[Promotion-technology] (no subject)

[William ODonnell]

The below article was in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper on Sunday, November 30, 2008
The article was titled:   Making life easier for the blind 

written by Jennifer Maloney 
Jennifer.maloney at newsday.com

Accompanied by his guide dog, Sunrise, Frank Perino is a man on a mission.
In his mind's eye, Frank Perino sees a more accessible Islip. He sees Braille menus in restaurants, large-print directo¬ries in public buildings and crosswalk signals that speak.
And with friendly persis¬tence, he's nudging local offi¬cials and businesses in that direction.
Perino, who has been blind all his life, travels the region with his guide dog, Sunrise. Together, they walk the streets of Islip, board the Long Island Rail Road and navigate the subways of New York City.
But Sunrise, a 7-year-old Akita who follows voice com¬mands, can only do so much.  She can lead him down the sidewalk, but she can't tell him what street he's on.   And she can take him up the steps of town hall, but she can't tell him which office is the planning department.
"You're completely lost if you can't read these things," said Perino, 65. "Oh man, it's hard. You have to ask people. Half the time, they tell you the wrong thing. You don't know where you are. It's very frus¬trating."
An advocate, Perino is founder and presi¬dent of Innersight, an advoca¬cy group for people with dis¬abilities. He hosts a weekly show on cable television, also broadcast on the Web. And working with local elected officials and the Islip Chamber of Commerce, he's bringing about some small changes.
At Perino's request, Islip asked the state Department of Transportation to install an audible crosswalk signal at Main Street and Union Avenue.  Now, a voice tells pedestri¬ans to wait, then walk, count-ing down the seconds until the signal changes. The audible signals cost $450 per pole, according to Islip Councilman Steven Flotteron Innersight came up with $500 to cover the cost of Islip's installing a Braille directory and map at the east entrance of town hall this month.  And Perino is working with the chamber to print Braille menus for local restaurants.  "Frank is very, very persis¬tent, and he's a hell of a nice guy," said Tom Cilmi, presi¬dent of the chamber. "He shows business owners the light and says, 'Listen, there is a community out there who needs this type of thing.' When it's easy to do, there's no reason that a blind fellow like Frank can't sit there with a menu without somebody liter¬ally reading it to him."
Braille menus
Already, one restaurant that Perino frequents, In Season on West Main Street, has printed Braille menus.  The bistro, which offers new dishes every season, has printed five Braille menus so far, said the restaurant's owner and chef, Christopher Hunter.  A four-page menu would cost about $40 to translate into Braille and about $1.20 to print each copy according to the 
American Printing House for the Blind. The chamber of commerce plans to help Innersight raise money to pay for the menus.  While Braille material helps many visually impaired people, Perino is ' quick to point out that not everyone can read Braille. So he's asking the Town of Islip to add a large-print ver¬sion of the town hall directory and map.  "We don't want to leave anyone out," he said.
At a news conference unveiling the Braille sign, Perino stood with Sunrise at his side, running his fingers across the raised dots.  He read aloud: "Lower floor, data processing. Planning department. It's giving you an idea of what is where. Garage sale permits. Oh, could we have a garage sale? We could raise more money!"  Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan, standing next to him, said yes, he could.  "This is really cool," Perino said.  A few days later, the town board honored Perino for his work on behalf of Islip's disabled residents.
On his way to town hall, he and Sunrise were crossing a street when the light changed and cars suddenly zoomed around them.
"I was scared, really scared," he recalled in the town board room before the board presented him with a framed citation. "Sunrise got me across."
Perino's mission is to have audible crosswalks installed at every cross¬walk — not just in Islip, but every¬where.
The state Department of Transporta¬tion, which pays for and installs them on request, so far has installed nine on Long Island.
And Islip last year passed a resolu¬tion to consider adding them whenever the town approves a new traffic or development project.
But that's not enough for Perino. Just as public and private buildings must provide wheelchair-accessible entranc¬es, local and state governments should ensure that blind people can safely cross the street, he said.
So, as he took the podium in town hall to accept a citation from Nolan, Perino once again pressed his point: Let's make every intersection safe to cross, he said.
"Let's make the Town of Islip an example."