[nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates AgainstBlindStudentsand Faculty

Peter Donahue pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com
Sun Nov 14 18:15:51 UTC 2010 

Hello Jedi and everyone,

    Some of us who dared to believe that a car drivable by the blind as far 
back as the 1960s was a possibility were subject to horrendous treatment by 
some agencies for the blind for thinking out-of-the-box. At one 
God-for-saken hell hole in Massachusetts that fortunately no longer operates 
voicing such beliefs could get you confined to your room for five hours at a 
time without supper. Hence when someone voices a belief concerning an 
initiative they have not taken the time to research thoroughly such as the 
blind driver challenge they're walking on the fighting side of me!

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jedi" <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 5:48 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates AgainstBlindStudentsand 
Faculty


In the short-run, maybe. But a blind drivable car would solve more
problems in the long-run. By making blind folks see, we're not dealing
with the social problems of blindness being a sort of second-class
citizenship. With the car, we're forcing people to think and talk about
the issues we've been tackling for years. Cheers.

Respectfully,
Jedi

Original message:
> Hello Peter,
> I think your point is valid.  However, speaking as an engineer, I think it
> would be as easy, and perhaps easier, to develop an artificial eye than to
> develop the type of car you are suggesting.  An artificial eye would of
> course solve many more problems than the car.  Just a thought.
> Dennis

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 2:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against BlindStudentsand
> Faculty


> Hello everyone,

>     Some of us contemplated the possibility of the blind being able to 
> drive
> as far back as the 1960s and will do whatever is necessary to make it
> happen. If you think this is a waste of time remember this exchange the 
> next
> time you must travel to an area where there is no public transportation or
> the next time your bus, taxi, or paratransit vehicle is late picking you 
> up.
> It's not just about blind people driving but about blind people being
> empowered to live their lives as they choose.

> Peter Donahue


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 3:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Studentsand
> Faculty


> I don't understand, are you mad because we did take a stand on this? 
> While
> I think that blind people driving is a long shot, there is a lot of
> technology
> that can spin off from that effort that will help us in other areas,
> particularly in the area of possible travel aids and even tactile 
> graphics.
> The fact is,
> whether you or I like it or not, something like blind people driving pries
> loose funding from sources that would not be interested in anything less
> dramatic.

> Best regards,

> Steve Jacobson

> On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:56:26 -0800 (PST), William ODonnell wrote:

>> What elce is new when you live as a blind person in the U.S.  This is 
>> what
>> the NFB should take a stand on, not a fabrication that the blind can and
>> will
> drive today.  Have that dream for the next 100 years when the problems of
> today are solved.  With these continuing problems, we should focus on the
> problems of today without falsifying reality.  The blind can and will not
> drive when our culture still thinks so little of us.



>> --- On Fri, 11/12/10, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:

>>> From: Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org>
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and
>>> Faculty
>>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>>> Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 7:38 PM

>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



>>> CONTACT:

>>> Chris Danielsen

>>> Director of Public Relations

>>> National Federation of the Blind

>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330

>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)

>>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org




>>> Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and
>>> Faculty




>>> National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint Against
>>> Penn State



>>> Baltimore, Maryland (November 12, 2010): The National
>>> Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nationâ¬"s oldest and
>>> largest organization of blind people, announced today that
>>> it has filed a complaint with the United States Department
>>> of Education, Office for Civil Rights, requesting an
>>> investigation of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
>>> for violating the civil rights of blind students and
>>> faculty.  The NFB filed the complaint because a variety
>>> of computer- and technology-based services and Web sites at
>>> Penn State are inaccessible to blind students and
>>> faculty.  Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
>>> Act requires public state universities to offer equal access
>>> to their programs and services.



>>> The accessibility problems at Penn State include:
>>> Â Â Â * The library at Penn State hosts a Web
>>> site with access to the library catalog that is available to
>>> any registered student.  The Web site, however, is not
>>> fully accessible to blind students due to improper coding
>>> that prevents screen access software used by the blind from
>>> properly interpreting the site.
>>>    * Many of Penn Stateâ¬"s departmental Web
>>> sites are not fully accessible to the blind, including,
>>> ironically, the Web site for the Office of Disability
>>> Services.
>>> Â Â Â * Penn State utilizes the ANGEL course
>>> management system.  ANGEL is an integral part of the
>>> learning and teaching experience at Penn State that allows
>>> students and professors to interact with each other online
>>> and perform various  course-related functions. This
>>> course management software is almost completely inaccessible
>>> to blind users.
>>> Â Â Â * Many teachers at Penn State use a
>>> â¬Ssmart⬝ podium, which allows the professor to connect
>>> his/her laptop to a computer at the podium and display
>>> images and videos loaded from the laptop on a screen at the
>>> front of the room.  The podium is operated by an
>>> inaccessible touchscreen keypad that controls almost all
>>> podium functions.  Thus, blind faculty members must
>>> rely on assistance from a sighted person to utilize the
>>> podium.
>>> Â Â Â * Penn State contracts with PNC Bank to
>>> enable students to use their identification cards as debit
>>> cards.  The PNC Web site is nearly inaccessible with
>>> screen access software, and there is only one ATM on the
>>> entire Penn State campus with audio output through a
>>> headphone jack so that blind students can use it privately
>>> and independently.

>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of
>>> the Blind, said: â¬SThe number and scope of the
>>> accessibility problems at Penn State demonstrate the
>>> institutionâ¬"s blatant­and unlawful­lack of regard for
>>> the equal education of its blind students and failure to
>>> accommodate its blind faculty members and employees.Â
>>> There is simply no excuse for blind students and faculty to
>>> be denied the same access to information and technology as
>>> their sighted peers.  Sadly, this cavalier attitude
>>> toward accessibility is found not only at Penn State, but at
>>> many of our nationâ¬"s colleges and universities.  That
>>> is why we have asked the United States Department of
>>> Education to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that blind
>>> students and faculty members are given the same access and
>>> opportunity to succeed as their sighted peers.⬝



>>> The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this
>>> matter by Daniel F. Goldstein, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and
>>> Brooke Lierman of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and
>>> Levy.



>>> ###





>>> About the National Federation of the Blind

>>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of
>>> the Blind is the largest and most influential membership
>>> organization of blind people in the United States.  The
>>> NFB improves blind peopleâ¬"s lives through advocacy,
>>> education, research, technology, and programs encouraging
>>> independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading
>>> force in the blindness field today and the voice of the
>>> nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the
>>> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the
>>> first research and training center in the United States for
>>> the blind led by the blind.

>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your
>>> account info for nabs-l:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/william.odonnell1%40yahoo.com





>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com







> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/pdonahue2%40satx.rr.com


> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/dennisgclark%40sbcglobal.net


> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/loneblindjedi%40samobile.net

-- 
Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit
www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.


_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/pdonahue2%40satx.rr.com

More information about the NABS-L mailing list