FreedomBox Enables Access to a Major Component of the Podsafe Music Network

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Shownotes

We applaud FreedomBox for their willingness to enable access to a major component of the Podsafe Music Network, allowing blindcasters to add tracks to their playlists for downloading and playing on their podcasts. Will Podshow fix their broken HTML code that continues to deny most blind podcasters this capability? Will other screen reader developers like GW Micro and Freedom Scientific rise to the challenge by enabling this ability for their customers?

Check out Sean Patrick McGraw on the Podsafe Music Network.

Karen’s sister, Mary Beth, goes into the hospital tomorrow to have her second baby, making Karen an aunt for the fifth time. Will the child be a boy or girl? Stay tuned for all the details!

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Yahoo! Mail May Soon Become Inaccessible

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Jim, an avid Yahoo! Mail premium subscriber, reports that the company’s latest beta is almost completely inaccessible to those of us whom rely on screen readers. True to form, Yahoo! has not yet chosen to respond to Jim’s concerns. Yahoo! has been ignoring our need for accessible visual verification for a long time now without consequence. It seems the blow off of the blind continues with this latest beta. Any additional news on this front would be quite welcome.

I deeply regret having to report that the beta of the new yahoo mail
has been made mostly inaccessible to us as screen reader
users. While it is hit or miss possible at times to route the mouse
cursor and click some of the controls and have them work, it is not
reliably accessible by any means and certainly is not practical to
use in such a state. The technology they are using as of the beta
does not allow the screen reader to work with the controls in many
cases. For example messages no longer show up as a link that you can
activate to open them and there is no longer any checkbox to check to
perform actions on messages. You can no longer even see anything
that allows you to get to any subsequent pages of messages in a
folder beyond the first one. Some of the controls such as folder
names, compose, reply, forward, etc are now on mouse over links which
actually can be manipulated more or less depending on which version
of your screen reader you have. That we could live with. The bottom
line is that yahoo mail has gone, practically over night, from being
a wonderful user experience that I personally have been a paying
subscriber to their premium services for a number of years and it has
been fantastic for my needs to a mostly inaccessible unusable
service. I have written to them via their beta feedback form twice
now. One time on Friday Dec 16, 2005 categorizing it in their
predetermined list of categories as a problem using the product and
also on Sunday December 18 selecting the category of technical
problem. In both cases I spelled out the problem and referred them
to the screen reader manufacturer web pages of GWMicro and
freedomscientific as well as offering them any help I could provide
in determining and resolving the issues. I have not gotten any
response to either message as of Monday morning December 21. I will
certainly let you know if that changes.

Using Legal Means to Obtain Satisfactory Settlements of Technology Access Issues?

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I ask Lainey Feingold for advice on how we might be able to achieve positive settlements of technology accessibility issues. Though I prefer working with the technology industry in a cooperative manner to obtain the accessibility we must ultimately be granted, I am certainly open to considering legal approaches. The issues are just too important for us to ignore as a blind community. Our futures are at stake.

Dear Ms. Feingold,

My name is Darrell Shandrow with the Blind Access Journal blog and podcast, where we hit technology accessibility issues hard and press for positive results in order to retain and improve our ability to participate in an accessible world. It seems that, despite all efforts, the amount of technology to which we are able to access with screen readers is shrinking on a minute-by-minute basis. I have recently learned of your accomplishments with the inaccessible Walmart debit card machines and was wondering what advice you may have for dealing with these accessibility issues from a legal or other basis.

Here are just a few examples of serious technology accessibility issues currently on the radar screen:

Software from companies such as Siebel is still being implemented by employers in ways that are inaccessible, even when making reasonable adjustments would be easily done, causing an inability to obtain employment or the loss of existing gainful employment for the blind.

