[nabop] Fw: Accessible Phone Systems

[reannewithaplan at gmail.com]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: reannewithaplan at gmail.com 
To: nabop-request at nfbnet.org 
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 6:04 PM
Subject: Accessible Phone Systems


Hi.  I am writing requesting any information regarding accessible telephone systems for the workplace.  I work as an administrative assistant for an agency that assists adults and families with disabilities by helping them maintain independence and remain in their homes.  The landline telephone system that the agency has is not really user-friendly for those with residual sight, and for those who have no sight at all, the phones are difficult to manage in terms of on-screen menues, w/out the aid of a sighted individual.  The screens on the phones consist of dark text in front of a dark contrast, and there is no way to adjust the brightness or darkness of neither the text nor the background.  The only speech output on the phone system occurs when an individual is checking for new voice mail (i.e.  "You have one new message...").  We are researching this issue as an agency as there are four of us on staff to date who have varying degrees of blindness.  I am able to read info on the phone screen a little with a hand-held magnifier, and I have tactually marked various buttons that perform specific functions using stick dots.  The trick is, the function buttons are designed to perform more than one type of function depending on the situation you are in at the time.  We have contacted various companies such as AT&T among others, but no one seems to have solutions when it comes to nonvisual accessibility for landline phone systems for businesses.  I would love to receive some solutions and feedback on this issue.  I know there are some businesses who are switching to a cell phone system rather than a landline system.  What are some of you office workers out there using for accessible phone systems around the office?  Any experiences and ideas would definitely be much appreciated.  I am eager to share some ideas with my colleagues.  Thank-you!

Sincerely,

Reanne Tangedal