It’s the sentence, “I need that.”

A dictionary has many definitions for the word need. Until October, when I decided to take up a challenge by a friend to not use any Internet for a whole month, I didn’t really understand what I needed or even why I needed it.

In September 2014, the sun speckled the ground with bursts of bright light even though the weather was cold in Chicago. I was sitting in a park with an engineer friend of mine, stealing his fries as we talked about the internship that I applied for but didn’t make. The topic nestled into the internship miss until, suddenly, he blurted out an exclamation of “oh my god, Robbie, you have GOT to read this!”

And so I did, or rather, listened, having limited vision and everything. It was an article that said that killing net neutrality would help the disabled. Verizon was saying that, if the Internet were split into a fast lane and a slow lane, disabled people would have much better Internet. Naturally, the irony wasn’t lost on me. In most cases, no matter how politically correct people wanted me to be ever since I started saying it, a good portion of the disabled populace were very poor, so the idea Verizon had was just utter nonsense.

“That’s a complete fallacy!” I spluttered, shifting my weight so my good eye could stare at Marcus full on in the face. “That’s just plain wrong!”

“I know,” he agreed, but we ranted and raved for a bit, just to make sure our thoughts were out in the open. Suddenly, though, as I was stealing a fry, he commented, “I have an idea. Why don’t I give you a challenge, you know, like a dare?” I liked the prospect of a dare so I accepted his challenge before having the intellect to ask what it was.

“Why don’t you, as a disabled person, live without the Internet for one month, and this means using Internet in schools and in libraries and the like, don’t use the Internet at all for one month.”

And that’s how it began.

Now, my memoir details my journey of living offline. Through my words and reflections, readers will know what adapting to a new kind of world is like. I was soon swept up in a different world, a world that was inaccessible to me and a world that I had to learn how adapt to, on my own since I live in an apartment complex by myself. I really did learn the difference between needing something and wanting the convenience of something.

I assumed I was going to do the everyday things that people did, such as walk outside, even though it was starting to get cold in Chicago. I thought my entries were going to be filled with sentences outlining what I did, rather than what I’d think about and declarations and observations of people. I thought that I’d write more about what I did and why I did it, rather than my observations about the Internet-less life and how it changing everything from communication to education to human interaction.

In the memoir, many aspects of life are examined. Why? Because I had a lot more free time to share with myself. The memoir is a diary that’s intimate and allows for a glimpse into the human psyche before being connected to everyone.

Living offline changed me in many ways that I didn’t even see coming. For the first few days, I needed to get online, I wanted to look up something. I wanted to type in the commands and the search strings that would get me exactly what I wanted, how I wanted it, where I wanted it. Without that power, for a few days, I was utterly lost because I didn’t know how to cope after that power had been taken away.

Even though I felt as though I was going to back down on the first few days, I gave it a shot still, and kept on with the challenge.

The fact is, the Internet is a requirement, especially for the disabled. I experienced much frustration simply because I could no longer do something so basic, such as hooking up a landline phone because I couldn’t download the manual from the website. I had to rely on the sighted population more than I have ever needed to.

This is because there isn’t as much accessible information offline as there is on the Internet. On the Internet I can look up any news I want to look up or any manual, for that matter. Take news content: Writers are not filtered by space and advertising columns so they can pepper the Web page with in-depth reporting and I could read it all.

Mainstream offline media doesn’t tell you about all the news that’s happening or the kind of topics people want to know. The fact is, people want to know. On the radio and TV everything is delegated by space and time. When you have limited options to get information, information becomes a need, not a luxury. I had to cope with losing that by asking more questions from other people and relying on their answers. Sometimes, it was effective. Other times, it left me feeling as if I was being denied information simply because I didn’t use the Internet.

We live, however, in a world that needs the Internet. I learned that the hard way when I didn’t get hired for a job because I couldn’t use the Internet. It really has shocked me how it’s turned into an unclassified utility. Sure, apartment owners are saying it is a utility but not the government, not the people higher up. It should be. Why? Because I know what it’s like, as a disabled person, to live without the Internet for one month. A disabled life without Internet is not a completely independent world. The Internet breaks down barriers, even if we can’t see them.

Activate this link to sign up for a new account on Audible and get one free book.

Our recommended book for this episode of the podcast is Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs written by Yukari Iwatani Kane.

Listen to Lisa Salinger’s demo of setting up a new Audible account using System Access.

We thank Audible for sponsoring this episode of the SeroTalk Podcast.

Jamie, Ricky and Joe are back for another round of news stories in this week’s podcast. After the news, Buddy Brannan sits down with veteran journalist Art Schreiber to talk about his friendship with the Beatles, the current state of the news industry and his new book Out of Sight – Blind & Doing All Right.

Topics covered in this week’s podcast include:

Independence Day

And the audio version of this story is here.

Microsoft Had To Blindfold Me To See The Future

Cities Unlocked: Lighting up the world through sound – YouTube

: Braille printer leads $62m Intel injection for 16 startups

Listen to Buddy Brannan’s interview with Shubham Banerjee, on SeroTalk Podcast 188.

3 Tips for Teaching Young Children with a Visual Impairment How to Become Strong Readers

Braille and Large Print Menus Bring Dining with Dignity

Spread the word and the holiday cheer – @BraillePress has print/braille holiday cards on sale now.

Skype 6.22 JAWS scripts released, typing indicator fixes and over ten more things.

BBC iPlayer Now withAudio Description

Switching From iOS to Android

Eloquence v1.1.7 released

The first phone with Android 5.0 Lollipop is… the 2014 Moto X?!

Amazon Unveils Echo, a Speaker With a Siri-Like Voice Assistant

Office for iPhone Apps: 3 Things to Know

CBS brings a round-the-clock streaming news network to cord cutters

Shaking off Spotify is easy for Taylor Swift; for everyone else, it’s complicated

The top 20 catchiest songs of all time, according to science

Mailbag

From @blind_educator
Good MailBag, good MailBag, you’re back home. YOu were a good MailBag.

Hey there Ms. Enger, Mr. Pauls, and Mr. Steinkamp,

I return MailBag to you nice and clean. I brushed MailBag’s teeth, cleaned behind the ears, and got MailBag ready for the winter. We both had a wonderful time, MailBag tried sharing some Sero Tek secrets, but told MailBag it wasn’t a good thing giving out secrets when someone is trusting MailBag to keep them. We talked about what was good and bad, and MailBag seems to understand. I have no idea why Ms. Enger is the only person that MailBag behaves somewhat. A lot better then Mr. Steinkamp or Mr. Pauls. But I guess MailBag is star stricken because of the Rock Star from EOLShow.

