                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR
Vol. 41, No. 5                                          May, 1998

                     Barbara Pierce, Editor


      Published in inkprint, in Braille, and on cassette by

              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT


                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland  21230
                   NFB Net BBS: (612) 696-1975
             Web Page address: <http://www.nfb.org>


           Letters to the President, address changes,
        subscription requests, orders for NFB literature,
       articles for the Monitor, and letters to the Editor
             should be sent to the National Office.


Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about twenty-five
dollars per year. Members are invited, and non-members are
requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be
made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to:


                National Federation of the Blind
                       1800 Johnson Street
                    Baltimore, Maryland 21230


   THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
 SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES


ISSN 0006-8829



                            Contents


Reporters Look at Technology for the Blind

Microsoft Promotes Accessibility
     by Curtis Chong

Deaf-Blind Woman Wins Lawsuit Against Continental Airlines
     by Douglas Parker

A Sad Reminder

The Optacon: Past, Present, and Future
     by Deborah Kent Stein

Raising the Bar: First Time at National Convention
     by Dan Burke

Convention Extras
     by Elizabeth Campbell

Equality Safari-Style
     by Michael Baillif

DotsPlus
     by John A. Gardner

The Hollow Nature of Political Correctness
     by Noel Nightingale

Introducing Music Education Network for the Visually Impaired
     by Richard Taesch

EEOC Charges Filed against Virginia's So-called Disability Rights
     Agency
     by Charles Brown

National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities

Recipes

Monitor Miniatures

        Copyright  1998 National Federation of the Blind


     Two new NEWSLINE(R) Local Service Centers have opened in
recent weeks, bringing prestigious newspapers into the list of
national publications available to blind people through
NEWSLINE(R). The Montgomery County Public Library site officially
opened on March 16, 1998. It will serve much of the greater
Washington, D.C., metro area.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Loyal NFB friend and fan of NEWSLINE(R) Helen
Thomas, UPI White House Bureau Chief, chats with guests before
the Montgomery County ceremony begins.]

     Douglas Duncan, Montgomery County Executive, and Diane
Frankel, Director of the Institute of Museums and Libraries (the
federal agency whose funds assisted the Library in establishing
NEWSLINE(R)), were also among the dignitaries present. Ted Lutz,
Vice President of Circulation for the Washington Post, announced
the availability of the Washington Post nationwide on
NEWSLINE(R).

     Then, on April 8, the NFB of California in partnership with
the Los Angeles Public Library and with the support of Mr. Dwight
Baum, a generous contributor to the NFB for many years and an
avid reader of NEWSLINE(R), conducted the official opening of the
L.A. NEWSLINE(R) site at the Los Angeles Central Library in
downtown Los Angeles. The guests included Congresswoman Lucille
Roybal-Allard, thirty-third District; Susan Kent, Director of the
Los Angeles Public Library; and special guest Jim Murray,
Pulitzer-Prize-winning sports writer for the L.A. Times. Also
Marilyn Lee, Vice President Public Affairs for the Los Angeles
Times, helped us announce the availability of the Los Angeles
Times to any NEWSLINE(R) site around the country.
     NEWSLINE(R) is an ever-expanding network delivering more and
more news to the blind. Now blind people in thirty-eight
communities in this country and Toronto, Canada, can read both
national and local newspapers using touch-tone phones.
[PHOTO/CAPTION: James Gashel, NFB Director of Governmental
Affairs, does a sound test at the library podium.]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Left to right Harriet Henderson, Director of the
Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries; Helen Thomas,
UPI White House Bureau Chief; and Betsy Zaborowski, NFB Director
of Special Programs.]
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Tim Cranmer]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Deane Blazie]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Ted Henter]

           Reporters Look at Technology for the Blind
                           **********
     From the Editor: In recent weeks several prestigious
newspapers and one distinguished magazine-format television news
program have taken a considered look at various aspects of
technology for the blind. The first to address the topic was the
Louisville Courier Journal, which did a profile of long-time
Federation leader Tim Cranmer in its Sunday, February 15, 1998,
edition. Here is the story as it appeared:
                           **********
                 Visionary in a Sightless World
        Blind Inventor is Working on a Touchable Language
                          by Bob Deitel
                           **********
     Ideas and information literally whirred around Tim Cranmer
as he sat in his small at-home office in Louisville.

     From a desktop scanner the pages of a book on physics were
being methodically transferred to computer and then reprinted in
Braille for Cranmer to read later. On the computer's screen
flashed Cranmer's morning e-mail, the words being recited aloud
by software that instantly converted the text into speech.

     Most ear-catching of all, however, were the thoughts Cranmer
himself was offering.

     So much of science, he said, has involved turning the unseen
into the visible. Microscopes and telescopes reveal incredible
detail. Machines convert brain waves to drawings. All aim at
uncovering new information by enhancing sight, he said.

     But what if science also could devise a way to represent
images in a touchable, or tactile, way for people with impaired
vision, Cranmer suggested. By starting with raised forms
representing common objects, blind people might learn a new
language to help them observe and understand the untouchable--
from distant stars to tiny atoms.

     Like sight, touch is a unique window to the brain, Cranmer
explained. What's needed are new tools to enhance that window.

     "I know what a dog, cat, rubber ball, and chair look like,
but they aren't visual images--they are tactile images that I
have acquired over the years. We have to find a way to invoke
those memories that blind people have stored...and then go from
there and begin to teach about other things," he said.

     "I think that's where we're going in the next millennium. I
don't know that we'll be done by the end of it, but we're going
to start. We are starting."

     And Tim Cranmer will rank high among the pioneers.

     He already has that distinction for many other innovations.
Now seventy-three, Cranmer has spent much of his adult life
thinking up or promoting technological advances, big and small,
to help people who--like himself--are visually impaired.

     His earliest contributions date from 1952 to 1982, when he
guided various Kentucky state services for the blind.

     Nearly forty years ago he devised the Cranmer Abacus, a
variation on the ancient Oriental tool for using beads on wires
to solve math problems. Cranmer's idea: add a felt backing to
keep the beads from moving accidentally. Thousands are sold
annually to blind people worldwide.

     In the early 1960's he came up with the Say When, a compact,
battery-operated device that hangs over a drinking cup and
signals when poured liquid nears the top.

     Around 1970 he devised a Braille display pad that could
provide readings from electronic medical thermometers, timers,
and calculators.

     In the mid-1970's Cranmer thought of modifying a computer to
search a database of phone numbers and read out the numbers in
sound and Braille. He had engineers work out the details, and the
result was a talking telephone directory--first used by blind
switchboard operators at the Universities of Louisville and
Kentucky.

     Cranmer took the same tack to promote what eventually became
the Cranmer Modified Perkins Braille Writer--the first electronic
desktop Braille embosser. It did for blind readers what the dot-
matrix computer printer did for the sighted.

     "My main interest has been in learning how things work and
how we can change the way they are to make them serve a better
purpose," said Cranmer, who shies away from being called an
inventor. "I think the most important thing I do is to influence
the work of others."

     And influence others he certainly has, said Marc Maurer,
President of the National Federation of the Blind, the nation's
largest advocacy group for the visually impaired.

     "Dr. Cranmer may be the best-known inventor dealing with
blindness in the U.S.," Maurer said. "I think he is certainly the
best-known blind inventor."

     His reputation may soon spread further. He was interviewed
last month by the CBS News program "60 Minutes" for a planned
segment about technology that helps people with disabilities.

     Although Cranmer officially retired sixteen years ago, he
never has stopped working. He first persuaded the National
Federation of the Blind to start a research department--which he
then volunteered to head, at no pay.

     That in turn led to global conferences on technology for the
blind. It also gave Cranmer a budget to pay for engineers to work
on new ideas, including his own. One of Cranmer's early acts,
Maurer recalled, was to convince the Federation that a talking
computer could be developed for only $4,000. The ultimate cost
neared $20,000, but the result was "the best technology for
computers that existed anywhere," Maurer said.

     Cranmer's work duties today involve voluntarily heading the
International Braille Research Center. Some travel to
headquarters in Baltimore is necessary, but e-mail, phone,
Internet, and fax let him handle most chores from his home.

     Married for forty-eight years, Cranmer and his wife Thelma
live in a small house just outside St. Matthews. They raised one
daughter Linda, now a school counselor in Scott County.

     Cranmer's talent for tinkering dates to his boyhood in
Louisville's Portland neighborhood.

     He was the kind of kid who would dismantle clocks and locks
to see how they worked. He would happily slice open a golf ball
to learn how it bounced. At fourteen he sent away for books on
chemistry after hearing that rust on an old pocket knife came
from oxygen and iron.

     A combination of eye problems left him blind after he turned
nine, and a lack of opportunity for blind people steered him away
from his dream of being a scientist.

     Instead, he first made his living by playing piano for pay,
making costume jewelry, and tuning and rebuilding pianos. He
still plays piano and loves music, especially classical.

     His hair is white and wispy-thin, but his voice remains
youthfully enthusiastic, and he flashes a wry and playful sense
of humor.

     Educated at the Kentucky School for the Blind, Cranmer in
1979 received an honorary doctorate in applied science from the
University of Louisville. But of many honors through the years,
he most cherishes two: when his name was attached to a National
Federation of the Blind of Kentucky award given to people who
enhance the lives of the blind and when he received the NFB of
Kentucky's Susan B. Rarick Award for Service--an award named
after one of Cranmer's first teachers.

     "I think recognition by blind people has meant more to me
than anything else," he said.

     His lack of formal university training still astounds some
of his friends, one of whom recalls having many a conversation
with Cranmer about calculus before learning that Cranmer never
took a calculus class.

     To encourage future blind scientists, Cranmer in recent
years has helped lead an ongoing effort to standardize and
consolidate the various Braille codes used in English-speaking
countries. Different codes cover non-technical writing, computer
notation, and math-science notation. Those Braille divisions
create education limitations, Cranmer said.

     Which brings him back to his push for a new, touchable
language to convey more knowledge and information.

     Much of what people learn is said to come from vision,
Cranmer said, "but that's not true for blind people. So tactile
image is an alternative. I think much of what is now passed on to
sighted people, through sight, can be communicated through
touch."

     It's a different way of looking at and making sense of the
world, he said.

     Which is exactly how Tim Cranmer has pursued most of his
seventy-three years.
                           **********
     That was the Cranmer profile. Then, on March 26, the New
York Times weighed in with its story about access to the World
Wide Web for blind people. The reporter came to the National
Federation of the Blind and spent a good bit of time in the
International Braille and Technology Center at the National
Center. She interviewed a number of people. Here is the story she
wrote:
                           **********
        Bringing the Visual World of the Web to the Blind
                        by Debra Nussbaum
                           **********
     Curtis Chong has been using the World Wide Web for three
years to look up topics like music, fund-raising, and medical
research. He also uses it as a way to teach and encourage other
blind people to get on the Web.

     How does someone who cannot see the screen navigate the
computer and Web, which is full of glitzy graphics and icons?
     Chong communicates all his commands through the keyboard.
His printer prints in Braille. He uses the Internet Explorer 3.02
with a piece of software called a screen reader and a speech
synthesizer to turn the written words on the screen into words
spoken in a computer-generated voice.

