[nfbcs] FW: [IDevices] Your Help Is Needed, Apple Feedback

[Mike Freeman]

I agree!

On Aug 30, 2013, at 8:40, "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com> wrote:

> Mike,
> 
> I don't think we really disagree about being careful how we categorize a request.  I simply don't find wondering about why 
> bluetooth keyboard numbers don't work after a connection is made is an unreasonable thing to wonder.  I would not personally 
> categorize it as an accessibility issue for blind people, though, but it might be an accessibility issue for people having certain 
> motor functions.  As I mentioned in another note, I found that a bluetooth keyboard can enter numbers after a connection is made 
> by navigating to the buttons with the arrow keys and then using the appropriate keys to press the button.  In many instances, this 
> would be fast enough.  The problem also impacts braille displays inasmuch as apparently you can't enter numbers after a connection 
> is made but you can focus on the keypad and use cursor routing keys.  Ironically, neither of these problems, if you want to call 
> them problems, involve VoiceOver.  Although I have a bluetooth keyboard, my approach is to get as good as I can using the touch 
> screen directly for most things.  I will probably use my keyboard some if I get more into doing email on my iPhone, and I do find 
> it useful if I get involved in a text message conversation.  
> 
> My comment about the "mute" button really had nothing to do with accessibility and I probably should not have made the comment I 
> did.  I simply was reacting to it taking three actions to execute when every other cellphone and cordless phone I have ever owned 
> has had a directly accessible mute button.
> 
> I suspect where we are in total agreement is that there is often confusion even in software between what is lack of accessibility 
> and what is poor design.  We sometimes think every piece of software, every web site, and every device is easy for sighted people 
> to use, but they are not.  We have to be careful to know which is which if we're going to start applying laws and regulations to a 
> given situation.  We also have to be careful that we don't judge something to be inaccessible before we've carefully explored all 
> alternatives.   Part of what I was trying to get at yesterday is simply that we're going to find that there are going to be blind 
> people who never get efficient with touch screens.  Exactly where the line is going to be is something we really don't know yet.  
> For now, there are alternatives, but I think we need to understand this thoroughly as all of this evolves, especially where it 
> affects basic appliances and communication.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> On Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:41:38 -0700, Mike Freeman wrote:
> 
>> Steve:
> 
>> It's not that I condemn asking for such modifications; I simply do not see
>> their necessity in view of the fact that there are easy work-arounds. To me,
>> wearing ear-buds has pretty-much solved any awkwardness entering numbers
>> etc.I will admit, however, to being much more sympathetic totrue
>> accessibility issues as opposed to having "nice-to-have" requests.
>