Blind Access Journal

I have recently learned of an exciting opportunity for promotion within my current employer. It is exactly the kind of interesting, rewarding, prestigious position I have always hoped to have the honor of filling. I haven’t submitted a resume. Why not? You ask? The answer is one simple word: INACCESSIBILITY! The customer’s “high interactivity” implementation of Siebel is completely useless to JAWS in its current form and their IT department has made the decision not to spend the insignificant amount of effort needed to make the necessary changes that would make a “standard interactivity” Siebel implementation available and accessible to me. Since we are doing business on an outsourcing basis with this customer, I am in absolutely no position to exert any pressure on our customer to make these changes. I am 100 percent confident that, were it not for this inaccessibility issue, I would hold a position as a level 3 engineer by this time.

POSITION SUMMARY:

A Technical Account Manager (TAM) is a Support Engineer dedicated to premier customers and partners with the key responsibility to deliver proactive and reactive technical support and customer service. The TAM manages all aspects of the post sales customer relationship, serving as the “Voice of the Customer” between the customer and all technical and operational areas. TAMS must be familiar with specific customer business and technical environments, and deliver 3rd tier support to technical contacts at the named enterprise accounts. TAMS are required to develop and maintain positive relationships through prolonged contacts with the customer and the assigned technical contacts.

The TAM is required to work proactively to identify, recommend and assure timely delivery of services and resolve customer issues through company and customer defined escalation processes. TAMS are responsible for working with their customers to integrate processes, troubleshoot and resolve issues, and communicate proactively on all active account issues. TAMs are accountable to schedule and run meetings as needed, update contacts on technical developments, complete Post Mortems on issues, and hold quarterly account reviews.

TAMs may be required to travel to some customer sites, if needed.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Deliver 3rd tier support to assigned enterprise accounts.
• Serve as the single point of contact for all issues for assigned accounts.
• Provide training to client as appropriate on new releases, updates, etc.
• Document and record Case issues in Siebel.
• Manage escalation of issues for assigned accounts.
• Maintain current product knowledge and make appropriate recommendations to assigned customers.
• Provide proactive and reactive communication with assigned accounts, including case updates, Service Bulletins, Patch notifications, and general updates that might have an effect on the customer’s ability to perform their business smoothly with the supported devices.
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with named technical contacts at each assigned account.
• Communicate proactively with Management to alert them on issues or potential for issues that would adversely impact the account.
• Generate reports on a periodic basis, monthly, and quarterly to show case activity, history, trends, and product areas that need to be addressed.
• Record all technical issues in detail in Siebel.

Many in the blind community wonder why I make such a big deal about the need for accessible technology. I hope I have now provided an example of the answer to the remaining skeptics. As always, comments are welcome!

As blind people, our physical lack of eye sight can often result in perceived weaknesses wehn it comes to our ability to perform in the workplace. Realistically, our inherent inabilities to drive and to independently read print text and graphics do present challenges not encountered by our sighted peers. We can choose to emphasize these factors to the world as the weaknesses they can certainly represent, or we can turn the techniques we use to deal with them in to assets that can benefit a potential employer. I will explain how Karen and I turn our supposed weaknesses in to assets.

Karen and I both ride our local paratransit service, East Valley Dial-A-Ride, to and from work. Since we are unable to drive an automobile due to our lack of eye sight and since other injuries severely curtail our ability to use the public city bus system, our transportation options tend to be quite limited. Our lack of independent transportation is clearly perceived as a serious weakness. But, this is not entirely the end of the story. Dial-A-Ride tends to work quite well when you set up your trips several days in advance. For our rides to and from work, we have established standing reservations to be picked up at home and returned at specific predetermined times. This arrangement works out quite reliably. It is probably just about as dependable as a sighted person’s automobile. Sighted coworkers are sometimes late to work due to their automobiles breaking down. Our strength in this situation lies in our highly developed skills of organization, planning and scheduling.

