Anger over BBC radio streaming changes

[Prisca]

On 20/02/2015 22:59, James Scholes wrote:
> CJB wrote:
>> It is equally unacceptable to redesign a website so badly that
>> specialist browsing apps. used by the blind are useless and can no
>> longer make sense of the pages.
> I don't understand where this impression has come from.  A lot of the
> blind people complaining about the changes made to BBC websites simply
> don't know how to use their assistive technology effectively.  And
> before you think that I am way out-of-line for making such a statement,
> I am blind myself and using assistive technology to help me write this
> email.  I frequently use the iPlayer, get_iplayer, and other BBC
> websites without a problem.
>
> The suggestion is made even more ridiculous by the fact that the BBC
> have done tons and tons of work to make people, consumers and web
> developers alike, all around the world more aware of web accessibility
> good practices.  Their usability standards are accepted by organisations
> on a global scale.  Are they perfect?  Good lord no.  Their on-site
> media player has a number of flaws, and I'm sure that they could make
> navigation for keyboard-only users much more efficient, but the BBC web
> presence is far from inaccessible.
With all due respect, James, my husband is totally blind following a 
brain injury at the age of 40. It also affected his nervous system so 
that his hands are not as mobile as before, and he has reduced 
sensitivity in them. He is not the only one. He managed to teach himself 
to type and use access technology - no help from any outside sources - 
and although he can manage to find his way around specific software and 
email, the BBC site is far from accessible to him. I also help 4 other 
blind people with their computers, and they also have problems and I 
know of many others.

Just as in any other walk of life, even the blind have different levels 
of technical knowledge and physical ability. It is even worse for those 
who lose their sight later in life, who find the learning curve of 
dealing with both sight loss and new technology extremely difficult. 
Yes, like you, there are many blind people who do manage very well with 
assistive technology but there are a considerable number who don't. 
Losing your sight in your 60s, 70s or 80s is an increasing problem due 
to various medical conditions, accidental injuries, strokes, cardiac 
arrests and so on. In fact, sight loss can happen to anyone at any time, 
and not all become super computer wizards just because they have a 
screen reader that talks to them. The fact that you assert that blind 
people complaining about the changes don't know how to use their 
assistive technology effectively just bears out my point. Unless you are 
taught to use assistive technology at school, for example, most older 
blind people never truly get completely to grips with it if they have 
lived a sighted life before sight loss, because there is very little 
training available to them.

So I will continue to bang on about the BBC changes as the people who do 
recognise that the BBC site is not fully accessible to many, such as 
Alisdair King who writes the Webbie software, would not have written 
easy access software if it wasn't needed. For many blind people, this is 
the only way they are able to access the BBC site, particularly for on 
demand programs.

You are obviously one of the lucky ones, but many are not in your position.

Prisca