[nabs-l] new nfb products for accessibility

Sat Dec 4 14:55:32 UTC 2010

William,

I don't know where to fall on your post.  The United States, I've noticed,
is often criticized for not being as up-to-date on laws for people with
disabilities as other countries, but so far as I can tell, the unemployment
rate for blind people is just as high abroad as it is at home.  I don't know
that I always see the value in the ADA, but it would seem from your post
that your discomfort runs deeper than the legislation.  What is it, if I may
ask, that you feel keeps blind people from being treated equally or
succeeding with equal measure?  The original post in this thread is
irrelevant.  Far be it from me to quash people's hobbies, but we live in an
economy where employment is more important than entertainment.  Things may
improve, and yet the United States is also positioning itself to take a back
seat in the global market.  It seems easier to outsource than to keep jobs
domestic, and so competition will naturally increase, making it imperative
for us to double up our efforts to prove that our disabilities do not keep
us from performing on equal par with our peers.  In short, what happened to
priorities?  I would love for a number of games to be accessible to me, but
if we could concentrate that vigor on making more jobs accessible, we might
be in a better position to take care of our families before taking care of
our whims.

Respectfully,

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-	 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William ODonnell
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2010 11:02 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] new nfb products for accessibility

This and many other reasons are making me make a major decision 
to leave this country.  In the event that I become a parent, I 
will be sure to not raze my children here to be forced to learn 
the falasies about how all are equal and all have equal rights, 
etc while there parent is home on PA fighting to be gainfully 
emploied.  I want all to read a book entitled disableing 
america.  It is a great book about how this country caused hate 
and anger both in error and purpose by passing the ADA.  In 
addition, the book shows how the ADA created a goldmine in the 
advancement of careers for lawyers.  

--- On Fri, 12/3/10, Josh Kennedy <jkenn337 at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Josh Kennedy <jkenn337 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nabs-l] new nfb products for accessibility
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date: Friday, December 3, 2010, 7:28 PM
> Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 16:03:44 -0500
> From: Thomas Ward <thomasward1978 at gmail.com>
> To: Gamers Discussion list <gamers at audyssey.org>
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Mainstream brands and how to work
> with them
> 
> Hi Eleanor,
> 
> While I agree with you that we, as blind gamers, must
> continue to try
> and contact mainstream developers and make them aware of
> our needs we
> also have to remember all of us have a biological time
> clock. For
> example, I'm already in my mid 30's and for a human being
> that is
> about roughly half the human life span. I shouldn't have to
> wait 10,
> 20, or 30 years to see some access changes being done in my
> life time.
> I should be able to experience and enjoy some of these
> games right
> here and now. While there are groups like IGDA trying to
> get changes
> they aren't going to get these companies into making any
> changes soon,
> and certainly not force companies to go back and remake
> every single
> game they have ever designed with accessibility. Which is
> exactly what
> they need to do to make it fair that each and everyone of
> us have an
> opportunity to play these games.
> 
> This is were the problem comes in. I know full well what
> what the
> copyright laws say, and pretty much how they work. Problem
> is
> companies have been able to use copyright laws as a means
> of denying
> equal access to products and services for years. If I want
> to play a
> certain vidio game I can't because it is not accessible,
> and the
> company can use copyright laws to keep me from producing my
> own
> accesssible version. If I want to listen to a certain movie
> with audio
> description I often have to have someone send me a copy
> from the U.K.
> so I can listen to it with audio description because the
> American
> broadcasting companies rarely if ever have audio
> description. There
> are probably hundreds of other examples, but the fact is
> when it comes
> to fair and equal treatment a blind man or woman always
> gets the short
> end of the stick. Somehow large mainstream companies always
> get the
> gold mine while we get the shaft.
> 
> To get back to the point I'm tired of the should of, would
> of, could
> of line. It is time we do something pretty major to make
> access
> changes now with or without the companies permission. If
> they don't
> like it and sue for copyright infringement I'll be happy to
> go on CNN,
> Fox News, or any major media outlet of your choice and
> expose these
> companies for the unsympathetic, short sighted, greedy
> jurks they are.
> Perhaps some media publicity of this issue will light a
> fire under
> their collective butts and make them aware some of us are
> sick and
> tired of being stone walled, denied, and/or being outright
> ignored. We
> want access changes and we want them now and not 50 years
> from now.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
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