[Blindmath] CFA for Visually Impaired Candidates: Math and Other Challenges

[Roopakshi Pathania]

Hi Birkir,

Yes, sure. In fact, I was thinking of what you had said about CFA to me before while I was registering.
:-)

So far it’s not looking good. VitalSource only supplies books in their proprietary VBK format, so no PDFs.
I have yet to have a heart to heart conversation with the education coordinator, with whom I have been exchanging emails, but don’t expect any miracles.
Think I’ll have to contact the local CFA society as well to get some backing.
The fact that CFA is providing course material through a vender that doesn’t cater for alternate accessible formats is probably another violation of ADA.
You are right about the necessary records to be supplied though.

If you are still thinking about a professional course in finance, you should also consider FRM. I thought about it as well. Although the available options at the end of the course are narrower, but risk management has gained importance after 2008.

--- On Thu, 2/17/11, Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson <birkir.gunnarsson at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson <birkir.gunnarsson at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] CFA for Visually Impaired Candidates: Math and Other Challenges
> To: "Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 11:23 PM
> This is why I gave up on the CFA
> folks when I wanted to take the certification.
> I have been wanting to take this for a while but just did
> not see a
> way to get it done.
> Keep me, at least, in the loop.
> Email them and see what they say about medical records
> being
> sufficient, they may simply be exaggerating the
> requirements and may
> actually accept less, it is possible.
> 
> 
> On 2/17/11, Roopakshi Pathania <r_akshi_tgk at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > For those who are intrigued enough to read the email
> based on the subject,
> > here is the story.
> >
> > I have gone and done yet another crazy thing in my
> life: registered for
> > Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) June 2011 exam.
> > I knew that there were going to be problems especially
> since CFA people
> > informed me that they do not have any special
> provisions for the Math
> > portion of the course. No LaTeX source, no MathML, and
> no Braille.
> > But I thought that I’ll use InftyReader to solve
> that problem.
> >
> > At this point of time, I’m guessing that there are
> probably around 10 – 20
> > blind individuals who have taken this exam. And if
> anyone on this list knows
> > of such a creature, I would appreciate knowing about
> her or him.
> >
> > Registration was tough as CFA institute’s website
> isn’t particularly
> > accessible. Anyway, I’m use to inaccessible
> websites.
> >
> > Now comes the interesting part. The curriculum ebooks
> have to be downloaded
> > through a Bookshelf application by a company called
> VitalSource
> > Technologies.
> > This application is accessible to a certain extent.
> However, I haven’t been
> > able to download a single book. The folder that
> Bookshelf creates within My
> > Documents is empty even after the download/ cancel
> button has disappeared
> > for the book. No way of finding out the download
> progress.
> > There is also an app for iPhone/ iPod Touch. On my
> first try, it took so
> > long to download a book that I got a “request timed
> out” message. Will try
> > out again later.
> >
> > But I’m now worried about the quality of the PDFs
> that would be provided.
> > What if they have low resolution or what if they are
> only scanned images?
> > InftyReader doesn’t play well with those kinds of
> books.
> > Also, they might not allow me to move PDFs out of the
> folder.
> >
> > As if that’s not enough, here is what they need to
> allow me the privilege to
> > use a writer.
> >
> > “4. In addition to Parts I, II, and a comprehensive
> evaluation, you must
> > attach all relevant professional documentation such
> as: all past
> > professional evaluations, school records, report
> cards, transcripts, special
> > education reports, previous test results (such as
> SAT/ACT), faculty
> > comments, job performance reviews, a personal
> statement, or any other
> > documentation demonstrating a history of significant
> impairment.”
> >
> > Why should I submit all these documents? Don’t they
> trust evaluation
> > performed by a medical professional?
> > This is way more than what GRE guys ask for.
> > I’ll keep more of my personals views off-list.
> > All in all, I’m rather disappointed. I thought ADA
> compliance should be
> > better than the kind of treatment I get from
> examination authorities in
> > India.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> 
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