Hello;
Our radio club was visited by some arrl folks earlier this year and they mentioned the digital qst upcoming next year. I mentioned that it would be a real plus if it could be accessed by a screen reader and although no promises were made they sounded very positive.
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Tice <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, Dec 16, 2011 06:10:21 PM
Subject: Inaccessible Reader Medium for Ham Radio Publications
>
>
> Greetings, Listers!
>
> I've been away from the list for a while, mostly depending on the list
> archives to help me answer questions Handiham members ask me. Now I'm =
> back
> again because I want to bring forward a troubling new development. We =
> all
> know that we are on the cusp of a major change in the publishing world.
> While digital publication can greatly enhance accessibility to blind
> computer users, we cannot necessarily assume that new publishing formats
> will necessarily be compliant with accepted accessibility standards. To
> illustrate this, I am pasting the following message that I received from =
> the
> Zinio Support folks, then I will fill you in a bit more. Here is the
> e-mail:=20
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for contacting Zinio Customer Support.=20
>
> Unfortunately Zinio publications are not compatible with screen readers, =
> we
> apologize for the inconvenience.
>
> If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Eric Folsom
> Zinio Customer Support
>
> Okay, this is pretty much what I suspected because I was unable to =
> highlight
> any text in the Zinio Reader, and the browser-based version gave similar
> results. However, the publications Zinio supports are searchable for
> keywords, so there must be some sort of embedded text underlying the
> graphical text presentation. I am by no means a screenreader user =
> myself
> since I can see the pages, but NVDA hadn't a clue as to the main body =
> text
> in any of the pages when tested with Worldradio Online Magazine, which =
> does
> use the Zinio system along with CQ and many other magazines. The Zinio
> Reader does include easy to use font resizing, but the lack of =
> screenreader
> support is troubling. =20
>
> As I said, we are going to find more and more publications on line in =
> the
> coming years, most sooner rather than later. In the January 2012 QST =
> there
> is a mention of the anticipated mid-year rollout of a digital version of
> QST. I want to emphasize that I have no information on which publishing
> platform ARRL will be using and whether it will be screenreader =
> accessible,
> but it is painfully apparent that inaccessible design can be carried =
> forward
> into the new publishing medium. This is shown clearly in the step =
> backwards
> from Worldradio Online in PDF with embedded text several issues ago =
> prior to
> the change to the Zinio Reader versus the current "apologize for the
> inconvenience" situation we have now. =20
>
> I don't fault the Worldradio Online people for this - they are simply =
> using
> an on line publishing company. And in fair disclosure, I do write the =
> "With
> the Handihams" column that appears regularly in WR. But I think that =
> any
> company that delivers online media, especially digital print =
> publications
> for heaven's sake, should be able to provide screenreader access.=20
>
> Can we start a civil discussion about this, and put together some kind =
> of
> informational message and action plan about what should be expected
> regarding accessibility? I know that the ADA does not necessarily =
> require
> accessibility, but we all know that it is the right thing to do, and =
> that it
> is also not a good business plan to exclude potential readers. =20
>
> 73,
> Pat
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Regards,=A0
>
> Patrick Tice, M.A. | Manager, Courage Handiham System | PH: 763.520.0511 =
> |
> Courage Center | 3915 Golden Valley Road | Golden Valley, MN 55422
>
> [log in to unmask] | CourageCenter.org
>
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