IT and Accessit July 2009
Roger Wilson-Hinds
I am replying to a June AccessIT article, reprinted from Braille Monitor which compared four low cost screenreader software talking packages.
I am responsible for distributing the thunder screenreader software round the world so at first I was cross and very disappointed. Thunder got short shrift. Rated the poorest Low cost screenreader.
My first reaction was to get on the phone and scream and shout about the inaccuracies and the briefness of the Thunder description. But at nearly seventy, I had the wisdom to engage brain before opening my big mouth. So how could such misinformation come to be in a professionally produced and widely respected specialist Braille magazine?
My granddaughter gave me the hint when I showed her the magazine I was reading. It was the cover. “What are floppy disks and what was life like before the internet? This was the drift of the discussion.
Don’t get me wrong. I love reading a Braille magazine on the train and there is no criticism implied or intended. But follow two chains of events:
The June article was written some time ago by a professional team well briefed in accessibility issues. It would then be approved and published and time marched on. Permissions were sought by RNIB and granted and the same article was reprinted in Braille and time marched on. I did not get round to reading the magazine until late July.
Now consider the second chain of events. I read the article on 22 July and am furious. I write this article on 22nd July and immediately pop it up as a blog on my company website also on 22nd July. I ask for it to be published as my right of reply on the same day and it may or may not get into the Braille magazine until September or possibly October, depending on the level of suitable material coming in to the Editor and it might not, of course, be deemed suitable anyway.
What my grand daughter does at the age of ten when she wants some information is to Google it. There is no waiting for her and her mates. So if readers want information about Thunder or much else for that matter, they should Google it and get the latest there is.
So now to the point: If you care to Google “screenreader” you will indeed find www.screenreader.net once or twice in the first five results. You will see clearly that Thunder is totally free to everyone, individuals and organisations. You will see that it comes in three forms: An installation .exe file so you can put it on your PC or laptop within a couple of minutes. There is a zipped file so you can copy it over to media, a pen drive, a disk or a card and run it on any modern Windows PC or laptop running XP or Vista, or very soon, Windows7 too. And there is also an MSI version for techies wanting Thunder on the college or school network etc.
We do indeed use WebbIE as our text browser and many people find WebbIE a most useful way to enjoy the internet and gather information quickly. But it does not suit everyone and we are working currently on an innovative way to get the best out of Internet Explorer 8. If you want an alternative browser such as Firefox, then Google NVDA and you will get to a pretty good option.
Thunder gives access to many Windows applications: MS Word, Outlook Express, Outlook, Notepad, Wordpad, Calc, LastFM, BBC iPlayer, and I could go on and on. If you find something you need access to, by all means ask us to create a script to make it work and we will do our best.
There is a moral to this story and I think it is about moving with the times and not doing things the way we used to in the dark ages of five years ago. Braille mags have their place and long should continue. What they can’t do is give you, the reader, the very latest information and they do you a disservice by conveying old hat stuff. I stress my commitment to Braille magazines and enjoy reading AccessIT.
Roger and Margaret Wilson-Hinds run Screenreader.net from their home in Peterborough. They supply a range of low cost and no cost products including free Thunder, the Lightning magnifier software package, a range of electronic magnifiers and a scanning software package. The company has over one hundred thousand users worldwide and is committed to serving the needs of those not able to afford commercially priced screenreader products.
Contact Details:
E: roger”screenreader.net
T: 01733 234441
W: www.screenreader.net
Blogs at www.screenreader.net
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Well, sadly, this blog has been a long time coming but at least there is some news to report.
There is a new version of Thunder up there on www.screenreader.net and some useful improvements too.
You will find three options: the first, thunder.exe is what you need if you just want to install Thunder and run it from your usual computer.
The second, let’s you use a memory stick, a thumb drive, and use Thunder on any machine. You just push the memory stick with Thunder on it, into a USB drive and away you go. The download is a .zip file. So you copy that zip file on to the memory stick and unzip it again on the memory stick – unzip here.
The third option probably won’t concern most home users. But Thunder is increasingly being used in schools, colleges, and other organisations. In such cases, the network manager will want Thunder as an MSI file so she can control the way it behaves on the various machines.
Of course, all versions are free to anyone in the world and we very much want to hear from you how you get on with Thunder. We mostly receive good reports and lots of encouragement but there will always be problems with computers and software. We can only learn from your feedback and strive to improve things.
We do encourage you to make a donation towards our work if you are pleased with what you get. We are not money-grabbers but do have monthly expenses in running this service.
