Screen Reader Safety Bowling

I want to preface this Ranger Rant by saying that the following opinion is firmly based in the part of my brain which looks at things from an Assistive Technology Training perspective. For those brave unsung heroes of the AT Community generally get the blunt end of things by unwillingly becoming Usability Testers for any new feature in a product. These guys and gals can tell you instantly when something works, or in some cases doesn’t, for a wide spectrum of computer users. The job of training is very rewarding: but it sure ain’t easy.

Imagine the amount of technical knowledge you must command these days to perform this noble job of training your fellow Blind person on even the basics of computing. Let us start with Windows. XP, Vista, 7 and now three flavors of Mac OS. Microsoft Office? 2003, 2007 or 2010? And we haven’t even gotten to the internet yet. The mind reels at the sheer height of the mountain that must be climbed if you want to succeed at being able to train the tons of people out there who either can’t afford to upgrade, or worse, who cannot upgrade easily because they form a dependence on task specific approaches to complete their daily lives.

Do you train on the out of the box interface or do you revert a person back to a Windows Classic look and feel? This question always becomes murky for some because it can play into one’s own bias about the changes that have come to Windows and Office over the years. Some out there will never give up training a person to strike the Windows Key, followed by S and then C to reach Control Panel. They are the same people who are the first to tell me that Windows 7 must be set back to some older interface for Screen Reader compatibility when many in the industry have worked with the out of the box Windows UI for years.

The announcement of the Virtual Ribbon in JAWS 12 has me both intrigued and cautious upon its description from this year’s major conventions. My mixed emotions are hard to sum up quickly on this concept because the feature pushes so many buttons for me; however, I’ll sum most of them up by saying that adding a layer like this to revert a person back to Classic is like bowling with Gutter Guards on both sides of the lane.

Again, from the AT Trainers standpoint, this is just another thing to be mastered in order to teach someone the best practice in navigating through controls and options. And again, like I said above, for some, this feature will enable students to not have to non-visualize the very visual thing that is the Microsoft Ribbon. It makes a lot of sense for those who really want to go back to a time where you could find everything through a series of menus and boxes. I get that, really I do.

The problem I have is that it sets a person apart from their sighted peers though. If you need to find something in a hurry, can you do that from another person’s instruction that just happens to be looking at their computer and the Ribbon? Can you pin common tasks to the Virtual Ribbon’s Home menu as you can in the MS Ribbon to make some tasks easier? I’m not sure but I do know that it means that I now have to learn yet another way of finding things regardless if I am training someone or trouble shooting their computer for technical issues.

I’m all for innovation and making things simple for the end user. It is a battle that is constantly being waged on what is a helping hand and what is an overdependence on macros. I’m thrilled to know that this upcoming JAWS feature is something you can choose to install because choice is always a good thing. I’m just not sure if shielding people from what is the natural User Interface is a better option for some out there. After all, the Ribbon has been fully implemented in all of Office 2010. So it isn’t going away anytime soon.

Learn about this new feature, and more, from the excellent Sight Village coverage from MuschroomFM.com. Hit the link below to get to their page with all the Sight Village links.

http://mushroomfm.com/sightvillage

Dallas: Geeky High Points Of This Year’s NFB Convention Schedule

4

I’ve attended both ACB and NFB Conventions in the past. I’m not suggesting one is better than the other. And, I’m not suggesting you belong to both, either or neither group. What I am saying is that Convention can be a wonderful time where you can learn from others who are into the same things you find interesting. Networking, learning and dog gone it.. having fun with others. that is why I look forward to July.

I’m going to NFB again this year because I’m speaking at the AT Trainers Division meeting. Also, Dallas is kinda closer to Austin. Therefore, I am heading to Dallas on July 3rd.

Here are some portions of the schedule I’ve marked as points of interest. The full schedule can be found at the official 2010 NFB Convention site.

http://www.nfb.org/nfb/National_Convention.asp

Saturday July 3rd

7:30 - 8:45 am—HAM RADIO GROUP EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Milan Room, Tower mezzanine  
Discuss convention frequencies, hotel architectural features, and distributing special FM receivers for the hearing-impaired and Spanish-speaking attendees. D. Curtis Willoughby (ka0vba), Chairperson

8:30 - 11:30 am—WHAT’S NEW IN JAWS 11 AND A FIRST LOOK AT JAWS 12—FREEDOM SCIENTIFIC, INC.
Senators Lecture Hall, Tower lobby
Join Eric Damery, JAWS Product Manager, for an exciting and informative session covering the new details surrounding JAWS development during the past year.  In addition to many demonstrations of JAWS 11 with Research It, this will also be the first look at JAWS 12 scheduled for public beta in August 2010.

9:00 am - 12:00 noon—GW MICRO: SENSE NOTETAKER AND BOOKSENSE TRAINING (Registration: $10; refreshments provided)
Fleur-de-Lis A Room, Atrium mezzanine
The Braille Sense Plus and other Sense notetakers are exciting devices in Braille notetaker technology.  Learn new features, including the GW Sense Navigation GPS.  See the BookSense in action; play your books and audio files with ease.  Raul Gallegos and Jeremy Curry. To register, call 260-489-3671.

9:00 am - 5:00 pm—NFB JERNIGAN INSTITUTE’S ACCESS TECHNOLOGY SEMINARS
Governors Lecture Hall, Tower lobby  
    9:00 - 11:30 am—Apple’s Mac system, iPod series, iPhone, and iPad
    1:00 - 2:00 pm—Ebay’s accessibility improvements
    2:15 - 3:30 pm—Blackboard Learn, the online platform for education      
    3:45 - 5:00 pm—Accessing e-Books rapidly expanding market

1:00 - 3:00 pm—FREEDOM SCIENTIFIC; OPENBOOK 9 AND PEARL PORTABLE READING SOLUTION
Senators Lecture Hall, Tower lobby
Have lightning fast OCR with OpenBook in a portable solution that folds up.  Connect via a USB port and scan documents. Have them read aloud using Eloquence voices or any of Real Speak Solo Direct human-sounding voices now available on OpenBook. Magnify work, write under the camera, and reformat text.

1:00 - 5:00 pm—HUMANWARE PRODUCT SHOWCASE AND USER GROUPS
Obelisk A Room, Atrium mezzanine
Sessions: 1:00 Breeze; 2:00 Portable Devices; 3:00 Stream; 4:00 BrailleNote
Join HumanWare to learn about recent updates and share product tips. Give us your suggestions or ask questions about your favorite HumanWare product. Door Prizes for every session! 

1:30 - 2:45 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel.

2:00 - 5:00 pm—GW MICRO: WINDOW-EYES TRAINING (Registration: $10; refreshments provided)
Fleur-de-Lis A Room, Atrium mezzanine
Explore the power of Window-Eyes with advanced scripting support, Office 2010, Windows 7, and much more.  Come to see support for the Internet and scripting provided by a screen reader.  Presenters: Jeremy Curry and Raul Gallegos. To register, call 260-489-3671.

3:00 - 4:45 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel.

