New Blogger Beta is Mostly Accessible

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Blogger is out with a new beta that provides labeling of posts, control of blog readership, visual page display manipulation and much more. Aside from the requirement of drag-and-drop to rearrange page elements, this new beta is quite accessible! Check out the announcement on Blogger Buzz and take a look at the new Desert Cafe show blog for an example implementation of this new Blogger beta.

Petition: Advocates Ask for Accessibility to ProTools for the Blind

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Audio engineers, musicians, producers and others commonly utilize ProTools on the Macintosh to perform the duties of their jobs. Blind people in these fields deserve the right to participate on terms of equality with their sighted peers in this area. These careers should be inherently suited for blind people and available without needless artificially imposed barriers such as inaccessible computer software. Sign the ProTools Petition for Commitment to Action asking Digidesign to take notice and make its ProTools application accessible to users of the VoiceOver screen reader on Mac OS. We urge even those who do not use the software to sign the petition in solidarity with our blind brothers and sisters in the audio engineering, music and production fields.

Karen Reminds You all to Listen to The Desert Cafe on Friday!

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Karen reminds all of you to listen to the debut of The Desert Cafe tomorrow morning on ACB Radio Interactive from 15:00 to 18:00 Universal time.

Today, August 4,

Fun is in store.

OnA C B R I,

Why don’t you Join us and say hi.

From 15 to 18 UTC,

Is where the fun will be!

The DesertCafe ,

Is where the music will play.

This is Darrell’s Debut,

He will play cool music and have tech news too!

At 8 o’clock,

The music will rock.

So, go ahead and lis en,

8 to 11 Pacific is when!

A variety of music will play,

So come, stay!

What do you say?

and have a great day!

The Desert Cafe Will Be On The Air Friday Morning – Don’t Miss It!

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It is confirmed! The debut of the Desert Cafe will happen on Friday morning, August 4, starting at 15:00 Universal Time (8:00 AM Pacific, 9:00 AM Mountain, 10:00 AM Central and 11:00 Eastern) and running for three hours. I hope all who read this blog and listen to the podcast will join me Friday morning on ACB Radio Interactive for some fun music and stimulating talk. While listening, you will be invited to send me your requests and dedications via e-mail or MSN / Windows Live Messenger. See you all there! This is only a cover slot, not a permanent show time. Please stay tuned to the ACBRI schedule for future show times as I cover for other members of the broadcasting team.

Our Arrival on ACB Radio Interactive!

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I am now a member of the ACB Radio Interactive team of broadcasters. After an audition last Thursday evening, my acceptance was confirmed yesterday. The name of the show will be The Desert Cafe. In the beginning, this show will cover for other broadcasters as needed, but I hope to have a permanent time slot in the near future. Review the show description, Stay tuned to Blind Access Journal and the ACB Radio Interactive schedule for show times and, of course, listen to the show!

Take a seat at the Desert Cafe. Enjoy POP and R&B music from the 1960’s through today along with talk about accessibility advocacy, blindness issues, arts, entertainment, hobbies, recreation and, of course, the latest technology news.

Visual Verification: eBay May Have Implemented Audio CAPTCHA

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We have received a report that eBay may have recently implemented an audio playback alternative to their CAPTCHA for use by blind and visually impaired customers. The characters are spoken with background audio to prevent recognition by scripts and other automated processes that may employ speech recognition. Blind and visually impaired eBay customers are asked to confirm this positive accessibility move on the company’s part and provide any additional information they may have on the reliability and usability of the new audio playback CAPTCHA.