You will find some improvements to both Thunder and to WebbIE too. There is a new set of help and support files. You will see on the website or should I say see or hear, a link with the title “First Help”. This is for complete beginners and gives you a start as to which keys to be pressing. The other help files in Thunder help were written by a volunteer great supporter who is a user himself who does not see the screen.
Always on the move, we shall be spending time next week planning ahead how we are going to improve Thunder and the web even more. It works fine on corporate websites where lots of cash has been spent but the web is changing fast and many of us are board with corporate stuff and want to do our own thing and listen to others doing their own thing too. And it is not reasonable to expect such home-spun websites to be so accessible. We have been looking at Facebook, Youtube and Twitter amongst others. Great fun and it won’t be long before we show you how to enjoy such pleasures.
There is a new version of Thunder up there on www.screenreader.net and some useful improvements too.
You will find three options: the first, thunder.exe is what you need if you just want to install Thunder and run it from your usual computer.
The second, let’s you use a memory stick, a thumb drive, and use Thunder on any machine. You just push the memory stick with Thunder on it, into a USB drive and away you go. The download is a .zip file. So you copy that zip file on to the memory stick and unzip it again on the memory stick – unzip here.
The third option probably won’t concern most home users. But Thunder is increasingly being used in schools, colleges, and other organisations. In such cases, the network manager will want Thunder as an MSI file so she can control the way it behaves on the various machines.
Of course, all versions are free to anyone in the world and we very much want to hear from you how you get on with Thunder. We mostly receive good reports and lots of encouragement but there will always be problems with computers and software. We can only learn from your feedback and strive to improve things.
We do encourage you to make a donation towards our work if you are pleased with what you get. We are not money-grabbers but do have monthly expenses in running this service.
You will find some improvements to both Thunder and to WebbIE too. There is a new set of help and support files. You will see on the website or should I say see or hear, a link with the title “First Help”. This is for complete beginners and gives you a start as to which keys to be pressing. The other help files in Thunder help were written by a volunteer great supporter who is a user himself who does not see the screen.
Always on the move, we shall be spending time next week planning ahead how we are going to improve Thunder and the web even more. It works fine on corporate websites where lots of cash has been spent but the web is changing fast and many of us are board with corporate stuff and want to do our own thing and listen to others doing their own thing too. And it is not reasonable to expect such home-spun websites to be so accessible. We have been looking at Facebook, Youtube and Twitter amongst others. Great fun and it won’t be long before we show you how to enjoy such pleasures.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Louis Braille
www.screenreder.net
I should think that everyone knows who invented Braille. Louis Braille, of course and all the blindness charities round the world will rightly be celebrating Louis’ wonderful achievement, Margaret and I very much with the rest. Our personal lives have been transformed by Braille.
But Louis Braille was really all about information, communication, reading and writing if you can’t see. Paper and bodged dots was the technology available to him at the time; but what if Louis was around today? What would 21st Century Braille be like?
I fancy he would be like us at Screenreader.net and getting very excited about the modern computer that can speak, read, tell you what you are writing and amazingly put you in touch with people and information un-dreamed of in his dots and paper age. He might too, like us, have wanted all this to be a free option, there for even the poorest blind person.
He lived in an institution, died largely unrecognised except by his close mates and, like many brilliant inventors, failed to reap material rewards for his genius. I wonder who his boss was, if he had a Line Manager or a business plan. My guess is that he never got invited to the posh charity events of his time. How many of us know the name of the very important blind institution where he worked or even what his “proper job” was supposed to be. I wonder if it entered his head to charge his blind peers for Braille books, so much per page, per dot etc.
Its very right to be celebrating the memory of Louis Braille’s birth on January 4 and throughout 2009, but let’s learn some basic lessons and celebrate the human being, the inventor, the genius of a blind man and not just milk it to raise funds.
I was emailed by RNIB and asked to publish details of Louis Braille celebration events mostly here in the UK and I am pleased to be able to do this so that our many Thunder supporters round the world can pay tribute to a great man. But I do like the Australian touch best: A day on the beech in the sun.
The Louis Braille Bicentenary
Louis Braille was born on the 4th January 1809. To celebrate the achievements and legacy of this remarkable man, organisations across the globe are planning special programmes of events for 2009. A brief summary follows:-
RNIB events
RNIB will be using the year not only to raise awareness of braille but also to encourage more people (particularly adults) to learn braille
• From January 2009, there will be an advertising campaign and media relations demonstrating how braille has changed peoples lives.
