Being a blind computer user, I don't use the mouse at all--unless I am controlling the mouse pointer with the keyboard. I primarily use IE in conjunction with Window-Eyes as a screen-reading application. With this combination, I can very easily and quickly move to various types of controls on web pages etc. Most people who have observed me browsing the web etc. say I navigate through web pages much faster than they do. Granted, I am using some specialized software to do this but I don't see why someone couldn't write some scripts to do some of the same tasks that my screen-reader does to simplify web navigation.
When configuring 911 service with Vonage, the limitations of the service (lack of portability etc.) are made very clear to the end-user. With these limitations in mind, I would not rely on Vonage to provide reliable 911 service. Aside from the 911 location issues, VoIP is not typically set up correctly to provide emergency service; how many Vonage customers have their ATA, router, and DSL/cable modem on backup power? I have my equipment on a UPS but most of the people I know who have Vonage do not bother.
Vonage is very up front with the 911 terms of service so they can not be faulted for being misleading. It is definitely fair though to criticize Vonage (and all other VoIP providers) of providing a hacked together solution for an emergency service.
Speaking from experience (I've been blind since birth), Windows so far has the best accessibility using a text-to-speech interface. Web-browsing with IE is painless and most other Windows apps are farily easy to use with either JAWS or Window-Eyes. It is true that Firefox does not work well with screen reading applications (JAWS/Window-Eyes) but a beta of Window-Eyes and Mozilla (1.8) shows some promise.
The iPod is not a viable option since it requires knowing what is on the display; the wheel does not have any stops so it is nearly impossible to know how many options you have scrolled past and there is no feedback other than pointless clicks. The best audio player would not have a display--I've seen some like this in the past and I've heard the iPodFlash will have no display so that may be viable.
Speakup is an open-source project to provide text-to-speech from boot-up to shutdown. I have not used it at all at this point (I primarily use ssh to access my Linux machines) but there is a thriving user community and plenty of support. Gnome 2.4 and above has a screen-reader called Gnopernicus which is supposed to work with OpenOffice and Mozilla. I just installed this on my Gentoo box last weekend and have not done any testing yet but again, there are mailing lists etc. so if you are technically competent, this might be an option.
If you google for Speakup, Gnopernicus, YASR, etc., you should be able to find plenty of resources.
Hope this helps.
99% of the time, ISP's don't care at all what you are hosting as long as you are not sucking up tons of bandwidth. I have run FTP/HTTP servers on "residential" connections before and never received a complaint. If you want to run a server, be responsible enough to setup some traffic shaping so you don't abuse your terms of service and screw everyone else.
Your second point is completely ridiculous; just because a technology could make 1 type of social deviance easier doesn't mean it is a bad idea. I suppose you would also say that peer-to-peer clients are a bad idea because copyright infringement is made easier with them. This thinking completely ignores the numerous benefits of p2p networks. These notions completely sidestep the concept of personal responsibility. If a society decides that a particular activity is not acceptible, punish the individuals who deviate, don't imply that the technology is flawed.
The Slashdot article also incorrectly states the XBox's hard disk size as 8MB when in fact it is 8GB. I don't think there is an immediate threat of flash memory replacing an 8GB hard disk when a 4GB card costs over $4,000.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a company tracking their inventory; if every can of Bud had a RFID tag and the readers were everywhere, it might be a cause for concern. At this stage though, who cares.
On a related note, I wouldn't want anyone knowing that I bought Bud period!
Don't you think this would void the agreement though? Hmm, we ship you a clean version but include the offending packages in the automatic, critical updates?
This would signify an interesting trend with MS; there is a slimmed version of XP in the works for 3rd-world countries. I wonder if these new stripped out versions would find use elsewhere such as in embedded machines.
This seems like the most straightforward to way handle this type of situation.
I manage a call-tracking system for about 7500 users supported by about 200 IT people. Most of the applications we support have an option for "functionality enhancement". Since they are all logged the same way, it is easy to write a query to see what requests have come in. WE use HEAT to do this.
Matt
Hopefully other vendors will feel pressured do make a better offering; It would not take too much to get Redhat pre-loaded on the Dell Dimension/Inspiron lines for the home user. Dell already does pre-loads on their workstations so they obviously have some in-house staff capable of putting this together.
A group of individuals has put together a kernel-based speech output system that works with several distros and is available precompiled on bootable floppies and CD's. The installation will speak provided their is a supported hardware synthesizer present. Check the Speakup Homepage for more information.
This one is going for $3950 which is not that bad considering it functionality. It is the first braille PDA that has any reasonable data capabilities. A 20-cell braille display alone would go for $1500+.
It still costs 10x what a similar unit goes for with a touch screen.
Re:Wouldn't speech synthesis be easier?
on
Braille PDA/Phone
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· Score: 1
This is a full-blown Windows CE device; AAGI is planning on adding browser functionality which will be pretty cool considering the tri-band GSM capabilities. At $3950, it is a bit expensive though.
Slashdot Mirror
Being a blind computer user, I don't use the mouse at all--unless I am controlling the mouse pointer with the keyboard. I primarily use IE in conjunction with Window-Eyes as a screen-reading application. With this combination, I can very easily and quickly move to various types of controls on web pages etc. Most people who have observed me browsing the web etc. say I navigate through web pages much faster than they do. Granted, I am using some specialized software to do this but I don't see why someone couldn't write some scripts to do some of the same tasks that my screen-reader does to simplify web navigation.
When configuring 911 service with Vonage, the limitations of the service (lack of portability etc.) are made very clear to the end-user. With these limitations in mind, I would not rely on Vonage to provide reliable 911 service. Aside from the 911 location issues, VoIP is not typically set up correctly to provide emergency service; how many Vonage customers have their ATA, router, and DSL/cable modem on backup power? I have my equipment on a UPS but most of the people I know who have Vonage do not bother. Vonage is very up front with the 911 terms of service so they can not be faulted for being misleading. It is definitely fair though to criticize Vonage (and all other VoIP providers) of providing a hacked together solution for an emergency service.
Speaking from experience (I've been blind since birth), Windows so far has the best accessibility using a text-to-speech interface. Web-browsing with IE is painless and most other Windows apps are farily easy to use with either JAWS or Window-Eyes. It is true that Firefox does not work well with screen reading applications (JAWS/Window-Eyes) but a beta of Window-Eyes and Mozilla (1.8) shows some promise. The iPod is not a viable option since it requires knowing what is on the display; the wheel does not have any stops so it is nearly impossible to know how many options you have scrolled past and there is no feedback other than pointless clicks. The best audio player would not have a display--I've seen some like this in the past and I've heard the iPodFlash will have no display so that may be viable. Speakup is an open-source project to provide text-to-speech from boot-up to shutdown. I have not used it at all at this point (I primarily use ssh to access my Linux machines) but there is a thriving user community and plenty of support. Gnome 2.4 and above has a screen-reader called Gnopernicus which is supposed to work with OpenOffice and Mozilla. I just installed this on my Gentoo box last weekend and have not done any testing yet but again, there are mailing lists etc. so if you are technically competent, this might be an option. If you google for Speakup, Gnopernicus, YASR, etc., you should be able to find plenty of resources. Hope this helps.
99% of the time, ISP's don't care at all what you are hosting as long as you are not sucking up tons of bandwidth. I have run FTP/HTTP servers on "residential" connections before and never received a complaint. If you want to run a server, be responsible enough to setup some traffic shaping so you don't abuse your terms of service and screw everyone else.
Your second point is completely ridiculous; just because a technology could make 1 type of social deviance easier doesn't mean it is a bad idea. I suppose you would also say that peer-to-peer clients are a bad idea because copyright infringement is made easier with them. This thinking completely ignores the numerous benefits of p2p networks. These notions completely sidestep the concept of personal responsibility. If a society decides that a particular activity is not acceptible, punish the individuals who deviate, don't imply that the technology is flawed.
The Slashdot article also incorrectly states the XBox's hard disk size as 8MB when in fact it is 8GB. I don't think there is an immediate threat of flash memory replacing an 8GB hard disk when a 4GB card costs over $4,000.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a company tracking their inventory; if every can of Bud had a RFID tag and the readers were everywhere, it might be a cause for concern. At this stage though, who cares. On a related note, I wouldn't want anyone knowing that I bought Bud period!
Don't you think this would void the agreement though? Hmm, we ship you a clean version but include the offending packages in the automatic, critical updates?
This would signify an interesting trend with MS; there is a slimmed version of XP in the works for 3rd-world countries. I wonder if these new stripped out versions would find use elsewhere such as in embedded machines.
This seems like the most straightforward to way handle this type of situation. I manage a call-tracking system for about 7500 users supported by about 200 IT people. Most of the applications we support have an option for "functionality enhancement". Since they are all logged the same way, it is easy to write a query to see what requests have come in. WE use HEAT to do this. Matt
Hopefully other vendors will feel pressured do make a better offering; It would not take too much to get Redhat pre-loaded on the Dell Dimension/Inspiron lines for the home user. Dell already does pre-loads on their workstations so they obviously have some in-house staff capable of putting this together.
Blind people even read Slashdot...
I would assume that Microsoft's model is closed source and that MS would not appreciate developers reverse engineering it.
A group of individuals has put together a kernel-based speech output system that works with several distros and is available precompiled on bootable floppies and CD's. The installation will speak provided their is a supported hardware synthesizer present. Check the Speakup Homepage for more information.
This one is going for $3950 which is not that bad considering it functionality. It is the first braille PDA that has any reasonable data capabilities. A 20-cell braille display alone would go for $1500+.
It still costs 10x what a similar unit goes for with a touch screen.
This is a full-blown Windows CE device; AAGI is planning on adding browser functionality which will be pretty cool considering the tri-band GSM capabilities. At $3950, it is a bit expensive though.