I agree Amie. we want to be able to use everyday programs not have something written especially for us. I know a lot of people use Webbie which is one such application, but I won't use it. ----- Original Message ----- From: Damon To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 10:49 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: "New" access plan? I think I need to be able to use Outlook and IE because my colleagues use those systems. They seem to work fine for me and I don't want to be a lone user. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ken Reid To: Access List Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 10:02 PM Subject: [access-uk] "New" access plan? All, and especially the more technical among you, I recently met with a person who is interested in developing an access tool that he feels will make life a lot easier for blind and partially sighted PC users. Below is a description of what he is thinking about. If you have any feedback on this, I will forward it to the originator. This may be "great idea, why didn't somebody think of this sooner", or "it's been done already" - if so where? Thanks. One sentence Voice led clients to access the popular services of the day, initially email, calendar, web, twitter. A client in this sense is a program that facilitates access, like an email client is the program one uses to read one's email. Summary The screen reader is a layer placed on top of existing software applications. It allows the user to interact with these programs. Most of these programs access services that are standard. The most common computing activity of the day is web browsing. Why have a separate web browser driven by a screen reader? Instead, let's create a new web browser that is designed specifically for speech output. Let's not stop there. Let's do the same for email, for calendaring, for twitter. Let's create a suite of tools that are specifically engineered to offer outstanding user experience where the principle interaction method is sound. These are voice led clients. Software programs that facilitate access to services through voice. Once those voice clients exist, let's create a network of users around those clients. Allow users to share relevant data. For example, allow a user to share some notes on how to most easily navigate Tesco's web site by voice. Allow a user to suggest an alternative site that achieves the same purpose but that's easier to use through voice. In effect, this creates a meta layer that sits over the top of the web. This meta information signposts users to the critical data within pages, provides speed enhancements, and empowers consumers. Allow the community of voice led users to reward businesses that make voice led interaction easier, faster, smoother. Empower voice led users to take ownership of their own web experience. Ken __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6295 (20110714) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6295 (20110714) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com