All About Access

I don’t know about you, but I tend to ignore press releases and similar such creatures: Credibility issues aside, the substance-to-fluff ratio is just too low. Every once in a while, however, you do come across one of substance — often it’s unintended substance (remember FS’ HumanWare Trade-In announcement two weeks after they acquired Jonathan Mosen?), but it’s substance nonetheless.

Today’s semi-substantive PR offering comes from GW Micro, which begins:

A milestone has been set in the assistive technology industry. Today, Ai Squared, developer of ZoomText screen magnification software and GW Micro, developer of Window-Eyes screen reading software announced that both applications could be installed and run together at the same time on the new Windows Vista operating system, providing never-before-seen access to a new operating system for blind and visually impaired consumers.

For those outside of the assistive technology field, many would ask, “Why is this such a great accomplishment?” For years, there have been difficulties trying to make new Windows operating systems accessible to visually impaired consumers due to problems and compatibility issues. However today, for the first time ever, two assistive technology companies collaborated to make sure that these types of problems are a thing of the past for blind and visually impaired consumers.

I’ll grant you that this is a milestone. That said, for those inside the assistive technology field, many would ask, “What took you so long?” Why did it take well over a decade for two companies who are not even in direct competition with one another to reach the conclusion the community would best be served by collaborating?

Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I suspect that the motivation was not the end user who needs to be able to use both a screen reader and a screen magnifier. Nor do I think that this move was inspired by the Assistive Technology specialists who over the years have had to become registry hackers extraordinaire in order to get multiple access products merely to co-exist (let alone run) on a single machine. No, as has oft been said, the first law of nature is self preservation, and it’s probably only a matter of time before we see a Window-Eyes/ZoomText trade-in program….

If the end users were truly at the center of the commercial AT universe, these companies — and their competition — would implement support for mainstream open source products because free solutions are of tremendous benefit to the user. They would work together to further reduce the problems associated with access via display driver interception — or, better still, work with Microsoft to eliminate the need for this sort of hacking chaining — because that, too, would greatly benefit the user.

As an aside, you’ve not lived until you have had a teacher or a parent call you up literally in tears because they installed JAWS/MAGic/ZoomText/Window-Eyes, and now their only computer — which they desperately need — no longer works. At all. But in the spirit of accentuating the positive, after it happens a few dozen times, you can walk folks reassuringly through the fixes in your sleep. One of the myriad joys of Linux/UNIX is that no one ever says “DCM” to (or shouts it at) you. But I digress. Where was I? Ah, yes, the press release:

GW Micro recently made history by distributing a version of Window-Eyes available to all blind consumers that would work under Windows Vista on the same day that Vista shipped to the general public. “This is the first time ever in the history of computers that a full-fledged screen reader is available to work on a new Windows operating system on the same day that it ships,” said Doug Geoffray, Vice President of Product Development for GW Micro. “A blind or visually impaired consumer could go down to their local electronics store, buy a computer, and have access to it on the same day Vista came out, just like their sighted counterparts. This is absolutely ground-breaking!”

And the fact that it is indeed absolutely ground-breaking after all these years is absolutely sad, but kudos to GW Micro all the same.

I suppose it would be superfluous to suggest how absolutely ground-breaking it would be for a blind or visually impaired consumer to be able to use the free OpenOffice.org suite just like their sighted counterparts do.

Ai Squared and GW Micro both agree that their cooperative efforts will improve the lives of millions of blind and visually impaired people around the globe.

If you take those millions and eliminate

1. the folks who cannot afford to spend $895 for Window-Eyes and/or $395-$595 for ZoomText on top of the cost of Windows, and Microsoft Office, and the computer
2. the folks who speak one of the many languages around the globe that are not supported by Window-Eyes and ZoomText

how many are left?

Is it any wonder that there are so many presentations on ODF and Open Source Solutions at CSUN?

This past Friday, several representatives from Sun Microsystems came to the Carroll Center to demonstrate what they’ve been up to lately in the area of accessibility. I, for one, am feeling relieved, encouraged, and completely excited (they had a lot to show, each item deserving of its own emotion ).

Relief

I am relieved because one of the products demonstrated was a functioning prototype of a Microsoft Word plugin that allows the user to quickly and easily import and export ODF documents without any loss of formatting. The production of such a plugin, once thoroughly tested to ensure that no formatting ever gets lost in the translation, means that employees who are blind can access and produce ODF documents without any loss in productivity or quality of their work. To me, that’s enough for the Commonwealth to proceed with the migration as scheduled. They get their open format, and we don’t suffer any consequences as a result. At least not immediately…. Which brings me to:

Encouragement — and a Request of the Screen Access Software Manufacturers

We also were given a demonstration of OpenOffice with JAWS 7.0 and ZoomText 9.0. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either, especially not when it came to JAWS. Mind you, there weren’t any JAWS scripts written for OpenOffice so it is not surprising that it wasn’t everything it could be. As I understand it, quite a bit of information is being made available by OpenOffice via the JAVA Access Bridge — information that screen access software can take advantage of to provide the necessary details to the end user. That’s very encouraging. All we need is the screen access software manufacturers to step up to the plate.

Please, please step up to the plate.

Okay, begging is admittedly lame. But I’m not beyond doing so at this point. While the plugin solves the immediate need, I am not comfortable with the notion of blind Commonwealth employees being permanently relegated to some “special” status, exempt from using the state’s official office suite because they cannot see. Permission to use MS Office while everyone else migrates to something else is certainly appreciated, but it’s no long-term solution. Who will provide support when something goes wrong? Who will provide training when a new skill must be mastered? ALL employees should be using the same software wherever possible. And it is possible, as I understand it. Unless I am missing something fundamental, it’s not a matter of CAN something be done; it’s a matter of is it WORTH doing? Sun has reached out. The screen access software companies now need to do the same.