By the way, Mr. Steinkamp if there are some charges on your credit card. MailBag share your card with me. We wanted to see if ApplePay is accessible. So I have it as part of my ApplePay. I have Triple Click Home folks and That Android Show peeps coming over for lunch. Between MailBag and myself, we’re going to see if they can start playing nice and stop the bashing between the 2 shows. I promise not to go over $1,000. Unless MailBag gets really hungry. Please, please, do not over feed MailBag over the holidays, and get all that is on MailBag’s Christmas list. Or wise, MailBag will start acting up again.

Have a good one. Awesome show, keep it up. Really enjoy the trio.

Blog comment from Steven Whiteker:

Thanks again for a wonderful podcast! I agree that when you have a guide dog or a service dog, you need to comply with all laws and also be a responsible person

From Pam Francis:

Hi folks,
As a young child, I was very fortunate to have had a sight-saving teacher take an interest in me & my ability to read as a student of the Missouri school for the blind.
At the time, my vision was considerably less than it is now; yet no one knew the course it would take. Therefore I was taught both braille & print simultaneously. Though I spent most of my school day in a braille atmosphere, I had minimally an hour a day with a sight-saving class working with the print alphabet. I could not read large print at the time. My teacher took a purple crayon to copy stories on to the cream colored paper we had with light green lines.. I was to read that story & come back the next morning explaining what I had read.
I did not realize how valuable that resource would be until I was mainstreamed in the middle of my 4th grade year through the end of my 7th grade year.
I basically did double homework. I learned to type & spell without braille contractions in order to turn my work in to my sighted teachers while making a copy for myself in braille in order to follow along with the class.
My Father spent time in Federal prison. While incarcerated, he took it upon himself to learn braille in order to communicate with me. He initially learned on a slate & stylus. More than once I had to translate many backwards lines of braille in his letters. He finally got a lavender braille writer. We all know how crappy they were.He ultimately got pretty good. He took it upon himself to teach other inmates as a resource they could use on the outside to help break down the communication barriers between the blind & sighted community.

I also had an experience with a pre-school class attempting to explain braille.
I wrote the print letter on a chalkboard with its braille counterpart underneath, explaining how the dots worked. We had a project of baking heart-shaped cookies; as it was near Valentine’s day. As a means for the kids to find their cooky, we used small cinnamon beads to form their names in braille in the cooky dough. They had to pick out their cooky with their names written in braille.
Pam Francis

Roundabout

Why Are Elections on Tuesdays?

Richard Bernstein to Become First Blind State Supreme Court Justice

A great scene from the West Wing for election day, “Do you know if I have to be preregistered or something?”

Titles
Cranky Cortana
Low-vision Ranch
Joe Steinkamp for President
Audible book: The Haunted Empire
Out of sight: Blind but doing all right
blindart@samobile.net
artschreiber.com

The new iPhones are out and Rodney has the biggest one there is with the 6 Plus. We get an idea of how much he likes it, there is some talk about viewing iOS8 and another timely App Review by Joe. Check in with the team to see if the Pop Tart, or Strudel, sized phone is the way to go if you are a low vision iPhone user. And remember, if you want even more Apple coverage from SPN, check out our sister show “Triple-click Home”.

App Review: Doctor Who Legacy

The new 8th series of Doctor Who is in full swing, Joe adores match 3 games and we needed an app review for this month. So, a perfect storm of events, brings Joe out of the TARDIS to discuss Doctor Who Legacy. It’s a match 3 game with so much depth and complexity that joe notes it will be hard to find other games to replace it on his iPad and Android tablet. The game features special attacks, you defeat famous monsters from the Doctor Who universe and you can pick up that green dot and move it over to be with its friends. Rather than only being able to move a dot in four directions one space over. This freedom of movement is the best part about the game in Joe’s opinion. Its free, however, there are some nice In App purchases for those who want to move through the game faster. The game has over 50 hours of gameplay with more content being added constantly. Just be sure to visit the settings section and change the way the dots are displayed if you find that the default dots are hard to see.

Mailbag:

Byron notes that the High Contrast Mailable is well behaved when looking at it versus its friends on other SPN shows. And that could be due to a full bag of mail for us to talk about. Like these two emails from John.

“Greetings,

This is my first time listening to High Contrast, and I felt compelled to comment.

My story goes back to the dark ages when I was a teenager. I’ll try to be brief. As for my low vision, I have about 20/400 vision with nystagmus.

I had spent 10 years at a school for the blind before going to a public high school my last couple years. At the school for the blind I didn’t learn mobility skills until my last year there. I was given a folding cane, which I carried stuffed in my jeans pocket through my last two years at public school. I always figured I’d pull it out in unfamiliar territory, but I never had the guts to do it because I didn’t want to be identified as blind.

Somehow I made it through my first year of college. It became obvious to me that I needed rehab training. I was in Nebraska then and went to the rehab center, which required I learn under sleepshades. I’m glad I had that training because it’s easier to discern when vision isn’t efficient for a given task. It’s good to know I can use alternative techniques without shame.

Of course, I learned to use a long, white NFB cane, and I’ve used one ever since. By the way, a long , white cane doesn’t glow in the dark or have a red end. When I went back to college for my second year, fresh out of rehab training, a couple of my friends told me I looked much more confident. They said I didn’t look like I was drunk or on drugs. That was a great affirmation.

These days I use a telescoping cane most of the time. I use it in situations where it may not be necessary because I don’t want there to be any question about me being blind. God forbid, if a car hits me on our busy rural highway, I want the driver to know he or she hit a blind person.

However, I do wear glasses with thick lenses, and this may confuse some people. Nonetheless, it’s much easier for me to explain to people that I’m blind with a little usable vision, than it was in the days of my youth when people didn’t know, and I didn’t know what to tell them.

I often get asked how much I can see. I heard a great answer to this, which I sometimes use. I can see more than you think I can, but less than I think I can.

John”

He then wrote us again with this comment…

“Greetings again,

I forgot in my earlier e-mail to tell you a funny incident concerning carrying my long, white cane.

Recently, we were checking into a motel in Cameron, Missouri, on our way to a family reunion. I was standing in a hallway, waiting for our son to come along. A man stopped and asked if I was going to the cattle sale. I simply said that I wasn’t, and he went on his way.

Since this question had been asked of me one other time, I knew what he was referring to. My cane looks like a show stick used in livestock auctions. In fact, later that day at the reunion, one of my sisters commented how my cane looks like a show stick, at which time I told her of the encounter at the motel.

I wonder if other blind folks in rural areas with canes like mine have had this happen.

John”

Our recent talk about sneeze gards brought in this response:

“OMG! the business card dilemma. The person who ordered business cards for us last time did not check with anyone in my office to verify such important things as actual phone numbers. That not withstanding, this person ordered double sided cards, as you see, we have two organizations that we represent.

Great, I put braille on one side and those people interacting with me in my role for Organization A can read and scan the print but Org B can’t.

Then he got the cards on thick glossy stock. The braille business card stamp we have for our office does not work well on heavy, glossy stock. I now have ghost braille on my cards.

This person was sufficiently yelled at by me and others but I have enough of these business cards to last another couple years.

When I got back from conventions this summer, I did a marathon business card scanning session. this was mostly great but there were a few that never did come out right and one that must have had size 2 font as it had so much info on it. Set the scanner resolution high, people.

I also feel for you guys at buffets. I send my husband up for me and he tries but he only has peripheral vision and well, it’s something but he’s not sure what so try it and if it’s good, he’ll try to remember where he got it.

The sneeze guard is an obstacle on the way out too. I once in my partially sighted days had a big old ladle full of lasagna. I was so proud that I’d even gotten it out of the pan. My arm hit the edge of the sneeze guard as I brought it up an rout and I flipped the thing right onto the sneeze guard. Splat! That was my last attempt at buffets solo.

Jenine Stanley”

And here is a great email from long time listener Pam;

“Hello folks,

Excellent topic! Excellent show. Personally, I have just enough vision to get me in trouble. I do carry a cane when crossing the street. I can see traffic lights, however there are enough idiots on the road these days who think their destination is more important than mine, who run them as much as they stop at them. I can think of two instances, both in Tampa Florida that illustrate opposite examples of identification. First let me explain my eye condition is such that is obvious to anyone looking at me. There are those who think I cannot see anything due to the fact I have clouded corneas along with astigmatism in both eyes. I have had subsequent surgery that has rectified the cornea issue to the extent of giving me the vision I have. I also wear cataract lenses due to having had a cataract removed back in the 90s. My first instance allowed me to use the fact that someone did not know what I could see to my benefit. I enrolled my children in preschool, walked back to the bus stop, asked for help across a small street to get to the stoplight; as it was an unfamiliar area. I was wearing a crucifix given to me by my husband as a Christmas gift. The gentleman who walked with me ultimately stole The chain holding that crucifix from me. He mugged me at the bus corner. I was caring a cane, he figured I could see nothing. What he didn’t know is that I had given him a once over when I ask for his help. I was able to give an accurate description to the police therefore allowing the police to find this man through a crack deal he had made selling my chain for $40. It was returned to me by the grace of God. My second instance has to do with being selected for jury duty. I was also caring a cane in that instance it was more inconspicuous. I carry a telescopic collapsible cane that fit nicely across the center zipper of my purse. While in the jury pool, there was a gentleman who I virtually adopted at his consent allowing me to follow him where he went as we were selected for the same pool. In that situation, the judge and both attorneys have a certain amount of excuses they can use without explanation. All that were present knew I could not see well. Ironically the trial on which I served used a video tape as part of the evidence. While in the proceeding, The attorneys pushed it closer to the jury box for me to see. Though I had my cane with me, it was not prominently displayed giving the impression I was totally blind. I have no doubt those who were in charge of picking jurors paid attention to how I acted and my ability to move with a group of people therefore making a judgment on their own as to what I could see. When the whole thing was over, I approached the judge thanking her for allowing me the privilege to serve given the fact she could have excused me without reason. In a normal situation, I use the vision I have as a defense mechanism. I allow someone to know me before I let them know what I can & cannot see. Hope this helps further your topic. Thanks for reading.

Pam Francis”

Thanks everyone for your comments. It keeps the mailbag purring and oh so happy!

How can you find out what our hosts are up to outside the podcast?

Follow Maurie Hill on Twitter

Check out Maurie’s writing on the AI Squared Zoomed In Blog

Follow Rodney Edgar on Twitter

Check out Rodney on the Tech Access Weekly Blog and Podcast

Follow Byron Lee on Twitter

Check out Byron’s LowVisionRants.com Website

Feel free to send your feedback on this show to

You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast Network

using iBlink Radio for your iOS device or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

Thanks for listening!

Welcome to our first SPN special from NFB 2014 in Orlando, Florida. Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp have been hard at work talking with many of this year’s convention exhibitors, so sit back and enjoy the following interviews from the 74th annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind.

We would like to thank HIMS Inc. and Elegant Insights Braille Creations for sponsoring this year’s NFB convention coverage.

Matthew of Humanware talks with Ricky Enger about some exciting updates coming to the second generation Victor Reader Stream.

Joe Steinkamp visits with John Wilson of 3D Photoworks about 3D objects in real time and space.

Ricky Enger learns about Echo-Sense, a mobility aid for the visually impaired.

Joe Steinkamp explores portable low-vision solutions from Abisee.

Ricky Enger speaks with Tony of Enabling Technologies about their latest Braille embossers.

Joe Steinkamp talks with Odin Mobile about the latest news about their mobile phone solutions.

Heather of VitalSource Technologies talks with Ricky Enger about their accessible electronic textbooks.

Ricky Enger brings us some exciting news about the soon-to-be released KNFB Reader.

To help remake accessibility training as we know it, visit to view training subscription options and make your contribution to EZFire’s A11YTV funding campaign.

Last December, Serotek’s own Buddy Brannan had the opportunity to join HIMS Inc. in New York City where they took part in the dedication of the very first UN Accessibility Center. While Buddy was in the neighborhood, he paid a visit to The Seeing Eye. He brought back a lot of audio from that trip, and we are pleased to bring you the second installment. Buddy had the opportunity to record a tour of the school. This is a high-quality stereo recording, so a good pair of headphones are recommended.

We would like to thank Jim Kutsch, the president of the school along with other members of the staff for making this tour one that our listeners will never forget.

Welcome to this froggy edition of the podcast where show host Jamie Pauls fights with a scratchy throat but prevails nonetheless. Ricky and Joe lend their support as the team talks about the top news stories of the week. Then, a less raspy Jamie Pauls visits with Buddy Brannan about his experiences using the new Kindle Fire HDX with built-in Accessibility. Stories covered in this episode include:

Papa Sangre II on the App Store on iTunes

FSCast Episode 83, October 2013

ZoomText 10.1.2 is Released!

Announcing: Braille Sense U2 MINI

A Demonstration of Some of the English TTS Voices Available to VoiceOver users in OS X Mavericks

A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words

FCC adopts TV rules for blind and deaf

Beyond a gadget: Google Glass is a boon to disabled

Which Android smartphones and tablets will get the KitKat upgrade?

Apple testing Mail update for OS X Mavericks to fix Gmail, stability, and smart mailbox issues

The case against Gmail

Google donates 17,000 Nexus 7s to Hurricane Sandy communities

Apple admits iPhone 5S battery problem, replaces phones

Southwest & Dish to provide passengers in-flight entertainment via Apple’s iPad 2

Amazon increases free shipping minimum to $35

Amazon Offers Low-Cost Kindle Versions of Print Books with “MatchBook”

Amazon will now donate part of your purchase to charity

Roundabout

The Adventure Blog: Blind Adventurer Erik Weihenmayer Temporarily Detained In Peru

The Blind Have A Hard Time Getting Jobs Because Of Social Stigma

Dell has been selling Ultrabooks that smell like cat urine

They say “all good things must come to an end” and that is true, as this is our fith of five HIMS-sponsored SPN Specials featuring interviews from the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind 2013 National Conventions. And we go out with a blast as we have interviews with Braille Watch Dogs. No wait, that should have read Braille, Watches and Dogs. Yep, that’s better. Join Jamie, Ricky, Joe, Patrick and the unstoppable force Derek Lane as they comb the Exhibit Hall for the best of what Orlando and Columbus had to offer. Please be sure to visit the links below and mention that you heard about the goods and services offered from us and these very podcasts from SPN. Also, we extend our thanks out to our 2013 Summer Convention Sponsor HIMS Inc. for assisting us in bringing you all of the audio you heard in these SPN Specials.

Colorado Center For The Blind

Perkins Products

Freedom Scientific

Braille Design

HIMS Inc.

Enabling Technologies

Independent Living Aids

National Braille Press

Philmore Productions

Guiding Eyes

Duxbury Systems

Seeing Eye

Global internet slows after ‘biggest attack in history’

Wells Fargo’s website was hit by denial-of-service attack yesterday

Thousands of accounts found to host unsecured passwords, photos, and other files on Amazon’s cloud

MacBreak Weekly 343

Mike Calvo appears on the Wall Street Journal’s Lunch Break Live

The Court of Public Opinion is Not the Last Resort

Nokia Screen Reader  V1.50 is now available  on Nokia Store with full support for Whatsapp v2.9.6

A makeup course for the visually impaired.

The Old Hat Guide to iPhone Accessibility

iPhone and iPod basics with Lisa Salinger

Looking for an accessible RSS feed reader? Introducing QFeed:

An Immersion into Internet Explorer 10 with JFW 14

The passing of Mark Marvel

‘Speed of light’ fibre optic breakthrough hints at faster internet

Windows Blue confirmed as Microsoft hints at yearly updates

RIM founder Mike Lazaridis leaves BlackBerry

Is Windows Phone ready to replace your iPhone or Android?

Some iOS 6.1.3 users hit by battery drain and Wi-Fi issues

Apple lands in Chinese court in Siri patent battle

Sick of manually updating apps on your iPhone? This jailbreak tweak takes care of it automatically

Apple patents gesture control with touchscreen off, for iWatch?

What, exactly, WiFiSLAM is, and why Apple acquired it

Mailbag

From Mary Emerson

Hi,

I enjoyed your discussion of Braille displays. I’ve been using them for decades. At work I used Braille and never used speech. I did this partly because I worked in programming, technical writing, and system support, and Braille provided a great deal of information about formatting and code syntax. As a tech writer, I could proofread my books before they went out for final edits. My main reason for continuing to use Braille is that I am deaf on one side, and although I keep speech in the background, some of it is hard to understand, especially the new voices that sound like the words are chopped up and the phonemes are thrown together with random pitches and tones. I’m glad that Braille devices running Android are coming on the scene; I plan to get one later this year.

Mary

Roundabout

One Day, You’re Going to Die. Here’s How to Prepare for It

Virtual games help the blind navigate unknown territory.

Recommended Reading

Here are links to the Daniel Suarez books Freedom and Daemon, both of which have been frequently mentioned on the podcast.

About Our Guests

Rick Harmon is currently working with Fedora Outlier, and manages various email lists related to blindness and technology. He also runs the Blind Geek Zone website and Podcast. Since their launch in 2006, the site and podcast have served as portals to hundreds of free tutorials and demonstrations for  the blind community. While he did the majority of these, he has selected high-quality submissions by others for tinclusion as well. In 2007, Rick began offering paid training and support services, both in person in his local area, and by phone.

Jeanine Lineback hails from the great state of Texas, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a certified Access Technology Trainer, and holds certifications in HTML and CISCO Information Technology Essentials. 

She began her career at the University of Texas at Austin, as an Adaptive Technology specialist. She was the technology Coordinator at the Colorado Center for the blind in the 90’s. She owned her own company, Computer Concepts Plus, where she contracted with vocational rehabilitation as an assistive technology trainer, wrote JAWS scripts for private companies and did some SQL database programming. Over the years, she has worked for several private assistive technology vendors, providing training and tech support services. Until recently, Jeanine was a technology and career guidance instructor at the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center, which is the residential vocational rehabilitation center in Texas.

Jeanine decided to return to entrepeneuership and in January of 2013, she began her own company, TekSolutions, a division of Lineback Enterprises Inc. Lineback Enterprises Inc. is a consulting and training company. The focus of the TekSoulutions division is to provide high quality assistive technology training, usability/accessibility testing services and educating the world about what blind people do in their everyday lives with technology. The company motto is, “Technology and people are our passion!”

When not working or taking an online course, Jeanine enjoys reading or watching science fiction, playing music with friends, swimming and outdoor activities. She was married in 2011 and lives in Austin, Texas. You may contact her via email, Twitter, Facebook and on LinkedIn.

Joshua Loya works as an Access Technology Specialist at the San Diego campus of Braille Institute of America. He is also an assistant instructor at the Guardian Academy of Martial Arts in Spring Valley, California. Despite being completely blind since 1996, he has earned 2^nd  degree black belts in Guardian Jujutsu, Guardian Karate, and Guardian Kobujutsu. He also holds a green belt in Guardian Kempo, the advanced program offered by the Guardian Academy, and is one of only three students to be given Guardian Kempo rank under the new system rules. Joshua has also worked as an assistive technology trainer and consultant for blindness specific and mainstream organizations.

Learn more about Joshua by visiting his website or following him on Twitter.

General Computing

Screen-Less Mobile Computers: Talking Changes Everything

Study: Facebook fatigue — it’s real

New timeline for Microsoft to move millions from MSN Messager to Skype

Seeking your opinion: should Serotek Start a newsletter?

Mobile Tech

iOS 6.1 brings back bug that gives anyone access to your contacts, photos

iTunes U crosses 1 billion downloads—have you used it?

Samsung struggles to block iPhone function for the blind

Navigation and Travel

ANNOUNCING: APH’s Nearby Explorer Android app, a GPS-enabled app for the blind.

You can also read the user’s guide to NearbyExplorer

Sendero CSUN Sessions are posted – Seeing Eye GPS demos, product releases and more.

iMove: a free GPS app is released.

 Live from CSUN

Ananse Productions Gets Fancy with Letter Clever for iOS and Android

LookTel VoiceOver Tutorial

The BARD Mobile app is coming.

CSUN interviews are now streaming on SPN: Available on SAMNet, the web, and iBlink Radio.

Medical Tech

FDA approves first bionic eye for rare disorder

A sensational breakthrough: the first bionic hand that can feel

Complete Serotek’s survey for your chance to win an iPad Mini

Welcome to the second in our series of CSUN 2013 interview specials featuring Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp. For your convenience, links to all the companies and products discussed in this special are provided below.

Seeking your opinion: should Serotek Start a newsletter?

Complete Serotek’s survey for your chance to win an iPad Mini

Dancing Dots

Baum

Ivona

Optelec

Looktel

LVI

Learning Ally

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

In Podcast 140, Ricky Enger, Lisa Salinger and Joe Steinkamp discuss the top news stories of the week. Topics covered include:

BlackBerry Z10 review: a new life, or life support?

U.S. Carriers Rally Around BlackBerry 10

Ticketmaster dumps ‘hated’ Captcha verification system

Microsoft Office 2013 review: Designed for tablets, but great for everyone

Windows Weekly 297 discussing Office 2013

Is Windows 8 a bad OS for tablets? It’s time to decide…

Microsoft Surface Pro 64GB comes with only 23GB of available storage space

Apple iPad jumps to 128GB, starting at $799

Apple releases iOS 6.1 with more LTE carrier support, Siri/Fandango movie ticket purchasing, iTunes Match song downloading

★ AppleTV 5.2 Update Brings Accessibility Changes

Barnes & Noble Plans to Eliminate 30% of Stores Over Next 10 Years

Serotek has a shiny new Web site

Triple-click Home Episode 14: “Now Peter”

SPN Special: 2012 Outtakes

New BookShare Tools Announced at ATIA 2013

Announcing the release of BookSense 3.0.

Braille Sense U2 and U2 QWERTY are available at a promotional price of $5,595 (plus $45 shipping) through June 30th.

HumanWare – The all new Victor Reader Stream

AFB’s AccessNote for iOS has been released.

BrailleTouch has been released

Facebook Accessibility is now on Twitter

White House Announces Audio Descriptions for Public Tours

Detailed image descriptions now available

Mailbag

From Mike Arrigo:

I’m not sure how many consumers actually attempt to unlock their phones. Most people do not know what an unlocked phone is when I mention it. People should do their research more, as I have mentioned previously, the benefits of unlocked phones are many. I think making unlocking cell phones other than through your carrier gives carriers too much power. There are no laws that require carriers to unlock their phones, so if they decide they don’t want to do this, you are stuck.

All the more reason to purchase unlocked phones in the first place.

Many countries have laws requiring carriers to unlock your phone once your contract is complete, unfortunately the United States is not one of them.

I agree with Ricky about Google’s NFC thing. I don’t like the idea of replacing my passwords with some kind of chip.

Blog comment from Sue:

Hello. Love the podcasts as usual. Jamie, you mentioned that you have a drawer filled with floppy disks, and so do I, Well a few months back I got a windows7 computer and love it. Well I do have a lot of stuff on floppy disk about 40 of them. I needed an external one and I got one on Amazon the HDE external floppy disk drive was I think around 10 dollars or so. I just installed it and it is quite easy to use. It comes with a small disk and some paper instructions, but for me I plugged it in to one of the usb ports on the computer and it just works. So thought I would recommend it it for anyone who still has a bunch of floppy disks around and still use them.

Roundabout

Kids See Through the Challenges of Blindness

The Experiences of a Guide Dog owner and his dog on their first cruise

Staying in touch with the home front: Technology in the midst of war

Here is a link to the Blinded Veterans Association Web site

Here is a Wikipedia article on Paradigm Shift

Please take this screen reader user survey and help spread the word about System Access.

Joe Steinkamp and Richard Wells recently had the honor of representing Serotek at the 2012 convention of the Blinded Veterans Association in Galveston, Texas..

While they were there, Richard and Joe had a chance to visit with many of the vendors who were present at the convention. We are pleased to bring you the second of a three-part series featuring these interviews. Feel free to visit the Web sites of the respective companies to learn more about them.

Department of Assistive Rehabilitation Services

Sendero Group

Hadley School

Optelec

Veteran Research

My Healthy Vet

1Touch Project

LS&S

US Association of Blind Athletes

Sight into Sound

Lakeshore Foundation

Our thanks go out to the Blinded Veterans Association for allowing us to bring this content to you.

Please take this screen reader user survey and help spread the word about System Access.

Jamie Pauls, Lisa Salinger and Buddy Brannan sit down together and discuss this week’s top news stories. Among other things, here are the main stories covered:

Apple

132-page internal document shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone pixel by pixel

Apple vs. Samsung: Influence, or Copying?

Apple freezes AppleID password resets requested over the phone

An in-depth discussion of the above story can be heard on Security Now Episode 364

New iPhone’s Bigger Screen to Have 5th Row of Homescreen Icons?

Why a longer iPhone 5 screen needs to happen

General Tech

Verizon divulges high data plans under ‘Share Everything’

Starbucks aims to take Square, digital payments mainstream

Microsoft Office 2013: Goodbye to adds-in, bring on the apps

Online Radio Service TuneIn Comes To Tesla’s Model S, Now Available On 200 Platforms

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Complete 300K Miles Without Accident, Deemed Ready For Commuting

AT

A Ride in a Cab That’s Optimized for the Blind

Finding and Hiring a Driver

SeroSpectives Special: Mountain Lion

Super Egg Hunt Plus preordering is now live.

Christine Ha: MasterChef Contestant, Writer, and Cook

The Blind Cook – Sightless adventures of gastronomical proportions

Using your feedback to make Narrator work better with touch

A new version of Fleksy is out.

Roundabout

NASA: Your smartphone is as smart as the Curiosity rover

iPhone app aims to help visually impaired

Listen to SeroTalk Podcast 118: Twitigation

A helping of analysis, a smidge of prognostication, a dash of humor and a pinch of sarcasm are all a part of the recipe for this week’s SeroTalk Podcast with Jamie, Ricky and Joe. Your emails and iReports are the icing on the cake. Stories discussed in this week’s show include:

How to upgrade your Hotmail email address to @outlook.com

How new Outlook just made my Gmail usable again

Outlook is nice, but it’s no Gmail [review]

Windows 7 poised to topple XP as leading OS

Dropbox bolsters security: Will businesses be wary?

T-Mobile close to $2 billion deal for its 7,000 towers, report says

Watch live TV on your phone! No, really

Amazon’s cloud music service gets scan and match

What happened to Google’s Nexus Q?

Blind and visually impaired fastest growing iPhone market

Wifarer’s mobile app doesn’t just map the indoors, it maps the objects within

Learn about the excellent work that David Woodbridge does as an Apple Ambassador in the new Tech Doctor podcast

A Blind Trek Through Android – Part 1: Unwrapping the Jelly Bean (Getting Started)

No-C-Notes® Music – Download Digital Audio Sheet Music

NosillaCast #377 Fleksy Keyboard for the Blind, Motion X GPS for Geotagging, @jasonhowell of Tech News Today

AllMenus

Ten Affordable Screen Readers

Feature Writer Alena Roberts – Bring on the Braille

Mailbag

We had so much in the way of feedback again this week, thanks to all of you for your emails and iReports!, that we had to share a few of them here online in the show notes.

From Paul

“Dear All,

I listened with interest as usual to SP #117 and, as a blind person here in the UK (as well as an RNIB volunteer), I felt I had to respond to your piece about the RNIB’s promotional video.

The RNIB used to be called the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Only very recently in its history did it change its name to the Royal National Institute of Blind People, reflecting a significant change in attitude. Surely the ‘of Blind People’ assertion denotes a sense of ownership and involvement by blind people themselves in the activities of this organisation, as opposed to simply being on the receiving end of alms or other forms of charity ‘for the Blind’. In this context, has the RNIB really shot itself in the foot or, even worse, has it shot the credibility of blind people here in the UK with its emotive promotional material?

Let’s imagine for a moment that none of us has any feelings or sensitivities about what it means to be blind or visually impaired. What is the RNIB trying to do here? It is engaged in the activity of fund-raising. Fund-raising is about money, money and more money. Money is measured in numbers using arithmetic – not by racing pulses or elevated blood pressure which is perhaps more relevant to measuring emotions.

The problem faced by the RNIB is that it is having to compete for funds with the other 180,000 or so charities which exist in Great Britain. The existence of this mind-boggling number of charitable bodies is probably due to the insufficiencies of state-provided services: in Norway, for example, visually impaired people are horrified that we Brits have to go to charities for help to buy expensive assistive technology. In Norway, they get A.T. by right from the state, so there’s less need for the kind of fund-raising which is necessary in the UK. It seems that in the UK, members of the public are more likely to pay for services for ‘the less fortunate’ privately by way of philanthropy rather than by suffering higher taxes to finance public spending on the same services.

Remembering, therefore, that the success of a fund-raising promotion should only be measured in terms of the quantities of cash generated as a result, the real question is whether the RNIB’s current campaign is effective, not whether it is ‘appropriate’. For an organisation which is only in a position to offer services to visually impaired people if they have the funding to do so, staying financially solvent, especially during an economic crisis, is mission critical.

If we are to credit the RNIB or their promotions team with any intelligence (I think we should), perhaps we can give them the benefit of the doubt by understanding that their analyses and projections, following on from hard data through market research, have indicated that the heart-string-pulling technique of immersing poor little Emma in involuntary illiteracy would be the most effective method of persuading the Great British public to part with £3 per month (an amount somehow linked to the provision to Emma of a Daisy player or whatever).

The fact that blind people here in the UK, as well as elsewhere, might view this campaign technique with teeth-grinding, buttock-clenching concern could well be regarded as a price worth paying if the campaign produces the goods and enables the RNIB to do whatever it does. So, assuming that the RNIB’s approach has been precisely tailored to match the prevailing culture and mindset of the British public, perhaps our emotional responses to the promotional material can be regarded more as verdicts on the culture here in the UK, rather than on the campaign techniques of the RNIB.

The big question is, how can a body such as the RNIB continue to promote the interests of blind people if it cannot raise sufficient funds to survive or to provide services which are the basis of its existence?

Catch 22.

The other side of the coin is, of course, that the integrity, esteem and public perception of visually impaired people should not be sold at any price. It might even be possible to argue that if an organisation with the stated aims of the RNIB has to resort to financially rewarding, but socially damaging campaign techniques, it might well be time for such an organisation to review its own structure and costs in an effort to become more efficient so that it need not resort to inappropriate methods of campaigning.

If you were charged with ensuring the financial survival of the RNIB, what would you do and what would you rule out?

Paul”

From Gordon

“Hi everyone,

I have been listening to Serotalk 117 and the chat about the RNIB’s promotional advert.

My first thought was “this is revolting”.  It was so negative in its presentation of blindness and how blind people relate to the world around them.  I very much agreed with everyone’s comments.

However, to be fair to RNIB in some way, here in the UK this is very much an identikit charity advert.  It’s as though every charity appeal promo has been written by the same team of marketeers.  Perhaps there is a group of them in a little dingy room somewhere in the less well-paid quarters of London whose lives revolve around creating tearjerking appeals to the British public to separate our cash from our pockets and propel it into the meedy coffers of the charity sector.

Every ad has the same format, whether it’s for a disability charity, one for the homeless, overseas aid, animals … they are all tearjerkers and present the target as needy, helpless, defenceless and their only hope is the monthly charity aid being sought.  So, this RNIB advert is not so shocking in that context.

Except … a charity like RNIB, which is a membership organisation, should be presenting much more positive images and aims as it does in most of its work.  In this context, the advert is highly disappointing and is very much reminiscent of campaigns and attitudes It is out of step in a very

significant way with the usual campaigns of RNIB.   of previous decades.

Anyway, sending this response gives me a great opportunity to thank all of you involved in producing Serotak and the other podcasts for all of the really enjoyable audio coming out every week and month.  They are so informative and professional, a great pleasure to hear, especially as they are presented in such a friendly and involving manner.  Thanks everyone!

Gordon,

Stirling, Scotland”

From Pamela

“Thanks again for another informative podcast.

I still have major issues with the video you asked for a one word response to from RNIB.

We as visually impaired people deal with enough stereotyping & cynicism among general society without international help. Why is it that the image of a blind person who seems unmotivated or socially inadequate is the image that sticks in one’s mind versus those of us who are high functioning members of society; who on occasion do ask for help when needed?

There are times I wish we as high functioning blind  people who have either, or both held a job &/or run a household & raised a family, functioning as our sighted counterparts could somehow work with less functional blind people to help them integrate to the best of their ability within society.

If we did a better job within our own subculture of helping each other with concerns in daily life, we would not have to respond to such a plea for money from an organization who is obviously working with & for the benefit of blind people; though in another country. They would have a more positive image if we could be pictured helping a newly blinded person adjust to their surroundings rather than picturing them in a dim & dark world.

 I have an anecdote to share that may help you understand why I am so adamant.

I, as I am sure all of you have, done my share of traveling. 2 years ago I went to Seward Alaska alone for a week. I have family heritage there who was a part of Alaskan history. My Great Great Aunt wrote her autobiography while living there depicting most of her accomplishments. The focus of my trip was to retrieve information for my then ailing Mother who had never met her; but had read her book. The information I brought home was not in the book. At any rate, while in Alaska for the entire week I never was asked the age old question “What are you doing so far from home being blind?”

To make you laugh, as expensive as the Alaska trip was, the information, 50 pages & 125 pictures on a CD afforded me by the curator of the local museum cost me $9.

Without a militant attitude, though it has mellowed through the years, I have tried to educate by example. I have no problem with any legitimate organization asking for pledges or donations for their given cause if it is done in a tasteful manner.

Keep up your excellent work.

Scincerely,

Pamela Francis”

From Lewis

Hello Serotalk Podcasters,

I left you a voice mail but I screwed it up royally so here is my attempt at a coherent email.

My reaction towards the RNIB video that you played on Podcast 117 is sadness and anger. While listening to the audio I pictured someone who has nothing left in their life accept for this donated audio book player which has become their life line. This saddens me because here is an organization dedicated to enriching the life of the blind and visually impaired who is choosing to perpetuate society’s misconceptions. This sadness then evolved into anger. As someone who is going to leave the home soon to become independent and perhaps even risking burning bridges with my family this is a slap in the face. How could an organization portray the people they are helping in such a pathetic way? If were an employer who watched the video I would never hire a blind person accept out of pity! If RNIB wants shock value why not create a video showing blind people doing things and living a productive life. Show an Emma, who is playing with her friends, who still rides a bike, who discovered another way to see and then grew up to be successful. Then tell society how with their help more Emma’s can be created.

Thank you for letting me rant and keep up the great work. Oh speaking of independence, I would love to hear a podcast in which Mike Calvo and other Serotek staff discuss their journeys to become independent individuals. I would like to know what they wished they would have known, mistakes they’ve made, and anything I can do to make the road easier to travel.

Take care,

Louis”

From Dick

“Hello Jamie:  First, I want to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed your printing house tour.  I have toured the original printing house three times and the mmuseum twice.  In 1954 in kentergarten, through the third grade, I used the slate and stylus, as well as the hall braille writer. I received a perkins in the fourth grade.  But I digress. Though you did not include it in the audio tour, I hope you didn’t miss the Hall Of Fame.  It includes embossed representations of some of the well-known leaders in work with bllind persons and is very interesting.  I also listened to to the coverage of the ACB Convention through Serotek’s link to ACB Radio.  I have finished the Conventions’

Special Eppisodes one and two, and hope to complete eppisode three today.  Thank you for all the hard work you and others on the Serotek team do to put all this matterial together.  I believe it is very

informative to lots of people.   Dick Seifert, Little Rock, Arkansas.”

From Harry

“Hi Jamey, Joe, and Ricky,

I can’t thank you enough for the great coverage from the exhibit halls of both conventions!

I loved it, because both conventions had different exhibiters, and you got’um all!

I sure look forward to ATIA in January, 2013!

You all take care,

Sincerely,

Harry Brown”

Roundabout

About Emma: our response – RNIB

Twitter Algorithm Predicts When You’ll Get Sick (8 Days In Advance, With 90% Accuracy) [STUDY]

“Odor menu” lets blind patrons order food by smell, not braille

Welcome to the final episode of our three 2012 ACB and NFB convention interview specials. We trust that you have enjoyed listening to all of the interviews from this year’s summer convention season as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you. Once again, we urge you to visit the links below to learn more about all of the wonderful companies featured in this episode.

Digit-Eyes

Irie-AT

Seeing Eye

Scentsy Flameless Candles

Travel One

Vanda Pharmaceuticals

Freedom Scientific

Welcome to the first of three shows featuring all of the great interviews from the ACB and NFB 2012 conventions. You heard them first on SPN Radio. Now you can listen at your leisure. We trust that you will enjoy hearing them as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you. Follow the links below to learn more about all of the companies featured in this episode.

Bookshare

American Printing House for the Blind

Kurzweil 1000

Triumph Technology

National Braille Press

NLS

LookTel

Kapten GPS

Happy Tenth Birthday To Serotek!

Wikipedia entry on the origins of the song “Happy Birthday”

You asked and we delivered! Serotek makes DocuScan Plus available on a monthly installment plan.

Egypt Revisited by Mike Calvo

Apple

Apple Mac OS X ‘Mountain Lion’ takes more bites out of iOS

Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than it sold Macs in 28 years

Apple responds to iOS contact data sharing: ‘It’s a violation’

 Apple iTunes chief accepts Steve Jobs’ Grammy

Apple to announce the iPad 3 on Wednesday, March 7?

Apple’s Android nightmare: Google’s Motorola purchase gets EU OK

Google

DOJ approves Google, Motorola Mobility merger

Google’s grand vision: what the Motorola deal means for Android

General Tech

Windows 8: Enabling accessibility

Road To CSUN

Microsoft Anti Virus blocks google.com

Norton gets personal with One

AT

Hope 1.0 is now available

ChromeVox version 1.18.0 is now available

How to Add an Attachment in Outlook with Window-Eyes

Internet Explorer 9 with Jaws and Window-Eyes textbooks $75 each.

Braille Under Siege As Blind Turn To SmartPhones

Braille is spreading but who’s using it?

Round About

new TechTalk show details online

Medical ‘miracle’ as doctors recover blind woman’s sight by putting a tooth in her eye

an audio discussion of my Disney experience, which first aired on SeroTalk podcast 94. My original written post is below.

 This past Sunday my family and I accompanied some friends to Disney World. Living in Orlando, I guess it’s not as big of a deal as it would be for the common tourist. I myself have always found it more or less enjoyable, something to do with the kids anyway. Last weekend I decided to satisfy  my curiosity about a new audio description device that I had heard about somewhere, and while looking over the Disney website I was reminded of its existence once again. WOW! At the risk of sounding totally cliché, it’s like I stepped into a whole new realm.

I have always known Disney to take a special approach to all its guests. I mean, they’re in the business of making dreams come true, right? I have never encountered issues with accessing any of the attractions. My guide dog has always been welcomed. In fact, Hurley was riding  around with my Son and me in one of their go karts on this trip, with no one batting an eye, but I have to confess this past weekend totally rocked my view of Disney’s effort to make their park a universal experience.

The device with no real name is offered free for the duration of your visit with a refundable $25 deposit. It is a 7.2-ounce handheld computer with over the ear headphones. It provides an interactive audio and visual menu that allows you to choose the type of information you would like to receive about outdoor areas – from a description of your surroundings to information about nearby attractions, restaurants, and entertainment. It gives audio descriptions for key visual elements like action and scenery. I’ve never experienced the Carousel of Progress in quite that level of vivid detail before. The device features assistive listening for persons with mild to moderate hearing loss. The unit even features captions for various audio and dialog. While we were only able to visit the Magic Kingdom this time, the system is available for all four Disney parks in Orlando. One of the things I’m looking forward to in a future visit is going to the Animal Kingdom and using the handheld captioning feature to learn more about the animals my family and I are visiting. I think it will be great to offer my children information about the animals with the same ease as any tour guide. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of joy I experienced being able to talk to my children about the amazing workmanship and attention to detail on attractions like “It’s A Small World” and others, and how I was able to connect with them and share my own experiences as a child at Disney. I can’t express how great it was to be able to use this technology to “see” the park like they did.

The technology is so sophisticated that at any point it would have been possible for me to venture out on my own and never feel at a loss as to where I was headed. Now, before you ask, no, the user does not get directions as to whether the facility is to your left, right, ahead or behind, but I attribute this to the early stages of any product development and the lack of pinpoint GPS accuracy that is absent in all mainstream orientation tools. Perhaps Google’s local map technology may help with this in the future?

As you may know, Disney does not believe in wasted real estate. Their idea of roller coasters consists of packed adventures that are just as capable of being heart-pounding as they are visually enthralling. Before, it was enough for me to bask in the delighted screams of my children and feel good that they were having fun. With my handheld device, however, I was plugged into an instant feed of information that allowed me to perceive the rides from a more highly involved angle. We’re not just talking front row seat here. We’re talking front and center detailed audio descriptions of costumes, props, settings and background scenery. The closest comparison to the experience I can think of is descriptive video. In 2001 I was brought to tears while experiencing “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” on DVD with my family without anyone having to tell me what was going on. As unforgetable as that day was, the problem is that video description is still quite two-dimensional. There is something completely different about a multisensory experience being aided by a voice telling you exactly what you are passing. You’ll hear details about the attraction that will in all likelihood escape the notice of even those who can see. There’s just too much competing for visual attention that the average guest will not be able to take it all in.

Like Serotek’s System Access to Go in 2008, Disney’s handheld device received the American Foundation for the Blind’s prestigious Access Award in 2011. I now know firsthand that the recognition was well-deserved. As AFB’s President and CEO Carl R. Augusto noted, ““Too often, swift advances in technology bring the rewards of convenience and entertainment to an eager world while inadvertently leaving those who are visually impaired behind.” I can testify that as far as I can tell, Disney has made people with disabilities a fully integrated part of their customer base.

Visiting the Disney World Resort prompted me to think about a couple things:

First, it occurs to me that as blind consumers, we spend so much time fighting for equal access that we too often forget to really praise the innovations of those companies that are doing it right. Apple may have needed the threat of litigation to make accessibility a higher priority, but unlike most companies, Apple rose to the challenge in such a way as to make accessibility one more selling point of their core functionality and blind people just one more highlight of their TV commercials. Olympus is another company that continues to make something as simple as voice guidance a key feature of their products to make them enjoyable for a wider segment of their customer base. So I wonder, why is it that our social networks buzz when there are critiques and gripes about the lack of accessibility in this or that product or service, but no one says a thing about achievements that are better than anything we could have hoped for? I mean, I expect to be treated as an equal by product and service providers but, as we all know, that isn’t true for the most part. So, when a company does do something right for us, shouldn’t we really let them and others in our community know?

Don’t get me wrong. I would never suggest we lay down our arms and stop asking for equal access. In fact, I am a big promoter of using Yelp, Twitter, Facebook and other mainstream channels to express our opinions of restaurants that do not have Braille menus, retailers that do not produce eReaders that speak out of the box and facilities that think adding a wheelchair ramp is enough to make a place accessible. Just this morning one of my reviews on Yelp was blasted via email throughout Orlando. People will now be able to read the opinions of a fellow foody who just happens to be blind. Perhaps other restaurant owners will see my reviews that not only talk about the quality of food and customer service but also cover things like, did they freak out about my guide dog or did they have Braille menus. What I am saying is that whether we are praising a product or damning it, we need to break out of our blindness bubble of list-serves, forums, and chatroom communities and take our comments to the general public where their impacts are more likely to be felt by the parties responsible. We need to write product reviews. We need to send e-mails, and far be it from me to suggest we do something so outdated as picking up the phone to talk to a company about our experience with their product or service. And don’t tell me that you’re just one person and your voice doesn’t matter. That’s simply not true. When you combine individual voices they become a crowd.

Every voice counts, and if we are going to gripe loudly then we need to selibrate just as loudly when a company gets it right. Our feedback should not be limited to those aspects of life that have a direct bearing on our blindness either. We need to participate as consumers to be taken seriously as consumers. If you think about it, Apple and Disney must have spent millions of dollars on research and development and implementation to make their experience more than just accessible. Universal design is creating an experience that is simultaneously enjoyable to all, as opposed to creating a hierarchy of access to the same encounter. The least we could do is say “thank you” with our wallets, our reviews, and continued encouragement to make it better. I have a feeling that such encouragement would prompt more companies to use the secret sauce of their success to create some accommodations that are out of this world.

Second, taking a little of my own advice, I call upon all companies to rise to Disney’s standard. My dollars as a blind consumer are every bit as important as the dollars of my sighted neighbor. It is not enough to add a layer of accessibility to your products and services because a law directs you to. I am using my hard-earned money to pay for the same privileges as my sighted peers, and those privileges include my walking into your restaurants and ordering from Braille menus just like all your other customers. Asking your wait staff to read the menus to me is not being hospitable. It is being patronizing. We deserve better. Just as Apple now depicts blind people actively using their mobile technology, Disney ought to consider showing blind people enjoying the same facilities as anyone else, because the same marketing strategies that feed the bottom line can go a long way toward changing public misconceptions.

The landscape for blind people has not changed all that much in the ten years I’ve been involved with Serotek. What has changed is my attitude and my approach to these types of consumer challenges. I’ve decided I can either choose to look forlornly at the world I wish I could enjoy and get angry, or I can shatter the dividing line and be an active participant in that world. I hope for the sake of our collective progress that you will join me. So, when are you going to right a review? When are you going to call that company that has gone the extra mile and thank them or express your frustration with the lack of accessibility in a product or service? In short, are you going to have a little faith? Even though every time you ask for accessibility you may not get it, you have to continue to believe that there will be companies, like  those I have covered in this post, who will heed your cry for equal access and amaze us all with the outcome.