Below is the message I sent to k7bv concerning Yaesu and accessibility.  I 
will forward any replies I receive from him.

---------------- cut here ---------------------

Sir:

My name is Gary Lee, and I am a blind Extra class amateur.

I recently heard about your new position with Vertex Standard, and would 
like your help in trying to change the aparent attitude of this company 
toward the blind ham.  I will illustrate below.

At the Dayton ham fest this year I stopped by the Yaesu booth to inquire 
about the ft-817 tranceiver.  I am largely a qrp operator, and this rig 
would answer well for a general purpose travel radio.
I asked  to speak with someone who was very familiar with this radio.  My 
purpose was to see about sitting down with that person and the rig to see 
if there were work-arounds to allow the blind user to operate it.
I was then routed to Mr. Chip Margelli (pardon the spelling).  The response 
from both he and the other rep, Carrol, was to use all their efforts to 
disuade me from even considering this purchase.  Frankly this was a  very 
disappointing experience, and has only served to convince me even more that 
Vertex Standard doesn't care to have our business.

For an amateur radio manufacturer to display this attitude is very 
disconcerting.  As has been noted in many QST articles the ham population 
in the U.S. is steadily aging.  With age usually comes reduced vision, 
motor dexterity, and other problems.  It would seem to me that making 
equipment more friendly to disabled users would be an excellent marketing 
strategy for the future.

Finally, I will conclude with an illustration of the complete opposite of 
this attitude.  Several years ago I wrote Wayne Burdick of Elecraft 
concerning the use of the k2 by a blind individual.  This contact not only 
yielded the krc2 with optional access firmware and cw readout of nearly 
every item on the k2 display, but the release of the kx1, and the 
subsequent public promise from Wayne that all their future rigs would have 
at least cw access to all visual display functions.  This from a small 
american company with obviously smaller development resources than 
Vertex.  Also, Kenwood and Icom have demonstrated some commitment to access 
with many of their recent offerings, and at least for Kenwood, access has 
steadily improved since the mid 1980s.

I ask that you please take these comments and observations to the correct 
people at Yeasu.  In my experience, many blind hams have expressed interest 
in Yaesu equipment in the past, but when they have tried to deal with 
Vertex Standard on access issues they have consistently encountered 
outright resistance to any consideration of accessibility.

I am available, and quite willing to work with anyone at Vertex Standard on 
rectifying these problems.

Sincerely,
Gary Lee
kb9zuv


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.3/444 - Release Date: 9/11/2006