[NABS-L] Turning camera off as accommodation

[Steve Jacobson]

Ty,

Thank you for your response and I understand better what you are saying.  Circumstances can certainly determine what is most important to handle at a given time.  I also want to state again, in response to other emails, I was clear that my comments on this were limited to the role that blindness plays.  I recognize there are reasons that other disabilities may have issues with leaving the camera on.  I felt, and I still feel, that there should not be an assumption that blind people can't use the camera as a general default, and I think the reasons for that have been adequately written.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson


-----Original Message-----
From: Ty Littlefield <tyler at tysdomain.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 2:17 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at outlook.com>
Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Turning camera off as accommodation

I was actually on your side of this argument for a long time. Then I
realized that sighted people are able to look at the window in Zoom and
see their image in frame. If I lean back, turn my chair, the sun moves
so it's not coming through my window and the lighting is bad, you lose
the perfectly curated angle you've set up for yourself with AI and the
helpful elf making sure that your mug is perfectly centered. By saying I
don't choose to fight that battle, I mean specifically that it's a lot
more anxiety about how and where I'm positioned and whether or not I
moved, and I'd rather focus on the meeting. Zoom has reactions. I use
those in meetings to show the same or speak up.




On 12/11/2024 7:48 AM, Steve Jacobson via NABS-L wrote:
> This is an interesting discussion.  I agree with Dave Andrews on this.  I've been in meetings where the person running the meeting looks at the attendees for reactions similar to what would be done in person.  Turning my camera off excludes me from showing reactions which is not to my advantage, at least most of the time.  I have also experienced meetings with people from other cultures where not having my camera on was seen as me being closed or "stand-offish".  I've also experienced meetings where having the visual contact seemed to help overcome language barriers as well.  There may be disabilities where having a camera turned on might cause a problem, but I don't see why blindness by itself should be used as a reason to turn a camera off.  It just doesn't have to be that big a deal.  To say it is a battle we must choose to fight or not fight as has been stated in another email seems like an exaggeration.  In saying all of this, I started out as one who was very hesitant to have my camera on.  Over time, I've gotten used to it and it just isn't that big a deal to me any more, and it does help in the instances I have mentioned above.
>
> To be clear, if I am in a meeting and I can determine most cameras are off, I would certainly turn my camera off as well.  I just don't see a reason to assume that blindness is a reason, by itself, to not use a camera if it is a requirement.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ronza Othman via NABS-L
> Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 6:46 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Ronza Othman <rothmanjd at gmail.com>; nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Turning camera off as accommodation
>
> Yes, 100%
>
> I have this accommodation for my classes at Cornell.
>
> Ronza Othman, President
> National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
> 443-426-4110
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Dec 10, 2024, at 6:22 PM, Kelsey Nicolay via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>> One of the colleges I am looking at offers courses in real time online format as professors want student$ to be eng at g during discussion. When I attended  their inform at tion session, one of the things they told us is that having your camera on during class is a requirement from most professors. Being totally blind, accurately positioning the camer@ for good video quality is difficult, so I was curious whether asking for an ex€mption from the camer@ on requirement would be a reasonable accommodation if I can demonstrate in other ways that I am actively participating.
>> Sent from Kelsey Nicolay’s iPhone
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