All right, so I love love love to read!! I like fiction and fantacy, mystery and suspense, some romance, and even a few uplifting types. Many times, you can find audio books and I love them, most of the time. I have some favorite narrators that really make the stories come alive! All that said, audio books are usually quite expensive, weather you buy them at a book store or download them. They do have a few programs out there that offer books on tape, but you have to go through extensive approval processes and such things. I also have access to books in text or braille format, and many times, there is a wider selection of those than that of audio books. But in order to read those books in text or Braille format, I would usually have to load them onto my computer and listen to my screen reader read them to me. But here’s my issue. Personally, I don’t find it very relaxing to listen to Jaws read books to me. I would like to hear my books from a less mechanical, more human-sounding narrator.So what to do? Actually, what made me start thinking on these things more was a blog entry from Susan Gerhart, where she talks about book reading options. After reading her ideas and resources, I found several choices out there for book reading, more than I had previously realized.I listen to jaws reading all day long, in it’s synthetic voice or voices. I am used to it, but when it comes to reading for fun, I want to hear something a bit more natural. I also carry my ipod around with me everywhere and love to listen to books on there, rather than having to use my computer.So I started looking around for different options, to be able to convert text files to mp3 files that can be loaded onto my ipod and listened to. I have used kurzweil reader and it does have this capability, but its voices are also quite synthetic, and I have had issues getting this program to work with windows vista. There’s another program called text aloud, and you can actually buy voices for it that sound pretty decent. I’m looking for other programs that may do better, my goal is to have something that will sound as close to a live person as possible. This way, my reading time will be more relaxing, and less like listening to a computer voice in my sleep.

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Yes, it’s true, there is a such thing as accessible flash! Of course, it must be coded correctly, buttons labeled and all of that. I’m not a programmer, so I don’t know the logistics of what needs to be done, but I can give you a user’s perspective.

First I should tell you where my main experiences with flash have been. My little daughter is getting to the age where the computer is becoming increasingly important. There are so many interactive sites out there for kids, where they can play games, learn to read and a ton of other things. The problem I have is that, as a parent, I want to help her safely browse the internet, show her how to get around and all of that. Most of these pages are in flash media, and the buttons to play the games are not labeled, so I can’t even get her started. I had given up on her even using the computer without someone who could see to help her, simply because I don’t just want to turn her loose on her own and not be able to help her. I had decided she would just have to wait until she’s old enough to navigate without help, and thus miss out on lots of learning and fun opportunities the computer and the web can offer.

So now to a few examples of what I have encountered. I have seen many a flash page that, for varying reasons, I cannot access. The buttons are not tagged, so you have no idea of their functions. At the risk of putting a business on the spot, the following is an example of flash that is, well not so accessible.

My daughter attends the Joyce Willett Dance Studio
As you can see, in order to see class schedules, you have to press the buttons, and if you were to use a screen reader, you would not hear labels given for the buttons. Using jaws, I am unable to use this site at all, believe me, I have tried.
Now, on the PBSkids site some buttons are labeled, but there are a lot that are not. Most of the show names buttons are labeled so that jaws speaks them, but there are a lot of numbered buttons in between that I, as a blind user have no idea what will happen when I activate them.

I could spend all day giving examples of flash that simply does not work, or only partially works, but I want to show you a kid site that has successfully incorporated flash media and accessibility. Thea Eaton, founder and owner of Snert Studios, has created a very accessible, screen reader friendly flash site. Even if you don’t have a log in or password, you can see the work that has been done on the opening main page. Once you log in, there are several animated pictures and videos, all within the flash format, with all controls and buttons tagged. She even goes so far as to describe the videos and photos in detail. They are working on games as well, and I will be excited to see that!!