Many companies are moving to the use of visual verification schemes to improve the security of the services they offer. Since most of these CAPTCHA implementations provide no accessible alternative, the blind are being increasingly locked out of the ability to register at many web sites and, at times, even the ability to do business is severely abridged or made completely impossible for the blind. While some accessible alternatives allow independent access through an audio playback of the characters to be entered, others require a separate manual process that is almost never followed through by the company while most simply provide no accessibility at all. Examples of offenders are Digg.com, FEMA, GoDaddy, Google, The U.S. Postal Service, Yahoo and many, many more!

There are also many companies that are simply developing their products and services without any consideration of accessibility, then failing to address the issues as they are brought to attention. Examples of offending hardware that is completely inaccessible would be many appliance manufacturers, most of Apple’s iPod and similar hardware lines, and so many others I just couldn’t begin to count. Software issues are similarly numerous, including Intuit’s Quicken and QuickBooks, numerous software development environments, many Java based applications and many more examples abound. Finally, it seems that more and more web based services are using AJAX, Flash, Microsoft .Net, and other programming languages and techniques in ways that make them completely or partially inaccessible. Again, in almost every case, requests for increased accessibility simply fall on deaf ears or otherwise receive lipservice which is never followed through to a positive conclusion. Offenders in this category include Google’s Gmail, Yahoo’s mail service, Podshow’s Podsafe Music Network, some difficulties with Microsoft’s live services and many, many more.

I am extremely concerned about the certain tragic consequences that will result if we don’t figure out some way to start gaining a foothold in our accessibility evangelism efforts very, very soon. We will, in a hurry, find ourselves not only locked out of the ability to learn and work but even to enjoy any sort of leisure activities if we don’t start seeing some real, significant positive changes in the area of technology accessibility. We currently endure a 75 percent unemployment rate in the blind community. Let’s all get ready to see that number climb much higher in the near future if we don’t start getting a handle on this stuff.

Thanks for any and all advice you can provide in our efforts to evangelize for accessibility and actually get results. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

All the best,

Darrell Shandrow

Visual Verification: I Ask Todd Cochrane to Intercede with GoDaddy to Allow the Blind to Conduct Business

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Dear Todd,

Merry Christmas to you, your family and all Geek News Central Listeners from Darrell Shandrow of the Blind Access Journal blog and podcast. I just finished listening to your Dec. 13 episode of your podcast, where you mention your willingness to work with your sponsors, such as GoDaddy, to get critical issues resolved. I hope you can help myself and thousands of other blind customers and potential customers of GoDaddy.

As you and others have been advertising, GoDaddy offers an absolutely astounding web hosting deal that is especially suited to our bandwidth needs as podcasters. Unfortunately, at the end of the order I placed with GoDaddy, I was presented with a visual verification requirement without any alternative for blind customers. Upon placing a call to GoDaddy’s sales team, Chris promised a call back from a supervisor the following day to work on addressing the issue. This call back never came and I am continuing with my current web hosting provider at this time.

Please, please, please, close your eyes and imagine how you would feel if you were unnecessarily barred from doing business, then make use of your contacts at GoDaddy to start the process of getting this issue positively resolved. Visual verification tests (what Bob Parsons calls the human verifier) lock out the blind from participation and the ability to do business when no reasonable accessible alternatives are provided. An example of an accessible alternative
would be audio playback of the code to be entered in order to pass the test. Blind people are humans just like the sighted. It is thus absolutely critical that any “human verifier” be able to recognize all human beings, regardless of the presence or absence of eye sight.

We in the blind community are looking forward to great things with respect to your ability to work with your sponsor to get this critical matter resolved. Thanks as always for a great show. I am a loyal subscriber who listens to every episode.

All the best,

Darrell Shandrow

The Difference Between Public and Private Communication

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Shownotes

Just a brief podcast discussing the importance of keeping in mind the differences between public and private communications as we conduct the online aspects of our lives. Recent indiscretion in this area may have the potential to harm working relationships necessary to improve the accessibility of vital podcast related products and services.

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Karen’s Response to Podsafe for Peace Controversy

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It appears that Karen’s excellent message below won’t see the light of day now, but I’m just glad the Podsafe for Peace topic has now been killed, hopefully once and for all, over on the blindcasting list. Thanks, Karen, for coming to my defense. Nobody is perfect. That certainly includes me. All the same, I also know what is right and will continue pressing forward.