     "We want to use the Web, and we want to use it like
everybody else does," said Chong, director of technology for the
National Federation of the Blind, based in Baltimore. "We don't
believe the computer is the great equalizer for the blind, but
it's one way to make our lives better."

     For the more than half-million blind people of working age
in the United States, getting on the Web may not only mean being
able to research topics of interest but may also be a necessary
skill for staying employed.
     It certainly affects the jobs of thousands of blind people,"
said Gary Wunder, a blind man who is a senior computer programmer
at the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics. He is
required to use the Web in his job for project assignments and
updates. "It isn't just optional anymore."

     While current statistics on the use of computers and the Web
by blind and visually impaired people are hard to find,
technology companies and advocacy organizations say the numbers
are rapidly increasing. Tens of thousands of blind people are on
computers, and every year more of them are learning to use the
Web, Chong said.

     A 1991 study published by the American Foundation for the
Blind in New York found that 43 percent of blind and severely
visually impaired people were using the computer for writing,
said Emilie Schmeidler, senior research associate for the
foundation. Her impression is that more visually impaired people
are using computers and the Web now, she said, and "more and more
jobs require the computer."

     Being able to use the Web is critical to thousands of
employed blind people.

     A screen reader or screen-access program like the one Chong
uses is the translator that tells a speech synthesizer what to
say when the visual icons are accompanied by a text description.
"It's my white cane that helps me know what's on the screen,"
Chong said.

     Henter-Joyce, a company in St. Petersburg, Florida, that
manufactures the popular screen reader called JAWS (Job Access
With Speech) for Windows, has between 15,000 and 18,000
customers, said the company's president, Ted Henter. He said the
customer base had increased four to five times since 1995.

     At least seven companies make the screen readers.
Henter-Joyce's JAWS is one of the top sellers and costs about
$795; the company's new version, to be released this spring, will
include a speech synthesizer. The National Federation of the
Blind Web site includes a computer-resource page that has
information on how to get in contact with the companies that sell
the readers.

     But getting the technology right is only one piece of the
package. If Web pages do not have text that identifies graphics
or if they have moving type, they will not be accessible. The
World Wide Web Consortium, made up of universities, corporations,
and research organizations and based at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, started a three-year project in 1997
called the Web Accessibility Initiative that is creating
guidelines to make technology and Web pages more accessible to
blind, deaf, and disabled users.

     The National Federation of the Blind has eight accessibility
guidelines for Web pages that can be found on its Web site.

     The Center for Applied Special Technology, a nonprofit
research and development organization in Peabody, Massachusetts,
has a free service in which it analyzes Web sites and offers
suggestions for their accessibility.

     The change from DOS, a text-based operating system, to
Windows, a graphics-based operating system, was a setback for the
blind.

     "The world enthusiastically embraced Windows, and we were
left out," said Wunder, who is also President of the Missouri
chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. But in the last
two and a half years, Microsoft "has shown concern and
responsiveness" to the blind, Wunder said.

     Version 3.02 of Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer,
includes a component called Microsoft Active Accessibility, a
layer of codes that are compatible with accessibility aids like
the screen reader. In addition to aiding blind users, these codes
also hook into software that helps users who are deaf or have
other disabilities.

     But a newer version, Internet Explorer 4.0, was released on
October 1, 1997, without the Active Accessibility component.
Angry letters, phone calls, and e-mails let Luanne LaLonde,
Microsoft's accessibility product manager, and others at
Microsoft know that this was unacceptable.

     "We got a lot of e-mail," she said. In early November, about
thirty-five days after the release of Explorer 4.0, Microsoft
released Explorer 4.01, including Active Accessibility.

     Web page design, of course, is an element of accessibility.
Vito DeSantis, manager of field operations for the southern
regional office of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind, uses
the Web to find research on the eye condition that has made it
impossible for him to see the computer screen for the past three
years. He also likes to read newspapers on the Web.

     For visually impaired Web users like DeSantis, the vertical
columns on the Web present the biggest problem because screen
readers pick up the information horizontally.

     "You have to really know how to navigate around the screen,"
DeSantis said. "I imagine quite a few people might get
frustrated. Sometimes it's just not worth the effort."

     While screen readers help, Wunder said, "no screen reader
has made the Web as easily accessible for the blind as for the
sighted."

     Even with top-of-the-line screen readers, Web pages have to
have text explanations for graphics and icons or the visually
impaired computer user cannot move.

     "You get a screen, and it says, 'Image, image, image,'"
Schmeidler said, quoting the sound her screen reader makes when
the cursor hits an icon without accompanying text. "You have no
idea how frustrating it is."

     In addition to the advice on making a Web page accessible
from the National Federation of the Blind and the Center for
Applied Special Technology, the World Wide Web Consortium has a
group of volunteer computer experts who are leading the Web
Accessibility Initiative. The group's goal is to write guidelines
for Web page authors who want to make their pages accessible for
all disabled users. A rough draft of the recommendations can be
found on the consortium's Web site.

     "Everything is voluntary, and the documents are called
recommendations," said Professor Gregg Vanderheiden, director of
the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison and a member of the group. But for
businesses and government agencies, making sites accessible may
not be voluntary, he said.

     In a policy ruling in September, 1996, the Department of
Justice said the Americans with Disabilities Act did cover access
to Web pages.

     "A Web site is an electronic front door," Vanderheiden said.
"But blind users often have to let individual Web page authors
know that they can't understand their pages.

     "Sometimes people instantly go and fix it, and sometimes
people don't care."

     Blind users say they want basic instruction on how to
navigate the Web and get what they want. They do not need long
descriptions that are intended to help them see pictures or other
graphics.

     "Don't try to tell me how wonderful the Mona Lisa is,"
Wunder said. "You can't do that, but you can tell me how to get
the picture and print it out for my daughter."
                           **********
     Then on March 29 the CBS program, "60 Minutes," devoted a
segment, narrated by program co-host Lesley Stahl, to technology
innovations assisting the disabled. Parts of the story dealt with
various new wheelchair designs developed by users, but the
largest portion was devoted to technology for blind people. CBS
is nothing if not thorough. The three minutes or so devoted to
Tim Cranmer's work and life were culled from more than three and
a half hours of tape, much of it recorded at the National Center
for the Blind. Tim's rather acid comment about the experience was
that, if he had realized they were going to filter out all
references to the National Federation of the Blind and eliminate
his clarifications of simple statements, he would never have
agreed to submit to the interview. Here is the transcript of the
relevant segment of the story:
                           **********
     STAHL: (Voiceover) A blind person can't see when his coffee
cup is filling up. But Tim Cranmer can, thanks to his own
invention...

     TIM CRANMER: It's a Say When.
(Footage of Cranmer with Stahl)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) ...the Say When.

     CRANMER: It lets you know when to stop pouring. So we put
this over the thing.

     STAHL: Uh-huh.

     CRANMER: And then we pour. (Beeping sound) There you are.

     STAHL: Before you invented this...

     CRANMER: Yeah?

     STAHL: ...how would you know when you had gone to the top?

     CRANMER: You dip a pinky over the top, and you burn your
finger.
(Footage of Cranmer; Cranmer with Stahl; Braille 'n Speak;
Cranmer using Braille 'n Speak)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Tim Cranmer, blind from the age of nine,
has come up with scores of inventions over the last forty years.
Call him the Thomas Edison of devices for the blind. His crowning
achievement is the Braille 'n Speak.

     CRANMER: Open a file.
Computerized Voice: (From Braille 'n Speak) Option zero, one...

     STAHL: (Voiceover) It's a powerful--but very light, less-
than-a-pound--portable computer with a Braille keyboard that
blind people carry with them everywhere.

     STAHL: What have you stored in there? This is something you
use. This is your own machine.

     CRANMER: I use this every day, yes. I have my database in
here, all the telephone numbers and addresses since 1976.
(Footage of Cranmer with Stahl; Cranmer using Braille 'n Speak)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) And his calendar, and a month's worth of
reading.

     STAHL: You could store a whole book in there, for instance?

     CRANMER: Yes. I could store a novel. Right now I have the
poetry of John Keats. That's just temporary. I'll erase that one
of these days and replace it with War and Peace or something.

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Anything he puts into the Braille 'n
Speak can be retrieved instantly, either in a computer-generated
voice...

     CRANMER: I'll have it read that back.
Computer Voice: (From Braille 'n Speak) My name is Lesley Stahl.

     STAHL: (Voiceover) ...or, with this advanced model, in
Braille. These dots pop up and down on a display bar to form
Braille letters.

     CRANMER: Now, you see, there is your name spelled,
L-E-S-L-E-Y, right there.
(Footage of Millicent Williams using Braille 'n Speak in class)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) From home, to the business world, to the
classroom, the Braille 'n Speak is erasing a lot of the You-
can't-do-thats for the blind. Without it Millicent Williams would
have a hard time keeping up with her classmates at Georgia State
University. With it she's probably taking better notes than
anyone else.

     CRANMER: (Voiceover) They just type away in class.

     STAHL: What? And then they go back to their room...

     CRANMER: Uh-huh.

     STAHL: ...and play it back?

     CRANMER: They play it back. They search for things so that
they can listen to specific items.

     STAHL: This has to have made a...

     CRANMER: That's--that's right.

     STAHL: ...an enormous difference...

     CRANMER: An enormous difference.

     STAHL: ...to people in--in holding information.

     CRANMER: I think it will be regarded as the most significant
technology in the twentieth century for the blind. That's my
feeling about it.
(Footage of Cranmer; Ted Henter water-skiing)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) What Tim Cranmer has done with the
Braille 'n Speak is helping blind people accomplish things
society never expected of them. Ted Henter is another blind
inventor who's demolishing stereotypes. Water-skiing is just his
hobby, though he was world champion a few years back. His
breakthrough invention is something called JAWS.

     TED HENTER: JAWS is software that makes the computer talk.
(Footage of Henter with Stahl)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Ted was blinded twenty years ago in an
auto accident. What did you do before?

     HENTER: Before I was blinded?

     STAHL: Yes.

     HENTER: I was a motorcycle racer.
(Vintage footage of Henter's racing motorcycle.)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Clearly Ted Henter needed to find
something else to do.

     HENTER: (Voiceover) I was a sighted kid; I grew up with
dreams. But once I was blinded, I--none of those were relevant
anymore. They--they weren't going to work for me. So I had to
think up new dreams. So I had a few minutes of despair, but I--I
got over it real quick. Ten minutes. And I realized...

     STAHL: Ten minutes? No.

     HENTER: Yes.

     STAHL: Really?

     HENTER: Ten minutes of despair. Because then I realized,
well, there have been blind people around for centuries. And I
knew that what happened to me was for my own good. I knew
something good was gonna come out of it.
(Footage of Henter using computer with Stahl watching)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) The good that came out of it was that Ted
began studying computers. And before long he developed software
that read computer text and turned it into speech.