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I myself do a whole lot of shopping on line and find different levels of accessibility.  Some sites work very well, all forms are correctly tagged and functional.  Others work, but with some effort to get around some accessibility barriers.  I use amazon, e-toys, and up until recently was a big user on e-bay.  There are so many benefits to shopping on line.  It saves the hassle of scheduling transportation, dealing with customer service at the stores, and not really knowing all of your choices.  On line, I can compare prices, see all items I want and their descriptions, and have them delivered to my doorstep with ease. So here’s my beef with e-bay.  I hadn’t shopped on there for some time, quite simply because it is addictive and I was spending too much money.  You can’t pass up great deals after all!  So yesterday, I was looking for a good deal on a specific item for my daughter, went to e-bay and was a little dismayed at some changes they have made.  First of all, they have added a lot more graphics that are untagged and all over the place on the page.  They have also incorporated more layout tables, causing jaws to spit out unnecessary table information with empty rows and columns.  They have no skip to main content, so when I want to see an item and its description, I have to weigh through all of the graphics and empty tables to get to what I need.  The headings are still there, which is great, but even skipping by heading doesn’t get me past quickly to the information I’m seeking.  I can still shop and complete my purchase, but it requires more effort than it used to, and it is extremely tedious. 

Will I still shop at e-bay?  Probably, but perhaps not as often, I don’t have the time to take forever to get information, no matter how great the deals are.  I’m not sure what prompted them to make these changes, but from my standpoint, they decreased their accessibility.  So what can one do when you find yourself in this situation?  Who do you talk to?  How can you tactfully tell a big business like this that they’ve lost my few cents because they have become inaccessible to me?  Knowbility surely can help improve the site, but the company has to be open and want to become accessible.  I would love to see a procedure in place to help anyone report somewhere or talk to someone who can help if they encounter problems accessing any web site for any reason.  This is just one example, but I find sites often that I can’t easily get information I need or want, sometimes I don’t get it at all.  Obviously the more accessible a site is to me, the more I will use it, and I believe that is important to any business, no matter how big.  It is us little people who make them what they are.

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Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d live with someone who couldn’t see. My roommate is not completely blind but he can’t see past his feet. The first few weeks of living with him I treated him as if he was completely blind telling him where things were, worrying about him in the grocery store when we went shopping, and not letting him out of my sight because he’ll never see me again if we got more then 9 feet away. I’m not sure if he laughs at that now or rolls his eyes. Like most blind people my roommate is very self sufficient. I believe when I first moved in I was nerves. I wasn’t sure how much to help him or not. I’m naturally helpful and didn’t realize I was being overly helpful and that it annoyed him. I naturally feel silly now for constantly tying to watch out for him, like a mom or something. It wasn’t till about 3 weeks in did I start letting go of the instinct to do everything for him. I wasn’t thinking of putting myself in his shoes and how annoying I could be. Now me and my roommate constantly joke about him being blind and a total nerd. More on him being a nerd and living off cereal and how he really needs to take one of his dairy cows home from his dad’s farm, because he literally goes through gallon a day. Honestly I have to remind myself now that he’s visually impaired. He’s just like a regular roommate I just can’t expect him to know what’s in my hand from across the room or how I look before going out.

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My roommate Zack has a cornea disorder where his cornea constantly changes. I was talking to him over the weekend and he was joking about how my shirt was torn in half from working out. I had a workout waist band on and a workout bra. I was extremely confused with his joke, and thought it was a little weird because my bra is purple and the band is blue. I looked at him like he was crazy and that that was the worst joke I’ve ever heard. He must’ve read my face because immediately he apologized and explained that after his first cornea surgery he became a little colorblind.

Zack had a hard time telling the difference in my purple bra and blue band. He also explained that it doesn’t effect him until he’s embarrassed with a situation like that. He can tell the colors by their hues. He says most colors to him are all brown. He says he misses being able to see colors. I just recently heard of this new color blind correction called ColorCorrector. It’s a guaranteed success. “Azman Eye Care Specialists is the only office in the world with the ColorCorrection System™, an advanced combination of unique tests and filters for color vision correction. With our comprehensive color-vision testing, the ColorCorrection System can determine the proper filters for enhanced color vision.”

Available in spectacles or contact lenses makes this procedure surgery-free and still allows a person to see in color.

