Update on COVID-19 accessible tests

blind travels logo, text and silhouette of guide dog and handler

A couple days ago I posted about free accessible COVID-19 tests which are readable through a smartphone for blind and low vision users. Today they have announced the USPS will send 12 tests in 6 packages instead of 2. Here is more information, I placed my order and they gave me information for five packages since I have already received my first order.

https://acb.org/accessible-COVID-tests-announcement

Link to order directly

https://special.usps.com/testkits/accessible


Blind Travels featured in Accessible Journeys Magazine

A heartfelt thank you  goes out to Accessible Journeys magazine for the wonderful article on Blind Travels in their summer issue. While we focus mainly on blind and low vision accessible travel, the fine folks at Accessible Travel create articles and tips geared toward a variety of disabilities. I encourage you to take a moment and check out their well produced and beautiful looking magazine. 

For blind and low vision viewers, Accessible Journeys features a built in screen reader mode, which allows users to enter a text-heavy version of the magazine which works perfectly with NVDA and Jaws. The screen reader mode also features a built in screen reader. 

Here is a link to the summer edition of the magazine.

https://reader.mediawiremobile.com/M%C3%A9lange%20Magazine%20Publications/issues/207950/viewer?page=1

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers! Have you checked out the latest issue of Accessible Journey, let me know what you think!  Additionally, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. Follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/

 


Accessible COVID-19 tests are now available

blind travels logo, text and silhouette of guide dog and handler

At home COVID tests are great, but until now if you had little or no vision, it was impossible to read the results of the tests.  The test results are read through an app on your smartphone vis Bluetooth. The test is compatible with iPhones and Android smartphones, but not Android tablets. An iPhone needs iOS 12 or later, and an Android phone needs Android 6.0 or later and Bluetooth 4.0 or later to run the tests. The link below has a list of compatible devices from the manufacturer. 

Click to access COVID19-Home-Test-List-of-Compatible-Devices_Final-B.pdf

According to the manufacturer, complete audio instructions are provided in the app to aid in connecting to and obtaining the test results for the test units. I have ordered mine, and will report back with more information. 

You can sign up and order your tests from the USPS website at the link below, or by calling: 800-232-0233. Each order is for one package of two accessible tests, and there’s a limit of one order per address. 

https://special.usps.com/testkits/accessible

If you would like more information about the program or the tests, here is an article from seniorsmatter.com

https://www.seniorsmatter.com/free-accessible-covid-19-tests-now-available-for-visually-impaired-people/2613400/

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers! Have you tried the new accessible rapid COVID-19 tests? What do you think? Additionally, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. Follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/

 


Complaint alleges DraftKings website is not accessible to blind users

blind travels logo, text and silhouette of guide dog and handler

Robert Jahoda recently filed a lawsuit alleging the DraftKings  online gambling website is not completely compatible with screen readers. While this is a commonly seen lawsuit, it is not surprising. Unfortunately, the needs of blind and visually impaired users when it comes to accessing online content are often overlooked when companies develop websites. Even worse, I personally know web developers who think that they can close their eyes and gain a true insight into the way a blind or visually impaired person surfs the web. What are companies to do with lawsuits like these? are they helpful to online commerce in the long run?

Its the law

Users with disabilities have the same right to use a website or technology as anyone else. A company must make their services available to everyone under the Americans With Disabilities Act signed into law in 1990. For the ADA National Network brief on accessible digital technology:

One of the main issues concerning the ADA and web accessibility is what constitutes “public accommodations.” Title III of the ADA provides regulations for private businesses and other entities to ensure access for people with disabilities within the realm of public accommodations, described as “businesses that are generally open to the public.”2 This phrasing has become central to the understanding of web accessibility within the U.S. Two notable court cases related to this issue include Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza LLC and National Association of the Deaf et al. vs. Netflix, Inc. Both of these cases were ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (i.e. people with disabilities). The rulings detail that companies must provide accessible features in online applications and web-based businesses. Despite the number of web accessibility cases, the Department of Justice has withdrawn potential rule changes to the ADA to provide further regulations on digital access. Businesses can utilize other standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG),3 in order to meet the spirit of the ADA and provide accessible technology to the public.

Under the ADA, a visually impaired person wishing to access digital content has every right to do so. This means that companies who do not have accessible websites must provide them. Until the standards for accessible information delivery are solidified, class action suits such as the one against DraftKings are going to continue. My suggestion to any company facing this sort of litigation not see it as a negative or an inconvenience, but rather as a potential positive impact on your business. 