     COMPUTER VOICE: (From JAWS program) I have several other
questions.
(Footage of man using computer)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) With JAWS reading the computer screen,
suddenly blind people, with a 70 percent unemployment rate, could
compete for all kinds of jobs that used to be unthinkable.

     HEATHER STUBBS: (On phone) FedEx. Heather Stubbs speaking,
may I help you?
(Footage of Heather Stubbs; Stubbs using JAWS program for
customer service call at FedEx)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) If you call FedEx, you might get a blind
customer service agent.

     STUBBS: (On phone) Is this on a shipment that you're about
to make?

     STAHL: (Voiceover) You're in one ear of her headset asking
her to track a package. The JAWS voice is in her other ear...

     COMPUTER VOICE: (From JAWS program) Nine-one-three...
(Footage of computer screen)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) ...telling her what's on the computer
screen.

     COMPUTER VOICE: (From JAWS program) T-R-A-C-E-apostrophe...
(Footage of FedEx employees)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) FedEx has about a dozen blind employees
working the phones using JAWS.

     HENTER: You don't have to be limited by your blindness. You
can go out and do these things. You can go to college. You can
get a Ph.D. You can get a job as a computer programmer, as a
software designer, as an attorney.
(Footage of computer screen using Windows)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Ted's biggest challenge has been Windows
with all those icons and graphics. It's made computers much
easier for most people, but how in the world can a blind person
point and click?

     HENTER: Windows was very, very difficult. When--when Windows
came along and--and companies started switching to it, blind
people were losing their jobs. And we were getting calls all the
time that "Hey, if you don't come out with a Windows product
soon, I'm gonna lose my job." And a lot of people did.

     STAHL: What you're saying is that--that when the computer
does something to make it easier for me, it's a disaster for
blind people. I mean, the very progress that helps me hurts you.

     HENTER: In many cases, yeah. And you have all these people
that are creating vision-oriented systems, sight-oriented, then
we have to come along and--and make it work for someone who can't
see.
(Footage of Henter; computer screen; man using computer)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) Ted figured out a way to make Windows
work for blind people. Now he's making the Internet accessible.
But every day he and his team of programmers have to overcome new
obstacles the sighted computer world throws their way.
How often do you have to change your software 'cause there's a
new problem out there?

     HENTER: We--we change it weekly.

     STAHL: Weekly?

     HENTER: All--almost daily, depending on the week. So we're
constantly working on it.
(Footage of Henter's employees)

     STAHL: (Voiceover) The "we" includes twenty other blind
employees.

     Unidentified Man #1: Open a start menu.

     STAHL: (Voiceover) So if you're a blind customer using JAWS
and you have a question; you're likely to get a blind technical
support guy to answer it.

     Unidentified Man #2: We just wanna really stay on fixing
problems.

     STAHL: If you were to choose a word to describe what this
does to help a blind person or what your goal is, what would it
be?

     HENTER: I think "equality" is a good word.
                           **********
     This broadcast created quite a bit of comment in cyberspace.
The Blazie listserv fielded a good deal of traffic, including
some inquiry about the precise origins of the Braille 'n Speak.
Deane Blazie, who certainly should know what happened and when,
wrote the following e-mail explanation, which we include with an
eye toward history. Here it is:
                           **********
Monday, March 30, 1998
Subject: Who Invented the Braille 'n Speak?
                           **********
     I knew this would start a lot of discussion, and you'll
probably hear a lot of replies from others about this.

     The Kentucky Pocket Braille device was developed in the
Kentucky Department for the Blind by Fred Gissoni. Without
putting words into Fred's mouth, it was intended to be a
reasonably priced, VersaBraille-like device. Fred noticed that,
if you removed the keyboard circuit board from this device, you
would have a notetaker without any output device. He and I and
Tim Cranmer discussed this while I was at Maryland Computer
Services, and we all agreed that, if you just added speech
output, you could have a really nifty notetaker. When Maryland
Computer Services was sold in 1986, I left and did consulting
work. But I really wanted to get back into this industry, and I
began developing the Braille 'n Speak in my basement. I took the
Kentucky PocketBraille documentation, added speech, and changed
the processor and memory circuits, and in July of 1987 I
introduced the Braille 'n Speak at the NFB convention. Before
that I consulted a lot with Tim and Fred on what it should look
like. The first model was wedge-shaped because us sighted guys
thought that Braille keyboards should be sloped like typewriter
keyboards--Dumb old sighted guys. So I fixed the case to be
smaller and flat. I also sat with Fred and Tim, and we worked out
the navigation chords so that they were mirror images. That was
very significant, and it made the Braille 'n Speak a much better
product.

     By the way, Phil Hall was also instrumental in helping with
the Braille 'n Speak. He did some of the speech programming.
Another fellow, Bill Ashcraft, did the reverse Braille
translator.

     So you decide who invented the Braille 'n Speak. I certainly
have no problem with Tim and Fred saying they invented it. Also
don't forget that "60 Minutes" did more than four hours of
interviews with Tim and only published about three minutes of it.
I'm sure, if we heard the whole thing, it would be much clearer.
I'm just glad we are all around to have done it.

Deane
                           **********
     The concluding media examination of technology for the blind
in the current go-round was a story that appeared in the
Washington Post on Saturday, April 4. The story was apparently
supposed to be a look at the Blind Industries and Services of
Maryland (BISM) Web site, which the reporter seems to have been
told was the only accessible one on the Internet. The reporter,
Paul Valentine, had previously done stories about the NFB, so he
contacted us for background information and got several fairly
substantive interviews and demonstrations.

     Despite the more balanced comments of Curtis Chong, director
of the NFB Technology Department, and Richard Ring, director of
the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind,
the notion that the BISM Web site is something special has been
spread fairly widely, both by BISM PR and by the Post article.
When asked for a clear and objective description of the BISM
site, Mr. Chong provided the following statement to the Braille
Monitor:
                           **********
     I have looked at the BISM Web site, and I find it no better
or worse than many others I have come across. I appreciate the
description of pictures and the meaningful labels for hypertext
links, and I think the text is formatted reasonably well. Web
page designers would do well to adopt the BISM Web design
approach.

     However, for BISM to portray its site as anything unique or
extraordinary (implying that many other sites are not as
accessible), is both misleading and irresponsible. It is
unfortunate that the Washington Post article which appeared on
Saturday, April 4, characterized the BISM site as a "rarity in
the cyber world." In point of fact, sites such as BISM's are not
as rare as the article would lead one to believe. I have always
maintained that good Web design should incorporate graphics and
text in a meaningful way to everyone--blind and sighted alike.
BISM has simply followed good design principles in developing its
Web site.
                           **********
                           **********
     With Mr. Chong's statement to provide perspective, here is
the Washington Post story of April 4:
                           **********
               Helping the Blind Handle Computers
             Technology Allows Greater Accessibility
                      by Paul W. Valentine
                  Washington Post Staff Writer
                           **********
     Richard Ring sat at his computer, tapping at the keyboard.
He nimbly logged onto the Internet. A few more keystrokes and a
query box popped onto the screen. Ring typed in the words "coral
snake." Moments later the screen announced 738 hits.

     Routine Net surfing? Hardly. Ring is blind, and his Internet
voyage was accompanied by a voice synthesizer that talked him,
keystroke by keystroke, through each step.

     Ring, forty-seven, chief of international Braille and
technology for the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore,
is one of a growing number of the estimated 535,000 blind people
nationwide who regularly use computers for work, education, and
pleasure.

     With technological breakthroughs occurring almost daily in
text-to-voice scanners, Braille printers, and specially designed
software to help overcome the barriers of icons and other
graphics of the visually oriented World Wide Web, blind users are
finding it increasingly easier to get on the information highway.

     "There are lots of bumps on the road, but we're getting
there," said Curtis Chong, the Federation's director of
technology. "There are a lot of things on the Internet we still
can't use, but more are becoming available."

     Traditionally confined to books and other documents
published in Braille or recorded on audiocassette tapes, the
blind are being encouraged by the Federation and other
organizations to develop computer skills, not only to enjoy the
fruits of the Internet but also to enhance their employability in
an increasingly computer-dependent work world.

     Despite training and work facilities designed specifically
for the blind--such as Blind Industries and Services of Maryland,
with manufacturing plants in Baltimore, Salisbury, and
Cumberland--nationwide unemployment of the blind stands at 70
percent, according to Federation estimates.

     Making computers user-friendly for blind people involves
several mechanical and electronic adjustments. Fundamental among
them is elimination of the mouse and replacement of all mouse
functions with keystrokes.

     The user then tabs up, down, and across the screen, using
the directional arrow, enter, and other keys to manipulate the
cursor. As the cursor moves, an electronic screen reader scans
any text it encounters and sends signals to a synthesizer that
converts the written words to voice. If the cursor is moving
through a blank area of the screen, the voice synthesizer says
"blank" with each keystroke until the cursor comes to a block of
text, where it starts reading.

     When Ring called up "coral snake," he tabbed to a document
called "Everglades Coral Snake," and the voice began, in a steady
monotone: "A coral snake has a black head with alternating red,
yellow, and black stripes . . . ."

     Ring and others say there are two major stumbling blocks in
converting written language to voice on the computer screen:
graphics and any text arranged in columns.

     The device cannot read a graphic, such as an icon or
photograph, and simply calls it a graphic, or it reads a coded
image file name assigned to the graphic by Web site designers
that sounds like gibberish, such as "pic-dot-gif."

     To get around this, blind users can electronically label
icons with brief descriptions that can be scanned by screen
readers. With photographs and other more complex pictures Web
sites must be specially designed with additional captions, or
text descriptions, that translate image file names into simple
terms such as "green globe of earth" or "Orioles logo." Few sites
are designed with that feature.

     Similarly, text arranged in columns is a problem because
readers scan horizontally from left to right across the entire
screen, rather than down one column at a time before going to the
next. However, a small but growing number of sites are being
designed to permit column-reading. Others have reformatted
columnar texts to read left to right.

     Still another feature helping the blind is a text-only
button, which, when activated by the user, instructs the screen
reader to skip graphics and send only text to the voice
synthesizer.

     To encourage the spread of special sites, the World Wide Web
Consortium, a network of academic and computer-industry
specialists based in Boston, recently started forming guidelines
for Web page designers to make sites more accessible not only for
the blind but for deaf and other disabled users.

     Chong, of the National Federation of the Blind, hopes the
word will spread. So many Web sites, especially commercial ones,
he said, are cluttered with graphics that "make them look pretty
and sell lots of products . . . but blind people can't use them."

     Blind Industries and Services of Maryland in Baltimore
recently opened a fully accessible site including graphics--a
rarity in the cyber world. It contains information for both blind
and sighted people, ranging from job openings and vocational
training for the blind to lists of products manufactured and sold
by Blind Industries, such as paper notepads, tote bags, floor
care chemicals, and washcloths.

     The site was specifically designed to include graphics, said
Blind Industries spokeswoman Angela Hartley. "We didn't want just
a plain boring screen because sighted people use the site as
well," she said.

     Creating the graphics-friendly site required "a lot of major
revisions" of conventional Internet design concepts, said Steven
Crawford, chief executive of Columbia-based Shore Studios, which
designed the site at no cost to Blind Industries.

