Blind Access Journal

After speaking with my contact at the EOC a short time ago, I have learned that Field Day is a go after all. Despite activation of the primary facilities, we will be able to operate in another room in the EOC bunker. I will schedule transportation so that I arrive sometime around 10:30 tomorrow morning and return home shortly after 11:00 Sunday morning. The EOC facility itself is an underground bunker built in 1953 to withstand a nuclear blast. Obviously, the amateur and other radio antennas are located on the roof of the facility. There is minimal cell phone and Internet access. A passive antenna is available for cell use, but signals from underground remain spotty. Expect occasional short live podcasts from outside the facility, with a much longer podcast posted a few hours after the end of the event on Sunday. This longer podcast will most certainly include audio coverage of Field Day operations as they happen. I’ll be contributing use of the following equipment: Icom IC-703 Plus HF radio, power supply, Code Warrior paddles for Morse Code keying, SGC SG-237 antenna coupler and my trusty Dell Enspiron 600M laptop equipped with JAWS for logging the contacts. We will actually be operating from standard commercial AC power. The Field Day requirements for operation from an EOC facility dictate only that an alternative power source be online and ready for immediate implementation in case of a power outage.

Sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, the national association of amateur radio operators in the United States of America, Field Day is an annual operating event (contest) in which we test our abilities to communicate in the midst of emergency conditions where conveniences such as commercial electricity, cellular telephones and the Internet are not available. While setting up our radio equipment in less than a day and powering it from electrical sources such as batteries, generators and solar panels, we contact as many other ham operators located in the United States and Canada as possible who are running under similar circumstances. Check out the ARRL Field Day 2005 Rules page for further details.

As a semi-active amateur radio operator, I try to do what I can to stay involved. That effort includes participating in Field Day. Last year, I operated with another ham friend from his house, using exclusively battery power to run two radios, an antenna coupler and two computers. We made 242 contacts. This year, I had planned to participate with the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club operating from the Maricopa County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). EOC facilities (either fixed or mobile) are often used for the Field Day exercise, as it represents an excellent opportunity to test the on board amateur radio equipment and the skills of available volunteers and emergency radio communications personnel. Sadly, it is looking more and more likely that this will not be possible, due to the fact that the EOC has been activated frequently over the past week as the result of wild brush fires and potentially dangerous weather. Obviously, if the EOC is activated to handle real emergencies, we will not be able to use it to conduct the Field Day exercise.

I am currently working with other amateur radio clubs in the area to discover their Field Day plans and how I may be able to participate. Field Day begins at 11:00 AM PDT Saturday, approximately 23 and a half hours from now. Wish me good fortune in my quest to find a way to participate in the event this year. If everything works out, watch for short audio podcasts live and direct from the Field Day site and possibly a longer podcast a few hours after the end of the contest at 11:00 AM PDT on Sunday. If you are a licensed amateur radio operator who will be participating in Field Day this year, please share your thoughts on the event by posting a text comment or calling the comment line at 206-350-6925.

The most frustrating and upsetting aspect to all these incidents is the complete lack of accountability shown by the provider of the service to customers and taxpayers. The attitude seems to be that, since we are disabled, there’s nothing we can do about the issues. All thoughts welcome in text format or by way of a call to the comment line at 206-350-6925.

June 22, 2005

Dear Rose, Annette, Andrew and Gary,

This afternoon, June 22, I had an ADA pick up from work booked for 14:00. As we all know, the allowable time window for ADA trips is 30 minutes, in this case running from 14:00 to 14:30. I wasn’t picked up till 14:51! That’s 21 minutes outside the allowable time window for ADA, and, actually, 6 minutes outside the 45 minute time window allowed for demand trips.

