[Elecraft] K3S VS: K4

[Buddy Brannan]

As cool as braille displays are (and as expensive, though cheaper than even 10 years ago), the technology hasn't changed significantly in years, if not decades. Still waiting for some clever person to come out with a multi-line display, but not yet. 

In general, I think web accessibility has improved a lot, at least where there aren't artificial constraints and when developers don't stray too far off published standards...of course, that's never a given. 

Also, Elecraft's commitment to accessibility, if not by designing it in at every stage, certainly by making it easy to develop, is only one reason I love this company and its products. Its commitment to long support of its products and unmatched customer focus are huge. Their customer loyalty is certainly no accident, and I'm happy to be counted in that number. 

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194 
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name




> On May 16, 2015, at 3:21 PM, Walter Underwood <wunder at wunderwood.org> wrote:
> 
> Right, touch screens are a highly-visual interface. Though my vision is good, I understand that Elecraft is serious about accessibility. I’ve worked on accessible web products and it is a tough challenge. Elecraft can’t justify that engineering on sales, they must do it because they care.
> 
> One of the best engineers I’ve ever worked with was always beta testing new stuff, like Telesensory’s volatile Braille displays. Those were cool.
> 
> wunder
> K6WRU
> CM87wj
> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
> 
> On May 16, 2015, at 12:05 PM, Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name> wrote:
> 
>> Of course, my argument *against* the touch screen is that I can't use one, unless of course someone attaches a screen rader like Voiceover or Talkback to it. Which would probably not really be a thing. I'll be really sad if ham radio turns into something I can no longer participate in and keep up with the "state of the art". Anyway, I think touch screens are just transitional, meaning they're just a stop gap until some better/more intuitive thing comes along. Gimme knobs and buttons and things that have tactile feedback. Seriously, I think some of these guys are just putting in touch screens because they believe that it's "the newest thing to do", not for any inherent superiority of a touch screen interface. 
>> 
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: 814-860-3194 
>> Mobile: 814-431-0962
>> Email: buddy at brannan.name
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On May 16, 2015, at 2:58 PM, Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT <KX3 at ColdRocksHotBrooms.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> In my opinion, the K3(*) will become a legacy product when it is no longer possible to add functions without changing the front panel.
>>> 
>>> There are already functions that aren't entirely obvious to the untrained operator (fortunately, if you want ESSB for example, you can learn the key sequence).
>>> 
>>> That is the argument for a touch screen interface -- if you need another button, or need to change a label, you can just draw it on the screen, without changing hardware.
>>> 
>>> I'm mildly curious about the front panel on the K3 vs. K3S for that reason.
>>> 
>>> 73 -- Lynn
>>> 
>>> On 5/16/2015 11:13 AM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
>>>> Ga...no touch screen, please!!!! State of the art ain't always what it's cracked up to be.
>>> 
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