Dear AccessWorld Editor,
In the past few years, I've purchased a BraillEdge 40, an iPad Air, a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone, and I had to get a new home phone. All of these items come with documentation, and some of them provide downloadable documentation. All of that is good. I'm an older person who grew up using braille, and I would find it far easier if I could get braille manuals for all these products. The technology is there to make braille downloadable. Everybody wants to sell their products and their apps, and I suppose the younger generations learn well using speech. But, if manuals were downloadable in braille, those of us who use braille devices could have our manuals easily available in that format.
Just a thought — for what it's worth.
Nancy Johnson
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I am using the Kyocera Verve phone evaluated by Bill Holton in the article An Accessibility Evaluation of the Kyocera Verve Phone. Twice now, while the phone was in my pocket, it somehow got into emergency mode and dialed 911. What options do I have for avoiding this from happening? There should?be a way so that nothing could be dialed accidentally.
Regards,
Ted Larson
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I would like to announce the publication of a free book called Getting Back to Work with JAWS. It is a guide for people who have never used JAWS before, but who need to use a screen reader to become productive again with their computer.
I lost my vision three years ago, and despite being a software engineer, I found it was hard work adjusting to using a computer entirely through a?keyboard and synthesized speech. I discovered that while there were a lot of high quality training materials available, there is something unique about learning to use a computer again after a vision loss. As the baby boomers continue aging, I expect there will be more and more people in my situation. My hope is that by focusing on essential skills as well as the challenges of the process, I might make the journey a little easier for others.
To download the book for free, please visit Back to Work Blind.
The book itself is a zipped set of RTF files that can be read by any word processing program, including Windows WordPad. There is absolutely no cost, [nor are there any] ads, registrations or commercial aspects to this whatsoever.
If you feel this book would be a useful tool for new JAWS users, please feel free to publicize or distribute it in any format. It is licensed under a Creative Commons non-commercial license. I simply want to help anyone who has lost [his or her] vision to return to work as quickly and easily as possible.
Sincerely,
George Calvert
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I am writing in response to the article Evaluation of the Leasey (Learn, Enable, Advance — So Easy!) Computer Scripts from Hartgen Consultancy, by Jamie Pauls.
It would be so awesome if this could be made as a stand-alone package, not tied to a screen reader.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
In response to the article Audio Description Comes to Netflix, by Jamie Pauls. Has anyone noticed that the first season of criminal minds is not audio described at all? Could we say [something] about completing the process with Netflix? It seems a bit strange to have everything from season two audio described but not season one.
Thanks,
D.R.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I loved the article The Blackboard Online Coursework and Learning Environment: Accessibility Reports from Two College Students and One Instructor, by Jamie Pauls. In fact, I loved the whole July "Back to School" issue! It's jam-packed full of helpful articles. We get loads of questions about Blackboard. Now I know where to guide folks. Thanks so much for such a wonderful issue!
Sharon Lovering,
Editor, American Council of the Blind
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I would like to suggest that AccessWorld might look into putting AccessWorld on the NFBNewsline service where it could reach many more readers.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I was reading through this month's issue of AccessWorld and I enjoyed all of the articles and the letters to the editor. I have a question for you. Have you ever thought about doing a review of the Learning Ally Audio app? I have never seen a review about this app in AccessWorld. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you,
Roanna Bacchus
Response from AccessWorld Editor, Lee Huffman
Hello Roanna,
Thanks so much for reading AccessWorld, and I appreciate your question.
AccessWorld has published information about the Learning Ally App and provided links to further resources. It has not, however, published a full evaluation of the app. I will discuss the possibility of an article on the Learning Ally app with AccessWorld authors at our next team meeting.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I am writing in response to Janet Ingber's July article, An Update on the Finger Reader, an On-the-Go Reading Device in Development at MIT.
The Finger Reader is a brilliant, forward-looking device that would add levels of practical application for blind people. Ray Kurzweil would probably also be an invaluable person to advise on this product. I would be waiting with bated breath for the launch of the Finger Reader because of its application in a research library.
Regards,
Dr. Siva Modley, Researcher