Big business

According to the CDC, nearly 7 million people in the United States are blind or visually impaired. A company who does not provide accessible web content is alienating these potential customers. Being visually impaired myself, and a screen reader user I appreciate and often offer my loyalty to websites which are fully accessible. Conversely, websites which employ tactics to keep visitors on their page longer by placing popup ads with the close button located in strange or hard to find locations will generally not see my patronage again. 

Big bucks

Companies like DraftKings which can afford to be a primary advertiser for the Super Bowl, and has the advertising budget to be in every television break for the Stanley Cup playoffs can certainly afford to have a person on staff who can properly review their website infrastructure for proper accessibility.  Why not take a different tactic when resolving this issue and employ a visually impaired person to help with this, and give your company a positive PR spin with the blind and visually impaired community? Increasing the number of people who can use your site can only benefit your business, and offset any development costs incurred while implementing accessibility features. 

This sentiment extends to more than DraftKings, any corporation providing content to the public should be aware of the needs of it’s disabled customers, and be proactive about meeting those needs before class action suits start heading your way. 

Resources for this article

If you would like to read more about the class action suit, follow the link below. 

DraftKings complaint alleges website inaccessible to visually impaired, blind

If you would like more information about the ADA Title III and Digital Access, follow the link below.

https://adata.org/research_brief/digital-access-and-title-iii-ada

If you would like more information and statistics about the number of Americans with low vision and blindness, follow the link below

https://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/risk/burden.htm

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers! What do you think? Are these lawsuits frivolous or are they of benefit to the blind and low vision community?  Additionally, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. Follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/


The difference between emotional support animal and service dog

blind travels logo, text and silhouette of guide dog and handler
Do you know the difference between an emotional support animal and a service dog? It can be confusing, especially with the new legislation, and all of the claims by companies on the internet promising documentation to allow you to take your dog anywhere you go. I am a guide dog user and the people who mistakenly believe they can take a household pet anywhere they go because they bought an official looking ID card online often makes it more difficult for those who use well trained legitimate service animals. It is a bit sad when I go into a restaurant and park my guide under the table, only to have the hostess come over and say they have never seen a well behaved service animal before. With some questioning, it often becomes clear that the general clientele who bring in dogs masquerading as service animals bark and cause a commotion while they are in the restaurant. This is sad and I do what I can to educate them on what a legitimate service animal should behave like. 
You can learn lots more here:
https://www.baywoof.org/ask-dr-dog/ogel0jyo5pikvw8t0qmuibjg6q8ksd?fbclid=IwAR25g0UrF50HkZz0gbK6x4lKyVUYukU-5LQG2COSdSe3oU4KGC_o2PBSpbM

Don’t pet the fluffy cows!

A majestic looking buffalo in a field of brown grass with the rocky mountains behind him.
A reminder to keep an eye on your travel companions this summer. The woman in this article intentionally got too close to a Bison while visiting Yellowstone National Park. The animals in our national parks are not domesticated (in almost every case) and have little to no tolerance for tourists doing dumb things. It feels like every year we have to put out reminders like this because someone got too close to an elk during rutting season or wandered up to a bison for a selfie.
I feel like it is the responsibility of the blind or visually impaired person in the group to point out that someone is about to do something silly. Since your travel companions are usually narrating the happenings, you can take it upon yourself to reiterate the things that are going on… What do you mean Stacey is walking up to a Bison for a selfie??!?
Let’s have a safe and sane summer vacation season!

Meow Wolf Denver Audio Described Tour

Ted and his black lab guide dog Fauna inspect a wall-mounted sculpture. Ted is inspecting the sculpture via touch, he wears glasses and has a ponytail in his hair.

Meow Wolf is a Santa-Fe based art and entertainment company which creates immersive experiences designed to transport guests out of their normal reality into a fantastical environment packed with visual, tactile, and auditory delights. The first Meow Wolf is located in Santa Fe and opened in 2016. Since that time, they have expanded into two additional locations, Las Vegas, and Denver.     

As a visually impaired person, I love art of all types, especially immersive art with a strong tactile and auditory component. I was very excited to learn that Meow Wolf is now offering Audio Described tours, which depart the Convergence Station lobby at 10AM on the second Saturday of the month. There is no additional cost for the Audio Described Tour, guests just need to schedule and confirm their time through the Meow Wolf website (more on that later).

