My favorite was the U.S. Representative (from Wisconsin) who tried to kill the NLS program for the new digital players because, heck, the blind and disabled could just use an iPod so why waste all that money? He actually SAID THAT!
HELLO? That would be the totally unusable iPod? The iPod that relies on a touch screen that you a) can't see and b) doesn't and won't ever have a braille display and c) sure as heck doesn't work with your nose trying to manipulate the screen! (trust me on this one! wink). It requires working hands AND working eyes AND working ears.
Duh.It's not only companies that forget, it's also the people who are supposed to represent all of their constituents.
I suspect the representative's office now knows me by name and dreads my calls because I've contacted them to chew him out about several things, including the above. grin.
Judy s. Lynn I wrote:
You've hit the nail on the head, Judy. I think back to the time when VCRs first came out. I wanted to record the Young and the Wrestles--my favorite soap at the time. It was quite a process--making sure to program the VCR in the proper way. I learned though. A few years later, one manufacturer came out with a VCR that had talking menus. The only problem was cost (around $900.00), not really affordable. The point I'm trying to make here is that often manufactures forget that people who are blind enjoy TV, movies, computer technology, caller ID phones, and a whole host of other products. They tend to leave us out of the loop, however. Maybe that isn't all bad--many of us have learned to be quite resourceful with Braille labelers and using our brains to remember step-by-step programming procedures. How many more products would be sold if manufactures realized that people who are blind and/or visually impairedspend money too? *smile*Blessings. Lynnsky
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
