[gui-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind and Motorola to Cooperate on Making Cell Phones Accessible to the Blind

[David Andrews]

It was a joint release between the NFB and Motorola.

Why do people feel compelled to be negative in response to everything!?

Dave

At 08:41 PM 9/14/2009, you wrote:
>I agree. What would carry more weight IMO is a press release from the
>cell manufacturer/provider  themselves announcing a collaborative
>effort, and not just the release from the NFB. I'm all for the NFB
>keeping me up to date on current phone accessibility, but let's hear
>from other manufacturers/providers as well regarding access to their
>phones.
>
>Jmt,
>Wayne
>
>On 9/14/09, Joel Deutsch <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com> wrote:
> > This is encouraging, although as someone who's been using an LG phone from
> > Verizon offering most of these capabilities if you're given  clear
> > instructions and are willing to put up with not being able to get more than
> > one or two levels into most menus on the phone, I'd like to know more
> > details. Like whether what Motorola plans to offer next calendar year will
> > offer much more than this, which I hope, and also which carriers 
> will market
> > the phones in question. As is often the case, a press release from the NFB
> > is encouraging news, but I also look  forward to more informative articles
> > about this as time goes on.
> > Joel
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Steve Pattison" <srp at internode.on.net>
> > To: "Access L" <access-l at access-l.com>; "VIP L" <vip-l at softspeak.com.au>
> > Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 4:23 PM
> > Subject: [gui-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind and Motorola
> > toCooperate on Making Cell Phones Accessible to the Blind
> >
> >
> > From:    Freeh, Jessica JFreeh at nfb.org
> >
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> >
> > CONTACT:
> >
> > Chris Danielsen
> > Director of Public Relations
> > National Federation of the Blind
> > (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
> > (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
> > cdanielsen at nfb.org
> >
> > Jennifer Erickson
> > Motorola, Inc.
> > (847) 435-5320
> > Jennifer.erickson at motorola.com
> >
> > National Federation of the Blind and Motorola
> >   to Cooperate on Making Cell Phones Accessible to the Blind
> >
> > Baltimore, Maryland and Libertyville, Illinois (September 14, 2009):
> > The National Federation of the Blind, the nation's oldest and largest
> > organization of blind people and the leading advocate for making
> > mainstream devices accessible to the blind, and Motorola Inc., a
> > leading manufacturer of cell phones and other mobile communications
> > devices, announced today that they have entered into a cooperation
> > agreement to promote technologies that improve the accessibility of
> > cell phones to blind consumers.
> >
> > Certain future Motorola cell phones will provide verbal readouts of
> > information such as the time and date, battery level, signal
> > strength, user's phone number, caller ID information for incoming
> > calls, missed and received calls, and voice mail alerts.  Blind users
> > will also be able to take advantage of verbal readouts and
> > voice-command features for ring tone status, inputting and accessing
> > contacts, and various other settings.  Motorola expects these cell
> > phones to be available in 2010.  The parties have also agreed to work
> > together to make additional phones and features accessible to blind users.
> >
> > Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
> > said: "In an age where productivity and success increasingly depend
> > on access to mobile technology such as cellular telephones, it is
> > critical that blind Americans have equal access to today's cell
> > phones through user interfaces that do not require vision.  The
> > National Federation of the Blind appreciates Motorola's commitment to
> > making the features of its cell phone products accessible to blind
> > users without the need for third-party software, and we look forward
> > to working together with Motorola to make future improvements to the
> > accessibility of telecommunication technology."