[blindkid] Looking forward

Fri Mar 5 16:44:06 UTC 2010

Just look at curb cuts, for example.  They are often cited as 
examples of how universal design will help EVERYONE, but they have 
certainly made lining up for a crossing more difficult for blind kids!
Carol

At 10:14 PM 3/4/2010, you wrote:
>I agree. And Steve is right; there was far more than a great deal of 
>hidden marketing in Calvo's diatribe. And this is what bugs me about 
>his doings; he tends to try to push his products while appearing to 
>be a knight in shining armor. I'd much rather have a straightforward 
>sales pitch.
>
>Although I applaud Apple's efforts toward accessibility, I think we, 
>the blind, should think long and hard before we espouse so-called 
>"universal design" willy-nilly. Why? Because it is almost inevitable 
>that products designed for a range of disabilities will not serve 
>any one of them optimally. So we'll end up in a world of 
>accessibility mediocrity.
>
>AS I say, Steve's post has much to recommend it.
>
>Mike
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Deborah Kent Stein" 
><dkent5817 at worldnet.att.net>
>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 5:33 PM
>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>
>
>>
>>
>>As a dedicated Braille reader I am wary of the idea of eliminating 
>>companies that design technology exclusively for the blindness 
>>market.  I highly doubt that mainstream companies will ever come 
>>forth with devices that include Braille displays.  Refreshable 
>>Braille has expanded Braille access beyond my wildest dreams, and I 
>>worry that a shift to purely mainstream products could turn out to 
>>be a giant step into speech access only.
>>
>>Debbie
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
>><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 4:45 PM
>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>>
>>
>>>Sally,
>>>
>>>I have hesitated to say anything because I feel that Serotek has 
>>>very nice products but somewhat questionable marketing 
>>>techniques.  The fact is that to talk you
>>>away from JFW, HAL, or Window-Eyes right now is really talking you 
>>>into his products in my opinion.  He over-simplifies the situation 
>>>with braille displays, too.  He is
>>>using our frustrations and civil rights to direct frustration 
>>>against his biggest compettitors without letting you know that he 
>>>is doing that. This is also coming out just
>>>before the large CSUN conference which I feel makes the timing 
>>>interesting.  Let me be clear, he makes some good points, and his 
>>>products tend to be good
>>>values, but this hit me wrong, too.  There are some reasons that 
>>>many of us have felt that we have been better served to have some 
>>>competition in the screen
>>>reader arena even though it cost us more, rather  than to push 
>>>Microsoft to create a screen reader, and I'd be glad to explain 
>>>that sometime if you are interested.
>>>The picture is complicated.
>>>
>>>We should push to raise awareness of accessibility within 
>>>mainstream software, and we need to watch how it works to do what 
>>>Apple is doing. The writer is correct
>>>that things will be changing over time, but I think there was a 
>>>good deal of hidden marketing here.
>>>
>>>Best regards,
>>>
>>>Steve Jacobson
>>>
>>>On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 08:31:24 -0600, Sally Thomas wrote:
>>>
>>>>Do you think he's self serving?  It seems to me that supporting technology
>>>>that is accessible right out of the box is a good thing.  I bought my son a
>>>>Victor Reader and it languishes beside his iPod Touch which is used every
>>>>day.  The Touch is smaller and more useful to him but both 
>>>>technologies cost
>>>>me about the same.  I also thought that the NFB Technology Bill of Rights
>>>>was along these lines--equipment accessible right out of the box.
>>>
>>>>I would believe that his motives aren't pure since he is a 
>>>>businessman but I
>>>>am a bit tired of buying very expensive equipment only to find out a couple
>>>>of months later that it is obsolete.
>>>
>>>>Sally Thomas
>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>>>>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
>>>><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>>>Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:01 PM
>>>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>>>
>>>
>>>>>Pure demagoguery.
