[Promotion-technology] Windows Phone Accessibility Update

Fri Apr 5 17:22:10 UTC 2013

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>From: "Curtis Chong" <curtischong at earthlink.net>
>To: <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 12:10:59 -0500
>Thread-Index: Ac4yIIlpGdhx1wkkToqylgM/wGcpiw==
>Subject: [nfbcs] Windows Phone Accessibility Update
>
>Greetings:
>
>
>
>Under date of January 24, 2013, a letter signed by a number of organizations
>around the world (including the National Federation of the Blind) was sent
>to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer.  This letter (which I
>am including at the end of this message) expressed "great dissatisfaction"
>with the accessibility of Windows Phone 8 and demanded a concrete commitment
>from Microsoft "to make Windows Phone accessible to blind people in 2013 by
>incorporating fully featured screen reader and magnification solutions into
>the next release of Microsoft Windows Phone at no additional cost to the
>consumer."
>
>
>
>During the CSUN conference held in late February, representatives from these
>organizations met with Microsoft to further discuss this issue.  Under date
>of March 28, 2013, Scott Charney, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of
>Trustworthy Computing, declared that, "Microsoft will deliver a screen
>reader in our next major release of Windows Phone."  According to the letter
>(which I am also including at the end of this message), Microsoft will be
>beta testing this screen reader later this summer.
>
>
>
>This is good news.  It has been a long time in coming, and given the good
>work of Apple in this area, it is very disappointing that Microsoft has
>taken so long to make Windows Phone accessible.  Given Microsoft's track
>record in other areas, I am not prepared to say that an unqualified victory
>has been achieved.  What I can say is that Microsoft has made a concrete
>commitment to deliver a screen reader in the next major release of Windows
>Phone.  However, we will not know how well this screen reader will work for
>the blind, how it will compare to other accessibility solutions that the
>blind are already using, nor when the next major release of Windows Phone
>will be released.
>
>
>
>Yours sincerely,
>
>
>
>Curtis Chong, President
>
>National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
>
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>
>
>
>             World Blind Union
>
>             Union Mondiale Des Aveugles
>
>             Unión Mundial de Ciegos
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Mr Steve Ballmer
>
>CEO
>
>Microsoft
>
>Microsoft Corporation
>
>One Microsoft Way
>
>Redmond, WA 98052-7329
>
>USA
>
>
>
>
>
>24 January 2013
>
>
>
>Dear Mr Ballmer
>
>
>
>Accessibility in Windows Phone 8
>
>
>
>The undersigned organizations, acting for themselves and on behalf of the
>285 million people with visual impairment in 190 member countries of the
>World Blind Union (WBU), are writing to express our great dissatisfaction
>with the accessibility of Windows Phone 8 and to set forth our expectations
>with regard to accessibility of Microsoft products.
>
>
>
>When Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 in late 2010, the company brought
>representatives of consumers who are blind or visually impaired together and
>acknowledged that "we are not yet where we want to be with accessibility
>features in Windows Phone 7". This community was dismayed when Windows Phone
>7 came to market without any accessibility for blind users, meaning that
>mobile phones powered by Microsoft technology were unusable for persons with
>a visual impairment, at a time when all of your competitors were investing
>in accessibility and Apple had already achieved tremendous success with
>built-in accessibility in the iPhone .
>
>
>
>In November 2010 and again in November 2011, Microsoft hosted a Windows
>Phone Accessibility round table in Redmond, hearing from leading national
>blindness organisations from around the world. From the outset, the views of
>this group were unanimous calling for built in access for Windows Phone. In
>spite of promises to address accessibility in succeeding versions of Windows
>Phone, Microsoft has now released Windows Phone 8 with no built-in
>screen-reader or other means to provide full access to its features and
>functions for people who are blind.
>
>
>
>You have consulted our community for more than two years, and we have
>responded constructively and in good faith. However this issue now demands a
>concrete commitment from Microsoft to make Windows Phone accessible to blind
>people in 2013 by incorporating fully featured screen reader and
>magnification solutions into the next release of Microsoft Windows Phone at
>no additional cost to the consumer.
>
>
>
>We look forward to hearing from you
>
>
>
>Yours sincerely
>
>
>
>Kevin Carey, Chair, WBU Technology Working Group
>
>
>
>Arnt Holte, President, WBU
>
>
>
>and counter signatories from national blindness organisations
>
>
>
>Brian Charlson
>
>Chair of the American Council of the Blind Information Access Committee
>
>brian.charlson at carroll.org
>
>American Council of the Blind, USA
>
>
>
>Carl R. Augusto
>
>President & CEO
>
>cawbu at afb.net
>
>American Foundation for the Blind, USA
>
>
>
>Dr. Marc Maurer
>
>President
>
>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>National Federation of the Blind, USA
>
>
>
>Dr Kevin Murfitt
>
>Chair of Board of Directors
>
>kevin.murfitt at visionaustralia.org
>
>Vision Australia, Australia
>
>
>
>John M. Rafferty
>
>President & CEO
>
>john.rafferty at cnib.ca
>
>CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind), Canada
>
>
>
>Jukka Tahvanainen
>
>Managing Director
>
>jukka.tahvanainen at nkl.fi
>
>Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired, Finland
>
>
>
>Arnt Holte
>
>Vice Executive Director
>
>Arnt.holte at blindeforbundet.no
>
>NABP (Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted), Norway
>
>
>
>Teresa Palahí
>
>Vice-President for Social Affairs and New Technologies
>
>tpaj at once.es
>
>Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE), Spain
>
>
>
>Kevin Carey
>
>Chair
>
>kevin.carey at rnib.org.uk
>
>Royal National Institute of Blind People, United Kingdom
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>____________________________________________________________
>
>
>
><Microsoft Letterhead>
>
>
>
>Mr. Kevin Carey
>
>Chair, WBU Technology Working Group
>
>1929 Bayview Avenue
>
>Toronto, ON Canada M4G 3E8
>
>March 28, 2013
>
>
>
>Dear Mr. Carey and WBU Colleagues,
>
>
>
>Thank you for your letter, dated January 24, 2013, regarding Accessibility
>in the Windows Phone platform.   Steve Ballmer has asked me to respond on
>his behalf.
>
>
>
>I am aware that many of the individuals and organizations within the WBU
>have longstanding relationships with Rob Sinclair, our Chief Accessibility
>Officer, and they have made valuable contributions to the company’s
>accessibility efforts over the years by providing feedback on our products.
>I also recognize there is frustration and concern regarding the rate at
>which Accessibility features are being added to our new phone platform. I
>have discussed your letter with my team and with the President of the
>Windows Phone Division, Terry Myerson, and we would like to provide further
>information on our future plans.
>
>
>
>Microsoft will deliver a screen reader in our next major release of Windows
>Phone.  As part of this commitment, I would like to invite individuals from
>your member organizations to evaluate demonstration phones and a beta
>version of our screen reader in late summer.  Additionally, I would ask that
>any feedback be prompt so that our engineering teams have time to
>incorporate your feedback before our coding is complete.
>
>
>
>I hope that we can count on your continued engagement and I look forward to
>receiving your feedback on these new investments.
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>
>Scott Charney
>
>Corporate Vice President
>
>Trustworthy Computing
>
>
>
>
>
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