     The Blind Industries site, though far outnumbered by more
conventional ones, "helps to make a level playing field for
everybody," said Daniel K. Woytowitz, head of Blind Industries'
computer technology center.

     Jennifer Cocnavitch, twenty-six, a student undergoing an
eight-month computer course at the center, spoke hopefully of
becoming an English teacher as her fingers glided over a
classroom keyboard.

     "Knowing how to use a computer and getting on the Internet
are important" to getting a job, she said.

     Organizations with blind-related Web sites and their
Internet addresses include the National Federation of the Blind,
<www.nfb.org>; Blind Industries and Services of Maryland,
<www.bism.com>; World Wide Web Consortium, <www.w3.org>; Trace
Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, which does
research in Internet accessibility for the disabled,
<www.trace.wisc.edu>
                           **********
     There you have a report on what the media have been saying
in recent months. It hasn't always been accurate, but all in all,
a lot of Americans know more today about the challenges facing
blind computer users than they did at the start of the year, and
that fact is bound to be constructive.

                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Curtis Chong]
                Microsoft Promotes Accessibility
                         by Curtis Chong
                           **********
     From the Editor: In mid-February Curtis Chong, Director of
the NFB's Technology Department, took part in a meeting organized
by Microsoft. Here is his report:
                           **********
     On February 19 and 20, 1998, Microsoft, a key player in the
personal computer software industry, hosted two days of activity
dealing specifically with the subject of accessibility by persons
with disabilities to its many software products. The first day,
called Accessibility Day, was a concentrated effort to educate
Microsoft employees about the value of accessibility. Employees
and guests, including advocates from the disabled community,
heard from Bill Gates, Microsoft's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, who talked about the importance of accessibility in a
speech which was widely aired throughout the company. Microsoft
employees were educated through panel discussions and direct
contact with vendors of accessibility-related software and
disability-community advocates. The advocates were introduced to
Microsoft's five-point plan for accessibility.

     The second day, called Advocate Day, consisted of in-depth
discussions between key Microsoft product developers, consumers,
and independent software vendors of access technology. Microsoft
revealed some of its plans for future Windows operating systems;
advocates had an excellent opportunity to talk with key product
developers; and Microsoft received some feedback which it perhaps
did not expect.

     These are the bare and unadorned facts. However, readers of
the Braille Monitor know there is a great deal of history behind
the two-day event. Ever since Windows began to achieve prominence
in the operating system marketplace, the blind have been very
concerned that we would, in effect, be relegated to the
technological backwaters of society. Screen-access technology for
the blind was working quite well with the Disk Operating System
(DOS) and with many popular text-based programs such as
WordPerfect, dBASE, and the like. Because of this technology it
became possible for blind people (in the late '80's and early
'90's) to perform a greater variety of jobs--particularly those
in which the computer was used for most of the work day and for
which hiring a sighted reader was cost-prohibitive. However, as
more and more companies began adopting the Windows operating
system and the graphical applications which were supposed to
increase productivity and reduce training costs, blind employees
found themselves in a position where advances in technology for
their sighted peers meant less access and lower productivity for
them.

     When Windows was first released, Microsoft did little to
allay the justifiable concerns that were expressed at the time.
In fact, Microsoft was regarded by many of us as a large part of
the problem. It was not until 1995, when Microsoft conducted its
first Accessibility Summit, that it became clear to the most die-
hard skeptic that perhaps the company really was taking some
small steps to deal with the accessibility problem for Windows
and graphical applications.

     From the summer of 1995 until the fall of 1997, it appeared
that things were proceeding in a positive direction. Microsoft
released its Active Accessibility application programming
interface (a way for access technology and application programs
to communicate more easily) and began promoting this interface to
its own employees and to other companies in the computer
industry. Then, in the fall of 1997, Microsoft released Internet
Explorer Version 4.0. Because this program could not be used by
the blind--we were able to use Internet Explorer Version 3.02
quite nicely--a lot of people expressed sharp criticism of
Microsoft for its failure to give proper attention to
accessibility. All of the trust and good will that had been
developed so painstakingly since 1995 seemed to evaporate, and
overnight Microsoft became a target for frustration, criticism,
and outright anger.

     The company responded quickly by releasing Internet Explorer
4.01, but this newer release would not work with existing screen
reading software because of a significant change made by
Microsoft to the Active Accessibility component. It became clear
that, unless significant changes were made to our screen-reading
programs, we would not be using Internet Explorer Version 4
anytime soon.

     When viewed in this context, it is easy to understand why it
was highly desirable, from Microsoft's point of view, to sponsor
a two-day accessibility event. To put it simply, its image within
the community of the disabled--particularly the blind--was badly
in need of repair.

     Microsoft invited more than twenty individuals representing
various constituencies within the disability community to the
event. I myself attended, representing the National Federation of
the Blind. Interestingly enough, of the more than twenty
advocates attending the event, over a third were representing
various aspects of the blindness field.

     From my perspective there were four highlights of the
two-day accessibility event at Microsoft:

1.   The precedent-setting speech on accessibility by Microsoft
     Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Gates;
2.   The unveiling to disability-community advocates of
     Microsoft's five-point plan on accessibility;
3.   The excellent opportunity for disabled advocates to engage
     in frank discussions with key Microsoft product developers;
     and
4.   The unprecedented opportunity for Microsoft product
     developers to meet with vendors of screen-access technology
     for the blind.

     Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, delivered a
thirty-minute speech during Accessibility Day. The speech was
presented live before several hundred employees, disability
advocates, and other guests; and it was also viewed by more than
a thousand other Microsoft employees, who were able to see and
hear it using their desktop computers. Mr. Gates's presentation,
which is a real first in access issues for the disabled, will
doubtless be used by Microsoft supporters and detractors alike to
demonstrate that the company either strongly supports or is only
paying lip service to accessibility. The fact is that Mr. Gates
did deliver a company-wide speech and that the sole topic of that
speech was access to Microsoft products.

     From my perspective what is perhaps most significant about
Mr. Gates's remarks are his admissions that Microsoft (1) did not
pay enough attention to the impact of the graphical user
interface on the visually impaired and (2) took a step backward
by releasing Internet Explorer Version 4.0 with fewer
accessibility features than its predecessor, Version 3.02.

     Mr. Gates made a couple of statements which may give
credence to a more cynical interpretation of Microsoft's interest
in accessibility. He said:

     I think there's no doubt that legislation and
     regulations are going to be looking at these areas
     [accessibility]. We want to make sure we get out there
     with solutions way, way before that happens.

     Saying that "accessibility is important to Microsoft," Gates
summarized his remarks as follows:

     And I think the basic message here is the one that's
     really at the core of what Microsoft believes in, and
     that's this idea that PC's will benefit everyone.

     Mr. Gates alluded to Microsoft's new plan to deal with
accessibility. The plan was discussed at a dinner meeting with
the disability-community advocates. Here are the five major
elements of the plan:

1.   Enhance accessibility requirements in the Design for the
     Windows Logo program.
2.   Create an accessibility checklist for product groups.
3.   Improve the accessibility of key products.
4.   Establish an advisory council.
5.   Allocate additional resources.

     At this stage no one knows precisely how the plan will
evolve. Advocates were told that the Microsoft Accessibility Team
would be almost tripled in size and that, once a checklist was
established, every single product review would deal with the
question of accessibility. We were told that the position of
Director of Accessibility would be established and that Greg
Lowney, a long-time champion of accessibility issues within the
Microsoft organization, would fill that position.

     Advocates from the disability community were told about the
product-access review boards which Microsoft was attempting to
organize. We were told that a product-access review board had
already been set up to review new releases of Microsoft software
to determine their accessibility to blind persons or persons with
low vision. Interestingly enough, none of the major blindness
organizations were asked to participate on these boards. We later
learned that the chairman of the blindness-product-access review
Board was Mary Otten, a blind person working in the Washington,
D.C., area. However, we could not learn the names of other Board
participants. As it turned out, when Microsoft wanted to organize
the blindness-product-access review board, it turned to Jamal
Mazrui, who is a policy analyst for the National Council on
Disability--a governmental agency which has made no secret of its
desire to subsume separate and identifiable programs for the
blind into the general rehabilitation system.

     Microsoft representatives stated on more than one occasion
that these review boards were neither organized nor controlled by
Microsoft and were serving as independent entities in their own
right. From my perspective Microsoft may have been well
intentioned when it set about the task of creating the product-
review boards, but it failed to understand and take into account
the politics in the blind community. For one thing, its failure
to solicit the participation of the major players within the
blindness community only heightened the level of cynicism and
mistrust toward the company. For another, its appointment of an
employee of a largely discredited governmental agency will cast
doubt upon the efficacy of the board. One cannot help wondering
if the company will make similar grievous mistakes when it tries
to organize its advisory council.

     Turning to the second day of the event, Advocate day, we
spent most of the time conducting serious, in-depth discussions
with key product developers. We talked about future versions of
Windows (Windows 98 and Windows/NT Version 5); future releases of
Microsoft Office (word processing, spread sheet, and office-
application development software); and Internet Explorer. Often
we were told that it was difficult to retrofit what some people
called "legacy code," but that programmers were working hard to
solve the problems and issues we raised. In many instances we
were told that, if we would just wait until 1999 or the year
2000, this or that problem would be taken care of in a future
release. We heard about the development cycle and were told that
a good idea--even if it were accepted today--could take as long
as eighteen months to be turned into live code that would run on
a user's personal computer.

     Some of the plans in the works for future versions of
Windows are worth mentioning here. If things go according to
plan, Windows 98, which everyone expects to come out some time
this year, will have a built-in screen magnifier and something
called an Accessibility Settings Wizard (a way to simplify
setting up the computer with some features that will make it more
accessible). The next version of Windows/NT, probably Version 5,
will have all of these features plus a basic speech-output screen
reader and an on-screen keyboard capability.

     Neither blind consumers nor the screen-access vendors for
the blind were enthusiastic about the screen magnifier and
speech-based screen reader. Companies such as Artic Technologies,
which sells Magnum screen enlargement software, and AI Squared,
maker of Zoomtext for DOS and Windows, expressed strong concern
about the plan. Apparently there is a strong concern about
Microsoft's encroaching on the disability market. Many of the
advocates did not like the term "screen reader" when used to
refer to what is actually a very limited-function talking utility
which doesn't read the screen at all but receives its data
through the Active Accessibility interface. It was clear,
however, that despite what was being said, Microsoft's plans in
this area were already well formed. I was left with the distinct
impression that we were not going to cause any significant
changes by the comments we made.

     Disability-community advocates, many of them blind, made
some pretty frank statements during the wrap-up session. A lot of
people said that Microsoft had not done enough and had not
produced concrete results as soon as it should have. Some people
alluded to the Accessibility Summit, which took place more than
two years ago and opined that things really hadn't changed much
since then. As with the previous meeting, most people said that
they were leaving with two distinct feelings: major frustration
and very cautious optimism.