We are also both unable to read print or see graphics of any kind. Again, this is simply due to our physical lack of eye sight. It is another clearly perceived weakness. There are ways to turn this one in to a strength as well. Sometimes, the need to gain access to otherwise unreadable information involves our ability to work with our sighted peers. We agree to exchange favors with them or swap portions of the duties of our jobs so that the job gets done and everyone is satisfied with the result. We are thus encouraged to forge working relationships with our peers, fostering a team spirit that is welcome in the vast majority of companies. In other cases, we must work with other companies, such as content creators and publishers, to secure information in accessible formats. This requirement often serves to exercise our assertiveness, diplomacy and negotiating skills.

We are also a member of a subsection of society that endures a 75 percent unemployment rate! Even when employers with positive attitudes about us understand the value we can bring to their organization, we may remain unable to take on the job due to the ongoing inaccessibility of a significant amount of mainstream technology. We are thus often very happy to be able to locate a job where we are able to perform the required duties. We tend to take pride in our jobs, always striving to do better. We are highly dedicated, often possessing the strongest work ethic. We are thus most likely to embody all the right characteristics any employer could ever want in an employee: accountability, attendance, attention to detail, dedication, precision and an overall sense of ethical and moral values that are most compatible to continued employment.

Let’s count up some of the strengths and weaknesses and see how we rate!

Weaknesses:

1. Unable to drive an automobile – lack of independent transportation.
2. Inability to read print or interpret graphics or pictures – some issues of inaccessibility to print and information technology.

Strengths:

1. Exceptional planning and scheduling abilities.
2. Strong organizational skills.
3. Exceptional work ethics.
4. Team oriented.
5. Strong emphasis on precision and attention to details.
6. Assertive, taking the initiative to serve the customer.
7. Highly skilled at diplomacy and negotiation.

We thus have two inherent weaknesses of blindness matched against seven strengths! I happen to know blind people who are even more capable than either Karen or myself. I also know that I haven’t counted all the strengths we bring to our employers and others. As always, your comments are quite welcome!

While most of us in the blind community agree that accessibility is an important issue, there is widespread disagreement on priorities and underlying principles. There also remains a lack of practical solutions to some accessibility challenges. The following transcript of a dialogue between two advanced blind users of information technology illustrates just part of the complexities involved in our quest for equal access to information and participation in society. You now have the opportunity to contribute to this dialogue by posting your own comments. Let’s find ways to break down current and future accessibility barriers to insure our ability to remain productively involved in our world.

JH: One leader in the blind community argues that if we ask for everything, it will just cause confusion. Most negotiators would say the first thing you do is ask for the world and then if you have to back down a little, you’re still way ahead. I don’t see any reason to believe that the blind community has had a whole lot of trouble asking for too much? Do you think that’s been a problem? If so why?

GW: I cannot cite an example where someone has actually said, “now, if you hadn’t asked for this thing, I’d have given you this other thing,” but I certainly have been in a place where I wanted so much that busy people cut me off after a time and said, “Of all these things, tell me what you really need.” When we meet with the congress, we are lucky to get 15 minutes with a staffer and maybe 5 with the official. Maybe if we had more money and our demands were accompanied by large contributions our list could be bigger, but when you get right down to it, what kind of stick do we carry. We have a few laws and they help, but ill-conceived suits are costly both monetarily and in the precedents they set. Though I’m reluctant to say it, I also think our laws are vulnerable to modification when push comes to shove because, whether we want to say it out loud or not, we don’t get what we get

because of the inward conviction held by the elected representative that we have inalienable rights which are being violated. He or she does what they do because they perceive not only that it is something good for which we ask, but that it won’t cost very much. For evidence, consider recent reversals of the ADA in the courts and also suggestions in congress that it be revisited to refine its scope. Refine, in this context, doesn’t mean to clarify and expand, but to limit. I perceive the climate today as much more interested in business and global competition than in the environment, the rights of racial minorities and the rights of the disabled.

JH: I was shocked to hear some blind people argue that the disabled are no different than other people who lose their jobs because they lack the skills to perform them. Assuming blind people aren’t any less intelligent or ambitious than the general population, it would seem the reason they can’t do their jobs is lack of accessibility. Is 75% unemployment just the way the world works? Or is it an example of complacency?

