We ask all of you to review and sign the Yahoo’s Accessibility Improvement petition asking the company to make an audio alternative to its CAPTCHA available so that the blind and visually impaired will be permitted timely access to the same services as those already granted the sighted. The use of a telephone callback scheme is totally insufficient as it does not grant the same level of instant access as the sighted and Yahoo personnel
do not consistently make contact in a timely manner. It is our ongoing contention that visual only CAPTCHA schemes without at least an accessible audio alternative represent “No Blind People Allowed” signs in much the same way as African-Americans were deliberately denied entry to restaurants and other similar public accomodations in the era of segregation. We ask Yahoo to simply fix their grievous error by promptly adding an audio CAPTCHA to all its properties as soon as possible as part of the company’s ongoing accessibility initiatives.
Blind Access Journal Posts
Visual Verification: Petition Asks Yahoo to Tear Down "No Blind People Allowed" Sign
Gmail Settings Now Accessible in Basic HTML View
We don’t know how long this has been the case, but we have just discovered that it is possible to adjust your Gmail account settings in the Basic HTML view. It seems this accessibility enhancement was made quietly by Google, but we appreciate its availability nonetheless.
Resolving the "Click to Run ActiveX Control" Error in Internet Explorer 7.0 When Playing Audio on Web Sites
For quite some time now, I have been experiencing the annoying “Click to run ActiveX control” error message when playing audio from various web sites, including those providing audio CAPTCHA alternatives. In some cases, the browser would crash completely after pressing the OK button. An example of a page that can cause the issue is the FormShield audio CAPTCHA demonstration. Thanks to Jeff Bishop for finding and resolving this rather frustrating issue. Follow these steps to reset Internet Explorer to its factory defaults, associate all media types to Windows Media Player and reconfigure your desired media player.
Reset Internet Explorer
Warning: Resetting Internet Explorer returns it to original factory defaults, deletes all temporary files and disables browser add-ons. Though resetting Internet Explorer is recommended to assure full resolution of media and other browser issues, you may wish to skip this first step to see if you can resolve the issue without performing a full browser reset. Follow these steps to reset Internet Explorer to its factory default configuration:
- Open Internet Explorer.
- Press Alt+T to open the Tools menu.
- Press o to open the Internet Options dialogue.
- Press Shift+Tab to move to the list of Internet Explorer tabs, then press End to navigate to the Advanced page.
- Press Shift+Tab to move to the Reset… button and press Enter to begin the process of disabling add-ons and completely resetting the browser to its factory defaults.
- Follow the confirmation prompt by pressing Tab to another Reset button and pressing enter.
- Press Tab to move to the Close button and press Enter.
- Press OK to restart Internet Explorer.
- It is necessary to reconfigure Internet Explorer’s accessibility settings. Press Alt+T followed by o to return to the Internet Options dialogue.
- Press Shift+Tab to move to the list of Internet Explorer tabs, then press End to navigate to the Advanced page.
- Press Tab to navigate into the Settings tree view.
- Press down arrow to navigate to the “Always expand ALT text for images” checkbox and press the space bar to activate this setting.
- Press down arrow to navigate to the “Move system caret with focus/selection changes” checkbox and press the space bar to activate this setting.
- Press Shift+Tab twice to navigate to the Apply button and press the space bar.
- Press Shift+Tab twice to navigate to the OK button and press enter.
Configure Windows Media Player as the Default for all File Types
- Press Windows Key +M to minimize all applications and focus on the desktop. If Windows Media Player is not found on the desktop, press the Start button, select All Programs and choose Windows Media Player.
- Arrow to Windows Media Player and press Enter to open the application.
- Press Alt+T to pull down the Tools menu.
- Press o to open the Options dialogue.
- Press Control+Shift+Tab three times to navigate to the File Types page.
- Press Tab to navigate to the Select All button and press enter.
- Tab to OK and press enter.
- Press Alt+F4 to close Windows Media Player.
Reconfigure File Type Associations on the Desired Media Player
If you do not use Windows Media Player exclusively, it will now be necessary to reconfigure the associations in your preferred player. For example, follow these steps to select all file types in Winamp:
- If you are not already on the desktop, press Windows Key+M to minimize all application windows and return focus to that location.
- Arrow to Winamp and press Enter to open the application.
- Press Control+P to open Winamp’s preferences dialogue.
- Press down arrow until you reach File Types. These options are found under the General Preferences branch of the tree view.
- Press tab until you reach the All button and press the space bar. This selects all audio and video file types for association to Winamp.
- Press Shift+Tab until you reach the Close button and press enter to dismiss the preferences dialogue.
