NArrator in WIn10 Anniversary update will work better with Edge/Cortana and provide scanning mode with orgonomic keybindings, but nothing for system recovery/restore.
On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 7:10 AM Scott Granados <sc...@qualityip.net> wrote: > Just to add a little to this, far be it for me to speak in Microsoft’s > behalf but I think the comments about Microsoft dropping the ball on > accessibility are a little untrue as I understand them. > > First, Microsoft has always been an employer of blind engineers and staff > so let’s give them some credit there. I believe there are some Microsoft > folks on list, I know Apple is represented but I think MS is as well. If > not here then certainly on the blind sysadmins list and the android list to > name a few. > Next, Microsoft was pressured to not include a viable screen > reader. Let’s remember that around the time of the Henter Joyce to Freedom > Scientific transition Ted Henter paid the NFB a sizable amount of money > (north of 7 figures) to buy their loyalty. Almost immediately the NFB > started protesting on Microsoft’s door against the inclusion of a screen > reader. Many hit pieces were written as well as direct on site pressure to > stop all development. Microsoft caved (that’s their responsibility) to > this pressure and stopped development. Essentially, the NFB’s public > policy and position was bought off for the purposes of enriching Ted Henter > and the freedom scientific mob. > Let’s remember that the NFB wrote similar hit pieces and attempted > the same action against Apple. Luckily, Steve was a focused hard you know > what who did the right thing and dismissed them completely. We really > don’t know what if any thing Steve knew about it but we do know that Apple > did not cave and continued with Voice Over even today. These hit pieces > went on and on clearly demonstrating over time the authors hadn’t even used > a Mac or if they had it was a different screen reader from years earlier. > All hell broke loose when the iPhone was released and Apple started > scooping up the blind community. The flood of hit pieces increased until > some time later when it was obvious that the NFB’s position was largely > being ignored outside their circles. Unfortunately, their circles in > combination with HJ payoffs have had exclusivity deals in place with many > state governments and adaptive technology so called experts. Yet Apple > persisted and more and more people migrated away from the expensive > software management agreements and additional cost of screen readers. > Thankfully also free options on the windows and linux side started to > evolve and even there Freedom scientific applied legal and strong arm > tactics to force their product in the market not based on quality but based > on heavy handed self interest at our community’s expense. This thankfully > is starting to fade. I sincerely hope Martin is right about a decent built > in screen reader being included as of 08/02/2016. Not having a built in > screen reader that has access to the whole product life cycle is a major > job impediment for our community. As Simon mentioned it requires sited > help or other gymnastics to install a version of windows where no such > limitations exist in the Apple world or Linux world. If true, this could > be a real help to folks in the IT space so I hope this is true as I know a > lot of admins who are held back professionally by this limitation > So Martin, I share your skepticism about Microsoft and they have > and continue to do things I have issues with but in this case I don’t think > they were entirely responsible. We can argue they shouldn’t have caved but > it’s understandable why they did. I just thought it’s worth presenting a > little of the background for a fair representation of the complex and many > times ethically challenged history of screen reading technology. Let the > bashing continue and here’s hoping the next iteration of narrator is a step > forward. > > I like your line of questioning and balanced responses btw. > > > > On Jul 5, 2016, at 7:47 AM, Martin Brown <mbrown.bro...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > Hello Tim. > > Thank you for that very constructive email. As I said in my previous > post, I > > find the folks on this list very knowledgeable and helpful about all > things > > Mac. On your suggestion about the tab setting in the advanced window of > > Safari, that is, however, already checked. > > I am a little surprised to hear that a lot of Mac users prefer the > grouping > > method over that of DOM. I mostly use the latter of these methods. > Indeed, I > > find the grouping method of navigating a web site such as Amazon.co.uk a > > little more problematic than using the DOM method. However, since my > little > > rant, I have tried the Grouping method on the Soap Kitchen and have found > > that at least to make the site a lot more usable. At least Voiceover > didn't > > go into a tail spin. On the point about deleting bookmarks...well what > can I > > say Tim, my own stupidity on that one. It should have been obvious as it > is > > a similar method on the Windows platform. > > > > On your points about just how committed Apple is to making continuous > > improvements to their screen reader, I sincerely hope you are right. It > > would be a shame to let what has already been achieved become only > something > > recalled in the history books. So far, Microsoft's efforts on behalf of > its > > disabled customers is pitiful in contrast. I have been informed that on > the > > second of August 2016 we are to get a substantial upgrade to Narrator, > the > > Microsoft native screen reader. I just can't wait for that non-event to > > happen. The thrill of it all is likely to give me multiple cerebral > orgasms > > of a sufficient magnitude to make my ears pop big time. > > Respectfully Yours: > > Martin > > > > > > -- > > The following information is important for all members of the Mac > Visionaries list. > > > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or > if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the > owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is > Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com > > > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ > > --- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac > Visionaries list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or > if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the > owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. 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