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
