well, I thought the ft101E was one of the most accessible radios, with the
acception that you had no voice readout of frequency and S meter, but a good
ear will tell you what an approximate signal is, and if you use the method
of listening for the sqwak every 100KC, you could easily tune and get an
approximate idea of where you were on any given band.
Most of the older rigs were like that, many of them Yaesu's.
Most of the modern Yaesu's can be used by a blind person just fine....so
saying none of them are at all accessible is not correct.
I have an FT2800M downstairs that I use on a daily basis and it works and
functions just perfectly.  I have the manual in PDF format and when i want
to make a menu change i simply look in the manual, count clicks and button
presses, and away I go.
If i get stuck, a simple partial reset to get menus back to default starts
me out fresh again.
It has direct frequency entry on the mike and one touch hot keys for any
number of functions.
Now tell me that most of yaesu's radios don't have all of these features and
more.
You guys wouldn't know because you hear yaesu and automatically discard
anything about them instead of trying some and finding out that they can
actually be made to work.  Are they accessible as they could be, of course
not, but most things in this sighted world aren't as accessible as we would
like or as they could be, and we get over it and find ways of getting around
them.
Sell phones only recently began to have the capability of screen readers,
yet it certainly didn't stop blind folks from having and using sell phones
as best they could....but as soon as something accessible comes out, all of
a sudden any phone that can't support a screen reader becomes unaccessible
and unusable by blind people...similar situation with amateur radios I
think.
should we purposely use less accessible radios? naturally not. we go for the
most accessible as we should. but saying that perfectly accessible, though
not as accessible as other radios, are unaccessible is bordering on
ignorance and a lack of desire to enhance ones world by finding ways around
lesser accessibility.

73
Colin, V A6BKX
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anthony Vece" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 12:02 PM
Subject: Re: ReModern Radios and Accessibility


> Hi Eric;
>
> I wouldn't even consider Yaesu.
>
> There radios are not accessible and they have no intentions of making them
> accessible.
>
> 73 De Anthony W2AJV
> [log in to unmask]
> ECHOLINK NODE NUMBER: 74389
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Eric Clegg" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 1:37 PM
> Subject: ReModern Radios and Accessibility
>
>
> > Hello listers,
> > It seems that the more modern the rigs get the less accessible they get.
> >
> > For instance the little Yaesu ft817nd has to be accessorized with one of
> > two
> > keypads to make it workable. You still would have to get many of the
fine
> > options from w4rt to turn it into a real radio such as the two board
> > filters, a better battery pack and a host of other accessories.
> >
> > Also if you use the keypad fromJohn Hansen or Radio Mate from BHI of
> > England
> > you can't use the accessory jack on the back.
> >
> > I understand that the box for the k2 that reads out in CW is pretty
> > complete
> > in the information it has to give.
> >
> > With respect to the Elecraft k3 now is the time to urge the manufacturer
> > to
> > make it accessible while it is the development stages. Not when they've
> > shipped a thousand of them.
> >
> > Their comments about a small market is just junk.
> >
> > As a blind person I'd be willing to pay at least $300 additional if the
> > rig
> > could be made completely accessible.
> >
> > If I were to get a rig right now I'd probably get a Kenwood TS480SAT
which
> > is quite accessible out of the box.
> >
> > Or a Ten-Tec Argonaut V which I would propose to control with a computer
> > program such as the n4PY program.
> >
> > For my needs right now I only require 20 watts or so and easily turn
down
> > the power on a Kenwood.
> >
> > Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone.
> >
> > Best 73's,
> >
> > Eric
> > KU3I
> >
> >
>
>
>
> -- 
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>
>