Hi everybody,
After reading the petition from Handytech, I wrote to Jonathan Mosen about
the problem with braille drivers and received a reply. I thought you would
all like to read it. Although it clears up some questions, I think it
leaves others murky. What is the financial burden FS wishes to put on the
manufacturers/ is it reqally outrageous? Beats me. And if FS is so
concerned about driver security and compatibility, why not give the driver
development kit without charge? Also, apparently "not tested by Microsoft'
should not cause us alarm, but "not approved by FS" means the display won't
work and that's that. I do think both sides on this issue should be more up
front so that we consumers can end up winners and not stranded in the desert
of indecision. i am still too wishy-washy to pass final judgment but would
love to see this resolved.
I'm sending the reply from Jonathan followed by my original question, so
don't get confused!
I(lene
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Mosen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Ilene Sirocca" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 3:53 PM
Subject: RE: Braille Drivers
Hi Eileen, thanks very much for your message and the encouragement
regarding the podcasts, I really appreciate it.
I certainly understand your concern, and we're working with all Braille
display manufacturers in good faith. Since you are getting a new
computer soon, the chances are very good that it will be running the
Windows 7 operating system. The majority of Windows 7 machines being
shipped by manufacturers today are running 64 bit Windows 7. The world
of 64 bit is fairly new to screen readers, and the older Braille display
drivers will not work in this environment. Having to develop Braille
support for this environment really caused us to evaluate the Braille
experience for users, and our relationship with manufacturers. We have
had situations in the past, for instance, where a Braille display
manufacturer has interfaced with JAWS in ways that we didn't anticipate.
When we made what we thought was a perfectly innocent change to JAWS,
this sometimes broke Braille display support. The new initiative we're
taking will avoid that happening, since we'll have a much closer
relationship with Braille display manufacturers and ensure that Braille
works as it should with every new JAWS version. In terms of the moral
issues surrounding this initiative, I think this is critical. If someone
installs a new version of JAWS in good faith, only to find that lack of
communication between us and a Braille display manufacturer has impeded
their ability to do their job with Braille, that's not acceptable in our
opinion. This new program will avoid that. This is the key part of the
initiative, which we called the Secure and Compatible Braille display
initiative. Your message refers to the security aspect, but not the
compatibility issue, which in practical terms is I think a much bigger
deal.
You also say that Freedom Scientific doesn't sign its mirror drivers
under Vista. While I appreciate that this is a myth widely being
circulated, it is in fact incorrect. Our mirror driver is signed by us.
What we do not do however is put it through Microsoft testing. This is
no different, for example, than many devices I have on my system, such
as sound cards, whose drivers are signed, but not tested by Microsoft.
You can be sure that if you install our mirror driver, it is signed by
FS, and therefore comes with our guarantee that it is secure. This
policy also allows us to respond much more quickly if we are made aware
of compatibility issues with certain kinds of displays. We publish
updates to JAWS regularly, on average 3 or 4 throughout the year between
major versions, and they often contain mirror driver updates. Going
through the Microsoft process would slow down our ability to respond.
Already, we have a number of Braille display manufacturers who have
partnered with us, and we continue to talk with others. Our goals here
are twofold, firstly to make sure that anyone can use any Braille
display they like with JAWS in the knowledge that the process is secure,
and secondly that the user experience is a good one.
Thanks again for the feedback and hope this helps.
All the best,
Jonathan Mosen.
Vice President, Blindness Hardware Product Management Freedom Scientific
BLV Group LLC
11800 31st Court North
St. Petersburg, FL 33716-1805
-----Original Message-----
From: Ilene Sirocca [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, 5 November 2009 7:57 a.m.
To: FSCast
Subject: Braille Drivers
Hi, Jonathan,
Congratulations on great podcasts; they are informative and lead to
other good information as well.
Since the September podcast, when you discussed the braille display
drivers situation, a petition has circulated opposing FS's policy. I am
one of those who could be caught in the middle. I am getting a new
computer soon and do not know yet which OS will be the winner.
Fortunately, I'm not giving up my old computer yet, so I can use the
Braille Star 40 with it, but i certainly would like to see the problem
resolved. While FS and manufacturers are fighting, the consumer suffers
one way or another.
Will you be discussing this issue at greater length? I fear at the
moment your company is in the "bad guy" position, especially as there
was no strong evidence given that viruses had or would sneak in, and
because Jaws itself still has unsigned drivers, at least undr Vista.
I am a generally happy Jaws user and I find the whole question
disturbing from both a moral and a practical standpoint. I hope you
will clarify the FS position or perhaps even modify it in forthcoming
podcasts.
On a personal note, I applaud your success with FS and your continued
display of great broadcasting ability. All success and good things in
the future.
Regards,
Ilene Sirocca
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