You see, we’re in a rather unfortunate Catch 22: The makers of screen access software won’t invest the time, money, and energy required to support StarOffice/OpenOffice because there is (supposedly) no demand. The lack of demand is not because consumers who are blind aren’t interested; it’s either because they are unaware that there are other options, or because they assume that those other options are inherently inaccessible — rather than simply not supported by the access products. In other words, they don’t demand it because they don’t know it is demandable, and the manufacturers of screen access products are doing nothing to dissuade them from this notion.

If JAWS and Window-Eyes users had full and equal support to both MS Office and StarOffice/OpenOffice, which product would they choose? MS Office, which costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars, or StarOffice ($70)/OpenOffice (free)? Given the astonishing rate of unemployment among individuals who are blind, and the high cost of everything associated with having a visual impairment — alternative transportation, accessible electronics and appliances, and assistive technology to name a mere few — my guess is that they would opt for the inexpensive or free office suite.

Freedom Scientific and GW Micro: We NEED you to support these alternative office suites. Not just in the Commonwealth because of the switch to ODF — that’s just what’s bringing the issue to the forefront, and unfortunately doing so in a rather hasty fashion. We NEED you to support these alternatives because consumers who are blind have a right to the same options as everyone else. We NEED you to support these alternatives because the majority of consumers who are blind cannot afford to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on an office suite. And we NEED you to support these alternatives because they are where things are going. Open source applications are the wave of the present; not the future. The demand is there already. It might not be expressed or fully realized — yet. But it is there. Please help individuals who are blind, your customers, exercise their freedom to choose by providing alternatives to choose from, the same alternatives the rest of us already have.

Excitement

As someone who uses Linux on her non-work-related computers, I was thrilled to learn that Sun was hard at work on a Linux screen reader. Orca is still very much under development, but for a product at the ripe old age of version 0.2.5 it is quite impressive. Are we all going to be dumping Windows for Linux? For most of us, not any time soon. The reality is that Windows is not only a mature operating system, but it’s also the one with the best access solutions for users who are blind or visually impaired. And Windows is still what most schools and places of employment use. I don’t see that changing for quite some time. That’s why we need Freedom Scientific and GW Micro to provide support for StarOffice/OpenOffice. But…

A large percentage of people who are blind/visually impaired cannot afford a computer — not because of the cost of the computer, but because of the cost of the operating system, the mainstream applications, and the assistive technology needed to access it all. For these users, the price of Linux, OpenOffice, and Orca — the grand total being $0 — is right. This can make a HUGE difference when it comes to enabling consumers who are not pursuing an officially agreed-upon Vocational Rehabilitation goal to obtain the technology they need to independently manage their daily affairs. And there’s a smaller percentage of people who are blind/visually impaired who, due to job requirements or a general propensity for geekiness, want to use Linux. Orca is looking quite promising in that regard as well.

But that’s not the source of my excitement. What I find exciting is the prospect of an open source screen reader. Because it is open source, we can see the underlying code that makes it do the things it does. Because it is open source, we can contribute in a very direct fashion to its development. Because it is open source, if it doesn’t provide us the access we need, we can MAKE it provide us the access we need. Of course, we will have to educate ourselves quite a bit to do that. The open source world is not the world we’re used to. We’re used to making requests of the companies that provide us access and hoping that they will listen. And we feel we have that right as a paying customer. Sometimes we luck out; sometimes we don’t. But we have no control whatsoever. In the open source world, if we invest our time and effort in a constructive fashion, we CAN have some control and we CAN shape the access products that we use. In the open source world, access is not something bestowed upon us; access is something we design and implement to suit our unique needs and wants. That is empowering. That is exciting.

The Revolution is Being Digitized

And we are in danger of being left behind. A 70% unemployment rate among individuals who are blind means that most don’t have disposable income with which to purchase a computer, let alone the expensive, specialized products they need to access it. More and more software is being produced, yet it is inaccessible — either inherently or due to a lack of support in the assistive technology products. What Sun demonstrated to us last week shows great promise in bridging, if not closing, this digital divide. I’m psyched! But we cannot just sit back and hope that it all works out for the best. We have to participate in the revolution. Tell the maker of your screen reader that you want access to a free office suite. Get a copy of Linux and Orca and see what it does. It’s not perfect, but with our involvement and feedback it can get there. Don’t have the time? I don’t either. But I’m making the time because this matters. A lot. And it will pay off in the long run. Trust me.

A recent press release announces an effort by IBM to make Mozilla’s Firefox web browser more accessible. Firefox, long praised for its security, speed and extensibility has been condemned for its failure to work with access technology. IBM announces that it has added support for Microsoft Active Accessibility to version 1.5 of the Firefox browser. Theoretically, this should make Firefox as accessible as Internet Explorer. (more…)

From the mailbag:

That’s right–Start spreading the news that GW Micro training is coming back to New York City. The training last year at AFB was so successful that GW Micro and AFB are doing it again. Basic Window-Eyes training will be held on June7th and intermediate training on June8th .

I had heard the rumors…. Read about the Window-Eyes Lease-To-Own Program. Veeeeery interesting. I’m still mulling this over, but here’s what I’m thinking… (more…)

Okay, so I don’t actually have bunny slippers on my feet, but I do telecommute. And I love it!!! You can’t beat the drive or the dress code. And for people who are blind or visually impaired, telecommuting can offer something much more valuable, namely access to jobs that would otherwise be inaccessible due to a lack of public transportation options.

Until fairly recently, telecommuting was not an option for any blind employee who needed to access company computers remotely. Whereas sighted telecommuters have been using products like PC Anywhere, Citrix, and Microsoft Terminal Services for years, blind users have not. They couldn’t. (more…)