Calling your office at 14:07, Linda indicated the ETA was 14:30. Warning that it was the end of the time window, she refused to check with dispatch, saying only that EVDAR has the right to pick me up at the end of the time window. Fine…

At approx 14:34, I called back and got Linda again. At this point, I’m
feeling a bit upset. Karen had called at around 13:45 to get a 14:20 ETA. After that, I called at 14:07, so, in my mind, there was fair warning of the impending violation. I let Linda know that I would only pay the $1 rate for a demand trip, since the ADA time window and probably the demand time window was being violated. I was told that I would need to take it up with the driver and with Rose, the customer advocate. After I indicated that this approach does no good and Karen Hughes (my fiance) and I are still awaiting
tickets for the past five reported incidents, Linda told me it would be “another ten minutes” and proceeded to hang up on me.

At around 14:43, I called back and spoke with Debbie, who, finally checked with dispatch. It would be yet “another ten minutes”! She indicated that Rose was in the office, then transferred me to her voice mail. Calling back at around 14:50, I got Yvonne. Driver 214 pulled up at that time so we ended the call.

Getting on the van, I hand the driver only a $1 fare. She stands there for a minute or so (I could tell since I have a very minimal amount of sight) so I let her know that I am willing to pay only the demand fare for this trip, given that it was an ADA that was 21 minutes outside the time window and even 6 minutes outside that allowed for a demand trip.

As we rode home, the trip was mostly quiet, except that I attempted to probe the driver for some answers as to why I was picked up so late. She said “there was traffic and I was busy”. Asking for a bit more detail, such as the approximate location of her last drop off, (there’s always traffic and we’re all “busy”) she rudely said she wasn’t allowed to provide any details. The name of this driver now comes to mind. Her name is Cherry. She has always been relatively unfriendly toward customers, and, while working in the office last year due to some sort of injury, she was incredibly discourteous and incompetent.

After that unsuccessful conversation, Cherry apparently decided to talk about me on the radio. She called Jim Jackson, but decided better of it and told him to never mind, that the question was regarding the previous call. Apparently, Cherry’s computer terminal wasn’t working, as she seemed to be working from a printed manifest and was clearly using your old public UHF radio system.

I arrived home at around 15:10. Feeling a little suspicious, I decided to turn on the radio, where I hear the following conversation take place between Cherry (driver 214) and Jim Jackson:

Driver:

Please make a note that the passenger paid only $1.

Jim:

That was a $2 fare, Cherry.

Driver:

If you only knew what he was doing. Weren’t you listening?

Jim:

No. There’s no way we could hear anything. Why didn’t you turn on your camera?

Driver:

I couldn’t easily get to it; The passenger was still on the van.

Jim:

Darrell Shandrow is sight impaired, so he wouldn’t have known the
difference.

Driver:

Yes. He would have. He knows what he is doing.

There was no further response from Jim or Cherry. I did listen for
approximately another ten minutes.

There are a number of serious problems here, starting with the root cause of the incident.

1. I was picked up 21 minutes outside the ADA time window. Seeking some sort of accountability in the form of payment of only the demand fare, I was turned down. I paid only $1 anyhow, but the situation turned a bit ugly.
2. Realizing that the ETA was nearly out of bounds, no attempts were made to work proactively toward any possible resolution until my pick up was almost 45 minutes late. There was no proactive communication with dispatch and all requests for answers were outright refused.
3. Linda was rude on the phone. I thought we got past this with the transition from Atlantic Paratransit to MV Transit. As the former customer advocate, she could be reasonably expected to know better. There’s absolutely no excuse for rudeness.
4. The radio conversation between the driver and the dispatcher discussing and recommending a way to surreptitiously take advantage of my blindness was totally inappropriate and way over the lines of any sense of professionalism or common decency.

