... I wouldn't consider having to connect a Braille 'N Speak to your system a system with a perfectly accessible bios, in fact the exact opposit! At 11:45 12/23/03, you wrote: >Let's generalize this a bit further. > >Virtually all non Intel computers can be accessed over a serial port at >9600 baud. At least, this has been historically true for systems from >DEC, Sun, etc. > >In other words, the inaccessible bios was first created for Intel >computing platforms. > >I believe this is an important point which should not be forgotten in >any advocacy for accessibility on future bios implementations. We're not >asking for something new. We're asking that something be maintained. > >For example, my DEC Alphastation 200 has a perfectly accessible bios. I >simply disconnect the monitor and plug a Braille 'N Speakup into its >first serial port and have at it. It's brilliant, and this is how I >configured the bios on the computer that is now my home server. > >My experience with this ten year old DEC is the historic norm for >computing. > >Allan Shaw writes: > > From: Allan Shaw <technews at sympatico.ca> > > > > > > Back in the very early days of the 8286 CPU's one of the leading bios > > manufacturers at that time whom i believe was called Phoenix had a utility > > which came with any system containing there bios which would allow you to > > modify/configure/set the parameters within the bios by running this > utility > > from at that time a command prompt. > > > > I had a system with this type of bios and was using the Artic speech > > product and could change anything I require within the bios and then only > > had to reboot my machine to pick up the changes. > > > > so as with many things, all we need to do is once again make the old > > something new again and develop something similar for the modern day bios > > and make our life a little easier. > > If the Phoenix company is still around, maybe that would be a good > place to > > start. > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Speakup mailing list > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > >-- > >Janina Sajka >Email: janina at rednote.net >Phone: (202) 408-8175 > >Director, Technology Research and Development >American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) >http://www.afb.org > >Chair, Accessibility Work Group >Free Standards Group >http://accessibility.freestandards.org > >_______________________________________________ >Speakup mailing list >Speakup at braille.uwo.ca >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
