[nabs-l] waver

[Joe Orozco]

Dennis,

The NFB is not opposed to manufacturers making things accessible to us.  I'm
not challenging you, but where did you get that perception?  I think it'd be
worth us exploring the literature for possible confusion or slapping the
person upside the head for misleading you.  I think the fact that the NFB
has gone after airlines, universities and test agencies is indicative of a
group that is trying to make more products accessible to us all.

Robert,

No one is rejecting the notion that we're all different in our capacities as
blind individuals.  Yet, you have to recognize that it's far easier for us
to, like Nicole pointed out, assume that something is impossible than it is
for us to give it an extra push to understand the concepts of how something
works and potentially learn it.  We can't have it both ways in expecting
employers to see us as equal to our sighted fellow applicants but advance
the caveat that there are some things that we're not prepared to make an
effort at learning.  Does this mean we idiotically go out and do things just
to prove a point?  Perhaps there are some people who do this, but most of us
would rather emphasize our efficiency.

At one of my jobs I had a supervisor who once handed me a stack of checks
and asked me to enter their numbers into our system.  This would have
involved me sitting there and scanning each individual check with potential
glitches in OCR.  Could I have done it?  Yes, but it would have taken her
less than half the time to get the job done.  I traded her tasks, and we
achieved the overall assignment with less fuss.

But, people have to be willing to make an effort.  I think those of us with
experience with MS Project have all agreed it is largely inaccessible.  Yet,
who are we to know that maybe Josh won't be the guy who will have a bright
idea and find a solution to it?  Maybe he will find someone who will make
scripts available to make the non-graphical representations at least more
accessible to us.

Anyway, just my twenty dollar's worth.

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing