[Athen] Slightly OT: A concern for the future of Windows-based AT

[Robert Spangler]

Good morning Debee, thanks for sharing this with us.  As a screen reader
user and thus a keyboard user, I am extremely frustrated with the lack of
consistency and usability of apps, especially the metro Windows 10 apps
that they're trying to shove down all of our throats.  Take Skype as an
example.  This was an accessible, traditional desktop application that
worked well with the keyboard and screen readers.  Now, this version is
dead and on Windows all we have is the metro app, which is a huge step
backward for keyboard use.  Everything is in one window, I can't adjust how
I want my conversation windows to appear, and it's just not a pleasurable
experience.  Last I checked, the Facebook app was not even usable.  I have
also heard that the file explorer is going to become a metro app
eventually.  I'm going to end up pulling all my hair out!  Grrr!

Anyways, thanks for giving me the opportunity to vent!  Haha...

Robert


On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 4:46 PM, Deborah Armstrong <
armstrongdeborah at fhda.edu> wrote:


> Bloomberg has an interesting story about Amy Hood, Microsoft’s CFO.

>

>

>

> One business trend for this past decade is that a CFO is no longer a

> glorified accountant/budget analyst. They are now part of the senior

> management team – determiners of strategy rather than implementers.

> Microsoft’ Q4 earnings report came out Thursday and according to Bloomberg,

> investors are saying Ms. Hood is the best CFO Microsoft has ever had.

>

>

>

> One thing she’s done is take money away from legacy divisions and put it

> in to the cloud. Since 2002 when she was hired her goal is to move

> Microsoft more towards cloud-based subscription models for their products –

> I’m paraphrasing Bloomberg here—previously most divisions could ask for

> what they wanted budget-wise and could expect to get it – that’s no longer

> true.  Bloomberg also comments that Ms. Hood timed her start date back in

> 2002 to get maximum access to the employee stock purchase plan.

>

>

>

> So despite what we see at conferences with Microsoft’s waving of the

> accessibility banner, I don’t think it’s going to be smooth sailing ahead.

> If it doesn’t improve growth it’s going to be ignored.

>

>

>

> The earnings reports no longer say anything about Windows, so we can

> assume it is gradually going to just be a framework for a browser; already

> most new apps are PWAS (progressive web apps) which means no installation,

> no data on your own PC, but you need to be online to access any of it.

>

>

>

> This means that AT is going to need to get much better at dealing with

> progressive web apps and other online offerings. For keyboard users, there

> is no longer a consistent, reliable set of keystrokes for operating

> web-based applications. For screen reader users, just to take one example,

> pressing Tab can take you out of the application and in to the address bar

> which is very confusing; imagine if a single and frequently used keystroke

> could dump you out of the operating system! For magnification users, the

> lack of standards in a web-based interface means that you can miss

> important information because you weren’t looking in the right place.

>

>

>

> The full Bloomberg story is here:

>

>                 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-16/how-

> amy-hood-won-back-wall-street-and-helped-reboot-microsoft

>

>

>

> --Debee

>

>

>

>

>

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>

>



-- 
Robert Spangler
Disability Services Technical Support Specialist
rspangler1 at udayton.edu
Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)
University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302
Phone: 937-229-2066
Fax: 937-229-3270
Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)
Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning
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