All About Access

Monday March 10 marked the beginning of the 23rd Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, (known as the CSUN Conference).

AS usual the weeklong conference was sponsored by the California State University Northridge Center on Disabilities. The CSUN Conference is the place to be for those interested in access technology which affords all persons with disabilities greater independence.

This year’s CSUN Conference featured over 125 exhibitors and was attended by a wide variety of persons interested in technology used by persons with disabilities. Attendees ranged from teachers of the disabled and consumers with disabilities to techies from IBM, Microsoft and Apple.

The CSUN conference featured many interesting speakers and announcements of new products and services. Listed below are some of the announcements of particular interest to blind and visually impaired persons:

1. Bookshare.org Partners with Don Johnston Incorporated to Provide Free Text Reader for Print Disabled Students. This means that print disabled students will now be able to read DAISY books from www.bookshare.org free of charge. In other words, these students will be able to highlight important sections of books and write their own notes in these books just like students who read print books.

For more information on the Read:OutLoud® Bookshare.org Edition Text Reader, go to”overview of free text reader”: http://www.donjohnston.com/products/rol_bookshare/index.html.

2. HumanWare Announces the Trekker Breeze GPS System. The Trekker Breeze, which will be offered for sale this summer, offers many of the same features found in the Trekker but is contained in a handheld device that will be more user friendly for those not familiar with computers. The breeze will also be more affordable. For more information on the Trekker Breeze, go to “announcement of Trekker Breeze”: http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/breeze

3. Serotek Introduces new features of System Access and the System Access Mobile Network. System Access now supports screen magnification. Users of the System Access Mobile Network will now be able to download pod casts and other audio directly to either the victor Stream or LevelStar’s Icon. For more information, go to www.serotek.com

You can learn more about the 2008 CSUN Conference at the following links. “overview of 2008 CSUN”: www.csun.edu/cod/conf/

CSUN Exhibitors

March 20, 2008
9:00 am	to	4:00 pm

Join Freedom Scientific on Thursday, March 20 – at The Carroll Center Technology Center (Newton, MA) for an informative workshop on Technology Solutions for persons with Low Vision .

Charles Madsen, Low Vision Product Specialist, for Freedom Scientific Blind/ Low Vision Group will lead a presentation on the benefits of using electronic vision aids and software to improve activities of daily living at home, school, the work place or just about anywhere!

Participants will have an opportunity to learn about and explore (HANDS-ON), Freedom Scientifics’ desktop, handheld and portable video magnifiers; screen magnification software, as well as, products that read books, bills, mail – and more!

This educational seminar is tailored for those with vision loss, parents and caregivers of those with vision loss, technology trainers, eye care professionals, seniors and senior center staff, and support groups.

Two sessions will be held at The Carroll Center in Newton, MA from

9:00am to Noon and from 1pm to 4:00pm.

Space is limited so please RSVP indicating attendance time (9 am or 1 pm) for this event.

To register by phone/ email – contact:

The Carroll Center

Tel: 617-969-6200×237

dina.rosenbaum@carroll.org

OR

Bill Kilroy

Freedom Scientific Regional Manager

Tel: (800)-444-4443×1188

Email: Billk@Freedomscientific.com

Event Logistics:

Date: March 20, 2008

Time(s): 9:00 am—Noon & 1—4:00pm

Location: The Carroll Center

770 Centre Street

Newton, MA 02458

The workshop will be held in the Carroll Center Computer Training Center.

To learn more about Freedom Scientific Low Vision Technology go to:

http://www.lowvisionsolutions.com

In late January KNFB Reading Technology Inc. announced the KnfbReader Mobile. This is the next generation of the KnfbReader that was introduced back in 2006. This reading software is installed on the Nokia N82 cell phone.

This represents a major advancement in this technology. The original KnfbReader, (now known as the KnfbReader Classic) consists of a digital camera attached to a personal data assistant and can fit in your brief case or purse. The new KnfbReader Mobile is contained within a cell phone and can fit in your pocket. Additionally, you can read documents, make phone calls, search the internet and text message all on one small device. In order to use the many features of this cell phone, the user must add a screen reader such as Mobile Speak or TALKS.

The KnfbReader Mobile can read all sorts of documents when and where you need them read including menus, newspaper articles, meeting handouts, memos, bills and more. It can also identify currency. The user must hold the device at the proper distance from the document to be read. For the typical 8.5 by 11 inch document, this distance is usually 10 inches. The process of positioning the device for a variety of documents is explained in detail in the user guide and a training page is provided to assist the user in learning how to get optimal results. Use of the device requires a steady hand.

The KnfbReader Mobile is designed to allow blind persons to read on the go. During a typical working day, a user might use it to read documents in an important meeting; read the mail; read the menu at a restaurant; and identify currency to pay the check after dinner.

