Hi Howard.

Frankly, the statement about System Access is baloney.  System Access is a 
good tool for someone with light to medium accessibility requirements who 
primarily needs to be able to move from machine to machine, but for 
situations where serious customization is needed, or access is needed to 
programs that are not mainstream end-user programs like MS Word, Outlook 
and the like, System Access is pretty worthless.  I'll give you the point 
with K1000.  I don't know why FS hasn't scrapped Open Book, because it is a 
dog for most OCR purposes, and the interface has been tacked onto too many 
times.  They need to start over on that one.
]
As for the notetakers, I think it depends upon what you want it for, and 
whether you prefer a Perkins style keyboard or a QWERTY keyboard.  I like 
the Pac Mate QWERTY, but if I were doing braille entry, the unit I really 
like is the Braille Sense, although they need to get GPS going on it.  The 
Braille Note would be a close second.

My point is that adaptive technology choices need to be purpose driven, 
just like RAM, hard disk size, and processor choices are generally decided 
by what you will use a computer for when you go shopping for a new computer.

I agree that people need to have the opportunity to check out programs, and 
in our area, that is how assessments are handled.  I do find, however, that 
sometimes sighted trainers have much more trouble relating to blind people 
than the blind trainers do.  I've seen that with my own agency--I suppose 
it's human nature.  I can show people things that other trainers miss 
because I use the stuff myself and I know where all of the pitfalls are.

But, do remember that there are times when one product is selected over 
another for specific reasons, and that what might be unimportant to you 
might be critically important to someone else.  I think it is only fair to 
remember that each screen reader has areas where it is strong and other 
areas where it is weak.  A good adaptive technology buying decision should 
match the product's strengths with your individual requirements.

73, de Lou K2LKK






At 01:37 AM 1/24/2007 -0600, you wrote:
>For what tasks?
>System access will do most of what jfw will do, if you need full
>access to excell, window-eyes will do it all, and the list price is
>$200 less than jfw.  In this version, they got smart and put a jfw
>keyboard layout option in to it.  Both system access and window-eyes
>are much less resource demanding and handle large web pages better.
>The pakmate does a lot with off the shelf programs, but for the size
>and weight,  It's a difficult trade off.
>k1000 because of it's optimization features, dictionaries,
>encyclopedias, and book searches gives you much more than OB for the
>same price.  If you just want to read your mail, why not use text
>cloaner or omni page for $100.
>
>I am very glad that their are compeeting versions of adaptive
>software, because if their weren't their would be no motivation to
>improve what is out there.  Now I do like jfw because I think the
>help system is much better, and you can easily emboss the help
>text.  As far as screen readers, which car is better, a ford or a
>toyota?  Depends on what you are driving.
>My point is that the end user aught to have the ability to test out
>products and decide which they get.  Not some sighted person who
>can't highlight an icon without a mouse in his hand.
>
>
>
>--
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Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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