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<p class="MsoNormal">This is of interest.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is anyone having trouble signing up or receiving your vaccinations?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Chapter-Presidents <chapter-presidents-bounces@nfbnet.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Daniel Garcia via Chapter-Presidents<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, March 28, 2021 9:39 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Missouri Affiliate Leaders (missouriaffiliateleaders@nfbnet.org) <missouriaffiliateleaders@nfbnet.org>; NFB of Missouri Mailing List (nfbmo@nfbnet.org) <nfbmo@nfbnet.org>; Chapter Presidents Mailing List (chapter-presidents@nfbnet.org) <chapter-presidents@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Daniel Garcia <dangarcia3@hotmail.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Chapter-Presidents] Balky sign-ups complicate virus vaccinations for blind, deaf<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Friends:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was an article on today’s Kansas City Star about the problem of inaccessible methods for signing up for a COVID19 vaccine. This article does mention the National Federation of the Blind. For your convenience, I have copied the text
below my signature.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Source:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/article250256900.html">https://www.kansascity.com/news/article250256900.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Regards<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Daniel Garcia, President, Kansas City Chapter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">National Federation of the Blind of Missouri<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:dangarcia3@hotmail.com">dangarcia3@hotmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(816) 621-0902<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.nfb.org">www.nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.nfbmo.org">www.nfbmo.org</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Live the life you want.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">***<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Balky sign-ups complicate virus vaccinations for blind, deaf<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BY JAY REEVES ASSOCIATED PRESS<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MARCH 27, 2021 01:30 PM<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">figure<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This March 11, 2021, photo provided by Rebecca Stumpf shows Robert Jaquiss, who is blind and experienced problems when he tried to get an appointment for<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a COVID-19 vaccination near his home in Missoula, Montana. The confusing maze of websites, phone numbers, emails and paper documents required to sign up<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for an immunization in the United States is presenting a challenge for people who are visually impaired or hard of hearing. (Rebecca Stumpf via AP)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BIRMINGHAM, ALA.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unable to see, Carla McQuillan typically uses a program that converts the letters on a screen into audible words when she wants to read something online.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The tool wouldn't work when she tried to schedule an appointment to get a COVID-19 vaccine, however.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“When I clicked, it wouldn’t tell me what the date was. I could have tapped on something, but I wouldn’t have known what it was,” said McQuillan, who operates<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a Montessori school and serves as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon. Her husband, who can see, eventually helped out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Alabama, Donte Little helped 20 blind and deaf people who had trouble signing up for vaccinations and getting to a clinic for shots.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s been a challenge for anybody. Add deafness or blindness on top of it and it’s that much more of one,” said Little, who is visually impaired and directs<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a regional center for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The confusing maze of websites, phone numbers, emails and paper documents required to sign up for an immunization in the United States is presenting a<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">challenge for people who are visually impaired or hard of hearing. Providers are using multiple different systems that can vary by state and even cities,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they say, often forcing the disabled to rely on others to help them get in line.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Federal laws require communications in an understandable format and accommodations to assist people who might face obstacles, and the Centers for Disease<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Control and Prevention has laid out instructions that include having local health departments provide staff to address accessibility needs and plans.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the National Federation of the Blind wrote to every U.S. governor last month complaining about hurdles posed by balky sign-up systems and vaccine distribution<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">methods including drive-up clinics, which it said are largely inaccessible to people who can't see. The group has yet to receive a "substantive" response<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">from any state, spokesman Chris Danielsen said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Separately, the National Association of the Deaf said problems including confusing and complex information, phone systems that can't be used by hard of<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">hearing and a lack of interpreters is making it difficult for people who can't hear to make appointments for immunizations. Chief Executive Howard A. Rosenblum<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">said the group has asked the Biden administration for help.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"The process continues to be very haphazard and confusing for everyone, but particularly for people with disabilities due to the lack of foresight on accessibility,"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he said in an email.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such problems could affect millions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The CDC reports that an estimated 12 million Americans over the age of 40 have impaired vision, including 1 million who are blind, and the National Association<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">of the Deaf said a 2011 study found that 48 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing. The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness estimated in 2008<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that about 40,000 U.S. adults were both deaf and blind.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tara L. Invidiato, a director with the American Association of the DeafBlind, said members trying to sign up for vaccines have faced multiple problems<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">including glitchy websites, inaccessible notifications and the speed required to fill out forms while reading Braille.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I had to rely on someone who can see and that is unsettling because we the DeafBlind aim for independent living and we know we can do things by ourselves<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for the most part,” she said in an email interview.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robert Weinstock, who is profoundly deaf, said clunky telephone systems are posing problems for some who can't hear because some appointment hotlines don't<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">have workers who understand how to use video services that allow for communication by sign language. That leads to frustration and calls that end with<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">hang-ups, he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Also, some sites will accept pre-registration online, but conduct the actual scheduling via telephone, leaving voice messages even when the deaf person<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">has explicitly requested contact via text or email. This can be a significant barrier,” said Weinstock, director of public relations at Gallaudet University,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a school for the deaf.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alicia Wooten, who works with a COVID-19 team at Gallaudet, which is in Washington, D.C., said simply getting the word out to deaf people about vaccination<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">availability is a problem because so much notification is done by platforms including radio.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“This means the Deaf community has a delay in getting information, so that by the time they try to register, vaccines are already reserved. The cycle is<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then repeated,” she said an an email.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there are cases where the system is working. Weinstock said both he and his wife went to vaccination locations and got shots with relative ease because<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">there were interpreters and people had been trained.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Every single person I spoke with, from check-in to ‘recovery,’ whipped out their smartphones and used a notes app to converse with me, or wrote on paper,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">or otherwise made sure I was fully included,” Weinstock, who lives in Maryland, said in an email exchange.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robert Jaquiss, who is blind, experienced problems firsthand when he tried to get an appointment for a shot in Missoula, Montana. He was eventually able<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to snag a time with the help of a friend who can see, but Jaquiss said the sign-up system isn’t built to accommodate people unable to navigate quickly<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">during the process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I can’t just zip-zip through,” Jaquiss, 67, said in a phone interview. “When they say a site link opens up at 1 p.m., they mean 1 p.m., and if you’re<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not Johnny on the spot the appointments are gone.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">figure<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">true<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This undated photo shows Alicia Wooten, who works with a COVID-19 team at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and said getting the word out to deaf<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">people about vaccination availability is a problem because so much notification is done by platforms including radio. The confusing maze of websites, phone<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">numbers, emails and paper documents required to sign up for an immunization in the United States is presenting a challenge for people who are visually<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">impaired or hard of hearing. (Alicia Wooten via AP) AP<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">figure end<o:p></o:p></p>
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