
company like Target to comply by law, we have to remember too that  
many web pages are setup by small groups or single individuals with  
little budget or very often for no money.

Many people could not afford to make existing sites compliment, and if  
they were forced, all they could do would be to take the site off- 
line; sort of the opposite result of what I think most of us would  
hope to achieve.

On the brighter side, I do think that over time design software  
improvements alone will help future sites a lot. For example when I  
upgraded to the CS3 release of Dreamweaver (web design software I like  
to use) they had set a default to remind you to add alternative text  
descriptions-- something that can be easy to overlook. I really think  
that better educated web designers and improved software are the most  
probable ways that most sites are going to improve in the future.

Richard

On Feb 25, 2010, at 3:53 PM, Albert J Rizzi wrote:

> In that vein what are we as an organization  doing to educate and  
> mitigate
> in these instances? Ignorance is bliss but it is putting our  
> community at a
> needless disadvantage. With all the technological advancements and the
> present legislation in place how do we effectively voice our need for
> attention to these details? It is simple to do yet without a law  
> suit or a
> screaming match it seems little attention is paid to our inter and  
> intra net
> access needs.
>
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one  
> who is
> doing it."
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid- 
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Thea Eaton
> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 11:48 PM
> To: 'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>
> Yes, all Flash content is accessible to JAWS, Window Eyes and Hal,  
> as long
> as - just like in HTML- the content is tagged and set up for  
> accessibility.
>
> Especially for older kids, I would choose a computer that can access  
> Flash.
> Most high school textbooks are being migrated to the web, and will  
> have
> Flash content. We have just finished a line of accessible enrichment
> activities for Harcourt School, for example, that accompany their  
> online
> textbooks. All these activities are on the web, in Flash and go hand  
> in hand
> with their textbooks. Pearson education is also migrating their  
> assessments
> online, in Flash. Many of their educational eBooks are also Flash  
> based. All
> these learning materials will not be accessible on a Mac, because  
> you will
> only be limited to HTML content, which might be fine for browsing a  
> large
> portion of the web, but any interactivity such as eBooks, learning
> materials, audio and video, will be inaccessible.
>
> Thea Eaton
> DoodleDoo
> www.doodledoo.com
> Where early birds learn.
> 1-888-42 DOODLE
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid- 
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Sally Thomas
> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 7:04 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>
> I'm interested in the usefulness of the Mac for older kids.  I hear  
> comments
>
> like Heather's about her friend using the Mac so I'm really  
> curious.  My son
>
> is past the Cartoon Network stage.
>
> When he was younger, Flash sites he tried to access with JAWS were not
> accessible.  I guess some of it depends on how the site is  
> designed.  I am
> sure that all Flash content is not compatible with JAWS.  I'm going  
> to check
>
> with the NFB Access Technology Team as Treva suggested to check on
> usefulness of the Mac for older kids.  I think the suggestion to  
> check with
> the student division is a good one too.
>
> Since it sounds like Apple is going to try to get the iPad placed as  
> an
> academic tool and since NFB has worked with Apple to improve  
> accessibility,
> I think the Mac may be a serious contender for older kids.
>
> Sally Thomas
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Thea Eaton" <thea at doodledoo.com>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 3:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>
>
>> Apple's Voice Over screen reader is not compatible with Adobe Flash
>> content.
>> Screen readers that are Flash compatible like JAWS, Window Eyes and  
>> Hal do
>> not have a Mac version. This would make all Flash websites for  
>> children,
>> like Cartoon Network and other accessible Flash sites, inaccessible  
>> on a
>> Mac. I would therefore not recommend a Mac for children who are  
>> wanting to
>> use a screen reader to access the web.
>>
>>
>> Thea Eaton
>> DoodleDoo
>> www.doodledoo.com
>> Where early birds learn.
>> 1-888-42 DOODLE
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid- 
>> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Sally Thomas
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 12:37 PM
>> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>>
>> I believe that it is only the Apple mobile devices that don't support
>> Flash.
>>
>> Sally Thomas
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Thea Eaton" <thea at doodledoo.com>
>> To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'"
>> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 11:05 AM
>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>>
>>
>>> As far as I know, most of the screen readers do not run on the Mac.
>>> Apple's
>>> own screen reader is very limited to the OS, I think, and is not
>>> compatible
>>> with all internet content, like Flash. Because more and more Flash
>>> content
>>> is now made accessible to screen reader users, especially children's
>>> content, I would not recommend getting a Mac, but a PC with an MSAA
>>> compatible screen reader like JAWS.
>>>
>>> Thea Eaton
>>> DoodleDoo
>>> www.doodledoo.com
>>> Where early birds learn.
>>> 1-888-42 DOODLE
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>>> ] On
>>> Behalf Of Sally Thomas
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:27 AM
>>> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
>>> Subject: [blindkid] MacBook Pro
>>>
>>> Do any blind kids you know use a MacBook for school work?  My son  
>>> has an
>>> iPod Touch which he loves.  He is even able to type and send email  
>>> from
>>> it
>>> despite the touch screen.  This has convinced him that a MacBook  
>>> is the
>>> best
>>>
>>> computer for him.  I'm wondering about the limitations of the  
>>> built in
>>> screen reader or any other idiosyncrasies that would limit its use.
>>> Since
>>> it doesn't require the purchase of JAWS or other screen reading  
>>> software,
>>> it
>>>
>>> might be a good choice.
>>>
>>> Sally Thomas
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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