>>>>>
>>>>>Mike
>>>>>
>>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Sally Thomas" <seacknit at gmail.com>
>>>>>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
>>>>><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 9:16 AM
>>>>>Subject: [blindkid] Looking forward
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>I received the following email from the TABS list.  I hope this isn't
>>>>>>redundant for you.  I'm really excited by Serotek's plan.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Subject: [leadership] Serotek declares war on the traditional adaptive
>>>>>>technology industry and their blind ghetto products
>>>>>>This is no warm fuzzy of a read, but something well worth the read and
>>>>>>in my opinion long over due. Kudos to SeroTekCited from
>>>>>>http://blog.serotek.com/
>>>>>>The Serotek Ultimatum
>>>>>>Serotek declares war on the traditional adaptive technology industry
>>>>>>and their blind ghetto products. With this announcement we are
>>>>>>sending out a
>>>>>>call to arms to every blind person and every advocate for the blind to
>>>>>>rise
>>>>>>up and throw off the tyranny that has shaped our lives for the past two
>>>>>>decades. It is a tyranny of good intentions - or at least what began as
>>>>>>good
>>>>>>intentions. But as the proverb says, "the road to hell is paved with good
>>>>>>intentions." And for the past two decades the technologies originally
>>>>>>conceived to give us freedom have been our shackles. They have kept us
>>>>>>tied
>>>>>>down to underperforming, obscenely expensive approaches that only a small
>>>>>>percentage of blind people can afford or master. They have shackled us to
>>>>>>government largess and the charity of strangers to pay for what few among
>>>>>>us
>>>>>>could afford on our own. And we have been sheep, lead down the path,
>>>>>>bleating from time to time, but without the vision or the resources to
>>>>>>stand
>>>>>>up and demand our due.
>>>>>>That time is past.
>>>>>>We stand today on the very edge of universal accessibility. Mainstream
>>>>>>products like the iPod, iPhone, and newly announced iPad are fully
>>>>>>accessible out of the box. And they bring with them a wealth of highly
>>>>>>desirable accessibility applications. The cost to blind people is exactly
>>>>>>the same as the cost to sighted people. It's the same equipment, the same
>>>>>>software, the same functionality, and fully accessible.
>>>>>>What Apple has done, others are doing as well. The adaptive technology
>>>>>>vendor who creates hardware and software that is intended only for blind
>>>>>>folks, and then only if they are subsidized by the government, is a
>>>>>>dinosaur. The asteroid has hit the earth, the dust cloud is ubiquitous,
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>dinosaur's days are numbered.
>>>>>>But dinosaurs are huge, and their extinction does not happen overnight..
>>>>>>Even as they die, they spawn others like them (take the Intel Reader for
>>>>>>example). Thank you, no. Any blind person can have full accessibility to
>>>>>>any
>>>>>>type of information without the high-cost, blind-ghetto gear. They can
>>>>>>get
>>>>>>it in the same products their sighted friends are buying. But let's face
>>>>>>it;
>>>>>>if we keep buying that crap and keep besieging our visual resource center
>>>>>>to
>>>>>>buy that crap for us, the dinosaurs of the industry are going to keep
>>>>>>making
>>>>>>it. Their profit margins are very good indeed. And many have invested
>>>>>>exactly none of that profit in creating the next generation of access
>>>>>>technology, choosing instead to perpetuate the status quo. For instance,
>>>>>>refreshable braille technology, arguably the most expensive
>>>>>>blindness-specific(and to many very necessary) product has not changed
>>>>>>significantly in 30 years. Yet, the cost remains out of reach for most
>>>>>>blind
>>>>>>people. Where's the innovation there? Why have companies not invested in
>>>>>>cheaper, faster, smaller, and more efficient ways to make refreshable
>>>>>>braille? Surely the piezoelectric braille cell is not the only way? And
>>>>>>what
>>>>>>about PC-based OCR software? It's still around a thousand dollars per
>>>>>>license, yet core functionality hasn't changed much; sure, we get all
>>>>>>sorts
>>>>>>of features not at all related to reading, along with incremental
>>>>>>accuracy
>>>>>>improvements, but why are these prices not dropping either, especially
>>>>>>when
>>>>>>you consider that comparable off-the-shelf solutions like Abby Finereader
>>>>>>can be had for as low as $79? ? And let's not forget the screen reader
>>>>>>itself, the core technology that all of us need to access our computers
>>>>>>in
>>>>>>the first place. Do we see improvements, or just an attempt to mimic
>>>>>>innovation with the addition of features which have nothing to do with
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>actual reading of the screen, while maintaining the same ridiculous price
>>>>>>point.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>This maintaining of the status quo will, inevitably, face an enormous
>>>>>>crash,
>>>>>>worse than the transition from DOS to Windows based accessibility. You
>>>>>>can
>>>>>>expect a technology crash that will put users of the most expensive
>>>>>>accessibility gear out of business.
