"John W. Kennedy"  wrote in message    
   news:e7580527-9c08-4243-8b2c-383ada2e8c2c@l12g2000vbj.googlegroups.com...   
   On Nov 23, 2:41 pm, deneb...@deepthot.org (Jay Denebeim) wrote:   
   > In article    
   > <1535d503-dfce-4694-94c5-846c8c16c...@b12g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>,   
   >   
   > StarFuryG7  wrote:   
   > >On Nov 8, 9:14 pm, "Nicole Massey"  wrote:   
   > >One of the things that's   
   > >always bothered me about "Covert Affairs" is that one of the main   
   > >characters is supposed to be something of a computer whiz even though   
   > >he's blind, which I've found to be incredibly unrealistic.   
   >   
   > She's not the first person. Software engineering/computer   
   > administration is one of the traditional things a non-sited person can   
   > do really well. Of course in these days of GUIs its a bit harder.   
   > Plain text helps I would imagine.   
      
   Back in the old days, IBM mainframe provisions for blind users were   
   off-the-shelf options, such as braille adaptors for standard printers.   
      
   But modern GUI frameworks do a pretty good job; text-to-speech is   
   standard on Mac OS X (and iOS, too), and if Windows doesn't have it,   
   well, shame on them. Of course, an individual app developer can screw   
   it up, but most government departments would never pass software that   
   did that.   
   ---   
   Yes, screen readers are add-ons for Windows, save for the almost    
   non-functional Nararator, but it's not Microsoft's fault for that.   
   Back in Windows 2000 days they wanted to include a screen reader in Windows.    
   (This was during the time Apple was leaving blind folks high and dry,    
   because they eliminated Outspoken with OSX, and didn't add Voiceover until    
   OSX.5 much later) They wre working with Freedom Scientific and GW Micro to    
   get this done right, and then the National Federation for the Blind stepped    
   in and said that if Microsoft continued on this cours they were going to    
   file suit for some crazy reason and Microsoft backed away from the project,    
   providing only the rudimentary Nararator. I've heard Nararator has been    
   beefed up in Windows 8, but I'm still waiting for word on that -- I know of    
   no blind folks who are using 8 yet.   
   The NFB is a problem sometimes for blind folks. They contend that blindness    
   isn't a handicap, society's approach to it is what gives blind folks    
   trouble. They're anti-guide dog, instead preferring blind folks to use a    
   long "glide" cane that doesn't contact the ground, and they're also against    
   talking elevators and chirp signals on traffic lights.   
   --- SBBSecho 2.20-Win32   
    * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:340/400)