Archive for June, 2008
You Can Help Us To Spread The Word
One of our outstanding members, Keith Bundy will be representing the Blind Online Success System at the 2008 ACB convention in Kentucky. He will be armed with our promotional package which was first used at the Southeast Texas Disability Career Fair by myself and Zoe.
If everything goes according to plan, Keith will be taking a great number of these disks with him to the convention to help spread the word about BOSS. He told me that next year, he plans to have a booth at the convention so that he can better promote the program.
You too, can help spread the word about the Blind Online Success System by requesting a copy of our promotional CD. You can either get the physical CD itself, or we can send you the image file which contains all the data that is on the CD to be used with your CD writing software. There’s no limit to the number of CD’s you can request. However, we strongly recommend that if you need a very large number of disks, that you get our image file which is compatible with most all CD burning packages and use it to burn as many copies as you need. That way, you can avoid paying a massive amount for shipping and handling.
Our promotional CD is not copy written and you can make as many copies of it as you need for distribution purposes. If you do not know how to use CD image files, then we can send you a single CD which you can simply make as many copies of as you need.
We would love to have you promote our program. This will allow for you to be an active part in spreading the word out about BOSS. So if you want to help us in spreading the word out about the Blind Online Success System, simply click on the link below to send me an e-mail with your request for the CD package. Please specify whether you want the image file, or a single CD sent to your physical address. If you want a CD actually sent to you, please provide your shipping address inside the body of the message so that we can get one sent to you promptly. Also provide a telephone number where we can reach you, and the best time to reach you.
<a href=”mailto:dbrwn@aol.com”>Request Promotional Package</a>
If you are associated with a state agency for the blind, then we welcome you to our site, and we sincerely hope that you decide to recieve our promotional package. This package is great to be handed out to your consumers, and or students. Anyone can request a copy of our promotional package. Teachers, students, professionals and anyone else not mentioned here.
Our promotional CD doesn’t cost a single dime, and we’ll send it to you free of charge. If you have any questions about the promotional package, or anything else relating to our program, please click on the E-mail link above, and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible.
Court Rules That U.S Currency Is Not Accessible To The Blind
There is an ongoing debate over the accessibility of the U.S currency, and whether or not it is sufficient for blind and visually impaired people to accurately use in their day to day lives. It has been noted that many blind and visually impaired people simply fold their bills a certain way to distinguish them from other bills. However, there is a huge problem that has been overlooked for a number of years now concerning just how accessible the U.S currency really is for the blind and visually impaired. The problem comes from not how the bills are folded, but the problem lies in the change given to blind people from store clerks and other individuals. The Blind and visually impaired have had to rely upon other people to tell them what denomination they had recieved as change from a purchase, and at times, this has proven to be quite a financial disaster. As we all know, not everyone can be fully trusted in this matter, so the blind have had to live with this issue for years. After all, how can you tell an honest person from a dishonest one when it comes to money?
Not that everyone should be grouped into the same category, but think about this for a moment. What if you were blind or visually impaired and you went and made a purchase and had to recieve change back from the purchase, and the store clerk told you what the correct change was, but instead, handed you something totally different without you knowing it? Well that happens a lot to blind and visually impaired people, and it is all due to the fact that our currency is not accessible to the blind or visually impaired.
Are there technological solutions to this problem? Well currently there are, in the form of bill identifiers, which help to properly identify different denominations of bills to the blind. However, these devices are not in the hands of most blind or visually impaired individuals. So there needs to be a better solution that fits all blind and visually impaired persons, and not just a select few.
Things like talking bill identifiers, talking cash registers and other talking money related items are great pieces of technology, but as you may, or may not know, some of these devices aren’t portable, and affordable to most blind people. Maybe a solution could be that a different texture could be placed on a certain part of the bill to help to identify it in one way, or another without having to be quite obvious. Different textures could be assigned to different denominations so that the blind could tell them apart.
Whatever the solution is; we need one really soon to solve this issue. That way, the blind and visually impaired can be treated just as equal as sighted people when it comes to our currency.
The U.S Treasury department has already redesigned the U.S currency a number of times over the past few years, mainly to protect from counterfitting. However, no changes in the size, or shape of the bills has been implemented to accomodate the blind or visually impaired U.S citizens. There have been a number of ideas as to how to make the currency more acceptable and more reliable for the blind and visually impaired. Everything from simply changing the size of the bills to adding specialized raised markings on the bills to help the blind distinguish between the different denominations. It has been determined that the U.S Treasury department is in violation of the law regarding descrimination against the blind and visually impaired. However, not all blind agencies agree with the overhalling of the U.S currency. Some agencies say that there’s nothing wrong with the current currency and that it should be lef talone, while others say that there needs to be some changes made to it to properly accomodate the blind and visually impaired.
Other nations have already implemented such changes into their currency, but the U.S falls far behind in this measure. The issue of the U.S currency has been around for quite some time now, and mumerous debates have been held on the topic. It has been discussed for years at whether or not the U.S currency should be made accessible to those who are blind or visually impaired, and if you look at it the same way that the ADA views public buildings, then the U.S Treasury department is in direct violation of the ADA because of the mere fact that the currency has no identifying indicators that would help any blind or visually impaired individual to be able to distinguish between the different denominations. Just as the ADA says that all public buildings should be made accessible, then should they also say that the U.S currency should also be made accessible as well.
If the U.S Treasury Department is forced to make the U.S currency accessible for the blind and visually impaired, then 2008 will be a year to remember. The United States will have finally caught up with other nations in making their currency accessible. If this passes, then the blind will finally be able to distinguish between the different denominations without having to use expensive technology, or other individuals in order to do it. This will in turn, give all blind citizens of the United States equal access to currency and currency exchange.
— Close your eyes, reach into your wallet and try to distinguish between a $1 bill and a $5 bill. Impossible? It’s also discriminatory, a federal appeals court says.
Since all paper money feels pretty much the same, the government is denying blind people meaningful access to the currency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday. The decision could force the Treasury Department to make bills of different sizes or print them with raised markings or other distinguishing features.
The American Council For The Blind has sued for such changes, but the federal government has been fighting this for about 6 years now.
The court ruled 2-1 that such adaptations were insufficient under the Rehabilitation Act. The government might as well argue that there’s no need to make buildings accessible to wheelchairs because handicapped people can crawl on all fours or ask passers-by for help, the court said.
If the bills were made accessible, this could mean more job opportunities for the blind because employers would feel less reluctant to hiring people who are blind to handle money. At the current situation, blind individuals working in situations where they have to handle money is quite a cumbersome thing because they either have to rely on expensive technology that doesn’t always work, or other people to be honest and tell them what the different denominations are. HOwever, if the money was redesigned and made totally accessible, that would add yet another avenue of total independence for the blind and visually impaired to be able to lead more productive lives.