[access-uk] Re: Fwd: [nvda] Please help to keep nvda alive.

  • From: "Jackie Cairns" <jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2012 12:24:18 -0000

Trouble is Vince that libraries, colleges et al are brainwashed by Supernova
and JAWS.  I've seen the work and persuasion to buy these programs that goes
in which ensures NVDA doesn't get a look in.


Kind Regards,

Jackie Cairns

-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Vince Thacker
Sent: 18 March 2012 11:14
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Fwd: [nvda] Please help to keep nvda alive.

NVDA is a cracking good screen reader that costs nothing to the end user. 
What's all the fuss about?

They are asking for donations, which is fair enough, as the devs don't get
free lunches any more than the rest of us.

It's not too much to ask someone like me who's used NVDA full-time for
several years to stump up a few quid. I hope all those libraries, colleges
and accessibility testers who use NVDA also get their institutions and
companies to send in some donations.

I can't see SATogo is any substitute, as NVDA works right from the Windows
log-on screen, and doesn't rely on an internet connection.

We'll all be the poorer if NVDA has to close.

Vince.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eleanor Burke" <eleanorburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2012 8:22 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Fwd: [nvda] Please help to keep nvda alive.


> Well William maybe the appeal should be heard again by Microsoft etc.
> -----Original message-----
> From: william lomas
> Sent:  18/03/2012, 7:46  am
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Fwd: [nvda] Please help to keep nvda alive.
>
>
> if they need that much money we may as well end up paying 600 dollars for 
> it then as we do jaws? if he wants that much money to be fair, by the time

