Hey, I must have spent over an hour today trying to pay my cable bill
online, which I have done before. Some of the alt text labels must be in
the wrong place or something because I can't get the pay now button to work
and I can't get the setup autopay window to come up. I called comcast and
finally got to speak to a woman who sounded like shews was from or in India.
ANyway, she really didn't make any commitment whatsoever, other than to say
that my bank should be able to set up autopay for me. If something as main
stream as a large cable company's website can't be accessible, it makes me
even more apreciative of what digidesign and cakewalk have done in our
behalf. Now I will say that I'm seriously thinking of rolling back to the
previous mac OS until things get straightened out. I can't even use my
alesis master control surface which really did work well before. It doesn't
even show up any more.
Gord
-----Original Message-----
From: Slau Halatyn
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2012 9:32 PM
To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Another problem with Pro Tools and ML
HI J. R.,
Let me say something at the outset that you should keep in mind as you read
on. I will say things that you and others will probably quarrel with so I'm
saying this up front so that you understand my personal position.
I think everything on earth should be accessible to blind people. I think
everything in the world should be accessible to wheelchair users. Universal
access is something that affects us all at one time or another. Believe me
when I say that I experience this keenly and on a daily basis.
Now, that said, we need to accept the fact that accessibility is not
anywhere near a priority for Avid. Like it or not. Historically, we've been
fortunate to have their cooperation in making Pro Tools accessible, at least
in part, not only once but twice. No matter how much work is put into Pro
Tools to make it accessible, guess what? It'll never be fully accessible
because there will always be a demand by someone that something needs to be
changed to make it easier for a blind person to use. Further, no matter how
accessible Pro Tools itself is, there will always, always, always be
obstacles in the world of audio technology as it concerns blind users.
Before you hit me with a Kurzweilian Singularity glimmer of hope, I'm
referring to our lifetime and not 60 years from now. No matter how much
progress there is, we will always encounter an obstacle somewhere along the
line because we lack a significant, dare I say, the most significant sense
there is and that is sight.
There will always be some area of Pro Tools that will remain inaccessible
for one reason or another. The video timeline, for example, will simply
never be usable by a blind person. Well, what if I want to use it? Tough.
That's the long and the short of it. One might argue that there must be some
work-around to use the video timeline, some alternative way, some way to
incorporate keyboard shortcuts, surely there must be some way to make it
accessible. Yes, it's possible but not at all likely, not in the least bit.
Why? That should be obvious but I'll say it anyway: blind users are a
fraction of a fraction of the user base. Yes, there are dozens of users but,
I assure you, it's the smallest portion of the user base. Further, the most
important clients to Avid are the people in the broadcast industry. There's
no question about that. They'll say it themselves. Music production isn't
even a priority. If you doubt that, look at what's going on with their
dropping M-Audio, AIR, etc. There are clear priorities.
As for students testing Pro Tools, I don't know how to put this in any other
way but, Pro Tools was never developed to be a simple program to use. It's
clearly not GarageBand. It was designed as an environment for audio
professionals. beta testing by less experienced users is, I'm sure, not at
all what Avid has in mind. You might think it's a good idea but I assure
you, that's not what Avid is looking for. Why stop at college students? Why
not have high school students beta test? Hey, why not have kids beta test?
Surely, it'll make for a more user-friendly experience, right? Hmm, I'm
afraid not.
All that said, Avid has a vehicle for product feedback. They always have.
All users can make suggestions. Beta testing is something entirely
different. Hopefully, that explains that.
You might think I have a negative attitude about the whole thing but I
certainly don't. I'm optimistic. Otherwise, I wouldn't be flying out to San
francisco next month to meet with folks at Avid. To be clear, while I'm
optimistic, I also have a realistic outlook on the situation and I know that
there's a long road ahead. There always will be, always.
Any successful audio professional will tell you, if you're thinking of audio
as a profession, be prepared to sacrifice a lot because it's one of the most
difficult fields to be in. It's competitive and it involves long hours,
sometimes little pay and you should only be in it if you feel that there's
nothing else you can see yourself doing in life. For a blind person, that
statement should carry all that much more weight because it's doubly
difficult. Let's be clear about something, there are blind musicians who
just want to record their own songs and they want to do it in Pro Tools.
There are blind audio engineers who have been trained to work in an industry
where, currently, Pro Tools just happens to be a ubiquitous tool. Both
deserve access, of course, but to those for whom it's a matter of their
livelihood, it's especially urgent, naturally. Believe me, I fall squarely
into both camps so I can appreciate all sides of any argument.
I get the impression that you feel that Avid have not done enough. Yes, it's
not enough for us. It never will be. I do hope and I do believe the work
will continue but, you know what? If it doesn't, I'll cross that bridge when
I get to it. we'll all be crossing it in one way or another. It's the same
story blind musicians and engineers have faced for decades and the wheels
will continue to turn.
Cheers,
Slau
On Sep 4, 2012, at 8:31 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote:
Specifically I'm thinking of items that are in their course ware and can't
be done by visually impaired users.
This is not a kick at the few people I know who test with PT. I'm pointing
the finger at Avid specifically. I feel that their beta program goes out
of
its way to exclude some valuable input from students in particular who are
learning the system and would have some input that might help them in the
realm of usability. Working through some of the exercises in the course I
found that they loved to have you work with some of the really showy
items,
elastic audio, warping audio, pencil fitting, etc. These items are
completely inaccessible and I believe there should be some way that we as
visually impaired users of the product can do the equivalent things.
Having said all that I also wonder if they might not benefit from some
input
on the testing program so the tests might be more accessible. I have an
instructor who is willing to proctor the tests for me and make the
accommodations necessary to take them but he will have to do some
significant adjusting of the tests in a few places. Unfortunately he is
only
able to do the testing for PT101 and PT110. If I were to want to proceed
further I'm not sure what could be done.
As Mark put it, if you were to go to a studio and have a certification
they
would be much more willing to allow you to do things yourself. Also,
having
that cert could assist you in getting a potential job even as an entry
level. For example, if I were to call you and say I would like to use your
facilities to do a project and had that certification you'd feel much more
comfortable in allowing me to do it. It would make you feel confident in
my
ability to not damage your facility.
I would really like to see the certification process work for those who
are
visually impaired as well as the rest of the world.
If I had the money to do so I'd have Kevin or someone like him fly here
and
go through the labs together working with Mark to adjust where necessary
to
make a final class that would produce a successful testing experience. I
believe that at that point the class could be taken back to Avid and they
would be willing to incorporate it in their curriculum.
I'm trying to write quickly so I hope it makes some sense.
J. R.
-----Original Message-----
From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf
Of Slau Halatyn
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2012 5:29 PM
To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Another problem with Pro Tools and ML
On Sep 4, 2012, at 7:09 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote:
Hmmm. Maybe that is why some things don't fall to the top of the list?
J. R., what specifically are you referring to that hasn't "fallen to the
top
of the list?"
slau
