[nabs-l] A Guide for helping students with visual disabilities

Fri Sep 18 04:30:46 UTC 2015

Hi Arielle,

I am keeping up with the original thread in which this was shared.
According to the original poster, the contact form is... wait for it,
yep, inaccessible to people using screenreaders.  On top of that,
there are color contrast and minor, easily-fixable keyboard
accessibility issues with the webpage.

I agree with you about the writing style and kind of felt bad on
behalf of the ACB.  I think the NFB was refered to as "for the blind"
once too.  I also found it interesting that the AFB and Learning Ally
scholarships weren't mentioned as they are two of the more popular
scholarships in the blindness world.

Although I realize that there are times that extra time to complete
assignments and exams is necessary, I didn't like the emphasis placed
on the need for that accomidation.  That is certainly not my greatest
struggle as a blind student.  I like the list of majors idea.  Since
access to information is essential for students, I would also like to
see something about accessible formats or at least encouragement to
soon-to-be college students to learn about which formats work for them
as learners.

When I'm at work next week, I'll contact the person who originally
posted this on the other list and see if she has an email address or a
work-around for the contact form.

On 9/17/15, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I didn't get the chance to read through the whole thing but the
> editing and writing style are just kind of weird. It's embarrassing
> that a document supposedly written by big names in disability access
> and someone from AFB would totally miss the definition of legal
> blindness. The writing also seemed kind of cobbled together like how
> many of those E-how and Wiki-how articles look. Is there a place to
> send feedback?
> The information overall was fairly good but I always get a little
> annoyed by resources that focus on the hardships and accommodations
> needed by blind college students without giving equal attention to all
> the successes that blind students have had and continue to achieve. I
> would have wanted to see a list of majors that blind students have
> completed, for example.
> Best, Arielle
>
> On 9/16/15, Darian Smith via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi all:
>>   I think this resource gave some good tips on doing your due diligence
>> on
>> a person’s rights and responsibilities as a student at the school you are
>> looking at potentially attending.  It also gave some good tips in regards
>> to
>> communicating with professors early and often.  I also liked  that this
>> resource suggests getting involved on your campus with different clubs and
>> groups as this is a great thing to do blind or not.
>>  I do appreciate the frequent mention of the National Federation of the
>> Blind and  as a former board member this division i love the mention of
>> The
>> National  Association of  Blind Students as a resource  because we here
>> are
>> a great   resource for any student starting  college and matriculating
>> through the system.
>>  I can tell that they did some research without doing a great amount of
>> exhaustive research and so some of the resources were lacking.  I would
>> have
>> loved to see more  first-hand knowledge  being shared from students
>> regarding different ways they’ve succeeded in college including visual and
>> non-visual means and how one can work with/without voc rehab/disabled
>> students offices.
>>  At the same time, if we  don’t like the resource we can either not use it
>> or create one that we like. On the whole I personally think it was a good
>> resource, but not great.
>>   Darian    .
>>> On Sep 16, 2015, at 1:46 PM, Suzanne Germano via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Ok so further issues with the tools
>>> They completely left off screen magnification, large print
>>> The put magnifier under low vision but no legally blind
>>> They have Braille translation software for legally blind but not totally
>>> blind
>>>
>>> The site really needs to be completely revamped
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 12:06 PM, Julie McGinnity via nabs-l <
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi fellow Nabsters,
>>>>
>>>> If you are wishing for reading material to kick off your
>>>> procrastination time, check this out.  It's a guide that is currently
>>>> being advertised to universities around the country.  It's a bit of a
>>>> long read, but this is what colleges and universities may put on their
>>>> sites.  What would you think if this guide was going on your
>>>> university's website?  For those interested, there is a list of
>>>> scholarships towards the bottom.  Also, has anyone in NABS or the
>>>> division itself ever developed a guide like this or any list of tips
>>>> for incoming college students.  Anyway, I'll stop rambling and post
>>>> the link below:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/helping-students-with-visual-impairments/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Julie McGinnity
>>>> National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
>>>> National Federation of the Blind performing arts division vice
>>>> president,
>>>> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President
>>>> graduate, Guiding Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014
>>>> "For we walk by faith, not by sight"
>>>> 2 Cor. 7
>>>>
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>>
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>
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-- 
Julie McGinnity
National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President
graduate, Guiding Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014
"For we walk by faith, not by sight"
2 Cor. 7