GW: I submit the root cause of inaccessibility is much more complicated than complacency. It begins as an issue of being unaware, but after awareness through education there are other issues. Economically we’re in a poor position to press for change by offering the carat of grater sales. The changes we want in software cost money and if you can’t at least expect to recoup that money then what lever do blind people use? The laws we’ve passed such as Section 508 are there, but their impact is limited, for again no one really wants to deprive their employees of the productivity achievable using Microsoft Word, Access, etc. If they can jawbone, they will, but how many times have you seen an agency lose federal funds for education based on IDEA or Section 504 though the language is clearly there to support it.

People care about what we want and will accommodate it if they believe they reasonably can, but when you tell them we have problems with transportation and need more of it, and they find they are already spending $13 a trip to provide Para-transit service, they soon decide what we want is understandable but not currently doable.

JH: I was disappointed that so many people thought it was absurd to ask

Microsoft to Braille the license key. Is that more absurd than asking every city in the country to rip out street corners and put in wheelchair curb cuts? I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and they did that in the 1970s, 30 years ago, and I doubt they did it voluntarily. When new buildings are required to have wheelchair accessible bathrooms, why is it just plain absurd to require software companies to Braille their license keys? Or is the idea that that’s absurd an example of complacency?

GW: I think putting product keys in a form other than print is something companies could easily do, but I also think the problem these keys pose for us is so small relative to other issues that it isn’t worth giving companies the out of saying, “But look what we already do for the blind.” I can easily write down and file a key when I buy the latest version of Office, but if I can’t produce a quality document using Microsoft Word, I can’t afford the software and the key does me little good.

Your example about curb cuts and accessible buildings is a strong and

persuasive one and I only note that the numbers who benefit from these physical changes are much larger and the changes needed much more tangible. It is easier for elected officials and the owners of a business to conceive of their one day being wheelchair bound and needing a ramp than of being blind and needing the functionality of a complicated piece of software. It is easy to simulate the handicap of inaccessibility because of a curb or step, but let me try to demonstrate inaccessibility in a simple and dramatic way, and the first reaction once the computer starts to talk is “Well, isn’t that amazing.” “Can you really understand what he’s saying there?” “They can do so much now with computers: who would have thought?”

Not only is our problem harder to briefly articulate and its solution harder to see, but I’m not at all convinced that, in today’s climate, users of wheelchairs could bring about the passage of the laws now on the books. It isn’t even clear to me that on most issues we can offer a good technical solution to some of the access barriers we face. It’s relatively easy to say we want a word processor to let us read and write sentences and paragraphs, but what do we want from our computers when color is used to denote proposed changes in a document or when a map is displayed in a text to show how critical some port is in order to have access to the oil in the middle east. Do we want to ask that all ATM’S talk or that a universal device be developed we can use to read the display on the ATM, our cell phones, our satellite TV box and our microwave oven? Everybody knows we need access, but try getting a technical group to agree on which solution is the most versatile, the most user friendly, and the most likely to get from industry and government. I’d be significantly younger if I could buy back all the time we’ve spent going nowhere on these issues as people of good-will have tried finding solutions.

JH: I seriously don’t know. these are honest questions. Maybe I’m just a nut. But right now I am thinking maybe the people who represent us need to be more like Darrell and less like most of the people on this list.