To all Blindcast Members;

Most of you do not know who I am. I am Darrell Shandrow’s Fiancé & the silent partner on the blind Access journal. Occasionally, I can be heard on a
podcast. Some of you know who I am from other blind mailing lists or may have read articles I have posted on the blog.

Yet, the majority of you do not know me at all. This message is for all blindcasters and for anyone else sighted or not who reads this. WE all know,
even if people are not subscribed to a list, a podcast, there are times that messages & alike will eventually bee seen in one format or another by billions
of people around the world. Even if, a person may intend to send a private message to one individual or a few people & then, soon, discover, that his/her
message was posted elsewhere for all to see!

This was exactly the case with a message that Darrell had written Saturday night to Slah. He did not write to the blind casters list or anyone elseÂ’s
list or display it on his blog. He wrote a personal e-mail to Jerry himself.

Then, On Sunday, Jerry, decided to post DarrellÂ’s response to him on the blind cast list. So, there is nothing that will remain private if it is written
to a public mailing list. The only way it will remain private, if it is a dialogue between friends or between individuals whom respect & support another!

However, if anyone whom happens to disagree with you, not accept your beliefs, differences, whom does not understand anotherÂ’s experiences, attitudes or
support anotherÂ’s approach, style of discussing & approaching a subject, then, one can find his or her messages & name plastered allover the internet as
well as judging their character simply because he/she does not like someone or what they have read about a person or a subject. This is not right! Anything
that is discussed in private should remain private, unless the person has permission to post it publically.

WE need to respect each other & one anotherÂ’s ideas, opinions & method of approaching life
Furthermore, We are all human & noone, none of us is perfect. WE all have flaws, good & bad qualities. We all base our opinions & beliefs based on
our life experiences. None of us perceives the world in the same way. We need to understand anotherÂ’s perspective without immediately being critical
& patronizing another.

Moreover, I know, you are asking what does any of this have to do with anything or the PMN issues ? Everything! It does not matter what the issue is,
we all need to listen & try & understand a fellow member, anyone who we come in contact with .
Not only, have many of you judge Darrell for what he believes & some of the things he has said regarding the PMN issue, but, I am sure, many of
you will criticize me, for what I believe & just for the fact that I am associated with Darrell. I know this & am ready for all the critical & judgmental
comments you will send in my direction.

Yet, is this productive? What will we all gain from judging another, someone we really do not know? It is counterproductive to sit & judge another!
If we all utilized resources & we were united on many of these issues of accessibility * & other blindness issues* then, a great deal more would
be accomplished, much more would be achieved. I believe, we would have gain more access to print & other products that are still inaccessible to those
of us whom are blind.

In addition, the sighted public would also be more aware of the obstacles we face on a daily basis & what it truly is like to be blind. Too many
people are caught up in their own corner of the world, too concerned about themselves, their problems & do not give a second thought about those outside
their circle! We are all guilty of this, including myself!

We all need to LEAD, lead the way, to do what we can to improve the world around us. We all need to make some kind of difference & contribute to society.
We all need to LEAD! I am not just talking about leading, being a leader. This is an acronym that we use at my place of work, in the Hospitality
industry & can certainly be applied here!

LEAD;: Look, & Listen* E for
Evaluate explore options* A , ACT, Accommodate*Delight Deliver!
First, we all need to look, pay attention & observe our environment. We need to also listen, not just with our ears but with our hearts. If, we can
take the time to look & listen, to another, to find one positive trait or two about another person, then we will be much more likely to be supportive
of that person.

Next, we need to evaluate the situation. We also need to evaluate ourselves, are we doing our best, our we being true to ourselves, respectful
of others, doing anything & everything to make a difference? Our we doing all that we can to change, improve our world, not just for ourselves &
those close to us, but for all?

