[Nfb-science] Nfb-science Digest, Vol 88, Issue 6
Blaine Clark
blaineclrk at gmail.com
Thu Nov 21 06:25:21 UTC 2013
Matlab is based in Massachusetts so has to abide by ADA. Contact your
State Representative for action regarding a complaint to your state's
Attorney General and for any other immediate contact sources plus any
aid the State Rep's office can generate.
No Microsoft garbage used here, sent by a very satisfied Linux-Mint
<http://www.linuxmint.com/> user (a former disgruntled Microsoft user).
You could check out Vinux, Linux for the visually impaired
<http://wiki.vinuxproject.org/>.
This email and any attachments are not virus scanned either, that's up
to you poor Microsoft users to deal with.
I'd rather be a wild and wacky Linux Penguin than a docile,
domesticated, Microsoft sheep.
On 11/20/2013 07:00 AM, nfb-science-request at nfbnet.org wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. [BANA-Announce] New Sample Documents in UEB Now Available
> (Mary Nelle McLennan)
> 2. advice needed on how to deal with unresponsive software
> company over accessibility issues (Amy Bower)
> 3. Fwd: An Immersion into Excel 2013 is now available for
> purchase (David Andrews)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 08:53:47 -0600
> From: "Mary Nelle McLennan" <mary.nelle at earthlink.net> (by way of
> David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfb-science] [BANA-Announce] New Sample Documents in UEB Now
> Available
> Message-ID: <auto-000132796274 at mailfront3.g2host.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
>
> November offers a lot to celebrate and to commemorate. The Braille
> Authority of North American (BANA) is pleased to share several timely
> items that we have transcribed in Unified English Braille (UEB).
>
> Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
> Transcribed in Unified English Braille and Available on the BANA Website
> In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's
> Gettysburg Address, BANA provides the transcription of those historic
> remarks in UEB. The text of Lincoln's speech is available as a
> braille-ready file and a PDF of simulated braille. You can find these
> files on the BANA website home page at
> <http://www.brailleauthority.org>www.brailleauthority.org.
>
> Dallas, November 22, 1963
> Transcribed in Unified English Braille and Available on BARD
> To remember the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President
> John F. Kennedy, a short ebook, Dallas, November 22, 1963, by Robert
> A. Caro, was published in early October. Taken from Caro's larger
> biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, this riveting excerpt describes the
> events of the day.
> The eBook has been transcribed in Unified English Braille and is now
> available in braille-ready format (BRF) from the National Library
> Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) through its
> BARD service. Eligible patrons can find and download the book by
> entering the title in the search field at
> <https://nlsbard.loc.gov>https://nlsbard.loc.gov.
>
> Pumpkin Pie Recipe
> Transcribed in Unified English Braille and Available on the BANA Website
> 'Tis the season so we have added a pumpkin pie recipe in UEB! It is
> available as a BRF braille-ready file and as a PDF of simulated
> braille. You can find these files on the BANA website home page at
> <http://www.brailleauthority.org>www.brailleauthority.org. Enjoy!
>
> For other samples in UEB and for additional resource information,
> visit <http://www.brailleauthority.org>www.brailleauthority.org.
> The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from
> seventeen member organizations of braille producers, transcribers,
> teachers, and consumers.
> The mission of the Braille Authority of North America is to assure
> literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille
> and/or tactile graphics.
> The purpose of BANA is to promote and to facilitate the uses,
> teaching, and production of braille. Pursuant to this purpose, BANA
> will promulgate rules, make interpretations, and render opinions
> pertaining to braille codes and guidelines for the provisions of
> literary and technical materials and related forms and formats of
> embossed materials now in existence or to be developed in the future
> for the use of blind persons in North America. When appropriate, BANA
> shall accomplish these activities in international collaboration with
> countries using English braille. In exercising its function and
> authority, BANA shall consider the effects of its decisions on other
> existing braille codes and guidelines, forms and formats; ease of
> production by various methods; and acceptability to readers.
>
> Questions and comments can be addressed to Frances Mary D'Andrea,
> BANA Chair, at <mailto:literacy2 at mindspring.com>literacy2 at mindspring.com.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> BANA-Announce mailing list
> BANA-Announce at brailleauthority.org
> http://www.brailleauthority.org/mailman/listinfo/bana-announce
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:38:12 -0500
> From: "Amy Bower" <abower at whoi.edu>
> To: <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: 'Shafer Debbie' <dshafer at whoi.edu>, "'Bower, Amy'"
> <abower at whoi.edu>
> Subject: [Nfb-science] advice needed on how to deal with unresponsive
> software company over accessibility issues
> Message-ID: <015f01cee578$07b10140$171303c0$@whoi.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi All - I would appreciate your advice on how to escalate an issue with The
> Mathworks, creators of Matlab software. Matlab is one of the most widely
> used data analysis software packages in science education and research. I
> have been using Matlab for more than 20 years. I have had many accessibility
> issues with the product working compatibly with Jaws/Magic and/or Zoomtext.
> In years past, Mathworks seemed to make some effort to address
> accessibility, with information in the release notes on how to make the
> product accessible to screen readers. Since Matlab is a Java application,
> the fixes usually revolved around using the right version of the Java Access
> Bridge and adding some path information and special files.
>
>
>
> Recently we (my IT consultant and I) installed the most recent version of
> Matlab (64-bit version, R2013b) on my laptop with 64-bit Windows 7. It
> doesn't work with Jaws (I don't have Zoomtext installed anymore). We know
> that the latest version of the Access Bridge is bundled with Matlab (not
> always the case in the past), so we haven't made any adjustments or added
> any files (like the accessibility.properties file). There is absolutely no
> documentation on accessibility for screen readers with this version , nor
> has there been for the last few releases (there are usually 2 per year).
>
>
>
> We contacted someone at Mathworks who had assisted with accessibility issues
> in the past (Monica Wang), and she forwarded our case to someone in
> technical support. After a couple of back-and-forth e-mails, the technical
> support person says in short, "we expect it to work but we haven't tested
> this version of Matlab with Jaws" and "I'll pass this on to the development
> team" and (most infuriating) "if we find that addressing accessibility
> issues will have a significant impact, we'll address it".
>
>
>
> I'm not an expert on accessibility rights, but my understanding is that if a
> company sells software to the federal government (which I'm sure Mathworks
> does), they are required to make their product accessible to persons with
> disabilities. Am I correct? If so, could anyone point me to documentation
> that I could take to Mathworks to make my case? I'm ready to "make a federal
> case" out of this if need be. It's been too many years, too much effort to
> gain access to a mainstream professional tool that all my colleagues use,
> and to see accessibility to Matlab going backwards is just too much. I
> really want to get their attention.
>
>
>
> Suggestions?
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Amy
>
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Amy S. Bower
>
> Senior Scientist
>
> Department of Physical Oceanography
>
> MS #21
>
> Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
>
> Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA
>
> Voice: 508-289-2781
>
> Email: abower at whoi.edu
>
> Fax: 508-457-2181
>
> WWW: http://www.whoi.edu/scientist/abower
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:57:19 -0600
> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfb-science] Fwd: An Immersion into Excel 2013 is now
> available for purchase
> Message-ID: <auto-000132915731 at mailfront3.g2host.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> End of Nfb-science Digest, Vol 88, Issue 6
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