GW: It seems to me there is very little difference really between Darrell and some of the people who have responded on the list. Darrell gets angry when he hears about the role of attitude and alternative techniques because he thinks there is implied criticism of his techniques of blindness, doubt about his having a positive attitude, and minimizing of the problems he and others face while trying to do a real job in the real world while a bunch of armchair philosophers tell him to use someone’s vision he can’t afford for reasons he finds indefensible. Some on the list hear in Darrell’s criticism that if a thing can’t be done electronically it isn’t worth doing, that sight should be irrelevant to functioning in the world, that he is the only one courageous enough to stand against the forces which would shut us out of the 21st century, that the blind organizations live with their head in the sand, unwilling to accept that in this new reality the problem really isn’t about attitudes and alternative techniques but about the right blind people should have to information which, because it is in an electronic form, could be made accessible if only blind people would demand and sighted people would care. I won’t advertise those last two sentences as a model of clear writing or that they accurately reflect all the nuances in discussions I’ve read and contributed to over the last few years, but they do capture my overall impression about how we talk passed one another and then get mad when we’re not heard. People on the list could and should be kinder to Darrell and realize how hard it is not to get angry and frustrated when it takes more than one’s best to get ahead or just stay even. Darrell doesn’t need to take general comments personally and should realize that just as he does not want his work as a person primarily concerned with electronic accessibility to be challenged or dismissed, so too are people on the list upset when they hear that there comments are, for the most part, irrelevant and reflect an inability to perceive how it is in the information age. We all come to the accessibility issue feeling overworked and under-appreciated, whether that work is concerned exclusively with making software accessible or it’s raising the money to buy the plane tickets to send people to industry conferences, the campus of Microsoft or the halls of congress. All of us want to perform as well as our sighted neighbor does on the job, to receive the same promotions or better, and to go home at night and simply deal with family and good books and television. To the degree we invest time in electronic access and other issues, we have less of all those things, and maybe it’s only around each other we can really say how mad it makes us.

Postscript:

JH: One other thing I wanted to mention out of the context of the dialog being

published is that although I’m perfectly satisfied with the article coming

across as an interview, if I were to continue the debate it would be to say

that Gary’s answers were to me a call to arms. I mean that in the best

possible way, Gary.

In other words, to me, Gary’s answers were an indication of how much work

we have to do. I believe that problems don’t solve themselves. And if one

of the problems Gary sees is that legislators don’t feel that reasonable

accomodations are a basic human right, then we need to convince them of

that. I don’t mean Gary needs to convince them of that. I mean *we*, the

disabled do. If Congress means to limit the ADA when it says it is going

to revisit it, then we have to take action to make sure our needs are

respected. I don’t mean Gary needs to take action. I mean the blind

community does.

I don’t know exactly what we can do. I’m not an experienced political

activist. But the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation here in

Wisconsin is so under funded that you can’t get help until you actually

lose your job and even then, there’s a waiting list that can go up to 6

months. With unemployment among the disabled in Wisconsin running 80%

according to an activist I talked to (California officially estimates it’s

rate at 70-75%), I think that’s disgraceful.

Access Watch launches a new resource enabling the blind to read and post reviews of mainstream computer software. Blind computer users can check this resource before spending their hard earned time and money on a new piece of software. Blind experts in the use of a particular program may add reviews to the system to broaden the amount of information available to the entire community. As this resource grows, everyone will be able to gauge the accessibility and availability of mainstream software to users of access technology.

We strongly urge your participation in the new Access Watch Software Reviews service. Please send e-mail to Jamie Pauls giving him constructive feedback on this new resource.

 

Karen reminds us that there are times when we need to stop being so serious, taking a break to enjoy accessible recreational activities.

Recreation is an important aspect of life. We all need to find time to

relax and unwind after a long day’s work. We live in such a fast paced society. Most of us seem to not have enough time to do all the things we need or want to do during the day. Not only are we expected to work outside the home, to be productive and active members of our communities, we are also expected to manage our homes competently. We must be organized, manage our time well, and act as responsible adults by successfully completing such tasks as paying our bills and running errands. These are the expectations of a mature, responsible adult. If one is feeling overwhelmed with too much stress and pressure, he will not be able to cope very well in the world. These factors make it extremely important for all of us to find time for leisure.

As blind people we encounter more obstacles due to our limitations, fewer opportunities and lack of social support. Needless to say, it is crucial that we get involved in recreation by finding activities that we as blind people can do independently or participate in a group equally with our sighted peers. For example, most people enjoy watching movies, where we often miss out on critical elements such as action, scenery, and facial expressions. This can be frustrating and even depressing, taking the enjoyment from something that should be fun and relaxing.