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Last week I came to a realization when meeting the newest staff member here at Knowbility, after hearing about her situations with her current employers. I completely knew where she was coming from and realized that is one of the original reasons i came to work with Knowbility. I’m both Dyslexic and ADD, but I have a different sort of dyslexia that a lot of people don’t understand. I have Graphic Dyslexia, this is where I actually look at equations like 42-2 and instead of counting down from 42 I start from 40 and will add 2 my brain is naturally inclined to think and do the opposite of things.

Even though I can hide and suppress these disabilities from employers but they do come out and have to be addressed. I’ve been at many work places where they classify me as useless or stupid because of my disability. I’m constantly faced with the choice of explaining my disability to start with or saving it for a later time, and risk not being hired do to my dyslexia. Employers worried about me messing up numbers and mishandling money, even though I’ve never been short on any of the registers I’ve ever worked at. They feel that I’m an inconvenience because of my disability, and when talking to our new colleague I was reminded of the situations people like me and her face when getting employed or being employed.  Her most recent employer cut her hours back once she asked for accomodation. I myself have faced the same situation but not only does management see you as an inconvenience but coworkers do too. I have actually been called straight up stupid by a girl I once worked with after accidentally getting an argument of hers mixed up in my head. I had actually understood her argument the opposite of what she was arguing against, and was arguing against her when she agreed with me completely. I felt silly, but this happens a lot with me. It is part of my dyslexia. I’m not stupid nor was I not listening to her, but it was my head playing games with me like punching in a phone # backwards after it being repeated to you, or even trying to spell things out loud.

Its extremely frustrating because before opening my mouth or reading or listening to a person I must think it over a few times before giving an answer, making sure not make a fool of myself. Even though I look fine and talk fine I’m marked with a very debilitating disability in the work world. I’m a high risk employee even though I’m extremely qualified. Me and my new colleague alike both have a very hard time asking for help or explaining why things might’ve gone wrong or come in late or why we must work at home. We don’t want to feel like an inconvenience and risk being fired.

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      A few months ago, I had tried to do a few things using the site called survey monkey.  I had tried creating my own survey, as well as taking surveys and had little success.  The forms were not tagged, the check boxes not labeled, and some of the buttons were not correctly marked.  It was quite frustrating, so many times inaccessible surveys make you shy away from taking any, even when you know your opinions and such would be valuable. For these reasons, I was happy to see a survey produced on survey monkey that was made accessible!  Each form was tagged, so that no matter what method I chose to use, my screen reader easily announced the questions and choices I had.  Every check box reminded me of the question, told me my choice and whether or not the box was checked.  The next buttons were clear, as well as the previous.  There was excellent use of headers, so I could do a headings search, a forms search and links list and easily navigate to wherever I needed. I have yet to try creating my own survey using this tool, but at least steps have been taken to improve the accessibility of the surveys.  Eventually, entering in data into survey monkey may become accessible as well.  Whatever further work may be done, the accessible survey I took is a fantastic start.

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Ok, so one of my greatest loves is music, and next to that, reading books.  I bought myself an ipod some months ago and it has been quite the adventure learning how to use it and make it accessible.  I used to cringe when I’d think about the ipod, knowing that, as much fun as I’d have with one, it would be extremely frustrating as well.  Apple did not do much in the way of accessibility, the ipod itself is menu driven, uses their proprietary software called itunes which is graphically based, and I just did not think there was any way I could get enjoyment out of something like that.

So I set to doing research, most of it before I bought my ipod.  I found that there are many people who have worked very hard to open the ipod doors for the blind.  A company called

T & T consultancy

wrote scripts for jaws and itunes, which for the most part, allow someone using jaws to get past many of the graphical barriers and use the program.  On a side note, this company has developed several other products geared toward blind computer users, and you can find out more at

http://www.tandt-consultancy.com

Now back to ipods, I also found that for some ipods, there is a program called rockbox that can be installed into its firm wear and then some of the features could talk.  I found an e-mail list, where people exchange tips and ideas regarding ipods and other mp3 players.  It was through that list that I discovered Anna Dresner and have just begun to benefit from her wealth of knowledge in the technology field.  She has recently written a book entitled “A pocketful of sound,” which is in essence a user based guide to mp3 players and ipods.  In the book, she explains how she uses various players, describes any adaptations she had to make to use the product, and then gives her personal opinions and recommendations.  This book is available from