7:00 - 10:00 pm—INDEPENDENCE SCIENCE, LLC FOCUS GROUP ONE
Fleur-de-Lis B Room, Atrium mezzanine
(Preregistration by May 15 was required to attend.) Independence Science LLC, in collaboration with Purdue University researchers, is collecting feedback on a new portable handheld data collection device for blind students to use in high school science laboratories.  (Focus Group Two meets Monday at 7:00 pm) 

7:30 - 9:00 pm—knfbReader MOBILE USERS MEETING
Fleur-de-Lis A Room, Atrium mezzanine
Conducted by Michael Hingson

Sunday July 4th

1:30 - 2:45 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel

Not AT related, but fun to attend anyway...
2:30 - 5:30 pm—TRAVEL AND TOURISM DIVISION
Milan Room, Tower mezzanine
Don Gillmore, President

3:00 - 4:45 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel

3:00 - 5:00 pm—WHAT’S NEW WITH NFB-NEWSLINE®
Lalique Room, Atrium mezzanine
Learn about the NFB’s free audible newspaper service for the blind and visually impaired.  Topics cover Podable News, the new voices, the new on-demand article request feature, and more.  Sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE® at its exhibit hall table.

8:00 - 9:30 pm—WEBMASTERS MEETING
Fleur-de-Lis B Room, Atrium mezzanine
A meeting for all NFB affiliate and division Webmasters to discuss the importance of an informative, accessible, and visually attractive Website.
Gary Wunder, Chairperson, Webmasters Group

Monday July 5th

Don't Miss!!!
12:30 - 5:00 pm—NFB IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
Rosetta Room, Atrium mezzanine  
   12:30 pm–Registration; 1:00 pm–Meeting begins
Some of the topics include: the Macintosh as a productivity tool for the blind; Solona, a CAPTCHA-solving service; Association of Information Technology Professionals presentation; accessibility to Microsoft’s products by its director of accessibility, Rob Sinclair; elections; and much more.  Curtis Chong, President

Don't Miss!!
5:30 - 7:00 pm—KURZWEIL 1000 USERS’ CONTINGENT
Steuben Room, Atrium mezzanine 
Join the Kurzweil 1000 Users’ Contingent!  Meet with Steve Baum, Vice President of Engineering, and share some Kurzweil 1000 experiences.  Kurzweil 1000 is our state-of-the-art, text-to-speech and life navigation software for blind and visually impaired readers.

6:30 - 9:30 pm—SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DIVISION
Wyeth Room, Atrium mezzanine 
  6:30 pm–Registration; 7:00 pm–Meeting begins
John Miller, President

I'll be speaking at this one...
6:30 - 10:00 pm—ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TRAINERS DIVISION
Manchester Room, Tower mezzanine
  6:30 pm–Registration; 7:00 pm–Meeting begins
Topics: determining the right note taker for your student; plunging without fear into Windows 7 with Cathyanne Murtha of Access Technology Institute; Jsay Pro; and teaching the Mac.  Michael Barber, President

7:00 - 10:00 pm—INDEPENDENCE SCIENCE FOCUS GROUP TWO
Fleur-de-Lis B Room, Atrium mezzanine
(Preregistration by May 15 was required to attend.) Independence Science LLC, in collaboration with Purdue University researchers, is collecting feedback on a new portable handheld data collection device for blind students to use in high school science laboratories.

Tuesday July 6th

6:00 - 8:00 pm—AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INTRODUCES AccessWorld  EVERY MONTH AND NEW ONLINE COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Peacock Terrace, West Wing
You are invited to our informational reception. Announcing AFB AccessWorld, every month—more authors, more information, more often. CareerConnect, FamilyConnect, and SeniorSite offer newly-expanded opportunities. Network with families, seniors, and successful mentors. We look forward to meeting you.

7:00 - 8:30 pm—BOOKSHARE AT NFB MEMBER PARTY
Lalique Room, Atrium mezzanine
Enjoy snacks and refreshments while meeting the Bookshare staff. This is your opportunity to talk with us and share your ideas; we’re here to listen.  Plan to have fun with contests, drawings, and interacting with your fellow members.  We look forward to seeing you. 

8:00 - 9:00 pm—BEP: U.S. CURRENCY IDENTIFICATION FOCUS GROUP Steuben Room, Atrium mezzanine
Representatives of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the Office of Product Development provide an update on BEP’s progress to provide blind individuals with access to U.S. currency and discuss concepts it is currently testing. (Session Two: Wednesday at 7:00 pm.)   

Wednesday July 7th

During the General Session …

9:50 am    THE APEX AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTS AT HUMANWARE
Gilles Pepin, Chief Executive Officer, HumanWare; Drummondville, Canada

11:10 am    ASSURING INTERNET ACCESSIBILITY
Preety Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Deque Systems, Inc.; Reston, Virginia

7:00 - 8:00 pm—BEP: U.S. CURRENCY IDENTIFICATION FOCUS GROUP Steuben Room, Atrium mezzanine
Representatives of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the Office of Product Development provide an update on BEP’s progress to provide blind individuals with access to U.S. currency and discuss concepts it is currently testing.

7:00 - 8:15 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel

7:00 - 9:00 pm—WHAT’S NEW WITH NFB-NEWSLINE® 
Lalique Room, Atrium mezzanine
Learn about the NFB’s free audible newspaper service for the blind and visually impaired.  Topics cover Podable News, the new voices, the new on-demand article request feature, and more.  Sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE® at its exhibit hall table.

A possible don't miss..
7:00 - 11:00 pm—NON 24-HOUR SLEEP WAKE DISORDER SEMINAR
Obelisk A Room, Atrium mezzanine
Circadian rhythm sleep disorders in totally blind people. Total loss of light perception prevents synchronization of circadian body clock rhythms to the 24-hour day, leading to cyclic insomnia and daytime napping. The causes of this sleep disorder and possible treatment options will be presented and discussed.

7:30 - 9:00 pm—INTRODUCTION TO ORACLE SIEBEL CALL CENTER
Obelisk B Room, Atrium mezzanine
Don Mauck, Accessibility Evangelist at Oracle, will demonstrate the accessibility features built into the Oracle Siebel Call Center. Oracle CRM products are used by more than 4,000 enterprises and more than 4.6 million business users; these enterprises represent potential employment opportunities for the blind.

8:00 - 10:00 pm—COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Rosetta Room, Atrium mezzanine
For the most part, technological developments tend to exclude blind people.  Developers must change the ways future technologies are designed.  Join us—perhaps you can suggest a technology or approach that nobody else has considered.  Curtis Chong, Chairperson

8:30 - 9:45 pm—EXPERIENCE THE BLIO READER: MAKING THE WORLD’S BOOKS ENJOYABLE, USABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE!
Peridot Room, Atrium mezzanine
Presented by James Gashel

Thursday July 8th

During the General Session ..
9:05 am    BUYING AND SELLING ONLINE: EBAY BUILDS ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE BLIND INTO ITS PLATFORM
Dane Glasgow, Vice President, Buyer Experience Product Management, Ebay, Inc.; San Jose, California

10:50 am    ACCESSIBLE DESIGN, A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE
Steve Eastman, President, Target.com; Minneapolis, Minnesota

12:15 - 1:45 pm—EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NLS 
Obelisk A Room, Atrium mezzanine 
A question-and-answer session with Frank Kurt Cylke, Director, and staff of the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

11:00 pm—SCIENCE FICTION MEETING
All persons interested in science fiction and fantasy are welcome to join in an open discussion.  Please contact Ed Meskys for room location.

Behind The Scenes: Assistive Tech And The Singularity

I grew up listening to the great Milo Hamilton and Larry Dirker call Houston Astros games. While I couldn’t see the ball, a pair of binoculars and the radio duo allowed me to focus the small fields of the glasses onto the right parts of the diamond.

The older Astrodome was a wondrous place for a small boy. It was big, it was well lit and it was air conditioned. and in Houston that was a very important feature to have on a summer day. The other thing the Dome had was an awesome set of speakers. And I loved the art that was the introduction of a player that came to the plate.

One of my favorite introductions was for Jose Cruz. It was easy for me to recognize Mr.. Cruz as he had the oddest batting style I had seen in my young life. He held the bat up high. Almost like his elbows were parallel to his shoulders kind of high. But his introduction was even more memorable.

“Now batting.. Jose Crrrruuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzz”

The crowd was always into it from the second the announcer said Jose. For sometimes up to 10 seconds the whole audience would shout “oooooooooosssss” in unison. It was mandatory, it was a part of being an Astros fan and I think it literally became a law from the City Council. When Jose stepped up, be ready to join in with the crowd.

In the late 80’s, my brother was into baseball big time. He even went on to play A and Double A ball. And attending the opening days of various Little Leagues was a family event. I was in college and already working in radio at the time of many of the opening day events.

For practice I’d sit in the score box, with some of the kids from the other players families, and call the game over the loudspeakers. The kids would let me know when the line ups had changed or gave me an idea of who caught what or tagged out on a base. It worked well really. I got to do commercials for the sponsors of the park, they got a professional for free to call the game and I got to watch my brother play from a grate vantage point.

On one of the opening days Mr.. Jose Cruz was asked to come and throw out the first pitch. And, you guessed it, I got to live out a dream by introducing him by doing the call that I had learned over so many years since the man came up to the big leagues in that magical Domed stadium.

My mother described the smile on Mr.. Cruz’s face in great detail. My father was working the concession stand and he froze for a few seconds hearing me do what I used to do for fun at home, now over the loudspeakers of the little ball park. Me? I smiled for what must have been for days. I remember my cheeks hurting that afternoon from hearing everyone’s immediate reactions to the introduction.

It was an amazing feeling to get to do something you have always wanted to do since you were a kid. And I’ve been looking for opportunities to catch that lightning in various bottles over the years.

This week I was able to snare electricity again.

I realize that it is a weird world now in AT. It has more pitfalls, there are more players now and let us not dwell on the legal issues. To be honest, it is hard to find common ground for many these days. I was, however, very lucky in that I was able to fashion a schedule of events recently that had me being able to get some heavy hitters all in one place.

And I was able to introduce another idol, and one good friend, during this past week. It wasn’t the 8th wonder of the world and I didn’t need a microphone. But my cheeks hurt just like old times none the less.

I was able to provide an introduction for Doug Geoffray of G.W. Micro. And, even better, I didn’t have to wait in a long line at CSUN to hear him speak. Years ago, at NFB Computer Science in Philadelphia, I was able to talk to Dan. So getting to talk to Doug allowed the circle to be complete.

As much fun as it was to introduce an Idol, it was even more fun to introduce a friend. As being able to provide an introduction to Ricky Enger from Serotek was a thrill for me as well. I could take up gigs of space in the amount of nice things I could say about Ricky. She is one of the kindest people in the Industry and I’m happy to know that more than 40 more people at this recent event now know that as well.

But that wasn’t all.. Eric Damery of Freedom Scientific was on hand too. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Eric many times over the years and I always come away with more knowledge every time I attend a FS talk.

The fantastic thing is that all of these companies, along with some others, came to this event and were all there to promote their products in a friendly atmosphere. It isn’t often I get to work with so many luminaries on a smaller stage and I value the times I do have a chance to see many of them outside of the convention environment.

At the end of the day the road maybe well traveled, however, it is the various lanes of traffic that makes it such an interesting ride. Or, it is still fun for me to see so many companies all striving to help others with their products.

I normally don’t pass along stories like this from the offline world for lots of reasons. Doing so can cause a major headache for me in what I do for a living. I have been a bit of a downer though, over the last two years, with where my head was at running up towards Windows 7. I thought that I would pass along this particular story because this last week was the closest experience I’ve had in a long time that equates to what it was like for me in the beginning of my career in AT. And since it was such a positive one, well readers should know that there really are people behind the marketing and the fanboys/fangirls arguments out there in the mailing lists. Real people who do great work. And it was a real thrill to get to work with them all once again. The small boy who imitated newscasters and radio announcers sincerely thanks you. He also can’t wait for next season so he can do it all again.

Finally! Poll Results And New Poll Added For January 2010

I realize it has been like forever since we last looked at a poll. So, to refresh everyone’s memory..

Poll Question: Which Upgrade Do You Want To Buy?

Windows 7   6 (42%)
Kurzweil 1000 Version 12   2 (14%)
Apple 10.6 Snow Leopard    2 (14%)
JAWS 11.0   4 (28%)

Windows 7 has come roaring out of the gate in both sales and public perception, therefore, it isn’t surprising that many of you are keen to upgrade to the latest version of Windows. As I said in my remarks from Detroit, and again to those who scoffed then and now, XP is going to see a swift move to the back burner for many in development and in the Enterprise. The consumer side of things may take a little longer than Microsoft would like, however, eventually new computer sales will end XP’s life cycle over the next two years.

Speaking of upgrades, how about we take the temperature on how many feel about the new offerings from Humanware?

Poll: Braille Note Apex: Thumbs Up Or Thumbs Down

Up
Down
I Want A Braille Sense Plus
I Want An Icon
I Use A Laptop Or A Netbook As My Note Taker

I’ve set this one for the middle of the month. We may revisit this one though once the new units start to ship in earnest. Maybe by convention we may have more fuel for this fire.

Happy Windows 7 Launch Day!

Today marks the first day that Windows 7 is now available to the general public. I’ve been running the final release for more than a week now, thank you Windows 7 Party Pack, and I’ve noticed a lot of improvements in response over Vista and XP on my older 3 and a half year old Dell. And on a newer system? What a dream..

But before you go out and get yourself a shiny new copy of 7, get the latest drivers and Assistive Technology updates for the programs you use most. Below is a partial lists of some of the big names who are ready now for today’s big launch.

Zoom Text 9.18.5

http://aisquared.com/support/more/updates/

Window Eyes 7.11

http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/

Kurzweil 1000 Version 12

http://www.kurzweiledu.com/kurz1000.aspx

System Access

http://www.satogo.com/

Dolphin Products Version 11

http://yourdolphin.com/

JAWS 11

http://www.freedomscientific.com/news/pressroom/2009/JAWS-11-released.asp

July's Poll Results And A Mini September Poll Added

There wasn't much of a doubt about who took the lead on this issue. Take a look at the mindshare a company seems to be cultivating amongst the Blind Community.

July's Poll Question Of The Month: What Cell Phone Platform Do You Want To Buy For Your Next Accessible Phone?

