I have made this suggestion several times to FS by email, to their technical
support staff and to their marketing management. I've never received a
reply to these email messages and never been given a definitive statement in
conversation. That's one reason why I bring it up on this list. I'm hoping
others feel the same way and might make their voices heard, too.
Here's FS's brief statement of its commitment to quality and information on
how to contact them in this regard. I just now made a copy from their
website:
Freedom Scientific's Quality Statement
We dedicate resources for continuous innovation in the development,
production, and delivery of our products, while providing customer service
excellence and respect for our customers to meet or exceed their
expectations.
If you need to contact our quality team, or need help getting a problem
resolved, we encourage you to e-mail us at
Quality at Freedom Scientific
or call our Director of Technical Support:
Domestic: 800-444-4443, ext. 1062
International: 727-803-8600, ext. 1062
----- Original Message -----
From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I agree, thoroughly. Why don't you compose a letter of suggestion to that effect and email it to whichever FS address is the most appropriate for submitting such comments? I'm not sure which address is the best one for this, but... let's see which list we're on, here...okay, maybe Bruce Towes can identify the right email address? So it doesn't get lost amidst general gripes, pleas for assistance, and so forth?
Seriously. do it. Even if they're as busy as you generously speculate, they need to know that this area of concern isn't quite taken care of, as they might believe it to be.
From: "Adrian Spratt" <A.Spratt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 7:46 PM Subject: Punctuation and JAWS
Hi. We essentially agree in our approaches. Apparently like you, I'm
obsessed with punctuation, both in trying to understand what I'm reading and
in making sure my own documents are accurate. I think my position comes
down to this. FS in many ways has done a nice job of making the Net and
other text sources accessible in ways that enable users to focus their
attention on substance rather than process. To the extent that's not
possible, many visually impaired people, including myself, have become
accustomed to making adjustments and developing work-arounds. But the goal
ought to be to make JAWS as simple and as unobtrusive as sighted people
expect their software to be. The two types of adjustments I propose, adding
a pause after colons and semicolons and correcting the single-quotation
defect, would greatly enhance a JAWS user's experience. I understand that
FS must be devoting many of their resources to making JAWS work with Firefox
and keeping up with other developments on the Net. However, bread and
butter issues like these should not be neglected.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I understand. I've just accustomed myself to hearing some punctuation
spoken that other people might not like to hear, and if I doubt the syntax
of a sentence or phrase at all, I just stop and examine it word by word at
the place that worried me. I also have gotten used to figuring out when
I'm reading something that's within single quotes somewhere like the Times,
and so forth, somehow or other. I'm sorry. It really is a hassle, just as
you say. These are just the adjustments I've made in order to accommodate
these imperfections. But I'm serious that I really prefer to hear some
punctuation actually spoken, though I regret the necessity eecisiity as
much as any sane person would. But it's better than having jaws sail on
and leave me befuddled, or settling for getting the "general idea." I'd
rather hear my quotes and such spoken if need be. I just factor it into my
reading experience and visualize it on the page and feel better, finally,
not worse, thereby. And these preferences serve me well when I'm writing
or editing. So it's not entirely tragic, just kind of a drag.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrian Spratt" <A.Spratt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: Punctuation and JAWS
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. Still, the "most" or "some"
punctuation
setting question is a little different. I think of reading a long
document
on the Net where a semicolon can actually alter the meaning of a sentence.
With a pause it would read one way, without a pause it reads another.
Personally, I get distracted from the content when listening to
punctuation
marks being spoken. The single quotation problem is even worse, since
JAWS
doesn't speak words accurately inside them. I face that issue all the
time
when reading the New York Times, for example. What I find strange is that
both problems ought to be simple fixes for FS. They know how to insert
pauses after commas and other punctuation, and JAWS handles words inside
double quotations with ease.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Adrian,
this is just my personal preference, but I keep Jaws set to speak most
punctuation, from among the choices offered in the basics menu. which
means that I don't hear things like commas spoken, but do hear single and
double quotation marks spoken so that I am apprised that it's a quotation
or a quotation within a quotation that I'm hearing. This is essential to
me in a way it might not be for another user, I understand. As for
colons
and semicolons, I don't have jaws set to speak them, and I, too, regret
that they don't produce a significant pause. I think the only way to
really be sure what was happening, aside from reading word by word, would
be to go into the Configuration Manager verbosity section and get those
and other punctuation marks to speak, though I'd hate to do it. If
you're
writing something yourself, rather than reading what's already been
written by someone else, leaving two spaces after a colon (and even after
a period) in the way that seems to have gone out of fashion (a semicolon
has always required only one space following)helps to slow Jaws down
appropriately, to indicate the rhythmic nuance. But in my experience,
anyway, it isn't possible to simply have text spoken in the cadence that
accurately reflects all such punctuation, I'm afraid. What I describe
are
just some tricks I've had to learn to bear with because of this.
sometone ,
----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrian Spratt" <A.Spratt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I find it helps my reading comprehension when JAWS pauses at commas and
other punctuation. However, it doesn't pause after colons or semicolons.
Also, JAWS reads text well between double quotation marks, but not when
the
text is between single quotations. Does anyone have any suggestions how
I
can make appropriate adjustments?
Or, as I suspect, are these limitations inherent in JAWS? In that case, do they interfere with other people's ability to comprehend what they read with JAWS?
I've written several times to the FS suggestions email address, but without getting any response.
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