[gui-talk] Fwd: announcement about a new site

[Steve Pattison]

From: Bernard Maldonado bernard at publicftp.com
To: bits at acb.org

About 2 and a half months ago, an idea was born in my head.  So, like I
always do with a new idea, I evaluate the costs, potential customers,
requirements, and competition, among other factors.  Once I answered all of
my questions, I started to bring the people together and get the project
underway.

This project had a special component;  it's a bit controversial.  I took
quite a bit of extra time to read the mailing lists, read the forums, read
about failed attempts to launch such a service, and all the comments back
and forth.  Some people were quite vocal about their problems and issues. 
One area that I paid close attention to was the criticisms, concerns, and
barriers.  Indeed, there were many.  BlindAD had a lot of information!

The site that I'm talking about is called Solona, which is a Human Asisted
CAPTCHA Solution Service.  It exists to help visually impaired people solve
CAPTCHAS that are usually found on website registration pages.  As you all
are fully aware, CAPTCHAS are usually not accessible.

Every step of the project implementation included the participation of blind
people.  The steering committee is made of blind people.  In fact, some of
the contributors and testers are from within the ranks of ACB state offices.
The service has been vetted, tested, documented, and has been in operation
for about 3 weeks now.  The two biggest factors about Solona are the
privacy/security features, and that it works with any operating system and
any browser since there is no plug in or tool bar to install.

The site address is http://www.solona.net

Main points addressed in Solona (all of equal importance):
1. Privacy and Security
2. Efficiency and Effectiveness with minimal two way communication 3. Speed
and Response Time 4. OS independence and browser independence 5. Thorough
instructions and easy steps to follow 6. Full disclosure of how Solona works
and what happens to images 7. No cost to users.  No levels of service based
on price.

I am pleased with the initial release of Solona.  There will be ups and
downs, but so far, there are alot of happy users who have submitted images
for solution.  In fact, it's already being used by Spanish speaking blind
people who have translated the important information in order to use the
site.  Having said that, I always look for improvements and ways to provide
more.

This is probably the only time I will make an announcement about Solona. 
I don't want to overrun the list with repeat messages.  Having said that, I
am more than willing to have conversations with anyone who is interested in
knowing more, or would like further clarification about the site.

The site has quite a bit of information to offer about Solona.

I apologize for being long-winded in this message.

Thank you.
Bernard Maldonado

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