[nabs-l] Seems we lost an ally

Tue Jan 3 13:53:42 UTC 2012

Carley,
Right; as I said, when they changed their name to be so called inclusive, 
they took the name blind out and from their actions seem less blind focussed 
than they used to be. Yes they served blind people for years, that is how 
they started. Perhaps with some polite advocacy, they will change their site 
and make once again more blind friendly. I believe they still have some 
blind staff.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Carly
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 7:48 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list ; National 
Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Seems we lost an ally

Good morning Josh, Ashley and any other interesteds,

It is my strong belief that, removing all reference to blind, from
the name might serve to parallel the difficulties wwe are now having
accessing this supposed, ally! It is another charade that is meant to
appear inclusive, but really isn't. How unfortunate is it that the
initial population RFB was meant to serve, now is rendered
decisively, removed from anything resembling blind peoples' alliance!
Carly
>Ashley, why not start this discussion on the NFB-Talk list.
>I'd even contact Scott LaBarr about this.
>Blessings, Joshua
>
>On 1/2/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Joshua,
> > I use the cd player too. The new victor reader strattus allows you to 
> > play
> > daisy cds as well as  a USB slot for downloaded books and I think
> a sd card.
> > I have a vr stream, but like you I find it hard to figure out.
> >
> > I've also heard of other blind people having problems with the
> learning ally
> > downloads.  Sadly, they are not really much an ally to the blind now. 
> > They
> > took blind out of their name and as I said, I feel their website, 
> > including
> > the download features, is not very user friendly. For instance before in
> > your book search results you could press H to see each book title and
> > information underneath it. Now they are tables and you only see the book 
> > in
> > a link. And they have pictures of each book cover. Notice jaws saying
> > graphic a million times; that is because they added pictures to the book
> > catalog. And with more links and clutter, you cannot find the text as
> > easily.
> >
> > Ashley
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Joshua Lester
> > Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 9:02 PM
> > To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> > Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Seems we lost an ally
> >
> > Wow!
> > I still use the CD player for my classes.
> > I hate the Victor Stream, because I can't figure it out!
> > Blessings, Joshua
> >
> > On 1/2/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >> Antonio,
> >> What are the problems? Do you use jaws? I've tried to figure out the
> >> download; it took me a while to learn the old way, and now they changed
> >> it.
> >> I'm not the most patient with technology, keep in mind. If you have a 
> >> cd
> >> player, you still can order daisy cds, but now that humanware no longer
> >> offers the little daisy players; vr wave, vr vibe and vr classic,  more
> >> probably will download. I still have my old vr wave and thankfully it
> >> works!
> >> Since as you said downloading is not friendly and a Daisy cd player is 
> >> IMO
> >> easy to use and simple.
> >>
> >> Humanware recently released a new victor reader player, vr strattus, 
> >> which
> >> both plays those daisy cds and downloadable books from many places like
> >> nls
> >> and learning ally.
> >>
> >> I encourage you to write learning ally. Many are disappointed. With
> >> changing
> >> their name, it seems they changed their mission to focus on learning
> >> disabilities without identifying them as disabled, for politically 
> >> correct
> >> purposes. Tell them to still include blind people and that blind people
> >> have
> >> depended on them for over 30 years since they started. Don't let them
> >> forget
> >> us and be specific as to your accessibility challenges. Stating 
> >> something
> >> is
> >> not accessible won't help.
> >>
> >> Also IMo, their site is more hard to navigate. More images and complex
> >> organization. Like no longer can you see the book catalog from the main
> >> page
> >> and when you search books you cannot read the edition/publisher anymore
> >> without clicking on something extra. So I see like ten books with the 
> >> same
> >> or similar name and it takes longer to figure out what to pick.
> >> frustrated,
> >> Ashley
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Antonio Guimaraes
> >> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 8:35 PM
> >> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> >> Subject: [nabs-l] Seems we lost an ally
> >>
> >> Dear NABS members,
> >>
> >> It is more than obvious to me that the new Learning Ally download
> >> features fall short of offering blind screen reader users the services
> >> we've come to know in previous years.
> >>
> >> Today I experienced at least an hour of frustrations trying to use 
> >> their
> >> new and improved program for downloads. I have listened to their You
> >> Tube video explaining the process, and then reached out to people like
> >> you for some feedback.
> >>
> >> There are several reports that blind readers can not use Learning 
> >> Ally's
> >> download features.
> >>
> >> I am not a happy scholar. I am writing to find out if you too have come
> >> up against issues with the download service.
> >>
> >> The NABS division and its membership should not accept lack of access
> >> from an organization that has long been at the forefront in providing
> >> access to recorded texts for blind users.
> >>
> >> Your experience will only help confirm some of the reported issues, and
> >> hopefully result in rectifying what must certainly be an oversight on
> >> Learning Ally's part.
> >>
> >> Sincerely,
> >>
> >> Antonio Guimaraes
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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