VIBUG MEETING MINUTES

Date of meeting: February 12, 2000

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM. The minutes were read and accepted. Amy announced that she was in the process of updating the VIBUG Mailing List. She further stated that Jeff Turner had agreed to keep the list updated and that any changes of address, Email, Phone Number, etc., should be sent to Jeff from now on either by e-mail at jturner@jhancock.com or by phone (617) 522-5202. Tim was asked to create a form on the web site for people to submit their requests to join. She informed people that we will be adding the list of available tapes of past meetings and classes to our Web Page and that print and Braille lists of these tapes will also be made available.

Amy provided us with a number of Web addresses which she thought might be of interest to consumers. She told us that there was a company that has developed accessible versions of memory, battleship, yatzi , and Simon, which can be downloaded from www.jokerdog.com. Another group is developing accessible adventure games. Information about their games can be obtained from http://www.espsoftworks.com.

Handi-talk has moved. The new address for the program, which airs on Saturdays at 4:00 P.M. is http://webradiostation.com. In other audio related news, Amy told us there is a new tuner similar to Earthtuner for audio which can be downloaded from www.hiwire.com. There is also a new e-mail list for African American disabled persons. To subscribe, send a message to BlackDisabled-subscribe@onelist.com. A weekly radio program for this group is also available on the net. To hear it, go to http://www.onarollradio.com. The radio talk show airs on Sunday evenings from 9:00 to 11:00 P.M.

There was a legislative conference on the Internet and Americans with Disability. It is available in real audio at: http://www.house.gov/judiciary/2.htm.

Amy announced that Jaws Release 3.5 is out and currently being shipped to customers, with an accompanying features CD She also told people that IE 5.01 is on this CD and can be installed as the new features in JAWS are designed to work well with this program. Also, at http://www.blindprogramming.com JFW users can obtain scripts for MS-config and advanced dialogs in Internet Explorer Options. She also announced that Window-Eyes is coming out with an upgrade. She asked all present to encourage any low vision people they knew to come to next month's meeting.

Amy announced that a TSI Braille Navigator was donated to VIBUG. John Mattioli is going to investigate whether this device can be used with Windows, Dos, or both; we will table a discussion about how we can best utilize the Navigator until the next meeting. Additionally, Amy told us that the Foundation Fighting Blindness was now receiving announcements of our meetings.

Amy suggested that people read the January issue of the Braille Monitor which is currently available on line. There were some articles that discussed the AOL Suit which might be of interest to people. Jeff suggested that people read the articles off line, and explained how that could be accomplished.

In our question and answer portion, Jeff Turner asked if there was a way to fix tapes which squeaked as they were running on recorders. We indicated that tightening the tape itself might help, but generally the only solution was to buy better quality tapes. We also had a discussion about the importance of keeping our speech software upgraded.

David Bradburn demonstrated Kurzweil 1000 with the Real Speak Synthesizer, and demonstrated the use of speech recognition. The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jeanette Kutash,

Clerk