This afternoon I received a call from Rose, who transferred me to Andrew Higuera, the quality assurance manager. Andrew and I had a conversation lasting over half an hour about this incident. He promised me that the incident would be fully investigated and that he would contact me on Thursday or Friday at the very latest. I asked Andrew an interesting question, and got a worrisome answer. I asked him for the SLA (service level agreement) between customers and East Valley Dial-A-Ride. One part of a SLA covers the amount of time the company has to respond to a customer’s complaint and to completely close the incident. Andrew told me that East Valley Dial-A-Ride may take up to 24 hours to make an initial response and up to ten days to completely resolve and close the complaint! This SLA is the same as that for the Valley Metro fixed route bus system. Given the differences in the two services, I strongly feel that this SLA is not sufficiently strict, especially given the apparent attitude of RPTA’s outsourcing partner (MV Transit) when it comes to serving people with disabilities in a dignified professional manner.

As part of a thread of e-mail correspondence between Karen, myself and
Annette fritz, the following language was used by your former operations manager, Joe Stanley:

I apologize for getting you to work late today. We work at providing the best transportation service possible to our customers. We are fully aware of the effect we have on the quality of life for our passengers. The MV slogan “We Provide Freedom” illustrates this. Your assessment of this morning’s ride is correct. We did have our driver going back and forth rather than driving an efficient route. We recognize that “shared ride” can tend to increase trip duration and have already “tweaked” some of the system parameters to battle this. We will continue this process until we find the correct set that allows our scheduling system to do what we and our passengers need.
An early step in that process is to begin work on the Subscription (Standing Ride) Templates. These Templates provide the base for all rides. The change in the base location dictates a massive re-tooling of these Templates. We were reluctant to do this large project right at the changeover because we wanted to keep the transition as smooth as possible. Your situation shows we cannot wait any longer.
I spoke with you today and you agreed to the plan that I think will get you to work on time. We will monitor this grouping closely to be sure it is working for you. If not, we will immediately make adjustments to fix the problem. Our contract with Valley Metro RPTA is performance based so it is in our best interest to be on time as much as our passengers. We will send 96 tickets for these past two incidents. We are confident, however, that this type of incident will rarely, if ever, happen again. As I mentioned above, we have already made some changes to the scheduling parameters and will make more. We feel the changes will have a positive effect on people’s experience with the East Valley Dial-A-Ride. We already have done training classes on Customer Service and plan to have more. We are also looking to raise the skills of our dispatchers and reservationists. We have in place report cards for our reservationists and a phone monitoring system that measures both the number of calls in the queue and how long. The reservationists are aware of our goals and will be reminded often. We will continue to improve our service. We want everyone’s experience with East Valley Dial-A-Ride to be a good one. We need input from everyone to improve our service. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.

Respectfully,

Joe Stanley

Dial A Ride Operations Manager

Unfortunately, over the six months since MV Transit has been running East Valley Dial-A-Ride, our true experience has been that things are no different than the past contractors. An apparent poor attitude seems to exist, in general, toward the customers (people with disabilities and senior citizens) concerning our needs to be treated with the same dignity, respect and overall professionalism as those who do not require specialized paratransit service. We are both customers and taxpayers. We help fund the service both by paying our fares and through the sales taxes levied on most local purchases. We expect a level of treatment that is consistent with our status as full human beings and first class citizens, possessing all the rights and obligations that status entails. We do understand that things aren’t always going to be perfect. In those cases, all we ask is that you hold yourselves reasonably accountable to us and provide intelligent answers and explanations for any issues. An incident like this will result anytime we are not receiving this reasonable level of treatment.

Sincerely,

Darrell Shandrow – Shandrow Communications!

Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!

A+, CSSA, Network+!

Check out high quality telecommunications services at http://ld.net/?nu7i

Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by
another person.

Blind Access Journal: http://www.blindaccessjournal.com

Listen to part 2 of this podcast on the positive benefits of accessibility versus the negative consequences of inaccessibility as it relates to employment opportunities for the blind.

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Listen to commentary on the benefits of accessible technology versus the consequences of inaccessible technology, especially how it relates to employment.

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We at the Blind Access Journal ardently support the work of the iPodder development team for bringing us an exceptionally functional podcast receiving application that is accessible and usable by everyone, including those of us whom happen to be blind. As a gesture of thanks, we have made a financial donation to the iPodder project. Keep up the great work; iPodder rules absolutely!

