Hello Mike, Well, hmm, of course, urgings to advocate for better accessibility do not negate other items on one's plate, and I even said this particular specific matter isn't of the utmost priority in my own article on this subject... :-)
This AOL player issue is primarily used in the article as yet another example of possibly taking steps backward and attempting to do something about it. How many minutes does it take each of you to write two short notes: one to the AOL accessibility team and another to CBS? I even provided the e-mail address and link in my article. What more do you want? Of course, again, there are always many many reasons and ways to justify doing absolutely nothing at all. Somehow, doing or saying nothing at all about any accessibility issue, regardless of importance, is emphasized over taking any action. Oh, well... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Pietruk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 9:02 PM Subject: Re: Accessibility Evangelism and Unfortunate News From AmericaOnline(AOL) Radio John and Darrell While I sympathize with your cause (and at this point do you guys even know what problems this player will present, if any), blind people in particular and Americans in general have far bigger things on their plate these days then worrying if someone can get at a media player. John, your safely crossing a street deserves 250% greater attention than this CBS/AOL player. Perhaps this player will prove workable via scripts or whatever. Perhaps other players can and will play the same streams. Frankly, I am ffar more concerned about the spiraling cost of gas, how expensive medical care and insurance is, that, in the case of northern Florida, you guys are fighting the Central part of the state over water wrights, and the myriads of other social issues that involve quality of life. Sure, it would be nice if this player worked out of the box; but having watched so many of these blindness evangelist battles, I often have found that the things that get complained about are usable either directly or indirectly. It is not that this isn't important; but there are far more things that ought to be viewed as important and perhaps some values are totally out of whack when quantums of energy get directed to an audio player rather than other things. There aren't unlimited dollars out there; and frankly I have a greater concern that John can get home safely than whether he'll have to use another player to listen to his favorite sports talk show. why? Well, if he cannot get around safely, he won't be able to listen to those shows anyway? And if he cannot afford adequate health care directly or indirectly, he won't be around to listen either. America is going through tough times these days; look at home foreclosures, rising unemployment rates, and all the rest. Politicians cannot embrace the types of things we are talking here at the moment as frankly it is even sad that we can give these things greater importance when there are true hurts out there, not just inconveniences. Yes, I'll be curious Monday to see what this means if anything. However, I am guessing that all of us will be listening to most of the same things we do today, but perhaps in a slightly different way. And before writing off the new AOL player, I would suggest first looking at the product to see if the warnings are warranted. Perhaps they are, but they may not be also. And there are many ways to listen to the same thing. Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