> we've all contributed something we could have all brought jaws
>
> On 18 Mar 2012, at 06:38, austin pinto wrote:
>
>> hi all i got this artical from the nvda list please help to keep this
>> fantastic and only free screan reader for windows alive by donating
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Kevin Cussick <the.big.white.shepherd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:18:55 +0000
>> Subject: [nvda] Please help to keep nvda alive.
>> To: "nvda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <nvda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Not to sure how recent this is.
>>
>> just saw the date so ignore that last statement but I hope the mods do
>> not mind me posting this here please folks consider donating to nvda it
>> would be a huge loss to everyone if this fantastic screen reader goes
>> belly up because of the lack of funds. article below I am forwarding
>> this to some other people who do use nvda please read this.
>>
>> Blind ambition: plea for funds to keep free software project alive
>> Sylvia Pennington, The Sydney Morning Herald
>> March 16, 2012
>>
>> CAPTION: NVDA co-creator James The at the Young Australian of the Year
>> 2012 ceremony.
>>
>> Two Australian programmers may be forced to abandon their not-for-profit
>> work that allows blind
>> people around the world to join in social networks and the information
>> age if funding is not
>> forthcoming.
>> Twenty-seven year old James Teh and his co-developer Michael Curran have
>> spent the past four years
>> building the open source screen reader Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA)
>> for the Windows operating
>> system. The reader is free, available in 20 languages and has been
>> downloaded more than 45,000 times
>> since November.
>> The NVDA program can translate whatever the cursor touches into
>> synthetic speech, enabling blind
>> users to hear what the rest of the population is able to read on the
>> screen.
>> Advertisement: Story continues below
>> Although similar readers are available commercially, they can cost
>> several hundred dollars to
>> install and upgrade; a sum which is beyond the reach of many vision
>> impaired users, Teh said.
>> "We've had a lot of positive feedback that it's changed lives,
>> especially in the developing world,"
>> Teh said. "Users have a sense of gratitude for the system - for access
>> to things not previously
>> accessible."
>> Many blind people have not had access to free screen reader technology
>> in Australia outside
>> educational settings and this has impeded their ability to interact
>> socially and look for jobs, he
>> said. The unemployment rate among blind and vision-impaired people
>> wanting to work is currently 63
>> per cent, according to research from Vision Australia.
>> Given the ways in which technology could transform the lives of the
>> blind, it was imperative that
>> barriers to entry were made as low as possible, Teh said.
>> As well as providing access to vast reserves of information not
>> previously available in bulky
>> Braille tomes or audio form, the internet can open up a world of
>> services which make tasks of daily
>> living such as shopping and banking easier. Being able to participate in
>> social networking also
>> allows blind people to expand their contact with friends, family and the
>> wider world.
>> "Technology for everyone has become part of daily life," Teh said. "If
>> it is critical for sighted
>> people, it's much more critical for blind people."
>> Himself blind since infancy due to retinal cancer, Teh is no stranger to
>> the obstacles faced by the
>> vision impaired when attempting to lead a regular, independent life.
>> A talented pianist and passionate programmer from a young age - "it's
>> mostly text so you don't need
>> to see it" - he completed mainstream schooling at Brisbane's Nudgee
>> College before graduating with a
>> degree in IT from Queensland University of Technology in 2005.
>> A first job as a programmer with local internet security entrepreneur
>> Trent Davis at Netbox Blue
>> followed, before he joined forces with Curran in 2008.
>> Ensuring the NVDA reader keeps pace with the upgrade cycle of major
>> software packages is a full time
>> job for the pair. But despite attracting a swag of accolades, including
>> an ABC New Inventors award
>> in 2010 and a spot for Teh on the 2012 finalists list for Young
>> Australian of the Year, funding to
>> continue the work has been hard won and precariously retained.
>> The pair received modest funding from Microsoft, Adobe and Yahoo in the
>> past and the Mozilla
>> Foundation continues to provide ongoing support but they are seeking a
>> larger commitment to continue
>> developing and updating the software to keep up with the upgrade cycle
>> of major programs.
>> Teh says they need $200,000 to cover overheads and provide themselves
>> with a modest living wage.
>> Unless further backing was secured, Teh said it was likely he would have
>> to look for other work
>> later this year to support his family.
>> "I would love to continue what I do and am really driven to do it," Teh
>> said. "A free screen reader
>> for Windows does need to exist. It's disappointing that there's not much
>> funding for the work at all
>> in Australia. It's very difficult to raise money when you don't have
>> experience in the
>> not-for-profit sphere and no one dedicated to doing it."
>>
>> SOURCE
>>
http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/blind-ambition-plea-for-funds-to-ke
ep-free-software-project-alive-20120316-1v99i.html#ixzz1pMkjCzGh
>>
>> -- 
>> All The Best
>> Kevin Cussick
>> Come talk with other NVDA users on irc.blufudge.net #NVDA
>> Your continued donations help keep NVDA development going strong. Donate 
>> at:
>> http://www.nvaccess.org/wiki/Donate
>> Or by purchasing voices from Ivona TTS:
>> http://www.ivona.com/accessibility.php
>> Use the following link with the code STOR-4NS3-DSCT to save 10% on
>> Voices from nextup.com:
>> http://bit.ly/eJN97w
>> To post messages to the list send email to
>> nvda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> To modify your NVDA Email settings or view archives go to:
>> //www.freelists.org/list/nvda
>> NVDA homepage:
>> http://www.nvda-project.org/
>> NVDA on Facebook:
>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8601265515
>> The NVDA controler DLL is at:
>> http://www.nvda-project.org/nvdaControllerClient/
>> NVDA Snapshot Downloader:
>> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1473937/NVDASD-v2.0.2.exe
>> Get SkypeTalking for NVDA:
>> http://skypetalking.googlecode.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> email austinpinto.xaviers@xxxxxxxxx
>> alternat email austin.pinto@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> facebook www.facebook.com/austinpinto.xaviers
>> orkut
>> www.orkut.com/austinpinto.xaviers
>> twitter
>> www.twitter.com/austinmpinto
>>
>> join me on google +
>> surch for +austin
>>
>> join my professional network on linktin
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