I learned over on the FreedomBox forum that the writer of Imagine is Carl Jarvis, a blind man from Washington State. The article was apparently published in The Braille Forum, the American Council of the Blind’s monthly magazine, but I have not yet been able to locate the issue containing this work. I just want to make it clear that, at the time I redistributed the Imagine article, the writer had been anonymous for several years, and absolutely no plagiarism was intended.
Month: May 2007
DDD: Screaming Bag of Cats
My name is Darrell Shandrow. I am Karen’s husband. I help her maintain the Karen’s Corner blog. I and a small group of others have been enjoying Karen’s Daily Doses (KDD) she has been sending us via e-mail for more than 14 months now. I am so glad she decided to post some of them for the entire world to see. Once in awhile, others in the group have created their own “daily doses”. Mine are, of course, called Darrell’s Daily Dose (DDD).
Yesterday, while working, I saw a post from a customer about how troubleshooting a particularly challenging technical issue was like a “screaming bag of cats”. The visual from that was incredibly hillarious! I decided to get it out of my system by writing a DDD. You’ll see how it has turned into something of a statement concerning the human rights of the blind with respect to our need for equal access to technology. I welcome all comments to either Karen’s or my blog. You may also e-mail me at editor@blindaccessjournal.com.
It is now May 5, 2007,
and we are not in Heaven,
It is after noon at 12:57.
Today the weather is nice,
not too hot but not cold as ice,
Try Serotek System Access that would be my advice.
Yesterday I saw something funny,
While I was working and earning money.
A customer wrote a forum post,
Unintended but comedy he did make the most.
A VPN he was trying to fix,
but he was not running UNIX,
nor was he configuring a Pix,
and I saw his post well before six.
He said troubleshooting a VpN was like a “screaming bag of cats”,
not like a squirming box of rats,
nor ten thousand screeching blind bats,
not even like a flying gnat.
This made me laugh,
Caused me to write more than a paragraph.
The visual in my head is absolutely crazy,
It is not at all hazy,
Those screaming cats certainly would not be lazy.
Imagining a bunch of cats in a huge bag,
Tails they would most certainly wag.
But the wagging isn’t at all like a dog,
or even like a hog.
No, it is more like a swish made by the cats tail,
If in a bag it would be without fail,
They’d be screaming out of here please due us bail,
We are not the U.S. mail,
we don’t want to ride the light rail,
nor on a boat sail,
and we are not whales.
We are independent cats,
Some skinny others fat,
Nor are we hats.
Us you can’t just ship,
nor whip,
and this bag we will rip,
and definitely do not give us any lip!
We want out of this bag right now,
If you don’t know we will show you how,
You do not have to trade stocks on the Dow.
Louder and louder we scream,
not for ice cream,
and not as a team.
Freedom is what we seek,
and we are not weak,
but we will not stay in this bag for a week,
Into the light we shall one day peak,
for we are not freaks.
Our cat brethren we must rejoin,
not toss a coin,
but maybe some of us do live in Desmoins.
But on we scream and fight,
Truly organize someday we just might,
and we may just bite,
for access to the world and equal participation are our right!
We must be able to read every last byte!
Now we are listening to the Eighties Vault,
On the show goes without hault.
It is on ACB Radio Interactive,
and we the blind must never be passive.
It is not the end of the world as we know it,
and we must not have a fit,
but never must we quit,
nor do as we are often told and just sit,
No, we must be a big hit.
Sometimes accessibility issues are a “screaming bag of cats”,
But on the head we must not accept those pats.
All the same we must get out of our confining bag,
and never let the rest of the world impose a gag,
nor let our rights to equal access lag,
From the challenges we must not sag,
but the bad guys we sometimes must tag.
For the cats and the dogs are fighting more,
The battle for equal access is sometimes an outright war,
Most of the blind are still poor,
and some think accessibility is a bore,
The issues just are not core,
To us many still refuse to open the door,
Access is not just a favor,
and the capabilities of the blind are not folklore.
