Janina,
I am not sure there is an entitlement to the processor or file of
your choosing as much as there is an entitlement to accessibility. Your
point on having to buy a new computer to access something does however
modify the situation and I will have to think about that one.
-- charlie Crawford.
At 03:08 PM 1/13/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Well, I believe you're wrong on both counts, in terms of what AFB supports
>and in terms of what's good for blind people.
>
>Proprietary formats that work sometimes, and don't work often are not good
>for blind people. For example, when it comes to inaccessible documents,
>such as the forms mentioned in an earlier message, an accomondation can
>reasonably be enforced under the ADA. I speak here of the most
>restrictive circumstance such that of employment where, as you
>pointed out, there are defined company standards. There are other
>examples.
>
>You have, however, apparently narrowed the scope of this discussion to
>file sharing within some kind of organizational entity--a company, a
>school. The issue goes beyond that.
>
>When the situation is a proprietary format to someone outside of an
>organizational entity, the entity is on even weaker ground. They have no
>basis in law to compel someone to spend money on devices they would
>otherwise not purchase in order to read something they're entitled to
>read. An excellent example of this circumstance are Sec. 508 (and I
>daresay 504). When the government chooses to publish forms on the web,
>they are now required to be accessible forms. And, they must be accessible
>to a wider variety of individuals with a wider variety of technologies.
>They cannot, for example, say "Word is accessible, so we can publish
>Word," because it's arguably only accessible to those with that kind of
>technology. The public service must serve the greater public, not just
>that majority that may have chosen Word somehow.
>
>
>
> On
>Sun, 13 Jan 2002, Kirk Wood wrote:
>
> > I hope for the sake of blind people Janina speaks for herself and not the
> > AFB. Reality strike here. Many people use their computer for primarily
> > business reasons. And as such they are stuck with the arrogant rules of a
> > business. For some stupid reason us sighted folks prefer text that is
> > formatted. And no Janina, html and text don't give the level of formatting
> > that word does. Sorry, but does not computer. Will not compute.
> >
> > =======
> > Kirk Wood
> > Cpt.Kirk at 1tree.net
> >
> > Nowlan's Theory:
> > He who hesitates is not only lost, but several miles from
> > the next freeway exit.
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
>
>--
>
> Janina Sajka, Director
> Technology Research and Development
> Governmental Relations Group
> American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
>Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
>Chair, Accessibility SIG
>Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
>http://www.openebook.org
>
>
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