[Electronics-talk] Apple and accessibility (was Re: More On the Narrator Radio)

Jim Barbour jbar at barcore.com
Wed Aug 1 16:08:28 UTC 2012 

Apple absolutely did not teach us that accessibility need not cost more.  It absolutely does cost more.  Apple has a team of people doing accessibility development, trainers who teach customer service folks about accessibility, a dedicated helpdesk for accessibility, and probably other accessibility costs I haven't mentioned.

What Apple has tought us is that you can lower the cost of accessible products if you make all your customers pay for it, reguardless of whether they'll use it.  This is not much different than everyone paying for full Internationalization, even though most of us will only use one or two languages.

This funding model doesn't always work.  It requires that you be a popular enough company that you can afford to invest in accessibility and then recover those costs when you sell your accessible product in the general marketplace.

I don't think anyone other than Apple and Google have really made this model pay off.

Jim

> On Jul 31, 2012, at 6:31 PM, Christopher Chaltain wrote:
> 
> > I'm not sure Apple has taught us that accessibility need not cost
> more.
> > I think what Apple has taught us is that accessibility in high end 
> > products need not cost more. Apple products need not cost more to get 
> > accessibility but they're not the cheapest products to begin with.
> > 
> > On 30/07/12 16:48, Baracco, Andrew W wrote:
> >> Radios like these are not the answer as regards access.  The answer 
> >> is universal access, just like what is being done with phones.  
> >> Unless a lot of sighted persons buy this radio, it won't be around 
> >> this time next year.  We don't need a radio for the blind.  I've 
> >> owned radios all my life, and have been able to tune them.  What we 
> >> need is universal access built into a range of products that are sold
> 
> >> in mainstream stores or through mainstream outlets.  The Apple 
> >> devices have shown us that accessibility need not cost more, and that
> 
> >> special devices do not have to be manufactured for blind persons. I 
> >> do not plan to buy one of these radios any time soon.
> >> 
> >> Andy
> >> 
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> >> [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Roland 
> >> Hudson
> >> Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 2:30 PM
> >> To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
> >> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] More On the Narrator Radio
> >> 
> >> Steve,
> >> You have pretty well summed up my thoughts on this radio. I'm pleased
> 
> >> to have it and think while it's not close to perfection, 
> >> manufacturers should be encouraged when they are trying to do 
> >> something special for us. I hope the radio sells well enough to 
> >> encourage more manufacturers to bring us products we can use.
> >> 
> >> Best wishes,
> >> 
> >> Rollie
> >> 
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> >> To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances" 
> >> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> >> Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 12:37 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] More On the Narrator Radio
> >> 
> >> 
> >>> Gerald,
> >>> 
> >>> When I heard some of the original promotional materials, I was very 
> >>> skeptical about reading artist information as that would require 
> >>> some
> >> kind
> >>> of text to speech conversion.  To what degree that could have run on
> 
> >>> whatever microprocessor is being used is something I don't know.
> >> Given
> >>> that it is done to some degree on cordless phone handsets, although
> >> not
> >>> all that well, and on some cellphones, it certainly is possible, but
> 
> >>> I don't know what such a system costs.  Even so, I don't
> >> 
> >>> think such claims should have been made when it was likely known by 
> >>> someone that those claims were not true.  However, I also know that 
> >>> the press releases were probably written by marketers who don't
> >> know
> >>> the difference between text-to-speech and fixed-vocabulary speech.
> >> They
> >>> would assume if it can speak the time and frequency when it is 
> >>> displayed, it can certainly display the artist.  You and I
> >> know
> >>> those are two different things, but it isn't obvious to the public.
> >>> 
> >>> It would be nice had the radio handled that situation, and I also 
> >>> have
> >> 
> >>> some frustrations that you have to wait until an announcement
> >> completes in
> >>> some cases before pressing a given button again.  This is not a 
> >>> perfect radio.  I also don't like the preset system that is used, 
> >>> and
> >> this
> >>> has nothing to do with accessibility.  Presets are more like 
> >>> bookmarks
> >> as
> >>> you move up and down the band in that they seem to be ordered by 
> >>> frequency.  I like to group my presets by the type of programming
> >> even
> >>> if the stations are not next to each other on the dial.
> >>> 
> >>> Nevertheless, after dealing with a Bose and some other radios for a
> >> long
> >>> time, it does almost feel like a miracle to me that I can deal with
> >> the
> >>> clock myself.  No more having the radio coming on at midnight.  I 
> >>> also liked the fact that they put the whole manual on the CD and not
> >> just
> >>> the part that dealt with accessibility.  Finally, the antenna
> >> connections
