[nfbcs] NVDA product question

[Gary Wunder]

Good morning, folks. With the exception of Brian Buhrow's comments, I have
seen few reactions to the arguments made in Tim's article that appeared in
the November issue of the Braille Monitor. Discussion has tended to focus on
whether NVDA is a good product, when there was no contention in the article
that it was anything less than stellar.

The issue certainly is not whether NVDA is a good product. I have it, I use
it, the National Federation of the Blind has contributed to its development,
and most folks are glad that it is available to us. The interesting part of
the discussion for me is whether the for-profit model we rely on for so much
innovation in our country applies to those of us who have special needs.
It's cool when you have a piece of software that can be used to help sighted
people and therefore broaden your base, but if you are going to sell a
braille display, or if you're going to tailor software to work well with
specific applications when connected to that braille display, that serves no
one except the blind, so the idea that mass deployment will save money
doesn't hold. 

I am glad for all of the discussion and all of the opinions, but one of the
things I hope in talking about Tim's article in the November issue was that
we would get some responses directed to the arguments he makes. To what
degree do we want Microsoft to control what level of access we get? Are we
always advantaged when fixes that we need from Apple must wait until there
are a sufficient number of fixes or enhancements to justify a release? If
Microsoft, Apple, and Google come to dominate the screen reader market,
whether they do so through their own offerings or by contracting with
others, will they provide the kind of support that allows blind people to
efficiently work in call centers by customizing keystrokes to read specific
areas on the screen? How do we feel about the various funding models that
have been used to serve us?

Thanks for reading the article, and thanks also for the wonderful feedback.
My goal in running these articles and making these comments is not to change
anyone's mind but to make certain that all of us have important data we can
use in deciding how we can best be served by evolving technology.