• the mac-access.net accessibility network
• the Mac Access Dot Net WebLog
• the TFT BBS home page
• E-Mail list portal; provides interface links and help services
• our webmail interface; authenticated clients only
• our file manager Secure web interface, (clients only)
• tft-bbs.com
• Gordon's playroom – podcasts & more!
• the TV classics repository

Here at the home of TFT Dot BBS and Mac Access Dot Net the Mac Accessibility network, we offer several public E-Mail lists. These lists are intended to promote the discussion of a variety of different topics:

• Just-Chat:
a place to just chat about anything.
• Mac-Access
; Macintosh computers, iOS, iPad, iPhone and iPod issues, with a particular emphasis on, although not necessarily restricted to, accessibility. (Part of the Mac Access Dot Net Accessibility Network).
• Techno-Chat
the discussion of technology-related disussion and references to web-based articles
• The Cecimac Forum
A mailing list hosted on behalf of a client, for French language discusson of all things Apple

Just Chat

As the name implies, this is a general discussion forum where users are free to discuss anything and everything. As long as the topic conforms to list policy, (is not offensive or defamitory in nature), most topics are open for discussion.

However, where subjets cross the boarders of what is covered on our other forums, (Techno-Chat, for technology, Mac-Access for everything Apple), for instance, we request that you do not discuss these subjects in details or in depth on Just-Chat.

To join this E-Mail forum, please click here to send a subscription trequest to the Just-Chat list server. You will receive a confirmation message from the server to which you will need to respond within around a couple of days in order to authenticate your subscription to the group. Once that is done you will be sent a welcome message containing the list policy document. Please read this document carefully and, as long as you can agree to its content, feel free to start posting to the group.

If, however, you find anything in the document to which you cannot agree, you may do one of the following:

• Contact the system administrators for further information or clarification
or:
• Unsubscribe yourself from the Just-Chat E-Mail list
If you would like to read the Just-Chat policy document now, you may do so here

Mac-Access; Part Of The Mac Access Dot Net Accessibility Network

In early 2005, Apple's Macintosh range of personal computers attained level of accessibility never before experienced on the platform. With the release of MacOS 10.4 (Tiger), came ground-breaking inbuilt accessibility to the operating system, for the first time ever, for those with impaired or no vision. VoiceOver enabled people with vision and hearing impairments to access the operating system and many applications for the first time.

As MacOS evolves, so does their accessibility tool. VoiceOver has improved significantly since those early days – and so have a growing number of Macintosh mainstream applications from the accessibility perspective.

As well as offering speech access, VoiceOver also offers low vision users high contrast and maginfication to make reading easier, support for over 40 refreshable Braille terminals, all without the need to install any drivers, software or to spend hours configuring – something offered by no other main stream operating system.

In the Summer of 2011 Apple will enhance still further their accessibility tools on the desktop and notebook platforms with the much anticipated release of its new operating system, code-named "Lion", (OS 10.7). So there is a lot happening in the accessibility field, and it's an exciting time for the users of OSX, VoiceOver and also Zoom; Apple's screen magnification accessibility tool.

Apple's hardware support has now also been expanded to include:

• original iPad
• iPad II
• iPhone 3GS & 4G
• iPod Touch (3G & later)
• iPod Nano (4G & later)
• iPod Shuffle
• iPod Classic

In the third quarter of 2010, Apple also released a major update to its mobile device operating system, now renamed "iOS". Mac-Access is a list where you may discuss any aspect of Apple's accessibility platform, whether on their desktop or portable range of main stream computers, mobile devices, or related software and hardware from third-party developers and other Apple accessories and services. Subsequetly, iOS 4.0 has been updated several times with fixes and enhancements; and all of this is up for discussion in the gorup.

Although accessibility is the primary topic of discussion, it isn't the only one. Anything Apple-related is fine. In this forum, you will find a positive wealth of friendly, knowledgeable, interesting and well-informed individuals who are only too willing to share their skills and knowledge with you. So why not check it out? In actual fact, Mac-Access has now taken over as our number one forum in terms of popularity and traffic. We recently topped the 100 member count, and that number is rising on an almost ddaily basis. We can all learn from one another; and that mutual self-help is what this E-Mail forum seeks to promote.

