[musictlk] creating braille music scores

Kaiti Shelton crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
Thu Dec 11 03:30:54 UTC 2014 

All,

The commentary I wrote in my last email was out of hope for the
future.  Frankly, I agree with those who say JAWS is a second-rate
screenreader to other options out there.  I find NVDA to be more
user-friendly, and now that there is an eloquence driver E-Speak isn't
even a downside.  I don't personally like Window Eyes, but I know
plenty of people who do, and now that it is free it has a huge
advantage over JAWS as well.

That being said, I hope we can step back and take a few things into
account.  Goodfeel is on the cutting edge as far as allowing users to
create braille music notation on their own.  As a blind student, I
would not be having as much success in my classes as a music major if
I were not using the software.  Things on the cutting edge often have
nothing else to compare to as they are getting established, and that
can take time.  I remember a few occasions where I've had really
strange technical glitches with Goodfeel, most notably when I tried to
install the JAWS 13 SMA over my existing JAWS 12 version that was
working with Goodfeel just fine.  I got the blue screen when I opened
lime to make sure the scripts were still working properly, and even
Albert Milani who handles a lot of the tech support was really
puzzled.  I also had issues with a less reliable computer I used to
take my music theory course in high school with, and I'd always get
the tech support I needed even if it took JAWs tandum to do it.  No
matter how weird or time-consuming the problems I've had with Goodfeel
have been, I've always gotten the customer support I've needed to make
sure exams were turned in in spite of technical glitches, that my
computer worked so I could write my assignments, and now so my
University can provide me with equal access to notation programs in
the music department computer lab.  This kind of support is more than
what I can credit bigger companies like Humanware or Freedom
Scientific for.  I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather work with
a company who finds something that works and provides quality while
building on that, rather than something like Freedom Scientific who
seems to just pump out the products but with horrible customer
support.  (Maybe they haven't been that bad for everybody, but every
time I've called with a jaws or embosser question the phone people
have always been pretty snappy and dismissive with me).

Thankfully I am in a position where my voc rehab services still pays
for technology I need while I am in school, but if that weren't the
case I would not be using JAWS (at least the purchased version).  The
real thing which makes me hopeful about the availability of Goodfeel
on other platforms has less to do with JAWS and more to do with my
frustration towards Windows in general.  I would much rather go to a
Mac because of a few reasons, including that they are not as prone to
viruses, have garage band on them which would be very useful in
conjunction with Goodfeel in my arranging work for music therapy, and
I'd never have to pay extra for a screenreader again.  I'm excited
that this is something Dancing Dots is looking into, and know that
we're not alone in wanting the software on different platforms and for
different screenreaders.  This is a topic that has come up several
times on the MENVI list serve, as well as the Goodfeel list serve
itself I believe.


On 12/10/14, evelyn weckerly via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi, Linda and all,
>
> Th frustrates me too.  I have had Goodfeel for some"time.  How I
> was using it changed after so death "of a friend who was working
> with me.  Since then I have done nothing with it, partly because
> of long illness and partly because I have not used JAWS in years.
> I have no intentions of upgrading Jaws 8 standard to Jawiths 15
> Pro, in part because of the cost and in part because i don't want
> to.  As a consequence' I am beginning to serIously consider
> selling my Goodfeel license, something I would prefer not to do.
>
> Evelyn
>
>
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: Linda Mentink via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org
> To: jim jim <actionjimjackson at gmail.com>,Music Talk Mailing List
> <musictlk at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 17:56:01 -0600
> Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores
>
> I doubt it.  They won't even make it so that WindowEyes users can
> use
> it, thus cutting down on its availability to the blind music
> community.  Not a good selling point, in my humble opinion.
>
> At 11:09 AM 12/9/2014, you wrote:
> Is dancing dots braille scores ever going to be made available
> for
> mac computers?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>  On Dec 8, 2014, at 2:53 PM, Bill via musictlk
> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>  And, in fact, we do have users who do not even read braille who
> use our
>  technology to read scores using nothing but verbal and musical
> cues.  They
>  can also notate scores in print using the same.
>
>  Bill
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Bill via
>  musictlk
>  Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 5:41 PM
>  To: 'Kaiti Shelton'; 'Music Talk Mailing List'; 'Chris Nusbaum'
>  Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores
>
>  In addition, check out the heading that says:
>  Other Resources: Grants, Scholarships, and Financing Programs On
> Dancing
>  Dots' Resources page at:
>  www.dancingdots.com/main/resources.htm
>
>  If you receive support from your state's vocational
> rehabilitation agency,
>  and you read literary braille and you are majoring or even
> minoring in
>  music, I would be surprised to hear that your rehab counselor
> would not
>  approve the acquisition of accessible music technology.
>
>  Feel free to contact me off-list using my info at DancingDots.com
> address to
>  discuss particulars of your own situation.
>
>  Bill
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Kaiti
>  Shelton via musictlk
>  Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 5:21 PM
>  To: Chris Nusbaum; Music Talk Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores
>
>  Also, if you google "Ohio Lions Clubs" or the region if you know
> what that
>  is for your area, the governor's contact information should be
> public
>  knowledge.
>
>  On 12/8/14, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  Who said you have to ask that particular Lions Club?  Lions
> Clubs are
>  organized into regions, and each region has a governor.  It
> might be
>  worth emailing the governor rather than the individual chapter
>  president so he can spread the letter you would write to other
> groups
>  in the region.  This is what hsas worked for me in the past, and
> I've
>  gotten donations from clubs who were further away from the
> chapter
>  nearest my house.
>
>  Where there is a will, there is a way...
>
>  On 12/8/14, Chris Nusbaum via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>  What state do you live in? I may be able to help if I know this
>  information.
>
>  Chris Nusbaum, Vice President
>  Maryland Association of Blind Students Coordinator of Social
> Media,
>  National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
>  Twitter: @Chrisn98, @MDMDABS and @NFBMD
>
>  "Together, with love, hope and determination, we transform
> dreams
>  into reality."
>
>  On Dec 8, 2014, at 10:20 AM, Kelsey Nicolay via musictlk
>  <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>  Hi Kaiti,
>  We only have one lions club and it's falling apart.  They can't
> get
>  new members and I've tried approaching them with things like
> this
>  before, but they can't do it right now.  I don't live in a big
> city,
>  so it's going to be difficult for me to get the funding.
>
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>
>
>  --
>  Kaiti
>
>
>
>  --
>  Kaiti
>
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-- 
Kaiti

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