Dear Mr. Washington: I'm sending you this note to get an update on what Intuit is doing regarding accessibility issues for TurboTax. As you are aware, several of us have been in contact with Intuit over the last year and a half regarding this problem. Last October, you sent George Marshall and myself, and perhaps other blind folks, a beta of this past year's program for our comments. We gave those comments to you, pointing out the problems we found, but to no avail. The bitmap text still remains in the Easy Step Interview portion of the program which makes it impossible for any screen reader to read the screen. I'm sure Mr. Marshal pointed out some other issues as well. I am hopeful that there is still time to make any changes which will make this very popular program more accessible to we who are blind. As you will recall, I sent you a list of criteria for making programs accessible to blind people. I trust you still are in possession of that material. Earlier this year, Intuit received a communication from Charles Crawford, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind, which is a large consumer group of blind individuals. Mr. Crawford expressed a desire to work with Intuit so that your very popular TurboTax program is accessible to blind people. Mr. Crawford's email address is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have also been in contact with Mr. Eric Damery of Henter-Joyce, which produces JAWS For Windows, a leading screen reading software program which multiple thousands of blind computer users use, including myself. Mr. Damery's email address is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I'm sure he would be delighted to work with you, if you would just contact him. Thank you for assisting us in this area. I hope you will make a sincere effort to do all you can to make your program more accessible to the blindness community. Sincerely, Michael D. Barber Assistive Technology Analyst Iowa Department for the Blind (515) 281-1391 Fax: (515) 281-1263 Michael D. Barber Assistive Technology Analyst Iowa Department for the Blind Project ASSIST With Windows (515) 281-1391 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) HTTP://www.blind.state.ia.us/assist - Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
