Ron,
It doesn't have to be elegant, just do the job.
Pat, K9JAUAt 04:21 PM 3/25/2012, you wrote:
>I agree with all you've said, Harvey. However, I sense an apparent trend in
>the attitude of the community of hams who are blind and also in the greater
>community of blind people that unless a device provides synthetic speech, it
>is not "accessible." What if I can count clicks, or button presses from a
>known state and set the temperature of my oven, or the wash settings on my
>clothes or dishwasher? What if simply adding brailed, adhesive backed film
>to the control panel of my microwave oven let's me easily set the cook time
>and power output? Does this make the device accessible? Is a low teck
>solution to a problem with high tech products considered? We should advocate
>for accessibility in products but not lose our willingness to think outside
>the box to adapt stuff to our own use. It won't work all of the time but it
>just might work some of the time and let us accomplish what we want without
>waiting for someone else to spin an entire new iteration of a product or a
>whole new product line.
>
>My two cents worth.
>
>Ron Miller
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>On Behalf Of Harvey Heagy
>Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 12:41 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Man O Man
>
>I hear what you're saying Ron, but today's electronics appliances Etc. are
>much harder to find work arounds with than were older ones.
>
>And while it is possible to program them through computers, I-phones Etc.
>what if you don't have access to such a device in a given situation?  Also,
>may times the given menu times out if you don't make selections within a
>short time period.  We should be able to do whatever we need to by using the
>radio or whatever independently of anything else.
>
>And it's not like the technology isn't available to do it.  I believe it is,
>it is just not being used..
>Harvey
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ron Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2012 12:15 PM
>Subject: Re: Man O Man
>
>
> > Hi,
> > I'm not trying to be inflammatory, or anything, but we've really got
> > to keep in mind that it is often necessary to find the work-arounds
> > that will let us access the stuff we want, when we want to. You can
> > certainly argue that a rig that doesn't talk "right out of the box"
> > isn't accessible, but blind hams have been accessing in-accessible
> > rigs for the last seventy or eighty years, or more and they never
> > talked, beeped or provided morse code readouts. My scanners have never
> > talked but they've been usable, nowadays, with software to program the
> > thousands of frequencies and talkgroups needed to follow modern radio
> > systems. If you're reading the current communications and scanning
> > magazines, you'll notice that mainstream, sighted scanner users are
> > resorting to computer programming of their scanners because it is much
> > faster and less tedious than working through the multi-layered menu
> > systems used on today's scanning receivers.
> >
> > I'm all for talking radios, microwaves, scales, TVs, stoves,
> > washer/dryers, computers, cell phones, caller IDs, and anything else I
> > can get, but I am darn sure not going to wait for industry to catch up
> > to me whenever I can leverage whatever tips, tricks and make-do's I
> > and all of the rest of you discover as we go for the things we want to
> > do.
> >
> > This group is full of prime examples of this attitude. Lots of you
> > have built your own stuff, put up antennas and towers (often with the
> > help of sighted hams), some of you have read through the
> > SmithKettlewell articles and have built the audible oscilloscopes,
> > continuity checkers and other projects presented there. We're hams who
> > are blind and pursuing the hamming hobby and communications are to the
> > best of our ability and extent of our interests.
> >
> > I hope that we don't forget the lessons learned in the past as we take
> > advantage of the technology developed in the future.
> >
> > 73
> >
> > Ron Miller
> > N6MSAClearwater, Fl. USA
> > SKYPE: arjay1
>
>
>-----
>No virus found in this message.
>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4893 - Release Date: 03/25/12