QUT in Brisbane have a blind man using iT -

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Goldstein" <goldstein_david&#167;yahoo.com.au>
To: ".au DNS Discussion List" <dns&#167;dotau.org>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: [DNS] Let's Talk Net


OK, to respond to a few postings:
Skeeve,
You may well have one friend that doesn?t seem too concerned about issues
such as accessibility, however I work with a dozen or so blind people and
most of them work towards ending discrimination against people who are blind
and vision impaired. Some deal with technology, some deal with areas such as
getting access to automatic teller machines or to be able to vote
confidentially. And the previously mentioned photo ID for people who don?t
drive was introduced following constant lobbying by blindness agencies.

And as for your friend saying he expected government to consider vision
impairment, and he doesn?t expect the private sector to, well, there are
many other people with disabilities who strongly disagree. And it?s why
there?s the Disability Discrimination Act. And the Act is in place precisely
because government, and especially the private sector, don?t consider the
needs of people with disabilities.

And no, I?m not blind, but my Monday to Friday job is working for a
blindness and vision impairment agency, and I have done so for the past 3
years.

Kirk,
Your argument that discrimination against a person because of their race is
different to discrimination because of a disability is crap. Again, look at
the Disability Discrimination Act. Not even our current government has
attempted to undermine this.

Your question, and others, about cost, has been answered by a colleague who
develops websites, and says if accessibility for a person who is blind or
vision impaired is considered from the start, you could add 5% to the cost
of a website. And to an absolute maximum of 10%.

And it?s obvious the private sector can?t be left to deal with these issues
on their own. The reason is the abject failure of many here on this list who
refuse to consider disability issues. And these are people who are largely
involved in aspects of developing and providing access to the internet.

Gene,
Your comment that the disabled can buy ?simple? software is misleading. For
example, a blind person would need to buy software called Jaws. It currently
costs $1,600, a significant amount of money for someone who is not likely to
earn a huge amount of money. Software for people who are vision impaired is
less. And this is just the start of the investment! Each time a new edition
of the Microsoft operating system comes out, the user will need a complete
new version of Jaws. Plus, in all likelihood, they?ll need a new computer as
well. And not just any computer but a highly ?speced? computer.

Now, for those developing websites, if you want to check if your website
works with Jaws, I?ve been told there is a demo version of Jaws available
where one can test Jaws for 40 minutes, and then another 40 minutes if you
reboot your computer, and so on! Go to http://www.freedomscientific.com/.
Demonstration versions are available from
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/jaws.asp

I?ve also been informed there are a series of Accessibility Workshops being
held. There?s one in Canberra tomorrow but it?s fully booked. There?s
another in Adelaide on 15 December with Darwin to follow in 2007. More
information is available at
http://visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=775. The workshops seem to be
being held in conjunction with AIMIA.

Cheers
David

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