Hello,

multimodal sensory input may not be the most feasible solution as these
people imagine.

I wonder about the motivation of the scientific community to make these
"discoveries" that represent a rehabilitative  (again "") possibilities for
the disabled as compared with the normative mode of access as defined by the
"able" community.  Ah the joys of ablism!

What is utterly astonishing is that the disabled community willingly, and in
most cases inthusiastically, accepts these discoveries with stheir
associated
assigned language.


Pratik Patel
Managing Director
CUNY Assistive Technology Services

----- Original Message -----
From: "Raul A. Gallegos" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: mouse for the blind


> Oh joy.  Another one. HOw much will this improve access really? Oh sure,
you
> will be able to feel what is on the screen but that will not make one use
> the computer faster.  If you want to minimize an application one can
> alt-space then n. How long will it take to use your bump-finding mouse and
> look for the right minimize button at the top right corner 2 graphics in
> from said corner?
> No thanks, I'll stick with keyboard access plus the mouse functions I get
> with my screen reader.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kennedy, Bud" <
> [log in to unmask]
> >
> To: <
> [log in to unmask]
> >
> Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 8:20 AM
> Subject: mouse for the blind
> > Scientists Develop Computer Mouse for the Blind
> > Mon Sep 9, 9:32 AM ET
> >
> > LEICESTER, England (Reuters) - Scientists looking for ways to help blind
> > people get more out of computers have developed a mouse that goes bump
and
> > combined
> > it with sound representations of graphs that would otherwise be
> > inaccessible.
> >
> > Mike Burton of Glasgow University told reporters at the British
> Association
> > for the Advancement of Science (
> > news -
> > web sites)
> > annual festival the mouse vibrated every time it met a line on a graph,
> > giving a blind operator a tactile tip-off.
> >
> > "The technique is a very good way of presenting information to blind and
> > sighted people," he said. "The bottom line is that the cheapest and most
> > flexible
> > solution works."
> >
> > Likening the jumping mouse to electronic Braille, Burton said one of the
> > most daunting tasks facing visually impaired people was trying to
> assimilate
> > information
> > giving an overview of data or events.
> >
> > Reinforcing the tactile jolt of the mouse, fellow Glasgow University
> > scientist Stephen Brewster said his team had developed sound graphs that
> > could be combined
> > with the mouse.
> >
> > Lines on a graph were represented by tones that would vary in pitch
> > according to whether the line was rising or falling.
> >
> > Several such tones could be used to represent different lines of the
same
> > graph as the user entered a "soundscape."
> >
> > "You can get across quite complex information just using sound," he
said,
> > adding that the technique could even be of use to sighted people such as
> > share
> > traders who could be alerted on their mobile phones by a tone
representing
> a
> > move up or down.
> >
> > He declined to speculate on the sound of a stock market crash.
> >
> >
> > VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> > To join or leave the list, send a message to
> >
> [log in to unmask]
> .  In the body of the message, simply type
> > "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
> >  VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> >
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
> >
> >
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
>  VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html