There are two drawbacks involved in the purchase of the KnfbReader. Firstly, it is rather pricey at 00.00. That’s 00 for the software and 0.00 for the phone. Secondly, the Nokia N82 will work only on the AT&T and the T-Mobile networks. Persons using other carriers such as Sprint or Verizon may not want to switch carriers. They could, of course, decide to purchase the KnfbReader Mobile and carry two cell phones. A representative of knfb Reading Technology was not sure when or if the reader might be made to work with alternative cell phones.

Finally, I was talking about the new KnfbReader Mobile with a good friend who was concerned about what would happen if the user were unlucky enough to misplace the cell phone. He was concerned that the user would lose 00.00 worth of software along with the cell phone. Fortunately, this is not the case. A knfb Reading Technology representative assured me that the software could be installed on another cell phone at no additional cost.

To learn more about the KnfbReader Mobile, go to www.knfbreader.com/products-mobile.php

Or http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2253691,00.asp. For Massachusetts residents who wish to obtain a demonstration or purchase the KnfbReader, Contact Adaptive Technology Consulting at www.adaptivetech.net.

In Open Source and You, Ron Goldman points out:

No one would buy a car with the hood welded shut, but that is essentially what commercial software is.

I’ve never thought about it quite like that before, but that would be about right. The rest of the article is well worth the read if you want a non-techie explanation of open source software and its value.

Via Steve Lee on the oats-sig list.

Morning: Notice that someone has reported a bug against the Orca screen reader. (It seems that Orca is not properly announcing the name of a combo box in the sound-juicer media player. In addition the combo box is not in the Tab order.) Confirm the problem and provide additional information which will help those troubleshooting.

Lunch time: Decide you want to troubleshoot yourself. Grab a copy of sound-juicer’s source code. Identify where things have broken. Attempt to fix the code yourself. Verify that you can now Tab to the combo box and that Orca is now reading the combo box’s name. Attach your proposed patch to the bug for others to examine.

Mid-afternoon: Participate in discussion related to how Orca should best handle such situations on its end. Try the improved version of your patch proposed by Sun’s Rich Burridge and confirm that it works. Bow humbly** to Rich’s three decades’ worth of computer industry experience.

Late afternoon: Notice that Rich has transferred the bug, along with the patch which fixes the sound-juicer problem, to the sound-juicer guys for their consideration. Marvel at the turn-around time between the identification of an accessibility problem and the implementation of a fix in the mainstream product in which the problem lies. Smile at the fact that the entire process took place in the open so that anyone interested in the problem could participate in developing its solution. Consider that this is what “open communication and the shaping of accessible technology” is actually all about.

• This sounds much more sarcastic than it is. Rich is a veritable wealth of information, and he is more than happy to share what he knows. Much of what I am able to do today as a “participant” is a direct result of his ongoing, patient tutelage. Thanks Rich!!

I just discovered that Microsoft has an Accessibility Evangelist: Daniel Hubbell who blogs at Dan’s Ease of Access Blog. Dan even had a constructive answer to the rhetorical question I asked the other day, namely: “Where do you even begin” when attempting to get to the bottom of an accessibility regression in the Windows environment? He responded:

... you can start with me. My email is dhubbell@microsoft.com.

This is wonderful! Thanks Dan!! I wish I had known about you and your blog sooner. If nothing else, we could have chatted about ribbons. At CSUN perhaps?

We certainly need more Dans in the world. Especially given that the majority of us—myself included, I’m afraid—are not all that “connected” to the mainstream tech industry and truly do not know whom to contact when a problem arises. As Dan said, there are indeed “many dedicated individuals”—not just at Microsoft, I might add—who “have spent a good portion of thier(sic) lives championing accessibility in technology and computing.” Unfortunately, it is too often the case that we don’t know who these individuals are or how to reach them. That’s why I really appreciate Dan’s willingness to publicly step up to the plate on behalf of Microsoft.

I hope other companies and their evangelists follow suit. After all, there are a lot of different mainstream and assistive products being used in tandem in the “Windows environment,” only some of which were created by Microsoft. Because nearly all of those products are closed-source, we are prevented from looking “under the hood” as it were to determine if we need to get a hold of Microsoft, or Adobe, or Corel, or Symantec, or Google, or Skype, or Freedom Scientific, or Ai Squared, or someone else, or some combination thereof. All we know is that something somewhere is failing. That is a very unsatisfactory position in which to find oneself. The more Dans we have to contact, the more likely we are to find solutions to accessibility problems. Or perhaps more accurately, the more likely we are to have someone else find and implement solutions on our behalf which will hopefully meet our needs. But that is still a vast improvement over not even knowing where to begin and not having any solutions!

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?