Hello Walt,
I have tried the Oxford English Dictionary on CD (OED), and it is not at
all screen reader friendly. The software was developed before the window,
button classes were standardized. Some of the fields in the OED were
nothing more than colored patches, which makes it impossible for JFW to
recognize them. The OED on CD is currently being updated, and I have been
in contact with those folks, directing their atention to accessibility.
hopefully the OED on CD will be out sometime later this year in a more
accessible form. Below is a message from Oxford University Press which
relays things as they now stand.
Danny
Dear Mr Shah
Thank you for taking the trouble to write concerning the Oxford English
Dictionary.
As I explained to Mr Wells, the existing version of the OED on CD-ROM
was designed in 1991, when Windows was not a generally adopted operating
system. The CD was given a Windows interface (controversial at the
time!) because we felt that this was the best way of presenting this
highly complex data set. However, although extremely advanced for its
time, the OED on CD-ROM is now inevitably showing its age. The problems
that you have experienced in trying to use the OED arise from the fact
that the software you are using to interpret it is making assumptions
about Windows conventions that simply didn't exist back in 1991.
You refer to 'reports in the media' claiming that the next edition of
the OED will only be published on the web and in print. I would very
much like to know where you heard such reports as I don't know where
they originate. I can, however, set the record straight. The second
edition of the OED was published in print in 1989 and in its current
CD-ROM incarnation in 1992. The third edition is due for publication in
2010, and is currently in preparation here in Oxford. By 2010 it seems
quite conceiveable that the primary format will be on the web, and that
there will be only a limited edition print run; it is also difficult to
imagine CD-ROMs still being in general use at that time.
In the meantime, we are working towards a new *software application* for
the OED second edition, because we have been aware for some time that
the old version was coming to the end of its natural life. The current
hope is to publish the OED2 both on CD-ROM and on the web late in 1999,
although the schedule is not yet confirmed. It is this new software that
I have corresponded about with Mr Wells. I am unable to give you pricing
information yet, for the simple reason that it has not been decided.
I do hope that this has made the situation clearer for you. If you have
any further queries please do address them to me and I will do my best
to help.
Sincerely,
Liz Greenlaw
At 03:50 PM 3/23/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Has anybody ever tried using the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) CD-ROM
>version with JFW? If so, what were your experiences?
>
>--
>Walt Smith - Raleigh, NC
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>"Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy."
> - Robert A. Heinlein
>
>
>-
>Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
>
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent, (John 17:3) .
-
Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
