[blindlaw] track changes, etc.

Tue Dec 25 01:55:46 UTC 2018

Cody:

I could not agree more with you. As long as FS continues to benefit from the 
perception of JAWS being the only viable screen reader in the government 
arena, very little will change in the quality of the product being offered 
on the market. When was the last time you truly had a real JAWS update? In 
the last 4 to 5 years or so, FS has mainly been adding and fixing bugs to 
the software and charging consumers an annual upgrade fee for the next 
version of the same thing. The so-called new features have been no more than 
a bunch of gimmicks offerd in the name of innovation.

Rod Alcidonis, Esq.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Cody J. Davis via BlindLaw
Sent: Monday, December 24, 2018 2:13 PM
To: Elizabeth Rene
Cc: Cody J. Davis ; Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] track changes, etc.

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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