Coming up on Main Menu for the week of May 28 – Current and Emerging Accessibility Solutions to Visual Verification

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Hello Everyone,   
 
Coming up on an exciting two hour live program, we hear from a panel of technology industry experts all about CAPTCHA (visual verification) and other forms of visual authentication, accessibility challenges to existing visual verification systems, the balance between human rights and security, existing solutions for providing reasonable accomodations to visual authentication and emerging accessibility solutions.
 
We are proud to introduce our panel of experts and their primary areas of focus:
 
* Matt May from the Adobe Systems Accessibility Team will discuss his 2005 W3C note on the inaccessibility of CAPTCHA.
* Luis von Ahn from ReCAPTCHA at Carnegie Mellon University will describe their accessible solution.
* Steve Dispensa from PhoneFactor will tell us all about an innovative, telephone based two-factor authentication system.
 
There may be other surprise guests on this comprehensive episode, so it is definitely a show you will not want to miss!
 
Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the Main Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is: main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com
Come join an already lively group of users.          
 
Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:          
 
 
Main Menu can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, and at 1 universal (GMT) on Wednesday mornings on the ACB Radio Main Stream channel.          
 
Follow this link to listen to the show:          
 
 
Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team

Seeking Usability Test Participants for Voting Systems in Washington DC / Baltimore Area

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Dear Friends and Colleagues:

The Paciello Group (TPG) is recruiting individuals with disabilities who live in the greater Washington, DC area, to participate in a usability study for voting systems.
In this initial round of testing, we are looking for individuals with the following disabilities:

– Blind or legally blind who requires braille or audio
– Low vision requiring large print and/or audio
– Persons with mobility disabilities
– Persons with dexterity disabilities

Additionally, participants must be at least 18 years of age and a registered voter.

Where:  Metro Research Services
             1729 King Street
            Alexandria, Virginia 22314
When:     Wednesday June 4 and Thursday June 5

Sessions will take about 45 minutes and each participant will be paid $100.

– Email: mpaciello@paciellogroup.com

– Telephone: 603-882-4122, extension 103 
      
  (If Mike is not available, please leave a message. Your call will be returned shortly.)

Thank you very much. Your participation will help ensure an effective, accessible voting systems.

—
Mike Paciello
Founder & Principal, TPG
web: www.paciellogroup.com 

 

Appeals court rules paper money unfair to blind – May. 20, 2008

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Federal appeals court says Treasury Department is violating the law by keeping dollars the same size and feel.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2006 district court ruling that could force the United States to redesign its money so blind people can distinguish between values. Suggested solutions include making bills different sizes, including raised markings or using foil printing which is a method of hot stamping that is tactically discernable.

Judge Judith Rogers, in a ruling on a suit by the American Council of the Blind, wrote that the Treasury Department’s failure to design and issue paper currency that is readily distinguishable to the visually impaired violates the Rehabilitation Act’s guarantee of “meaningful access.” The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was originally designed to extend civil rights to disabled individuals and provide them a full opportunity to participate in American society.

Rogers also wrote that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has not met his burden to show why changing the money would impose an undue burden. “A large majority of other currency systems have accommodated the visually impaired, and the Secretary does not explain why U.S. currency should be any different,” Rogers wrote in her ruling. The euro, for example, is one currency designed to be more readily identifiable. Each banknote has a predominant color and large numbers to make them easier to see. Also, the larger the denomination of the euro, the larger the banknote.

“We are very pleased with the ruling,” said a spokeswoman for the American Council of the Blind. “We are hopeful that the Treasury Department will now get busy and come up with a plan to make paper money more readily identifiable for the visually impaired people all over the world.” The Treasury Department was not immediately available for comment.

The suit was originally filed in 2002 by the American Council of the Blind and two individuals with visual impairments, Patrick Sheehan and Otis Stephens. The appeals court ruled 2-1, with Judge A. Raymond Randolph dissenting. Judge Thomas Griffith joined Rogers in voting to uphold the lower court ruling. 

Source: Appeals court rules paper money unfair to blind – May. 20, 2008

Coming up on Main Menu for the week of May 21 – Replay A/V, Active To-Do List, The Onion Router and Pronto

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Hello Everyone,  
 
Coming up on an action packed one hour Main Menu:
 
* We hear from AccessWatch with a brief review of Applian’s Replay A/V recording software.
* Chris Grabowski demonstrates and reviews Active To-Do List from Beiley Software.
* Cory Martin demonstrates and explains the use of The Onion Router (TOR) for anonymous web surfing and Internet access.
* Johanna Särkinen tells us all about Baum’s new Pronto accessible PDA.
 
Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the Main
Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is: main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com
Come join an already lively group of users.         
 
Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:         
 
 
Main Menu can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, and at 1 universal (GMT) on Wednesday mornings on the ACB Radio Main Stream channel.         
 