After making these changes, you should find that audio CAPTCHAs and other web sites that play inline audio and video content will function properly without presenting the “Click to run ActiveX control” error message or crashing the browser.
Is Revisionist History at Work in the Blind Community’s Own Online Media Outlets?
Is revisionist history at work in the blind community’s own electronic media outlets? Can important information and the opinions of certain people in the community simply be made to disappear from our public knowledge without comment? It appears, unfortunately, that there may be two clear cases of exactly this sort of thing happening in a prominent online technology news magazine produced by the American Foundation for the Blind.
In the March 2007 issue of AccessWorld, an article entitled A View from Inside: A Major Assistive Technology Player Shares Some Industry Secrets, featuring Chris Hofstader, has been pulled from the magazine without explanation.
In the AccessWorld News section in the July 2007 issue of the same magazine, the following brief story is carried concerning the Freedom Scientific Versus Serotek lawsuit:
On May 14, 2007, Freedom Scientific filed suit against Serotek Corporation, claiming trademark infringement for use of the term “FreedomBox.” The claim stated that “Continuously since May 15, 2000, the Plaintiff has used the mark ‘Freedom Scientific’ to identify its products tailored to blind and low-vision users, including software that translates the Internet and digital information into braille or audible synthesized speech, and to distinguish these products from those made or sold by others, by, among other things, prominently displaying the mark ‘Freedom Scientific’ on the products, their containers, the displays, and marketing associated therewith.”
On June 7, Freedom Scientific and Serotek jointly announced that they had reached an agreement that Serotek was inadvertently infringing on Freedom Scientific’s federally registered trademark. “It is unfortunate that we had to take this action,” said Lee Hamilton, president and CEO of Freedom Scientific, “but trademarks are valuable corporate assets, and they must be protected, or they are lost. This agreement accomplishes that, and we have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.” Serotek will rename FreedomBox and other affected products. For more information, visit the companies’ web sites:
and .
There is absolutely no coverage given to the Save Serotek Petition or any other efforts made by members of the blind community requesting that Freedom Scientific cease this action.
We all may want to start asking some serious questions about the blindness organizations to which we are members or on which we rely to provide the services we need. Does the organization’s leadership really hold the needs and desires of the blind in their hearts and minds, do they have their own personal agendas or are they catering to special interests? Do agencies, companies and other organizations donate money to these non-profit organizations, then use that fact later to exert undue influence over their actions and policies? After all, how could these organizations bite the hands that feed their small budgets? Can the people in charge of the most prominent organizations of and for the blind be trusted? It is up to all of us to ask and insist on candid answers to these and many other hard questions.
Target is Seeking a JAWS Scripter
Client: Target Corporation
Duration: 2 Months
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Job Description:
Need a resource to perform scripting work in Freedom Scientific’s JAWS vision assistive and adaptive product against dynamic web pages. Experience with JAWS scripting is a must!
Analytical Skills
Experience with JAWS Scripting
Retail Industry Experience
Please fill in the details below:
Current Location:
Relocation: Yes/No
Expected Bill rate:
Visa Status:
Availability:
As this is an urgent requirement, kindly reply at the earliest possible.
Thanks & Regards,
Deepak Vitta
Technical Recruiter
TAJ Technologies Inc
1168 Northland Dr
Mendota Heights MN 55120
612-216-8474, 612-216-8475. Ext – 127
deepak.v.ilink@tajtech.com
www.tajtech.com
Mike Calvo on Computer America Tonight!
Serotek CEO Mike Calvo will be interviewed live on the Computer America
program tonight July 10th at 10pm to Midnight eastern. Computer America is
the nation's longest running radio talk show about computers. Shows include
up to the moment technology news, interviews with industry experts,
appearances by hardware and software companies, show business personalities,
special segments and lots more. Throughout the Monday through Friday
two-hour program, Craig Crossman and his co-host Carey Holzman take your
phone calls, answer questions and make computers fun. A live chat room lets
you participate online during the show. And don't forget the ongoing
contests with big ticket computer prizes! Computer America is your primary
resource to the world of computers and technology. Mike will be talking
about Serotek and it's plan to provide accessibility anywhere. Current
Serotek customers are encouraged to call in and give feedback as to how
Serotek's products have impacted their lives.
