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Happy B-Day ADA!

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:44:07 +0000

Hi everyone! I'm typing this entry using Non-Visual Desktop Access Version 0.6P. The letter P in this case indicates a Preview, which is essentially a trial version. I'm very pleased to report great success with this version thus far. It is set up a little bit differently from previous versions of NVDA, but I like it nevertheless and it's still totally free! I highly recommend it for those screen reader users on a tight budget, or for those who simply want to try out a high-quality screen reader just to see what this technology is all about. Having said that I'd like to talk a bit about the ADA. Today is the 18th birthday of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and celebrations are no doubt taking place around the world. However, I'm not really celebrating. While it is true that there has been change in a few areas, we still have a ways to go. There are still people out there with a very paternalistic attitude towards those of us with special needs, and one cannot forget the narrowing of various court decisions.

Another Lawsuit in the Blindness Community

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:17:41 +0000

Hi folks. As I was doing some web surfing today I came across a rather disturbing post on the GW Micro blog. Apparently Freedom Scientific is very unhappy with the release of Window-Eyes version 7.0. Specifically FS is unhappy because the scripting feature in Window-Eyes 7.0 outperforms that of JAWS. In an attempt to be fair, I have used both these screen readers and they have their strengths and weaknesses. This is evidently the first time an adaptive technology company has sued one of its competitors over something as simple as a feature contained in its screen reader. Readers can get more information on this lawsuit by visiting GW Micro's blog at http://wwww.gwmicro.com/blog, and at http://www.blindaccessjournal.com . I recall not too long ago when Freedom sued Serotek--makers of the System Access line of products--for copyright violations by way of the Freedom Box Network. This has since been renamed the System Access Mobile Network. What I find interesting here is that

Still Among the Living

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:24:58 +0000

Hello everyone. Once again I am slightly behind on posting, but this time I have a legit excuse. I downloaded and installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox so that I could try out Webvisum. Well, I was able to obtain the latest version of Firefox without any problems, but the same cannot be said for Webvisum. I found the download link okay and followed the instructions, but for whatever reason the confirmation code in the email I was sent didn't work. So I filled out the form on www.webvisum.com and submitted it and a representative did email me back, but he basically told me what I already knew, i.e., to install the add-on and then wait for a confirmation email and follow the steps from there. Needless to say I'm a bit befuddled by this and I'm going to follow up in due course. Other than that things have been going pretty well on my end. I'm getting another new neighbor next week. Actually CIF has done sort of a cool thing. The young man who had been living across the hall from me has moved into his own condo in one of the other CIF facilities, and someone from another one is going to move into his apartment. Actually she's not new to me. I've known her for a little while and she's great. We here at Center for Independent Futures really roll out the red carpet when it comes to new staff or new clients or whatever, and this is no exception. I think I speak for all of us when I say she'll be welcomed with arms wide open--if that hasn't happened already. The third recent event of significance was my cousin's wedding and it was a lot of fun. My dad had a birthday the next day and we threw a big brunch party. That was great fun and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself. That's it from yours truly for this entry. Like I mentioned at the beginning I had a problem with Webvisum--the Firefox extension which boasts some great features--but my goal for the next entry is to have it successfully running on my system. I do believe the next version of Non-Visual Desktop Access was just released so I'm hoping to try that out as well. Stay tuned!

Can Anyone Spell Mass Outbreak?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:10:17 +0000

Hello everyone. I'd like to start off this entry by giving an update on the salmonella outbreak which appeared at first to only be linked to certain types of raw tomatoes. Sources now report that this outbreak has greatly expanded, and now we're being told tomatoes aren't the only likely culprit. This is beginning to get rather interesting. At least 100 residents of Illinois have been sickened, and the outbreak has expanded its territory. What I find interesting here is the number of ill people seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds, yet to this day nobody seems to have a clear-cut answer as to where this outbreak originated. That's right, not even the "experts" know much. The lawyers working on behalf of all the victims of this mass outbreak must really have their hands full! I'm no food-safety expert nor will I ever claim to be one, but I think something as large as this clearly demonstrates the need for better management within the food supply system. The other veggies implicated here are serrano and jalapeno peppers, cilantro and bulb onions and scallions. I personally don't care for any of these, so I don't think the likelihood of me falling ill is very good. But our government needs to step up their efforts in tracking down these kinds of things! Other than this mass outbreak I haven't been doing much. A cousin of mine is due to get married next weekend and I'm going to Indianapolis for the wedding. I've only been to Indy a couple of times, and both were for the Indy500. Those of you into NASCAR racing but haven't been there, this is a must-see event. At one point I even got my hands on one of the racecars. I attended the Indy500 both times with people from a previous job at a nonprofit organization. One of our board members was actually the driver of one of the racecars. In addition, I got to attend a few drag races where another of our board members was a team owner.

Webvisum

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:39:53 +0000

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. In this entry I'd like to talk about a very exciting technological development which I just recently found out about. This only applies to the Mozilla Firefox web browser. There is now an extension to that browser that purports to solve those pesky CAPTCHA schemes, among other things. The extension is appropriately named Webvisum. I've not tried out Webvisum yet, and I don't even have Firefox. But I'm quite curious about the "CAPTCHA-solver" and hope I can get my hands on a copy of this extension very soon. I had Firefox on a previous computer and it worked great, and I hear support for Windows Vista is excellent. The website for this new Firefox extension is http://www.webvisum.com. For those of you language buffs out there, "visum" is Latin for "vision." This truly does appear to be a "web vision" for the future.

Death in the Family

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:36:55 +0000

Hi everyone. I have a death to report today. I read this afternoon on http://www.serotek.com about the death a few weeks ago of Clarence Whaley. Clarence worked at GW Micro, makers of the Window-Eyes screen reader. Although I never got to meet Mr. Whaley, I have heard a few of his training sessions and he always did a wonderful job. There is an obituary for him, and it can be accessed over on GW Micro's blog by going to http://www.gwmicro.com and choosing the link that says "Blog." As of this writing I am unsure of the cause of Clarence Whaley's death. Speaking of GW Micro's blog and on a more positive note, they have a great alternative to CAPTCHA. I've seen it on a couple other websites, though there is a slight difference which I will get to momentarily. When posting a comment on GW Micro's blog, a rather simple question is asked and only those very familiar with GW Micro and their products will know the answer. Once this question is answered correctly, posters may click on the Submit button and their comments will be allowed onto the blog. I actually wrote a comment and got the answer wrong on purpose just to see what would happen, and I was taken to the correct answer. So I hit my browser's back button and was able to correct my answer and submit my comment. The difference between this text-based CAPTCHA and others I've seen is that this one asks the same question for every visit and for every visitor. There is also a link which posters may click on to find out why that question is there. I'm not technically savvy enough to know all the ins and outs of CAPTCHA, but these text-based solutions seem to work quite well and I think the spammers are kept out too. I look forward to a day when other website owners who lock us out due to our visual and hearing impairments will implement this kind of an alternative. Yes Blog Carnival--this includes you too!

Summertime Fun!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:54:40 +0000

Hey everyone. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those to whom it applies, a very happy summer. I don't know about anyone else, but I have already started gearing up for the summertime. In fact more than that. I've already been to several cookouts, one of my favorite pastimes. There are more to come. I've also got both my window air-conditioners in. They're currently off but both work just fine. My tutor and I brought up the unit I had downstairs, and the previous tenant who lived up here was kind enough to leave behind her unit. That one does not have Braille on it or any accessible way to set the temperature, but I don't mind because the unit is rather small anyway and I don't think it has that many settings. I do have an additional ceiling fan in my bedroom too. However, my tutor and I made Braille labels for the bigger unit and I use them when I set the temperature. Another of my hobbies as of late has been travel, as I'm sure it is with many of you. There are two travel-related websites which I only recently found out about and they both come highly recommended. The first of these websites is http://www.EmergingHorizons.com. Emerging Horizons is a company which specializes in "barrier-free" travel, i.e., travel with accessibility in mind. This site discusses things such as finding an accessible hotel room while on vacation and what specifically to ask for when inquiring about these rooms. I did email the website author to ask about people with a visual impairment sitting in exit rows on airplanes and she wrote me back within about half an hour. Apparently exit-row seating was a hot topic at one time with the National Federation of the Blind. I kid you not, these lunatics actually were and no doubt still are in favor of blind people sitting in exit rows. That's not what the website author told me though and I wasn't at all surprised by her response to my inquiry. The FAA prohibits this and I think they have very good reasoning for doing so. I wouldn't want to sit in an exit row, simply because I would be unable to see the proper lighting in order to assist in the evacuation process during an aircraft emergency. But if those in the Federation really feel the need to try and help out then that's all cool with me. The problem in all this, as with most "NFB logic," is that it just simply is unsafe. That's all there is too it--it would be unsafe for someone who can't make out the proper lighting to assist in an emergency situation. But if some people want to endanger their own lives I guess that's okay with me. Or maybe it isn't. Anyway on with my post. The other website is http://www.SleepingInAirports.com. I've not done this myself and I haven't really heard of any friends or family doing it, but the reviews presented on this website are a must-read. They highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly of airport sleeping. The site also contains photos and other cool stuff. I obviously cannot see the photos, but a lot of them appear to have good descriptions. I must warn readers though, there is a lot of adult language throughout www.SleepingInAirports.com, so if you're easily offended by that type of thing be careful. Another piece of advice from yours truly: There are a few descriptions of violent acts, so please use caution if and when visiting this site with young children. All in all though I think you will enjoy your visit.

Thoughts on Disability Legislation

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:12:26 +0000

Hi everyone. As many of you out there are probably aware, the Bush administration was expected today to announce sweeping changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act. I say "expected" because I don't know if they actually did this or not. Let me give a little primer about the ADA for those of you unaware of its existence. Hopefully that's very few of you, if any at all. But anyway, the ADA--the Americans with Disabilities Act--was passed on July 26 of 1990 to give those of us with disabilities more rights. No it is not the American Disabilities Act, although I have at times heard and seen it called that. Today's supposed changes to the ADA are, in my opinion, long overdue and will hopefully go into effect very soon. I unfortunately don't know all the specifics of these changes, but one can only hope that they include stiffer penalties for lawbreakers. Here's hoping the new President and his or her administration will do better than has been seen in the past. One other thing that needs to happen is that the National Federation of the Blind needs a new president. Marc Maurer has held that position for over 20 years and I'm not kidding! Admittedly the National Federation of the Blind has done some good things, but only some. They are just overly sensitive about their blindness, and they don't seem willing or perhaps able to get over themselves. This has unfortunately lead to harmful actions.

Friday the Thirteenth Musings

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:13:22 +0000

Hello everybody. It is Friday the thirteenth here in the great United States and in most other parts of the world. I've no doubt several of you are superstitious. I am kind of superstitious. As a matter of fact I have my back door opened to let in a bit of fresh air, although it is rather hot out today. There is a door leading out back from a rather creepy hallway that connects me and a neighbor. I have purposely opened that door to create a haunting effect, as the door is rather creaky. I've not been up to much lately, except for work at CIF and an art activity last night which took place downstairs. I do however, want to alert readers who may not have been keeping up with the news within the past week or so, to the salmonella outbreak which has been linked to raw tomatoes. To the best of my knowledge all suspect tomatoes and tomato products have been pulled from store shelves and restaurant menus, and wherever else this might apply. I do, however, want to caution readers. Don't eat anything that sounds, looks and/or smells suspicious. For more on this, a neighbor of mine recommends going to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's online presence at http://www.cdc.gov. I attempted to go there a couple nights ago but had trouble locating the information, so I recommend an additional website. http://www.billmarler.com is the website for a law firm in the Seattle area which deals extensively with cases of food poisoning. Salmonella isn't the only type of food poisoning detailed on the firm's website though. This website happens to be more accessible than www.cdc.gov . I don't care much for raw tomatoes anyway, and I therefore don't tend to keep any in my apartment and haven't gotten sick. But at least 27 people here in Illinois have gotten sick to date, according to the law firm. This outbreak has affected several other states as well, and there may or may not be more reported illnesses as time goes by.

Bullying in Florida Against Alex Barton

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:37:28 +0000

Hi everyone. I thought I'd turn my attention today to an incident which took place a few weeks ago in Florida. This incident has already attracted a lot of attention in the blogosphere, so I thought why not write about it on my blog. A five-year-old boy in Port St. Lucy was incorrectly voted out of class. This young boy--who was in the process of being evaluated for a form of autism--was placed in a kindergarten class. His teacher, Ms. Wendy Portillo, had him go stand in the center of class and had the other students each say what they did not like about him. Alex was then voted out of class, 14-2. As with most bloggers who covered this story, I am horrified by it. This "teacher" needs to be dealt with and severely punished. If Alex had been disruptive in class to the point that noone could tolerate it anymore, then yes, he should've probably been taken out of class. But, he was clearly not being disruptive on purpose. Although I do not have autism, I know several people who do have it and purposeful disruption is not one of their characteristics. Some of the material I read stated that Alex hasn't been sleeping well at night, if at all. He and/or his mom will no doubt need counseling because of what happened. Here again, indifference to people with disabilities has reared its ugly head in a big way. One can't help but wonder what would've happened if Alex and his classmates had made their teacher stand in silence while they berated her for this and that.

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:02:26 +0000

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:32:58 +0000