[Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert

Sat Dec 2 11:26:02 CST 2006

Technology isn't a panacea for the problem of drivers not announcing stops. 
In Baltimore buses are equipped with GPS-based systems that announce each 
stop as it is approached.  Some drivers apparently find this annoying and 
switch the devices off.  Why they were equipped with an off switch I have no 
idea, since their reason for being is supposedly ADA compliance ...

Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at crc.in.gov>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert

> Hi Again Ray,
>
> I forgot to mention.  Yes the ADA does require drivers to announce the
> major bus stops.  Here again there is technology available to do this
> automatically so they can continue to do whatever it is they deem more
> important. Talking on cell phones or flirting with other riders or
> whatever.  But the city doesn't' want to spend the money.
>
> Well... If you aren't going to spend the money, then there is a very
> simple solution. Insist that your drivers open their mouths and do their
> jobs.  There are aspects of my job that I don't enjoy either, but I have
> to do them.
>
> Here again, we have the right to the same information as our sighted
> counterparts.  We have the right to be in control of our own schedules
> and not at the mercy of a driver's memory.
>
> Diane Graves
> Civil Rights Specialist
> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
> 317-232-2647
>
>
>
> "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."--Winston
> Churchill
>
>
>
>
> Confidentiality Notice: This E-mail transmission may contain
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>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr.
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:00 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert
>
>
> Wait!  Do you mean to tell me that the ADA requires bus drivers to
> announce
> at each major stop?  This I did not know.
>
>    As I was shaving just now, your message came back to me with a bit
> of a
> question.  Let me explain.  ON this coming Friday, I'm going to open an
> account at Chase bank.  I'm doing this not just for the free $100.00
> they
> offered me, I'm doing it for the accaccessibility; Braille bank
> statements,
> talking ATMs' and the fact that they check their site using both JAWS
> and
> Window-Eyes.  Now, I can just hear you saying, "Wait a second here.  You
> say
> you don't like the change in the money thing; yet, you switch banks for
> reasons of greater accessibility?  What's up with that?  Haven't you
> been
> banking successfully all these years at your current bank (which does
> not
> have and may never have Braille bank statements or talking ATMS'?
> Doesn't
> that make you inconsistent?"
>
>    My answer is yes, I have been dealing successfully with my current
> bank
> since late 1999 without either Braille bank statements or talking ATMS'.
>
> So, if that's the case, how come the switch?  In the final analysis, it
> comes right down to what you yourself said earlier; "more independence.
> Ah,
> but, the question again.  Why not just keep my account over at Whitney
> rather than go through all that switching?  After all, you get along
> pretty
> well with things as they are.  So, again, the question.  Why switch?
> Once
> again, your original answer, plus one other thing.
> independence+privacy.  I
> think we would all agree that a Braille bank statement is much more
> private
> than even a statement scanned via OCR.  Mostly, I think, because with
> the
> Braille, at least I can understand it.  Print bank statements (at least
> in
> my experience) tend not to scan so accurately.  For the record, I've
> tried
> using Text Cloner Pro and Omnipage SE.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> The Constantly Barefooted,
> Ray
> Home phone and fax:
> (985)853-0139
> E-mail:
> rforetjr at bellsouth.net
> Skype Name:
> barefootedray
> Blog:
> www.raysworld.blogs.com
> Podcast .rss Feed:
> http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray
>
> God bless President George W. Bush!
> God bless our troops!
> and God bless America
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at crc.IN.gov>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 9:49 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert
>
>
> HI,
>
> I understand what you are saying Ray.  I don't' want anyone feeling
> sorry for me either. (At least, not as a result of blindness  LOL.) I do
> want to be as absolutely independent of sighted assistance and as much
> on an equal footing as I can be. The way I see it currency that I can
> identify completely devoid of sighted assistance will be another small
> step in this direction.
>
> Unfortunately you will always have the "poor me" blind folks, and the
> "whatever you do or say is amazing Honey" sighted folks.  Believe me,
> they make my skin crawl too.
>
> But it really is a matter of perspective.  This step up could really
> provide us with more independence and greater security.  As I say, I do
> have much bigger band wagons to jump on, and the alternative techniques
> that I have employed are working fine for me now, but I don't' want to
> stand in the way of progress either.
>
> In an apparently similar situation, we have been having a time for the
> last several years here in Indianapolis, with getting the city bus
> drivers to announce the major bus stops as required under the ADA.  They
> simply do not want to do it, and the company refuses to take any action
> to enforce it. I think we may be looking at a class action suit before
> it is all over.
>
> Now we are not fighting for this because we are "poor blind people" who
> need to be taken care of.  Quite the contrary. We are fighting for this
> because we are blind people who want to be in control of when and where
> we disembark from the bus, and not at the mercy of some driver who
> "forgets" because he/she is overwhelmed in traffic or is gabbing with
> other riders, or gets busy on his/her cell phone.
>
> We need them to know that our work and family schedules are every bit as
> important as those of the sighted, and we need to be in independent
> control of getting ourselves where we need to be on time.  Believe me, I
> have had them assure me that they would let me know, when we arrived at
> my destination and then ended up having to ride around for another hour
> because they didn't.
>
> Anyway, you can look at it as the glass being half empty or full.  But
> it is independence and equality that I am after, not a pity party at
> all.  I don't' like that spin on things either.  Unfortunately, there
> will always be those that approach things that way.
>
>
> Diane Graves
> Civil Rights Specialist
> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
> 317-232-2647
>
>
>
> "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."--Winston
> Churchill
>
>
>