Equal access we must be granted,
For it sometimes we have ranted,
But we hope the seeds of change are being planted.
Better accessibility can bring us more jobs,
so we can purchase food such as corn cobbs,
and into the office use our key fobs,
and on that radio gear turn those knobs,
and jobs from us inaccessibility sometimes robbs.
So, the challenges ahead of us all are great,
We manage our own fate,
and must show the entire world that we do rate!
If they can’t get out of that bag, those screaming cats would certainly dye,
We must listen to their cry,
Never be shy.
A “screaming bag of cats”, the accessibility concerns can be,
and our assistive technology comes at such a high fee,
We can’t help it we are unable to see,
We must all accept the challenge, you and me.
Accessibility Issue on Senate.gov Web site
May 4, 2007
Dear U.S. Senate Webmaster,
I am a blind resident of Arizona and working taxpaying citizen of the
United States of America. I am writing to bring to your attention an
accessibility concern on the senate.gov web site. Essentially, it is
not currently possible for a blind person relying on a screen reader to
find their Senators. After selecting the state and pressing the Go
button, the contact information for the appropriate two Senators is not
provided as expected.
As a taxpaying citizen who has paid in part for the creation of this web
site, I am asking that you work to correct this issue so that blind and
visually impaired citizens may contact their Senators online. I look
forward to your prompt, effective response to my request.
Best regards,
Darrell Shandrow
Accessibility Evangelist
BlindAccessJournal.com
Important Winamp Security Patch Now Available
An important patch has just been released to fix a security issue in Winamp
5.34. One place where you can download the patch from is at
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Winamp_5_Security_Patch/1066336873/4.
The patch is 56kb in size. Here is some information about the patch:
Winamp 5.34a Security Patch includes a patched version of in_mp4.dll (v1.22)
that fixes the MP4 file parsing buffer overflow vulnerability. The
vulnerability is caused due to an error within the handling of MP4 files and
can be exploited to cause memory corruption via a specially crafted MP4
file. Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.
Imagine!
This is an absolutely amazing article by an anonymous writer! It is a must-read for everyone, blind and sighted alike.
Imagine: You’ve just entered your office on what may well be the most hectic, stressful day of your life. Suddenly you realize all of your reference books, piles of paper-work and notes are covered with little
bumps. In fact, you discover there is not one single printed word to be found. Every scrap of information necessary to do your job, is now in
Braille.
Imagine: you rush back out of your office, wildly looking about, peering into offices, staring over the shoulders of clerks. Everybody is calmly
doing their job, using Braille. Mysteriously they have learned the language
overnight. Only you, it seems, were overlooked. For some unknown reason, you
are permanently and totally Braille challenged.
Imagine: you dash for the door hoping the rest of the world has not gone mad. It has. In the elevator, you’re not sure which button to press for the lobby. Someone has to help you. They stare at you as if you are stupid. Pausing at the news stand, you are unable to tell one magazine from another.
You can’t stand it, you need to go home and collect your thoughts. But at the bus stop, there’s no way of telling which coach is yours. You back away, not wanting anyone to know, and you decide you’ll call a cab. Of course, you only brought bus fare and lunch money, not nearly enough for the taxi. Remembering your bank card, you pull it out as you run back into the lobby. There, at the access machine, you stop short. The card has turned to Braille, and so have all of the instructions on the machine. You’ll have to call home and ask for help. Funny, you never paid much attention to the telephone dial and now, in your growing state of confusion, you don’t recall which number goes where. You are so alone, so frightened, you actually begin to weep.
Imagine: you have always seen yourself as a leader, a visionary, a problem-solver. You will not run from this challenge. You shall succeed. You have a large mortgage. Once you have recovered from the great shock, you begin looking for ways to survive.
