No, it was not developed by Apple, I believe it came from Street
Electronics, Mike somebody worked on it if I remember correctly.
Fred Olver
Author of Dealing with Vision Loss
have a look it just makes sense.
http://www.dealingwithvisionloss.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Raul A. Gallegos" <r...@raulgallegos.com>
To: <viphone@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: Apple App Store & Refunds for inaccessible Apps
Hi, so you are saying that the screen reader Text Talker which used the
Echo synthesizer was developed by Apple? That's not how I remember my
history. I don't know about the other points you mentioned because I was
a kid in the 80s, but I specifically remember using Text Talker with
Echo in the mid-80s. As far as I know, that wasn't developed by Apple.
but what does it matter really on who is right or who isn't. It has no
direct relation to the purpose of the list.
--
Raul A. Gallegos
I must say I'm glad I know sign language, It's pretty handy. - Sheldon
Cooper
Twitter and Facebook user ID: rau47
On 9/13/2013 1:14 AM, David Chittenden wrote:
This is incorrect. Initial accessibility for the Apple II computer, which
occurred in 1983, was developed by Apple, not a 3rd party vendor. In
addition, ZoomText style screen enlargement was provided on the original
Mac back in 1986. I know because I worked with both products. The initial
screen reader for the Apple II was not very good. The original screen
enlargement for the Mac was better than TSI Vista Screen enlargement for
DOS computers.
The first full-fledge screen reader for Apple Mac was developed by
Berkeley Systems in the mid 90's. When Berkeley Systems went out of
business because they did not have enough customer base to meet their
expenses around the turn of the century, the company which bought out
their source code let OutSpoken for Mac die and used some of the OutSpoken
for Windows code in their own screen reader. I currently do not remember
which company this was.
After Berkeley Systems folded, Apple approached screen reader developers
to see if any of them would develop a new screen reader for the Mac. In
fact, Apple worked closely with Berkeley Systems on OutSpoken for Mac. I
know this because a cousin was an independent consultant for Apple who was
assigned to work with Berkeley Systems on trouble-shooting difficulties
for several months in the mid 90's. During this time, Apple paid his
consulting fees.
After screen reader developers, including Freedom Scientific, turned Apple
down, Apple took screen reader development in-house in 2003 and released
the initial iteration of VoiceOver with OSX Tiger in 2005. This means,
Apple's initial screen reader development from concept design to roll-out
took around two years.
It must be noted that Apple was notified by US Federal Purchasing (I do
not remember which specific department, but suspect it may have been Dept
of Education), that federal funds would no longer be able to be spent on
Apple computers if Apple did not have minimum screen reader access. To my
best understanding, this notification was made in 2001 or 2002. It was
during the time after OutSpoken for Mac was discontinued, and may have
been the impetus encouraging Apple to approach Windows screen reader
developers. However, given that Apple has always had a commitment to
disability access, as proven by their initial basic screen reader in the
Apple II and their screen enlargement in the early Mac, and by the fact
that they paid my cousin's developer consultation fees in the mid 90's to
do work with Berkeley Systems, I am not convinced that the US Federal
Purchasing being threatened to be ended was what caused Apple to jump so
fully onto the accessibility bandwagon. Besides, only basic
access is required by the Federal Government. Also, it was a known fact, and
fairly well researched and proven, that blind people could not successfully,
independently, and completely effectively, utilise a purely touchscreen
device. In fact, a Google-based researcher was attempting to get Apple to
work with him on developing a tactile overlay to help blind people use the
original iPhone, and was not happy with Apple because they refused to work
with him.
Apple revolutionised everyone's understanding of what was possible with
touchscreen access when they released iPhone 3GS with full VO integration
in 2009. Academic researchers were caught completely by surprise.
Peer-reviewed, high-end, academic research around factors of successful
touchscreen access for the blind do not appear in the research journals
(touch input with audio output) until late 2010. This indicates such
research was not designed or started until after the iPhone 3GS.
Therefore, the facts do not support the assertion that Apple only became
focused on accessibility after forced to do so by the federal purchasing
under accessibility legislation.
David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA
Email: dchitten...@gmail.com
Mobile: +64 21 2288 288
Sent from my iPhone
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