[blindkid] National Federation of the Blind Endorses GoogleBooks Settlement Before Congress

Susan Harper sueharper at firstchurchgriswold.org
Sat Sep 12 11:45:30 UTC 2009


Thanks, that's what I guess I had to hear.
Blessings,
Sue H.

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 3:02 PM, Sally Thomas <seacknit at gmail.com> wrote:

> There are lots of free braille books available.  The school librarian can
> get books from NLS.  Your child can get a Bookshare account and books can be
> embossed with little difficulty (that may not be true for more complicated
> books but simple books shouldn't cause too much trouble).  There are free
> books from Seedlings, Braille Institute and Seeing Hands.  I guess the
> difficulty is that you may have to do a lot of the footwork yourself.  I
> feel like I know a whole lot more about braille technology and resources
> than I ever imagined I would.  It may not seem right but you have to be the
> tail wagging the dog in order to get the things your child needs.  I've
> found that once the school realizes that you know what you're talking about
> and you aren't going to back down, they begin to cooperate more.
>
> I haven't heard any stories of a perfect school that always got what the
> child needed in a timely manner but I've heard lots of stories of parents
> who've worked hard to get their kids what they need.  That's where I get my
> inspiration to keep on fighting.
>
> Sally Thomas
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Harper" <
> sueharper at firstchurchgriswold.org>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" <
> blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 9:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] National Federation of the Blind Endorses
> GoogleBooks Settlement Before Congress
>
>
>   Thank you.  I will be passing this on.
>>
>> Our BESB worker does not think that our children should have access to
>> Braille books in Pre-K similar to the sighted children who have print
>> books
>> available.  There isn't anyone who can Braille in the school and the
>> teachers and aides have not had training according to our BESB worker to
>> be
>> able to work with Braille.  Any suggestions!
>> Blessings,
>> Sue H.
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 7:07 PM, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> CONTACT:
>>>
>>> Chris Danielsen
>>>
>>> Director of Public Relations
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>
>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>>>
>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>>>
>>> cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>> Endorses Google Books Settlement Before Congress
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Urges Justice Department to Support Settlement
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Washington, DC (September 10, 2009): The National Federation of the
>>> Blind,
>>> the nation's oldest and largest organization of blind people and the
>>> leading
>>> advocate for access by the blind to digital information, testified before
>>> the House Judiciary Committee today that the proposed settlement between
>>> Google and authors and publishers regarding the Google Books project
>>> should
>>> be approved.  The Google Books settlement will make millions of titles
>>> available to the blind and other Americans with print disabilities,
>>> providing more access to the printed word than the blind have had in all
>>> of
>>> human history.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, told
>>> the House Judiciary Committee: "The Google settlement is, for the blind
>>> and
>>> many others, the next step in the democratization of knowledge.  That
>>> process began with the introduction of the printing press and then, for
>>> the
>>> blind, with the invention of Braille.  Now technology is available that
>>> transcends the traditional limitations of both print and Braille,
>>> promising
>>> to make millions of titles available to the blind in Braille or any other
>>> format of our choice.  The narrow business interests of Google's
>>> competitors
>>> must not be allowed to block Americans who cannot read print from all of
>>> the
>>> opportunities that greater access to written knowledge will make
>>> available
>>> to them.  It is time for the doors of the world's great libraries to be
>>> opened and welcome to everyone."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The National Federation of the Blind also urged the United States
>>> Department of Justice, which is reviewing the terms of the settlement, to
>>> support the agreement.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "The Google Books settlement is a major step forward in advancing the
>>> civil
>>> rights of blind Americans and others who cannot read print because it
>>> substantially increases our opportunities for education and employment,"
>>> President Maurer said.  "The Justice Department, which is tasked with
>>> protecting the civil rights of all Americans, should respect the
>>> agreement
>>> of the parties to the settlement and allow its access provisions to be
>>> fully
>>> implemented.  In doing so, the government will send a strong message that
>>> it
>>> values the participation of the blind in society and believes that we
>>> should
>>> have access to all of the information to which our sighted friends and
>>> colleagues have access."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ###
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