Windows Mobile with Mobile Speak or Talks 1 (4%)

Synbian with Mobile Speak or Talks 7 (30%)

Blackberry with Oraitor 0 (0%)

The iPhone 15 (65%)

Other 0 (0%)

So I guess no one is interested in the Google G1 phones until they have something we can use eh? Well I gave it a shot with the "Other" option. The other number that sort of surprises me a bit is the low number for the Blackberry. I think the new joint venture from Humanware and Code Factory will do fantastic with those Blind people who work in Enterprise level jobs. If you ever want to be a big time manager in a multinational company you will be using Nokia or a RIM device thats for sure.

But now let us go with a short and sweet poll for a few weeks. The age old question awaits us..

Poll Question Of The Month: Which Upgrade Do You Want To Buy?

Windows 7

Kurzweil 1000 Version 12

Apple 10.6 Snow Leopard

JAWS 11

Some varied choices there eh? Well just vote how you feel and we will tackle the rest in a few weeks.

JAWS Public Beta 11 Released!

I suggest listening to the FSCast before downloading the public beta. FS goes over some key features that you might not realize are in this update. To find that podcast go to the following link.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/default.asp

And for those who wish to just download the beta go to this link.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-public-beta.asp

Detroit NFB 2009 Day 1: Freedom Scientific Forum

What you see below are excerpts from my 12 pages of notes. These are just some highlights of the meeting and they are written in Live Blog form. I cleaned them up a tiny bit in order to make them readable and not in my short hand decoder ring needed style from my original document. Some information has deliberately not been posted as Freedom Scientific talked candidly about a few issues and I respect that enough not to blog it here. They didn’t have to make a stand on a few issues and I really don’t want to put words in their mouths either. Therefore if you hear about a particular topic not mentioned below, I’d contact FS directly to get their official line on the topic at hand. Sorry to be cryptic there but some real time issues are being discussed at the convention and I don’t feel comfortable about paraphrasing, or doing a misinterpretation, of a crucial answer. Well that and I know they read this blog. Ha!

The room audio wasn’t the best. It seems each hotel always has its own problems somewhere with the AV system. The room is a standard ballroom/meeting area on the 5th floor. And GW Micro is the room next to us. It was fun to see who went to which door as they filed in for the 8:30 meeting.

A person asked about Firefox 3.5. It is said that the latest version of JAWS 10 is compatible with the new Firefox.

The question came up about Web alternatives to CAPTCHA and the possibility of scripts or JAWS to aid in this issue. It is said that the subject of CAPTCHA is one best solved by third parties. The problem is complex and it changes to rapidly for any solution to work for what ends up being a very short time in some cases. Salona is also talked about as a good solution that is taking on this matter.

A question is asked about JAWS and the new version of Skype. Eric explains some of the issues that face users of Skype 4.0. He says that there are some new enhancements in JAWS 11 to help with this. A person in the crowd says that the new 4.1 patch makes things a little easier.

JAWS 11 does have some new improvements for the Inbox of Outlook 2007. Some love has been given to the Calendar as well.

Questions about Office 2007 and support are explained a bit. Eric discussed how MS uses Word as an editor in Outlook. There is a mention on how this changes the Direct Object Model. Eric recommends downloading the demo for 10 to help out a person with JFW9 on an Outlook issue as 10 will update a shared component in JAWS 9.

Jonathan is up next to talk about the Focus Blue. The new display will run on battery power for up to 20 hours. He mentions how he pairs it up with the N82 and the KNFB Rader Mobile. It should be shipping in a month and the working demo unit will be on the floor for all to see. It is also $500 cheaper than the previous Focus models of the same size.

We take some time out to talk about the other hardware at the show. Eric passes around the Ruby and discusses the unit’s features. The unit will run for two hours and it has a battery light indicator for when you are running low. It is competitively priced to the other units with the same screen size.

Eric asked how many people loved Auto Forms Mode. The reaction was mixed. Those who love it .. love it. A good number though still don’t use it. A mention about how it was spotlighted in FSCast. Then a realy good plug for why you should give a FSCast a listen is made. The June episode features an interview about Robert Sawyer’s “Wake” and how the main character learns hotkeys in her moves to become a math whiz. I haven’t read the book but it has been talked about a lot. Another recommendation to go back and listen to the January episode of FSCast if you are interested in JAWS and ARIA.

A question was asked about if you can use JAWS 10 with Windows 7. Now before you read this please note that this was the same way it has always been with previous Microsoft and JAWS versions. JAWS 10 will work with 7 but JAWS 11 will be the version that comes with more robust support for Windows 7.

What you also read next are impressions of some features still in beta on v11. You will get to play with a public beta of 11 come late August. So take this next stuff with a big heaping helping of salt.

Number reading enhancements are coming in 11. If you use dashes like 123-456-7890 you will hear them differently. Perfect for those who have to read social security or phone numbers.

The Skim Reading function will now sport a Word Index option. You can see how many times a word is used in a document and even jump down to one of those instances. You can also do some other neat things with it if you have to do a lot of data entry or proof reading responsibilities.

Now this other bit is really cool. FS wants to one day have JAWS be able to look up a definition of a word through JAWS without you leaving your document. You would highlight a word, use a hotkey and then JAWS would go to the internet and get the definition for you. It is an extention of UI Automation, web APIs and use of the virtual buffer all working together to keep your place but give you info you need all at the same time.

Eventually the feature will let you customize the default place you would like to search. So you could set it for dictionary.com or a Wiki or even an internal database for company specific acronyms. It may even grow to a point where highlighted text could be translated. Great for education of secondary languages like Chinese. Again, this is a feature in the works. So keep your ears open for it later on down the road.

Some questions came up about Quicken and Quick Books. Eric explains how they have worked with Intoit in the past and where he feels on the matter. We, as users, need to let the company know that we would like to have better, or in some cases any, access to their lines of products. The online version of Quick books and Quikc Books its self are not friendly. Nor is the Quicken suite of products either. Freedom Scientific would love to have this work but it will take some cooperation from Intoit and us to get there. So we need to direct our questions to Intoit about accessibility. Especially now that Microsoft has killed off the Money line of their Accounting products.

The last bit was a discussion on PDF, Open Office and other online suites of products. PDF varies because not every PDF is created equally. A inserted graphic or photo of text is still an image no matter what. Open Office does not work with JAWS, however, you can find some success if you use Lotus Symphony.

Updates Everywhere You turn for JAWS, Zoom Text , Dolphin And Window Eyes

Patches usually come fast and furious right before CSUN, however, the same can be said in June as well. That is because we are two weeks away from the big U.S. national conventions for the Blind. So you can celebrate by downloading stuff while you grill your hot dogs and add ice cream to the apple pie while waiting for the fireworks to begin after the computer reboots!

Zoom Text: the new patch takes the new 9.version 9.18 to 9.18.2. You can find the release notes at the link below.

http://aisquared.com/support/more/release_notes/

Dolphin: The super new v11 has an even newer update that will take it to 11.02. You can find out more about this one at the link below.

http://yourdolphin.com/newsitem.asp?id=348

JAWS: FS has pushed out a new patch for v10 that helps with the new iTuens update that rolled out recently. Find out about it and more at this link.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-whats-new.asp#Enhancements

Window Eyes: Not to be out done, but this isn’t a patch per say, GW Micro has release the public beta of Window Eyes 7.1. You can find out about what is new with the beta at the link below.

http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/Beta/

JAWS 10.0.1151 Now Live

The update contains some enhancements to support for Internet Explorer 8, Windows 7 and a lot for Access 2007. To learn more use the link below..