Follow this link to listen to the show:         
 
 
Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team

ScripTalk Station: An Audible Prescription Reading Device To Be Demonstrated On Tek Talk May 12, 2008

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ScripTalk Station: An Audible Prescription Reading Device To Be
Demonstrated On Tek Talk May 12, 2008

The Accessible News Wire May 6, 2008, Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Are you blind or visually impaired? Do you take prescription medications? Do
you know someone else who does? Are you concerned about remembering your
prescription instructions and information? Are you bothered that you
have to
rely on others to read your prescription information? Are you looking for a
way to safely and independently manage your medications? If you answered YES
to any of these questions, ScripTalk Station is for you!

During the upcoming Tek Talk online event sponsored by the Accessible World,
you will learn all about the amazing ScripTalk Station from Envision
America, a small, portable device that speaks all your prescription
information for you. With the press of a button you hear patient name, drug
name, dosage, pharmacy information, warnings, side effects and much more.
Say good-bye to worries, concerns and guessing! This device provides a safe
and easy way to manage personal healthcare for those who cannot read the
information on their prescriptions, and to our knowledge, it is the only
product on the market to meet all federal guidelines. ScripTalk Station
gives you the freedom of voice!

Don't miss this opportunity to find out how this new device works, how it
can benefit you, and how you can help get it into the hands of all who need
it.

Contact: Anna McClure, Marketing Representative, Envision America, Inc.
Tel: 800-890-1180
Email: amcclure@envisionamerica.com
Web:

http://www.envisionamerica.com)

Date: Monday, May 12, 2008

Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 7:00 p.m. Central, 8:00 p.m.
Eastern and elsewhere in the world Tuesday 0:00 GMT.

Where: TekTalk Conference Room at:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

or

http://www.accessibleworld.org. Select the Tek Talk room, enter your first
and last names on the sign-in screen.

All Tech Talk training events are recorded so if you are unable to
participate live at the above times then you may download the presentation
or podcast from the Tech Talk archives on our website at
http://www.accessibleworld.org.

All online interactive programs require no password, are free of charge, and
open to anyone worldwide having an Internet connection, a computer,
speakers, and a sound card. Those with microphones can interact audibly with
the presenters and others in the virtual audience.

If you are a first-time user of the Talking Communities online conferencing
software, there is a small, safe software program that you need to download
and then run. A link to the software is available on every entry screen to
the Accessible World online rooms.

Sign up information for all Accessible World News Wires and discussion lists
are also available at our website: http://www.accessibleworld.org.

Media Contacts:

Robert Acosta, Chair, Planning Committee
818-998-0044
Email: boacosta@pacbell.net
Web:

http://www.helpinghands4theblind.com

Pat Price, Founder and Events Coordinator
The Accessible World Symposiums
Vision Worldwide, Inc.
317-254-1185
Skype: patprice1
Email: pat@patprice.org
Web:

http://www.accessibleworld.org

Visual Verification: Seeking Advocates and Experts for May 27 ACB Radio Main Menu Program Covering CAPTCHA

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We are planning an episode of ACB Radio’s Main Menu technology talk show covering the accessibility concerns surrounding CAPTCHA and similar visually based authentication or challenge / response systems utilized to ensure the security of Internet resources. We are seeking three or four guests who consider themselves to be experts in one or more of the following areas:

  • Successful implementation of an audio playback or other accessible CAPTCHA on a web site.

  • Research into the creation of new, unique universally accessible CAPTCHA schemes and other forms of authentication.

  • Accomplished advocates who have made significant progress toward convincing web site operators to implement audio playback or other reasonable accomodations to visual CAPTCHA.

  • Anyone who can speak about their experiences with or development of accessible versions of authentication tokens, security keys and similar forms of two-factor authentication schemes found in both business and consumer applications.

  • Addressing of CAPTCHA accessibility concerns especially for deaf-blind Internet users.

We invite any of our readers meeting one or more of the above criteria to send an e-mail to mainmenu@acbradio.org for consideration as a possible guest. This show will run from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Pacific time on Tuesday evening, May 27 (01:00 to 03:00 UTC on May 28) on ACB Radio Mainstream.

Visual Verification: Zone BBS Begins Using Accessible Text Based Challenge / Response Test to Support Secure Registration

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We are happy to report that Zone BBS, a popular text based bulletin board system in the blind community, has switched from an audio / visual CAPTCHA scheme to THaCAA – Telling Humans and Computers Apart Automatically to ensure the security of its account registration process. Whereas the previous scheme excludes users who happen to be deaf-blind, the new text based system includes everyone. Although no CAPTCHA test is perfectly accessible or secure, we hope the new implementation will prove to be sufficiently robust for the needs of the Zone BBS.

