Great letter, Buddy!

We need to give manufacturers credit for taking our needs into account.

Hopefully, others will get the message.

Best 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ

----- Original Message -----
From: "Buddy Brannan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 11:35 PM
Subject: [[log in to unmask]: Letter For QST: Way to go Elecraft!]


> OK, here's the original letter, and I understand it was pretty much
intact:
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Buddy Brannan <[log in to unmask]> -----
>
> To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>
> Late yesterday evening, Elecraft introduced its newest product, the
> KX1 ultra-portable QRP cw transceiver. In a small box, they managed to
> put a three-band rig for the portable operator--with lots of features
> that any ham could appreciate. This time, I really mean *any* ham,
> because right out of the box (or off the workbench, as it were),
> Elecraft built accessibility features right into the rig. Whether
> intentional or not, (and I suspect it was a factor), they designed a
> rig that it seems a blind ham can easily use. With cw output of rig
> settings and frequency, the blind ham has the same access to this
> rig's operation as do his sighted brethren.
>
> This small company has done what the bigger manufacturers of ham gear
> have either not done or, for the most part, only halfheartedly
> done. Elecraft has striven to make their rigs as accessible to the
> disabled population of hams as to the fully able-bodied. They've
> listened to our suggestions and have implemented them. From keeping a
> list of hams willing to build equipment for others--something they
> certainly didn't have to do--to releasing talking computer software to
> control their rigs, to a cw interface for the K2, and now the new KX1,
> Elecraft has done what other companies have not been willing to
> do. They have listened to the needs of potential users of their
> products and done their dead level best to make eyes-free use of their
> equipment a reality. They didn't do it as an afterthought, or in a
> haphazard or halfhearted way. They gave real thought to our needs and
> made their design decisions in order to include us. And they did it
> without sacrificing ease-of-use for the fully sighted or able-bodied
> operator.
>
> We've been told in the past that we just aren't worth bothering with,
> that we can' afford to buy new gear, so there's no need to take our
> needs into account. We've been told that it's too difficult to design
> accessibility into a rig without compromising on other usability
> features. Or they might make all the right sort of noises but then not
> do anything else. Well guys, sit up and take notice. It can be done,
> and Elecraft has done it. I want to publicly acknowledge them and
> thank them for their efforts. Other companies would do well to follow
> your lead--technologically and in forward thinking toward equipment
accessibility.
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3    | But I will lay my burden
> Email: [log in to unmask]   | in the cradle of your grace,
> ICQ: 36621210              | And the shining beaches of your love,
> http://www.ycardz.com      | and the sea of your embrace.--Dave Carter
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3    | But I will lay my burden
> Email: [log in to unmask]   | in the cradle of your grace,
> ICQ: 36621210              | And the shining beaches of your love,
> http://www.ycardz.com      | and the sea of your embrace.--Dave Carter