[Faith-talk] accessibility of church service material

Tue May 1 00:35:17 UTC 2012

When most of us were growing up, most church materials were inaccessible, 
and there wasn't much we could do about it.  These days, because most 
printed material is produced on a computer, this situation seems to me to be 
less acceptable.  I receive my church bulletin in accessible PDF, which is 
actually better than the Word document (some techie may know why).

It is disturbing to me how much material for seminars and classes is 
inaccessible.  While some ministries are working on a shoestring budget, 
others are charging churches a lot of money for their materials, and in that 
case I find inaccessibility unacceptable.  Some of these people seem more 
worried about protecting their copyright than spreading the gospel, and I 
have to wonder whether they are serving God or Mammon.

I have been able to get Lifeways Ministries to provide some of Beth Moore's 
Bible courses, but it is more of a hassle than it should be, and I have to 
go through this application every time.

I receive a journal in audio format called "Does God Exist," about the Bible 
and science.  The editor of the journal, John Clayton, reads it himself, and 
a blind guy duplicates it on CD for him.  He really is working on a 
shoestring budget, but he has a blind son, so he gets accessibility.

Some teachers are very good at getting their class materials to me in time 
for class.  One of the best at my church is a retired college professor, so 
he knows how to make outlines and study guides.  Some of the worst are 
actually professional preachers, because they have trouble using their 
computers.  Older ones seem to have more trouble than younger ones.

I make it a point to ask, and I am trying to make it a policy not to buy 
study materials for seminars that are not accessible.  We had one recently 
at which nothing was accessible, and this person is supposed to be a college 
professor at an online university.  I hope no blind guy wants to take his 
classes, or he may find himself at the wrong end of a lawsuit.

I think we are not being unreasonable to ask for accessible materials, but 
we ought to show some loving consideration for the particular individuals we 
may be dealing with at church.

Debbie Brown

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jenny Keller" <jlperdue3 at gmail.com>
To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 7:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] accessibility of church service material

I am a member of the LDS church.

the hymnals a two volume bound braille volumes and the Sunday School 
material and Relief Society, which is our women's group materials are 
available on the website via just reading it on the site and being aboe to 
click on the scripture references, or audio that you can download or just 
listen to in mp3 format.

the bulletins and such are not accessable.  But I'm sure if I asked them to 
email me the contents they would.  I just never thought to do so.

Jenny
On Apr 29, 2012, at 11:36 PM, Ashley Bramlett wrote:

> Hi all,
> I said I’d post something to generate discussion rather than the traffic 
> about forwards or debate on what to post. IMO, if you have a question 
> about posting a topic, ask the moderator off list.
> This sounds better to me than debating what topic is on topic for the 
> list.
> We go through that ocasionally on other lists I’m on too; its annoying 
> since the debate about the list just generates endless traffic with no 
> answer.
> My topic here.
> For those of you going to church regularly, how is the accessibility of 
> the material? I’ll speak to my methodist church growing up.
> They had a large braille hymnal of like 7 volumes for me. Other than that, 
> the print wasn’t accessible. The schedule, bulletin, inserts of songs 
> within the bulletin, etc was not accessible.  So I just listened to some 
> songs and the other stuff read in the bulletin. For instance, we have to 
> respond as a congregation to readings; I think its called the call to 
> worship or something.
> I stood and listened to that. Everyone else reads from their sheet.
> I got a lot out of church since everyone hears the announcements, sermon, 
> etc, but do not feel I was able to fully participate.
>
> Ashley
> _______________________________________________
> Faith-talk mailing list
> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Faith-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/jlperdue3%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
Faith-talk mailing list
Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
Faith-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/63characters%40comcast.net

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 7099 (20120430) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 7099 (20120430) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com