Recently, I was offered an opportunity to join one of the Highlights of the Convergence Audio Description Tours, so I loaded up my wife and guide dog Fauna anticipating a great multi-sensory immersive art experience. I had not been to Meow Wolf before this tour, so I was really looking forward to it.

The Venue

The Denver Meow Wolf is located off I-25 near Empower Field at Mile High. Parking is limited, especially during football season, so plan your tour with plenty of time in mind. Meow Wolf boasts five stories with 90,000 square feet of space, 2/3 of that being dedicated to immersive art, and the remainder houses offices, a café, bar and an 800-person music venue.

My Experience

We arrived about half an hour before our tour time, queued up in the security line, and headed in. Upon scanning our tickets, we were directed into the venue and escorted to the waiting area where the audio described tour would meet. We were handed a single-ear headphone to wear during the tour, which did certainly help in the noisier environments of the venue. Members of the Meow Wolf QDOT Tour Team gave clear directions about the tour and did a great job of slipping into character as a Quantum tour guide showing travelers (guests) around the Convergence Station.

The two-hour tour was a highlight tour, which touched on the lore, and overall story arc of visiting a new dimension for each area located in the Convergence Station. As we progressed along the route, the QDOT guides took turns relaying information and fun facts about “their area”, which added a nice level of personability to the tour and helped to bring the story to life.  We wandered to and through each area of the venue and were treated to a variety of opportunities for tactile interaction. The guides were well-rehearsed and did a commendable job of delivering interesting tidbits, including well thought out descriptions of the art that even the fully sighted may miss.

As expected with a guided tour aimed at the visually impaired, one of the QDOT Tour Team was dedicated to wayfinding, ensuring that the travelers (guests) on the tour were directed to each location with clear and concise instructions. My guide dog is not easily distracted by sights and sounds so had no issue navigating from exhibit to exhibit. The entire team were very good about ensuring that travelers knew where handrails were located as we journeyed through the Convergence Station, as well as the objects around them at any given time.  They deftly pointed out interesting textures that were available and were well versed in offering to assist in helping guests find the features they were describing as the tour progressed.   

A mid-tour intermission was offered, and the QDOT Tour Team were more than willing to lead travelers to the restroom facilities if needed.

The environments

Around each corner in Meow Wolf Convergence Station, it felt like entering a new dimension with unique visuals, sounds, and textures to explore. Each environment is separated by thick vinyl curtains, doors, or elevators, and the tour team were very good about holding the obstructions open and ensuring the whole group was through before moving on.

Each new environment featured interesting ground and wall textures to experience, environmental sounds, and a myriad of cool lights. It should be noted here that if guests are sensitive to bright lights or (in some areas) loud-ish sounds, that Meow Wolf offer a variety of accommodations to help with these kinds of sensitivities – all one needs to do is ask at the front desk when entering the venue. Though there were a couple parts of the tour with some louder sounds, they did not bother my guide dog, and she was not distracted by the bright lights in the darkened environment – your mileage may vary of course.

At no time did I feel like I was unsteady while traversing the exhibits. Guests should be aware there were a few areas where the wall textures extended to the ground and could pose a tripping hazard, the tour guides considerately pointed these out, but this is a consideration if you are visiting by yourself. Walkways, hallways, and other areas seemed adequately wide enough for those who may be mobility impaired or wheelchair users. The only place that did not have level ground or ramps were the explorable vehicles, some were a bit higher than a standard sedan and there was a bus that we entered which was not wheelchair accessible – there were however many interesting things outside of the vehicles to explore and enjoy.

More to see

At just around two hours, the Highlights of the Convergence tour’s time length was right on the money. It did not feel like it dragged in any way, and it was made very clear that Meow Wolf had a lot more to offer. The tour did a great job of conveying the background and interesting facts about each environment and inspired the guests to return for further investigation. Once the tour was completed, we happily wandered back into the exhibits to explore some of the smaller areas, which is easier to do with a smaller group. There are so many doors, and behind many are cool small areas to explore.    

Be sure to bring your smartphone, there are QR codes to scan which bring you to an interesting internet location and is just another way to explore this fun and immersive environment.

My favorite part

There were a couple of exhibits which really stuck with me. First was a room where the artist was a wheelchair user, and had designed the room with accessibility in mind, I found it interesting to hear the other guests discussing that they were unaware of what was required to make a kitchen environment accessible to a mobility impaired person.