If you are new to podcast listening, visit The Desert Skies to download iPodder and begin your journey into the wonderful world of independent broadcast listening! If you use and appreciate iPodder, you are urged to make a donation to assure the continuation of this open source software project and as a gesture of thanks from the blind community for the incredible work on the part of the iPodder development team to make the application extremely accessible!

In his coverage of the recent not guilty verdict in the Michael Jackson case, Adam Curry admonishes us all to avoid rushing to judgment, to value everyone’s differences and to take care that we do not allow our brains to be programmed to an imaginary standard of “normalcy” by television and the rest of the “mainstream” media. Check out this Daily Source Code for June 14!

The “Global” communicator portrayed in Earth Final Conflict doesn’t yet exist, but, perhaps, we are getting ever closer to that ultimate goal of total anytime, anywhere planet wide communications capability. The “globals” could exchange data, video and voice from any point on the Earth under almost any adverse condition. It was not necessary to be located in a large city or otherwise near an established communications network of any kind; the globals were completely independent from the traditional terrestrial networks. Instead, they provided immediate, real-time communications facilities through a large number of high powered satellites in high Earth orbit. Of course, undoubtedly, some advanced Taelon technologies were helpful in the creation of such a monumental breakthrough.

Fortunately, it looks like we may yet reach the goal of complete, seemless global electronic communications, without need of advanced extraterrestrial intervention. We have high speed broadband Internet access in our homes and offices that allows us to use our desktop computers to exchange data, video and voice with anyone, anywhere on the planet in a matter of seconds! Wireless networks based on the 802.11 (Wi-Fi) set of communications standards extend this ability to laptop computers and small devices known as PDAs (personal digital assistants) in our homes, offices, airports, coffee shops, hotels, public libraries and many other fixed locations around the world. Finally, cellular telephone services using a type of technology known as 3G (third generation) offer this ability (though with much less bandwidth than either broadband or Wi-Fi) for use when no other Internet connectivity is available. Though it is still far from anything approaching seemless, it is now possible to stay in touch from just about any location on Earth most of the time.

We now use a combination of currently accepted wired and wireless communications technologies to stay in touch. The Accessibility Command Center (our home office) features a high speed 3 Mbps DSL connection provided by Speakeasy. A voice over IP solution is used to provide local and unlimited domestic long distance telephone service in the office. Four desktop computers are connected to a standard wired 10/100baseT Ethernet connection. A SonicWALL Pro100 hardware firewall provides the first line of defense against any Internet based security threat. Two of the desktop computers (Karen’s and my primary workstations) run Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 and all critical security updates. Karen exclusively runs JAWS as her screen reader of choice, while I also experiment with other accessibility solutions including Freedom Box and Window-Eyes. The other two systems run Red Hat Linux and are currently used for experimentation on the geekier side of the house. A Dell TrueMobile 2300 wireless access point in the office provides secure Wi-Fi access to a Dell Enspiron 600M laptop computer and a PAC Mate QX 420. Wireless coverage provides good connectivity throughout our house and up to approximately three hundred feet outside. We are able to connect to the Internet from the pool area!

While away from home, we remain relatively well connected, though certainly not to the same degree as our headquarters network. The laptop provides for dial-up, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. Ethernet and wireless access are preferred, but dial-up is available as a last resort. I used a combination of dial-up and Wi-Fi connectivity while on vacation a year and a half ago with Karen’s side of the family in New England while using Ethernet and Wi-Fi to connect with customers’ networks for performing troubleshooting tasks. Thanks in part to additional CompactFlash cards, the PAC Mate currently provides Bluetooth, infrared and Wi-Fi connectivity. Bluetooth capability is provided by way of the Socket Communications Bluetooth Connection Kit while Wi-Fi is provided using the Sandisk Connect+128 wireless CompactFlash card. While Wi-Fi can be used to connect directly with any available 802.11B/G network, Bluetooth and infrared can be used to establish a connection with a cell phone which in turn can act as an access point to the Internet. Ethernet cards and modems are also available as CompactFlash cards for use on the PAC Mate.