If you are interested in joining the rapidly expanding group of people comprising the members of the Mac-Access E-Mail list, you may:

• contact Mac-Access.Net support for further information
• send a subscription request to the Mac-Access.Net list server
• Read the Mac-Access Policy Document
When you send your request to subscribe, you will receive a mailback confirmation request message from our server. Please respond to this auto-generated message without modifying either the subject line or message body. You will then be subscribed, and receive any necessary further details. The Mac Access E-Mail forum is part of the Mac Access Dot Net Accessibility Network

Techno-Chat

One of our most popular mailing lists is our technology discussion forum. This is a small but friendly group of people who enjoy the general discussion of technology-related issues.

Technology can, of course, cover a very wide range of topics:

• Computer hardware technology
• Software technology
• Robotics
Medical advances
• General Science
• Audio & video
• Domestic items, such as the latest kitchen appliances
• The implementation of technology as part of our lives
• And much much more besides!
In fact, anything at all related to technology is open for discussion.

If you would be interested in joining our discussion group, you are very welcome so to do. Please feel free to subscribe by sending an E-Mail message to the Techno-Chat list server.. Once you do this, you will receive a confirmation request. Simply reply to this request within a couple of days, modifying neither the subject line nor message body. You will then be added to the group.

Once added, you will be sent a short message containing the list policy document. If you are happy to conform to its contents, feel free to post your technology-related messages to the list for others to see and discuss. If, however, you find anything in this document to which you cannot agree, or you have other queries related to the list, you may do one of the following:

• contact the system administrators for further information or to discuss your concerns.
Or:
• unsubscribe yourself from the Techno-Chat E-Mail list.
Please click here to read the Techno-Chat list policy document now.

Windows-Access; part of the Techno-Chat Technology Network

Windows-Access is the latest addition to our E-Mail forums. Established in September 2011, its purpose is to allow members to gather in a friendly place where everybody has a common enthusiasm and interest; Window and accessibility.

Naturally, the discussion of accessibility on the Windows platform can include a very broad range of topics. There are many accessibility tools now available on the Windows platform, and many third party applications with which they have to interact. Therefore, whilst accessibility is the primary underlying topic, it isn't the only one up for discussion. Therefore, if you're interested in the discussion of anything Windows, this could be the place for you.

If we've tweaked your curiosity and you'd like to know more, maybe even join the group yourself, you may like to:

• have a look at the list policy document
which might help you to decide whether or not this is your kind of thing.
• contact us for more information
• send a subscription request to our list server

Shortly after you send your subscription request, you will receive an authentication message from our list server; this is to make sure that you really did send the message. When you reply to the authentication message, do not change any of its contents.

Upon receiving your reply, our list server will ad you to the list of active participants in the forum. Then you may post messages for other members to see, and you may reply to messages sent by other members.

If at any time you would like to modify your subscription options, you may do so either by visiting the list's dedicated web interface or by sending carefully formatted E-mail messages to our list server directly. These messages contain commands which you can use to configure the way our server processes your list traffic. For more information on these messages, their usage and syntactical examples, please visit our E-Mail help resource for details.

Forum@cecimac.org

We are pleased to be able to say that the TFT BBS hosting services were recently chosen by the administrators of the cecimac.org domain to provide services under that domain. The first E-Mail forum established under the new group is 'Forum'.

The Cecimac.org forum is a discussion list for French-speaking visually-impaired Apple Macintosh users and would-be users. We hope subscribers will feel free to ask questions and offer solutions to one another.

The associated website will contain a selection of user guides in French and links to useful downloads.

If you are a french-speaker and would be interested in list participation, please send a subscription request to our list server by clicking here

You will receive an authentication request from our list server. In order to confirm that you wish to join the list, please reply to the message within 24 hours and you will be added.

You will then receive a welcome message containing the polcy document, (French language). To post to the list once you have subscribed, please send mail to forum@cecimac.org for other members to read and respond to.

If you need to terminiate your subscription at any time, you may do so by clicking here and the server will process your request.

And finally, if you require any further information concerning this mailing list or the associated website, please feel free to contact the list administrators, who will be happy to help you.

Disclaimer

Please note that Mac Access Dot Net; The Mac Accessibility Network, (administrators of this facility) is not responsible for any content on the above-mentioned mailing lists which are outside of the Mac Access Dot Net or tft-bbs realms.

This website and all of its contents are copyright [©] Mac Access Dot Net. The Mac Accessibility Network. Content which is not directly owned by Mac Access Dot Net is the copyright of its respective owners.

This page was last updated on Monday, 19 September 2011, at 17:43 (UTC>.