We are fortunate to have a service called Descriptive Video Service (DVS) that will enable blind and visually impaired people to enjoy such an activity without missing these key elements or needing a sighted person to describe the visual aspects. DVS is affiliated with WGBH, a PBS station in Boston. This service has been available for over a decade. Their selection of movies is extremely limited in comparison to video stores like blockbuster. Despite this fact, they do carry over two hundred movies available in a wide variety of genres. The Staff at DVS work diligently to produce high quality videos for the blind. They view each and every film, dozens of times, taking notes and incorporating a verbal description by choosing language carefully, using as few words as possible so as not to interfere with the dialogue. If you have not experienced something like this, check out the Descriptive Video Service web site for details. Not only can you buy these described videos at the DVS web site, but you may also be able to borrow them from your local library. Most public libraries have a talking book department. Contact

your local Library to get more information and a listing of the descriptive movies that might be available. Darrell and I have purchased DVS videos for a few years now and have an excellent collection. I enjoy mostly the comedies, mysteries and dramas, whereas Darrell finds pleasure watching the action and Science fiction. This is one activity that we can enjoy without sighted assistance.

Of course, there’s much more to recreational activities for the blind than just watching DVS videos. Examples of other great activities might include playing board games, participating in sports, journaling, ceramics, dance, karate and rock climbing.

These are just a few things we have done to cope with every day stress.

There are some board games that are accessible, available in both Braille and large print. One can find these games and other similar accessible products such as playing cards at such companies as Beyond Sight and Independent Living Aids.

In addition to the above mentioned activities, one can also become involved in classes at their local recreation center. This is exactly what Darrell and I did this past year. Like many couples, we have different interests. I am more in to the fine arts while Darrell is interested in more physically active activities such as karate and rock climbing.

I like to journal, expressing my thoughts. I have always been better at communicating and expressing my ideas and perspectives through the written word. Before losing my sight, I would write using pen and paper; however, now that I am totally blind, I utilize the computer. Journaling is another constructive way in which one can cope with stress or depression, especially for the blind or disabled who often feel isolated and alone, not being able to relate to others or feeling uncomfortable talking with a professional counselor. Ceramics is an excellent outlet for self expression and enables one to use their right brain to create and relieve stress.

Darrell took another approach to deal with his stress. Karate was a way for him to get more exercise and clear his head. The same was true for rock climbing, though this activity was much more physically challenging.

If you find yourself feeling anxious, depressed and extremely stressed,

consider participating in recreational activities such as those we have described. It will alleviate your stress, increase your energy and enable you to focus on work and other issues that bombard us in our daily lives.

Karen and I write to inspire everyone to think outside the box for the achievement of our full participation in society.

What is our ultimate objective? What do we as blind people want to achieve? How do we reach our goals? These are just a few questions we as blind individuals, as a minority group should be asking.

We need and want to be accepted in society as full and equal participants. Like other minorities, we are not always granted the same opportunities as the sighted, thus we are not currently equal, fully productive members of society through no fault of our own. We should not be complacent, just accepting the “way things are”.

It is possible and necessary to have more access to information, increase our transportation options and improve Societies attitudes about blindness and our capabilities. Meeting this challenge is not possible until each and every one of us stands together, united and on the same page as to our ultimate objectives. Full productive participation in society will not truly be a reality until we all come to an agreement on the identification of the critical specific barriers we face, how to resolve each one and what steps we will take to reach our goals. Until we can do this, we will remain divided and largely ineffective as a blind community. United we stand, divided we fall! Instead of passing judgment, being critical of another, STOP! LOOK and LISTEN! We all need to be more open minded, to attempt to understand another fellow human being’s perspective. Do not assume that, because you are not experiencing something, whatever it may be, that it is not reality for someone else. As they say, don’t judge until you have walked a mile in the other person’s shoes.