     Before concluding this article, I think it would be
worthwhile to try to convey my overall impression of the
accessibility event at Microsoft. When I first went to Redmond, I
was fully prepared to participate in a well-orchestrated public
relations exercise in which Microsoft would put forward some of
its ideas for accessibility and then gauge the reaction of key
advocates in the disability community. Indeed Microsoft met all
of my expectations in this regard.

     Unfortunately, I did not get any answers to the very real
problems of today. As of this writing Internet Explorer Version 4
still doesn't work with screen-access technology for the blind.
Although we can use Microsoft Word to write basic text and even
to perform spell checking, the fact is that Word is still not our
word processor of choice when compared to some of the older
software we used in years gone by and sometimes continue to use.
Unfortunately every new Microsoft application we hear about is
more likely to be a barrier to access than something exciting and
worthwhile.

     Of course all is not gloom and doom on the Microsoft front.
Although it is not as much as many of us might like, some real
progress has been made within the company to further the
accessibility agenda. As I hope I have explained in this report,
recognition of the importance of accessibility has moved up the
corporate hierarchy. The company now has a formal plan and a
higher level position dedicated to promoting accessibility
efforts; it is not a vice presidential position, but it is better
than anything that the company has had before. Key products are
planned to be more accessible--if we can wait for a couple of
years. Bill Gates himself has underscored the importance of
accessibility to Microsoft products. And blind people today can
and do use Windows 95.

     From the perspective of the blind person struggling with
today's software to keep a job, this is scant comfort. What comes
to mind is the age-old question, "Oh Lord, how much longer must
we wait?" If the Microsoft Accessibility and Advocate Days of
February 19 and 20 are an indication, we will have to wait for
another couple of years at least before the average blind
computer user sees any real progress.
                           **********
                           **********
   Deaf-Blind Woman Wins Lawsuit Against Continental Airlines
                        by Douglas Parker
                           **********
     From the Editor: The National Federation of the Blind was
instrumental in persuading Congress to pass the Air Carrier
Access Act in the mid-eighties. Although the regulations finally
promulgated by the U.S. Department of Transportation were not all
that we and members of Congress had intended them to be, the act
has provided protections for disabled people in the years since
its passage. The following article was written by one of the
attorneys who argued a recent case in which the right of a deaf-
blind woman to travel independently was upheld by a jury. It is
good to know that this law we fought to pass is doing some good
and that airlines are being forced to learn again the lesson that
they cannot make up rules concerning the disabled just because
they find it convenient not to deal with us. Here is what Mr.
Parker wrote:
                           **********
     Winnie Tunison, a Silver Spring, Maryland, resident who is
deaf-blind, recently won an important victory in a lawsuit
against Continental Airlines. The lawsuit was filed under the Air
Carrier Access Act (49 U.S.C. Section 41705) (the ACAA); it
establishes an important civil rights precedent for persons with
disabilities.

     Mrs. Tunison, a recent grandmother and communications major
at Gallaudet University in Washington, is an experienced airline
passenger who has frequently traveled alone. She is fluent in
English and ASL and reads Braille. In August of 1996 she flew
alone from Washington, D.C., to Newark, New Jersey, on
Continental Airlines en route to visit her daughter in
Providence, Rhode Island. At Newark she was met by an airline
employee who knew some sign language and who assisted her in
getting to the gate for her connecting flight. There was no
suggestion that she needed to have an attendant or have anyone
else accompany her during the flight. Once she boarded her
connecting flight, however, she was approached by an airline
employee and told that the airline's policy prohibited her from
flying unattended. The airline wanted her to get off the plane
and wait at Newark until she could get someone to fly with her.
After an hour's delay, and over Mrs. Tunison's protests, the
airline found an off-duty flight attendant to sit with her (but
not communicate with her) for the duration of the flight.

     When she got to Providence, she called the airline and was
told that she would not have to have an attendant when she flew
back to Washington. After a two-week visit in Providence,
however, Mrs. Tunison went to the airport for her return flight,
only to be told that an airline attendant must travel with her on
the flight back to Washington. The airline also told her that in
the future she would have to have an attendant and that she would
not be able to fly alone.

     Upon returning home, she sent a letter to the airline
discussing the legal regulations that the airlines must follow
and asking the airline to clarify its policies. When she received
no response to that letter, she filed a lawsuit in federal court
in Washington.

     The lawsuit raised an important question about the rights of
deaf-blind persons, and persons with disabilities generally,
under the Air Carrier Access Act. Under the ACAA regulations
adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1990, an
airline can require a person with a disability to travel with an
attendant only under certain narrow circumstances. Specifically
the regulations (14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section
382.35) permit an airline to require a passenger with both
"severe hearing and severe vision impairments" to travel with an
attendant only if the passenger "cannot establish some means of
communication with carrier personnel, adequate to permit
transmission of the safety briefing" required by Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) rules. If the airline and the passenger
disagree over the need for an attendant, the airline must pay for
the attendant.

     After the case was filed, Continental Airlines took the
position that, even if a deaf-blind person can communicate well
enough to understand the initial FAA-required safety briefing,
the crew can still find that they might have difficulty
communicating in an emergency and can therefore require an
attendant. In short, the airline said that it could ignore the
specific requirements of the regulations wherever it was
concerned about a passenger's safety in the event of an
evacuation.

     Mrs. Tunison's attorneys argued that the airline's position
flew in the face of the very carefully drafted regulations
concerning attendants and would expose deaf-blind persons to
arbitrary and irrational treatment. They were also concerned
that, if an airline can apply a generalized concern about safety
to undercut a provision as specific as Section 382.35, it might
be able to do so in interpreting other provisions as well. If the
airline had prevailed on this point, many of the protections
built into the ACAA regulations would unravel.

     The case was tried before a jury in federal court in
Washington, D.C., last November. After a four-day trial the jury
found that the airline had violated the ACAA regulations.
Consistent with instructions on the applicable law provided by
the judge, the jury upheld Mrs. Tunison's position that an
airline cannot ignore the specific language of the regulations
and substitute its own speculation about what might be safe. Her
position was reinforced by the U.S. Department of Transportation
itself, which agreed with her interpretation of the regulations
and began an inquiry into Continental's policies. As a result of
that inquiry, we understand Continental has now revised its
training materials and staff manuals.

     While the jury did not award Mrs. Tunison any monetary
damages, the case established an important point of law: airlines
must comply with the ACAA regulations and cannot substitute their
own judgments about safety for the requirements imposed by the
government regulations. The case also showed that deaf-blind
people have important rights when they travel, that they do not
have to accept demeaning treatment from airlines, and that they
can use the federal courts to enforce their civil rights.

     For further information about this case or about the Air
Carrier Access Act, contact Mrs. Tunison's attorneys, Sunil
Mansukhani and Douglas L. Parker, at the Institute for Public
Representation, Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, (202)662-9535, voice, and
(202)662-9538, TTY, or by e-mail at <parker@law.georgetown.edu>
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Laurel Buck]
                         A Sad Reminder
                           **********
     From the Editor: All of us have had the painful experience
of having someone dismiss us as unimportant or insignificant or
incompetent simply because the person didn't bother to focus
sufficient attention on us to see the truth. It happens to blind
people all the time, but it occurs to other people as well.
Because it is such a common experience for us, it seems to me
that I should be less inclined to dismiss other people out of
hand than those who rarely have to fight to be taken seriously
themselves.

     At last summer's convention I conducted several meetings in
which a woman named Laurel Buck took part. Once she even called
and left a message on my hotel room telephone, but I never
returned the call. She spoke haltingly and with little inflection
to her voice. I found it difficult to listen to her words long
enough to catch her meaning. I knew nothing about her, not even
where she came from, and I didn't take the time to find out or
even answer her questions with attention.

     As it happened, Laurel was dealing with massive problems
stemming from head injuries she sustained in a car accident. She
had already adjusted to losses I can't even conceive of, and just
to go on with her life, she had to muster courage and
determination every day that I can only imagine.

     I did nothing to compound Laurel's problems, but neither did
I extend myself to get to know her or offer her encouragement.
Now it is too late to do so. But it is not too late to remember
her whenever I meet someone else who is carrying a particularly
heavy load. Laurel committed suicide on New Year's Eve. There are
many others in our Federation family and beyond who deal with
problems every day that would stagger me. I for one have been
reminded to be more alert to both the needs and abilities of
those I meet. Here is the moving story about Laurel Buck by Susan
Levine that appeared in the February 4, 1998, edition of the
Washington Post:
                           **********
            Ending the Struggle To Rebuild Her Dream
      Laurel Buck Saw Life as an Adventure, But a Car Crash
                    Forced an Uphill Journey
                         by Susan Levine
                           **********
     At 10:35 p.m. on New Year's Eve, miles away from the pricey
hotel party for which she and her boyfriend had paid weeks before
and an eternity away from the future that had held such promise,
a Rockville woman named Laurel Buck was pronounced dead at
Suburban Hospital. She was thirty-four.

     On his report the medical examiner wrote "suicide." Sometime
the previous day Buck had swallowed forty-five shiny blue-and-
yellow capsules of Verapamil, a drug often used to lower blood
pressure. Each was 240 milligrams strong and built to detonate
round-the-clock. By the time she confessed her action and handed
her boyfriend a note saying that "nothing particular happened,"
the pills had been in her body for hours.

     Of course something had happened, although it had occurred
nearly a decade earlier as Buck made an ill-timed left turn and
was broadsided just two miles from her parents' home in Prince
George's County. Those who knew her well wonder now if suicide
was the inevitable, tragic consequence of that moment, which
fractured her face, destroyed much of her vision, and led to
major brain injury. At the least her overdose became the final
chapter of her struggle to rebuild her damaged body, to prove she
still had value.

     "She really, really wanted to participate in society, and
she wanted to be productive," said a friend, Judy Rasmussen. What
Buck apparently saw as her inability to do so should be a lesson
for others, her brother Rick believes.

     "Society," he said, "must do more to let marginal people
live non-marginal lives."

     Once she had been far different, an independent, adventurous
spirit who delighted in the experience of life. She spent her
junior year of high school in Japan and scaled Mount Fuji. She
moved on to Bryn Mawr College, tried her hand at both wrestling
team statistician and radio deejay, and graduated as a smart but
unfocused geology major.

     In 1985 she joined the Peace Corps, teaching in the parched
land of Botswana. For two years a hut was her home, a washtub
turned upside down her table. When she wasn't with her students,
she hitchhiked across that country and much of southern Africa,
lugging a village chieftain's chair all the way to Cape Town so
she could take it to her parents one Christmas. She laughed
generously. She could tell a joke in four languages.

     But on July 23, 1988, having finally returned from her far-
flung wanderings, the world shattered as she turned her beloved
'67 Mustang off Indian Head Highway on the way home from the
library. With only a lap belt for protection, her head smashed
violently against the dashboard. The damage would be tremendous
and largely permanent.

     There was the loss of her right eye, of any sense of smell
and taste. She stumbled often with a badly unbalanced gait; her
rapid-fire speech became laboriously slow and slurred.

