Hey Ryan,
Unfortunately as I work in a rather large company, we have one TAM for
quite a few contracts therefore nore I or anyone else in this building has
access to him or her. Therefore my escalation path is quite long.
Rightly or wrongly, I don't like my employer to be aware of the meriod of
accessibility chalanges that I face in this role. I'm hoping to move
further up the ranks eventually so I really cant afford the negative
perception that this may create. Unfortunately this puts me at a
disadvantage when trying to submit major accessibility issues to our
software providers. Doing it without the backup of a big contract makes
my voice very weak.
I thought I had won a small victory about a year ago. I had asked that
all new tendors include a high score for accessibility. The However, the
very first application we put in this year is called Zenprise. It's an
enterprise level mobile device management system. Cant you just guess
what I'm going to say next? Yes! Our old friend Java is back in the
house. Fortunately the front end is not Java based but the configuration
of the server side is. This means that I should be able to perform most
day to day administration tasks but if the server dies I'll never be able
to rebuild it independently. Although the web front end is HTML based,
there are a lot of unlabeled graphics and buttons. I can use the Jaws
labeler to make some sense of these but if they change from version to
version I'm not going to be in a very strong position.
Mobile Device Management is going to be a really big thing in the next few
years. Because I have shown a lot of committment to this company, I have
been assured that I'll get main responsibility for this system. It's very
frustrating to then find myself back in the usual position of trying to
administer a partially accessible system yet again. Because, of course,
I@ll go back to my earlier point, I don't want my employer to be aware of
the incredibly difficult situation I am constantly in.
I will shortly need to look for a new job. This place doesn't pay as
well as most companies. Especially for the raft of responsibilities that
I have. I am truthfully absolutely terrified at this prospect though.
Much more so than I have ever been before. How can I realisticly go into
an interview and tell them that I will perform at a level equal or better
than other candidates. It is becoming an unrealistic ambition because of
the lack of regard software developers are giving to accessibility.
I keep making the point on this list but I think it's necessary to give
people a very relistic idea of what the challanges are for blind system
administrators. My perspective has completely changed in the past three
years.
I don't think it's the fault of assistive technology companies either.
They can only do so much.
I don't really think that any organization such as Iavit can make a
difference either.
Sorry to John, but that's my opinion at the moment.
I have just had too many companies tell me that because I represent a
fraction of their user base they could not justify the cost of paying a
developer for the time it would take to correct their application.
Companies that are a little more forward thinking have promised that it
will be seriously looked at in a future version but you know as well as I
do, their empty promises are about as useful to me now as a chocolate tea
pot.
Regards
Darragh � H�iligh
Fujitsu
Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas,
Fredrick Building,
South Fredrick Street,
Dublin2
Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559
Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie
Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie
From: Ryan Shugart