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-whats-new.asp#Enhancements

Freedom Scientific Goes Release Crazy!

The gang in St. Pete is on a role with the new JAWS 10 being released today. To learn about it and download the ILM go to this link.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/JAWS/JAWS-whats-new.asp

And if you are a Magic user you can update to the latest October build as well. Here is that link..

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/magic/magic11-downloads.asp

And that’s not all. Keep checking FS for the soon to be released Open Book update as well. Add this to the PAC Mate 6.1 update and SARA update and you can easily see that those people at Freedom Scientific are busy little bees indeed.

Poll: August’s Results And New! October Poll Added

Let us take a look at the now vintage poll from August shall we?

August’s Poll Question: Which Public Beta Will You Download And Install This Month?

JAWS 10.0 16 (69%)
Window Eyes 7.0 5 (21%)
Windows Live Mesh 0 (0%)
Firefox 3.1 Alpha 2 (8%)

I guess this wasn’t as much as a barn burner as I had originally thought. The response to the new Window Eyes has been good. I haven’t delved into it too much but I plan to learn more about it in the next few months. I’ve been playing with Live mesh and I like what I have seen so far. If you didn’t do a search on that one I recommend that you might want to if you like the idea of a remote desktop via a web interface. Speaking of remotes, Eric at Freedom Scientific spoke to a group I cobbled together this week and he said that Tandem has already seen over 1,000 connections. It seems that we all have some good stuff ahead of us in the upcoming year no matter which product[s] you use.

But enough about the past poll. Lets jump to this month’s question. As we approach the Xmas season I thought we might see what some would like to ask Santa for if Santa was real and made of obscene amounts of cash.

October’s Poll Question: All I Want For Xmas Is ...

An Upgrade For My Screen Reader/Magnifier/OCR
A Note Taker Like a PAC Mate, Voice Note, Icon Or Braille Sense
A Victor Reader Stream
A New Video Magnifier/Hand Held CCTV
Starbucks, iTunes Or Other Online Gift Cards
Money, Because It Goes With Everything I Already Own

Since Wal Mart decided to put their Holiday paraphernalia up this week to attract sales, I thought we could look ahead as well. It just feels so wrong to see this stuff before “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” airs. And now that makes me thing of Dolly Madison’s cupcakes and pies and doughnuts and .. darn you childhood advertisers!

Gems and Doubling Up On Freedom Scientific

These days it isn’t all about JAWS. Freedom Scientific also has a line of Low Vision Video Magnifiers. And they all happen to be named after precious gems. Today they introduce the Sapphire to go along with their Onyx, Topaz and Opal lines of units. Read more about the new unit at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/News/pressroom/2008/SAPPHIRE-Announced-9-25-08.asp

But honestly the buzz is all around Tandem. And now you can try it out for yourself. Download the beta and reach out and touch someone with your JAWS. Wait.. that didn’t come out the way I meant it .. oh well go download the new public beta at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-public-beta.asp

The FSCast You Want To Hear!

I've been aware of a cool new JAWS feature for about two weeks now. But I couldn't say anything. Well .. I don't want to ruin it by giving off some lame description of what this feature is, so FS Cast to the rescue.

From the FSCast page..

"This month, Eric Damery returns to talk about the next public beta of JAWS® 10. Not only have we made changes in response to your feedback, but there are exciting new features to show you. We'll demonstrate the powerful out-of-the-box access JAWS users can now enjoy with iTunes® 8. Plus, we unveil a significant new feature that will change the way many JAWS users receive support and assistance. This is an FSCast you won't want to miss.

Find the audio for this podcast at"

http://podcast.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast022-september2008.mp3

JAWS 10 Beta Is Now Online

Remember all that cool stuff I blogged about JFW 10 back during convention? Well now you can play with all of that and more as FS has released the first version of the JAWS 10 Beta for public consumption. To get it and read the release notes.. go to the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-public-beta.asp

And if that isn’t enough you can listen to more about the release in the latest Freedom Scientific podcast. This link will take you to the FSCast page.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/default.asp

Poll: July’s Mini Poll Results And Full On August Poll Posted

I want to thank the 19 of you who played along with the mini poll for July. And I want to apologize for not having Tuna as an option. I have no idea what I was thinking. So maybe come the holidays we will do another mini poll with a wider range of menu items. For now let us gaze at the results of Kitchen Stadiums’ “Battle Sandwich”.

Poll: What Sandwich Sounds Good Right About Now?

Ham 1 (5%)
Turkey 1 (5%)
BLT 6 (31%)
Rubin 4 (21%)
Meatball Sub 5 (26%)
Veggie Delight 2 (10%)

For about a week it looked like Meatball was going to run away with things. Then BLT came out of nowhere and stole it on the last two days of voting. Personally I was in the mood for a Rubin when I wrote that. And today I brought Spaghetti. Therefore I would fall into the Meatball camp I guess. Either way Veggie did its best to topple the carnivores. And Turkey sat at 0 for the longest time before someone voted for that option. I know this wasn’t as topical as some of the other polls but, for me, it was fun to have something crazy up there. And again I thank all who played along.

Alas, I went back to the traditional poll question for August. Less you think I have gone all culinary.

August's Poll: Which Public Beta Will You Download And Install This Month?

JAWS 10.0
Window Eyes 7.0
Windows Live Mesh
Firefox 3.1 Alpha

I highly suggest you take a look at Live Mesh if you are into the Cloud or really wanting a more user friendly Remote Desktop/Sync solution. And it looks like Firefox 3.1 will have some interesting changes as well. And the web is a blaze about the other two public betas. So this one should be fun to watch.

Law And Why I Want Little To Do With It

Well last Friday’s five hours ended up being another three on Monday. And I found myself explaining my stance offline more than I had planned on originally. But rather than go further on about the current news, I’d rather point to a few more articles as to why I reframe from armchair quarterbacking the issue. Straight up, law is confusing and Corporate Business Law is even more so. Again gentle readers.. this isn’t the same case as last year and emotional pleas/petitions , while being a polarizing issue for the community, doesn’t affect the rule of law. So read the following articles if you want to know more about how these things work in the business world.

First up I point you to Blind Confidential’s post on the lawsuit.

http://blindconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/07/patent-law.html

Next, I suggest you read a very lengthy post at Ars Technica about the need for reform in the arena of software legalities.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080728-patent-office-becoming-a-voice-for-software-patent-sanity.html

And if that doesn’t make your head spin take a look at the response a small cable company gave Monster Cable when it was threatened with legal action. It is a long but great read. And it underlines just what you have to do to substantiate your claim or defend your actions.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back

Throwing My Voice Into The Echo Chamber Or My Take On “FS Vs GW”

When I heard the news about the new litigation by Freedom Scientific, my original thought was to stay out of the fray. I know a lot of the people involved, I still work with a lot of the people involved and a lot of the people involved know me and this blog. I hoped that I could steer around the two great ships in the night and continue my little nattering's about Vista, press releases and my usual rants on how hypercritical Mac users are. But a few weeks ago I wrote about how some of us who write professionally, or in my case semi pro, could form an Assistive Technology trade press of sorts. That one idea had me on the phone for about five hours all told yesterday. And the majority of calls were inbound rather than outbound. Better yet, most calls ended with someone saying “I can’t wait to read what your take is on all of this..”. So my plans of sitting on the sidelines have been scuttled for the moment, however, I’m probably not going to come back to this subject much if I can help matters.

