, Well Christopher, at least you seem to have understood the article or blogg better than I did. I thought that Orca, the free Open Source screen readerbeing refered to was primarily a Lynux based dproject but Sun Micro-Systems was also mentioned on a link I followed. there is a suggestion there may be a version/compilation that runs under Windows though. Maybe someone on BCT or Main Menu will pick up on it if Orca can run under Windows. As someone on the blogg said, people have to know about it before they even try it. I was interested, and more than a little amuzed, by the guy who seemed to say no more would he want to upset the status quo in Access tech provision than the model of health care in the U S. Really? I'd imagine quite a few Americans might have another opinion on that! In fact the American take on this is interesting in itself and some of the assertions about how folk there get their access tech. It seemed to be said that most get it via Federal or other sources of funding, including charity. I know that in many cases if you do get access tech through a charity in the U S they will dictate which screen reader you use. Think we've been there before. Also though I know quite a few Americans actually do fork out from their own pockets for screen readers and other devices. Having taken some space giving my thoughts, I hope someone comes up with more concreet information on Orca and how it performs. From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Christopher Hallsworth What a good article. I'm not familiar with Open Source software, but yes I do think user participation should be encouraged, so that we disabled computer users has a choice on whether to get commercial software or free ones. Thanks for pointing us to this article, and I look forward to any further comments/feedback regarding this. Thanks. On Fri, 3 Nov 2006 12:07:11 -0000, "Catherine Turner" <catherineturner2000@xxxxxxxxxxx> said: > Hi, > > Just wondered what people thought of this blog entry about open source, > user > participation and alternatives to expensive software: > http://blog.carrolltech.org/archives/70 > ** > Skype: darkitude > MSN: catherineturner2000@xxxxxxxxxxx > ** 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