JFActivist

Kindle Moves Toward Greater Accessibility

From the Associated Press (12/7/09):

Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font
Features will make e-reader more accessible to blind, vision impaired

SEATTLE - Amazon.com Inc. will add two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users.

Monday's announcement comes a month after Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., and the University of Wisconsin-Madison said they would not consider widely deploying the device as an alternative to paper textbooks until Amazon makes it easier for blind students to use. Both universities bought some Kindles to test this fall.

The Kindle has a read-aloud feature that could be a boon to blind students and those with other disabilities including dyslexia, but turning it on requires navigating through screens of text menus.

Amazon said Monday it is working on audible menus, which would let the Kindle speak menu options out loud. It's also working on an extra-large font for people with impaired vision. The additions should reach the Kindle next summer, Amazon said...

>>> For the Whole Article

Google Launches Automated YouTube Captioning; AAPD Applauds

     

Ken Harrenstein, a deaf engineer who helped develop the automatic captioning system, announces the launch (RPanoff)

AAPD Applauds Launch of Google YouTube Captioning System

On Thursday, November 19, AAPD Board Member Cheryl Sensenbrenner and staffers Jenifer Simpson, Unique Webster, Peter Viele and Rebecca Panoff attended the launch of Google's YouTube automated captioning system. This system uses some voice recognition technology, some automated time code programming code and other intelligent features that will allow YouTube video creators to include captions easily. While the technology inserts captions only in English-language speech, Google has added an automatic translation system for 51 languages. This will allow millions of YouTube videos to become available to people who do not speak English but could use the captioning technology to read subtitles in their native language. The captioning technology also allows search of the text, enabling research.

“This is a huge step forward for accessibility,” said Jenifer Simpson, “We applaud industry leadership such as this. We look to other companies to be as innovative in making their products and services accessible to people with disabilities.”

Moderated by Vint Cerf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf) -- often referred to as “the father of the Internet,“ -- who noted that "videos are a medium of political expression", members of Google's captioning accessibility team presented demonstrations of the system to an appreciative audience. Ken Harrenstein, a deaf engineer who helped develop the automatic captioning system, said the technology had never been applied on such a large scale.  “This is something that I have dreamt of for many years,” said Harrenstein, “To see it happen is amazing.”  Not yet available to everyone, Google plans to gradually expand the number of YouTube channels that work with the automatic captioning technology, starting with educational users such as Stanford, MIT, Yale, Duke, Columbia, PBS and National Geographic.

The event was attended by over a hundred people, including disability leaders from American Council of the Blind, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Hearing Loss Association of America, Communication Services for the Deaf, National Captioning Institute, Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing, and National Council on Independent Living, among others.

Google blog site about launch of the system at http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/11/automatic-captions-on-youtube.html  includes signed and captioned video.

 

Video Relay Abusers Indicted

From Jenifer Simpson (AAPD):

Abuse of Telecommunications Relay Services Fund: Advocates Applaud Fed Crackdown

The US Department of Justice indicted abusers of the telecommunications relay services fund November 19, 2009 and has advocates applauding enforcement of disability laws.  The DOJ charged twenty-six people with engaging in a scheme to steal more than $50 million from the Video Relay Service (VRS) program.  VRS is one form of relay service that allows people with hearing disabilities who are sign language users to make phone calls through interpreters and using web cameras, at no cost to the user. The VRS program reimburses companies that provide this service, and is funded by fees assessed by telecommunications providers to telephone customers. The FCC, the US Postal Service and the FBI were all involved in this enforcement effort. Users of VRS need this form of accessibility to make phone calls! The bad apples have to go!

 

DOJ press release

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/November/09-crm-1258.html

 

FCC release

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-294764A1.doc

 

Legal Times

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/justice_department/

 

BBC-UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seehear/2009/11/us_video_relay_services_defrau.html

 

CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/eveningnews/main5713910.shtml

 

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/19/deaf.fraud.indictments/index.html

 

Deafnet news

http://www.deafhh.net/wp/2009/11/19/twenty-six-charged-in-nationwide-scheme-to-defraud-the-fcc%E2%80%99s-video-relay-service-program-arrests-made-in-nine-states/ “

 

TERPlink blog

http://www.terplink.com/profiles/blogs/my-reply-to-the-cbs-article

 

Chinese Delegation Meets with AAPD

Members of the China Disabled Persons' Federation Ask AAPD Staff about organizing the disability community.

From Jenifer Simpson (11/20/09):

AAPD Meets With Delegates from Chinese Disability Group

By Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs AAPD

On November 19, AAPD staff met with a 21-member delegation from the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), who wanted to learn about AAPD activities. According to their website, CDPF is a unified organization for people of disabilities in China that promotes disabilities rights and issues and works to ensure equal social and economic status.  The delegation specifically wanted information on how we organize our community, about our technology policy initiative, our fundraising efforts, and our leadership development activities.  Experts estimate that the population of people with disabilities in China exceeds 60 million people.

 

Among the China Disabled Persons’ Federation were Mr. Zhang Dong Mei, Director, Department of Education and Employment, Division of Eradication of Poverty, Ms. Yu Xinyan, Deputy Director General, Department of Human Resources, and Mr. Yu Zejun, Vice Editor-in-Chief, China Braille Press. Most of the delegates were from Beijing and presented AAPD with gifts; these included pins from the Beijing 2008 Paralympics Games and ornaments “made by individuals with disabilities.”

 

More information on this federation at website http://www.cdpf.org.cn/english/

CDPF reports on services delivered to people with disabilities in China at

http://www.cdpf.org.cn/english/statistics/content/2008-04/10/content_84890.htm

College Students with Disabilities: AAPD Launches Summer 2010 Internship Application

(Please share with your networks)

The American Association of People with Disabilities is searching for college students with disabilities to apply for the:

 2010 AAPD Summer Internships in Washington, D.C.!

To apply, please visit http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship

(Application instructions also attached in Microsoft Word format.)

 

Each year, AAPD coordinates two summer internship programs for college students with disabilities wanting to spend a summer working in Washington, DC.  AAPD summer interns receive a living stipend, accessible housing, and travel to and from Washington, DC.  Currently-enrolled undergraduate college students with any type of disability pursuing any type of undergraduate degree are encouraged to apply. 

Hosted by AAPD and sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, the AAPD-MEAF Congressional Internship Program provides students interested in government, politics, law, or leadership the unique opportunity to intern on Capitol Hill for members of Congress.  Previous AAPD-MEAF Congressional intern placements have included:

• Senator Barak Obama (D-IL)
• Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY)
• Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
• Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)

Hosted by AAPD and sponsored by Microsoft, the AAPD-Microsoft Federal IT Internship Program provides students pursuing careers in Information Technology the unique opportunity to intern in the IT divisions of federal agencies.  Previous IT placements have included:

• US Coast Guard
• Department of Homeland Security
• US Patent and Trade Office
• National Science Foundation
• US Department of Transportation
• Transportation Security Administration
• Federal Aviation Administration

To apply for the AAPD Summer Internship programs, please visit http://www.aapd.com/AAPDInternship.  For additional information or for questions, please contact the AAPD program staff at internship@aapd.com.  (Application instructions attached in Microsoft Word format.)

 

Schools Back Blind in Fight for Kindle

From the Washington Post (11/11/09):

Schools Shun Kindle, Saying Blind Can't Use It
By RACHEL METZ

SAN FRANCISCO -- Amazon's Kindle can read books aloud, but if you're blind it can be difficult to turn that function on without help. Now two universities say they will shun the device until Amazon changes the setup.

The National Federation of the Blind planned to announce Wednesday that the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University won't consider big rollouts of the electronic reading device unless Amazon makes it more accessible to visually impaired students.

Both schools have some Kindles that they bought for students to try this fall, but now they say they won't look into buying more unless Amazon makes changes to the device.

"These universities are saying, `Our policy is nondiscrimination, so we're not going to adopt a technology we know for sure discriminates against blind students,'" said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation for the Blind...

>>> For the Full Article

Self-Advocate Speaks on Technology Access and Barriers

By AAPD's Jenifer Simpson (10/20/09)

SABE’s Elizabeth Weintraub Speaks on Technology before FCC

At a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Workshop on October 20 that focused on broadband access for people with disabilities, Elizabeth Weintraub, former Vice President of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), spoke on employment and outreach issues. Her panel, entitled “Accessibility and Affordability Barriers to Broadband and Internet use Faced by People with Disabilities,” also included representatives from the American Council of the Blind, National Association of the Deaf, American Association of Deaf-Blind, Spinal Cord Advocates, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone Inc, and Inclusive Technologies. The purpose of the FCC workshop was to gather more information for development of the National Broadband Plan, due to the U.S. Congress in February 2009.  Ms. Weintraub’s statement follows:

“Thank you for inviting me to speak. My name is Elizabeth Weintraub and I’m from Maryland. I work at the Council on Quality & Leadership part time and also I consult for the National Children’s Center in Washington, DC. At both of these organizations, I work to help people with disabilities get good quality of life.  I work from home.

I have been using a computer since the mid nineties, and yes sometimes I hit the wrong key by mistake, however if I was told by people I needed to stop using a computer, just because of my disabilities, that would not be fair at all! How would I keep up with the world?   The Internet is essential to knowing what is going on. If technology wasn't accessible to people with disabilities, then it might be impossible for people to lead a life that they would like.

At the Council on Quality & Leadership, all of my colleagues live everywhere in the country, and if I couldn't email, or fax them, or cut & paste in documents & communicate with then, then I would probably get fired.  I wouldn't get fired because of discrimination, but because the technology is inaccessible.  The way my work is set up is such that if I couldn't use technology, I wouldn't be useful. That's why it's important that everyone, including people with disabilities should be trained in using technology. Not being trained in technology and how to use it is a big barrier for people with disabilities.

Also, not having technical supports from the companies that provide Internet and computers and technology is a problem. We need technical supports so we don’t get stuck. Another barrier is the cost of Internet access.  Not everyone can afford it and if you are in a rural area, the cost is often more. We don’t earn as much as people without disabilities so this is a barrier.

The FCC should do more outreach to people and not just through electronic means since not everyone has computers and internet access. We need more public meetings in lots of cities and towns that are advertised a lot longer ahead of time. Like a month in advance. It takes time for us to find out about FCC meetings. We learn about things like this from disability groups at the national and state and local level. And it takes time for us to arrange car or bus rides. We also often have to arrange childcare. Some of us need to arrange for personal assistants if we need them.

I would like to see the Internet available just about anywhere in the country. So all of us have a chance to find the information, resources, and materials. There is a lot of information available that helps us get jobs and do our jobs. Also for when we take care of our families. I would like to see the Internet easy to use. Cheaper to us, such as in every home. Dial up might be cheaper(?) than DSL, but it means that you can't be on the phone at the same time, and also when I had dial up, I would get frustrated because there were times that it wouldn't connect, and I would be concerned whether it was me or the technology that was the problem

Thank you. ”

After her statement, FCC staff inquired of Ms. Weintraub about the number of Americans with intellectual disabilities and she stated “8-10 million, according to the President’s Committee on Intellectual Disabilities.”

 

Item provided by Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) For more information on the FCC boadband national plan development and people with disabiliteis, send Email to jsimpson@aapd.com

Electric Cars Threaten Blind

From the NY Times (10/13/09):

Hybrid Cars May Include Fake Vroom for Safety
By Jim Motavalli

For decades, automakers have been on a quest to make cars quieter: an auto that purrs, and glides almost silently in traffic.

They have finally succeeded. Plug-in hybrid and electric cars, it turns out, not only reduce air pollution, they cut noise pollution as well with their whisper-quiet motors. But that has created a different problem. They aren’t noisy enough.

So safety experts, worried that hybrids pose a threat if pedestrians, children and others can’t hear them approaching, want automakers to supply some digitally enhanced vroom. Indeed, just as cellphones have ring tones, “car tones” may not be far behind — an option for owners of electric vehicles to choose the sound their cars emit...

...The notion that battery E.V.’s and plug-in hybrids might be too quiet has gained backing in Congress, among federal regulators and on the Internet. The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, introduced early this year, would require a federal safety standard to protect pedestrians from ultra-quiet cars...

...A study published last year by the University of California, Riverside and financed by the National Federation of the Blind evaluated the effect of sounds emitted by hybrid and internal-combustion cars traveling at 5 miles per hour.

People listening in a lab could correctly detect a gas-powered car’s approach when it was 28 feet away, but could not hear the arrival of a hybrid operating in silent battery mode until it was only seven feet away...

>>> For the Full Article

CA: Survey on Speech-to-Speech Relay

From Jenifer Simpson (10/14/09):

CA Relay Service Survey on Speech-To-Speech Relay Service
The Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program, administrator of the Speech to Speech (STS) Relay Service in California, is conducting a survey. Please help the California Relay Service evaluate speech-to-speech relay service.  Whether you have a speech disability or not or have tried or never tried to use the Speech-to-Speech (STS) Relay Service, they would like your feedback.

Please participate in the online survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=J3jLMkiyPG7LGjt3Mwk5lw_3d_3d!

For more information or assistance, please call our toll free number: 1-866-409-0178 or Email the survey creator at crsinfo@ddtp.org

If you know any other individuals, groups or organizations that would like to receive information about Speech to Speech or this survey, please feel free to pass on this message or let us know how we can reach them.

AAPD Meets with Disability Representatives from Armenia

AAPD Meets with Disability Representatives from Armenia

Through a meeting sponsored by the League of Women Voters, AAPD met with Kamo Davtyan, Executive Director of Syunik Disabled People’s Support Coalition, “Voghji,” from the city of Kapan, the capital of Syunik province in southern Armenia. Mr. Davtyan was accompanied by another Voghji member, Ms. Meline Astsatryan, and several other people representing other non-profit organizations who are touring the U.S. to learn more about effective coalition-building. The Voghji disability coalition’s goals are to support the rights of people with disabilities, to facilitate their integration into society, to create employment opportunities and to propose and support legislative initiatives that support people with disabilities. Mr. Davtyan noted that there are about 600,000 people with disabilities in Armenia, or 20% of Armenia’s 3 million population.

Davtyan, who is disabled, leads the organization which currently has two paid employees and 20 unpaid volunteers and is entirely funded by the business community. One recent achievement is a decree enacted by the mayor that states "no new construction will be approved in Kapan if it does not include plans for ramps for the disabled." The challenge for Davtyan's group is to ensure that this decree is properly enforced. Another plan is to refurbish an old house as a center for people with disabilities, or one stop shop for services, information, and other activities. Other plans include obtaining a car to travel from village to village and acquiring technical support on issues relating to legislation and best practices. There is also a legislative effort underway to have a governmental decree issued for disability civil rights.

Information on Armenia at http://www.lwv.org/Content/ContentGroups/PressReleases/2008/ArmeniainBrief.pdf

More on Kapan, Armenia, home to disability coalition Voghji, at http://travel.mapsofworld.com/armenia/tourist-destinations-in-armenia/kapan-armenia.html

More on the League of Women Voters coalition-building activity in Armenia at http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=13947

Story  by  Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs & Technology Initiatives, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Washington, DC USA  Email JSimpson@aapd.com