     And though she eventually recovered speed and clarity,
unnatural pauses between her words prevented them from flowing
smoothly, which many people took as a cue to finish sentences for
her. Even worse was when they listened too briefly and, Buck
felt, concluded that she was stupid. As a final cruelty last year
the already minimal vision in her left eye began deteriorating
rapidly.

     Yet, through more than six months of hospitalization and
nearly two years of special rehabilitation, her humor remained
intact; her intellect survived; and, according to friends and
family, so did her matter-of-fact way of dealing with adversity
and her dogged determination to be part of life. In the early
'90's, Buck pushed herself to move out on her own. She maneuvered
the Metro alone and tried white water rafting and skiing. Despite
her arrhythmic speech, she went with the local chapter of the
Federation of the Blind to lobby legislators in Annapolis.

     She also held a job as a computer assistant at the National
Naval Medical Center, a position that meant much more to her than
a paycheck--perhaps too much, as it turned out.

     "She didn't let herself off the hook," Noreen O'Grady, a
friend from Peace Corps days, reflected last week.

     There'd been nothing dark or brooding about her before the
crash, and until she came home from work on the afternoon of
December 30, few saw any hint of a well of despair. "It's almost
as if I had a daughter who was quite unique," said her mother,
Nancy Buck, "and then I had another daughter who was also
unusual. And now they're both gone."

     Two memorial services were held in January for Laurel Susan
Buck, one at a small country church not far from where her
parents now live in Anne Arundel County, the other at the medical
center chapel in Bethesda.

     "It is not my place or yours to judge the heart of another
person," the minister told her family and the nearly five dozen
men and women gathered at the church service two Saturdays ago.
They'd traveled from Vermont, California, Nebraska, and New York,
friends from college, from the Peace Corps, from the Federation.
Her Braille teacher came, as did another head-injury victim Buck
had once encouraged.

     The distance of time was reflected in the stories shared,
but nobody appeared surprised by any of the tales. One person
recalled how Buck had gotten her pilot's license and soloed over
the Chesapeake Bay the summer after finishing college. Tina Vine
drew laughter when she described Buck's sense of style in
Botswana. "Who else would even think of taking fishnet stockings,
lace gloves, and a clutch purse?" Vine asked.

     Memories also were volunteered at the other service, but
most people at the Naval Medical Information Management Center
knew far less about the woman who had tried to work alongside
them for nearly six years. They were not aware of Buck's
deepening frustration over how little she seemed to be given to
do. In the absence of other tasks she tried to take charge of
certain responsibilities. Every morning in the kitchen for her
section, she would practice making the coffee and refilling the
ice trays.

     She sensed that some employees shied away from her. Some
were more polite than others. Lieutenant Commander Andrew Porter
acknowledges painfully conflicted feelings about her extreme
disabilities. He was the administrative officer whom Buck
approached last fall for help in getting some computer equipment
designed for the visually impaired. The order accidentally got
set aside and then forgotten, and not until mid-December was it
delivered to her office. It is unclear whether it was ever
installed at her desk.

     "I felt terribly guilty," Porter said last week. "In the
back of my mind I'd like to think you have a chance to really
change someone's life, to really give them hope, to really
inspire them. I had that chance with Laurel, and through
my...failure to take up her cause, I contributed to the mess."

     Certainly she had several close colleagues, who were stunned
by her suicide. Her supervisor, Zahur Alum, describes her as a
"very special person." Her friend Alice Barkley says she misses
Buck terribly. Nearly every morning Buck would stop by Barkley's
cubicle for confirmation that her clothes looked all right. She
joined Barkley's Wednesday lunchtime Bible study, and many
evenings Barkley gave her a ride to her Grosvenor high-rise.

     "She made me learn to listen," Barkley said. "I don't know
of anyone who could have reconstructed her life as many times as
she had." Maybe, Barkley suggests finally, "she just got tired of
the fight and the battle."

     In a corner near the front door of the condo Buck shared
with Sean Sullivan, the long and slender opaque wand with which
she made her way in the world still leans against the wall. On
the floor, neatly paired, are her low black suede pumps, exactly
where she put them when she walked in from work December 30.

     "It's like I'm waiting for her to come home," he said.

     The two had been together since 1992, and the forty-seven-
year-old Sullivan, a country club groundskeeper, asked Buck to
marry him on more than one occasion. As it was, they frequently
struck friends as a comfortably married couple. He was
solicitous, protective. "I accepted her for what she was," he
explained. "To me she was complete."

     Sullivan feels certain that suicide had been an option,
however remote, for years. Although Buck never voiced any
bitterness or complaints--no regrets about the Foreign Service
career she might have pursued--"it was so painful and so
difficult [for her] to accept what life had become," he said. At
the same time he wants to believe that her overdose was a rash
impulse and that a remark she made in the hospital emergency room
about changing her mind meant, too late, that she wanted to pull
back. If his crosscurrents of thought sound contradictory, he
says, well, conflicting emotions and agendas run through many
lives.

     Still, like the others grieving Buck's death, he is haunted
by questions. Why or, more specifically, why now? In the last few
weeks she had seemed even more beaten down by day's end. She had
worried aloud to her mother recently that her memory seemed
shakier.

     On the other hand, the night before she had gone shopping at
White Flint Mall for a sweater to match jewelry that Sullivan had
given her for Christmas. She was looking for something in green
cashmere. She was excited about their New Year's Eve plans.

     Then he picked her up at work that Tuesday, and within an
hour the world collapsed.

     "She kept on pushing and pushing and pushing." Richard Buck,
a pleasant but reticent man, views the youngest of his three
children as a kind of Sisyphus. "She kept on pushing the rock up
the mountain...and the rock finally rolled back on her."

     Ultimately his daughter must have assessed her limitations
in similarly bleak terms. In the contents of her desk at work--
five years of hopes and disappointments that were returned to her
parents that afternoon of their memorial service for her--her
mother found a poem. She is sure Laurel is its author.

     I saw the end of the world
     On my TV last night;
     It preempted the National Anthem.
     I watched it half dazed
     Through popcorn and beer;
     Stunned by the color of death unfurled.
     When the time was over,
     No announcer came on
     To tell me what was not left to feel.
     So I smiled a tear;
     And saluted the heroes
     Who evolved to make gods.
     Jesus, why did You forsake me when the power went off?
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Deborah Kent Stein]
             The Optacon: Past, Present, and Future
                      by Deborah Kent Stein
                           **********
     From the Editor: Several times in recent years we have
published articles lamenting Telesensory's decision to
discontinue production of the Optacon. Here is Deborah Kent
Stein's discussion of this essential tool in her life. The
article first appeared in the September issue of DIGIT-EYES: The
Computer Users' Network News, published by the Blind Service
Association of Chicago. It is reprinted here by permission.
Debbie Stein is First Vice President of the National Federation
of the Blind of Illinois. This is what she says:
                           **********
     Like most blind people of my generation, I grew up with the
futuristic dream of the "reading machine." I had no idea what
this magical invention would look like or how it would work its
miracles. But somehow it would grant me entrance to the
bookshelves of the world. I would have the freedom to read
whatever I wanted and needed without waiting on the whim of some
busy human intermediary.

     For me the dream came true in the summer of 1977, when I
obtained my first Optacon through Associated Services for the
Blind in Philadelphia. I spent two weeks in Optacon training at
ASB--the standard time required by Telesensory Systems, Inc., the
machine's manufacturer. A special grant obtained through the
dedication of ASB's Fred Noesner covered 75 percent of the
then-astronomical $3,400 cost, bringing the purchase price within
the range of most consumers. My dream machine proved to be
compact, lightweight, and highly portable. The main unit
contained a template or "array" with 144 tiny pins. Connected to
the main unit by a slender cable was a camera lens the size and
shape of a mini-flashlight. I learned to track the lens across a
printed line with my right hand while resting my left forefinger
lightly upon the array. The pins of the array vibrated to create
a tactile image of each letter viewed by the lens. I could
literally feel everything on the printed page.

     As soon as I began using the Optacon, I made startling
discoveries. I learned that italicized letters are slightly
tilted, that chapter titles are sometimes offset with wavy lines
or curlicues, that Penguin Books uses a tiny penguin logo while
Borzoi Books marks its title pages with a running dog, that the
first letter of the first word of a chapter is usually so large
it reaches down to the second or third line. I had survived very
nicely without knowing these things. Still such details are an
integral part of the world of print--the world from which most
people gather so much information and pleasure.

     Without a doubt reading with the Optacon was slow. Through
steady practice I built my speed to about 100 words per minute,
compared with my Braille-reading speed of 250 words per minute or
more. But reading speed was not the issue. What mattered was
access, and the Optacon provided that. Books, newspapers,
magazines, catalogues, bills, record jackets, and the recipes on
boxes of cake mix--the barriers were down, and suddenly
everything was within reach. For the first time friends lent me
their favorite books, sent me clippings, and dared to share their
private thoughts in typewritten letters.

     "So what's the first thing that machine helped you do?" my
aunt asked when I brought the Optacon home from Philadelphia.

     "I cleaned out my purse," I told her. It was true. I didn't
plunge straight into the latest bestseller. I emptied my purse
onto the couch and sorted through several weeks' accumulation of
receipts, theater programs, ticket stubs, and random scraps. In
the past I would have had to wait for the opportune moment with
some patient friend or paid reader who could help me weed out the
debris. Perhaps I might simply have taken the matter into my own
hands, dumping everything into the wastebasket and hoping I
wasn't losing some crucial phone number or appointment slip. Now,
with the Optacon, I could check each questionable paper and
dispose of it as I saw fit, on my own time, without having to let
anyone else glimpse the rat's nest my purse had become.

     I have had a Kurzweil scanner since 1990. I no longer use
the Optacon for reading full-length books as I often did in the
past. But the scanner has never replaced the Optacon in any other
regard. They are both tools for accessing print, but each has its
own unique strengths and limitations. The scanner can read
quickly through large blocks of standard print. It enables me to
store material on diskette for future reference, thus building up
a small library of books and articles. But the scanner has strong
views on what standard print really is. Poor to moderately
well-xeroxed copies, most newsprint, all faxes, print that is
unusually small or exceptionally large--all call forth the
maddening message: "Page too difficult, may be upside down!"
Pages with more than one column may be read accurately, as long
as the space between the columns isn't too narrow. Italicized
words often turn into strings of "unrecognized characters." And
anything handwritten, no matter how clearly, is totally out of
bounds.

     With the Optacon, on the other hand, the only limits are my
time and patience. With a bit of both I can read virtually
anything. Cursive handwriting is the only holdout; I can usually
read handwriting if people print. I can also examine charts and
tables and can puzzle out simple line drawings and maps. The
underlying fact is that the scanner interprets what it perceives,
often in its own idiosyncratic fashion. The Optacon shows me what
is on the page and allows me to interpret for myself.