Imagine: you have finally made arrangements, through your employer, to hire a Braille reader, a process so complex and painful you plan to patent it and use it to torture Terrorists. Now you sit in your chair going quietly mad listening to the drone of your reader’s voice, taking hours of time to cover what you once scanned in minutes, while others whip about you efficiently communicating among themselves via Braille-FAX and E-B-mail. You begin to feel the “ice” in isolation.
Imagine: you learn you are not alone. You are a member of a very small minority of Braille-Challenged people. There is, in fact, a Brailleless Culture; a history far too long and complex to discuss here. So, you become a member of the Brailleless Association of America. (BAA) At the BAA meetings you find out about a number of small companies manufacturing adaptive equipment which enables Brailleless persons to access all of the Braille computers, FAX machines, Braille scanners and Braillers. The expense is far more than you can afford, so you seek assistance from your employer. Your request is turned down. There are no requirements that your employer accommodate your disability.
Imagine: BAA, along with many other disability groups, battle in Congress for the passage of a Bill, guaranteeing you equal treatment under the Law. The bill passes and, despite subtle messages from your fiscal officer, money is, “found” for your accommodation. After considerable time and effort, the technician from the Department of Services for the Brailleless, has you on-line. Now you are able to scan Braille text and convert the little dots into letters, and through a very complex process, the Braille display on your computer is transformed into print. Finally, you are again up to speed, being your old efficient self, feeling good about your work.
Imagine: you are humming and smiling and cranking along in high gear. Suddenly, a message flashes on your screen and drives terror through your heart. New breakthroughs in technology have produced equipment so superior to the ancient junk–at least four years old– presently in use, that your organization is upgrading the entire communications system. The BAA technicians have already informed you that your adaptive equipment is not compatible with it. You go to the “Powers-That-Be” in your organization, and request a meeting to discuss this concern. You are told that your fears are groundless. You will not be forgotten. Following this meeting, A rumor goes around hinting that you are trying to sabotage the new system, and your associates begin to whisper behind your back. They want the new system. It’s far superior, more compact, ten times faster, and it’s cool looking. They are sick of your “whining and constant complaining”. You feel the “ice” settling in again.
Imagine: you have been forgotten. The new system is in place. Everybody loves it. You’ve been told not to worry, someone will be around to do what is necessary to put you back on-line. The “someone” they had in mind is the same technician who told you the system would not work. Despite your concerns, no one bothered to investigate before the equipment was installed. Once again you sit, going quietly mad while your reader plows line by line through the piles of Braille.
Imagine: you know you are close to losing your mind or your job–probably both. You must find other employment, but you do not want your associates to know you are finally beaten. You try to figure out a way to do a quiet job search when all information is only accessible in Braille. One day you hear that your State has developed a central information center, called a, “kiosk”. These information centers are being set up in easily accessible locations. The plan is for these kiosks to make government information and services available quickly and conveniently to the public. Sort of a “one stop shopping center”. You learn that lists of job openings are among the many services offered. This is perfect. This is exactly what you need. you discover your town recently placed a kiosk in the Mall. You go there on Saturday afternoon. There it stands, costing the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars to create, but well worth it. In its ultimate form, the kiosks will bring virtually all State services right into your local neighborhood. You are thrilled as you step up to the controls. An automated voice welcomes you and brags about the wonders of this system. Breathlessly, you wait for your instructions… Then, the Braille display appears.
Imagine: they are dragging you away, shrieking at the top of your voice. Onlookers are amazed. They do not know how you managed to rip the iron bench from the floor of the Mall. None of them dared to try to stop you as you swung it over your head, again and again, smashing the kiosk into pieces of broken plastic, glass and twisted metal. None of them understand why you kept screaming the same words over and over. “I pay taxes, too! I pay taxes, too! I pay taxes, too!…….”