• On the 4th January RNIB will launch an exciting new look website containing lots of up to date information, podcasts and videos
• There will be a high profile signature event in March. David Blunkett, the patron for the years celebrations, will attend the proceedings
• Two amateur radio enthusiasts have secured the call sign GB2HLB. They will be in contact with other enthusiasts around the world between the 26th December 2008 and 22nd January 2009.
• RNIB Cymru will be holding a children's essay competition. Children will be invited to write an essay with a welsh theme in either English or Welsh braille
• In Late Spring 2009, RNIB will be publishing the results of a major piece of research on the issues facing adults learning braille
• Two key products will be launched. The first, a grade one braille course is for both sighted and touch learners. The kit will contain braille writing equipment so that learners can immediately start to label things and write short notes. The second product is the innovative 'upward' writing frame which means that braille no longer has to be written using the reverse mirror writing method. The stylus makes 'upward' dots.
• A book will be published in conjunction with the EBU. It will contain a selection of winning essays entitled 'How Braille changed my life'
• The annual UK Techshare conference highlights the role of technology in the everyday life of people with disabilities. In September it will have a braille theme and it is hoped it will host the French traveling exhibition on Louis Braille and his legacy
Other UK Activities
• RNIB, Torch, Blind Catholics, Guild of Church braillists, St. John's Guild, and others are organising a Louis Braille thanksgiving service to be held at St. Martin's in the Fields, London on Saturday March 21st
• The BBC world service plan to broadcast a programme on the 4th January 2009, highlighting the global reach and appeal of braille in its many forms. There will also be sections on the life of Louis Braille and braille and innovation.
• Traveleyes, a company specialising in holidays for blind and partially sighted people is organising a trip to France in May 2009 with a Louis Braille theme.
• National Braille Week are organising an international Chess tournament in Edinburgh running from the 2nd January to the 4th January 2009. All moves will be recorded in Braille. There will also be a braille exhibition.
Some International Events
• The French organising committee (CINAL) are having a 4 day symposium beginning on the 4th January 2009 with a concert in Paris in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The conference is entitled 'Braille 2009 - 6 dot writing and its future'.
• The Americans have produced a silver dollar featuring the face of Louis Braille on the head side. It will cost $11 dollars and the $10 premium will be directed to groups which benefit the blind.
• CINAL are organising a second conference in June. It will take place in Coupvray (the birth place of Louis Braille) and will cover independence, integration and access to knowledge. It will inform the 'Coupvray Charter' which will have 10 key political proposals. The activities will conclude with a concert featuring Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli
• National Braille Press has produced a range of promotional items (lapel pins, notelets, Bookmarks, Key chains, Poster) These are all for sale at www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis
• On the 4th January the Australians are having a celebration on the beach with a 50 metre long braille sand sculpture. 'The spirit of Louis Braille will meet the spirit of Australia in the sand the sun and the surf'.
I should think that everyone knows who invented Braille. Louis Braille, of course and all the blindness charities round the world will rightly be celebrating Louis’ wonderful achievement, Margaret and I very much with the rest. Our personal lives have been transformed by Braille.
But Louis Braille was really all about information, communication, reading and writing if you can’t see. Paper and bodged dots was the technology available to him at the time; but what if Louis was around today? What would 21st Century Braille be like?
I fancy he would be like us at Screenreader.net and getting very excited about the modern computer that can speak, read, tell you what you are writing and amazingly put you in touch with people and information un-dreamed of in his dots and paper age. He might too, like us, have wanted all this to be a free option, there for even the poorest blind person.
He lived in an institution, died largely unrecognised except by his close mates and, like many brilliant inventors, failed to reap material rewards for his genius. I wonder who his boss was, if he had a Line Manager or a business plan. My guess is that he never got invited to the posh charity events of his time. How many of us know the name of the very important blind institution where he worked or even what his “proper job” was supposed to be. I wonder if it entered his head to charge his blind peers for Braille books, so much per page, per dot etc.
Its very right to be celebrating the memory of Louis Braille’s birth on January 4 and throughout 2009, but let’s learn some basic lessons and celebrate the human being, the inventor, the genius of a blind man and not just milk it to raise funds.
I was emailed by RNIB and asked to publish details of Louis Braille celebration events mostly here in the UK and I am pleased to be able to do this so that our many Thunder supporters round the world can pay tribute to a great man. But I do like the Australian touch best: A day on the beech in the sun.
The Louis Braille Bicentenary
Louis Braille was born on the 4th January 1809. To celebrate the achievements and legacy of this remarkable man, organisations across the globe are planning special programmes of events for 2009. A brief summary follows:-
RNIB events
RNIB will be using the year not only to raise awareness of braille but also to encourage more people (particularly adults) to learn braille
• From January 2009, there will be an advertising campaign and media relations demonstrating how braille has changed peoples lives.
