[tabi] batter up
- From: "Lynn Evans" <evans-lynn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:42:11 -0500
New York (February 11, 2010)- Baseball fans with visual impairments
will benefit from the implementation of functional improvements to MLB.com, the
official Web site of Major League Baseball, and all 30 individual Club sites as
a result of a joint collaboration between MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the
American Council of the Blind, Bay State Council of the Blind and California
Council of the Blind. All three organizations applaud this fan initiative taken
by MLBAM.
"MLBAM has undertaken groundbreaking work to make its web sites accessible and
has assumed a strong leadership position among sports, media and entertainment
properties in doing so," said Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American
Council of the Blind. "We certainly urge similar sites to make this level of
commitment in following MLBAM's lead."
As part of its initiative, MLB.com launched an accessible media center for its
MLB.com Gameday AudioT subscribers, offering features such as volume control,
ability to choose the home or away feed and access to archived games.
Additionally, MLB.com has ensured that fans with visual impairments can
continue to participate in the annual online voting programs associated with
the All-Star Game and will be providing an accessibility page on its site
detailing information on accessibility, usability tips and customer service
resources. As it continues to deliver technological innovations for following
baseball games, MLB.com will make additional accessibility enhancements
available to fans with visual impairments.
Brian Charlson, a Boston baseball fan and Director of Computer Training
Services at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts,
described how MLB.com's accessibility efforts have improved his enjoyment of
the game:
As a member of the blind community, the kind of changes MLB.com was willing
to make on its web sites keeps me coming back for more. It shows how much can
be done when people with disabilities find willing partners. For example, with
the changes in Gameday Audio, I find myself enjoying switching back and forth
between the home and away broadcasters the same way my sighted friends do. And
knowing my votes were counted in this year's All-Star balloting made listening
to the game much more meaningful. I'm excited about what MLB.com has done and
about its commitment to further improvements. - Brian Charlson, Carroll Center
MLB.com utilized guidelines issues by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The web content accessibility guidelines
are of particular benefit to blind baseball fans who use a screen reader,
through which information on a page is read aloud, or magnification technology
on their computers and who rely on a keyboard instead of a mouse.
About MLBAM
Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League
Baseball club owners to centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations, MLB
Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and internet company of
Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, www.MLB.com,and
each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major
League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLB.com offers fans the most complete
baseball information and interactivity on the web, including up-to-date
statistics, game previews and summaries, extensive historical information,
online ticket sales, baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and
collectibles, fantasy games, live full-game video webcasts and on-demand
highlights, live and archived audio broadcasts of every game, Gameday
pitch-by-pitch application, around-the-clock hosted and specialty video
programming and complete blogging capabilities. MLB.com offers more live events
on the Internet than any other website in the world.
About the American Council of the Blind (ACB), Bay State Council of the Blind
(BSCB) and the California Council of the Blind (CCB)
The American Council of the Blind is a national consumer-based advocacy
organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired Americans
throughout the country, with members organized through seventy state and
special interest affiliates. The Bay State and California Councils are the
Massachusetts and California affiliates of the ACB. The ACB, BSCB and CCB are
dedicated to improving the quality of life, equality of opportunity and
independence of all people who have visual impairments. Their members and
affiliated organizations have a long history of commitment to the advancement
of policies and programs which will enhance independence for people who are
blind and visually impaired. Many members of ACB, BSCB and CCB are baseball
fans.
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