Let me also say that anything written below is my opinion. This isn’t a “hot scoop”. This is a real  deal and I will keep the jokes down to a minimum. I also don’t have a reason to take any sides here. I think what Doug and Co. have done with their lease to own plan was extraordinary [which I’ve blogged before] and just this month I said that I thought Eric’s public discussions on JAWS running without a Video Interceptor were forward thinking. I am sincere here when I write that I hope that an amicable resolution can be reached for all parties including both groups of users. I say all this because I don’t want my comments in this post to be misunderstood as being favorable to one company over another. And I also speak for myself and not for anyone else I may know or be associated with in the AT world.  

Before I pontificate through dozens of run on sentences, lets do some light reading first. If you haven’t done so already you should start off by reading the post at GW Micro.

http://www.gwmicro.com/blog/index.php/all/2008/07/24/do_companies_really_compete_on_who_has_t

Then there is one viewpoint at the Blind Access Journal..

http://blog.blindaccessjournal.com/2008/07/freedom-scientific-files-patent.html

And here is another take from a technical perspective..

http://www.wilanddenise.com/wil/

Finally, the Blind Geek Zone posted this from the comments off of that blog..

http://blind-geek-zone.blogspot.com/2008/07/freedom-scientific-press-release-on.html

This is just a smattering of what I have read over the last 64 hours or so. It helps though to get several perspectives on the issue before I toss in my two cents.

Long time readers, and those unfortunate people who have sat through some of my multi session presentations, have heard me say this phrase often…

“There is no nobility in the Assistive Technology Industry.”

Naturally to have an industry you must have a conglomeration of businesses. Therefore, you have to look at things from a business perspective when working with people, places and things within the Assistive Technology Industry. With that in mind, one can easily see that to run a business one must abide by the rules and regulations of that industry. Sometimes this requires a business to take an odd stance on what would be seen as an almost trivial matter.

For instance, take the case of Mike Rowe vs. Microsoft.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/26/mikerowesoft.settle.ap/index.html

Mike Rowe thought it would be neat to create a domain that played off of his name and somewhat capitalized off of the name/brand of one of the largest software makers in the world. While many would not confuse Mike with the House that Windows built, the rules of business require that MS react to this as a threat to it’s brand identity. So Mike was faced with legal action and eventually the matter was resolved. Well it was resolved after the company took a lot of flack publicly for going after one person for what some saw as a sort of humor based play on words.

The problem is that businesses have to defend themselves on just about any challenge to their copyrights, brand identity or intilectual properties. The second you don’t aggressively or seriously move on any or all challenges is the second you will lose a more important or damaging case which could radically impact your business. By ignoring other minor issues you leave yourself wide open with a harder job to defend your property when a major challenge does come along. If Microsoft did not take Mike’s case as a threat MS’s competitors could move in and also make similar plays on words to gain business off of Bill Gate’s success.

Now that doesn’t mean that some cases aren’t just plain silly. Take the one a few months ago when Engadget was told that their use of the color magenta confuesed people on the web with a telecom service.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/deutshe-telekom.html

In this article it is difficult to argue that the color alone would confuse anyone because it isn’t like Engadget makes phones or delivers telephone services. But after looking at these two examples you might find that Freedom Scientific had a reason for pursuing  their legal wrangling's last year.

This new case, however, isn’t a matter of clouding or confusing names within a specific business “Space” though. Since I don’t code, script or have the desire to do either, I am going to stay far away from making any calls on the merits of the complaint. I’ve talked to almost a dozen people on the subject, who have varying degrees of technical knowledge, and the rough opinion poll vote count resulted in a split right down the middle for each side on who is going to come out ahead in this situation. Since my informal census amongst the people I respect on things like this ended in a tie, I think it is best to not speculate too far going with the neutral opinion of “let the courts decide”.

You may say “Hey Ranger, you’re taking the easy way out”. And you can sure say that my opinion is a little anticlimactic. Therefore I will give you some inkling as to the reasons why I am taking this tact. In most of my conversations and research within the hallowed halls of AT I have never seen as many people use noncommittal language. Even people in the business not affiliated with this case have no desire to speak about it or they have been directed by the upper levels to not discuss it in any way. That, my friends, is a rare thing in AT as usually we all have some opinions on just about everything. This “wall of silence” should provide you with an order of magnitude as to the seriousness this case is being treated amongst the Blindness Technology Community. Nothing since the fall and subsequent rise of Telesensory has polarized this many players. And rightfully so as their may be splash damage from an unfavorable ruling. again, this is a business and this is sadly how businesses operate.

Some of the comments from the Blind community that I have read from blogs, lists and heard on public transit have been derisive and they tend to look at this as a negative move by Freedom Scientific. What I have to remind a lot of people outside the business is that Freedom Scientific is owned, like a lot of AT companies these days, by a parent company. And sometimes the subsidiary doesn’t get a say in the matter if the parent company feels that it must react to a situation to protect their assets. That old phrase “nothing personal.. its just business” comes to mind.

I do realize to a lot of people that this is far more than numbers on a spreadsheet. And certainly this goes beyond the friendly rivalry of two classic sports teams batteling it out in the league championship. No matter if you are a JAWS or Window Eyes fanboy or fangirl the fact is that there will be a winner and a loser at some point and a group of users are going to be directly affected by the outcome of this case. My hope is that the outcome doesn’t involve a “nuclear option”. By that I mean I pray that a positive resolvement can be reached that keeps both players on the field without drastic changes coming to how one can or cannot make a traditional Screen Reader. Because I may know a lot of people involved in this case but there is a greater number of people out there I’ve never met who use both products every day to live and work. And I want to believe for them that for just one second I will be wrong and there will be a nobal act in the Assistive Technology Industry.

Feedback: Commenting On Comments

Some great remarks have been made in the comments section and I think I will take some time out to highlight a few of them again. Except this time I won’t be going back to 2007. All of them are fairly recent responses. yes, I’m turning over a new leaf and I am really reading your comments and email. Although I don’t think I have done an all email Feedback yet. At any rate let’s begin with an all too familiar, and frequent poster, you may know as “Anonymous “. This mysterious person is commenting on the Open Trade In post from May 13th.

PAC Mate Fever: Before anyone asks, “Pac Man Fever” was a song. Buckner and Garcia. Its from the 80’s.

Anonymous said...
This is the second time that they are offering it and usually Humanware don't even respond to this. Care to speculate on why this is?

I’ve been told by some of the Regional Sales Reps that the past promotion of trading in the competition’s note taker/PDAs for money off on a PAC Mate went very well. So a second round with the promotion seems logical. Especially if you are looking for a device that runs Windows Mobile 6 natively as the base operating system. The competition’s feature list, however, is getting more fierce if you read up on the Braille Sense Plus and the Levelstar Icon. And we don’t know what Keysoft 8 will hold either. The cool thing is that you have tons of choices and FS is offering everyone a way to move into their platform at some kind of a discount. As often as people talk about the cost of AT these days, you have to admit that any promotion that offers you any type of good deal is worth a mention.

