[blindlaw] Microsoft built-in screenreader and anti-competition

Sat Sep 4 18:04:54 UTC 2010

Mike,

>From what I read on other lists, I think the feeling outside of the United States is pretty much that Microsoft should 
provide a screen reader with Windows.  I would even say that it even ties into anticoporate feelings in that it is seen as 
them dodging their responsibilities when they don't provide one.  Apple is also putting more pressure on through its 
inclusion of Voice-over so we're seeing the sentiment here in the United States as well.  I think that it tends to be people 
who are close to the industry who don't feel this is necessarily good for us, including myself, but we are under more and 
more pressure to figure out how we can help people buy screen readers, especially if we see purse strings tighten up as 
may be the case.  When a screen reader cost half as much as the computer, as was the case a decade ago, it was not 
easy to swallow but still acceptable.  When the screen reader costs more than twice as much as a computer, as is the 
case with Netbooks and cheaper laptops and desktop machines as is the case now, it is much harder to accept.  Even 
the price of Microsoft Office has come down some over the years.  I don't have a good answer for this and that is a 
problem.  Personally, the fact that I work every day on my job with products that are competing with Microsoft such as 
Lotus Notes, I am probably more sensitive to this than many.  I am not one who believes in conspiracies, I just don't 
think Microsoft would likely prioritize making their competition work better with their screen reader.  I also see too many 
cases where one screen reader works better than another in specific cases and that competition makes them all better.  
The Windows environment is enough different than that of Apple that there just isn't as tight of controls on applications, 
and I am just not convinced that the same model that Apple is using would work under Windows, at least not at this 
point.  Windows is evolving in such a way that it might be more the case in five years or so, so I am very aware that my 
position might change.  I think we're dealing with what is theoretically better for us versus what is truly better for us.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 09:50:09 -0700, Mike Freeman wrote:

>I can remember back in 1995 at an "accessibility summit" held at Microsoft 
>HQ (ironically, held just after W95 was released -- you should have seen the 
>way one of the buildings was trashed from the party!), many blind Europeans 
>in attendance actually wanted Microsoft to build its own screen-reader; it 
>was we Americans that expressed doubts. Wonder if blind Europeans still feel 
>that way or whether the anti-corporate feelings in some countries over there 
>has rubbed off on them?

>Mike

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "E.J. Zufelt" <lists at zufelt.ca>
>To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 8:25 PM
>Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Microsoft built-in screenreader and anti-competition

>>I don't remember if it was mentioned in the article, but I imagine they 
>>care about competition because they truly want to see better screen-reading 
>>products available for Windows.  I imagine that they believe that strong 
>>competition is key to ensuring that the experience of a screen-reader user 
>>on the Windows operating system continues to improve.
>>
>>
>> Everett Zufelt
>> http://zufelt.ca
>>
>> Follow me on Twitter
>> http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>>
>> View my LinkedIn Profile
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2010-09-03, at 11:01 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>>
>>> They care, they get donations, grants, etc., so are competing if a little 
>>> indirectly.
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> At 01:32 PM 9/3/2010, you wrote:
>>>> NVDA is open source, what do they care about competition?
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 10:06 PM, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > It isn't the same, there were not any other screen readers available 
>>>> > for
>>>> > the Apple at the time.
>>>> >
>>>> > Dave
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > At 09:39 PM 9/2/2010, you wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Certainly not.
>>>> >> Apple does it and hasn't gotten into trouble.
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> On Sep 2, 2010, at 10:17 PM, E.J. Zufelt wrote:
>>>> >>
>>>> >> > Good evening,
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > The lead developer of NVDA recently wrote a brief post pondering if
>>>> >> Microsoft could be liable for anti-competitive practices if they were 
>>>> >> to
>>>> >> bundle a built-in screen-reader with its operating system.
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> http://blog.jantrid.net/2010/09/why-cant-microsoft-build-screen-reader.html
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > Curious if anyone has any thoughts on this topic?
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > Thanks in advance,
>>>> >> > Everett Zufelt
>>>> >> > http://zufelt.ca
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > Follow me on Twitter
>>>> >> > http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > View my LinkedIn Profile
>>>> >> > http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > _______________________________________________
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>>>> >>
>>>> >> Thanks.
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Jorge Paez
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> ---
>>>> >> President And CEO:
>>>> >> Paez Production Networks
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>
>>>                        David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
>>> Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
>>>
>>>
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