The technology involved in the implementation of the office network has largely matured. Ethernet has been used in business for almost 20 years and the Internet has been available to the general public for almost 15 years now. Some know-how was required to intelligently implement the firewall and the network protocols, but these skills have become widespread commodities that nontechnical users can simply hire out for completion of such a network installation. Even Wi-Fi technology is really starting to come into its own, reaching a state of maturity in the near future. Wireless access points are becoming easier and easier to set up and using a Wi-Fi equipped laptop or PDA to establish a connection is straightforward in the vast majority of scenarios. The real snag came when I decided that I needed Internet connectivity while riding the bus, cab or Dial-A-Ride and at any time it became necessary to sit around waiting on others.

I absolutely despise being limited, especially when those limitations are being imposed by others as the result of my disability. While the sighted may travel at their leisure by driving their cars, I must wait on Dial-A-Ride or other public transportation. Sometimes, these wait times can be quite long, even over an hour! There are also the times where, just like everyone else, it is necessary to wait one’s turn for service: the bank, the barber shop, the doctor’s office, etc. Hard copy Braille materials have always faithfully served me during these down times. In more recent years, electronic books have largely replaced large Braille volumes. Unfortunately, life is becoming faster and faster. The technology and the associated demands on one’s energy and time have increased. What happens when, during your reading and writing activities on your laptop or PDA, you need access to a piece of information you have not previously saved on your device? In the past, you have been stuck waiting until you have returned home or to the office, so that you could retrieve the information from another storage device or gain access to an Internet connection. In more and more cases, this situation can be eliminated, thanks to an Internet connection you can make right on site using your laptop or PDA. In some cases, you can use Wi-Fi technology. When wireless network access is available, the reliability and speed can sometimes rival your home network! Wi-Fi is the fastest, most reliable form of wireless networking. Use this technology whenever it is available and affordable. Free wireless network access is often available in such places as recreation centers, public libraries and other local government buildings. Some private businesses, such as coffee shops and restaurants, also offer free wireless connections. Other wireless service may be available for a fee: either pay as you go or subscription based. Coffee shops like Starbuck’s and hotels like Hyatt Regency often provide fee based wireless Internet access. These connections tend to be fast and reliable, so it is simply a matter of whether or not you can afford to pay access fees of as much as $12 or more per hour! When no Wi-Fi connectivity is available or affordable, use your cell phone service!

Your cellular telephone can act as a device for connecting to the Internet. There are essentially two ways to set up this option. The first, and least recommended, is to simply use your cell phone as a modem to access your existing dial-up account. There are at least two serious drawbacks to going this route. First, the connection can be excruciatingly slow and unreliable, requiring several attempts to establish the link only to be dropped at the most inopportune times. Second, this option can be expensive! When using your cell phone as a dial-up modem, your cellular provider considers this to be a regular telephone call, billing you accordingly. Establishing and reestablishing multiple slow connections will use up cellular minutes in a hurry. The calls count against your plan’s bundled minutes and any usage over your plan costs a not so small fortune! The second and recommended way to connect to the Internet through your cell phone is to purchase and use your provider’s data communications plan. While some plans charge you for the bandwidth used, others, such as T-Mobile Internet, charge a flat monthly rate for unlimited service. Once connected, using your cell phone as an Internet connection device will feel very much like using an old fashion dial-up modem. The reason is due to the low bandwidth provided by T-Mobile Internet and many other similar companies. Real world connection speeds for these services average around 40 Kbps, very much in line with a “56K” modem. Though using your cellular telephone for Internet access isn’t snappy by any stretch of the imagination, it sure beats having no connectivity at all.