• On the 4th January RNIB will launch an exciting new look website containing lots of up to date information, podcasts and videos
• There will be a high profile signature event in March. David Blunkett, the patron for the years celebrations, will attend the proceedings
• Two amateur radio enthusiasts have secured the call sign GB2HLB. They will be in contact with other enthusiasts around the world between the 26th December 2008 and 22nd January 2009.
• RNIB Cymru will be holding a children's essay competition. Children will be invited to write an essay with a welsh theme in either English or Welsh braille
• In Late Spring 2009, RNIB will be publishing the results of a major piece of research on the issues facing adults learning braille
• Two key products will be launched. The first, a grade one braille course is for both sighted and touch learners. The kit will contain braille writing equipment so that learners can immediately start to label things and write short notes. The second product is the innovative 'upward' writing frame which means that braille no longer has to be written using the reverse mirror writing method. The stylus makes 'upward' dots.
• A book will be published in conjunction with the EBU. It will contain a selection of winning essays entitled 'How Braille changed my life'
• The annual UK Techshare conference highlights the role of technology in the everyday life of people with disabilities. In September it will have a braille theme and it is hoped it will host the French traveling exhibition on Louis Braille and his legacy
Other UK Activities
• RNIB, Torch, Blind Catholics, Guild of Church braillists, St. John's Guild, and others are organising a Louis Braille thanksgiving service to be held at St. Martin's in the Fields, London on Saturday March 21st
• The BBC world service plan to broadcast a programme on the 4th January 2009, highlighting the global reach and appeal of braille in its many forms. There will also be sections on the life of Louis Braille and braille and innovation.
• Traveleyes, a company specialising in holidays for blind and partially sighted people is organising a trip to France in May 2009 with a Louis Braille theme.
• National Braille Week are organising an international Chess tournament in Edinburgh running from the 2nd January to the 4th January 2009. All moves will be recorded in Braille. There will also be a braille exhibition.
Some International Events
• The French organising committee (CINAL) are having a 4 day symposium beginning on the 4th January 2009 with a concert in Paris in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The conference is entitled 'Braille 2009 - 6 dot writing and its future'.
• The Americans have produced a silver dollar featuring the face of Louis Braille on the head side. It will cost $11 dollars and the $10 premium will be directed to groups which benefit the blind.
• CINAL are organising a second conference in June. It will take place in Coupvray (the birth place of Louis Braille) and will cover independence, integration and access to knowledge. It will inform the 'Coupvray Charter' which will have 10 key political proposals. The activities will conclude with a concert featuring Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli
• National Braille Press has produced a range of promotional items (lapel pins, notelets, Bookmarks, Key chains, Poster) These are all for sale at www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis
• On the 4th January the Australians are having a celebration on the beach with a 50 metre long braille sand sculpture. 'The spirit of Louis Braille will meet the spirit of Australia in the sand the sun and the surf'.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
EVERYONE A WINNER
RADAR is a very influential charity in the UK, bringing together a pan-disability approach to empower and prosper Screenreader was nominated for an Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year Award and we went along on 1st December to a fabulous evening at the Battersea Evolution in London. There were over three hundred people, many or most disabled in all sorts of ways, the food, drink and flowed all for free and we did not mind that we were not the winners. Blindness gets a good deal of empathy but we chatted to people who had been involved in accidents and suddenly were not able to walk, people, sometimes in high positions, who had suffered mental health, depression etc, and some who could hardly move a muscle. So we are fine, but just can’t see.
It takes me a long time to grow up and understand. For years I thought such glitzy occasions were a total waste of money and time. The RADAR evening budget, for instance, could run our Screenreader.net enterprise for more than a year, for sure. But I have been wrong.
Margaret and I were poshed up in our bow tie and evening dress etc which is certainly not our style and Tania, Margaret’s guide dog, sported a matching bow. But its what inside that counts and we chatted away to like-minded people who are obsessed, like us, with their project, living on pretty low incomes, probably less than the lowest paid jobs in Tesco and the like. They would be shouting for disabled people in Newcastle, campaigning for those in sheltered accommodation to be able to earn more than £20 a week in a society where top bankers get millions a year when retired early for the mess they have played a part in creating. We met a chap from Kenya, over hear amongst our wealth, to return home with ideas to improve the lives of blind people with great brains but no job or money. ,
If everyone went home as fired up as we were, then some good things for disabled people are going to happen over the coming year and the money was well spent. And we all had the opportunity of appearing amongst representatives of large organisations and celebrities who really do have the power and the influence to make big-time changes in Society. Amongst the sponsors were Sky, BBC, Lloyds TSB, a bank actually getting applause, and the Home Office.
