[Promotion-technology] Windows Phone Accessibility Update

Fri Apr 5 17:31:39 UTC 2013

While I applaud the Federation and WBU's efforts to pressure Microsoft to
make Windows Phone accessible to the blind, Microsoft will legally be
required to comply with FCC regulations which will be passed under mandate
of the CVAA, including Sections 716 (47 CFR 14), 717, and 718 of the
amended Communications Act. The regulations which have not been adopted
yet will be adopted later this year. Microsoft will have to comply with
these regulations anyway in order to prevent having their operation shut
down by the FCC.

Sam Joehl
Director of Client Services
SSB BART Group
(703) 637-8956
Sam.joehl at ssbbartgroup.com
Accessibility-On-Demand
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-----Original Message-----
From: Promotion-technology
[mailto:promotion-technology-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David
Andrews
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 1:22 PM
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Promotion-technology] Windows Phone Accessibility Update

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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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