Stan;
Thanks for bringing this up. I'm sure that those who are in a position to
address this will do so promptly. We can expect no less.
- Hobart
On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 8:05 AM, Gowin, Stan stan.go...@softwareag.comwrote:
Hi,
I know your remark was intended to be mildly humorous and it was.
However, as a long-time blind assembler programmer I must point out that
assistive technology is key to my ability to do my job.
Most of the time this means software on my PC that magnifies or speaks
items on the screen in an intelligent manner so that I can program and
debug those programs.
Where this intersects with the assembler list is the accessibility of
the documentation provided by IBM and vendors to support coding and
products running on the mainframe.
I'm afraid as the proliferation of the web and the use of PDF files has
come to dominate the way technical documentation is distributed, the
accessibility of said documentation has suffered.
The old 16-bit Book Manager Read product for Windows was the most
efficient and best organized way for me to use IBM documentation. The
new Java version of the Book manager product is virtually inaccessible
to the blind and using PDF files or the web is acceptable but I very
much wish that IBM would make an accessible version of the Book manager
Read product that can run on a Windows 7 64-bit PC.
So, there are still challenges for the blind or otherwise disabled
mainframe computer programmer which is a shame in this modern era where
so many opportunities exist for persons with accessibility needs to
acquire and use information needed to work productively.
Regards,
Stan Gowin
Software Ag
--
OREXXMan