No one seemed bowed down by the credit crunch and the gloomy economic forecasts and we for sure will double our efforts to get our free software round the world. Yesterday, working with a student from Nepal, a computer spoke the first words in Nepalese and we plan to work closely with a school for blind children and young people out there. And, if all goes well, we will be putting our efforts into Swahili with the cooperation of the Kenyan Blind Union.
At home, here in the UK, we have landed our first Government contract with the ministry of Justice on the theme of engaging blind people in the political process. We have to teach, on line, our users to blog, take part in petitions, easily get information from the web, and generally make their voice and needs heard by our politicians.
For the last year, we have been working on some software for people with learning difficulties as well as little or no sight. Software is never done; always a work in progress. But www.talkingcomputers.info is where you will find more details and the chance to try it out or at least tell others about it for us, please. Lots of goodies for people who have not been able to get much out of a computer up to now. There is easy access to music, radio choices, a talking calendar, dice, clock and even some games and educational stuff. So please spread the word for us if you are able.
Back to The People of the Year Awards: The Winning Entrepreneur had been shot up in Iraq. Within two years, he has set up a business which teacher==s professionals how to deal with severely damaged victims on the spot, in that first precious hour, so that they survive, even though badly damaged. A great tribute to the human spirit which is indomitable in some people.
It takes me a long time to grow up and understand. For years I thought such glitzy occasions were a total waste of money and time. The RADAR evening budget, for instance, could run our Screenreader.net enterprise for more than a year, for sure. But I have been wrong.
Margaret and I were poshed up in our bow tie and evening dress etc which is certainly not our style and Tania, Margaret’s guide dog, sported a matching bow. But its what inside that counts and we chatted away to like-minded people who are obsessed, like us, with their project, living on pretty low incomes, probably less than the lowest paid jobs in Tesco and the like. They would be shouting for disabled people in Newcastle, campaigning for those in sheltered accommodation to be able to earn more than £20 a week in a society where top bankers get millions a year when retired early for the mess they have played a part in creating. We met a chap from Kenya, over hear amongst our wealth, to return home with ideas to improve the lives of blind people with great brains but no job or money. ,
If everyone went home as fired up as we were, then some good things for disabled people are going to happen over the coming year and the money was well spent. And we all had the opportunity of appearing amongst representatives of large organisations and celebrities who really do have the power and the influence to make big-time changes in Society. Amongst the sponsors were Sky, BBC, Lloyds TSB, a bank actually getting applause, and the Home Office.
No one seemed bowed down by the credit crunch and the gloomy economic forecasts and we for sure will double our efforts to get our free software round the world. Yesterday, working with a student from Nepal, a computer spoke the first words in Nepalese and we plan to work closely with a school for blind children and young people out there. And, if all goes well, we will be putting our efforts into Swahili with the cooperation of the Kenyan Blind Union.
At home, here in the UK, we have landed our first Government contract with the ministry of Justice on the theme of engaging blind people in the political process. We have to teach, on line, our users to blog, take part in petitions, easily get information from the web, and generally make their voice and needs heard by our politicians.
For the last year, we have been working on some software for people with learning difficulties as well as little or no sight. Software is never done; always a work in progress. But www.talkingcomputers.info is where you will find more details and the chance to try it out or at least tell others about it for us, please. Lots of goodies for people who have not been able to get much out of a computer up to now. There is easy access to music, radio choices, a talking calendar, dice, clock and even some games and educational stuff. So please spread the word for us if you are able.
Back to The People of the Year Awards: The Winning Entrepreneur had been shot up in Iraq. Within two years, he has set up a business which teacher==s professionals how to deal with severely damaged victims on the spot, in that first precious hour, so that they survive, even though badly damaged. A great tribute to the human spirit which is indomitable in some people.
Monday, 3 November 2008
MORE THUNDER SUCCESS
Blog: More Success for Thunder
Sometimes, but not very often, we feel the need to moan. It’s a bad old world and when thousands of people are so misused in the Congo and Jonathan Ross gets the BBC News headlines in the UK…well one could lose hope. Similarly, we sometimes wonder if we really can include poor blind people in the computer age when so many large blindness organisations only bang on about software which is absolutely out of reach of millions of pockets. But then we get fabulous emails from Thunder users and some formal recognition from “the powers that be”.