     When I got the Optacon twenty years ago, I believed it would
be available to blind people for as long as civilization endured.
I never imagined that the company that created and marketed this
extraordinary instrument would one day renounce it as obsolete.
But by the mid 1980's TSI (the descendant of Telesensory) had
moved on to other, more lucrative products. It promoted the
Optacon, even the newest model, with waning enthusiasm. In 1996
came the dreaded proclamation. The Optacon would no longer be
manufactured. Old machines will be serviced "until the turn of
the century," unless the parts run out sooner. The Optacon is an
essential part of my life. In my work as a freelance writer I
turn to it a hundred times in the course of the day--to check a
page number for a footnote, to make sure the margins are correct
on a printed page, to check whether my printer needs a fresh
ribbon.

     Beyond my working life the Optacon is just as important. I
can browse through gift catalogues before Christmas and
birthdays. I can sort the mail and read the pieces that are
addressed to me. I can use the dictionary, the encyclopedia, and
even the Yellow Pages. Without the Optacon I could not do any of
these things independently. Each of these small but necessary
tasks, plus dozens and dozens more, could be done only with
another person's assistance.

     The Optacon has given blind people a level of autonomy and
flexibility unparalleled in history. Yet that gift is being
withdrawn. That sense of freedom, that knowledge that print poses
no barriers, may be lost to future generations. As a devoted
Optacon user I belong to a minority within the blind community.
We spend a lot of time worrying, raging, strategizing, and
mourning. We stockpile used machines, buying them up at every
opportunity. With renewed hope we pursue each rumor that another
company will buy up parts, will service old machines, will build
new ones. We tell each other that something has to be done. We
try to carry that message to the world.

     For the most part the response is not encouraging. We are
told that the Optacon brought blind people into the age of
technology, but its day is done. It will be remembered fondly,
like the party line and the wind-up Victrola. After all, no
company wants to invest in a dead-end product--in technology
without a future.

     Right now the blind community is focused upon another
technological crisis. Looming before us is the growing use of
graphics in household products that were once accessible with
ease--microwave ovens, tape decks, VCR's, clocks, and even
telephones. How can we continue to compete in this increasingly
icon-oriented world?

     Programmers are employing all their wizardry to make these
new gadgets talk to us. They're struggling to turn each new icon
into speech. To some extent they have been successful. But every
new gadget requires tampering; each manufacturer must be
bargained with. The struggle looks to be endless. According to
the proverb, a picture is worth a thousand words. At best speech
is an awkward medium with which to represent graphics. One often
needs to know the layout of the screen, where the image appears,
and how it changes when a button is pressed.

     Surely there is another approach to the whole problem, one
that does not depend on speech at all. Why not develop a device
to enable blind people to read the screen tactually? Why not turn
visual graphics into tactile images?

     This notion is not as farfetched as it may sound. For more
than two decades Optacon users have been reading computer screens
with a specially-designed lens attachment. The Optacon has proved
highly useful for navigating in Windows and other
graphically-based environments. Couldn't this technology be
enhanced to meet the challenges before us? Instead of trying to
make each new gadget talk, we could carry a simple hand-held
device that would enable us to read any screen we encounter,
whether on an ATM machine or the new clothes dryer. The Optacon
was at the cutting edge of technology when it appeared in the
early 1970's. Instead of tossing that technology onto the rubbish
heap, let us carry it forward and see what the future may bring.

     For my part, I just want to go on reading my mail and
cleaning out my own purse. Those may seem like small things, but
they have a lot to do with large issues--such as privacy,
dignity, and self-respect.
     (Deborah Kent Stein is a nationally-known freelance writer.
Among her more than fifteen books available through the Library
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped are Belonging, Jody,
Ohio, One Step at a Time, and Te Amo Means I Love You.)
                           **********
                           **********
                        Raising the Bar:
                First Time at National Convention
                          by Dan Burke
                           **********
     From the Editor: People who have attended National
Conventions know what an astonishing impact that first experience
can have on a life, but it's hard to convey to those who have
never taken their courage in both their hands and decided to go
what a difference that week of inspiration, information, and
friendship can make in their lives. They can easily conceive of
all sorts of problems, real and imagined, that might befall them:
lost luggage, masses of strangers, inability to find meetings or
restaurants--you know the list. It doesn't matter how many times
experienced Federationists explain that luggage gets found, that
there are no strangers at an NFB convention, and that anyone who
isn't lost will stop and help those who are. One simply has to go
and experience it all firsthand.

     These are logistical matters that can at least be discussed.
What such people cannot begin to understand is the impact they
will feel from the challenge and inspiration they find at a
convention. It changes lives and brings hope and determination
where they were absent. We stand a little straighter, try a
little harder, set our goals a little higher.

     Dan Burke is one of the leaders of our Montana affiliate. He
attended his first National Convention in 1997. He wrote about
the experience in the spring issue of The Observer, the
organization's newsletter. This is what he said:
                           **********
     In New Orleans last summer the National Federation of the
Blind broke its own convention attendance record: well over 3,000
blind people from across the United States, from Canada, and from
around the world came to New Orleans. That was an organizational
best, setting the bar a bit higher for future conventions to
better. But I embraced a personal challenge--raising the bar of
what I expect of myself as a blind person.

     As I left high school and moved through college more than
two decades ago, the wisdom spoken around me was to take the safe
route, forget about childhood dreams, ignore the heart. Both my
parents and my counselor for the blind in Colorado truly wanted
the best for me, but my discussions with them left me with the
distinct impression that the rules were different for me because
I was blind, or rather because I would become blind. At the time
I didn't know any better. It would be a long time before I began
to realize that what needed to be different was what I thought
about being blind, not about what I wanted for myself.

     I struggled through college in four years, passing as a
sighted person, but always afraid of being discovered and feeling
the embarrassment of inadequacy at my inability to function as a
sighted student. After college I put my sheepskin in a drawer and
set off aimlessly on what turned out to be a downward-spiraling
series of unsatisfying jobs. I skipped my ten-year high school
reunion. Though I was bound for graduate school the next fall, I
felt my life was at an all-time low and just beginning on its
upward turn. The facts were, as I saw it that summer, that I had
accomplished nothing, was on Social Security, had just become a
father, and was more broke than I had ever been in my life.

     I was finally heading into a rehabilitation career, but by
default. Frankly I didn't have the confidence to attempt anything
else, and like so many who feel little personal power to help
their own circumstances, I decided the thing I needed to do was
to help others.

     The attitude that I must accept less than I wanted began to
change, though. And by the time I landed in New Orleans last
summer, I was hungry for confirmation that blindness need not
mean giving up on dreams, giving up on achieving beyond the
expectations of family, friends, neighbors, and rehabilitation
professionals. And I found what I was looking for.

     I was impressed with many things--the many divisions, such
as Braille, merchants, lawyers, scientists and techno-geeks,
writers, and journalists. The many professions introduced in
general sessions or smaller division meetings made the greatest
impression on me. The scholarship winners especially intrigued
and excited me because among their many academic disciplines were
several I had ruled out when I was younger as closed to a blind
person. We heard from a surgeon (who once lived in Missoula!) who
found his way back into employment after becoming blind, working
as a consultant. I talked to a woman working on her master of
fine arts in creative writing and teaching courses as well. One
of the scholarship candidates was completing study as a dinosaur
paleontologist. The vocational rehabilitation program in Nebraska
helped a blind man fulfill his dream of becoming a trucker--not
to drive, but to begin a successful trucking company.

     Admittedly there was a time in my life when hearing about
such successful blind people would have terrified me. It would
have made me confront my own feelings about my blindness and the
insecurity I felt. It would have raised the bar, the level of
expectations for achievement, that didn't fit with my lack of
confidence in myself. Now, however, I am tickled pink to carry my
white cane. The news carrier can hear my Perkins Brailler
thunking away at 5:30 in the morning as I compose poems in
Braille.

     In the end the talk I had with a man from Iowa, a
scholarship finalist who was working on his doctorate in clinical
psychology, summed it up best for me. His chief area of interest,
he told me, was in examining how the way we feel affects the way
we think. Of course, I thought to myself, if I feel depressed or
embarrassed or useless because I can't see, then I will think
there is little open to me because I can't see. But when I can
begin to feel that blindness isn't the problem, I can begin to
think in terms of possibilities, begin to expect more and work
harder for what I want. I can raise the bar higher and higher for
myself.

     So since the convention last July that's what I have done.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Elizabeth Campbell]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: The Fort Worth skyline]
                        Convention Extras
                      by Elizabeth Campbell
                           **********
     From the Editor: The following article is the last pre-
convention offering from the Texas affiliate. In just a few weeks
we will be gathering for the 1998 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind, and you don't want to miss it. President
Maurer is hard at work on the convention agenda, and you already
know from recent Monitor articles just how much activity is
planned around official agenda items. So if you haven't yet made
your hotel reservation, do it today. Call the Hyatt Regency DFW
at (972) 453-1234; do not call the Hyatt's national toll-free
number because reservations made through it will not be honored.
Convention room rates are singles, $41; doubles and twins, $43;
triples, $45; and quads, $47. As far as we now know, the tax will
be 12 percent. The first full day of pre-convention activities is
Saturday, July 4, and the closing gavel falls at 5 p.m. Friday,
July 10.

     Liz Campbell is the President of the Fort Worth Chapter of
the NFB of Texas and a reporter for the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
As you will read, she knows a good bit about the greater
Dallas/Fort Worth area. This is what she says:

                           **********
     Howdy y'all! This is how native Texans and transplants alike
welcome our friends to a state which many say is like visiting a
whole other country.

     Indeed, the state has everything from beaches along the Gulf
Coast to mountains in west Texas. You won't have time to travel
to other parts of Texas, though, because your visit to the
bustling Dallas/Fort Worth area will give you so many choices
that it will be difficult to decide which local attractions you,
your family, and friends should choose during your free hours. So
we'd better get started on our journey.

     The Dallas/Fort Worth Hyatt Regency Hotel sits in the midst
of the busiest airport in the world. From our convention
headquarters hotel fascinating museums, restaurants, amusement
parks, and other attractions are not far away.

     Most of the sprawling airport is in Grapevine, a city
founded during the 1850's. Now much of Main Street is listed in
the National Registry of Historic Places. Main Street boasts a
collection of unique shops including a German bread store and a
doll maker's shop. Behind Main Street artisans demonstrate the
almost-forgotten skills of glass blowing and blacksmithing.
Walking tours of the Main Street area are also available. Main
Street is also the home of the Cotton Belt Depot, where a
nineteenth-century train called the "Tarantula Steam Train" takes
passengers from Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards. We'll
talk about the Stockyards later in this article. The "Tarantula"
train gets its name from the maze of railroad tracks that
crisscross Fort Worth. The railroad map looks like a tarantula.
The depot is also the home of a free museum that features the
history of the city.

     Grapevine got its name from the wild mustang grapes that
grew there, and the city hosts the popular festival celebrating
Texas wines called Grape Fest. Several Texas wineries have
tasting rooms in Grapevine. For more details on things to do in
Grapevine, call the Convention and Visitors Bureau at (817)
481-0454.

     You won't want to pass up a chance to visit Grapevine Mills
Outlet Mall, a new attraction that promises shopping bargains and
good food. Two particularly interesting places at the mall are
Dick Clark's Restaurant, complete with rock-n-roll memorabilia,
and the Rain Forest Cafe. As this name implies, this eatery will
transport you to the tropics for food and adventure. NFB shuttle
busses from the hotel to Grapevine will run at various times each
day from Friday, July 3, through Friday, July 10. For more
details about the mall and its restaurants call (972) 724-4910.

