Before sending a response to Dr. Jernigan, I think we should discuss a
bit more what that response should be. Like Mr. Gerrey, I am not sure we
can set priorities on the sort of devices which should be made
"accessible". Rather, I think we should outline a few principles of
"accessibility" of devices for the blind, to wit: (1) membrane switches
should have a definite feel to them when depressed and/or an audible beep
should sound when such switches are depressed; (2) switches should be
avoided which activate merely by being felt; (3) the menus used to
control devices such as VCRs and microwaves should be predictable, that
is, one should be able to go thru a predictable seqence of choices to
cause a given consequence without the necessity to look at the menus; (4)
devices should, insofar as possible, be designed such that prompts for
input and resulting responses can be rendered in digitized or synthesized
speech (if this is not possible, other audible queues should indicate
successful input). In the case of a VCR, for example, audio could be
interrupted and prompts and results could be voiced thru the TV.
I go against the grain, I suspect, in that I do not consider it practical
in the long run to have some sort of specialized receiver to receive
audio feedback from devices; I do not believe most persons will carry
around such a device to access multiple devices. It is my belief that
each device must be accessible on its own.
I believe ther Mr. Zurita should be encouraged in his contacts with Sony
and concrete suggestions such as those made above should be conveyed by
him to such contact.
Mike Freeman
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:03 PST