[nfbwatlk] Opposing Freedom Scientific's signed Braille Driver Initiative

Maurice Mines minesm at me.com
Wed Oct 21 03:53:55 UTC 2009


hi sa mite be a good pease  of software but it won't work for me I  
have a braille desplay that has no  driver to use it corectly , so I   
will stay with we, or jfw. maurice in a et  class in Greely Colorado  
ham call sine kd0iko.
On Oct 20, 2009, at 9:23 PM, Jedi wrote:

> Mike,
>
> That's not underhanded. It's good business tactics. And yes, while  
> Mike's goal is to get you interested in his product, his other goal  
> is to get blind people the access they need regardless of their  
> ability to pay. On the bright side, SAToGo really gives you an  
> opportunity to put SA through its paces for as long as you like and  
> really evaluate whether or not SA will work for you. He also has a  
> trial which includes a 30 day license of SA for your computer as  
> well as his SA Mobile Service. When you pay for SA, you're not just  
> paying for your own license for the screen reader. You're paying for  
> the ability, should you choose, to plug in almost anywhere even if a  
> screen reader doesn't already exist on a machine without the need  
> for the internet. You're also paying for a few different speech  
> synthesis options including NeoSpeech and Eloquence. You're also  
> paying for a lifetime of tech support and upgrades without extra  
> costs. Where Mike makes his money isn't in the screen reader. It's  
> in his web services. And of course, there are many SAToGo users who  
> don't buy the product. And frankly, Mike doesn't seem to care.
>
> As to standards, I haven't had any real problems with navigating my  
> computer and I use Word quite often with SA. As to Excel, I admit I  
> don't use it much. However, I do know those who do use Excel with SA.
>
> I am reminded an aweful lot of the mac article that got published in  
> the Monitor. So many mac users got terribly upset since they felt  
> the NFB was totally downing the mac screen reader. Of course, the  
> NFB wasn't downing anyone, but the article does remind us that all  
> screen readers have their strengths and weaknesses and that while  
> most people prefer JFW or WindowEyes, that doesn't automatically  
> mean that VoiceOver sucks, especially since blind people use it  
> productively quite often and love it. As for me, I have used both  
> JFW and SA for a long time and appreciate the strengths of both. As  
> an SA user, I frankly have found no difficulty getting my work done  
> on my computer, and SA has some interesting tricks up its sleve,  
> especially with flash content.
>
> Mike, my goal in this e-mail isn't to negate you at all. You're  
> right that I wouldn't recommend SA to serious computer users who  
> work in the information technology field as a mainstay. However, I  
> don't think it's fair to openly criticise SA so harshly for all  
> users especially since you're not a regular user of SA and you are  
> an information technology user (which is quite a lot more than most  
> of us on list when it comes to technology).
>
> Respectfully,
> Jedi
> Original message:
>> With respect, I disagree with Jedi. I do not think System chccess  
>> to Go is anywhere up to the standard set by JAWS and Window Eyes.  
>> Moreover, I consider Mr. Calvo's marketing underhanded in putting  
>> out System Access to Go when he is frank to admit that he's trying  
>> to suck people into buying the full screen-reader System Access. I  
>> don't think it handles tables spreadsheets and Word esoterica  
>> nearly as well as do JAWS and WE.
>
>> Nonetheless, it's a good option if one cannot afford anything else.  
>> But one gets what one pays for!
>
>> Mike
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
>> To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 21:10:05
>> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Opposing Freedom Scientific's signed  
>> Braille Driver Initiative
>
>
>
>>> Alco,
>
>>> I highly recommend SEROTEK's System Access. It's afordable since  
>>> there
>>> are many different pricing options you can choose from. It's  
>>> robust for
>>> the everyday needs of most screen reader users (save for the heavy
>>> programers), the tech support is stellar, and you can use SA when
>>> you're not at your computer via either SAToGo or the &3 option. SA  
>>> also
>>> has a special edition for netbooks. SEROTEK also has a number of
>>> hardware, software, and web content products and services that I  
>>> think
>>> you'll like including the largest assembled content package  
>>> available
>>> to the blindness community. Best of all, SEROTEK is a company  
>>> dedicated
>>> to the empowerment of the blind, and its CEO is none other than Mike
>>> Calvo, a fellow Federationist. His company is run and opperated by
>>> blind people.
>
>>> Respectfully,
>>> Jedi
>
>>> PS. For anyone who gets SA, let them know Jedi sent you.
>>> Original message:
>>>> Thanks, Curtis. I signed.
>
>>>> Do you know of a comparable screen reader? I'm getting so tired of
>>>> being nickeled and dimed with their maintenance agreements and  
>>>> upgrades.
>
>>>> I hope you are well.
>
>>>> Alco
>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Curtis Chong <Curtis.Chong at blind.state.ia.us>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 4:43 PM
>>>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Opposing Freedom Scientific's signed Braille  
>>>> Driver
>>>> Initiative
>
>>>> Greetings:
>
>>>> The Open Braille API Initiative, the National Federation of the  
>>>> Blind
>>>> in Computer Science, and Earle Harrison, President of Handy Tech
>>>> North America have created and posted an online petition which
>>>> expresses sharp opposition to Freedom Scientific's recently- 
>>>> announced
>>>> Secure and Compatible Braille driver signing policy.  The  
>>>> petition is
>>>> self explanatory.  If you wish to read the petition and possibly
>>>> demonstrate your support, please point your browser to:
>
>>>> http://www.petitiononline.com/brl4all/petition.html
>
>>>> and express your view.
>
>>>> Thank you for your attention.
>
>>>> Yours sincerely,
>
>>>> Curtis Chong, President
>>>> National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
>
>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>>>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
>>>> for nfbwatlk:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/loneblindjedi%40samobile.net
>
>>> --
>>> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit
>>> www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
>>> for nfbwatlk:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com
>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
>> for nfbwatlk:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/loneblindjedi%40samobile.net
>
> -- 
> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit www.serotek.com 
>  to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
> for nfbwatlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/minesm%40me.com





More information about the NFBWATlk mailing list