Times Out: Here’s a comment from the 5/26 post on the NY Times articles.

.Reid said...
David Pogue responded to my post on his article. Since I assume you too are using a screen reader, you didn't realize that he was implying the authors were not really blind. He used single quotes around the word blind.

As I said in my reply, I really don't think that makes the article and accusation any less harmful. In fact, how in the world would he know if someone is faking blindness via email? You can see his comments here: http://reidmymind.com/?p=99

Thanks for that update. You’re right about his questionable judgement of determining who is and isn’t Blind via email and I suspect “The Psychic Friends Network” must be involved too. or tea leaves. Those work well.

The old phrase “Consider the source” comes to mind. I’m not a huge fan of any mainstream tech writers. Well I take that back some. Dean at the San Jose Mercury News is very good, the team at the Houston Chronicle is always a fantastic read and once in a great while the L.A. Times comes off with a head scratcher. The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today and a few other non tech publications that dip their toes in tech just don’t come up on my radar as much. Some of that is partly due to the rabid Apple favoritism that eludes in their “style over Substance” and so called perceived need to write about the hype of tech. that puts eyeballs on screens. And it isn’t something I really care about when you consider just how Blind Friendly the iPhone is these days. So David, Walt and a few others can wax ecstatic about this new fangled wiz bang visual interface jazz all they want. Just remember that Vista sold 14 times as many licenses in 1 year when compared to OSX. Also, I can’t wait to see how they spin Snow Leopard. After all the biggest new feature is Security. I thought Macs didn’t have to worry about that..

As to David’s use of punctuation to infer sarcasm on *Blind* users… One could make a statement about visual cues, the Blind and Screen Reader verbosity I guess. But really the bigger point I would rather make is that you always have to be careful with humor on the internet. If you notice I try to be as self deprecating as possible because if I make fun of me I probably won’t offend you the reader nearly as much as if I made broad generalizations or sweeping comments about a segment of our population in crude terms. that doesn’t mean I don’t do that at times if I think that our shared experience can get a point across a whole lot faster than a long descriptive narrative. It just means that I am aware of who reads this blog and I do actually try to be consistant in my writing as to not honk off anyone but those who hate my gramer and run on sentences which appear to never ever end. Hmm, I think I could have stuck a hyphen  and another broekn phrase in there somewhere. Oh well..

For the record, I use both Screen Reader and Screen Magnifier products. My job requires me to sorta know most of the leading Blindness and Low Vision AT products on the market today. Note I say ‘Know’, I used single quotes around the word know Ha Ha!, because it is really really hard to use everything well on a daily basis. I end up using one product one day and I force myself to relearn another the next. So I’m sort of a “Jack of all trades, Master of none”. AT is already a niche industry and it is very common to find a person staying with one company or a group of products that they know, and use, best. With four big players in Screen Reader territory who can blame a guy or gal for having a desire to specialize? Not me.

My specialization is in the areas of Screen Magnification and Video Magnification. Again, that doesn’t mean I don’t know something about Screen Readers. I just didn’t use them both at the same time. But I do have to use Screen Readers as part of my job involves me trouble shooting various AT products on XP, Vista, Office 03 and Office 07 to name a few. And as we saw in the “Morning With JAWS” I will be entering that land of the Screen Read and Screen Mag user as this type of user is in a situation apart from everything else on the market today. Therefore, you now know why I am easily distracted and or confused.  Oh and sarcastic. Especially around the end of a beta cycle. You can probably guess that a new version of something is coming out by the snarkyness of my posts. A tired mind is a terrible thing not to waste.  [Tongue firmly planted in cheek]

Dual Identities: For the most part I try to keep my internet life away from my offline life. But when you have used a handle for, gulp, years .. Things have a way of catching up with you. I’ve been Ranger1138 since 1996. So when I lose touch with folks, Google is right there to pick up the slack.

Ethne said...
You don't call and don't write and ISN news has been down for two whole weeks. I think I may just lose what little is left of my sanity. :)

Anyway DDC has tried to contact you - but fears your old email account may have eaten it.
Hope all is well, and tell da fam I said hello. (Including the four legged members):)

ISN News is the Babylon 5/Crusade site that I have belonged to since 1998. I have been one of the Moderators for the Forum since 1999. Recently we had a server give up the ghost and we lost everything. We were so used to Private Messaging one another via the boards that when they went we forgot the old means of communication completly. Or, as in some cases, Hotmail put us in one another’s junk email filters. Go fig. Anyway, Ethne is a very long time and dear friend and she left me a comment to open my hailing frequencies. Problem was I took vacation and really shunned the computer. So I’m the reason why the server went south… in the fact that I was on vacation. I don’t have control over the server. I do apparently have terible luck and timing problems though. Just thought that needed some clarification there.

We have rebooted the message boards at ISN and I really write up a storm on SF, TV and Music there. The boards run on VB and I know that isn’t always AT compatible. The new version that we upgraded to is a little busy yet still functional. Hop over to the forums via our main page if you are interested.

www.isnnews.net

“Stop Making Sense”: A Talking Heads reference there. One of the best live and concert films in my opinion. Um, moving on, to a poster who had a comment on my June 12th Sense View Duo link.

Anonymous said...
Saw the demo and the unit looks good. However, GW appear to compromise on the magnification level in order to support the new features. The new unit enlarge only up to 12x compared to the 22x for the original model.

By the way, I hope they'll offer a trade-in for the current SenseView owners. I wouldn't mind upgrading, but I will not shell out another $1300 for the Duo

Jessica

Honestly Jessica I haven’t spent all that much quality time with the unit. Yeah I said I would when I wrote that back on June 12th but the Convention Season is in swing and I haven’t gotten back to this one or a new model from VTI either. Thank goodness those new Humanware units aren’t coming my way until late August at the earliest. Who knew the Video Magnifier side of things would explode with new product? Oh yeah, Convention Season. Silly me. I’ll be working with the Duo this month. So I may spotlight this unit later on in July or August. It is my understanding that the unit is doing quite well though and some who had the earlier model like the Duo even more. My suggestion, as it always, is to seek it out and compare it to what you have already. Make sure to take the older Sense View with you for reference. Then c’mon back here and tell us what you think.

Summer Breeze: Ah, the Trekker Breeze. What a breath of fresh air for some. This is a comment from June 20th.

Wulfila said...
An awfully vague Press Release. Does anyone know how this new System differs from the older Trekker? It sounds as though it is more affordable; is that because it is One Unit and not Three Components - the PDA, the Receiver and Speaker? Also, what is the Significance of the Operation of this new System being simpler than that of the old One, concerning knowing or not knowing Computers or Screen Readers?

I’m going to talk about this device and Humanware more in an upcoming Convention article. As a sneak peak I’ll say again that the Breeze is misunderstood. you know how there is Old Fashioned Vanilla, French Vanilla and Plain Vanilla Ice Cream? The Breeze is one of three flavors of GPS that Humanware offers. Your tastes may vary. More on this later..