Although it is helpful to understand another’s experiences and perceptions of the world, it is most important to do what is right. If, for example, 75 percent of the Blind are unemployed while our sighted peers experience only a 6 percent unemployment rate, then, this low socioeconomic status for the blind is unacceptable and we must take serious steps to make it right. If the sighted have access to all available information, whether it be in print, on a computer screen, the internet, on television or anywhere else in the world and we are limited as to what is available to us, then, this too is not acceptable! We live in the information age where knowledge is power. We must do everything possible to insure our ability to obtain and use all available information the sighted take for granted. If one has mastered all the alternative techniques of blindness, she still does not ultimately have true and complete independence if she must frequently depend on a sighted reader to perform critical tasks on the job, use inaccessible digital home appliances to perform basic tasks such as cook dinner, read personal mail or read and find products in a store. We remain limited, usually not due to our physical lack of eye sight but due to needless artificial barriers, and, therefore, have fewer opportunities compared to the sighted. Needless to say, we, then, are not equal. We live in the 21 st century! Though we have made significant progress in many areas, we have a long road ahead before we will reach our ultimate objective of full and complete participation in society with our blindness representing an absolute minimum impact on our lives.

Thanks to the work of the National Federation of the Blind, social attitudes about blindness are improving. Many opportunities now exist that were totally out of the question for a blind person just 65 years ago. Many employers are actually interested in considering us as serious candidates to fill critical positions within their agencies, companies and organizations. The internet and other technologies are wonderful avenues to gain knowledge, skills and opportunities. Assistive technology products such as JAWS screen reading software, PAC Mates, Alva Braille displays, talking microwaves, talking caller id’s, DVS videos, Newsline and bookshare are just a small sample of the technologies that help to enable us to participate in education, employment, home management and leisure activities. Let’s not stop here! Our current progress must represent stepping stones to do much better now and in the future, to give us hope and determination to continue to raise awareness within the majority sighted world of the need for accessibility, to develop and produce more functional, high quality assistive technology products and services that will interact with mainstream technology, enabling us to have even more opportunities and fewer limitations.

As stated in Take A Risk, take a chance to make things better! If you have an idea that might make it possible for us all to achieve our goal of greater accessibility, increased transportation options or overall improved social attitudes about blindness, then, speak out! Express your thoughts here or anywhere else in the blind community. This is America, the land of opportunity; we have the freedom to speak our minds. Exercise your first amendment rights! AS Thomas Edison said, its “99 percent inspiration and 1 percent perspiration”. Without people like Edison, Bell, and Marconi, it would not be possible for us all to be writing in this forum. It takes an individual whom is inquisitive, has inspiration and a willingness to improve the world. So, do not step on the toes of a fellow blind person; do not let him stand alone in the dark and isolated. Instead, let’s march together, united in mind and purpose. For if we do this, we will, one day, achieve our ultimate objective!

Karen informs and inspires us all to enjoy the accessibility and convenience of shopping online.

Shopping is something we all have to do. Some like to shop more

than others. Women especially like to shop, browse, do lunch and spend

a lot of money. I have never been one to spend the day shopping from store to store. In fact, it is one of my least favorite things to do! Shopping is one of those life activities we all have to do on a

regular basis. Whether it be Grocery shopping, buying products for the

home, or gifts for friends or Family. , Its something that needs to be

done. Some of us enjoy it more than others.

For those of you who do not like to shop or just want to save time, Shop online! It is especially practical for the blind and actually can be a lot of fun. If you have access to a computer and know how to use the Internet, why not check out some of these online web sites? If you are not computer literate, this may be another incentive to begin to hop on the information highway and surf the net. Furthermore, you will avoid traffic, crowds and the need of a Customer Service clerk to assist you. This is one activity that you can do alone, with complete

independence! No one needs to describe the products for you, the items listed on well designed shopping sites have a description that enables the blind to know the specifications and other details of the products. Not only does one not need a clerk, but one does not have to worry about waiting for a bus or ride. One can shop in the privacy of their home, at any time day or night. This is extremely practical and efficient for anyone, especially for the blind and others whom are disabled.