Coming up on Main Menu for the week of May 14 – GoldWave Enhancements, Handy Address Book and Our Panel of Experts

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Hello Everyone, 
 
Coming up on this week’s Main Menu, our first hour is prerecorded and our second hour is live!  During the first hour, Rick Harmon tells us all about what is new in GoldWave 5.22 and the available updated JAWS scripts for that sound editing software.  Darrell Shandrow demonstrates the accessible Handy Address Book from Beiley Software.
 
In the second hour, it’s all wide open forum with our panel of experts: Darrell Shandrow, Jeff Bishop, Rick Harmon, Cory Martin and Kevin Jones.  Feel free to contact us using e-mail, MSN (Windows Live) Messenger or by phone with your burning technology questions from a blindness perspective.
 
Here is how to participate in the show:        
 
The number to call into the show is 866-400-5333.   
You may email your questions to: mainmenu@acbradio.org
You may also interact with the show via MSN (Windows Live) Messenger. The MSN Messenger ID to add is: mainmenu@acbradio.org        
 
Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the Main Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is: main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com
Come join an already lively group of users.        
 
Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:        
 
 
Main Menu can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, and at 1 universal (GMT) on Wednesday mornings on the ACB Radio Main Stream channel.        
 
Follow this link to listen to the show:        
 
 
Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team

DVS Home Video® Sales Effort Comes to a Close

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It seems the bad news on the accessibility front just keeps coming this
week.

DVS Home Video® Sales Effort Comes to a Close

Deep Discounts Offered for One Week on Remaining Inventory

Boston, MA. May 6. DVS Home Video, a project begun by Boston public
broadcaster WGBH in the early 90's to make movies on video accessible to the
nation's blind and visually impaired viewers, will end as of May 12. The
Hollywood studios have ceased manufacturing VHS or tape versions of films
for sale and rental.
WGBH's work to make media accessible via description goes on, with efforts
focused on television, feature films in theaters, DVDs and online video.

The DVS Home Video effort, started over a decade ago with funding from the
U.S. Department of Education, resulted in more than 300 videos made
accessible through narration of key visual elements inserted into natural
pauses in dialogue. From the very first DVS Video's debut, the reaction of
the community was immediate and actually profound. Films came alive in a
whole new way, and the eagerness for new titles only grew. Many of the
videos sold over the years were purchased by libraries and schools, which
multiplied the number of individuals and families who took such enjoyment in
described movies.

Films are now being distributed for sale and rental on DVD, BluRay DVD and
through video on demand (either rental or download to own) services via the
Internet. WGBH's Media Access Group, home to the Descriptive Video Service,
has been working to transition the home video efforts to DVD and to these
online movie delivery outlets. Lack of available memory space on DVDs has
been stated as the reason why more description tracks, created for
theatrical release in the over 300 movie theaters with WGBH's Motion Picture
Access® (MoPix®) systems, are not making the migration onto DVDs. WGBH
maintains a list of DVDs that have description tracks on them at the Web
page listed with other description-related links at the bottom of this post.

Advocacy is needed from the community of description fans to make this
transition happen. Please see the link below for a list of Hollywood
studios' home video/home entertainment divisions. Help show the providers
of video on these formats that there is a market and that you would be
willing to purchase movies with a description track included as an optional
feature.

For the next week (until May 12), DVS Home Video titles remaining in stock
will be sold at a deep discount. Videos that previously were available for
$15.01 and above will be sold for $10. Videos retailing for $15 and below
will be now be available for $5.

To access a list of available titles, please visit the Web site

http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/resources/dvs-home-video-catalogue.html.

To hear a list of titles, and/or to place an order, please call:
317 579-0439 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

All of us at the Media Access Group appreciate the unyielding support our
efforts have generated over the years, and we are looking forward to the
next chapter. Here is a list of links to information about ongoing
description work from WGBH:

DVS on Television
http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/description/ontv/

DVS in Movie Theaters
www.mopix.org

DVS on DVD
http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/resources/accessible-dvds.htm
l

Link to Contact List for Hollywood Studios
http://ncam.wgbh.org/mopix/studios.html
(please include "Home Entertainment Division" in the address)

Contact:
Mary Watkins
Media Access Group at WGBH
617 300-3700
mary_watkins@wgbh.org

Visual Verification: Audio CAPTCHA Broken, How Will Web Site Operators Respond?

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In the article Google’s Audio CAPTCHA Cracked, PC Magazine is reporting impending security challenges for a technology on which we depend in order to reasonably accomodate our need for equal access and participation on the Internet. While companies obviously work to improve the security and usability of visual CAPTCHA, what action will they take toward the blind and visually impaired? Will they improve audio CAPTCHA or will they restore the dreaded “No Blind People Allowed” signs that still bar us from admission to many web sites? How much more difficult has it now become to convince others to unlock their doors to us? As always, comments are welcomed and encouraged.