[blindlaw] Satellite and Cable TV Tuner Boxes

[Ford, Tim (CDPH-OLS)]

I suggest that the two matters are so very different that they should
not be directly compared.  

Tim Ford

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Leslie Fairall
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:21 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Satellite and Cable TV Tuner Boxes

Actually, I think the LSAC issue is more important than making cable
boxes accessible to blind people. While most blind people have either
cable or satellite TV, 70% of us are still unemployed. Ensuring that a
blind person can enter a profession and support themselves is more
important than access to entertainment such as as cable and satellite TV
boxes and remotes. I own a couple of satellite radio receivers, and
they're not fully accessible either. However, these are for my
entertainment pleasure, not my life's work.


On Sun, 22 Feb 2009, Michael Fry wrote:

> It seems cable box accessibility is relevant to more visually impaired

> people than LSAC accessibility.
>
> On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 7:32 AM, Ford, Tim (CDPH-OLS)
> <Tim.Ford at cdph.ca.gov>wrote:
>
>> I fully agree that such lawsuits need to be carefully chosen.  I 
>> mention the satellite and cable boxes because they are so 
>> wide-spread.  I also suspect that, similar to an ATM machine, there 
>> are probably very few differences inside the various boxes in terms
of the basic technology.
>> Hence, the solution to one company's box may be either directly or 
>> easily transferable to others.  Certainly with the advances of screen

>> reading programs, it would not be that hard to come up with a speech 
>> output option for these boxes, which by their nature have much  fewer

>> variability as compared with a typical computer system.
>>
>> Tim Ford
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>> [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of Rod Alcidonis
>> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:11 PM
>> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Satelitte TV Tuner Boxes
>>
>> If you guys are wishing that every access issues should be addressed 
>> through law suits, let me suggest to you that this is not possible. 
>> Our efforts have to be targeted, else you lose credibility quickly.
>>
>> Rod Alcidonis
>> Juris Doctor Candidate, 2009.
>> Roger Williams University School of Law 10 Metacom Ave., Box: 9003 
>> Bristol, RI 02809
>> Cell: 718-704-4651
>> Home: 401-824-8685
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ford, Tim (CDPH-OLS)" <Tim.Ford at cdph.ca.gov>
>> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:57 PM
>> Subject: [blindlaw] Satelitte TV Tuner Boxes
>>
>>
>>> If anyone is looking for another possible case, how about the 
>>> complete lack of accessibility of my Dish Network satellite video
>> tuner/recorder?
>>> I assume the same lack of access exists for all the satellite and
>> cable
>>> system video recorders used by all those companies.
>>>
>>> The unit is essentially a computer, with a hard drive and an 
>>> operating system.  There are a series of menus, left and right arrow

>>> options, a button to select, etc.  It strikes me that it would not 
>>> be a hard task to put speech output into that operating system, 
>>> especially since it
>> is
>>> a set amount of options and commands.  Just for fun, I asked DISH 
>>> Network about a set of instructions so that a blind person could
>> operate
>>> their video recorder.  Needless to say, they had nothing.
>>>
>>> Yes, I can change/select channels, but that is about it.  The rest 
>>> of
>> it
>>> involves too many steps and series of choices, and the choices vary 
>>> depending upon the situation, so I doubt that much could be done 
>>> even with a long series of steps to take, with no way of confirming 
>>> what
>> you
>>> have done.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>> Tim Ford
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
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