[nagdu] Legislation on Web Site Does not Display

Mon Jan 18 11:25:00 UTC 2010

Peter,
    Thank you for your input. I will have Tami take a look at this and fix 
it as soon as she is able.

fraternally yours,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:57 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Legislation on Web Site Does not Display


> Hello Marion and listers,
>
>    Okay I took a second look and am very disturbed by how the United 
> States
> Guide Dog Access Legislation is posted on the Web site. When I originally
> designed those pages one could view the text of each bill summary on the
> site itself. You shouldn't burden visitors with the need to download and
> unpack files before being able to read the statutes. This is cumbersome 
> and
> unfair to visitors with little to no computer experience. I would suggest
> creating viewable pages for all bills on the site with downloadable links 
> to
> them in various file formats to be viewed offline. When you access laws on
> the national site you're able to view them directly on the Web site. The
> view pages once available on the NAGDU Web Site should be restored within
> the next few months. If the same thing was done with legislation for other
> countries please do the same. Also the UK, and links on the Canadian Laws
> pages are bad. I was hoping they would have been fixed by now. Great work 
> on
> the redesign of the rest of the site.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 4:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Legislative Consideration
>
>
> Peter,
>    I am not sure what you mean by this message. I will check it out, but 
> we
> have not removed the summaries from the website. If there are some that 
> are
> not accessible, it is probably due to a improper link. Please let us know
> which ones are not working so we can get this fixed.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Legislative Consideration
>
>
>> Hello Marion and everyone,
>>
>>    If the law summaries were left on the division's Web site until they
>> could be replaced with copies of actual statutes you would have had some
>> of
>> them. New Hampshire has such a statute. It imposes penalties against 
>> those
>> that fraudulently pass off pets as guide dogs. Sorry guys but I feared
>> that
>> the removal of the state law summaries would come back to haunt us one 
>> day
>> and it looks like  it did. They should have been left on the site until
>> they
>> could be replaced with complete language of each state law. Again sorry 
>> to
>> get up on the wrong side of the bed. All the best for a great weekend.
>>
>> Peter Donahue
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:33 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Legislative Consideration
>>
>>
>> Peter,
>>    When you say that "several other white Cane Laws have such a
>> provision",
>> are you referring to the violation for carrying a white cane or for
>> fraudulently passing off a service animal? If the latter, do you have
>> citations for this? If so, it would certainly help our efforts.
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 12:44 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Legislative Consideration
>>
>>
>>> Hello Marion and listers,
>>>
>>> Several other state white cane laws all ready have such a provision.
>>> Go for it.
>>> Peter Donahue
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
>>> To: "FLAGDU List" <flagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Cc: "NYAGDU List" <nyagdu at nfbnet.org>; "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 10:10 AM
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Legislative Consideration
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear All,
>>>    Last week, someone claiming protection under the ADA brought what 
>>> they
>>> purported to be a service animal onto a Hillsborough Area Regional
>>> Transit
>>> (HART) vehicle and this animal bit the employee. Though we are unclear
>>> about
>>> all of the circumstances, such as if it was a fixed route or para 
>>> transit
>>> vehicle or if the dog was a legitimate service animal, the incident has
>>> caused some issues.
>>>    When Merry was coming home from her internship last Wednesday, the
>>> operator told her she needed to provide documentation for Kappie, which
>>> she
>>> refused to do. He refused to move the vehicle while he contacted the
>>> dispatcher. ITM, Merry called me concerning this. When I called the
>>> dispatcher, I was told that HART had implemented a new policy that "all
>>> animals, including service animals, must show proof of vaccination" (his
>>> words). I advised him that such a policy was in violation of the ADA, to
>>> which he asserted it was not. When I asked him if he was an attorney, he
>>> said he was not but he would be happy to transfer me to HART's legal
>>> counsel. He also told me that Merry could ride this time, but would need
>>> to
>>> provide such documentation  of vaccination the next time she traveled.
>>>    I left a message for HART's counsel, Sylvia Berrien,  and received a
>>> return call the following morning. I have discussed this issue with Ms.
>>> Berrien, with HART's  Director of Customer Service, Sylvia Castillo, and
>>> Katherine Eagan, HART's Chief of Route Development, all of whom
>>> apologized
>>> for the incident, assured me that there was no such policy, and
>>> immediately
>>> issued a memorandum to all HART operators concerning this.
>>>    This all leads me to the subject of this message. Florida statute
>>> 316.1301, Commonly known as the "White Cane Law", states in paragraph
>>> (1),
>>> "It is unlawful for any person, unless totally or partially blind or
>>> otherwise incapacitated, while on any public street or highway, to carry
>>> in
>>> a raised or extended position a cane or walking stick which is white in
>>> color or white tipped with red. A person who is convicted of a violation
>>> of
>>> this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree". In
>>> addition to this incident (HART seems to believe this animal was not a
>>> service animal under the definition of the ADA), we have encountered
>>> others
>>> claiming their pets were service animals in order to gain access with
>>> them.
>>>    How would you feel about a measure to create a criminal penalty for
>>> those who pass their pets off as service animals in order to gain access
>>> with them, similar to those provisions mentioned above? I am also
>>> circulating this message to other affiliate divisions and to the NAGDU
>>> list
>>> to gain input on this issue. All comments are invited!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Fraternally yours,
>>>
>>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>>>
>>> National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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