Very well put, Martin!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Martin G. McCormick 
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 8:12 AM 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: Re: accessible radio 

I agree totally. The older I get the less patient I get
with technology because the only reason things aren't better
regarding accessibility is unless you are that 1 per cent caught
in the trap, it's not an issue. You can have entertainment
devices that are all pointy-clicky monsters that you must see a
screen to use, communications gear whose primary mode of
operation is voice but there's that @%& eye candy control
system. It does suck green trench water.

My wife has perfect vision and she helps me when
necessary but if you need sighted assistance to run some device
on a routine basis, this is not a good thing. It has nothing to
do with how smart one is or how much initiative you have, it is
a matter of good design versus incomplete design and a huge
amount of electronics these days has incomplete design. It is
junk as far as I am concerned.

The best we can hope for is that we can find the tools
we need for ham radio and daily life that are either accessible
by design or have enough remote operational capability that they
are accessible almost by accident.

I have two Uniden scanners that would be almost
inaccessible if you had to just use them as is but they are much
more accessible if you can connect a computer to their serial
ports. I can read the displays and program them that way but
they would be a huge pain to operate via the front pannel. It
would be all counting silently, pushing buttons silently and
hoping for no mistakes or contact bounces which could silently
introduce more head-scratching later.

On the BCD996, for instance, the beeps as you turn the
VFO knob don't even keep up with the clicks as you turn it
unless you turn it rather slowly. If you make a big mistake, it
beeps higher but you don't know what you did.

I don't feel sorry for myself at all, but I do get
annoyed that as we move on through the years, this problem
doesn't resolve itself. It just morphs in to new ways to bite.

There's my rant for the day. I need to tune in 14.313
to hear some truly handicapped folks and feel smugly superior to
them.

Martin

Butch Bussen writes:
> I don't want to start a big debate here, but I think saying the only
> thing we give up is driving is over simplified.  I was married to a
> wonderful person for ten years and lived in Los Vegasand we depended on
> each other for a lot of things.  She had site so ccould drive as well as
> read mail, tell me controls on radios, play video poker and slots, go
> grocery shopping, and on and on and on.  Sure you can learn to do a lot,
> but realistically I think it is a royal pain in the ass and always will
> be, particularly since I'm back in a small town and depend on my mom for
> reading mail and so forth.  Yep, I do a lot, and even do a lot most
> sighted folks don't think I can do, but lets be real, blindness
> sucks!!!!
> 73
> Butch
> WA0VJR