Computer America is carried across the country over the Business TalkRadio
NetworkŽ. If you cannot find a radio station carrying the show, you can
still listen because the Business TalkRadio Network streams its signal live
over the Internet. The streaming audio is in Windows Media format only, so
you will need to have a player that supports this format. Click the
following link to listen to the show:
http://www.warpradio.com/player/embed.asp?page=Tuner&id=14175
If that link doesn't work, then please try this alternate link from Las
Vegas affiliate K-News 970AM:
http://www.warpradio.com/player/embed.asp?page=Tuner&id=6225
Update: Accessible Version of CallBurner Now Released to the Public
As of Monday, July 9, 2007, the CallBurner team has released version 1.0.0.31 of CallBurner to the public, incorporating the Screen Reader Compatibility functionality along with some minor bug fixes. We strongly encourage those of you who downloaded version 1.0.0.30 to get the latest public release from the CallBurner web site at this time.
Update: Accessible Version of CallBurner
It appears the CallBurner team has not yet made their accessible version available to the public. Since many of you have asked how you can get started right away, please feel free to download a copy of the accessible version. Since this version of CallBurner is not currently provided on the company’s web site, this software should be considered to be a beta release, with all the “play at your own risk” caveats that status entails. Stay tuned for another update as soon as the CallBurner Team has informed us of the public availability of the accessible release.
CallBurner: Finally, Fully Accessible Skype Call Recording is Here at Last!
The people at Netralia, developers of the Skylook Skype call management and recording application for Microsoft Outlook, have recently released a new Skype call recording product that does not depend on Outlook. The new CallBurner application enables annotation and recording of all Skype calls while providing a clean, simple user interface.
After learning of the existence of this new product, I downloaded a trial copy of the software. While finding it reasonably usable for basic call recording, I found the call detail window largely inaccessible with any screen reader, including JAWS, System Access and Window-Eyes. I promptly wrote a short note to the company’s support e-mail address requesting accessibility enhancements to permit full use of CallBurner with screen reading software. On Thursday, July 5, I was absolutely flabbergasted to receive a response from the company’s senior developer offering a beta copy of an accessible version of the software for my testing! This response came in less than three weeks of my initial request!
After downloading the test copy of CallBurner, I immediately began to put it through its paces. After enabling “Screen Reader Compatibility” in the Accessibility sub-menu of the program’s System Tray icon, I was instantly delighted to discover extensive keyboard navigation, a tabbed Call Details dialogue box and full accessibility without need of screen reader configuration or scripts. Follow these steps to enable “Screen Reader Compatibility” after downloading and installing CallBurner:
- Minimize all running programs and focus on the Desktop by pressing Left Windows+M.
- Press JAWS Key+F11, Modifier+F11 (System Access) or Insert+S (Window-Eyes) to open the System Tray menu.
- Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to right click its System Tray icon.
- Press enter on the Accessibility sub-menu.
- Press enter on “Screen Reader Compatibility”. This is the only option currently found in the Accessibility sub-menu.
- The following dialogue box is shown: “Screen Reader Compatibility is now turned ON. NOTE: You need to restart CallBurner for this change to become effective.”
- Press enter on the OK button to accept the change.
- Press JAWS Key+F11, Modifier+F11 (System Access) or Insert+S (Window-Eyes) to return to the System Tray menu.
- Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to right click its System Tray icon.
- Up arrow to the Quit option and press enter.
- Press the Left Windows key or CTRL+Escape to open the Start menu.
- Press p to open the All Programs menu.
- Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to open its sub-menu.
- Press enter on CallBurner to start the program. The Call Details window opens, presenting a tabbed dialogue box that delivers a fully accessible user interface to all CallBurner functions.
- Press the End key to move to the Help tab.
- Press the Tab key once to select Browse On-Line Help and press enter to open CallBurner’s documentation in a typical web browser window. This help will serve to get you started with CallBurner in short order.
The latest version of CallBurner, incorporating the “Screen Reader Compatibility” enhancement, has been made available as of Saturday, July 7, 2007. I highly recommend CallBurner to anyone, blind or sighted, who needs to record Skype calls. The ability and willingness of the developers to make their software accessible in less than three weeks of such a request demonstrates the commitment of this company to high quality, reliable customer service and technical support. We should all send a quick note of thanks to the CallBurner Team expressing our appreciation for their prompt attention to our accessibility needs and encouraging their developers to continue the excellent work in this area for all their software. Stay tuned to Blind Access Journal and other blind community online resources for demonstrations, reviews, tips and other information covering the use of this excellent application.
ACB 2007 Convention on demand and podcasts complete
All of the on demand archives and podcast files are up for all of the
sessions of the 2007 convention, including the banquet. You can download
all of the sessions from the podcast feed found at:
http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/conventions
If you wish to listen to the on demand archives, then go to the Convention
2007 page found at:
http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=60
Note: The quality and, thus, the file sizes, of the podcasts are
significantly higher than those provided in the On Demand archives.
Happy listening everyone,
Jeff Bishop