[NFBCS] Accessibility for programmers

[Brian Buhrow]

	hello Jack.  I won't belabor this point beyond this reply, but you
didn't read my message.  What I said was that as an NFB national division,
by definition, our business meeting is held at the NFB national convention.
I also said that this didn't preclude us from having other meetings
throughout the year, but our official business meeting is at the national
convention.  I also said that it was my preference, but not a requirement,
that folks join the NFB CS division as official members so that when they
contribute, either through e-mails, phone calls to officials, etc. they can
show membership and thus solidarity with the division they're working for.
Finally, I pointed out that we accept on-line membership and that our doors
are open at:
https://web.nfbcal.org/nfbcsreg
Membership is only $5 annually, which is a small amount of skin in the game
for something one feels strongly about.
I made no references to ACB nor did I speak obliquely about any ACB related
organizations.  

	As an organization of volunteers, we can use all the help we can get.
If there are projects that folks feel we need to work on as a division, as
I wrote earlier, I'm happy to look into addressing them, but I need help in
getting those issues addressed and, who better to help than those who voice
their concern about the issues themselves.

	I know everyone working in the IT field is very busy and doesn't have
a lot of extra bandwidth for additional things to do.  That's certainly
true for me, which is why I'm asking folks to send me their real concerns
off-list with ideas and steps they would be willing to take to help address
those concerns.  I will, in turn, do my best to facilitate their efforts
and help them achieve the results they want.
I am not interested in trading e-mail about who we represent and who we
don't as a division.  We are here, and if folks want to contribute their
skills, knowledge and abilities to furthering our efforts, I'm happy to
help with that process.
	So, if you haven't already, I encourage you to exercise the link above
and join with us to help us make the NFB CS division even better than it is
now.