Darrell and I do the majority of our shopping online. The holidays are the best time to shop online. There are dozens of sales and one does not have to deal with the crowds. Moreover, if you feel as if you do not have enough time on your hands to accomplish all the things that you want and need to do during the

day, think about shopping online. You could clean house or read a good book while you wait for your groceries to be delivered! You could also baby-sit and shop online at home. These are just a few ways to manage your time.

Take a minute and click that mouse, or press that key! Explore. You will see the world through another window! One that is accessible to the blind as well as the sighted. The following represent examples of accessible online shopping sites:

• Find Unique Gift Ideas and Creative Gifts – FindGift.com
• Walmart.com – Always Low Prices!
• PETsMART – Pet supplies for healthier, happier pets
• Albertsons.com, It’s Your Store – Online
• Amazon.com Accessibility Site

It is important to understand that, sadly, there remain a large number of businesses on the Internet that have not yet made the accessibility choice! The sites mentioned above are reasonably accessible for all. We are currently unable to endorse any specific web sites in this story as our ability to use them is based solely on personal experience rather than any objective review of their accessibility. Have fun and let me

know what you think!

Karen offers us an inspirational look at the need for us to be willing to take risks.

Taking Risks is part of life. We would not be truly living if we did not take chances and experience some level of stress. Every opportunity we take, every decision we make involves taking some kind of risk. We need to make choices, for if we do not, our choices will be made for us. Do not live passively, be an active participant. Get involved, do what you can to make a difference. Change the world in a small way if possible. We are all here to learn valuable lessons and to make some kind of difference in the lives we touch. There is a purpose for all that happens to us. Life is too short and time will pass you by. WE can learn from not only our successes but also our failures. As they say, ” one must sit down to failure before one can dine on success”. Don’t allow your failures or fears to paralyze you and keep you from really living!

We all need to be productive and become involved in our communities; whether we are employed, volunteer or take classes, we need to do something. Life is too short. It is very precious. Make the best of the time you have. ” Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift”.

For those of us whom have a disability, we often encounter obstacles that make it more difficult to achieve our goals. AS a result, our judgment is sometimes clouded, our perception of reality occasionally distorted. Don’t quit! Don’t give up on yourself and on life. Take charge! Live your life to the fullest. Otherwise, you will feel regret over all the lost opportunities and wonder what might have been, what changes you could have made , whom you could have inspired.

So, take that risk, whatever it is; Take that job, buy that home, travel. Take the chance!

If we all do our best and make the most of each day, we will, one day, really “change what it means to be blind”!

WE all need to focus on what is important, how to improve the lives of all of us who happen to be blind. Don’t criticize the efforts of another person unless you have some facts to constructively support your position. Instead, maximize your efforts. Work together to provide suggestions and enable all to have a better, more fulfilling life: to gain access to information, increase effective transportation options and improve social attitudes about blindness. It is counter productive to be critical or resistant to others whom are attempting to improve the quality of the lives of the blind. Let’s put forth our best effort, put our best foot forward and do all that we can to truly ” change what it means to be blind”. The choice is yours! Take the risk! Live and light the way, for anything is possible. Let’s Boldly go where the blind have never been before! It will be a brave and brighter new world for us all!

If you are blind, you may soon find yourself unable to fully maintain your computer!

Starting on an unspecified date in mid-2005, Microsoft will initiate Windows Genuine Advantage, a new anti-piracy measure, by requiring Windows users to enter their product key in order to gain access to such services as Download Center and Windows Update. This product key is printed either on the Windows CD-ROM or on a sticker located on the side of a computer with Windows installed at the factory. The physical inability to read print will instantly barr legitimate Windows users who happen to be blind from accessing Download Center and Windows Update. This loss will represent a huge inconvenience for blind users of home computers, while it could result in the possible loss of jobs for information technology professionals who happen to be blind.

It is clear that the people at Microsoft were not thinking about accessibility when implementing this new anti-piracy program. For legitimate blind users of Windows, this product key requirement is nothing more than a test for eye sight before permitting entry in to the promised land! We must absolutely and unequivocally insist that Microsoft find a way to work with the blind community to insure the accessibility of the Windows Genuine Advantage program for everyone who has already paid for the right to use Windows!

