Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

Possible Trouble at Podshow, Or How a Company’s Reputation Might Relate to its Failure to Deliver on Public Promises

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According to Rumormonger: PodShow said to lay off 20 out of 60-plus employees, it appears Podshow has suffered a significant setback, resulting in a reduction of almost a third of its total staff. Although I certainly empathize with those who lost their jobs today, I am also not very surprised. The disappointing way in which Adam Curry publicly pledge to make accessibility a part of the company’s core DNA, then utterly failed to deliver on that promise, is a bad sign of the character and ethics of the company’s leadership. I posted the following comment to the above cited article, which is awaiting approval:

Adam Curry did a great deal in 2005 to promote podcasting. I feel we should all appreciate him for his positive contributions. Nevertheless…

At the 2005 Portable Media Expo and Podcasting Conference, I had a conversation with Adam regarding the accessibility of the Podsafe Music Network and other Podshow products and services for the blind and visually impaired. At that time, he indicated that Podshow would make a serious effort toward positive change, make myself and others part of the development and testing processes, and generally work with the disability community to ensure full participation by everyone.

Adam further made this pledge a day later on his Daily Source Code, and in several podcasts in December 2005 into January 2006. The only single act that ever came from this pledge was a Skype conversation between Andrew Grumet, myself and a blind programmer friend of mine concerning ways in which the accessibility of Add to Playlist and other Podsafe Music Network features could be increased.

I feel Adam’s total lack of follow through and responses to my requests for ongoing communication have represented a sad state of affairs with respect to his character and, by extension, the company he leads. The issues with PMN continue to exist despite the fact it has been around for almost two years and most of the rest of Podshow contains serious accessibility barriers that inhibit full participation by people with disabilities. When the leadership of a company makes promises to an underserved population, those people believe him in good faith but the promises are never delivered, that should tell everyone a great deal about the character, ethics and lack of good corporate citizenship involved. It should also tell all of you about the quality of customer service and technical support you may not receive when doing business with Podshow.

Back in early 2005, I was introduced to the concept of podcasting by Adam Curry through his Daily Source Code. At the time, I thought it was an experimental, fun new way to deliver and present content directly to anyone with an Internet connection for listening anytime, anywhere. Adam said he was going to do business in a brand new way, far different from today’s conventional media companies. I didn’t really care about his previous MTV career; I was a fan since he seemed determined to turn the delivery of information on its head. In accordance with the things Adam said to me and a few others, I also thought he was sincere about making sure “new media” would be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. I was very disappointed to learn, over time, that Adam Curry is really very conventional, representing the unfortunate rule rather than the exception. He hasn’t done a thing to communicate with the disability community or made any modifications to reasonably accomodate accessibility as promised all the way back in November of 2005. It has been my experience over the years that companies willing to accomodate the accessibility needs of people with disabilities also seem to be the same ones that provide solid value for money to all their customers. I wish Adam Curry and the Podshow crew would have stepped up to the plate as promised.

Live Webcast and Archived Recording of CSUN Keynote by James Fruchterman

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We thought you might wish to know about the following:

Who: Opening Remarks and Keynote Address by Jim Fruchterman, one of the
leading innovators in the field of assistive technology
When: Live webcast today – Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 7:30 am
Where to access the live stream: (copy and paste into your browser):

mms://67.19.222.187/CSUN

Where to access the archived recording later in the day:
http://letsgoexpo.com/expo/index.cfm?EID=80000093

The LetsGoExpo Team

Stream News Wire – Software Version 1.2 Released

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Dear Victor Reader Stream Customer:

HumanWare has released the latest Stream software version 1.2.18. This is a
free software upgrade that can be downloaded and installed on your Stream.
To download the software visit:

http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/support/victor_reader_stream

Select the link to download the new software version 1.2.18. On the same
page, you will also find a What's New document describing installation
procedures and listing all the features of the new version. Among the new
features you will find the following:

– Support of NIMAS text books in United States
– Support of System Access Mobile from Serotek Corporation (www.serotek.com)
– Go To Time feature for non-structured audio books and recorded audio notes
– Faster data transfer rate when the Stream is connected to the computer
with the USB cable
– Increased volume on the built-in speaker
– Bass and treble control for music
– Control over announcement of music folder and file names
– An optional built-in SD formatting utility should your SD card ever
require reformatting

Please refer to the What's New document on the Stream page for a complete
description of all new features and improvements. An updated FAQ document
(frequently asked questions) can also be found on the web page. It provides
answers to frequently asked questions about Audible, battery, Bookshare.org,
CNIB, NLS, Recording, RFB&D, SD cards, and Serotek.

With this announcement, version 1.2 is available in English and Norwegian.
As other version 1.2 languages become available they will be posted on the
same download page. Currently, the previous version 1.1.15 software is
available in Dutch, German, French, and Swedish.

We are also working on a second English U.S. male voice (Tom) and a U.K.
male voice (Daniel). These will be posted as alternate version 1.2 software
downloads as soon as possible. We will announce their availability on this
News Wire.

The next Stream software release project will start soon and is intended to
provide support for WMA and BRF. We are also planning an update to the
Stream Companion software.

HumanWare values your continued support of the Victor Reader Stream. We
remain committed to existing and future customers to make the Stream the
most powerful, flexible, and enjoyable product used for listening to books,
computer files, and music.

Thank you,
The HumanWare Team

Visual Verification: EarthLink Implements Audio CAPTCHA for spamBlocker, Tears Down "No Blind People Allowed" Sign

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One of my tasks as ACB Radio’s volunteer webmaster is to send responses to feedback from listeners. After sending a note to an EarthLink customer this morning, I promptly received one of the company’s dreaded invitations to add my e-mail address to the customer’s approved senders list, so that my response and all future correspondence could be delivered successfully. In the past, these messages linked to a request form containing an inaccessible CAPTCHA (visual verification) that did not permit blind and visually impaired people to add themselves to the approved senders list of any EarthLink customer. The result was that some e-mail senders were not permitted to communicate with EarthLink customers with spamBlocker configured at its maximum level of protection, simply due to their physical lack of eye sight. On July 18, 2006, I wrote an article entitled Visual Verification Accessibility: Nobody Home at Earthlink covering exactly this issue.

This morning, I noticed an important difference in the request form linked from the invitation. An audio CAPTCHA has been included, now affording blind and visually impaired users the opportunity to request communication with all the company’s customers, regardless of spamBlocker settings. It turns out that, according to an update announcement posted to the company’s Web Mail Blog, the audio CAPTCHA was added on November 3, 2006. I am glad to see this issue finally resolved after almost three years of inaccessibility, and appreciate EarthLink’s reasonable audio playback CAPTCHA implementation.

Reading Machines Seminar Broadcast Live on ACB Radio World

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Reading Machines Seminar
March 7, 2008,  
Panel Presentations: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, PST
 
Please join us at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, for the fourth in our series of technology workshops, to discuss electronic devices that give the blind and visually impaired access to print documents by means of magnification or Optical Character Recognition.
 
Are you tired of waiting for days to have your mail read?  Would you like to be able to read books and magazines by yourself without having to rely on someone to produce them in an accessible format?  If so, it may be time for you to get a reading machine.
 
The Reading Machines Seminar will be broadcast live on ACB Radio World at 21:00 UTC, Friday, March 7.  You are invited to listen by following this link:
 

Request for Web Accessibility User Testing Participants at CSUN

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If you’ll be attending CSUN, why not take an action that will result in improved accessibility and get paid all at the same time?
 
The Paciello Group (TPG) is working with a major company to ensure that a web-based e-mail tool is accessible for people with disabilities. We will be conducting usability testing of this tool at CSUN with people with vision disabilities who use Window-Eyes, JAWS, or ZoomText.

Where: Marriott Hotel, The Long Beach Room
When: Wednesday March 12 through Friday March 14

Sessions will take about one hour and participants will be paid $100. Your session will be scheduled around your CSUN activities.

We are looking for users experienced with the following devices:

– Blind users: Window-Eyes 6.1 or JAWS 9.0
– Low-vision users: ZoomText 9.0

You must also be familiar with Windows and with either Internet Explorer or Firefox, and should have solid experience with:

– The World Wide Web, including filling in forms and performing transactions (such as buying merchandise) on the web.
– Using e-mail on a regular basis.

People with these disabilities and skills can schedule a session by contacting Mary Utt:

– Email: maryutt (at) paciellogroup.com

(If Mary is not available, please leave a message. Your call will be returned shortly.)

Thank you very much. Your participation will help ensure an effective, accessible e-mail tool.

Allison’s Notes on Jim fruchterman’s Main Menu Interview

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We profusely thank Allison from Benetech for her wonderfully written
summarization of Jim Fruchterman's Main Menu interview held on February 26,
2008 on ACB Radio Mainstream. Her message is below:

Hello Everyone,

I just finished listening to an interview of Jim fruchterman on ACB Radio.
I found it very informative. I realize that the audio format may not be
accessible to everyone, particularly deaf and blind individuals. I took
notes during the meeting, and would like to share them with others. I
believe I got down most of the important information. If you have questions
or comments, E-mail me at allisonh (at) benetech.org.

