Hi. I'm sorry if I go a bit off-topic here, but here goes:
Denmark is a extremely small country, with only something like 5 million people, which means we are only something like 30000 blind or visualy impaired people. That means we don't have something like NFB or other big organisasions for blind and visually impaired who are always up-to-date with the latest technology for blind and visually impaired. However, we do have some really great organisations for blind people, but they are pretty small. That means if we wanna follow the news regarding the latest technology, we have to do it on our own. Not said that the danish organisations doesn't do their job very well. I'm just trying to say that here in Denmark, there aren't many people who work on full-time to write reviews about the latest accessibility for blind and visually impaired. That's one of the reasons for there aren't many blind Mac-users here in Denmark. Because the country is very small, it takes a while to spred the word out to all people, because there aren't many people to do it. Things just takes a while in small countries. I'm one of the first blind people here in Denmark who bought my Mac with Voiceover. I remember myself just sitting there with my Mac for a half year, trying to explain to people what Mac and VOiceover is, and they didn't believed me. I was really happy about my choice. I constantly hurd about other blind people, talking about their issues with Jaws and other screenreaders. I was just sitting there with my Mac, and thought to myself: "What could I do to make people listen?" I got more and more frustrated cause people just said Mac sucks and Voiceover sucks, but then I told them about how VOiceover works, and they shot up. Lol. :) Then I created my own danish mailinglist for blind and visually impaired Mac-users, and people got more and more interested. Now, that's two years ago, and now I think we are more than 10 blind Mac-users. It's not much, but I think it's great if you think about how small country Denmark is. More and more blind people here in Denmark are interested in Mac computers and Voiceover, and many blind people are considering buying a Mac computer. I'm really happy to see that things are going to change after much hard work. Now we are a lot of blind Mac-users to tell about how it works, which makes things going faster. I'm sorry to go off-topic. I just wanna tell about Denmark, where Nic and I live. Best regards Søren Jensen Mail & MSN: s...@coolfortheblind.dk Website: http://www.coolfortheblind.dk/ Den Apr 15, 2010 kl. 3:19 PM skrev Nicolai Svendsen: > Hi, > > The lawsuit was not in 2004, but 2008 I believe. Perhaps 2009. The lawsuit > had nothing to do with it. That was only because they wanted to complain > about iTunes, just because they wanted to pretend that people shouldn't pay > £41 for jTunes. Which, personally, I think is an outrageous price considering > iTunes itself is free. > > Anyway. > > I am not quite sure of Danish agencies. By the sound of it, they're > definitely open to a breath of fresh air. They got themselves iPhones and > Macs now, and a lot of the time when I'm acquiring new equipment, I am > getting asked as to whether I use JAWS on Windows, or VoiceOver on a Mac. > > It's kind of strange, though. I've never actually heard anyone mention > Window-Eyes over here, which makes me wonder if it is even localized. > > Regards, > Nic > Skype: Kvalme > MSN Messenger: nico...@home3.gvdnet.dk > AIM: cincinster > yahoo Messenger: cin368 > Facebook Profile > My Twitter > > On Apr 15, 2010, at 12:11 PM, Krister Ekstrom wrote: > >> Nic, just out of curiosity, what is the danish organisation for the blinds >> view on Apple products? >> I have a feeling, though i could be wrong, that the swedish blindness >> organisation is a bit on the conservative side when it comes to the Apple >> products, however i could be wrong. >> /Krister >> >> >> 15 apr 2010 kl. 09.14 skrev Nicolai Svendsen: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> I seriously doubt that is the case. Apple accessibility has been around for >>> six years now, not three. I doubt NFB had anything to do with it. Apple is >>> going to keep it up because they are committed. The article about the >>> lawsuit doesn't actually mention Apple much. >>> >>> There is actually a very good point of view. Apple poses a threat to the >>> NFB of taking over the technical market. This is why NFB did not sue Skype, >>> but Apple. Agreement or not, I'm pretty sure they listened to users using >>> Outspoken and such, rather than an organization that can't even review the >>> product properly when it is out. Apple has done far more than anyone for >>> accessibility improvements. Apple said they had something in store, and >>> they sure did. I of course realize that it is a pretty serious statement. >>> Of course, I am not particularly a fan of the NFB at all. Saying that, NFB >>> has made some seriously inaccurate statements as well, far outweighing >>> mine. NFB actually has no reason to sue Apple. What would they sue them >>> for, exactly? Because their products are accessible, and they want everyone >>> to pay more than what a Macbook costs for assistive technology? That >>> wouldn't actually surprise me much. It's all about competition. If they >>> think they're about to be kicked out, of course they would consider Apple a >>> threat. Because Apple has done something Microsoft has not. All these >>> things sound really twisted and disgusting to me. >>> >>> Apple can hardly be sued for their effort. Their lawsuit had to do with >>> iTunes on the Windows side. Fair enough, but that is a pretty ridiculous >>> suit if it really is based on accessibility. That is not the case, however, >>> as there are plenty of other useful programs for PCs that are not anywhere >>> near as accessible as iTunes 9. And NFB doesn't care about that. Which, >>> again, leads me to believe that, because NFB is scared of being kicked out, >>> they do everything they can to stop people buying their product. That would >>> make sense. >>> >>> Windows users rely on scripts all the time to use any application. I >>> suggest you look through your jAWS folder to see what I mean. Have you even >>> seen just the download size of a JAWS installation? It's outrageous. People >>> who moan about iTunes not being accessible just because the interface >>> accidentally broke, just need to use scripts like they do for everything >>> else. I'm surprised that wasn't their first complaint. JAWS, or just >>> Windows in general, isn't even that stable. If JAWS crashes, it's stupidly >>> difficult most of the time to reload the product. Even if you manage to do >>> so, you will probably run into the screen not being read correctly when >>> reading list boxes or with the cursor. Or, the worst-case scenario. You >>> have to uninstall JAWS 11 after attempting to install Video Intercept, >>> reinstall JAWS 10, install VIdeo Intercept, uninstall JAWS 10 then >>> reinstall JAWS 11. >>> >>> Maybe I'm slamming the NFB a bit, but really, they need a kick in the ass. >>> I'm just happy the Danish blindness organizations are not this corrupt and >>> twisted, and they actually review fairly and take a proper look at what a >>> company offers before suing them. I'll always be negative about the NFB, >>> though I am actually being neutral when talking about the actual lawsuit >>> itself. >>> >>> Say what you want to, it won't change my mind. Even if it is someone from >>> NFB saying it. Some NFB people are great. Some do incredibly good reviews. >>> Some don't. And in whole, I think the organization just sucks for filing >>> unnecessary lawsuits for nothing. Maybe I'm going on a childish tantrum >>> here, perhaps. But once in a while, you need to. A company is trying to >>> provide great accessibility for their products, and they are sued because >>> of one problem. iTunes is actually still useful on the Windows side, >>> people. Quit your darn nitpicking. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Nic >>> Skype: Kvalme >>> MSN Messenger: nico...@home3.gvdnet.dk >>> AIM: cincinster >>> yahoo Messenger: cin368 >>> Facebook Profile >>> My Twitter >>> >>> On Apr 15, 2010, at 8:08 AM, Rob Lambert wrote: >>> >>>> I just got wind, from a friend of mine, that the only reason Apple is >>>> accessible to us is because of a lawsuit by the NFB. The term of the >>>> agreement was for accessibility improvements for three years. Here's a >>>> question. First, what's your side of this ordeal? Second, who thinks Apple >>>> will keep up with the accessibility improvements after this three year >>>> term is up? I apologize for making smooth waters mirky, I just wanted to >>>> know what your take on this was. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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