Hi! I have been reading the emails on this list concerning the advantages and drawbacks, especially the latter, of Skype 4.1, interested in spite of myself, because, quite frankly, this insistance that Skype 4.1 is inaccessible, with an unfriendly interface for blind people, etc, etc, is getting on my nerves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not annoyed because some people dislike Skype 4.1: everyone is entitled to their own opinon on Skype, or on anything else for that matter. I am also well aware that there are people out there who prefer the Skype 3.8 interface, and who have found the Skype interface in version 4.1 very hard to cope with, and I don't begrudge them that preference. But they are wrong to say in such a definite way that Skype 4.1 is inaccessible and no longer blind-friendly. OK, newer versions of Skype are definitely harder to use without scripts, as I found out myself when trying out Skype 4.0 without scripts before I joined this list, but I don't think it's right to call the program inaccessible just because one doesn't like the new interface. Sure, it's different, and it takes some getting used to, but I'm personally happy with Skyype 4.1 and I have no intention of downgrading. Skype 4.1's accessibility can be improved even without scripts by using compact view and extended keyboard navigation, plus choosing Classic Windows as the style of window in the general settings of the "options" menu. What's more, all JAWS users, like myself, are definitely grateful to Doug for his excellent work on the scripts for Skype, and I'm sure that those who use Skypewatch are equally grateful to Hrvoje for his Skypewatch installer program: I personally use Skread, which works with all versions of Skype in spite of being an obsolete program, therefore I no longer have Skypewatch installed myself, but that's another of the many choices people can make concerning use of Skype if they wish to do so. In spite of my personal preference for Skype 4.1, I'm not denying anybody the right to prefer an older version of Skype if that's what they want to use, and to dislike the newer version if that's their honest opinion. But can we please stop having emails full of sweeping statements along the lines of "Skype 4.1 is inaccessible", please? Those of you who want to stick with 3.8, do so, but please stop spreading lies about 4.1: it may be hard to use for some people, but not for everybody, so I very much hope that this list can get back to its original purpose, answering blind users' questions about Skype and its use with screenreaders or other accessibility features, rather than turning into a Skype-4.1-bashing platform. It's true that, since the release of 4.1, there have been a lot of questions concerning how to do certain tasks because the method of doing them in 4.1 is different from 3.8, but to me that's proof that people want to learn the new methods of doing things, not proof that 4.1 is inaccessible. So let's get back to practical questions, please, and stop these generalisations. With this in mind, Sarah, can you please, as moderator of this list, try and close this topic down, preferably in the not-too-distant future? Bye for now, and happy skyping to all, no matter which version you prefer! >From Clare Thanks for posting to the skype english list. To access scripts for the latest version of skype go to http://www.dlee.org/skype To access tutorials and other goodies go to http://www.marrie.org/skype/skype.html
To contact the list owner send a message to mailto:[email protected] to download a tool to automate the installation of skypewatch go to this link. www.hkprojects.tk and for a searchable archives page go here. http://bit.ly/64Y48 thanks and have a wonderful day. _______________________________________________ Skypeenglish mailing list [email protected] http://emissives.com/mailman/listinfo/skypeenglish_emissives.com
