Wireless RERC - Blind

Justice Dept. Announces Accessibility Agreement with Florida Courts

mz22 — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 13:53:28 +0000

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0 AA)

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Orange County Clerk of Courts in Florida to Ensure Equal Access to Court Records

July 2014 – The U.S. Justice Department has announced a settlement with Florida’s Orange County Clerk of Courts to resolve violations regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Orange County Clerk of Courts allegedly failed to provide accessible court documents to a blind attorney, despite repeated requests. The attorney’s appeal for electronic documents, accessible by screen reader technology, was not provided in an accessible format for over four months.

The Orange County Clerk of Courts has agreed to a settlement, providing individuals with disabilities with any official court record document in an accessible format upon request. In accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA requirements, the Clerk of Courts will also make their website accessible to individuals with disabilities, including the blind. Additional settlement conditions include $10,000 in retribution and WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility training.

American Foundation for the Blind Accepting Nominations for Migel Medals

mz22 — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 16:45:34 +0000

Blind

Vision Loss

American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Migel Medals

AFB Call for Nominations

Migel Medal Nomination Application

September 2013 —The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) announced that they are accepting nominations for the 2013 Migel Medals. The medals, considered the “highest honor in the blindness field,” were established in honor of M.C. Migel, the first chairperson of AFB, and are awarded to a professionals and volunteers whose work has “significantly improved the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired.” Nominations are due October 4, 2013 and can be submitted here.

Emergency Weather Alerts for the Blind and Print Disabled

blippincott4 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:43:37 +0000

Emergency Alerts

Blind

print disabled

National Federation of the Blind

Press Release

August 29, 2012 –The National Federation of the Blind and AccuWeather® have joined forces to provide accessible weather alerts to the blind and print disabled. Audible weather alerts will be disseminated via NFB-Newsline®, a free service that offers hundreds of newspapers and magazines in audible formats. According to NFB, the service is the first of its kind, bringing independent access to emergency information to the blind.

Georgia Tech Part of Effort to Increase Braille Materials

blippincott4 — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:22:04 +0000

July 26, 2012 - In an effort to increase the number of printed materials for people who are blind and low vision, ex-offenders will be trained in Braille transcription, computer skills and business techniques. The program, Providing Real Opportunities for Income through Technology (or PROFITT), is currently being beta tested in a maximum-security institution in Texas. It was developed through a partnership of the National Braille Press, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. PROFITT requires 750 hours of hands-on classroom training for approximately 30 weeks. Transcribing materials is of great need; currently for every 100 books published there is only one that is converted into Braille. [Georgia Tech]

New Note-taker App for People with Vision Loss

blippincott4 — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:40:42 +0000

American Foundation for the Blind

Apps

Assistive Technology

Blind

New Product Announcement

July 12, 2012 –The American Foundation for the Blind and FloCo Apps, LLC have collaborated to produce AccessNote, a note-taker app for any iOS tablet or smartphone. AccessNote is compatible with the built-in accessibility features of iOS such as Voice Over and the iOS screen reader. It is also compatible with Apple’s wireless keyboard and wireless braille keyboards and displays. AccessNote is scheduled for release this summer at a price point below $30. [Source: American Foundation for the Blind]

New Free App for the Blind and Print-disabled

blippincott4 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:59:10 +0000

National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

Apple App Store: NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile

06.04.2012 – NFB-NEWSLINE, a service sponsored in part by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), launched a free Apple app allowing users to access the NFB-NEWSLINE free audible newspaper service for the blind and print-disabled. The app grants NFB-Newsline subscribers access to over three hundred newspapers, forty magazines, and television listings on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Director of the NFB-NEWSLINE program Scott White stated, “We are proud to offer our subscribers this new exciting mobile iOS application that allows them access to their favorite publications at home, while travelling to work, in the classroom, or in the office. If you’re looking for news from around the corner or from around the globe, NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile can help you quickly find it.” Those interested in subscribing to the NFB-NEWSLINE service may fill out an application online or call 866-504-7300. [Source: NFB-NEWSLINE]

FCC Reconsiders Text-to-Speech for EAS

blippincott4 — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:13:28 +0000

FCC

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Commercial Alert Protocol (CAP)

