Well, as far as I'm concerned Jackie, there are some who are just going to have to accommodate change, rather than being 'accommodated' with provision of the tape format they're used to. I cannot see that this can go on for ever. Having expressed my impatience with this attitude, I'll move on swiftly and say we do live in a world of compromises, so for those lucky enough to have such an on-the-ball local vol org, as yours seems to be Jackie, I can see a local service dragging out the unnatural life of cassettes where by people are sent CDs but get them transferred to audio cassette. Nice job for a nice little blindy, , sitting in a corner doing the transfers, LOL. Memory card prices will fall of course, and I would say some machines now, like the Olympus recorders, might point the way to a viable replacement for the venerable cassette. I also think some communication with a manufacturer in the R and D side of things could bring to market a machine with all the desirable aspects of ease of operation that many find in the aging cassette. As for comments about distructions' no need, surely, for such despaired. A bit of well earned value added could be justified in properly thought out user guides. Rarely, these days, could a straight transcription of instructions work anyway. They're so visual now. Straight transcription would 'destroy' the usefulness of them. Cheers, From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- Jackie Cairns Ray, RNIB are seemingly at a loss full stop, but that's another matter altogether so I won't go there. I have to say that our local Society does a tremendous amount to ensure that the needs of clients are met regarding formats, digital switch-over, DAB, DAISY and whatever else. Our Chief Executive must be one of the luckiest blokes on this planet to have such a loyal, hardworking band of staff who go a few extra miles for their clients. The population of registered blind or visually impaired individuals in Fife has a very high percentage of elderly people, and I'm still always hearing a lot of them saying they want their tapes for everything. Food for thought indeed. I'm off to get some lunch (smile.) Jackie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:48 AM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Buying specialist technology without accessible instructions > Jackie, your comments are true enough; but we are bound to see a more > rapid increase in the take up of digital playback devices from now on, > I think. > > Many people now have DAISY machines, which, amongst other things, can > remember where you got to on a CD. I don't know what percentage of > the registered blind population do in fact have one, but RNIB talking > book membership is 40,000 or more now, or so they tell us, so, am I > right in thinking this represents a fair chunk of the VI community? > > I would hazard the opinion that RNIB might do well to make a DAISY CD > player available at a substantial discount - a Victor or Plextor - so > that we might fairly assume that a large proportion of the market > needing accessible instructions could, at least, read them in this > way, as well as a print manual being supplied. > > I might add too that RNIB could see such a subsidy in the light of > being able to communicate more easily with its own customers too! > (RNIB themselves seemingly are at a loss to know the best way of > keeping in touch with the majority of customers, given a thread on the > RNIB Arena list recently.) > > The local vol orgs could do a lot more too I think. Too many of them > seem, to me, to stay aloof from the needs of their users, including > getting involved with help and advice over suitable replacements for > audio cassette which, like it or not, like digital switchover, people > aren't going to be able to bury their heads in the sand for much > longer. > > Cheers, > > From Ray > I can be contacted off-list at: > mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx > > -----Original Message----- > Jackie Cairns > > > In an ideal world Dave that would be great, but the reality is it will > never > happen, and if it does, it'll be long after our time (smile.) > > As I've said, I think there is a good and fair point of view expressed > by > all contributors to this thread. I did use the word personally > earlier, and > my view is to see at least one accessible format included in access > technology equipment big or small. But what format that is will > always be > up for debate. I just know from years of experience, and my voluntary > involvement with our local Society for the Blind, that a lot of people > still > want tape. It's not my format, but they argue that it can be put into > a > deck and played. Then, when they go back to it later on, it stays in > the > same place, and is easy to rewind. > > Asking what the person wants is always preferable, but some don't ask. > > Anyway, I'm getting sore from trying to sit on the fence so I'll climb > down > now (smile.) It's an interesting one. > > Jackie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ankers, Dave (UK)" <Dave.Ankers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:11 AM > Subject: [access-uk] Re: Buying specialist technology without > accessible > instructions > > > > Jackie, > > You are quite right! It amazes me how manufacturers of products for > blind, vision impaired equipment forget who the end user is when it > comes to packaging and instructions. We don't want fancy coloured > font > and pictures on packaging and why on earth do they include small print > instructions? Surely they should have the common sense to include > instructions in at least 16 point Arial font and an audio CD, plus a > website where the operating instructions can be read or downloaded > from. > > Something I would like all manufacturers to build in to all electrical > products, is an audio describer switch, which when in use, describes > the > position or operation of switches and buttons. > Imagine using a standard washing machine fitted with this function, > with > the audio describer turned on, all the buttons can be pressed until > the > required button is found and dials turned to the required position, > then > when the audio describer is turned off, the buttons pressed again with > audio confirmation of the function and the machine started. Now apply > that to remote controls, microwaves, cookers, central heating > controls, > mp3 players, basically anything. If manufacturers built the feature > into all their products, then the cost would be minimal and when > someone > looses their sight, they won't loose the ability to use their > equipment > and have to fork out lots of money to get something that is > accessible. > > Dave > > On the subject of buying specialist technology with inaccessible > instructions, I'll be very careful how I phrase this because it's > something I've beefed about for years, and it still goes on. > > In my personal and humble opinion, wherever a company - no matter who > that retailer is - sells a product or service to someone with a visual > impairment, the instructions accompanying that item should be in an > alternative format to standard print. How can we have the DDA in this > country if those who have direct influence to ensure accessibility is > met don't in fact comply? > > We have invested a lot of money on access technology over the years, > yet > I still find myself having to request materials in my preferred > format. > > Using the examples of both the Colorino and talking tape measure from > Caretec, neither has accessible instructions, even though I have > sussed > out how to use them satisfactorily. But that isn't the point. If I > could read the instructions, I could surely see to use an ordinary > measure and not need a detector to tell me my colours? > > That's where I'm coming from anyway, and I mean no disrespect to any > retailer or individual on the list. Most companies that deal with > specialist equipment do offer alternative formats, whether it be > through > intuitive help on the device itself, or instructions and quick start > references that accompany it. But there is still an issue with this. > > Jackie ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq