[blindlaw] Accessibility

[kelby carlson]

I have tried to use Seeing AI ever since it came out, and have had little luck; KNFB Reader gets much better results. I have confirmed that this is a problem with the app and not with my skill in taking pictures; I have had sighted people take pictures of documents that also get very bad results. Seeing AI can also only scan and process one page at a time, whereas KNFB Reader is able to do multi-page documents. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 26, 2019, at 11:42 AM, Ben Fulton via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Sanho,
> 
> You are getting a lot of good advice here. Networking doesn't have to be dozens of people. In fact, it's probably better to focus on a fewer number of people that you can make a better connection with.
> 
> Get to know your library staff. They will be the most helpful people in the building. That is the quick answer to accessing hard copy. The library staff can scan it in and send you a digital copy. The school should already have a system in place for this, but in some cases it can take weeks - if they are scanning in hundreds of pages. So it's important to be very proactive in making sure the material is available for conversion early, and this can be a pain because many professors don't want to finalize the curriculum till the last minute. There will be a lot of extra work you will have to do to get the material, and no one will recognize this extra work. I started a student organization for students with a disability to improve the accommodation situation for disabled students. Don't expect them to be really on top of providing the accommodations, they will be willing - because the law requires it, but when it comes to having systems in place it might be a bit of a struggle.
> 
> Also, get good with OCR and using your phone. I use seeing AI on an Iphone. I've heard good things about KNFB reader, and you might find it worth the money. Personally I object to paying for aps, Seeing AI is free, but it might not work for everything. Basically, the more you can do for yourself in this department the better. You may go to a guest lecture where the presenter has a handout. Having your phone read the document may be the best solution. I found the more I was skilled with OCR and other aps the more I could access. - One time I was actually emailed a jpg for a lecture. Thankfully Kurzwell was able to decipher it.
> 
> As many options as you can have for overcoming hard copy is essential. There will be a variety of situations and what works in one situation will not work in other situations.
> 
> Don't worry about the details of practicing law until you are articling. There is a lot to know about when it comes to the actual practice, billing books, etc, that is not part of learning the law, but you can pick up that after you get an articling position. For now stay focused on getting grades, networking, and taking on extracurriculars, for the CV. I would say in 1L focus on grades, and leave those extracurriculars till 2L, but these kind of questions come to personal preference and the type of lawyer you want to be. 
> 
> Good luck,
> Ben
> 
> 
> From: Sanho Steele-Louchart <sanho817 at gmail.com>
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindlaw] Accessibility
> Message-ID: <D157D63F-A8AC-4944-9417-DF6CB964ECE0 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=us-ascii
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for the responses to yesterday's question. What were some of the strategies totally blind students used in order to access the hardcopy or otherwise inaccessible reading material? 
> 
> Warmth,
> Sanho
> ------------------------------
> 
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