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Order on Reconsideration

04.19.12 – The FCC issued an Order on Reconsideration “In the Matter of Amendment of the Review of the Emergency Alert System” [EB Docket No. 04-296] reconsidering the Commission’s rules on the use of text-to-speech (TTS) by Emergency Alert System (EAS) participants. On January 10, 2012, the FCC released a Fifth Report and Order which required EAS participants to convert and process CAP messages into a format outlined in the EAS-CAP Industry Group’s (ECIG) Implementation Guide. However, at the time, the rules barred the use of TTS technology when the CAP message does not include an audio file, noting that “accuracy and reliability of TTS had not been established in the record.” Following a “Petition for Reconsideration,” filed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which stated that a lack of TTS could lead to possible disruptions of National Weather Service alerts or a lack of information for subscribers, and similar filings from stakeholders, the FCC has revised section 11.56(a)(2) of the rules and will allow EAS participants to adhere to the TTS specifications included in the ECIG Implementation guide on a voluntary basis. This reconsideration will become effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Registrar. [Source: FCC]

FCC Seeks Input on VPAAC Report on Video Description: Guidelines & Recommendations

blippincott4 — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:51:40 +0000

FCC

CVAA

video description

Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee (VPAAC)

VPAAC Report

FCC Notice: User Interfaces and Video Programming Guides and Menus

FCC Notice: Video Description and Access to Emergency Information

04.09.12 – The FCC’s Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee (VPAAC) issued a Report concerning Video Description and the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. The report describes the chain of distribution of video descriptions including the production of video descriptions by and distribution to consumers highlighting that the rights to create video description must first be obtained before a script describing the visual elements of a television program can be created. The video descriptions for digital television will then be implemented as a secondary audio stream. The report also makes recommendations concerning the delivery of video description. Recommendations include ensuring information is provided to consumers as to which programs will contain descriptions, instituting more user-friendly mechanisms to allow for multiple audio service channels and that secondary channels not be programmed with silence, establishing a point of contact for customers’ concerns regarding video description, and creating best practices concerning the description quality. The FCC is currently seeking comment on two aspects of the report. First, the FCC is seeking comment on portions of the report that address the accessibility of user interfaces and video programming guides and menus including features such as audio output for on-screen menus and means to easily activate closed captioning or video description for menu navigation. In addition, the FCC is seeking comment on ways in which video programming apparatuses can be utilized to provide accessible video descriptions for emergency information. Comments are due June 8, 2012. [Source: FCC]

Letter to the Editor of TDPH

blippincott4 — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:19:19 +0000

Following the March issue of the TDPH, the Wireless RERC received the following letter in response to the story on the New Legislation for Prescription Drug Labeling.

Dear Editor,

My name is Brian J. Coppola. I am a 47-year-old legally blind and hard of hearing man who has two [Associate’s] degrees. One as a Paralegal and the other in General Studies, graduated with these degrees from Northern Essex Community College Cum Laud. I also hold a [Bachelor’s] of Art in Political science from Merrimack College. I also worked for sometime in the field of assistive technology at Northern Essex Community college teaching the use of the Zoomtext software to visually impaired students.

I and the now resigned senator Steven A. Baddour of Methuen, Massachusetts, who was the state senator at the state house in Boston, Massachusetts has been working on legislation to mandate that health insurance companies cover the costs of devices that read aloud to blind people information contained on a medication bottle for about 10 years. The bill for the most part was put into study order, but during the 2007 legislative cycle, it was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Financial Services and then moved onto the Joint Committee on Health Financing. It is currently now s01855. I am calling on Massachusetts residents who are blind, even those who use PCA’s, visiting nurses or family members to help them with their medications to call the Massachusetts State House at 617-722-2000 and ask members of the legislature to get the bill moved out of committees and onto the floor so that Massachusetts can take the lead in what Edward Markey is trying to do. Making prescription bottles accessible in audible format, through cost analysis has already been proven to be cost effective and would save health insurance companies monies from unnecessary emergency room visits and the uses of visiting nurses or PCA’s to do this when the technology is available for the blind and deaf/blind is there for them to handle medicine on an independent manner. Without this, this could be argued to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, HIPPA, and the Olmstead decision of the United States Supreme Court of 1999, which requires that disabled people to be allowed to live in the least restrictive environment possible.

There are other uses for PCA’s for the Blind, such as transportation, where there is no car developed yet that a blind person can drive. They also need to include a benefit for medical transportation in Medicare so that a blind person can go to a doctor no matter whether or not, they take Medicaid or up in Massachusetts, MassHealth. Blind need to go to doctors they are most comfortable with and not just those that take Medicaid. So in honor of Senator Steven A. Baddour of Massachusetts, please put this article into your newsletter so that the blind can stop relying on others for medicine regiment help and get the transportation that they [need] so desperately. Accessible medicine bottles make more sense than visiting nurses coming out to set medicine regiments up. Transportation makes more sense so that blind can be able to go to doctors and other places, such as employment and other places in the community on a level of independence in the same manner as those who do not have visual handicaps and or hearing handicaps.

I thank you in advance for your understanding of this matter. Have a nice Easter.

Sincerely Yours,

Brian J. Coppola