[blindlaw] Satellite and Cable TV Tuner Boxes

Mon Feb 23 12:06:59 UTC 2009

Although the two matters are different, as an organization we must 
determine which issue is more of a priority. As a blind person, I believe 
that ensuring that all of us have access to jobs and supporting ourselves 
is more of a priority than making cable and satellite boxes accessible. 
That certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't work on this issue as well. 
With limited funds these days, sometimes organizations have to make tough 
choices which may not please everyone.

On Sun, 22 Feb 2009, Ford, Tim (CDPH-OLS) wrote:

> 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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