MySpace Ignores and Locks Out the Blind, Puts Up "No Blind People Allowed" Sign
There are a number of blind and visually impaired people who have written to me privately and to various e-mail discussion groups concerning the current accessibility challenges with the popular MySpace blogging and social networking web site. The most critical and immediate issue is a CAPTCHA (visual verification) appearing as part of the signup process. This CAPTCHA does not feature audio or any other method of gaining access if you are not able to see the characters you must enter into the edit box in order to register. Many blind and visually impaired people, including myself, have contacted MySpace over the past year. All such attempts at contact have been completely ignored.
It is clear that the staff of MySpace do not see fit to show even an ounce of professional courtesy toward blind and visually impaired people by responding to media queries and other attempts at contact. We must all put MySpace on notice that CAPTCHA (visual verification) without audio or some other alternative way for blind people to complete the signup process locks out the blind and visually impaired in a manner similar to the “no blacks allowed” signs during the era of segregation. While it may be clearly understood that this visual only CAPTCHA was initially put in place out of ignorance of the accessibility issue, continued disregard of our needs despite our goodfaith attempts at contact represents clear and deliberate discrimination against us.
It is certainly not too late for the MySpace people to make the conscious decision to simply do the right thing in this case. Implement an audio playback of the CAPTCHA and supply an e-mail address or other contact information where people with disabilities may receive human assistance when it does not work as expected, the user happens to be deaf-blind, etc. I urge all of you whom have not already done so to contact MySpace to register your accessibility concerns and ask the company to do the right thing.
Consumer Help Needed In NFB vs. Target Lawsuit – Your Experiences Could Make A Difference
I will be taking action on this notice today, and urge all of you who fit
the profile below and care about web accessibility to do likewise as soon as
possible. This is one important case where NFB is on the correct side of
the accessibility issue. Let's do everything we can to help out this law
firm.
The law firm representing the interests of persons who are blind in
achieving full access to the internet in the Target case needs your help!
It is critical that you review the memo below, and respond to the law firm
if you fit the profile they are looking for in the stated questions below.
You may wonder why there is an emphasis between activities on the internet
and activities that take place in physical stores? The reason is that this
is one of the first ADA cases involving the internet, and thus, for this
particular case a so-called nexus needs to be present between the internet
site and a physical place of public accommodation. Of course, in future
legislation and cases, the need for such a nexus may be elliminated.
However, again as far as the internet and an accessibility mandate, we are
still in the early stages of this new era of civil rights for Americans who
are blind.
Best,
Mika Pyyhkala
From: Daniel F. Goldstein [mailto:dfg@browngold.com]
My name is Daniel Goldstein. Many of you know that I have been
representing the National Federation of the Blind for over 20 years. We are
currently in a lawsuit against Target Corporation and the judge has recently
raised questions about the blind's use of Target's web site in connection
with shopping at Target stores (as opposed to shopping online) and we have
30 days to submit affidavits from blind people that answers her questions.
So if you would answer yes to any of the questions below, we need to talk to
you. If you know anyone who would answer yes to any of the questions below,
please tell us who they are and how to get in touch with them. If you are a
state or chapter president, please get the word out on this to your members.
1. Do you ever use the internet to find out what store has the item you
want or the price you want before you go out to buy it?
2. Do you shop at Target stores? If you do, would you like to be able to
use Target's web site to know what products are at the store at what prices
or would you like to use the web site for store coupons or for services like
pharmacy refills?
3. Have you ever tried to use Target's web site for such purposes and found
it inaccessible?
4. If you don't fit this description, do you know someone who does?
If you are such a person, the NFB needs your help in the lawsuit
against Target right now. Please contact Mehgan Capek at
Brown, Goldstein & Levy
(410) 962-1030
You can call her collect, or you can send her an e-mail at
msc@browngold.com.
Thank you for your help in this important matter.
Daniel F. Goldstein
Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
120 E. Baltimore St., Suite 1700
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410)962-1030
(410)385-0869 (fax)
443-923-1314 (direct dial)
dfg@browngold.com
www.browngold.com
TextPal 3.6 with more JAWS scripting & other support
I'm just taking this opportunity to remind all of you about the availability
of this excellent text editor, which I utilize on a daily basis to perform
the duties of my technical writing job.
