I am all for low tech solutions when they will work.  But those solutions 
are becoming less and less workable.  Increasingly, we need to have access 
to the same information as what appears on the digital screen because it is 
often integrated with the functionality of the product.
Harvey
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: Man O Man


>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