[gui-talk] Fwd: Accessible Devices Opportunity To Have Input On The Design of NewRadio

[Steve Pattison]

If you have any features you'd like included in this radio please make 
sure you send your messages to sam at sw541 at speedemessenger.com and not 
to me.  Thanks, Steve.

From: "Sam Ward" sw541 at speedemessenger.com
To: Mike's Mess List mikesmess2 at mikesmess.com

Hi there folks,

So often when we buy a portable radio and CD player these days, we
find that we can only use some of the options that are available and the
others require at least some vision to use.

Well, a friend of mine is in a rather unique position, and here's what
he writes.

Hi Sam,

Right now, I'd like to tell you about a couple projects I'm involved in.

The Best Buy electronics retail chain is teaming up with an electronics
manufacturer to offer a blind-friendly radio. It's just in the planning 
stages
right now. I have a contact who is involved in the talks between Best 
Buy and the
manufacturer.

My friend would like to know the top ten things we as blind persons 
would
like to see in a radio. The first thing I said was to have a num pad on 
the
remote so we could put in a frequency. I'd also like to see a button 
that returns
all the menus and mode buttons to some pre-determined default settings 
so we
wouldn't get lost in the menus and sub menus. If the unit is going to 
have a multi-cd
changer, I'd like it to give an audible signal when the cd tray I select 
is empty
rather than automatically finding the next loaded one.

As you know, I have exactly two blind friends. But you seem to know
quite a few folks, one way or another. Would you mind asking as many 
people as you
can what they'd like to see in a blind-friendly radio and then send the
information to me?

I will pass it along to my friend and we will actually have some say
in the design and features set rather than having the sighted design it 
for us, not
knowing at all what we need or what would be helpful. If you're on any
blindness-related lists where the question would be appropriate, feel 
free to post the
question there and forward the info to me.

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
Windows Live Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype:  steve1963