[stylist] West Virginia Governor Issues Proclamation about Braille, Newspaper Fails to Mention the Coin

[Donna Hill]

The following article appeared in the Herald Dispatch, Huntington, WV at:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x90205160/Gov-pledges-support-for-initiatives-for-blind

Though they mention the NFB of WV and the proclamation from the 
governor, they fail to mention the coin or the Braille Readers are 
Leaders campaign.  Leaving a comment requires registration which 
requires entering a code from their masthead.  Not only is it 
inaccessible to screen readers, but Web Visum's CAPTCHA solving tool 
doesn't recognize it either.

I have contacted the online editor and the news editor.  I am copying 
their e-mail addresses, if anyone would like to help the NFB of WV 
getting the word out.  This is not the first time WV media has carried a 
story about them without mentioning the coin or the "Braille Readers are 
Leaders" campaign.  WV Public Radio did a story about Ed McDonald, who 
is first vice president of NFB of WV, in which they make it sound like 
the Braille literacy crisis is his own particular perspective.  Ed had 
provided them with the NFB press releases and other information 
mentioning the coin, but they, like the Herald Dispatch, chose not to 
include it.
Donna Hill

E-mail Addresses for The Herald Dispatch
Online Editor, Cassandra Johnston Parsins
CJohnsto at heralddispatch.com

News Editor, Thom (that's with a TH)Marsh:
tmarsh at heralddispatch.com

Gov. pledges support for initiatives for blind
May 28, 2009 @ 12:00 AM
The Herald-Dispatch
CHARLESTON -- West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin recently pledged his 
support for initiatives to enable more blind West Virginians to read and 
write braille.

The year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, the 
inventor of the raised dot system of reading and writing that bears his 
name.

A recent meeting in Charleston was one of many events taking place 
throughout the nation to recognize braille as the key to literacy for 
blind persons.
The meeting was organized by the National Federation of the Blind of 
West Virginia and included representatives from several state and 
private agencies.

Manchin issued a proclamation recognizing braille as a tool for blind 
persons "to be productive and imaginative contributors to society."

However, he said the rate of braille literacy in the country has 
declined to the point where only 10 percent of blind children are 
learning to read and
write braille.

"Just as a literacy rate of 10 percent among this nation's sighted 
children would be rightly viewed as a crisis and as cause for national 
outrage, the decline
in braille literacy is a crisis and swift action must be taken to 
reverse this dangerous trend," he said.


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