[vicsireland] Blind ambition: plea for funds to keep free software project alive

From: "\(Lists\) Paul Traynor" <pauls_lists@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:45:08 -0000
CAPTION: NVDA co-creator James Teh 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.
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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






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[vicsireland] Blind ambition: plea for funds to keep free software project alive

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