Date of Meeting: September 14, 2002
The meeting was called to order at 1:08 p.m. Following introductions, the minutes were read and approved as written.
Amy Ruell made the following announcements: In October our annual meeting will be conducted. Elections for officers for the year 2003 will be held. People may be nominated from the floor. People interested in positions should contact Amy for information about the responsibilities of the officers. Committee reports will be presented, and a discussion about the future of VIBUG will be conducted.
Traditionally VIBUG has always been represented on the Mass. Commission for the Blind's Rehabilitation Advisory Council. The time commitment per month is three hours on a Saturday4 times annually. Anyone interested in representing VIBUG for the new year beginning in January should contact Amy.
Adaptive Technology Consulting is looking for Web testers. They will pay $30 for travel, and $70.00 per hour for up to a two hour testing session. Testers can take the train or bus to Newburyport, and will be transported from their to the Salisbury Office where testing will occur. Testers should be comfortable using Jaws or Window-eyes, be comfortable using the Internet, and must be adults. For more information please contact Adaptive Technology Consulting at (978) 462-3817 or by e-mail at: gyarnell@adaptivetech.net.
Kurzweil 1000 version 7.0 final release is currently being shipped.
Jaws 4.5 final release will be shipped as of Monday. Notable features include improved access to tables in many applications, some Java support, and improved web navigation and accessibility.
Windows XP1 has been released.
It should be noted that with the IE-6 Service Pack, once this has been loaded it may cause some web pages to load but not be readable except by using the Jaws cursor or by loading a new copy of the page into a separate window with control n.
The Traveler, which replaces the Roadrunner, is expected to be available this fall. It will support MP3 files, and will have a more advanced text to speech built-in reader.
The next release of Keysoft will be a free upgrade for Braillenote users. However, the Key-Web upgrade for use on the internet is separate. Contact Pulsedata International for pricing information. The Braillenote was reviewed on September 4, 2002 on Main Menu. Check the review on ACB Radio's website at http://www.acbradio.org.
Amy announced that if people were interested in having a Christmas Party this year we would need to explore the availability of other facilities as NBP may not be available to us. Jeanette Kutash volunteered to look at alternatives so that we could further discuss this event next month.
Following an interactive demonstration of Zform Poker, the meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanette Kutash
VIBUG Clerk