Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I read about the Finger Reader in Janet Ingber's article, An Update on the Finger Reader, an On-the-Go Reading Device in Development at MIT. I see this Finger Reader mentioned every once in a while, and I can't help but wonder why they are spending time on this. The OCR readers are lightning speed. Faster than it would take to scan a page with your finger, especially if you are blind and just trying to scan in a straight line. The Optacon was like this and was terrible to try to stay on the line!
Have they asked the blind? This would slow me down, not speed things up
Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I think it's great Netflix is finally including audio description on some of its content, as I read in Audio Description Comes to Netflix by Jamie Pauls. However, I am left to wonder when the company is going to get around to actually improving the accessibility of its user interfaces on various mobile operating systems and its website?
Darrell Shandrow
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I was very glad to read Jamie Pauls' article, Audio Description Comes to Netflix. I have watched Daredevil, and Orange is the New Black using the audio description. The quality of the description is amazing! I give Netflix a lot of props for this. I unsubscribed from Netflix and did not renew my subscription for about a year until the news of the availability of audio description was made known and followed through [on] by Netflix. I hope there are more shows to come.
Do you know where it is possible to find a comprehensive and updated list of what is available?
Thank you.
Christina
Response from AccessWorld Editor, Lee Huffman
Dear Christina,
A list of currently audio described content is available by clicking the audio description link at the bottom of your Netflix home page. You must have a Netflix account to see the list.
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
The Blackboard Online Coursework and Learning Environment: Accessibility Reports from Two College Students and One Instructor by Jamie Pauls is a nice article. I appreciate the analogy to Amazon, which hits upon the usability and effectiveness of the site's accessibility. I'd like to recommend that other Learning Management Systems (LMS) be reviewed, such as Moodle and Canvas, as a comparison that could help prospective students decide which college to attend. It's my understanding that Canvas developers have been quite responsive to support ticket requests with respect to accessibility. Keep up the good work.
Best,
Roberto Gonzalez
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I am an enthusiastic reader of AccessWorld and enjoy a lot of your materials. I have used computers since 1983, first VersaBraille and then PC-computers. First I read the screen directly with the Optacon and then later with Braille Displays. Some 10 years ago I started using Videotim for my readings.
Some time ago I read a review on the Kindle for PC and Android devices, Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin by Darren Burton. There it was stated that Amazon only recognizes one English voice. When I tested Kindle for PC myself I found out that this was true. As I use the Espeak TTS in my Samsung phone I can only read headings but no text as it is only read by an internal voice of the software. [This] is really bad, as Amazon has books for sale in a number of languages.
However on my Samsung phone English, Icelandic, and other languages are read quite nicely by the Espeak.
It is a great drawback of Kindle for PC that it only supports an internal voice and in fact this is a discrimination to those who do not speak the recognized speeches of Amazon.
I know that the accessibility of iPhones and iPads is much better, but then the problem is that Apple computers do not speak Icelandic.
AFB is known for its powerful fight for accessibility to all kinds of information. Shouldn't it be on your agenda to make for equal accessibility to all commonly used computer systems like Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android?
I thank you again for your excellent and progressive work.
Greetings from Iceland.
Yours sincerely,
Arnthor Helgason