So Thunder is up for two more awards before Christmas and has won its first small Government contract here in the UK.
TalkTalk is a leading provider here of mobile phones and Broadband internet services. TalkTalk has a good reputation for being straightforward and not too expensive at the same time. Thunder has been given an award for IT services to disadvantaged communities and Margaret and I are off to the House of Lords on Wednesday for the presentation. We also get a business mentoring session with Martha Lane-Fox, the best known co-founder of lastminute.com.
And on December 1 we both get what looks like being a great night out in London. We are short-listed as Disabled Social Entrepreneur of the Year, UK hosted by RADAR at the Battersea Evolution. We should rub shoulders with the great and the good from Government and the private sector and spread the word on behalf of blind people needing computers which they can enjoy using.
We don’t, of course, regard such prizes as personal to us. But they do help Thunder, Sensory Software Ltd and Screenreader.net CIC to become known and this has the effect of bringing in more and more supporters and users. Its possible, for example, that our Ministry for Communities award for services to e-participation earlier in the year has played a part in us getting our first UK Government contract..
The UK Ministry of Justice website is technically accessible according to agreed standards. But that’s only part of the story from a blind user’s viewpoint. So we will provide specialist helpline support by telephone or email, to help individuals who need to perform a specific task on the website which is proving a challenge. If they struggle to do what they need to do about a passport, the individual can get in touch with our helpline and be guided through the process. And they won’t be told to click on this or that because our helpline people are visually impaired themselves and know the challenges of not being able to see the mouse pointer.
Lastly, its great to come across another company who wants to make something free for those not able to afford the costly stuff. Jarte (www.jarte.com) is such a company in the word processing sector. The creators of Jarte have produced something which just works out of the box – a simple word processor which will do all the things us normal people want to do at home or in a small business. But its small and friendly and not like the Titanic unwieldy liner which most of us come across at work. Jarte have agreed to make it work with Thunder, like it does already with other screenreaders, at the next version but if anyone wants to trial it now, please email me and I will pass on the simple instruction which will take just a couple of lines.
Sometimes, but not very often, we feel the need to moan. It’s a bad old world and when thousands of people are so misused in the Congo and Jonathan Ross gets the BBC News headlines in the UK…well one could lose hope. Similarly, we sometimes wonder if we really can include poor blind people in the computer age when so many large blindness organisations only bang on about software which is absolutely out of reach of millions of pockets. But then we get fabulous emails from Thunder users and some formal recognition from “the powers that be”.
So Thunder is up for two more awards before Christmas and has won its first small Government contract here in the UK.
TalkTalk is a leading provider here of mobile phones and Broadband internet services. TalkTalk has a good reputation for being straightforward and not too expensive at the same time. Thunder has been given an award for IT services to disadvantaged communities and Margaret and I are off to the House of Lords on Wednesday for the presentation. We also get a business mentoring session with Martha Lane-Fox, the best known co-founder of lastminute.com.
And on December 1 we both get what looks like being a great night out in London. We are short-listed as Disabled Social Entrepreneur of the Year, UK hosted by RADAR at the Battersea Evolution. We should rub shoulders with the great and the good from Government and the private sector and spread the word on behalf of blind people needing computers which they can enjoy using.
We don’t, of course, regard such prizes as personal to us. But they do help Thunder, Sensory Software Ltd and Screenreader.net CIC to become known and this has the effect of bringing in more and more supporters and users. Its possible, for example, that our Ministry for Communities award for services to e-participation earlier in the year has played a part in us getting our first UK Government contract..
The UK Ministry of Justice website is technically accessible according to agreed standards. But that’s only part of the story from a blind user’s viewpoint. So we will provide specialist helpline support by telephone or email, to help individuals who need to perform a specific task on the website which is proving a challenge. If they struggle to do what they need to do about a passport, the individual can get in touch with our helpline and be guided through the process. And they won’t be told to click on this or that because our helpline people are visually impaired themselves and know the challenges of not being able to see the mouse pointer.
Lastly, its great to come across another company who wants to make something free for those not able to afford the costly stuff. Jarte (www.jarte.com) is such a company in the word processing sector. The creators of Jarte have produced something which just works out of the box – a simple word processor which will do all the things us normal people want to do at home or in a small business. But its small and friendly and not like the Titanic unwieldy liner which most of us come across at work. Jarte have agreed to make it work with Thunder, like it does already with other screenreaders, at the next version but if anyone wants to trial it now, please email me and I will pass on the simple instruction which will take just a couple of lines.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
The Credit Crunch and Greetings Cards
The Credit Crunch and Greetings Cards.