>
> Confidentiality Notice: This E-mail transmission may contain
> confidential and/or legally privileged information intended only for the
> individual or entity(ies) named in the E-mail address. If you are not
> the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized disclosure,
> copying, distribution, or acting in reliance upon the contents of this
> E-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail
> transmission in error, please reply to sender to arrange for the return
> and proper delivery of the transmission. Subsequently, delete the
> message from your system immediately.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr.
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 10:22 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert
>
>
> Morning Diane,
>
>    As usual, your messages are thought provoking.  Let me make one
> thing very clear.  I do not oppose the idea of the US treasury modifying
> our bills in such a way that we would be able to tactily identify our
> money; so long as blindness is not the reason for the change.  The fact
> that the ACB is
>
> behind this has emotional reactionism plastered all over it.  They're
> appealing to the pity of the federal courts; and, I dare say, the
> American people.  "Aw, look at us poor blind people.", this story and
> action seem to say, "we're so smart.  It's a wonder how we know so many
> things and are so wonderful; and yet, can't even manage to get our own
> pants on in the morning or tell apart our money...tisk tisk tisk...".
>    IF they're going to change the money, let it be for the reasons you
> stated; consistency with the rest of the world in adopting a tactile
> money system, better security ETC.  But, please!!!  Not blindness!!!!!
> As for
>
> knocking progress, if that so-called progress gets in the way of our
> normal lives especially to the point where it uses emotions of pity to
> appeal for change, than I say it deserves to be knocked right back where
> it came from. However, if the change comes for the right reasons;
> progress for us in ways which will make us more independent, and without
> appealing to emotional pity, I'm all for it.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> The Constantly Barefooted,
> Ray
> Home phone and fax:
> (985)853-0139
> E-mail:
> rforetjr at bellsouth.net
> Skype Name:
> barefootedray
> Blog:
> www.raysworld.blogs.com
> Podcast .rss Feed:
> http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray
>
> God bless President George W. Bush!
> God bless our troops!
> and God bless America
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at crc.IN.gov>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert
>
>
> Good Morning To All,
>
> My viewpoint is pretty much in line with yours Sherri.  I mean, PLEASE
> do not get me wrong.  We have MANY much more important issues in need of
> attention from our legislators and legal system than this one.
>
> I too have a method of folding my money, and it generally has proven to
> be quite effective.  For many years I didn't even fold it.  What I would
> do is keep the larger bills on the outside of the role or stack of bills
> and the smaller ones in the middle, and then just remember what I had.
> But alas, I am growing older, and my memory is growing weaker.  So
> several years ago I began to fold the bills for identification purposes.
>
> But, it is a fact that, in order to get our money folded in the first
> place we do have to depend on the honesty/accuracy of a merchant, a bank
> teller, a family member and so on.  That is, if we don't' have that $400
> identifier.  Most of the time this method of initial identification
> works fine, but I have been known to be on the other side of that coin.
> It doesn't happen regularly or often, but it has happened.
>
> Like Sherri, I don't spend a great deal of time fretting about this
> issue, but the rest of the world is going to a completely tactilely
> identifiable monitory system, and I don't see why we need to be
> different just to prove that there are alternative techniques.
>
> After all, progress is progress.  I mean, prior to the days of
> wide-spread computer use, and scanners and Kurzweil and the whole bit,
> blind people hired and used readers and sometimes had to call on others
> to proof read there typed work and so on.  This worked out fine for them
> then.  It was an alternative technique and it worked well.  But would
> you rather have stayed back there?  Aren't you thankful, glad and
> elated, that you can now take care of your bills, mail and other
> business totally independently for the most part?
>
> I know I am.  The alternative techniques worked fine for their time, but
> I for one, am grateful to be increasingly more independent of sighted
> assistance.
>
> And now we even have the Kurzweil/NFB handheld reader which will
> increase that independence even more as it can be carried with us.  I
> can't wait to get my hands on one of those.  I am folding my money and
> putting it away (when I can) in anticipation of that grand purchase.
>
> I do understand that it seems absurd to spend time on the little things
> when there are so many major problems, but don't knock progress guys!
> Every little piece of independence we achieve is precious.  At least it
> is to me.
>
>
>
>
> Diane Graves
> Civil Rights Specialist
> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
> 317-232-2647
>
>
>
> "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."--Winston
> Churchill
>
>
>
>
> Confidentiality Notice: This E-mail transmission may contain
> confidential and/or legally privileged information intended only for the
> individual or entity(ies) named in the E-mail address. If you are not
> the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized disclosure,
> copying, distribution, or acting in reliance upon the contents of this
> E-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail
> transmission in error, please reply to sender to arrange for the return
> and proper delivery of the transmission. Subsequently, delete the
> message from your system immediately.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Sherri
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 2:26 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: FNC Alert
>
>
> This is probably an unpopular viewpoint and though I manage pretty well
> without it and am much more concerned about obtaining more money than I
> am about having some tactile way to tell bills apart other than folding,
> I guess I don't understand why we don't just catch up with the rest of
> the
>
> world and make our money identifiable? If we have to change it anyway
> because of counterfeit bills, why not just make the other changes too?
> However, I don't stay up nights thinking about this issue. Really, it
> isn't that important in the scheme of things. (smile)
>
> Sherri
>
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