Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I noticed your holiday issue didn't include the more affordably priced talking MP3 players from Accessible Electronics. I am the owner of Accessible Electronics and happen to be a totally blind person. I developed this idea and have sold well over 1,000 talking MP3 players around the world since 2009.
This is not a product which is in conflict with the higher priced-blind-only players, as they do not have a text-to-speech engine built in or have the ability to play the specialized formats used by the national Library Service and such. They are, however, useful for those visually impaired [or] blind individuals who simply wish to use a more affordable MP3 player to listen to music files just like sighted folks do. Most of our customers already have some sort of "blind-only" player such as a Victor Reader Stream, BookSense, Plextalk Pocket, [or] BookPort, but use our talking MP3 players for listening to their MP3 books and music files instead.
It would be great if AFB showed interest in helping the blind/vision-impaired small business community as well as the big hitter companies who don't necessarily need the added promotion and advertising afforded them in articles such as the Holiday Gift Ideas for People with Vision Loss article.
AccessWorld readers can join our mailing list by sending us a blank e-mail. They can also download our presentation and see our current special.
For more information, I can be reached by e-mail at accessibleelectronics@gmail.com or by phone at (727) 498-0121.
Thank you for your attention.
Laz Mesa
Accessible Electronics
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
As I observe many guide dog users, two things happen that, in my estimation, cause the public to feed the misconception that it's the dog that is doing the thinking and all these wonderful things they think guide dogs can do.
My two examples are these: First, I can't tell you how many times at conferences I have heard the guide dog user say to the dog, "Find the elevator," "Find the door to go outside," or "outside."
Shouldn't the user have the proper orientation skills to be cognizant of where the elevators or the doors to the outside are located? I'm not being negative, but I find myself [thinking,] "No wonder the general public, and blind people to some degree, think the dogs are so amazing and are the ticket to freedom." It seems to me the dog should be treated as a useful tool, and the handler should be the one always in charge and cognizant of his or her surroundings.
Am I wrong in my thinking?
Thanks,
Michael
Janet Ingber responds:
Perhaps consider the following:
Instead of being considered a tool, a guide dog may be better thought of as a living, breathing member of a team, with the handler being the team leader. The truth is, not everyone is blessed with excellent orientation and mobility skills, and many have not had access to good O&M training, Therefore, the guide dog commands for finding escalators, steps, elevators, exits, and entrances are especially useful in unfamiliar surroundings.
Many guide dog users have excellent skills but still prefer to use a guide dog and the kinds of commands you mention, even in some familiar surroundings.
The handler should do what he or she feels is appropriate in a particular situation. If someone asks a question or makes a statement about the dog's ability, the handler should be prepared to answer the question with suitable, accurate information to alleviate misconceptions.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I read Janet Ingber's article, "Things to Consider When Thinking About a Guide Dog." As a former guide dog handler, I'd like to add additional items to the list Janet so eloquently presented.
The first topic relates to people with low vision. If someone with low vision is considering a guide dog, he or she should carefully consider how much vision he or she has and how functional that vision is in travel situations. I say this because I have low vision and I did not consider this when applying for a dog. I was told I did not have sufficient travel vision by my optometrist as well as staff from the guide dog school. Several years later, I received extensive training on how best to use my vision while travelling. This lead to my dog's eventual retirement. My decision to retire the dog was not only because of my improved functional vision though. There were many more issues that lead to this decision.
The final topic leads to the actual choice to partner with a guide dog. In hindsight, I realize I made the decision to partner with a guide dog for the wrong reasons. Peer pressure was a significant reason in my decision to partner with a guide dog. I was 25 years old when I made my initial application to the guide dog school. At the time, I was living with a woman who had her third guide dog. Many of my friends also had guide dogs. Therefore, I was surrounded by people with guide dogs. As a result, I did not consider everything as carefully and thoroughly as I should have. Had I considered everything carefully and methodically, I do not believe I would have reached the decision to apply for a guide dog.
Peer pressure is an issue everyone, blind or sighted, must deal with in their lives. As a result of peer pressure, I made a decision that ultimately proved to be an incorrect decision for me. If someone is considering applying for a guide dog, he or she should make this decision based on his or her own needs and lifestyle rather than the convincing arguments friends or acquaintances might make in favor of a guide dog.
Thank you for publishing an informative and resource packed publication each month. I deeply appreciate the information presented in Access World.
Kind regards,
Alexis
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Reading the article on the HoverCam T5V from Serotek I was left wondering why indeed anyone would pay six times more for this product than one mentioned, the CanoScan at $80. I'm thinking, well, there must be a reason.
In our search for something that will read print to us instantly, it's as though we wander about in a world with products in it that almost do the job, but issues of lining up, proper lighting, optimal distance, and ability of the software to make sense of the strange world of print makes for a situation in which there might be perfect instances where each of the various devices works wonderfully, but a general use product still tends to be nonportable, expensive, or both. That solutions are being sought is encouraging, because one of these days we will be thrilled and delighted; I'm optimistic.
Mike
Deborah Kendrick responds:
Dear Mike,
Like you, I am optimistic and, like you, many of us are still seeking that "holy grail" of the perfect OCR product.
On one hand, it occurs to me that we live in an incredible era because there are so many choices on the market—both computer-based and portable—that enable us to read that ubiquitous and pesky print. On the other hand, it does seem that finding the right product is something akin to finding a pair of shoes: one size does not fit all!
A product that is perfect for one blind or low-vision person may be rejected by another because it requires a computer. Another product, while portable, may be too difficult for someone who finds aligning the image to be too challenging.
The more feedback developers and distributors hear from consumers, the closer we will come to that perfect solution. Meanwhile, here at AccessWorld, we'll keep evaluating products as they appear on the market and continue to depend on feedback from readers like you.