There is so much economic gloom and doom about these days, one wonders how people with little or no sight will survive and of course we will.
I was born in 1940 in the West Midlands, UK with bombs falling by night and visiting the hospital several times each week. So, from my perspective, things have greatly improved. And its great to hear that individual spirit remains undeterred. Organisations serving our interests might cut back, re-organise and come up with new strategies but here below is an example of two great individuals bringing something rather special to our market. So please encourage them.
Thursday, 9/10/08, was World Sight Day which is this year dedicated to raising awareness of visual loss amongst older people. To coincide with this awareness raising event a visually impaired couple launched an innovative venture which hopes, in some way, to help partially sighted older people and younger ones too! Jim and Linda Lawson launched Easy2C, producing a very different type of greetings card which is, as it says on the tin, easy to see for anyone with a sight loss who can still read a little. Both the artwork and print size have been carefully designed to match the needs of those losing vision and those with conditions such as Macular Degeneration or Glaucoma.
The card designs are produced by a visually impaired artist qualified to degree level, Rachel Duerden, and the paper, envelopes and inserts are made from managed forests, thus environmentally friendly. 5% of the profits will go back to charities supporting and selling our work, commencing with Henshaws Society for Blind People who have very kindly offered their knowledge and assistance to get the venture off the ground and host the points of sale for Jim and Linda.
Easy2C was created because so many older people receive cards they cannot read and often have to ask others to read them for them or just guess the name of the sender. Of those who have seen these new cards, the reaction has been fantastic. The greetings can be tailor made for different occasions as well as buying the standard greetings off the shelf. For further information contact Easy2C on 01704 573199 or Henshaws in Liverpool on 0151 557 1226.
I don’t know how many hours I have spent with a powerful magnifying glass trying to puzzle out who our Christmas cards are from.
Our sales of scanning software and higher quality voices have certainly dropped off over the past month but we continue to receive requests for computer training. We don’t get grants from the Government and we have no contract work these days to lose. I would remind you that our free Thunder software will not further drop in price, however bad any recession might get and we won’t stop giving our time and energy to blind people needing their computer questions answered.
You can see from all this that I remain pretty up-beat about things and just admire ordinary people like Linda and Jim who keep having a go, coming up with something straightforward that meets a need.
There is so much economic gloom and doom about these days, one wonders how people with little or no sight will survive and of course we will.
I was born in 1940 in the West Midlands, UK with bombs falling by night and visiting the hospital several times each week. So, from my perspective, things have greatly improved. And its great to hear that individual spirit remains undeterred. Organisations serving our interests might cut back, re-organise and come up with new strategies but here below is an example of two great individuals bringing something rather special to our market. So please encourage them.
Thursday, 9/10/08, was World Sight Day which is this year dedicated to raising awareness of visual loss amongst older people. To coincide with this awareness raising event a visually impaired couple launched an innovative venture which hopes, in some way, to help partially sighted older people and younger ones too! Jim and Linda Lawson launched Easy2C, producing a very different type of greetings card which is, as it says on the tin, easy to see for anyone with a sight loss who can still read a little. Both the artwork and print size have been carefully designed to match the needs of those losing vision and those with conditions such as Macular Degeneration or Glaucoma.
The card designs are produced by a visually impaired artist qualified to degree level, Rachel Duerden, and the paper, envelopes and inserts are made from managed forests, thus environmentally friendly. 5% of the profits will go back to charities supporting and selling our work, commencing with Henshaws Society for Blind People who have very kindly offered their knowledge and assistance to get the venture off the ground and host the points of sale for Jim and Linda.
Easy2C was created because so many older people receive cards they cannot read and often have to ask others to read them for them or just guess the name of the sender. Of those who have seen these new cards, the reaction has been fantastic. The greetings can be tailor made for different occasions as well as buying the standard greetings off the shelf. For further information contact Easy2C on 01704 573199 or Henshaws in Liverpool on 0151 557 1226.
I don’t know how many hours I have spent with a powerful magnifying glass trying to puzzle out who our Christmas cards are from.
Our sales of scanning software and higher quality voices have certainly dropped off over the past month but we continue to receive requests for computer training. We don’t get grants from the Government and we have no contract work these days to lose. I would remind you that our free Thunder software will not further drop in price, however bad any recession might get and we won’t stop giving our time and energy to blind people needing their computer questions answered.
