[BlindTlk] Accessibility to the printed word in non proffet orgunizations:

[Kendra Schaber]

Hi all!
I’m a student, a member of a couple of non proffet environmental justice orgunizations and of course, I am blind. One of the climate justice orgunizations is also a social justice orgunization. In my chapter alone, I’m the only blind person and there is also another member in the chapter who happens to be the only member in my local chapter who is partially deaf as well. While I’m on the topic of membership, everyone in these orgunizations are also not paid to be there. I have a Polaris Braille Sense, a P.C. Dell Laptop computer with JAWS and NVDA installed on it, and an iPhone SE. I’m struggling with a major accessibility problem with my two climatology non proffit orgunizations. Particularly with printed matereals. I have suggested endlessly to have all printed matereals in an alternet format, particularly Word documents because PDFs still have too long to go for them to be truely relayable to concidder to be decleared to be fully accessible to the blind. Ok, PDFs have come a long way but they are still not relayable. This is why I have asked more than once to request my matereals in word documents or even plane text documents. That’s just one part of the accessible problem. The same orgunizations often present slide shows that themselves are not accessible. To add insalt to enjury, they also present a lot of graphs and a lot of slides with more information that is not relevant than information that is rellevent. Luckily, in one of those orgunizations, I have a couple of other members who are firmiliar with accessibility to the printed word and how valuble that information is to me. Unfortunently, all of us are banging our headss on the wall and scratching them at the same time to answer the tough questions. In fact, yesterday in a phone meeting, I have even asked the toughest question of them all.
Is it totally impossible for a non proffet orgunization who has no access to all the right technology and who also does not have access to the right experts to make all of their printed matereals accessible to the blind?
If it’s not possible, how can this issue be approached?
What technology can I use without having to add more than an app for the closest accessibility to get to this printed information?
How do I bridge the information gap to fit my needs alongside the needs of others, particularly when their needs lie on the other end of the visual spectrom than my own?
How do I balance the contrasting needs while still retaining the best possible accessible to the same information as everyone else?
Can I avoid the sited world judges for the print disabled community the (right) information trap that all print disabled people fall into in every setting that includes visual information which is almost everywhere?
If it’s not possible to avoid that trap, how is the best way to get around this trap?
How do I sort out the right information from all the rest without making everyone else do the job for me?
How do I weed out that information whenever no one else but the presenter has that information before the presentation even starts?
We get a lot of guest speakers who don’t know me from Addem, How do I approach accessibility ahead of time to these guest speakers?
Can I even bother them with accessibility ahead of time?
If I can, how do I even touch it with my cane tip?
If everyone in the orgunization is a volunteer, how on earth do I even aproach the topic of accessibility to the printed word without making the English page look like more of a burden than an advantage to the other members who are there?
Also, if everyone is suposed to help each other out within these orgunizations, how do I best touch this topic with a ten foot pole?
I have suggested getting all matereals in an alternet format. I think this is the easiest part. I have also suggested banning graphs, banning irrelevant information, turning graphic information into a text format, PDF converter apps, non proffit braille translation services, and of course, hunting for the standards of accessibility for non proffet orgunizations. We have also thought of coming up with guide lines for everyone in the orgunization to follow.
But what are those guide lines?
Are there accessibility standards for non proffet orgunizations?
If they even egzist, what are they?
Where can I find them?
If they don’t egzist, how do we carve out these guide lines and standards for ourselves?
When we do carve out these guide lines and standards for ourselves, how on earth is the best way to get those same standards met across the board?
Another route is to use tactile graphics but the only thing I know of to touch this one with a ten foot pole is the Sensational Black Board.
With a non proffet orgunization, how do I even aproach using tools with tactile graphics without spending an arm and a leg on them?
Even better yet, how do we invent the technology to cover this seemingly impossible visual area?
There is also the problem with time spent to make things accessible in the first place, yes, graphs or not here. We have came up with the suggestion of a deadline to meet to turn in matereals for accessible format translation and table the rest for the next meeting.
But what if you run into the problem of not enough time for translation?
On the other end, what if the deadline to meet for the matereal in question is the next day right after the business meeting?
How do I approach strict deadlines and too quickly recieved documents, slides, ECT?
Speaking of these things, if there are the same graphs elsewhere, how can I get my hands on their alternet formats without spending an arm and a leg on them?
If they’re not avalible, how else can I aproach making them accessible without spending an arm and a leg?
Even better yet, how can I even look up the graphs ahead of time without knowing what the graphs are before the presentation?
How do I go about getting the graphs ahead of the presentation and not put too much burden on to the presenter?
When the matereal is a quick flash in the pan, how do I deal with that information regarding accessibility?
Do I just ignore it and move on or is there a way to even make it accessible?
How is the best way to even aproach accessibility to a group of fully sited people who are not accessibility experts and who are also volunteers without asking too much from those same people?
I have also proposed an accessibility committee to aproach this issue. I personally think that non proffet orgunizations, or at least, ones like the ones I’m in at any rate, need such a committee. We have suggested submiting all work early to turn it into an accessible format.
Also, I don’t know any computer programers at all, so, how do I approach accessibility if we formed a committee to aproach this merky field?
On top of that, how do I aproach this merky field without computer programers to invent new technology?
Speaking of inventing new technology, can we form a committee to aproach inventing new technology to improve accessibility?
If there is one out there, where can I go to contact them?
Am I on the right track with this issue or am I miles away from my target in this field?
In my book, it’s one thing to get rides when transportation isn’t avalible or when members either have to car pole or they choose to car pole because there are even sited members who don’t drive a car in these orgunizations. But accessibility to the printed word is a whole other ball game. Also, these 2 orgunizations are the only ones in my local community that line up with my field of study which happens to be climatology. Speaking of climatology, I joined the orgunizations in the first place to better aquaint myself to the field and to better know what’s out there for the uaspiring climatologists, and climatology students. Also, I’m tryuing to know where I lie in the field of climatology itself so I can’t just drop them altogether. Not if I’m putting work into the climatology field, getting some volunteerary working experience of some form while I’m attending the activities of these orgunizations. But even better yet, trying to improve the climatology scene for other blind people who may or may never concider the field for themselves. In a way, I’m blazing a trail. I want to get this right!!!


Thank you for taking the time to read this E Mail! 
Blessed be!!! 
Kendra Schaber, 
 Chemeketa Community College, 
 350 Org, 
Citizen’s Climate Lobby,    
National Federation of the Blind of Oregon,  
Capitol Chapter, 
Salem, Oregon. 
 Home email: 
Redwing731 at gmail.com 
 Chemeketa Community College Email: 
 Kschaber at my.Chemeketa.edu  
Phone: 
971-599-9991 
"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" Author Unknown. 
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