By far, the most difficult aspect of my adventures setting up an anytime, anywhere Internet communications system has centered around the implementation of T-Mobile Internet service through my cell phone. It took three months to get it working! Sadly, despite a total of more than 20 telephone calls, T-Mobile was unable to help me, deciding I needed a replacement phone! Ultimately, thanks to some new information provided by one of my colleagues just two days ago, I finally got this outstanding piece of the portable communications puzzle pressed into place! Though slow, the connectivity is quite reliable. Each time I direct my PAC Mate to establish a connection to the service, I am connected and ready to play. In most cases, I can even leave my cell phone in my pocket with its keypad locked while working online. On Wednesday afternoon, I was using MSN Messenger to communicate with a couple of friends while riding in a Dial-A-Ride van to the doctor’s office, waiting to be seen and riding home. On Thursday morning, Karen and I were instant messaging; she was at home while I was riding the bus to the office! At the moment, it seems that instant messaging and basic web browsing are the only functions I can reliably perform. Though the cellular connection is rather slow, an even more significant obstacle revolves around limitations in the Pocket Internet Explorer used on the PAC Mate. Though I was easily able to browse such sites as ACB Radio, AFB and Freedom Scientific, I was unable to successfully create a post to Blind Access Journal using Blogger or retrieve my e-mail via several web-based mail sites. I wasn’t even able to retrieve mail using Pocket Outlook, but the reason for that may be my use of the more interactive, bandwidth intensive IMAP protocol instead of POP3, which is more suited for low bandwidth situations. Despite these challenges, the software on the PAC Mate will improve, configuration will get easier, EVDO and other higher speed cellular data communications technologies will soon be deployed by providers and use of the Internet through a cell phone or similar device will get faster and become a pleasant portable Internet access option.

Have we achieved the ultimate dream of seemless anytime, anywhere global communications? Definitely not! Large portions of the world remain outside the scope of the technological advances of the Internet, or suffer from minimal connectivity for a number of economic, political or social reasons.
But, we are making significant progress every day. If you are located in a large metropolitan area of a modern Western nation, your chances of obtaining reliable mobile and portable Internet access on demand are quite high. This trend of increased global communications is great for blind and sighted technology users alike, though the benefits for those of us whom happen to be blind are fantastic! Imagine the creation of an online assistance service for the blind. A digital camera and cell phone could be used to gain remote sighted assistance to access some print on a piece of paper, read a sign or identify the color of an object in the environment. Accessible GPS solutions could be combined with remote assistance to create a pedestrian mobility system similar to the satellite services like OnStar enjoyed by some sighted drivers today. Future artificial intelligence based systems could be devised and implemented to assist the blind to perform a wide variety of tasks outside the home, office or other fixed location, perhaps, even automated driving! While a portable device lacks sufficient processing power to run the programming required for advanced artificial intelligence, the device could be linked to a cluster of remote computers that certainly do possess such processing ability! Data communications technology is in a constant state of advancement! It can bring incredible benefits to the blind, so long as we are ever vigilant, making sure our accessibility needs are granted the consideration they deserve. Watch this space and stay tuned for more on accessible telecommunications technology, including a tutorial covering the configuration of T-Mobile Internet service on the Nokia 3650 cell phone.

The direct link to Blind Access Journal has recently changed. All old links now point to a version of the journal that is no longer being updated. Please update all your browser bookmarks and other links to Blind Access Journal right away to stay current with all the latest news and commentary on accessibility. The journal’s RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/blindaccessjournal has already been corrected; please use only this RSS 2.0 feed in your aggregator, reader or podcast receiver. Thank you for your attention. Please post a comment right away or call the comment line at 206-350-6925 to report any unforeseen issues.

The OcuSource online blindness technology expo starts tonight, June 8 at 7:15 PM Central Daylight Time, which is 02:15 GMT. This event is similar to such well known conferences as Closing The Gap and CSUN, except that all activities will be conducted over the Internet. Make the OcuSource Expo a part of your online life over the next three days: June 8, 9 and 10. See you there!