[NABS-L] Victor Reader Stream Petition

Mon Jan 30 00:32:11 UTC 2023

Sami,
Thank you for your thoughtful message.
In mosen at large episode 212, entitled
"All that’s new in HumanWare’s Victor Reader Stream third generation, is 
it time for us to do visual interpretation differently, and an 
Australian bar says if you’re blind and by yourself, it’s a safety risk 
for you to drink" 
<https://mosen.org/episode-212-all-thats-new-in-humanwares-victor-reader-stream-third-generation-is-it-time-for-us-to-do-visual-interpretation-differently-and-an-australian-bar-says-if-youre-blind-and-by-yourse/>
Jonathan mosen interviewed humanware and this came up, and humanware was 
very transparent that while this was a discussion they were having, etc. 
amazon/audible while not hostile to the initiative, they just weren't 
doing anything about it currently.
I'd recommend you listen to the podcast episode I link above for 
complete details.
After that podcast, this post, that I paraphrased in my original message 
was circulating on mastodon and on twitter.
---begin post---
On the Mosen at Large podcast, HumanWare detailed how a recent release 
of Audible Sync has broken support for the current generation of the 
Victor Reader Stream. If you are authorised already, you’re fine, but 
authorisation for new users is broken.
This issue extends to lack of support for the third generation of the 
Stream, which HumanWare expects to release initially to the US market 
sometime in February.
Since this episode was published only a few hours ago, I’ve received a 
large number of inquiries asking if I would help set up some sort of 
open letter or petition to Audible about this issue. While I am not a 
Stream user myself, I am happy to help, because I strongly support blind 
people being able to access information in the way that works for them. 
There is no doubt that the loss of Audible support for the Stream will 
deprive a good number of people of their preferred means of reading 
Audible books, and some will unsubscribe from Audible altogether.
I have now set up an open letter to Audible which you can sign if you 
wish. I’ve taken care to use a site that is accessible and does not 
needlessly collect information from you.
I have had representatives from Audible on Mosen at Large in the Past. I 
will use those contacts to ensure the letter gets to the right place, 
and will also invite Audible on the podcast for comment.
If you support this initiative, please spread the word via email lists 
and social media.
Here is the link to the open letter.
https://bit.ly/AudibleStreamSupport
---end post---
I hope this post I showed above, and the podcast episode I linked to 
above brings some clarity and gives you the information you are seeking.
Shane Popplestone
vice president of the Ohio Association of blind students
member of the Grater Akron Chapter
member of Ohio Association of Guide Dog users
spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


------ Original Message ------
>From "Sami Osborne" <sami.j.osborne97 at gmail.com>
To "Shane Popplestone via NABS-L" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" 
<ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>; oabs at nfbnet.org; oagdu at nfbnet.org; "Shane 
Popplestone" <spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com>
Date 1/29/2023 4:49:53 PM
Subject Re: [NABS-L] Victor Reader Stream Petition

>Hi Shane,
>
>
>
>I really don't mean to sound blunt or anything, but do you have any sources to back up your claim? I have a Victor Stream, and I've had an Audile membership for almost fifteen years now. I've always been able to listen to audio books on Audible; in fact the Stream has an Audible bookshelf designed specifically for all your Audible books. If you have a Windows computer, you can install the Audible Manager program to download the book to your device, then use the Humanware Companion to copy it onto your Stream.
>
>
>
>I completely understand where you're going with this; personally, I would love it if Humanware worked together with Amazon to implement the Audible service right onto the Stream the way it is possible with other book services. However, sometimes we do have to do things differently, even if it's not exactly how we desire. Downloading audio books from Audible is totally possible so long as you have a computer equipped with the necessary software, so to say that reading Audible content on the Stream is impossible is simply untrue and unsubstantiated.
>
>
>
>Sami On Jan 29, 2023 1:16 AM, Shane Popplestone via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>  I noticed when I posted that last message, without meaning to, that the
>>  link was extremely long and may wrap unintentionally.
>>  Here's a shorter link.
>>https://bit.ly/AudibleStreamSupport
>>
>>  Shane Popplestone
>>  vice president of the Ohio Association of blind students
>>  member of the Grater Akron Chapter
>>  member of Ohio Association of Guide Dog users
>>spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com
>>  The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
>>  characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
>>  expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
>>  between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
>>  blindness is not what holds you back.
>>
>>
>>  ------ Original Message ------
>>  From "Shane Popplestone" <spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com>
>>  To "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List"
>>  <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>; nabs-l at nfbnet.org; "oabs at nfbnet.org"
>>  <oabs at nfbnet.org>; oagdu at nfbnet.org
>>  Date 1/29/2023 1:06:34 AM
>>  Subject Victor Reader Stream Petition
>>
>>  >Forgive me for sharing this to the lists, but this is a subject I am
>>  >passionate about and is very important to me, and I hope, is just as
>>  >important to the rest of my federation family. Please feel free to
>>  >circulate this far and wide.
>>  >For some time now, it has become more difficult to link a Humanware
>>  >Victor Reader Stream product with the Audible book service via its
>>  >Audible Sync application. This means that it is not possible for those
>>  >people to use the Stream with the Audible book service.
>>  >Audible is one of the primary methods these days for listening to audio
>>  >books and this is undoubtedly the device on which many people choose to
>>  >hear them.
>>  >As a person that gets questions about reading devices, etc.  I often
>>  >recommend that people use the Victor Reader Stream. As of this moment,
>>  >anyone who wishes to link such a device to Audible cannot do so and
>>  >certainly the new upcoming version 3, to be released in February, will
>>  >not be supported.
>>  >I urge you please if you have a moment to sign an accessible online
>>  >petition to try to persuade Amazon and Audible to work with Humanware
>>  >so as to ensure this service is reinstated. Even if you are not a
>>  >Stream user, I would be grateful please for a minute of your time so
>>  >that those of us who use Streams on a daily basis have a chance of
>>  >protecting our listening to Audible books in the future.
>>  >https://openletter.earth/to-amazons-audiblecom-division-please-reinstate-support-for-humanwares-popular-victor-reader-stream-player-for-the-blind-and-low-vision-community-c26fcf78
>>  >Thank you for reading.
>>  >Shane Popplestone
>>  >vice president of the Ohio Association of blind students
>>  >member of the Grater Akron Chapter
>>  >member of Ohio Association of Guide Dog users
>>  >spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com
>>  >The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
>>  >characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
>>  >expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
>>  >between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
>>  >blindness is not what holds you back.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
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