[Electronics-talk] Best Buy's HD Radio May Shut Us SkepticsUp ForNow
Lanie
readtobuild at gmail.com
Tue Jun 5 12:07:21 UTC 2012
What if someone were to email Best Buy and ask them about it?
Maybe they'll have a reason why it's not available yet.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Levy" <bwaylimited at verizon.net
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and
appliances"<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:01:27 -0400
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Best Buy's HD Radio May Shut Us
SkepticsUp ForNow
Ray,
I will be looking forward to your podcast demonstration of this
radio. But
to be perfectly blunt, Insignia/Best Buy deserves to be taken to
task for
not making the special quick start guide for visually impaired
consumers
available on the product support page. This is simply
inexcusable. It is
not clear from the documentation that is available whether the
clock has
speech output , or whether the speech output is confined to
announcing the
menu options only. So if you want to be a guinea pig and shell
out $100 for
this "talking" radio to discover its accessibility features for
yourself,
then by all means go for it. I'll be eagerly awaiting your
podcast.
Gerald
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Foret Jr" <rforetjr at att.net
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Best Buy's HD Radio May Shut Us
Skeptics Up
ForNow
Okay. You want to throw down the gontlet like that do you
mister
nagativity? Fine! I accept your chalendge. When the radio
comes, I will
do a recording on exactly what happens with the out of the box
experience
as a blind person. I will also go in to a detailed description
of how the
unit works. Who knows, I might even rub it in your nose a
little. You
think you can do better? Why don't you then? Look, I'm not
flaming here;
at least, I sure don't mean it that way; but, the plain fact is
this. YOu
never have anything good to say about anyone or anything. YOu
want
completely accessible everything yesterday and threten to sue if
you don't
get it; and then, when somebody does come along and give it a
try, you put
it down. I was planning a recording on the subject of the radio
even
before your chalendge to do one.
Sorry Dave; but, frankly, I've just about had it.
Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
Now a very proud and happy Mac user!!!
Skype name:
barefootedray
On Jun 5, 2012, at 6:18 AM, Gerald Levy wrote:
I just visited the product support page for the Narrator
"talking" HD
clock radio and perused both the User Manual and standard Quick
Start
Guide. To my great dismay, there is no mention of the speech
function or
any other special accessibility features in either document.
There is
supposed to be a special quick start guide for visually impaired
consumers, but it is not listed on the product support page. In
fact,
reading both documents was enough to turn me off to this radio,
because
without any explanation of the blind-friendly accessibility
features,
this radio, which is menu driven, sounds like it would be
difficult for a
blind user to master. But this is not at all surprising, given
that
Insignia has a reputation for designing schlocky products.
Remember the
voice-command talking clock radio it sold a few years ago? It
was
plagued by so many technical glitches that it was quickly
discontinued
and wound up being sold on Cowboom for only $8. I got stuck
with one of
these
lemons , which now serves as a paperweight. So until someone
does a
comprehensive podcast that explains how to set up and use the
Narrator
radio, I will remain skeptical and hold off on ordering one,
and advise
others to do likewise.
Gerald
----- Original Message ----- From: "cheez" <cheez at cox.net
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 1:22 AM
Subject: [Electronics-talk] Best Buy's HD Radio May Shut Us
Skeptics Up
For Now
Best Buy is going to be selling a new HD Radio--called the
Narrator--starting in July. The radio, which was manufactured
with the
blind in mind, will be selling for $99. If you want the added
two year
protection plan, you will need to pay an extra $14.99.
"With The Narrator coming to market, people with visual
disabilities
will have a radio that they can program and tune themselves,"
said Dave
Noble, chairman of government relations for IAAIS.
For years, blind people have had to pay a lot of money for
radios with
single purpose receivers that provided low audio quality. Now,
the
Narrator, a table top receiver, speaks commands as soon as a
blind or
visually impaired person turns it on. However, this feature can
be
turned off so that a sighted person can use the radio silently
as well.
This makes the radio have universal appeal for everyone and will
also
help to keep the price lower. With speech turned on, the radio
will
announce the artist and song, and will show and announce visual
images
as well. The radio is also equipped with large buttons with
raised
lettering.
Another great feature is that the radio comes with a PDF Quick
Start
Guide, along with a user manual. In addition, you can get the
warranty
information as a PDF document as well. All of these documents
can be
downloaded from the Best Buy website and have been verified to
be
accessible with screen readers.
The radio was created with input from the International
Association of
Audio Information Services, the group that represents Radio
Reading
Services. The radio manufacturer chose to partner with the
IAAIS to
help identify and solve issues for the everyday technology needs
of
people with visual disabilities.
The Narrator will be promoted on air by iBiquity and its
alliance member
stations. It will be marketed under the Best Buy Insignia
brand.
While the visually impaired community has had other radio
companies
create accessible products (C. Crane comes to mind), it's
fantastic to
see that a very large electronics company like Best Buy is
taking an
interest in accessible products and teaming up with
organizations who
can help them design the radio from the ground up. It's also
incredibly
beneficial that they created a product that is equally usable
for both
the sighted and visually impaired--an important element in
keeping the
cost as low as possible. Hopefully, others will follow the lead
of
companies like Best Buy and Apple and begin building
accessibility into
their products that can serve everyone equally.
Sources:
http://radioworld.com/article/best-buy-takes-pre-orders-for-'the-
narrator'-/213556
http://www.dealerscope.com/article/best-buy-debuts-talking-hd-rad
io/1
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