You can see from all this that I remain pretty up-beat about things and just admire ordinary people like Linda and Jim who keep having a go, coming up with something straightforward that meets a need.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
On Friday in London, I attended a conference entitled “Scripting Enabled” which in advance was described to me as a hackers’ day. So this was about good hackers lending their skills to the disabled community, hurrying up the process of accessibility and inclusion.. Scripting Enabled is the vision and brain-child of Christian Heilmann , a developer evangelist with lots to contribute. Its well worth searching on Scripting Enabled at http://scriptingenabled.org/about/ and following the story as it will unfold.
The morning session was all about the very diverse needs of various disability groups. People with learning disabilities might need pictures where we blind users need words. Christian has developed an excellent Easy YouTube video player with big buttons, clear colours and built-in keyboard accessibility which just works out of the box. It really is the easiest way to enjoy the YouTube experience and there must be something for us all there.
After the break, AbilityNet presented videos showing people with vision disabilities struggling with JAWS and ZoomText and I was left smugly thinking how much easier is the web with WebbIE which works with all screenreaders, free or expensive and offers magnification as well as the speech. But I very much took to their approach of open evaluation and user-lead opinions and experiences. This is something we at Screenreader.net need to take on board now.
The afternoon was not so good for me as I am not up there with the Techy JAWS brigade and, sadly I had to miss the panel session at the end. I can’t cover more in a short blog but try http://www.slideshare.net/cheilmann/scripting-enabled-how-accessibilty-concerns-can-fuel-mashup-innovation and particularly http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/ to dig deeper.
There really now is a shift of emphasis within the Assistive Technology industry compared to when we set up Screenreader.net two years ago. The market leader remains for blind and VI users but the pack are coming closer and freedom is better understood in terms of usability and user limited cash flow rather than being merely scientific. Though not cheap, Guide is there for the older population with poorer memories; NVDA from Australia, http://www.nvaccess.org/, is chasing Thunder and each have their strengths and weakness, no doubt. At least for free you can enjoy the benefits of both or either.
And today I heard of another free player from the States which sounds great but which I have not tried yet. At http://www.amazability.com/about.htm you can read about Adept1 which has received pretty massive Government developing backing in the States and which claims to offer Voice Input and voice output access to much of what the non-techy computer user might need. The software will be free, like ours. Nice to know we had a great idea like others.
The vision, so far as we are concerned, is nearer to reality and we welcome competition and or cooperation in this field. We will not hesitate to continue to develop and promote Thunder and WebbIE and speak openly about its ease of use as well as what it can’t currently achieve; but full marks to all others with a similar vision and mission.
The morning session was all about the very diverse needs of various disability groups. People with learning disabilities might need pictures where we blind users need words. Christian has developed an excellent Easy YouTube video player with big buttons, clear colours and built-in keyboard accessibility which just works out of the box. It really is the easiest way to enjoy the YouTube experience and there must be something for us all there.
After the break, AbilityNet presented videos showing people with vision disabilities struggling with JAWS and ZoomText and I was left smugly thinking how much easier is the web with WebbIE which works with all screenreaders, free or expensive and offers magnification as well as the speech. But I very much took to their approach of open evaluation and user-lead opinions and experiences. This is something we at Screenreader.net need to take on board now.
The afternoon was not so good for me as I am not up there with the Techy JAWS brigade and, sadly I had to miss the panel session at the end. I can’t cover more in a short blog but try http://www.slideshare.net/cheilmann/scripting-enabled-how-accessibilty-concerns-can-fuel-mashup-innovation and particularly http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/ to dig deeper.
There really now is a shift of emphasis within the Assistive Technology industry compared to when we set up Screenreader.net two years ago. The market leader remains for blind and VI users but the pack are coming closer and freedom is better understood in terms of usability and user limited cash flow rather than being merely scientific. Though not cheap, Guide is there for the older population with poorer memories; NVDA from Australia, http://www.nvaccess.org/, is chasing Thunder and each have their strengths and weakness, no doubt. At least for free you can enjoy the benefits of both or either.
And today I heard of another free player from the States which sounds great but which I have not tried yet. At http://www.amazability.com/about.htm you can read about Adept1 which has received pretty massive Government developing backing in the States and which claims to offer Voice Input and voice output access to much of what the non-techy computer user might need. The software will be free, like ours. Nice to know we had a great idea like others.
The vision, so far as we are concerned, is nearer to reality and we welcome competition and or cooperation in this field. We will not hesitate to continue to develop and promote Thunder and WebbIE and speak openly about its ease of use as well as what it can’t currently achieve; but full marks to all others with a similar vision and mission.
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