Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I am very excited about new technology. I have pre-ordered the Victor Reader Trek and use JAWS, Openbook, and the KNFB reader app. I sometimes worry about a so-called big cyber-attack that renders useless all the great technological advances I rely on every day. Have you received similar concerns from others?
Sincerely,
Gregory Hinote
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
It is unacceptable that in 2017, with all the attention given to the subject, accessibility remains an afterthought in the minds of many major corporations.
My name is Mike Horn, and I approved this message!
Respectfully,
Mike Horn
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This letter is in response to Janet Ingber's August article, Obtaining Accessible Cable Television: A Frustrating Experience.
Janet Ingber wrote a great article in the August issue of AccessWorld. I left Verizon FiOS last June to get Apple TV, because Verizon had no accessibility service. I called Verizon on August 5th, and the customer rep said that they do not have an accessible cable box. In her article, Ms. Inger said Verizon had one. My son lives in Maryland, and he has an accessible cable box from Comcast; he is not blind.
Respectfully,
Larry McMillan
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Bill Holton did a good job on his overview of the Microsoft Seeing AI app.
In Short Text mode, try pointing it out a car window while moving. It is astounding that it reads signs along the road.
It can even read street signs, signs in front of the car, like the name of a bridge, or type of bridge. Living in Portland, Oregon, we have a lot of bridges and some are draw bridges. It read "draw bridge" when we were waiting because of a bridge lift…
This is truly an amazing app, and more amazing because it is free, and likely to remain so.
Best,
Richard Turner
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in response to Bill Holton's August article, An Accessibility Check of the Rachio Smart Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller.
I know Amazon sells the Rachio, because I got it during a promotion and it was much cheaper than the $199.
Thanks,
Gwen Givens
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Janet Ingber's August article on obtaining accessible cable programming sounded like déjà vu. I went through a lot of this with Spectrum. Since my rates were getting higher and higher, I actually did cut my cable and I went the Apple TV route. I am currently using Netflix and Hulu. Netflix, of course, does have a good bit of accessible programing, but Hulu does not. I'm trying to work with them. There is Hulu live which gives you access to all of your local channels. I'm going to try to work myself up through the various layers and see if I could get to somebody that I can actually deal with.
Best regards,
Gwen Givens
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in response to Bill Holton's August article, Microsoft Seeing AI: A Quick First Look at this Groundbreaking iOS App.
I totally agree with everything said so far. This is an app that sent me scurrying around my office taking pictures of everything! I haven't been this impressed with versatility for a long, long time.
Sincerely,
James Puchta
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Dear Editor,
Could you talk about the braille Kindle in the next AccessWorld issue?
Thank you,
Paige Melhberger
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in response to Bill Holton's August article, Microsoft Seeing AI: A Quick First Look at this Groundbreaking iOS App.
I have had the Microsoft Seeing AI app for a week, and I love it! It can take a bit of searching to locate a bar code, but it then does its thing very well. It is now so easy to get cooking directions off a package. I have a terrible time picking shirts out of my closet so I am going to try using the facial recognition mode in labeling them. If it works, it will be fantastic! As far as accessibility goes, my PC falls way short of VoiceOver on my iPad, so I was surprised when I used this app the first time. Way to go Microsoft!
Sincerely,
Chris Hoffman
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I recently downloaded the Microsoft Seeing AI app, and I found controls for the app were very difficult to use. Changing to the different channels was extremely hard to understand. I opened the app the other day and it just started automatically taking one picture after another until I closed it. I aimed it at my wife and it gave no description at all. I don't understand how to control the lights. I was able to read some short text. I even went to the website, and it described many of the features Mr. Holton lists in his article, but it did not give directions on changing functions there either. Tapping on the quick help still gave very little info.
It is a great tool, but the documentation was terrible from my standpoint. I am not an advanced user.
Sincerely,
Wayne Smith
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This article is in response to Janet Ingber's August article on obtaining accessible cable programming.
My husband and I had the same experience when we tried to get an accessible cable box through Spectrum. We did not keep the laptop or the Roku.
The Spectrum app for IOS is accessible, and it is possible to access audio description for programs that have it. I have also tried the Android version, but I have found no way to access audio description using it.
Thanks,
Kathy Blackburn
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
At times, I enjoy perusing the back issues of AccessWorld. This article is in response to J.J. Meddaugh's December 2013 article, Audio Description in Theaters: Making Theaters More Accessible.
I am thrilled by this option at the theater. I did try a different theater yesterday, and the over-the-ear headphones only played the audio description. It was very awkward to have one side on and the other side off in order to hear dialogue and sound effects. My local theater has the pager type device that allows me to bring my own headphones and only put one in. That seems to work much better. I wonder when the iOS apps will work and we will not have to monkey with devices that the theater loans us? Thanks for the article!
Sincerely,
David Life
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in response to Jamie Pauls' January 2016 article, Making the Transition from English Braille to UEB.
This is the best article on the subject I have read. It is definitely worthy of an award.
Thank you for publishing.
Sincerely,
Diane Scalzi