WE need to explore, take chances, take risks & do what is right. If you see that nothing is being done about an issue for example, then, speak out
do what you can to help!

Third, Act & accommodate. Take action, get involved , be proactive. We cannot do this alone, it takes each & everyone of us to truly “ change what it
means to be blind”
If you recognize there are things that are hindering us, limiting us & from participating equally to the sighted, donÂ’t sit back & turn a blind
eye! Do not assume that someone else will do the job, because, that person or group of individuals,, is waiting for you, others to take the responsibility
to make the changes. One needs to realize that, most people are followers & not a leader! Most conform!

The issues we have as blind people are not just lack of access to information but the inability to be involved, to participate on an equal level
with the sighted. The fact that we are blind should not affect our quality of life! This is a global issue & one needs to look at the world macroscopically.

Furthermore, issues such as PMN being inaccessible isnÂ’t just a technical & financial issue , but like everything, it is a social one.!
AS a minority most of these issues of access are also social problems!
Yes, they are Social problems! If, we do not have access to printed information & all products that are designed for the sighted , then, this
affects us, the blind, profoundly! We do not have access to print, we cannot intelligently make decisions & be aware of current Events. Also,
it effects our daily life if products are not user friendly for the blind & we have to “ depend” & “ wait for a sighted person” to get assistance”.
Why, should we accept this?
These, are just some of the issues that Darrell is concerned about.
Just because, something may not effect another directly, we as a blind community, still need to be concerned on how these issues effect us as
a whole.

I think, most of you do not understand Darrell & is concerns. Most of you donot agree with his approach. Even I , do not always agree with the
way in which he does things. However I fully support him & what he is attempting to achieve!
As they say, appearances can & are often deceiving.
Most of you do not even realize that Darrell was all excited about this project , all for it! He loved the song & couldnÂ’t wait to download it! He even
wanted to play it on his podcast.

So, if you are all upset because, you think Darrell is heartless & doesnÂ’t care about anyone else except himself, then, you are way off base.! He
truly cares about the blind & very passionate about making a significant difference in the blind community.
Yet, he cannot do this alone! He has spend countless ours outside of his work, doing anything &e everything he can to enable us the blind, to have
access to web sites, to improve the screen readers, to PMN & alike!
Never the less, many, in the blind community, have criticized his methods & efforts to make this world abettor place for us all.
So, instead of being critical of him or anyone else, stop, get your facts straight first!
Darrell was very supportive of this project, until Jerry asked Jeff bishop to remove the link on his web site that made it possible for us, as blind
people to also gain access to the song!
Jeff put a great deal of time & effort on his day off to make it possible for us all to have the access to this song. He made it possible for us to
be involved & to participate in the Podsafe for Peace project.
Then, when, we no longer had access & were left behind, locked out, then, Darrell was upset & had no interest in the project. He was also upset
at Jerry because he did not do what was needed to make sure that we had access, equal access to the music!

For those of you, who believe, that, the PMN issues are not significant nor that it is not “ your problem”? It is, anything that limits us,
that diminishes the quality of our lives, just because we are blind, because, we lack the ability to use our eyes, is something that we all need to
be involved in. It is all our problems, not just your neighbors!
So, instead of spending time assuming that someone does not care or has a bad attitude, or that someone else will take responsibility, think, act,
and be a LEADER!

Last, before you send another message or have another conversation with anyone, keep in mind, that someone may take it, post it somewhere for all
to hear. Someone, may twist your words, , be critical you & not know anything about you!
For those of you, who do not subscribe to DarrellÂ’s podcast or view his blog, yet, judge him, think twice! You may want to subscribe & look & listen!
Perhaps, then, you will understand, another fellow human being & their method of madness! Darrell is a LEADER & takes risks! He is doing what he
can & is making a difference in the community. Are you? LetÂ’s all LEAD the way, for if we do, we can truly make a difference. Someone said,
one must sit down to failure before one can dine on success” “ & “ if you say, you can’t , you won’t!
This is just food for thought as you all enjoy your Holiday.