I also very much liked the exhibit that was centered around memory. The team explained to us that the artist had a family member going through different stages of Alzheimer’s and the lighted and textured sculptures in the exhibit represented neurons in the brain. The installation featured monitors in housings made to look like old-time televisions displaying memories of the artist and their afflicted family member. This fit well into the cave of memories environment especially when the QDOT Tour Team explained that the lore for the Convergence Station was that memories were used as currency. It was interesting to follow the thought process that the person with Alzheimer’s would be becoming poorer as they lost their memories to that terrible disease. 

Accessibility

It is refreshing to see a company that is “all in” on accessibility for their guests. Clearly, Meow Wolf has spent ample time considering accessibility for most guests requiring accommodations. If you have questions about accessibility, please check out Meow Wolf’s Accessibility Page at:

https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver/accessibility

It should also be mentioned that Meow Wolf has a no-pet policy and does not allow Emotional Support Animals, Comfort Animals or Therapy Animals. Having taken the tour, and had my guide dog leading me, I am not comfortable in saying that service animals without a high level of training would perform to the best of their abilities in the immersive and stimulating environment Meow Wolf offers.

If this article has inspired you, and you would like to schedule a spot for an upcoming Highlights of the Convergence tour, you can fill out the form on this page at the link below and the Meow Wolf staff will walk you through the necessary steps. There is no additional cost to attend the tour, it is included with the price of regular admission, you only need to schedule the tour time with the staff.

Meow Wolf page to sign up for Audio Description Tour

https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver/audio-description-tour

Final thoughts

The exhibits in Convergence Station ranged from fun and light to deep and thought-provoking in nature. Some pieces were intimate and quiet, inviting introspective contemplation and others were loud, raucous, and bright. Travelers never knew what was coming next, and that was part of the fun. Along the way, the QDOT Tour Team enhanced the experience with descriptions that were just the right length. I highly recommend this tour for anyone who is low vision or visually impaired, and I certainly plan to return for some solo exploration of the exhibits.

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers, have you attended the Highlights of the Convergence tour? What did you think? Additionally, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. Follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/

 

Resources

Main Meow Wolf home page

https://meowwolf.com/

 

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New glasses incorporate AI to help the visually impaired

Image featuring the blind trtavels logo, and the Envision glasses

Anyone who is blind or visually impaired can instantly list the everyday tasks that cause them frustration. Reading a menu at a restaurant, determining who is in a room when you enter, finding an open seat when boarding a bus or train, and telling the difference between various denominations of money just to name a few. What if there was a new product available that could do all of those things and more? The new glasses from Envision incorporate AI and a smartphone app to allow the low vision user  new way to experience their environment.  

Built for expandability

Envision glasses utilize Google glass enterprise edition 2, and AI to scan, read and OCR text in over 60 languages. In videos demonstrating the technology, the user activates a function on the glasses to take a picture of the text, which is then read out loud. This is good for paragraphs of text, but the glasses can also read small amounts of text in near real-time. The glasses and companion smartphone app are being developed like a platform allowing for quick updates and addition of features. So, other than reading text, what else can the Envision glasses do?

Basic features

The glasses offer scene description, including object detection, color and light detection and face recognition. The feature set of the glasses seem to tick many of the boxes that visually impaired users are looking for in this type of product.  The combination of the AI powered glasses and smartphone app seem to incorporate functions from several apps for low vision into one platform, with the promise of further development and feature addition.  

Call for help

The glasses can also handle video calling, allowing users to contact a trusted party to see what the user is seeing from their perspective and allowing them to offer assistance in real time. This can allow the user to navigate difficult situations which are outside of the functionality of the Envision glasses feature set. 

Tech Specs

From the Envision website:

  • Camera: An 8-MP camera with a wide field-of-view.
  • WIFI and Bluetooth
  • Battery: 5-6 hours with regular usage. USB-C supported fast charging.
  • Audio: Directional Mono Speaker, USB audio and Bluetooth audio.
  • Robust and Light: Water and Dust resistant. Weighs less than 50 grams.

What do they cost?

Assistive technology can often come with a bit of sticker shock in terms of cost. The Envision glasses cost $3500, and part or all of that cost may be covered by insurance depending on your plan. 

Thoughts

From the preview articles and videos I have reviewed, the new Envision glasses appear to have the features needed for daily use in a work or other environment. With a 5-6 hour battery life with regular use, and fast charging, users should be fine to get through a day, especially if they bring a battery pack just in case. The cost does not seem out of line for a specialty product, given that users may be able to offset that initial cost through insurance or other agency. For me personally, being able to walk in a room and have the scene described to me including who was there and the objects in the room would be a big benefit. In terms of travel, I can see the Envision glasses being invaluable when traveling to new destinations. I can see the usefulness for this product when finding your gate at the airport or train station, and being able to eventually use the self check-in kiosks unassisted. 

At the request of many of my readers here and on social media, I have reached out to Envision to see if I can procure a review unit so I can create a full breakdown of the functionality of the unit for you all.   

Resources

If you would like more information about the Envision glasses, here is a link to the manufacturer’s website, and a link to a California based news channel with a video preview of the glasses in action. 

https://www.letsenvision.com/envision-glasses

News Story

https://www.kpvi.com/interests/ca-high-tech-glasses-help-visually-impaired/video_822bf324-aaa4-50c9-82f0-624c338b081e.html

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. Follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/


Traceability codes for guide dogs get their debut at the 2022 Paralympic Games

blind travels logo, text and silhouette of guide dog and handler

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, 68 guide dogs were selected as special volunteers to help the athletes. These dogs all have a new identification QR code, which, when scanned provide important details about the guide dog. The new  identification system is integrated into China’s product quality traceability system, which is used for tracking many kinds of products and was created using big data, cloud computing and blockchain technologies. With these technologies, the new identification system makes the traceability code the dogs wear immune to counterfeit.   

U.S. Implications

As a guide dog user, I have long wished for a national system for identifying legitimate service animals. A program such as this would allow hotel and travel providers to scan the unique code for a service animal and determine if it is legitimate, it’s vaccine status and more.  Implementation of a system such as this would take care of one large problem with fraudulent service animal use in the travel and hospitality industry. At present, those who can’t bear to leave their dog at home, can easily obtain fraudulent identification cards which are easily purchased from a myriad of internet companies. The result of this is often misbehaving or nuisance animals masquerading as service animals do little more than give legitimate service animals a bad name in the eyes of the travel and hospitality industry workers.  I’m not sure if this kind of system would ever be implemented into the United States because of the fears surrounding government tracking and overreach. I for one would welcome a national registry, and it could start as simply as each service animal user being required to register the animal and obtain an identification card. 

Tracking

During the early days of COVID, China implemented an identification and tracing system which tracked the user’s vaccination status, and helped to trace infections and exposures of the virus. I remember so many news stories about people being upset with the system and hated the fact that the scanning of the QR code would give a detailed profile of the user’s movements around the country, and those they interacted with. With the divisiveness of our country today, I can’t even imagine a similar system being implemented for any cause, even the identification of service animals. 

False Identification

A nationwide system to identify legitimate service animals of some sort would be a great benefit for service animal users, especially if there was a way to make it immune to counterfeit. There have long been talks about a national registry or service animal identification system. This would be a good first step, though I fear there will still be internet doctors willing to prescribe service animals to anyone willing to pay.  

Training

The second head of the fraudulent service animal monster is lack of training. Those who obtain false identification for their dog so they can bring them on flights and into hotels often own the animals who are the least trained, or afraid of people and traveling. They put their poor pets into a situation where they are prone to bite, bark and be a nuisance to those around them. I don’t think the uninformed understand how much training, and socialization a guide dog goes through before it even is considered for the guide dog program. I cannot tell you how many times I have been exiting a restaurant and the hostess or wait staff will tell me they didn’t even realize my guide dog was under the table. They often relay a story of someone bringing in a small biting-prone dog which sits under the table and barks at everything that goes by the table. They relay that it is a true treat to see an animal with impeccable training in their establishment. 

Knowledge is key

Everywhere I go I love to take time to talk with and educate the public about the role my guide dog plays and what she has had to accomplish to become part of a guide dog team. It is through education legitimate service animal users can start the process of changing the mindset of service industry workers away from the eye rolling and bemoaning the fact that someone is bringing an ill-trained faux service animals into their establishment and toward seeing the legitimate service animal as a valuable asset to the handler. 

What do you think?

Do you believe people should be able to purchase vests and identification cards for faux service animals? What are your ideas for a national registry for legitimate service animals? I’d love to hear your opinion on this, and any ideas about how we can move our government forward with some sort of program – it doesn’t have to be all encompassing, it can be a first step.  

