Category: Uncategorized

Aaron Leventhal, someone for whom I have immense respect and who has been instrumental in Firefox and ARIA accessibility among other things, has an interesting blog post talking about how to improve Firefox access on the Macintosh. The article is worth a read, even if you have no interest in Mac accessibility for some of the experiences and insights Aaron shares on how accessibility happens. You can read the article at http://accessgarage.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/firefox-and-os-xs-voiceover-reading-the-magic-8-ball.

Earlier today I sent the below message to Saddleback Church.  Rick Warren and the church have been in the news of late due to Warren’s hosting of interviews with the two men running for U.S. President.     From: Kelly Ford [mailto:kelly@kellford.com] Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2008 5:03 PMTo: ‘info@saddleback.com’Subject: Please Add Alternative Text   Hello,   I happen to be blind and browse the web with what’s known as a screen reader.  I was…

The American Foundation for the Blind has an important and thoughtful alert talking about the need for the public to comment on proposed updates to the regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As you would expect, the alert highlights issues of interest to people who are blind or have low vision. The deadline for comments is August 18. Take a read of the alert and follow the instructions for commenting.

Aimee and I were in San Francisco last weekend for a short break visiting a good friend. On Sunday the three of us opted to head out to the city with no real agenda beyond visiting Mission Dolores and then to see where Bay area transit and our feet would take us.   As we left the mission we started hearing some sort of announcements coming from loud speakers down the street. I’m drawn to…

Sometimes what the news has to say is no secret. I caught a news article in several arenas lately talking about how expensive it is to fly to Madison, Wisconsin. Surprise me not!   When returning to Wisconsin, Madison is our first choice if at all possible because the city was once home and is closer to relatives. But according to this article, flying to Madison is the third most expensive city one can fly…

The folks over at All inPlay have another fun game for you to try. TAG, short for The Anagram Game, is currently a free public beta version where you can challenge your word making abilities against folks from around the net. Links to download and play the game along with instructions and mailing list subscription info are available at http://www.allinplay.com/games/beta.php.   Game play is straight forward after you download and install the 1.7 meg software.…

Well, I’m not sure if 50 degrees and winds of something between 10 and 20 MPH qualify as summer, but we took in a summer evening of music on a bit of a road trip to see Crosby Stills and Nash. We were unable to get tickets to the local version of the show, so opted to drive about three hours away to see the group’s summer tour at the Maryhill Winery.   Crosby Stills…

I work in the software industry. I also have a large circle of people who rely on me for computer support. I’m occasionally reminded of the things I take for granted as common knowledge that really do not fit that category.   One of these is the method people use to navigate the web. For me, ctrl+o or alt+d and the web address of choice are second nature when web surfing. Yet I encounter numerous…

Pandora, available at http://www.pandora.com, is one of the more innovative music services I’ve found on the web. The basic premise behind the service is that there’s a genealogy to music. A FAQ for the service says in part:   Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you enjoy music you already know, and to help you discover new music you’ll love.   It’s powered by the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken,…

Previously I blogged about the inaccessibility of the legally mandated annual credit reports that consumers are entitled to from the various credit reporting services. I’m pleased to report that progress has been made in this area and we should be able to obtain accessible credit reports by the end of October of this year.   Washington, D.C. (April 23, 2008) – The nation’s three major consumer credit reporting companies today unveiled a comprehensive program to…