TextPal, by Jamal Mazrui, is available at the following link:
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/palsetup.exe
See the announcement from Jamal below for details on the enhancements and
fixes found in this version.
Version 3.6
Released May 1, 2007
Fixed TextPal treating a document as having been modified after a search
and replace with no matches. Replaced the Word Wrap Toggle command with
Control+W to turn this setting on and Control+Shift+W to turn it off.
Control+Shift+J is the new key for joining (wrapping) lines with hard line
breaks.
Modified the Yield command, Alt+Y, to operate on selected text rather than
all text when a selection is in effect. Made TextPal say "characters"
instead of "bytes" when reporting the size of a file or selection.
Adjusted the optional JAWS scripts so that PageUp and PageDown read the
current line after navigating by screen.
These scripts now require at least JAWS 6.2. They use the latest Homer
script library, available with other components of HomerKit at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.exe
or
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.zip
The files Homer6.jsh, Homer6.jss, and Homer6.jsd, previously used by
TextPal, are now obsolete and may be manually removed from the user script
folder. They may also be left there without a resulting problem.
Changed enhanced navigation commands to be consistent with JAWS
conventions. Reassigned keys are as follows. Press Control+DownArrow or
Control+UpArrow to go to the next or previous paragraph, and then read it.
Press Alt+DownArrow or Alt+UpArrow to navigate by sentence.
Alt+RightArrow and Alt+LeftArrow are new commands to navigate by chunk. A
chunk is defined as a sequence of nonblank characters. It is usually, but
not always, the same as what Control+RightArrow or Control+LeftArrow
consider to be a word, since these keys stop at some punctuation marks.
In programming source code, press Alt+PageDown or Alt+PageUp to go to the
next or previous cdefinition of a class or function — including a sub or
method. Press Control+I or Control+Shift+I to go to the next or previous
change in indentation (developed for Python). Press Tab or Shift+Tab to
indent or outdent the current or selected lines by one level.
As before, Control+Shift+R replaces with a regular expression, and
Control+Shift+E extracts. Now Control+Shift+C counts matches of a regular
expression without changing text.
The Export Script Dictionary command has been replaced by the more
powerful, Refresh JAWS Text command, JAWSKey+F5, for updating a .jss
(script source), .jsd (script dictionary), or .jkm (key map) file. If the
current editing window contains a .jss file, its routines are sorted
alphabetically, with functions placed before scripts. If a .jsd file, the
dictionary entries are syncronized with the corresponding .jss file. If a
.jkm file, the key assignments are sorted by script name.
PHP has been added to the list of languages with preconfigured support. If
you have an existing TextPal version installed, it is necessary to delete
the TextPal.ini configuration file before installing this in order for the
PHP settings to become available. The default file location is C:\Program
Files\TextPal\TextPal.ini
More precisely, at least the [Compilers] section of this file should be
deleted. Within TextPal, you can do this by pressing Alt+Shift+M for
Manual Options, and then either deleting that section or the whole file
with Alt+Shift+D.
After launching the new TextPal, use the Pick Compiler command,
Control+Shift+F5, to choose PHP settings. TextPal assumes that php.exe is
on the Windows search path, so if that is not the case, you may wish to
add it by going to the System applet of Control Panel, and then inserting
(assuming the default directory target of the latest PHP for Windows
installer)
C:\Program Files\PHP;
at the beginning of the Path environment variable on the Advanced tab
page.
The Compile command, Control+F5, would then perform a syntax check of the
PHP file in the current editing window. If an error is found, the cursor
moves to the start of that line. The error message spoken is abbreviated
to eliminate irrelevant output. If no syntax error is found, TextPal
simply says "Done!" To execute the file with the program associated with
its extension (usually .php), use the Run command, F5.
Jamal