[Menvi-discuss] piano methods

[David Goldstein - Resource Center]

This is a curmudgeon talking. I would say, yes, tings were wonderful thirty 
years ago.  Not just because copy a:*.* c:\whatever\ /a was so crystal clear 
and obvious <smile> and always did what it was supposed to (barring user 
error), but because people had reasonable expectations for computers.  They 
were still machines, that only people used who understood what they did, and 
alternatives were tolerated.  Then DOS became more programmers started 
thinking GUI was cool, and certain Windows programs became easier to use 
than the DOS GUI's.  There was a long delay getting Windows screen readers 
for 3.1, and then the delay started again for NT and 95.  I didn't try using 
MS-Word until 1998, so I don't know what the first version was like.  I 
could almost suspect it would have been usable, because people's 
expectations were lower and there were fewer features to get in the way.  In 
the PC world, I think things were more accessible ten years ago than they 
are now--again, because there were fewer features and fewer choices given 
for the way something could be done.  There wasn't as much awareness ten 
years ago about the importance of accessibility, but now that it's assumed 
anything can be usable if accessibility guidelines are followed, the screen 
reader user is expected to jump through more hoops and keep up.  If the 
program is too confusing to be used efficiently or at all, we users are 
chastised for not having enough training.  People don't have enough 
training, but I see things getting more complicated and less accommodating.
David