Please read Microsoft’s Commitment to Accessibility. Send e-mail to Microsoft’s Accessibility Group and provide online feedback insisting that Microsoft take steps to insure that Windows Genuine Advantage is accessible for everyone.

We know our ability to drive an automobile remains in the distant future. Aside from restoration of eye sight, a highly technologically complex vehicle featuring artificial intelligence and thousands of sensors will be required. In the meantime, why not try adapting bicycles for faster independent travel? As a child with extremely low vision, I rode one for several years until I drove it off a six foot cliff!

There are many aspects to riding a bicycle that lend themselves to adaptation for independent use by the blind. Since the bicycle travels much more slowly than the automobile, the consequences of an accident can be greatly reduced. A bicycle can be legally and safely ridden on the side walks of many communities. Traveling by bicycle is thus more like walking than driving. Since the bicycle is open, the blind user could use their hearing, orientation and mobility skills and other alternative blindness techniques to cross streets. Riding a bicycle would be faster than walking, and many bikes can enable the rider to carry packages that are heavier and larger than those an average walker could handle.

There are certainly a number of challenges that must be considered and resolved before it would ever be safe for a totally blind or severely visually impaired person to attempt riding a bicycle. These challenges include collision avoidance, navigation and obstacle detection. I strongly believe that these challenges can be overcome using current technology. No complex artificial intelligence or other highly advanced computer technologies should be required.

Collision avoidance and obstacle detection are absolutely critical in order for us to be able to ride a bicycle in a manner that is safe not only for ourselves but also for the general public. We must avoid colliding with cars and pedestrians. We must also avoid hazards such as falling off cliffs and running in to objects like poles and trees. The concept of obstacle avoidance using ultrasonic sensors has been studied for more than thirty years. Unfortunately, this research has been conducted from the perspective of the traditional blind walker. The guide dog and the long white cane, tried and true alternative blindness techniques for safe and effective walking, rightly resulted in the failure of such products as the Sonic Guide. In 1999 and 2000, I worked with a student at Arizona State University on a research project using auditory signals and ultrasonic detectors to aide blind walkers in avoiding potentially dangerous obstacles. I ultimately lost interest in the project. I couldn’t see an application where the device would sufficiently benefit the average blind person to justify the allocation of limited resources in another probably unsuccessful assistive technology product. I am now beginning to understand that this technology may be applicable to the blind after all. A bicycle might be fitted with tens or hundreds of ultrasonic detectors. These detectors could then be connected to a device that would process the information and convey it to the blind rider in the form of auditory signals, vibrations or a combination of both modalities. Such a system would need to enable the blind rider’s ability to safely perform at least the following tasks:

• Detect the oncoming presence of automobiles, pedestrians and other bicyclists, allowing the blind rider sufficient time to avoid a collision.
• Avoid falling off cliffs, ledges and other sudden downward terrain changes while providing sufficient time to take evasive action.
• Avoid running in to poles, low hanging branches and other similar hazards, allowing sufficient time to stop or take other appropriate action.

Navigation is the third critical element to the ability of a blind person to ride a bicycle. After all, the purpose of riding is to transport yourself to an ultimate destination. The navigation issue can be tackled from two conceptual levels: micro and macro. The micro aspects of navigation involve such basic but absolutely essential tasks as determining the boundary between the street and the sidewalk, detecting driveways and enabling the rider to travel in a straight line. Again, the ultrasonic detectors used for collision avoidance and obstacle detection might be useful in these tasks. On the macro level, you want to be able to travel longer distances than those you can achieve through walking. A talking GPS navigation device would certainly come in very handy. Those are already on the market in the form of such products as BrailleNote GPS, Trekker and the soon to be released StreetTalk solution for the PAC Mate.

This summary is understandably very preliminary. More than anything else, the intent is to spark discussion on the possibility of bicycle riding for the blind. If this is a reasonable goal, we should be seeing research, prototyping and live demonstrations of this capability in the near future. Again, your participation is highly encouraged. Please comment on the possibility of blind bicycling from either a practical or technical perspective.