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From:

 "David" <elephant@tele2.no>

Subject:

 Re: [Off Topic] Re: new smart led tvs.

Date:

 Mon, Oct 8, 2012 5:23:47 am
Not really sure, why there was a complaint as to the connection with GW
products, and this thread. Far as I understood the original posting in the
thread - if memory serves me right - the user initially wanted to know if
this kind of equipment is accessible. With me never been into the product
line here in discussion, I still did get the idea from the thread, that this
is some kind of equipment that somehow is connecting to your computer. Maybe
I am lost already here. If so, I would be glad to stand corrected.

On a general basis though, there might be quite a number of posts on this
list, that we strictly could have defined to be off-topic, when comes to GW
products. That is, strictly speaking. Yet, if we could please - for just a
moment - put on our widening glasses, we would see things from a quite
different angle. Remember, anything that is meant to connect to our
computer - wired or wirelessly, temporarily or permanently - does hold one
essential question in its nature: Is this going to be an accessible
solution. Since all who are subscribed to this list are personal users of a
screen reader - or in touch with screen reader users, the real question is
if the product being discussed at any time, is accessible by means of a
screen reader. My point is, any equipment you ever connect to your computer,
does hold this question "does this solution work with Window-Eyes, in a
satisfactory way for me as a blind user"? And, please, come back and tell me
what is all that much off-topic in the question, when we decide to go for
that questioning of the matter.

In reality, noone on this list, has gone through the investment of getting
themselves a computer, added on nearly a thousand dollars to put WE on it;
only to leave it like that. I dare say, that just about any user on this
list, will have AT LEAST one piece of third-party software or hardware in
daily operation on their system. Just to mention one thing we all are using,
let's keep in mind the antivirus software. Or, what about your printer?
Since none of this third-party stuff will ever be accessible for the blind
community, without the use of a screen reader - and due to the fact that all
on this list is using WE as one of their screen readers, I have a hard time
in understanding why anyone will make the complaint that this kind of
questions are off-topic. Again, I might be mis-informed on the actual
product in this particular thread, but let this stand as a friendly, general
reminder. GW would have to run a far more strict line, if this list only
should be used for questions that relates 100 percent directly to the actual
keystrokes of the screen reader itself. What is more, look at some of GW's
own announcements on the list, which might not always be really all that
screen reader related - based on a very strict viewpoint.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris" <blindcat7@gmail.com>
To: "Chris Hill" <hillco@earthlink.net>; <gw-info@gwmicro.com>; "Kevin
Barry" <krbarry@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2012 8:18 AM
Subject: [Off Topic] Re: new smart led tvs.