-thanks
-Brian
On Feb 29,  1:06pm, Jack Heim via NFBCS wrote:
} Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Accessibility for programmers
} Brian, you missed the point.
} 
} 
} The people on this list have been expressing some real needs and it just 
} so happens that the NFBCS is uniquely situated to do something about 
} them. There is an opportunity here. The NFBCS could be so much more than 
} just an email list and an annual meeting. If that is going to happen, 
} you have to choose to make it happen.
} 
} 
} Admittedly, that is your choice. But can you understand that it is not 
} helpful to tell me that the rules of the NFB are such that I have to 
} attend the convention to have a voice? A typical person's reaction to 
} that is not going to be, "Well, if those are the rules, okay then." The 
} NFB starts every press release talking about how big and influential it 
} is but it makes no attempt to represent the vast majority of blind 
} people who never attend a convention. Ask any member of the NFB about 
} the ACB and they will dismiss it as meaningless and ineffective. True 
} enough. But to me, all that means is that the NFB has that much more of 
} an obligation to represent me. If the NFB isn't going to do this -- 
} nobody is. So when you say that I have to attend the convention or I 
} have no say, that is the same as telling me that the NFB is broken.
} 
} 
} 
} 
} On 2/28/20 2:50 PM, Brian Buhrow via NFBCS wrote:
} > 	hello list members.  This is Brian Buhrow, current president of the
} > NFB in Computer Science, chiming into this topic.  Although I'm coming into
} > this discussion rather late, I have been following it and, like Steve, I am
} > excited to see folks interested in working on some of these accessibility
} > issues.  Since a lot has been covered in this thread, I'll try to address
} > some of the points I've seen in this discussion and, perhaps, clarify where
} > I think we are as an NFB division and what my vision is going forward for
} > the division.  For those of you following this thread and contributing to
} > it, if there are particular points you think I've missed in the below
} > paragraphs, feel free to point them out in the discussion that's sure to
} > follow  this message.
} >
} > 1.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm a long time NFB member who has
} > worked in the IT field for the past 25 years.  My expertise is in the field
} > of Unix/Linux system programming and  networking, both in writing client
} > and server software, as well as building and maintaining local and wide
} > area IP networks.  I also have a good deal of experience building and
} > maintaining VOIP telephony networks and services.  For purposes of computer
} > access, I am totally blind and rely completely on braille and/or speech
} > output to gain access to the systems I work on.  Because I use a variety of
} > equipment, I use a variety of access technologies.  I'm proficient with
} > VoiceOver for iOS, NVDA under Windows, a long time user of Jaws, and,
} > thanks to Mike Gorse, another member of this list, the Yasr program under Unix.
} > It has long been my experience that creating access solutions which enable
} > me to do my work have required thought, creativity, a lot of trial and
} > error, much frustration on my part, and, some assistance from my colleagues
} > and co-workers.  As someone mentioned up thread on this list, I'm certain
} > that I've missed opportunities in my career due to lack of accessibility,
} > or my inability to think of a viable access solution, or just an assumption
} > on my part  that I couldn't do this or that.  Getting "backwatered" in the
} > IT field is a constant problem for everyone who works in it, and it is a
} > particular problem for blind individuals, myself included.  Still, with
} > that said, my career has been a rewarding one that has allowed me to enjoy
} > life, participate in a variety of exciting adventures and to join the
} > society of my friends and neighbors as a first class citizen.  The NFB and,
} > by extension, the NFB CS division, has been a key element of that success
} > because they gave me access to the likes of Steve Jacobson, Curtis Chong,
} > Curtis Willoughby, Lloyd Rasmussen, Jim Barbour and John Miller, not to
} > mention a vast array of other mentors and friends who could not only teach
} > me a bit about how to do what I wanted, but who lead by example by doing it
} > themselves.  I hope that overview will help inform the comments I have
} > about particular issues in this thread that I'll mention below.
} >
} > 2.  As Steve pointed out, the NFB CS Division is made up entirely of
} > volunteers.  That means the things that get done in the division are the
} > ones folks find interesting to work on and which can be scheduled in
} > available time.  To that end, regarding the topic of an NFB CS web site or
} > wikipedia, I think David Andrews said it best.  It's not hard to build a
} > web site or wikipedia pages, but maintaining them and their relevance is
} > very difficult over time.  A complaint I saw in this discussion was that
} > folks didn't know how to find the kinds of information they were getting
} > once they asked on this list.  Since this list is archived and since there
} > is a web site where the archives are  stored and accessible, it seems that
} > maybe what we should think about doing as a division is figuring out how to
} > funnel folks to that archive so they can find the answers folks have
} > provided on this list.  As an example, Nicole provided a nice summary of
} > the solution to her 3270 emulation software problem.  There is not a real
} > need, in my mind, to complicate the process of geting the word out to other
} > folks by asking her to write a formal wikipedia page explaining her fixes.
} > Rather, a simple page explaining that we have this list and the best terms
} > to type into Google to harvest what it has to offer seems like the quick
} > and easy way to leverage this list as a valuable resource.
} >
} > 3.  As to the issue of accessible certification testing, I do see this as a
} > barrier to job entry and, as such, I think it is something the division
} > should try to address.  I do not have the bandwidth or enough familiarity
} > with the details of the problem to take the lead to work on this issue.
} > However, if there are folks who are willing and able to work on this issue
} > and to cary it forward, possibly to formal actions, I'm willing to
} > facilitate that work and help bring it to fruition, either by advocating
} > for it on the national level, or by writing letters to appropriate
} > individuals or agencies, or some combination of that and other means.  Write
} > me off list if you are willing and able to work on this issue and we'll
} > figure out what steps need to be taken to get things moving.
} >
} > 4.   As an NFB national division, our business meeting, must, by
} > definition, be held at the NFB national convention.  That  doesn't preclude
} > us from holding other meetings throughout the year, but our official
} > business meeting is at the NFB national convention.  That said, beginning
} > last year, we began offering the ability for folks to join the division on-line,
} > allowing them to reep the benefits of NFB-CS membership.
} > Browse to:
} > https://web.nfbcal.org/nfbcsreg
} > to sign up as an NFB-CS member.
} >
} > 	Today, membership gains you the right to receive a copy of the
} > recording of the 2019 NFB-CS meeting held in Las Vegas last summer.  In
} > future, it will entitle you to access the archive of recordings from our
} > past meetings.  If you attend our business meeting, it gives you the right
} > to vote.  If you are interested in working on any of the issues I've
} > outlined in this e-mail, it would be my preference, but not a requirement,
} > that you join the NFB-CS division as part of starting inon the work.  In
} > that way, you will be more officially connected with  the division if any
} > of the work becomes formal.
} >
} > 5.  Again, as Steve pointed out, most of the NFB-CS board monitors and
} > participates in discussion on this list.  Curtis Chong, our most recent
} > past president and current treasurer, recently posted a treatise on the
} > virtues  of upgrading Windows to Windows 10 and trying out the new
} > Microsoft Edge browser.  Steve Jacobson, our vice president, regularly
} > contributes insightful comments on various ongoing discussions.  Jeanine
} > Lineback, one of our board members, posts job postings for various
} > accessibility related positions.  I send out meeting related announcements
} > regularly, and also try to contribute to discussions where I think my input
} > might be helpful.
} >
} > 6.  In my mind, as I said earlier in this message, the real value to our
} > division is the knowledge and experience of its members.  This mailing list
} > extends that knowledge and experience further because it includes many
} > people who have a lot of experience but who are not officially members of
} > the Division.  I know some folks would like us to cater more toward people
} > who are working in the computer science or IT fields.  I understand that
} > and have tried to move our agendas at our annual meeting in that direction
} > by including at least one panel or topic of interest to folks working in
} > the computing profession.  last year, for example, Tom Moore gave an
} > excellent talk on how to build and maintain AWS networks and servers with
} > nonvisual tools.  However, I don't see a lot of value in splitting our
} > resources into two lists, those discussing computer sciencey issues and
} > those asking general accessibility questions.  The truth is, access
} > technology being what it is, complicated, buggy and a moving target,
} > every blind computer professional I know has, at one time or another, been
} > reduced to a neophyte user by a piece of buggy access technology, a buggy
} > application, or just forgetting the magic sequence of commands or gestures
} > to do a particular task with a particular ap from time to time.  As such,
} > my feeling is that we can all learn from every question that comes up on
} > this list and for those of us who are more sophisticated, we can provide
} > our own filtering if there are things we don't want to follow on this list.
} > I, for example, have a very strong knowledge of Unix/Linux, systems
} > programming and integration, networking and VOIP systems.  However, my
} > knowledge of Windows is definitely not as complete.  Therefore, I value the
} > Windows questions that come up on this list because they teach me things I
} > didn't know.
} > Also, to that end, if there are things folks want us to work on as a
} > division, I'm happy to entertain a discussion and potentially embark on the
} > work, but I need your help to do it.  So, when you think about suggestions
} > for the Division to work on, also try to think about how we might go about working
} > on them in a sustainable manner.
} >
} > 	Thank you for taking the time to read this missive.  I hope it helps
} > clarify how I see the Division.  In the mean time, let's see if we can move
} > some of these ideas in this thread forward, shall we?
} >
} > -thanks
} > Sincerely,
} >
} > -Brian, President, NFB in Computer Science.
} >
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} 
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>-- End of excerpt from Jack Heim via NFBCS