Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

Google Accessibility Petition: Shane Jackson’s Promo

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We thank Shane Jackson of the Blind World Podcast for providing an amazing promo for the Google Word Verification Accessibility Petition! This promo effectively captures the meaning of inaccessible CAPTCHA for the blind, promotes the petition and urges everyone to sign it immediately. Let’s all run out and distribute this promo to podcasters and others in the media to gain the highest possible exposure for this important cause.

SalesForce.com Accessibility Query, Google Petition, NFB Sues Target, CastBlaster Update and More

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Shownotes

There is a possible new job opportunity on the horizon for me along with a related software accessibility query, help is still being sought for the Google petition, NFB sues Target for web site inaccessibility, CastBlaster becomes more accessible, there are some concerns about the accessibility of Podshow’s upcoming products and services, PodcasterNews.com makes the grade, I rant about the need for more assistive technology industry innovation, and much more. Listen to the podcast and follow the links for more details.

SalesForce.com CRM Accessibility Query

Is this customer relationship management application accessible to blind screen reader users? A potential job opportunity may hang in the balance.

Google Word Verification Accessibility Petition

We could always use lots more signatures! We are also continuing to ask for promos, help with media coverage and assistance with the cover letter.

Disability Rights Advocates Case: NFB v. Target

This should help to serve as an object lesson not to ignore the accessibility needs of people with disabilities!

CastBlaster Accessibility Update

Thanks go out to CastBlaster Mike for working with me to improve the accessibility of this important podcast production and publishing software. Watch out for those blind people blasting accessible casts to an MP3 player near you!

Podcaster News Network

Please check out this neat resource and let me know your thoughts. Pretty accessible as it stands, and one of Todd Cochrane’s developers is working with me to correct some missing alt tags.

Please contact Blind Access Journal using one of the following methods:

  • Post a comment to any blog article. All comments are subject to moderation before they are shown to the public.

  • Leave a voice message on our comment line by calling 206-350-6925.

  • Send e-mail to editor (at) blindaccessjournal.com.

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My Thoughts on the Milestone 311 Accessible MP3 Player

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Shownotes

The Milestone 311 accessible MP3 player is manufactured by Bones GmbH and will soon be sold by Independent Living Aids in the United States for $369. It was recently presented by Stephen Guerra on VIP Conduit’s Accessible Devices online voice conference.

At this time, in the opinion of this blind technology consumer, the Milestone 311 is overpriced for the feature set being offered. Here is a list of must-have features:

  • Separate external microphone / line-in connector.

  • Ability to monitor recordings as they are being made.

  • Recording level adjustment.

  • Recording bit rate adjustment.

  • Pause function during recording.

  • Replaceable batteries.

Check out these nice-to-have features:

  • Ability to play DRM content such as Audible, Apple FairPlay and Microsoft Plays for Sure.

  • USB 2.0 connectivity.

  • Support for additional file formats such as Ogg Vorbis.

  • DAISY support.

Though this device is surely not going to be well suited to blind podcasters or others interested in making high quality digital audio recordings, it does have great potential for the typical blind technology consumer who simply wants an accessible way to listen to their audio. With its current feature set, I estimate the Milestone 311 should be worth a price tag of between $200 and $250. While we must understand that the price of specialized assistive technology such as this device is naturally going to be higher than similar units for the mainstream sighted market, we must also expect a similar amount of features, flexibility, functionality and reliability as is currently enjoyed by sighted users of products such as Apple’s largely inaccessible iPod lines.

Thanks go to Stephen Guerra for his featuring this podcast during the Accessible Devices presentation. Absolutely no offense in this reporting is intended toward the manufacturer, Independent Living Aids, Stephen Guerra or anyone else.

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Google Accessibility Petition: Feedback Sought for Second Draft of Accompanying Cover Letter

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We are now asking for feedback on the second draft of the cover letter accompanying the Google Word Verification Accessibility Petition when it is sent to Dr. Eric Schmidt and Google’s Board of Directors. Please review the letter below, then send all constructive criticisms and suggestions to editor (at) blindaccessjournal.com. We look forward to your participation in this critical endeavor.

Over the past two decades, the Internet in general, and the World Wide Web in particular, have changed the lives of blind and visually impaired people for
the better. Many blind people around the world, through the use of synthesized speech and/or Braille output assistive technology, can now access
vast amounts of text-based and auditory information independently, like never before. Google’s main search engine page, with it’s rather accessible and
straight forward layout, is a primary gateway for many blind people to
effectively sift through, and thereby gain access to, the wealth of
information brought forth by this new empowering technological age. We in the blind community of Internet users, wholeheartedly thank Google for this; however, there is a considerable barrier looming in our midst, implemented
in a variety of Google’s newer services, which effectively denies independent access to the very information, resources, and online services that Google
has the potential to offer, to both blind and sighted users alike.

We all know that there are aspects of the Internet that impede its usefulness, including spam and the robots that seek to propagate it. The blind community
detests spam, too, and sympathizes with the need to do something about it. However, the graphical verification system introduced on some of
Google’s sites, which requires a user to visually read and correctly
interpret a picture, and to then enter the string of graphical
characters into a separate edit box, has, inadvertently, shut out
blind and visually impaired people from many Google services. As this is inconsistent with Google’s mission, I am certain you will want to deal with this problem
expeditiously.
I am writing to let you know that thousands of blind and sighted Internet users have signed the enclosed Google Word Verification Accessibility online petition.
We are kindly asking you to please follow Google’s mission statement, to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,”
by adding an accessible alternative to the visual word verification, also known as CAPTCHA, which is currently implemented on the web pages of Blogger,
GMail, and almost all other Google provided services.
Many of us in the blind community stand willing, ready, and able to assist your talented developers in devising and testing a workable solution, such as
those access alternatives already adopted and implemented by Pay Pal, Hotmail, Microsoft Passport, PR Web, and an increasing number of other prominent
services.

Not only can Google have the opportunity to expand its user-base by
making it’s websites fully accessible for blind and visually impaired
users, but doing so would also help Google further expand its
leadership in the search and advertising markets, as well as serving
as a catalyst to encourage more sites to open their market to this
often overlooked customer-base. Since Google is an acknowledged leader in providing an increasing number of services, adopting a solution to the access problem may be very useful
in gaining positive publicity for Google, and could serve as an outstanding example to the public, and to a wide audience of website owners and designers,
to bring increased awareness of this accessibility problem.
We, in the blind and the sighted communities alike, sincerely Thank you for your genuine consideration of this urgent matter, and we look forward to a prompt
affirmative response from you in the very near future.