Jawin’ About JAWS: Finally, here is a comment from the July 6th “Morning With JAWs” post.

jm33 said...
When you say "discussion about a version of JAWS running without the Video Interceptor. Such a version was possible and some discussion was given to what it would entail.
Good stuff on that front. Sure your Screen Reader works better with this intercept running, however, changes in the way video is displayed are coming.
And it is nice to see FS thinking about future issues." is this implying that it is soon going to be not possible to be running an interceptor with expected changes in Vista's future or is that just still at the level of speculation and concern? I hope I am incorrect here, but I would tend to think that not being able to run the interceptor would set us back a lot in our qwest for accessibility. I am aware that there are some products out there currently running without the use of an interceptor, but that it is a trade off for the portability that it allows at this point.

Hold on for this one because I go off the beaten path at least once. Trust me, there is an answer in there somewhere.

Changes in video and the like began with Windows 98 to XP. DCM came into play and it kinda did a good thing for a person who only used one type of AT on any given computer system. The move from XP to Vista introduced the move from DCM to Mirror Drivers. This too has some drawbacks if you use a combination of AT programs from the various options on the market. Mirror Drivers have been said by Microsoft to be a midway solution. As we approach Windows 7 we will see a lot more changes. There is the touch screen layer, more emphasis on High Def content via Windows Presentation Foundation [WPF] and the just announced Direct X 11. Plus when 7 rolls around we will have almost three generations of AERO Glass enabled video cards available. So it is quite possible that Glass may be the new default for Windows.

Some of that I have cobbled together from tons of articles on the net. Some comes from Rob Sin’Claire’s speeches from the 2006 Convention circut. Moreover, some comes from my talks with the various players in the AT Industry. but most of all it comes from Moore’s Law. Changes in video are inevitable. Remember that the Apple iPhone and Microsoft’s Surface technologies are pushing the On Screen Touch interfaces forward to the desktop clients. And the movie and music industries drives to close the “analog hole” continues to alter how we see, use and interact with any and all video. The Assistive Technology Industry rides on the backs of several movements in general computing. Therefore change is in the very nature of what we do. The speed of that change, and how we adapt to it as an Industry, is really the bigger issue.

Is it better to run with a Video Interceptor? Yep. Will that technology be phased out over time? Yep. Is it good that AT companies are moving forward to meet these needs? You bet. That is why a paid model will always beat the pants off of a free one for AT users. I’ll save the debate of free vs. paid for another post, however, I point out that having full time developers is far more an attractive option to part time community based initiatives if you enjoy having stable access to Windows based computers at your job. 

These brave guys and gals throughout our Industry need operating incomes so we can have the best and up to date access to things like Adobe Acrobat 5,000. To hear that a company is considering such a radical idea to their core philosophies is exciting as well as scary. I’d rather them look at it now though as opposed to patching a program six months to a year later however. Plus growth is good right?

Besides, I and others will be the crazy ones in the betas working with this thing before it comes to the public. And in my look back at Vista articles I suggested that those who were happy in XP were fine for another year at least. And how many of you out there still keep your older versions of JFW installed “Just In Case”? FS tries to ensure that this functionality is preserved in every future version if they can help matters. Eric reiterated that in Dallas earlier in the month. So “No Worries Mate”. 7 will come and hopefully we will have same day releases of AT like we did with Vista. Chances are that this is just a blip on today’s radar and this storm too shall pass. 

Okay that was too much positive and upbeat verbiage for me to type at one time. I’m going to go lay down now and let the dark clouds return. Remember you can post your thoughts to this and more at any time. Or email me. I don’t make it all that easy to do so but I do read emails. I don’t know about answering them yet. I always seem to misplace that “Reply” button. Anything you send me though is fair game unless you specify otherwise in your email. Hey, I gotta get material from somewhere..

Dallas NFB: Mid Afternoon With PAC Mate Omni

Yep, I am still combing through notes from last week. And here is my scribbling from the same Lecture Hall, later in the day, with Jonathan and the Omni.

Jonathan said that PAC Mate Omni’s 6.1 update was coming. And it was “immanent”, however, it wouldn’t have a time stamp on it as the update would be released when it was ready for public consumption. The neat thing that was said is that the Omni 6.1 update would use a Data Backup Utility for this update. More on what that is and how it works will come in the release notes for the update and probably in FScasts.

Another new feature coming is something Jonathan called “Contracted Braille Anywhere”. This was said to be super helpful with forms and things like the Contact Lists. The idea is that you will be able to use Contracted Braille in a lot of places you couldn’t previously and this drew a round of applause from the crowd.

Some accessible games are also coming to the Omni as well. Jonathan spoke about playing others Online with these games. And after you are finished playing someone why not use Skype to call them and rub it in about their losses.

6.1 will be a free update to PAC Mate Omni users. Jonathan also mentioned the prices of hardware and software SMAs for those who may not be on the Omni platform yet.

Next, it was announced that Adobe PDF support would be coming in the 6.1 update. Naturally unprotected PDFs will work best with any AT but there may be a solution for reading password protected PDFs in the future via pacmategear.com. Also, you need a PDF reader to use this feature. Jonathan spoke about the option of using the “Orneta Player” for reading the raw feed of PDF files on the Omni.

The Omni will also be able to read E Books via a Palm E Book Reader. I’m a little fuzzy here in my notes but there was a discussion about how some work was done to help the Omni detect where the cursor is and was in places where it didn’t before. I’m sure again that this, like a lot of these features, will be detailed out in the FScasts.

Jonathan then spoke about some tweaks to the unit’s responsiveness and behavior. A highpoint here is that the JAWS settings will remain the same on a warm reset. So if you had the unit’s speech muted and you were using it in a Braille only mode the warm reset would place you back into that profile when you came back up into a normal session.

The Omni will also be using the Unified Braille Format. This would be helpful for those people who are learning a new language or for people who travel internationally. Some time was given to this and it sounded great for bilingual Braille users who are using this format a lot in their work.

The 6.1 update will now come with on board support for the Ambicom Wireless Compact Flash Cards. Previously the unit had native support for the Socket line of cards. But in 6.1 support for both is present.

Questions about the unit began. Overdrive support is coming, Jonathan listed a lot of applications that he has found to work well with the Omni and then a ton of “How do i?”s. I’m skimming through a bit further but it looks like nothing out of this portion caught my ear.

As I have said before the Omni is a great update for those who have an older PAC Mate. And 6.1 looks to be a fantastic free update as well. I also want to point out a comment that was made in May’s Poll Results comment section. Take it away Wayne.

Wayne said...
The big advantage, as I see it, to the Omni is the fact that you don't lose any data when or if the battery goes completely flat. In fact, its safe to tsay that you nearly have to "accidentally" erase the data in order to totally erase it. Also, the Omni doesn't lose any data if the unit experiences a hard reset. Aside from all of the other software and OS advances and improvements that were made, or if the ability to retain data was all that was added to the Omni, I'd still pay for the upgrade. Add to that the competitive pricing structure that FS released when the Omni came out, and you've got quite a combination. To be fair, its pretty nifty to put Office 2007 documents in Word Mobile on my Omni and have them read perfectly well, but if I can't insure that the data will still be there after a 0% battery reading or a hard reset, then those other software and OS improvements won't get me very far if I don't have the Office 2007 documents to work with.

Well put Wayne. By the way, Wayne’s blog got featured in Fred’s Head Companion. He talks about the Omni and other things Blindness related. Here is the link to his blog if you want to check it out.

http://wayneism.blogspot.com/