http://www.nbp.org

You can also find a downloadable demonstration of Anna downloading music using itunes, amazon, and a few other sites, and for that go to

http://www.AccessibleWorld.com

Anna also has a blog, and you can link to that by visiting

http://www.nbpupdates.WordPress.com

As with any technology, things change almost every day.  It used to be that when a product would come out that was virtually inaccessible to the blind or to anyone with disabilities, it would take years for someone to adapt that product to make it usable.  Now, thanks to the efforts of so many people, some named and some not, that gap has lessened drastically.  Apple may not work as hard to make their products accessible, but there are people out there who care, and who are willing to work hard and that work benefits so many.  It may sound like a small thing, but being able to use an ipod, just like everyone else is a wonderful blessing!

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About a year ago, Youtube launched an editing tool, Youtube Remixer.  One of the most interesting features was the capacity for captioning, although Youtube cautioned that the captioning feature was still in beta and not to expect a fully functioning captioning tool.  The Remixer, powered by Adobe Premiere Express, allows users to edit videos with text, audio, graphics, overlays, effects, and transitions with no installation.  The Proud Geek blog and other user reviews reflected the fact that the new tool was hard to use, quite buggy and not at all dependable as a real captioning option.   One of the most telling results is that we have not seen a proliferation of captioned videos on YouTube as a result.

Knowbility is looking for successful implementations of the Remixer tool or any other recommended method for captioning videos on YouTube.  Please let us know if and how you address the challenge of accessible video content.  Thanks!

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Here is the text of the opening dedication of the 2008 AccessU, renamed to honor our beloved colleague and mentor, Dr. John Slatin who died in March. Following these remarks, Jim Allan and Jim Thatcher unfurled a banner with the new conference title. That banner now resides on the John Slatin AccessU web site.

Good morning and welcome. I am Sharron Rush, Executive Director of Knowbility, the nonprofit organization that collaborates with St Edward’s University each year to bring AccessU to you. Thanks for being here so early. And indeed, thanks for being here…thanks and congratulations on caring about access to technology for everyone, including people with disabilities. We hope you gain skills and information you can use and we always learn from you what your challenges are in implementing accessibility in the world of government agencies and businesses.

AccessU is hosted here at St. Edward’s University for the fourth year. It’s not possible to think about producing this training institute without the steadfast support, encouragement and leadership of St Ed’s. Bill Cahill, the visionary Vice President of Information Technology here at St Ed’s entrusts the campus to us and then Brenda Adrian and Cousett Ruelas and their colleagues make it happen. Please help me thank them for their hard work (applause).

Knowbility’s staff, led by Teenya Franklin have also worked tirelessly to bring together all of the great information and hands on learning that you will have over the next couple of days. Please help me thank Teenya, Kim, Jeff, Anneka, Mike and Steve (applause). There are also dozens of volunteers, who help produce AccessU because they care about this work and are generous with their time - thank you all. (applause)

The instructors you will have here at AccessU are among the brightest lights in the field of accessibility research and innovation. You will get to know them well over the next couple of days and I will ask them to wave or stand so you know who to look for in the hallways. Please feel free to talk with them and take advantage of their experience and presence here. We are fortunate to have their enormous talents and skills and will talk at greater length with several of them at the forum tomorrow at lunch. Today’s lunch will feature a talk by a wonderful speaker named Beth Finke who I met at a conference last year and have been scheming to bring to AccessU. She is bright, funny and so engaging I know you will adore her.

It is exciting to be with so many people who understand the importance of this work and who themselves are working so brilliantly in so many ways to make sure that everyone has access to the opportunities afforded by advances in telecommunications technology. And it is at these times when we are all together that we miss our friend, our mentor and our dear comrade, John Slatin. We miss him terribly.

