[blindlaw] track changes, etc.

Elizabeth Rene rene0373 at gmail.com
Mon Dec 24 20:41:43 UTC 2018


I agree 100%, Cody.
And as far as FS goes, given that they are a state and federal contractor, then it’s a question of compliance. Somehow the state and federal agencies need to get after FS  to do it’s job and clean up its bugs.
  Microsoft should engineer its own products to be accessible, and should have done that in the first place. Why are we letting it depend on third-party providers to make its programs work?
Best,
Elizabeth


Elizabeth M René 
Attorney at Law 
WSBA #10710 
KCBA #21824
rene0373 at gmail.com 

On Dec 24, 2018, at 11:13 AM, Cody J. Davis <cjdavis9193 at gmail.com> wrote:

I think another large piece of the problem with FS is that they have secured their place of prominence by working with federal, state, and local governments to be sure they remain more visiable over all other options. As employers, government entities seem to have the impression that JAWS is the only solution. As a resource provider, government entities, like my state’s Division of Services for the Blind, seem to only promote the use of JAWS as a suitable screen reader in the workplace. I’m sure FS has something to do with these perceptions. I believe much of FS’s grip on the market can be alleviated simply through education on alternative products. DSB should be giving me all of my options and my employer should be open to all the AT alternatives. 


I would love to see Microsoft putting more effort into accessibility, both in the Office suite of products and in Windows OS. They have done better, and I had hoped that Narrator would be much more comprehensive in Windows 10. I was soarly disappointed. Microsoft has yet to put in the effort that Apple has to make their products accessible. 

Something Else I like about Apple is they are normalizing accessibility features and creating products which are accessible out of the box. 

I agree that looking to Microsoft as a partner in developing more accessible workplace products, but I would really like to see that happen by way of Microsoft working to make it’s products more accessible on the Mac and iOS  platforms and in, taking a page from Apple’s book, developing it’s own products to be accessible without relying on third-party products like JAWS.



Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 24, 2018, at 1:27 PM, Elizabeth Rene <rene0373 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Cody and all,
> Yes indeed, when was the last time FS asked you to rate its products and services?
> When was the last time it asked our employers to do that?
> When was the last time it offered or submitted to accountability and responsiveness measures as a contractual term when setting up agreements with state and federal agencies?
> It’s gotten altogether too big for its britches.
> It is serving itself rather than its market.
> “ look what we’re doing for those poor blind people!“ they say. “ aren’t we wonderful?”
> They’ve come to believe their own press.
> And why shouldn’t the public believe it too, because we are a discreet market.
> But why should we keep on being discreet? We’re blind people, not Martians. More importantly, we are blind lawyers, judges, professors, law students, and community leaders of every sort. My state has a blind Lieutenant Governor.
> I say let’s take a playbook from the LGBTQ movement and come out of the cubicle.
> It’s time to make some noise in the marketplace and maybe take some legal action in tandem with our employers if the providers of necessary accommodations aren’t fulfilling their contractual obligations to supply technology fit for its intended purpose.
> We’re not in the 1980s anymore, when access technology was new.
> Cody, to be specific about Apple versus JAWS, maybe there’s a third player to consider.
> A couple of years ago, I ran into a major conflict between MS Word and VoiceOver. I called Microsoft and found them surprisingly responsive. After communicating directly with their accessibility IT people, Microsoft came through and solved the compatibility problem. Granted, with each update to Office 365 and Apple’s iOS, new glitches can arise. But Microsoft seems to want to be far more accessible than it used to be decades ago. If Microsoft products are still the industry standard in the workplace, maybe we blind professionals should make Microsoft our ally and become less dependent on JAWS.
> Cheers,
> Elizabeth 
> 
> Elizabeth M René 
> Attorney at Law 
> WSBA #10710 
> KCBA #21824
> rene0373 at gmail.com 
> 
> On Dec 24, 2018, at 9:40 AM, Cody J. Davis <cjdavis9193 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I’ve kept an eye on this thread and have found it quite interesting. On the topic of track changes, I have avoided using it because I could never figure out an efficient way to use it, either with JAWS or Voiceover. It sounds like Voiceover handles track changes in Word pretty well, so I’ll have to look into how that is done. 
> 
> 
> With the general access issues presented by JAWS and FS, I have always preferred apple products, including iPhone, iPad Pro, and Mac. I have found that Apple developers are more responsive than FS when it comes to improving their screen readers and other assistive technologies. The problem is, JAWS and MIcrosoft Windows are the predominate platforms in the workplace. For this reason, I have, with great reluctance, used JAWS at work. 
> 
> 
> FS, in my opinion, has no motivation to improve it’s product like JAWS because they have a sort of monopoly. They are well aware that JAWS is the leading screen reader in the workplace, so they have no reason to improve their products or be more responsive to complaints. Who else will blind users turn to?
> 
> NVDA is an option, but it doesn’t seem to be a popular one. I think Apple’s voiceover is the foremost competitor with JAWS. But, until Apple machines become more pro inmate in the office, FS and JAWS will have too strong of a foothold to be threatened by Apple’s competing screen reader. 
> 
> Best,
> Cody Davis
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Dec 24, 2018, at 12:03 PM, Elizabeth Rene via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear Listmates,
>> This all seems like an access to justice issue to me. OK, access to productivity. Same thing, really, because it means access to equal employment opportunity and professional advancement.
>> Maybe pressure needs to be brought to bear on a larger stage.
>> Maybe articles need to be written to the leading technological journals that address accessibility to let them know that the market is changing and that the expectations of customers aren’t being kept up with by the developers who were supposed to be opening doors for them. Maybe even magazines like Geekwire aught to be encouraged to take up the issue. Because I don’t think it’s just blind people who are finding them selves captive to unresponsive technology. As devices are expected to do more and more things, some apps may be becoming less and less robust.
>> When I go to the App Store in Apple, I always read the reviews before I buy a new app. Maybe we ought to start writing reviews of JAWS, etc., on the Internet. We could use Yelp, write posts to LinkedIn, or claim any forum that might get Freedom Scientific’s attention. If FS doesn’t step up to the plate, maybe its competitors will.
>> Thanks,
>> Elizabeth 
>> 
>> Elizabeth M René 
>> Attorney at Law 
>> WSBA #10710 
>> KCBA #21824
>> rene0373 at gmail.com
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