>>>>>>Why? I won't bore you with all the technical details, but the basic story
>>>>>>is
>>>>>>that some of these products have been kept current with patches and fixes
>>>>>>and partial rewrites and other tricks we IT types use when we haven't got
>>>>>>the budget to do it right, but we need to make the product work with the
>>>>>>latest operating system. That process of patching and fixing creates an
>>>>>>enormous legacy barrier that makes it impossible to rewrite without
>>>>>>abandoning all who came before. But you can only keep a kluge working for
>>>>>>so
>>>>>>long before it will crumble under its own weight. That, my friends, is
>>>>>>exactly where some of the leading adaptive technology vendors find
>>>>>>themselves today.
>>>>>>There are exceptions. Serotek is an exception because we have completely
>>>>>>recreated our product base every three years. GW Micro is an exception
>>>>>>because they built their product in a highly modular fashion and can
>>>>>>update
>>>>>>modules without destroying the whole. KNFB is an exception because they
>>>>>>take
>>>>>>advantage of off-the-shelf technologies, which translate ultimately into
>>>>>>price drops and increased functionality.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>But even we who have done it right are on a path to obsolescence. The
>>>>>>fundamental need for accessibility software is rapidly beginning to
>>>>>>vanish.
>>>>>>The universal accessibility principles we see Apple, Microsoft, Olympus,
>>>>>>and
>>>>>>others putting in place are going to eliminate the need for these
>>>>>>specialty
>>>>>>products in a matter of just a very few years.
>>>>>>Stop and think. Why do you need accessibility tools? To read text? E-book
>>>>>>devices are eliminating that need. None of them are perfect yet, but we
>>>>>>are
>>>>>>really only in the first generation. By Gen2 they will all be fully
>>>>>>accessible. To find your way? GPS on your iPhone or your Android based
>>>>>>phone
>>>>>>will do that for you. To take notes? Easy on any laptop, netbook, or
>>>>>>iPad.
>>>>>>Heck, you can record it live and play it back at your convenience. Just
>>>>>>what
>>>>>>isn't accessible? You can play your music, catch a described video, scan
>>>>>>a
>>>>>>spreadsheet, take in a PowerPoint presentation - all using conventional,
>>>>>>off-the-shelf systems and/or software that is free of charge.
>>>>>>There are still some legacy situations where you need to create an
>>>>>>accessibility path. Some corporations still have internal applications
>>>>>>that
>>>>>>do not lend themselves to modern devices. There will certainly be
>>>>>>situations
>>>>>>where a specialized product will better solve an accessibility problem
>>>>>>than
>>>>>>a mainstream one, especially in the short term. We don't advocate
>>>>>>throwing
>>>>>>the baby out with the bathwater, but we do advocate that we begin to
>>>>>>hasten
>>>>>>the inevitable change by using accessible mainstream solutions wherever
>>>>>>possible. Even now, the leading edge companies are reinventing their
>>>>>>internal systems with accessibility as a design criteria, so the
>>>>>>situations
>>>>>>that require specialized products will certainly become fewer as time
>>>>>>goes
>>>>>>on.