Jim Allan the webmaster for the Texas School for the Blind and John Slatin’s “Judge Brother” for many years, suggested that we name this conference in honor of John because these three days are all about teaching one another and learning from one another. Teaching and learning…among the things that John Slatin excelled at. As many of you may know, Professor John Slatin of the University of Texas helped start Knowbility, the AIR program and all of the work that we do around the issue of access to technology for all. John’s ability to see decreased throughout his life due to retinal disease. For the last three years he also gallantly battled leukemia. He died in March of 2008 and our community and each of us individually is bereft.

John’s eventual blindness was certainly one motivating factor in his interest in accessibility, but his appreciation and understanding of the power of technology came long before he lost his sight. Many people forget or never knew that John was an English professor.

In fact, I wasn’t sure I would tell this story, but I told it to Kathy Keller this morning and we decided that John would enjoy sharing it. John’s wife Anna Carroll told me at breakfast the other morning that many of their friends from Body Choir did not know that John was a UT professor until they attended his memorial service. Body Choir is a group that meets weekly or twice weekly - an improvisational, amateur dance company where friends gather and move as they are inspired to the music chosen by a facilitator. They dance solo, in pairs or in groups. Anna often facilitates and is very much at the center of the amazing energy that is Body Choir.  John loved to dance with the group and he and his guidedog Dillon were often on the dance floor with the group. 

Surprised by her friends’ ignorance of John’s profession, Anna asked them, “Well what did you think John did?” “Not sure,” they replied, “Thought maybe he was just a happy unemployed blind guy who like to dance.” (laughter) John was so good at meeting people where THEY were and joining them in the things that were of interest to them.

John was a poet. He loved language and the arts and saw in technology the potential to amplify an individual’s ability to tell his or her story, to share the narrative and even to share the structure and telling of the story…hyper-narrative he called it. The promise of interactive storytelling and multi-sensory experiences were all tremendously exciting to John and he explored these avenues adventurously. At his memorial service, John’s UT colleague Peg Syverson recalled her days with him,

“John used to joke that he used technology because he wanted to make English expensive. He meant he wanted to make English count, in ways that the University can recognize and appreciate….John was not merely an innovator; he was a visionary. And he was not a visionary who merely saw into the future, he brought the future he saw into being. And the future he brought into being was dazzling and entirely unexpected. The advent of technology into our field was poised to mechanize routine activities such as grading papers and giving exams. John saw it differently, that technology could become a vehicle for liberation and transformation in the humanities. It could liberate teachers and students from stale, predictable pedagogical practices, and it could transform the humanities from a musty archive into a world of dynamic and creative possibility.”

I took English at UT during that time, leaving my empty nest as my kids were grown to finish a degree started many years before. I took an English class from Tonya Browninga brilliant teacher whose graduate advisor was John Slatin. She mentioned John’s influence consistently as she seamlessly integrated technology into her teaching. The fusion of discovering the Harlem Renaissance writers or Walt Whitman or Wallace Stevens as we learned the narrative potential of new technologies was thrilling. Of course I had no idea that the “John Slatin” that Tonya referred to so often would become such a mentor in my own life and work.

So it is no wonder that when someone with the brilliance to understand so well the revolutionary potential of technology, when someone like John Slatin raised his voice to insist that he not be shut out…well, who could fail to listen?

John’s voice was undeniable and yet not strident and I rarely saw him angry. He became an accessibility expert as a way to ensure that he too could use technology to pursue all of his many interests. He volunteered and served with Knowbility, on University committees and on standards boards. He became a leader because leadership was needed. And that is one of the tragedies of his too too early departure from this life. It seems to me that John was still becoming. He was always learning and sharing and helping us all to learn from him.

So I could tell stories and stories about John…and I am sure I will. I will tell them to you and I encourage all of you to tell me and to tell each other your stories about John during this conference we are naming in his honor. And if you have not yet done so, read his blog the leukemia letters.

Remember him through your stories, our stories and through his work. John would like that. John’s wife Anna is gathering ideas for a long term memorial for John on the John Slatin Wiki, so please feel free to submit any ideas you may have.

And now I will ask John’s two Judge Brothers, Jim Allan and Jim Thatcher to come up and unfurl the banner that we will hang today and for the rest of the days and years that we teach accessibility here at John Slatin AccessU. Thank you.

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