> Was not goint to post further, but I provided some incorrect information
> and had to correct it anyway rather than mislead any potential users. I've
> been on this list for quite some time, and discussion of other
> technologies has been permitted in the past. The line has mostly been
> drawn when the GW related traffic on the list is at a high volume and when
> discussion of competing products becomes an issue. Since GW has worked
> with Apple on more than one occasion, and since there are no competing
> products involved, I think some leeway is, at least by long tradition,
> allowed. The error here was that none of us participating remembered to
> put the off topic tag in the subject line which would have made it easier
> for those not interested to hit the delete key.
>
> GW chose to make this an unmoderated list, and by and far we do well, the
> vast majority of off topic threads are short, properly labelled and do not
> appear on the list during high traffic periods. The fact is that it can be
> hard to determine on and off topic today. So many products work with GW
> Micro's products in one way or another and so many technology newbies use
> this list that it is hard not to get sidetracked or to have to deal with
> something with a tangential connection. For example, because of the way
> Amazon has designed their Amazon Instant store, it is pretty much
> impossible to use it with any device other than a Kindle, and here I am
> just assuming since those are not accessible, without using a PC with a
> screen reader like, say, Window Eyes. Why? Because, while their various
> apps for portable devices will play videos in one's library, one cannot
> add to said library without logging on to one's Amazon account on one's
> computer. It turns out that I was incorrect about the Apple TV though,
> they have not as of yet added support for Amazon Instant, only for Hulu
> plus, what they did add was an app for the iPad that allows one to watch
> one's video library on an iPad, though they still have to use Window Eyes
> or another screen reader on their computer to purchase or rent a movie.
> Hopefully as Apple is trying to position themselves as the top film and
> television provider among manufacturer's of streaming devices, this will
> change, but personally I would happily take them making the Amazon Instant
> player compatible with Window Eyes, then I could get all of that content
> that has been wasting away in my Amazon account by running a single cable
> from my PC to my A/V receiver and then compare accessibility of Hulu and
> the other services on the TV to that on the AppleTV so that I can get best
> access to everything. I think that if Apple, Roku or any of the other
> manufacturers would contract GW Micro, they could have a single device
> that does all and is accessible as well. Perhaps since Microsoft already
> works with GW Micro on some things, they could work with them on the
> replacement to the X-Box 360 and with full speech, speech recognition and
> gesture recognition have the most accessible media device for the blind
> turn out to be a video game console. Stranger things have happened.
>
> Although I showed how this topic does, indeed touch at least somewhat on
> Window Eyes, I did go ahead and add the off topic tag so that those who
> are disinterested can delete the message without reading it.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kevin Barry
> Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2012 6:46 AM
> To: Chris ; Chris Hill ; gw-info@gwmicro.com
> Subject: Re: new smart led tvs.
>
> How is this related to GW-Micro?
> Answer: it isn't and shows a singular lack of respect to GW.
>
> At 02:04 AM 10/7/2012, Chris wrote:
>>Yes the AppleTV will do Amazon Instant Video. They added support for that
>>and for Hulu plus a couple of months ago. I do not own one, so can't
>>comment on how well VoiceOver works with the box, but have read posts from
>>quite a few people who are more than satisfied. Support for Hulu plus and
>>Amazon Instant Video, in that order, were actually the reason I had not
>>yet purchased an AppleTV. So now I am just waiting to find out how well
>>the support has been implemented and what bonuses and bugs have come along
>>with the intro of iOS 6.
>>
>>Also, the ITv app, one that is mainly for getting schedules comes with a
>>remote control function for Roku products. I do not know if this
>>functionality is accessible, nobody on Applevis has posted any reviews
>>after using the app's remote function, but the other elements are said to
>>be quite accessible. I guess nobody, including me wants to spend the money
>>on a Roku player and then find that the remote functions are not
>>accessible.
>>
>>It may be possible, at least for US consumers, to get accessible smart TVs
>>in the near future. I am not sure when the deadline is for manufacturers
>>to come into compliance, often they get quite a long grace period for
>>things like this, but there is a law on the books that will require all
>>electronic devices from communication devices to consumer electronics and
>>appliances to be made fully accessible by the time the law is fully in
>>effect, but I don't think the first provisions even start to go into
>>effect until 2013 or 2014 and anyone who has watched legislation on equal
>>access go into effect knows that it always takes longer than it should and
>>often requires the Justice Department to file suits against some who take
>>their time getting into compliance. The truly sad part in this particular
>>case is that the industries involved have already had something like two
>>years to be working on the problem and there are already examples of
>>corporations that started seriously working on accessibility before there
>>was any law in place to force them and they seem to have managed to
>>accomplish a lot without massive extra work and expense.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Chris
>>
>>-----Original Message----- From: Chris Hill
>>Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 12:15 PM
>>To: gw-info@gwmicro.com
>>Subject: Re: new smart led tvs.
>>
>>Not likely. These are probably running some form of linux, which may be
>>quite difficult to change. If you want smart tv options, I understand
>>the apple tv may be of interest. It has its own speec. As far as I
>>know, it won't do Amazon instant video, so I've not tried one.
>>
>>
>>
>>On 10/5/2012 21:50, Les Gordon www.cdrdvdr.com wrote:
>>>hello everyone, with the release of the new smart tvs that have online
>>>access and web brousing, and core 2 processors and usb ports, will it be
>>>possible for wineyes to work on those tvs to read the screen menus?
>>>using a external hd for wineyes?
>>>maybe this might be something for gw. to investigate. thanks les
>>>Sales & Customer Service
>>>Duplication & custom Printing
>>>Les Gordon
>>>ph: (866)356-2602
>>>fx: (866)259-5876
>>>email: mrdvd@comcast.net <mailto:mrdvd@comcast.net>
>>>web: www.cdrdvdr.com <http://www.cdrdvdr.com>;
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>
> If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender
> only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is
> related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to
> gw-info@gwmicro.com so the entire list will receive it.
>
> GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can
> manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
>
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