Jim fruchterman Interview.
ACB Radio
Tuesday, February 26, 2008.

* Bookshare.org is a legal website where people can download accessible
digital books.
* Jim got the idea from his son using Napster in the 90s.
* Bookshare has several formats including Daisy, BRF (Braille), HTML, and
XML.
* 90% of books on Bookshare are donated by members.
* Bookshare books are text and not human narrated.
* VR Reader Soft does not yet work with Mac computers.
* Mac users can use Win or K1000 to use Daisy books. There are also hardware
options.
* Bookshare memberships cost $75 for the first year and $50 for each year
after that.
* There are free memberships for students paid for by the department of
education.
* Benetech is hoping to reach 100,000 students over time.
*Most textbooks will be available to all members except for NIMAC K-12
books.
* NIMAC stands for National Instructional Material Accessibility Center. New
laws are requiring publishers to provide NIMAC quality books for all K-12
textbooks.
* Bookshare is beginning to add NIMAC books to the collection. These books
are only available to K-12 students.
* Jim said that he and several people advocated for other individuals, such
as blind parents, to have access to NIMAC books, but the publishers
resisted.
* If one sends a book to Bookshare, we will scan it with a turn around of
approximately 3-4 weeks.
* Benetech is working on a partnership with a major book publisher that will
allow a user who is looking for a certain book to click a link on the site,
request the book, buy it, the publisher will scan it, and send to Bookshare
where it will be ran through OCR. Approximately 6-9 months in the works.
*Most of the books on Bookshare are "trade books."
* Bookshare has literature, best sellers, and nonfiction books.
* we have a growing collection of textbooks for both college and K-12
students.
* Several thousand new textbooks will be made available over the next couple
of years.
* One can download newspapers and magazines from Bookshare. There are
currently 150 papers available.
* Bookshare is working on developing a collection of reference books.
* The Harper Collins books are available world-wide.
* WE are currently adding books from Harper Collins to the collection. We
have so many that we aren't able to get synopses uploaded with each one.
* Bookshare does not want to hold back on publishing books before a synopsis
can be written.
* Bookshare is working on a system in which a book's synopsis can be
automatically included with a book through one providing the book's ISBN.
This is not an option yet, but in the works.
* We are working on adding book synopses. If you would like to suggest a
synopsis for a book, E-mail it to allisonh@benetech.org. Note that synopses
from Amazon and other websites are not permitted.
* Individuals can sign up to volunteer for Bookshare by submitting or
validating books. To learn more, visit our website or E-mail
volunteer@bookshare.org.
* One does not need to be disabled in order to be a volunteer.
* Jim says that this year is a year of transition as we are adding new
books, new members, and new assistive technology.
* There are two Bookshare E-mail lists that interested individuals can join.
Visit the Bookshare website or www.freelists.org to learn more.
* Jim encouraged everyone to sign up for Bookshare by visiting

www.bookshare.org.

This concludes my summary of the ACB Radio Jim fruchterman Interview. I
tried to record all the information, but it is possible that I have left
something out. If you have questions or comments, please contact me using
the info provided at the bottom of this message.

Best,

Allison Hilliker
Benetech (Bookshare.org).
E-mail allisonh (at) benetech.org
www.bookshare.org

The Benetech Initiative – Technology Serving Humanity – A Nonprofit
Organization

Coming up on Main Menu for the week of March 5th – Window-Eyes Scripting and Cane Travel

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This week on Main Menu, during the first hour we hear from Doug Geoffray and
Aaron Smith from GW Micro all about the exciting new upcoming Window-Eyes
version 7.0. This release offers many new features, most notably its new
scripting capabilities. Doug and Aaron come on to Main Menu and discuss
with all of you all of this new exciting technology. In addition, we will
have a very special announcement about some future presentations on Main
Menu for those that are interested in learning scripting. Come find out
more about this exciting new release and get your questions answered.

In the second hour we will not be live and will be presenting a review of
the Ultracane.

Here is how to participate in the show:

The number to call into the show is 866-400-5333.

You may email your questions to: mainmenu@acbradio.org
You may also interact with the show via MSN (Windows Live) Messenger. The
MSN Messenger ID to add is: mainmenu@acbradio.org

Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the
topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the
Main Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is:

main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com

Come join an already lively group of users.

Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu
Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:

Main Menu – http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenu
Main Menu Live – http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenulive

Main Menu can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific,
and at 1 universal (GMT) on Wednesday mornings on the ACB Radio Main Stream
channel.

Follow this link to listen to the show:

http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=8

Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team