[stylist] A copy of my accessibility article

Tue Feb 14 00:12:58 UTC 2012

I would generally agree with you about the flawed nature of that particular
bill.  The worst thing about it is that it seemed to appear out of nowhere
without the general public having a clear idea what was in the bill and thus
now way to judge its possible implications.  What I was attempting to do
when I mentioned it was to think out of the box a bit to see if there was a
way to raise our issues to a higher profile, since we might have some
difficulty strategically with a stand-alone bill, though perhaps that could
be incorrect thinking as well.  

The possible censorship issues with SOPA are real concerns.  Without being
named specifically it was briefly mentioned during the Grammy telecast last
night, as an ad sponsored by the recording academy urged fans to support the
protection of artists' commercial rights while recognizing the need to work
with fans and the tech community given the changes in how business is
conducted today.  So the commercial interests know at least to some extent
this whole concept needs to be reworked.  I just don't know when or if
something can or will be worked out that addresses everyone's concerns,
especially in the current contentious political environment.  

I haven't watched the Grammys lately or any of the awards shows lately, but
I was drawn in due to the sudden passing of Whitney Houston.  As she was
only one year oder than I am, I appreciate the sudden loss of a
contemporary.  I had some admiration for her talent though I wouldn't
necessarily consider myself a fan.  I also have to admit to being a little
out of touch with some of today's pop culture.  

Have a good day.  

Bill Outman 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Donna Hill
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 9:41 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] A copy of my accessibility article

Bill,
Thanks. From what I've been told by Jim Antonacci, president of the NFB of
PA, the NFB has decided to approach the issue of accessible home appliances
first, and it is a major focus of the 2012 Washington seminar. In terms of
linking web access with SOPA, I think that bill had so many people upset
that they will never support it no matter what it says. I'd hate to see us
link such an important issue to a bill that people think will bring about
the kind of censorship that exists in countries like China, Iran and Seria.

BTW, when I was promoting this article, I used SOPA as in: Worried about
SOPA? The government already restricts internet access.

I hope the NFB will have quick success with the appliances and move on to
web  access. There are huge issues that bother me personally, not the least
of which is that some online comment forms are inaccessible, which makes it
difficult to counter some of the nasty things the sighted say about us
online.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bill Outman
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 8:34 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] A copy of my accessibility article

Hi, Donna and list.  

I thought this was a well-written article.  

I checked last year's Washington seminar legislative agenda which I still
had on file and found the first item was a proposal for a Technology Bill of
Rights which might address many of the issues your article raises.  

Before your article showed up I had been working on a draft of some
proposedlegislative strategy and that bill was one of the missing pieces I
need to reference.  

My idea came about with the recent news about SOPA (Stop On-line Piracy
Act).  

There have been some concerns raised about this bill that have caused it to
be stalled for the present.  In concept, though, if the concerns about
Internet security and web freedom could be properly balanced in a re-written
bill, it could be a useful vehicle for enacting our Technology Bill of
Rights.  After all, security is the excuse for inaccessible technologies
such as CAPCHA.  

I'm not sure if my idea would work but I'm trying to think out loud and
explorepossible solutions.  

Bill Outman 

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