[Sigia-l] Dynamic Content for the Visually Impaired

[djhuston at 21stcentury.net]

Pardon the interruption:

Does anyone have experience with state of the art text readers for the
visually impaired to read dynamically generated Web Pages (specifically,
but not limited to content generated via Macromedia Products)?

The situation: Gov. client that needs to port a Flash app to 508
compliance. In the redesign of system, Flash is up in the air so please
do not hold back any knowledge you have about text readers on the web in
general. The key question is whether you know of reliable text readers
that can read dynamically generated HTML pages without flaking.

Feel free to respond to me directly and I will compile for the list, as
always.

-----------------------

In other news: I keep waiting for someone to mention Bruce Sterling's
latest book, "Tomorrow Now: Envisioning The Next Fifty Years," to the
members of the SIG-IA community. If you haven't heard of it or Sterling,
check both out. Book notes: Random House, 2002, ISBN 0-679-46322-4

Specifically of interest to this group is the chapter "Stage 6: The
Pantaloon," (for those of you who want to cheap out and read it in the
bookstore or library) where Sterling inadvertently describes the WHY of
a career in Information. In fact, Stuart Brand, keynote speaker at the
upcoming '03 IA ASIST Summit in Portland (which very regretfully I will
be missing and Brand has been a personal fave for long now) is first
credited by Sterling as describing information wanting to be both free
and expensive. From here, Sterling riffs on all of the novelty
generating potential that still exists in our collective and nascent
field of "computing" that flows from this idea. I found some perspective
about career vision that other information heads might also be seeking
in this chapter.

Overall, the book is not for the faint of heart. Sterling's premise is
that most science fiction derives from a microscope turned on the
present, and unfortunately we still live in a pretty evil world. That
said, it is one of the few books I have finished recently that made me
want to stand up and whoop with life affirming energy when I read the
final words.

Thanks for the help above with text readers for the visually impaired
and rock on.

Cheers,

Dennis Huston

On now: Fela Anikulapo Kuti (Alias Fela Ransome Kuti) "Vols 1&2"