>>>>>>If our current Assistive technology guard's reign is coming to an end,
>>>>>>why
>>>>>>the war? Why not just let it die its own, natural, inevitable death?
>>>>>>Because
>>>>>>nothing dies more slowly than an obsolete technology. Punch cards hung on
>>>>>>for twenty or thirty years after they were completely obsolete. The same
>>>>>>is
>>>>>>true for magnetic tape. Old stuff represents a comparatively large
>>>>>>investment, and people hate to throw away something they paid a lot of
>>>>>>money
>>>>>>for even if it's currently worthless. But that legacy stuff obscures the
>>>>>>capabilities of the present. It gets used in situations where other
>>>>>>solutions are cheaper and more practical. The legacy stuff clogs the
>>>>>>vocational rehab channel, eating up the lion's share of the resources but
>>>>>>serving a tiny portion of the need. It gets grandfathered into contracts.
>>>>>>It
>>>>>>gets specified when there is no earthly reason why the application
>>>>>>requires
>>>>>>it. The legacy stuff slows down the dawning of a fully accessible world.
>>>>>>It hurts you and it hurts me.
>>>>>>To be sure, I make my living creating and selling products that make our
>>>>>>world accessible. But first and foremost, I am a blind person. I am one
>>>>>>of
>>>>>>you. And every day I face the same accessibility challenges you face. I
>>>>>>have
>>>>>>dedicated my life and my company to making the world more accessible for
>>>>>>all
>>>>>>of us, but I can't do it alone. This is a challenge that every blind
>>>>>>person
>>>>>>needs to take up. We need to shout from the rooftops: "Enough!"
>>>>>>We need to commit ourselves in each and every situation to finding and
>>>>>>using
>>>>>>the most accessible off the shelf tool and/or the least-cost, highest
>>>>>>function accessibility tool available. With our dollars and our
>>>>>>commitment
>>>>>>to making known that our needs and the needs of sighted people are 99%
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>same, we can reshape this marketplace. We can drive the dinosaurs into
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>tar pits and nurture those cute fuzzy little varmints that are ancestors
>>>>>>to
>>>>>>the next generation. We can be part of the solution rather than part of
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>problem.
>>>>>>And all it takes is getting the best possible solution for your
>>>>>>specific need. Once you have found the solution to fill that need, let
>>>>>>the company know you appreciate their work towards better
>>>>>>accessibility. Let your friends (sighted and blind) know about these
>>>>>>accessibility features; they probably don't know that such features
>>>>>>exist. Make your needs known to the vocational rehab people you are
>>>>>>working with, and don't allow them to make recommendations for a
>>>>>>specific technology for no other reason than that it's been in the
>>>>>>contract for years. Make sure your schools and your workplace
>>>>>>understand the need to push technology in to the accessible space.
>>>>>>Show them the low-cost alternatives. In this economy some, the
>>>>>>intelligent ones, will get it and the tide will begin to turn. And
>>>>>>then in short order the tsunami of good sense will wash away the old,
>>>>>>and give us the space to build a more accessible world for all of us.
>>>>>>Let the demand ring out loud and clear and the market will follow.If
>>>>>>this message rings true to you, don't just shake your fist in
>>>>>>agreement and leave it at that. let your voice be heard! Arm yourself
>>>>>>with the vision of a future where there are no social, conceptual, or
>>>>>>economic barriers to accessibility, and let your words and your
>>>>>>actions demonstrate that you will not rest until that vision is
>>>>>>realized. Take out your wallet and let your consumer power shine! You
>>>>>>do mater as a market people! You have kept this company alive with
>>>>>>your money for 8 years this month! I believe that if we all get
>>>>>>together and do our part, we will finally say "NO more!" same old same
>>>>>>old! Join the revolution! Together we can change the world!Posted by
>>>>>>Mike Calvo at 2:15 PM
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>>>>blindkid at nfbnet.org
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
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Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc 