🚀 go-pugleaf

                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1077

                        Saturday, September 03, 1994

Today's Topics:


                                ******


                           Photosensitive epilepsy
                    Class Action Suit against SF Muni Bus
                              Blind and safety
                                re: tiny talk
                     Compu-info for the blind needed....
                    Re: Visually Handicap Computer sftwre
               Re: Paperless Braille - More about Rose Reader
                   Visual impairment & blindness education
                                    Help!


                                ******


To subscribe to the Blind News Digest mailing list or have your
thoughts in the next issue, please send electronic mail to
Bill McGarry at any of the following addresses:


UUCP:       uunet!bunker!wtm
INTERNET:   wtm@bunker.afd.olivetti.com
BITNET:     blindnws@ndsuvm1.bitnet
Fidonet:    The Handicap News BBS (141/420)   1-203-926-6168
            (300 - 14,400 baud, 24 hours)

                              Bill McGarry (Moderator)
                              (203) 926-6187



------



Subject: Photosensitive epilepsy
From: ebohlman@netcom.com (Eric Bohlman)
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)

I'm a vendor/developer of speech access technology.  I recently got a
call from a computer user who has been diagnosed with photosensitive
epilepsy and has difficulty using a standard computer monitor (on
IBM-compatible systems).  She experiences headaches and a feeling of
disorientation when looking at a monitor, and occasionally feels like
she's about to experience a seizure.  She indicates that all the monitors
at her workplace (several different models) have this effect on her.

I suggested that she check whether or not she could work comfortably with
an LCD screen (she's going to look into this) and mentioned that although
it would be possible to do without the monitor and use speech output,
this wouldn't be preferable (even though it would put money in my pocket)
because it would be slower.  She has contacted national epilepsy
organizations, which have indicated that they know the problem exists but
don't know of any workarounds.  She has also contacted the Job
Accommodation Network, but they aren't aware of how this has been dealt
with in other cases.

Any suggestions, references, etc. to this problem would be appreciated.
Would lighting/placement/other environmental factors help?  Would
positioning the monitor some distance away and viewing it through
magnifying glasses help?  It's probably best to follow up here rather
than by mail to make brainstorming easier.

Thanks in advance,

Eric Bohlman
OMS Development
(800)831-0272 or (708)251-5787




------



Subject: Class Action Suit against SF Muni Bus
From: kford@netcom.com (Kelly Ford)
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:  Lainey Feingold (510) 644-2555
                                Larry Paradis (510) 465-3800

              JUDGE CERTIFIES CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST MUNI UNDER
                                DISABILITIES LAW

Blind and low vision riders of MUNI scored a major victory
recently in their lawsuit against San Francisco's public
transportation system when Superior Court Judge Richard
Figone ruled that the case could proceed as a class action.
The case, filed last year by the Disability Rights Education
& Defense Fund (DREDF) and Oakland attorney Larry Paradis,
claims that MUNI has discriminated against blind and
low-vision riders by not installing special materials at the
edges of MUNI metro platforms that protect blind and low
vision patrons from dangerous falls, by not ensuring that
drivers orally announce stops, and by not providing schedule
information in a manner usable by blind riders.

"Judge Figone's ruling makes this one of the first cases to
be certified as a class action under the transportation
provisions of the ADA," said Lainey Feingold, the DREDF
attorney handling the case.  "Judge Figone's ruling sends a
clear message to the City that disability civil rights laws
affect large groups of people and must be taken seriously."

"We are pleased that Judge Figone has recognized the
importance of this case and has authorized us to go forward
as a class action," said DREDF's co-counsel, Larry Paradis,
of the Oakland firm of Miller, Starr & Regalia.  Paradis
estimates that there will be at least 500 blind and low
vision riders in the class, and that the case will probably
go to trial early next year.

According to plaintiff Harry Cordellos, the failure of
drivers to announce stops "means that every time I board a
bus I have to be afraid that I will get off in an unfamiliar
location and will be faced with a dangerous situation."  Mr.
Cordellos said he was thrilled with the Judge's decision.
The case was originally filed by Mr. Cordellos, high school
student Paul Heidhues, and the California Council of the
Blind, a state-wide organization of blind and low vision
people.  Judge Figone's ruling means that the case will now
cover all blind and low vision persons who have ridden MUNI,
or who have been deterred from riding Muni as a result of
the disability rights violations.

--
Kelly

KFORD@NETCOM.COM



------



Subject: Blind and safety
From: bradfo1800@aol.com (Bradfo1800)
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)

I am working on my Phd and am planning on studying cognition as it relates
to safety.  I would like to study the congenital blind population as to
how a child learns what is safe and what is not.  Any help would be
greatly appreciated
Brad
Bradfo1800@aol.com



------



Subject: re: tiny talk
From: MONICADO@DSL.RHILINET.GOV

I am working with a person who is using tiny talk as a voice synthesizer with
echo.  I am not familiar with this software.  Could some one assist me.
I am looking for documentation for this program as well as either set or configu
ration files.  Please e mail me at:  Monicado@dsl.rhilinet.gov

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  Monica



------



Subject: Compu-info for the blind needed....
From: zoroastr@u.washington.edu (John Cain)
Organization: University of Washington

hi...i have never posted here before, but i have this cousin who is 13
years old and blind and i was wondering if anyone could send me info on
compu-aids for the blind...my uncle (the kid's step-dad) is a serious
hacker and has already developed a pc-based word processor/voice
synthesezer that the kid uses to write papers for school, but his dad is
not yet into internet surfing and i told him i would ask around and see
if anyone knew of something that would be of interest to them...
thanks a lot in advance...
john cain




------



Subject: Re: Visually Handicap Computer sftwre
From: ebohlman@netcom.com (Eric Bohlman)
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)

Tony_DeVito (tonyd@dorsai.dorsai.org) wrote:
: Index Number: 33646

: I am researching for a visually impaired friend software that will allow
: them to use a pc to send and receive e-mail, word process, and perform
: other basic computer functions.

: Have received literature and info on an IBM product and on a similar
: products called jaws.

IBM Screen Reader and Jaws are two of the major DOS-based screen reader
programs (for the uninitiated, a screen reader is a resident program that
directs text to a speech synthesizer and allows the user to control what
gets spoken).  Other common DOS screen readers are ASAP (from Microtalk),
Tinytalk (from OMS Development), Vocal-Eyes (from GW Micro), Flipper
(from Omnichron), Business Vision (from Artic Technologies) and Screen
Power (from Telesensory).  Jaws, by the way, is from Henter-Joyce.

Currently the only screen reader for OS/2 is IBM's Screen Reader 2.
Windows screen readers (which are much less mature than DOS screen
readers) include Window Bridge from Synthavoice, Protalk from Biolink,
WinVision from Artic and Windows Master from Blazie Engineering.
Outspoken for Windows (similar to the existing Outspoken product for the
MacIntosh) is soon to be available from Berkeley Systems.

Most screen reader suppliers offer demonstration copies of their programs
(usually fully-functional with either a time limit or nag messages).  Of
course, you need a speech synthesizer to try the demos.  When trying out
screen readers, it's very important to use the same speech synthesizer for
all of them, since it's quite easy to confound screen-reader features
with speech-synthesizer features, especially since much of what makes a
screen reader or speech synthesizer work for a particular user is quite
subjective.




------



Subject: Re: Paperless Braille - More about Rose Reader
From: fricke@fuhainf2.fernuni-hagen.de (Joerg Fricke)
Organization: FernUniversitaet Hagen

>It takes about five (5) seconds to display a full line.
>
>The display is cleared by lowering the top display surface


IMHO, that's the weak point of this device. It will take 125 s to
display a full screen of text.

When a beginner or a generally slow reader is reading a plain text
recorded on tape that display speed could be sufficient. In the
same situation, a fast reader (10 characters per s or faster) has
to wait for at least 1 s at the end of each line. Searching
through a text by just scanning the first few characters of each
line would be virtually impracticable.

Likewise, using a text system employing the proposed display would
lead into problems:
If you want to change one or a few characters then you have to
clear the whole display and to set all necessary pins again. Of
course, the operation system of the output device can display the
modified line first in order to let the user read the
modifications thus reducing the waiting time to 5 s. But I guess
even that would not be accepted by the users.
Dealing with menus or splitted screens would make things worse.

So, I guess the usefullness of this device depends on the success
in accelerating the display process.

Joerg



------



Subject: Visual impairment & blindness education
From: ianc@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ian Craig)
Organization: CALL Centre, Univ. of Edinburgh

Someone contacted me who is interested in doing post-grad research in area
of technology support issues for visually impaired or blind pupils in
mainstream v segregated settings.  Not that interested in going over the
old ground of "Is it better to be in mainstream or segregated seting?"
Instead to offer specific guidance and cover key issues of contributions
made by technology.  He is aware of major service delivery organisations
who are active in this area.  But would like to make contact with anyone
doing research in this field.

--
Stuart Aitken
CALL Centre
University of Edinburhgh
4 Buccleuch Place             Tel +44 31 650 4269
Edinburgh                     Fax +44 31 668 4220
Scotland EH8 9LW            email stuarta@cogsci.ed.ac.uk



------



Subject: Help!
From: awwe!scott@mathcs.emory.edu (Scott)
Organization: AIMS, Decatur, GA

Friends, I need some help on a couple of job-related problems.  As tech
support for the blind employees within the company I work for, one of my
duties is to provide access to resource materials.  I have found myself
spending an inordinate amount of time lately just scanning and then
editing (the really time-consuming part) these materials prior to putting
them into braille using the translation software I have.  I need an
outside vendor to do scanning.  I can't go to the big braille producers
as I do not need great quantities of these materials printed up at one
time as they are updated at least quarterly and sometimes even monthly.
Does any of ye have anything to suggest that might help me?

Scott Hooker
Senior Information Planning Analyst
FedEx Corporation
Atlanta, GA



------






                                ******

                 End of Issue # 1077 of the Blind News Digest

                                ******