> >>> to this radio are the same as is commonly used on most stereos, even
> 
> >>> small ones, except for those that are truly portable.  I have a
> >> Teac
> >>> HD Radio for example, and my kids have two small Sony stereos that
> >> also
> >>> use an AM loop and an FM dipole antenna in each case.
> >>> Therefore, I think that criticism is a little harsh and really 
> >>> doesn't
> >> 
> >>> have much to do with accessibility.  I also think that the AM
> >> sensitivity
> >>> is poor, and while I don't like it, I have also found that to be
> >> pretty
> >>> common
> >>> on many small stereos, and even some pretty good stereos that use
> >> these
> >>> small square loops.  I think this radio is actually better on AM 
> >>> than
> >> is
> >>> the Teac HD radio that I own.  I think it is unfortunate when one 
> >>> can't believe advertising, but frankly, I take all promotional
> >> material
> >>> about anything with a few granes of salt so I was less bothered by
> >> some of
> >>> the shortcomings than you were.
> >>> 
> >>> In short, I think we have to be sure people know what they are 
> >>> getting
> >> 
> >>> when they buy this radio, and comments here help make that possible,
> >> but I
> >>> don't regret buying mine at all.
> >>> 
> >>> Best regards,
> >>> 
> >>> Steve Jacobson
> >>> 
> >>> On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:07:43 -0400, Gerald Levy wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>> The following editorial about the Narrator HD radio was published 
> >>>> in
> >> this
> >>>> weeks's edition of the Mathilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind:
> >>> 
> >>>> Op Ed with Bob Branco - The Narrator Isn't All That was Advertised
> >>> 
> >>>> Several weeks ago, most of you heard about a wonderful new radio 
> >>>> that
> >> Best
> >>>> Buy was selling called the Narrator.  It is supposed to be the best
> >> radio
> >>>> for visually impaired people ever manufactured.  While
> >>> reading one of the original press releases, I was so enthused with 
> >>> the
> >> 
> >>> information that I ordered the Narrator myself.  Why not?  It is
> >> supposed
> >>> to be extremely user friendly for the blind and visually impaired.
> >>> 
> >>>> While it allows you to set the clock, the alarm, the radio band, 
> >>>> and specific radio stations by using voice application, the 
> >>>> Narrator does
> >> not
> >>>> totally perform as it was advertised.  For example, in a press 
> >>>> release
> >> I
> >>> received as part of a mass email from a consumer organization, it
> >> states
> >>> in one of the paragraphs as follows:  "With speech turned on, the
> >> radio
> >>> will announce the artist and song, and will show and announce visual
> 
> >>> images as well."  This is not true.  Though the Narrator may display
> 
> >>> artist and song titles on the screen if you happen to find an
> >> HD
> >>> radio station that provides that service, you won't hear it in voice
> >> mode.
> >>> 
> >>>> If a blind person hopes to use the menu or bookmark buttons to
> >> navigate
> >>>> the radio in voice mode, think again.  Those two features are for 
> >>>> just
> >> the
> >>>> sighted.
> >>> 
> >>>> Although the Narrator comes with an audio CD instruction manual, 
> >>>> which
> >> 
> >>>> most people may feel is what you should read in order to use the
> >> product,
> >>>> the only section of the CD that benefits the blind is track 12.
> >>> 
> >>>> If you feel that locating HD radio stations is difficult with the 
> >>>> Narrator, well, it's just as tough to tune in a regular A.M.
> station.
> >> The
> >>>> Narrator does not come with a normal telescopic antenna which you 
> >>>> can
> >>> rotate.  It comes with two plastic shoelace Y-shaped antennas which
> >> you
> >>> have to plug into two different adaptors on the back of the radio, 
> >>> and
> >> 
> >>> even after you plug them in, you have to swing the antennas around, 
> >>> especially the A.M. one, in order to pick up a station which
> >> may
> >>> be as close as 25 miles away.
> >>> 
> >>>> I have one more side note.  Although Best Buy uses the Insignia 
> >>>> label
> >> on
> >>>> the Narrator as well as other products, a representative from 
> >>>> Insignia
> >> 
> >>>> told me that the company had nothing to do with manufacturing
> >>> the Narrator.
> >>> 
> >>>> So, if you are blind and are satisfied with setting the clock and
> >> alarm on
> >>>> your own, finding and presetting radio stations and tuning into
> >> certain
> >>>> frequencies, then you will like the Narrator.  But do not expect it
> 
> >>>> to
> >>> be the miracle radio that's being advertised, because it isn't.
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>> Gerald
> >>> 
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Electronics-talk mailing list
> >>>> Electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
> >>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org
> >>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
> >>>> for
> >>>> Electronics-talk:
> >>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/steve
> >>>> .ja
> >> cobson%40visi.com
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>> 
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/rollies
> >> hir
> >> l%40cox.net
> >> 
> >> 
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> >> bar
> >> acco%40va.gov
> >> 
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> >> 
> > 
> > --
> > Christopher (CJ)
> > chaltain at Gmail
> > 
> > 
> > 
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