More information

If you would like more information about the identification system China put in place during the early days of COVID, you can read this article, 

https://correspondent.afp.com/new-codes-governing-everyday-life-china

If you would like to see a short video about the guide dogs that were used in the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, and learn about the new identification system, you can go here.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-14/Traceability-codes-help-guide-dogs-provide-efficient-services–18oGdiYlBdK/index.html

Before you go…

I love to hear from my readers, if you have questions about this article or any other content on Blind Travels, feel free to drop me a note on my social media links below or right here on blind travels. follow me and I will happily follow you back.

My Photography: www.tahquechi.com

Twitter: @nedskee

Instagram: @nedskee

Blind Travels on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blindtravels/


Accessible educational materials

The blind Travels logo in front of a blurred background showing a lecture hall in a college.

Timely access to accessible educational materials for students who are blind or visually impaired is a constant concern at every grade level. Arguably, in grade school, where instructors may have more flexibility in class assignments, the lack of accessible class materials can be less of a problem than in High School and College level courses. Because of the variability of vision problems, there is not an easy solution to the problem. How does the lack of accessible learning materials affect students? Let’s talk about it.  

Logistics

When instructors choose books and other content for the new school year (or semester), little if any consideration is usually given to the accessibility of the materials for blind and visually impaired students. This is not the fault of the teachers, and I am sure it is never done with malice toward low vision students, rather these decisions tend to come from a general lack of understanding of the needs of visually impaired students.  This is an inherent issue throughout the education system.

If a visually impaired student has taken a class previously, there is a decent chance that the materials are available in large print or audio format. Depending on when the visually impaired student before you took the class, new students may have to struggle with previous versions of the book if there is no one available to re-record the material. This delay in the student receiving the class materials in a useable format can cause the visually impaired student to fall behind in the class from the onset. Imagine trying to navigate the first couple weeks of a new college class when you can’t read the book or see the assignments.  

Nearly all colleges and lower-level schools have student support services, which coordinate acquiring the needed materials for disabled students. As you might imagine, the beginning of a new year or semester are havoc around these departments, with everyone racing to get students the materials they need as quickly as they can. There are many issues that can cause this delay to be even worse. Some instructors choose older books which are not readily available in digital format, therefore causing the student support staff to break down a book, and scan and OCR (Optical Character Recognition software which converts the pages to useable text.) each page for the student. This is a time-consuming process as it needs to be done page by page.

If teachers do not turn in their list of materials they require for the semester in a timely manner, the student services will not always have time to order them ahead of time so they can be made accessible. There still may be a delay, because some students need audio versions of the content, while others just need a large print version of the material, and there is no guarantee that the student services made both large print and audio versions for a previous visually impaired student taking that course.

General Education Classes (required for a degree) generally tend to amass a decent number of accessible materials, because more students are required to take them. Problems arise when students get to higher level classes. Since these classes tend to be more specific to a degree program, there could be less chance of a visually impaired student previously taking them. In higher level classes, instructors tend to change their materials to ensure that students are getting the most current information as they finish their degree programs.

Lastly, instructors often copy a page out of a book or other source to hand out to the class. Unless the teacher is savvy enough to create a large print version of the document at the same time they are making the ones for the rest of the class, the visually impaired student is stuck not being able to read the materials until an accessible version can be created. In my years in college, I had a total of one instructor who made it a common practice to offer a version of class materials in large print.

Frustration

With all that being said, I can understand the frustration of students Roy Payan and Portia Mason, both blind, they and the National Federation of the Blind filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Community College District, alleging discrimination under federal laws that guarantee equal access to education for those who are disabled. The students say they needed help from their community college: audio recordings of texts, computer screen reading software, and classroom materials in a format they could understand.

Understanding

As a former student, and being visually impaired myself, I am acutely aware of the difficulty these students face when trying to keep up with a college level class when materials needed for the work are unavailable. Change starts at a local level, and their case is being considered for the Supreme Court. College staff struggle with dwindling budgets to support all disabled students, but things have not improved. It is time for legislation to determine solutions for the issues surrounding accessible class materials. Unfortunately, it feels like it is not as easy as installing an accessible ramp, and that is why the system is where it is. Changes are going to be difficult if they come and having to ensure that materials are available in accessible format will inherently change the way some instructors choose the materials they require for a class. They my feel they are bending over backwards for a small portion of the population attending college classes, but blind and visually impaired students have as much right to attend and succeed in classes as anyone else does.

More Information

You can read more about the legal case mentioned here in this article.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-02/disability-rights-case-against-laccd-could-go-to-supreme-court

National Federation for the Blind Home

https://nfb.org/

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