A warning too all of you.
I think I have become famous, now that my comments have appeared in the
WyfiWyg so-called news letter.
Several weeks ago, I posted some comments here expressing my concerns
that HJ was not taking the necessary steps to prevent loss of quality as
they brought out new releases. In those remarks, I said, among other
things, that quality was a general problem throughout this industry
(meaning PC software in general), but that a screen reader was more
important to the blind user than your typical application because it was
the window through which all other things passed. So, I reasoned, a
screen reader must exhibit better than normal quality.
My comments were not balanced. They were, in fact, deliberately focused
on the problem of quality to raise public awareness of quality as a key
factor in our strategy for success in all our lives. My target audience
was, not only members of this list, people who are familiar with Jaws and
it's tremendous capabilities, but the staff of HJ itself. I wished to
create an atmosphere where excellence was a primary goal for all
concerned, so that programs and procedures would be put in place to
insure improvement in this area. I pointed out some ways in which this
might be accomplished. But, I did not focus heavily on why JFW is the
best screen reader available, although I clearly do think it is. I
thought everybody knew that, so it did not bear repeating. My target
audience was not the general population of uncommitted future screen
reader users.
Unfortunately for me, peter Duran, an obvious Jaws detractor, was lurking
on the list. He chose to lift my remarks, without my permission or
knowledge, and reproduce them in his WyfiRag publication. He framed my
remarks in a light obviously intended to cast aspersions on the JFW
product, presumably in favor of his own favorite screen reader. This was
never my intent, and violates my own wishes.
So, a warning to all of you who like to sound off on various issues from
time to time. Remember that Peter is lurking, and he and his kind are
not above appropriating your remarks for their own purposes if it suits
them. This has caused some political problems for me, a fact Peter
surely failed to consider, or, perhaps, chose to ignore.
I do not retract anything I said in that posting. I think quality is a
serious issue. But, I have since learned that important strides in that
direction are being made at HJ, the benefits of which those of us who use
the world's most powerful screen reader will definitely enjoy.
For the record, I have tried the competition, and I am convinced that JFW
is the best screen reader available. With it's terrific grade 2 Braille
support through which you actually can "Feel What You Get", and it's
unique and incredibly powerful script language through which you can
customize the interface to your favorite application for optimal
efficiency and maximum productivity, JFW is clearly the best choice. No
other screen reader does all of that. That is why I push as hard as I do
to make it even better.
Peter, if you would like to quote the above in your next edition, just
contact me.
Jim Snowbarger
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Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