     Irving, another city close to our hotel, features upscale
shopping in Las Colinas. This exclusive community is also home to
the movie studios featured in our convention tours. (See the
April, 1998, Braille Monitor for tour details.)

     While in Las Colinas, don't pass up a chance to see the
sculptures of wild mustangs near the Four Seasons Hotel. The
horses are standing in a reflecting pool. Irving is also home to
the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium. For more details about
Irving call the Convention and Visitors Bureau at (972) 252-7476

     Now, let's head west to Fort Worth, the best spot in Texas.
Okay, I might be just a little prejudiced. Will Rogers coined the
saying: "Fort Worth is where the West begins, and Dallas is where
the East peters out."

     Fort Worth, founded after the Mexican-American War, grew up
around railroads, the Stockyards, and cowboys; it was an
important stop along the Chisholm Trail before cowboys headed
north to Kansas City and Chicago. You can still find these
aspects of the West today, but now the Stockyards, in north Fort
Worth, is a historic tour attraction complete with Billy Bob's
Texas, the largest honky-tonk in the world, and the Tarantula
Steam Train. The train departs from Stockyards Station, which is
also the home of many shops and restaurants, including the Ernest
Tubb Record Shop.

     Fort Worth has its cultural side, too. It is often referred
to as the "museum capital of the southwest." Four museums are
located in an area known as the Cultural District, just west of
downtown. The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, the Kimbel Art
Museum, the Museum of Science and History, and the Modern Art
Museum attract many visitors.

     Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth is another fun place
to visit with a coffee bar, restaurants, movie theaters, and
shops. It is also adjacent to the Outlet Square shopping mall.
For more information about Fort Worth attractions, call the
Convention and Visitors Bureau at (817) 336-8791.

     Now let's head east! If you're looking for baseball and
amusement parks, Arlington, which is between Fort Worth and
Dallas, is the perfect place.

     The ball park at Arlington, which offers tours daily, is the
home of the Texas Rangers baseball team. The ball park also
features a baseball museum. Six Flags Over Texas, with rides of
every description and shows for children and adults, is a must
for amusement park enthusiasts. For more details contact the
Convention and Visitors Bureau at (817) 265-7721.

     Last but not least is Dallas, about thirty miles from Fort
Worth. Don't worry; it's closer than that to our hotel. The city
is famous for many attractions, including art museums and the
Neiman Marcus Department Store. It is also the site of the tragic
assassination of John F. Kennedy. The sixth floor of the Dallas
County Administration building is a popular tourism spot.

     Dallas is also known for its eclectic selection of
restaurants and clubs. A well-known area for dining is Greenville
Avenue, which features everything from Thai to southwestern
cuisine. The West End, located in downtown Dallas, is another
popular night spot. Find out more about Dallas by calling the
Convention and Visitors Bureau at (214) 571-2000.

     Now that we've whetted your appetite for a visit to Texas,
there is no excuse for missing a great convention where you will
see old friends and meet new folks.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Michael Baillif]
                      Equality Safari-Style
                       by Michael Baillif
                           **********
     From the Editor: In the years since Michael Baillif first
won an NFB scholarship in 1984, he has frequently contributed to
the Braille Monitor. Often his articles are reflections on
experiences he has had during trips to other countries. The
following article is no exception. Here it is:
                           **********
     Our van had been bumping, thumping, and skidding over the
nearly impassable road for what seemed like an eternity. Finally
we had reached our destination--a village of a tribe known as the
Masai Mara located in the Serengeti plain in Kenya, Africa. As
part of a family vacation we had ventured to Kenya and spent the
last several days traveling from Nairobi to Mount Kenya and now
to the Serengeti plain. As one of the final stops before
beginning the interminable homeward trip to the United States, we
had decided to seek out a village which, but for the malign
influence of tourists like us, was functioning more or less as it
had for thousands of years.

     After digging out my cane from between the van seats, where
it had become almost immovably wedged, I stepped out of the van
and breathed a sigh of relief. It was almost my undoing. I
inhaled a cloud of dust particles that sent me into a paroxysm of
coughing. When I had recovered sufficiently, I asked our guide,
"What is all of that dust blowing around?"

     "Oh, that's dry camel dung," he said. "The villagers use it
to plaster their houses."

     Attempting to breathe as shallowly as possible, I followed
our group into the village. We were given a tour by one of the
villagers who, with the aid of our guide, explained how the
village operated and described a normal day in the life of a
Masai Mara tribesman. He told us of how they cultivated maize and
talked of occasional expeditions to hunt water-buck and gazelle.

     We were even able to walk through one of the houses, a hut
really, and watch as an elderly grandmother prepared the evening
meal over an open fire. As we were observing this, the tribesman
who had been showing us around approached one of my family
members and asked if I were really blind. He shook his head sadly
and said, "Can't see, too bad, too bad."

     I wanted to explain that blindness really wasn't much of an
issue for me because I had been lucky enough to acquire the
attitudes and skills I needed to do pretty much whatever I
wanted. But, given the language barrier, the best I could do was
to point to my cane, make a dismissive gesture, and say, "It's
okay."

     As we walked out of the hut, I reflected that one can travel
the world and be confronted with astonishingly consistent views
regarding blindness. Be it an American university, an English
pub, or an African village, the odds are high that one will
encounter the same types of attitudes about blindness. People
tend to look upon blindness as awful and upon blind people as
sometimes worthless, sometimes admirable, and not uncommonly both
at once.

     Of course the reality is much different. Blindness, like any
other characteristic, is no more and no less than what we, and
our larger society, make of it. Given good training, positive
attitudes, sufficient opportunities, and a community that doesn't
get in the way, blindness really need not be a big deal.

     But until these elements of equality become the norm, the
social outlook and occasional reality will be that blindness is a
terrible thing. Of course this perspective will be expressed in
different ways depending upon the context, the culture, and the
language. But make no mistake, it is every bit as universal as a
Jungian archetype and every bit as long-lived as a Masai Mara
village.

     I was pondering how these threshold negative stereotypes
regarding blindness could best be overcome when my musings were
interrupted by the villager who had been leading our tour. He
offered to sell me an African war club, hand-carved out of a
single piece of teak wood. It really was beautiful and packed a
whollop that would knock the recipient into next Sunday. All of a
sudden, at least superficially, he had apparently come to terms
with my blindness and now was cheerfully endeavoring to sell me
the same products that were being offered to others in the group.

     I asked the price of the club, and he quoted me a price of
250 shillings, but said that, since I was his good friend, I
could have it for 100 shillings. I told him that I would think
about the deal and went to confer with other members of my group.
As it turned out, someone else had purchased a similar club for
100 shillings as well.

     I returned to the villager and asked, "If I'm your good
friend, how come I don't get a better deal than those guys?" We
negotiated some more, but he held firm at 100 shillings.

     Finally admitting defeat, I agreed to purchase the war club
at his price. In order to complete our transaction, all that
remained was to calculate the exchange rate between Kenyan
shillings and U.S. dollars. This task took a bit longer than
expected, though, because my friend kept trying to shave a few
cents off of the exchange rate to his benefit.

     What he did not know was that by trade I am a tax attorney.
While tax attorneys may possess innumerable shortcomings, one
thing we can do is keep track of the money flowing into and out
of our pockets.

     As I left the Masai Mara village carrying my newly acquired
war club, I was quite pleased. The negotiations in general and my
friend's attempted larceny in particular had made me feel good.
The very man who had pitied me and genuinely felt sorry for my
fate was, only a few minutes later, prepared to treat me as the
equal of any sighted person when an economic transaction was
concerned. Once the villager realized that I had something he
wanted, he saw me in a much different light from the person for
whom only sorrow and pity had been appropriate a few minutes
before.

     Whether or not the villager's actual perceptions of
blindness changed on the spot I couldn't tell, but in a certain
sense I didn't particularly care. What mattered to me more than
what he might have thought about blindness was how he treated me
as a blind person. Judging by that standard, I had been the
recipient of equality safari-style.

     Note: Michael Baillif reports that he has made a gift of the
war club to the Louisiana Center for the Blind, where Jerry
Whittle has it available to inspire inattentive Braille students.
                           **********
                           **********
          Planned giving takes place when a contributor
     decides to leave a substantial gift to charity. It
     means planning as you would for any substantial
     purchase--a house, college tuition, or a car. The most
     common forms of planned giving are wills and life
     insurance policies. There are also several planned
     giving options through which you can simultaneously
     give a substantial contribution to the National
     Federation of the Blind, obtain a tax deduction, and
     receive lifetime income now or in the future. For more
     information write or call the National Federation of
     the Blind, Special Gifts, 1800 Johnson Street,
     Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998, (410) 659-9314, fax
     (410) 685-5653.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr. John Gardner]
                            DotsPlus
                       by John A. Gardner
                           **********
     From the Editor: John Gardner is professor and director of
the Science Access Project, Department of Physics, Oregon State
University. In mid-November of 1997 something of a media flap
occurred when Senator Ron Wyden objected loudly and publicly that
the Department of Education had rejected a grant application from
a blind physicist in his state merely because the proposal was
not submitted in a double-spaced, large-print format. The
rejection apparently had nothing to do with the merit of the
project in question; the reviewers seem to have glanced at the
proposal, noted that it was incorrectly formatted, and tossed it
into the reject pile.

     Neither Senator Wyden nor Dr. Gardner, the physicist in the
case, thought this was appropriate behavior. The project,
according to Curtis Chong, Director of the Technology Department
at the National Center for the Blind, has value and clearly needs
funding if it is to demonstrate its possible usefulness.

     Yet Federationists who have heard about this rather public
difference of opinion have been united in our conclusion that the
Department of Education was correct to apply the same rules to
all the applications it received. We have always demanded the
right to compete on terms of equality with our sighted peers, and
that necessarily means abiding by the rules governing our work.
We cannot afford to start down the path of demanding that
exceptions be made because we didn't read the rules or have
someone check our final product.

     Our position certainly does not excuse employers, for
example, from their responsibility to provide reasonable
accommodation to blind employees. And we would certainly fight
for the rights of a blind person who had been prevented from
learning the requirements because they were not accessible and no
one had bothered to mention their existence.

     Regardless of the merits of the treatment of Dr. Gardner's
grant proposal or the appropriateness of Senator Wyden's efforts
to reverse the Department of Education's decision, everyone with
an interest in tactile access to graphic symbols for blind people
must applaud Dr. Gardner's work and his effort to find funding
for his project. This is the way he describes his work:
                           **********
     Senator Ron Wyden recently made DotsPlus a household name
when he complained to the Department of Education about their
rejection without review of my proposal for a major DotsPlus
study because I had overlooked the requirement that it be double-
spaced. Let me explain, more accurately than the press coverage
did, what DotsPlus is and why I feel the study is so important.

     DotsPlus is a tactile font set. It is a critical first step
needed to make possible a true computer printer for blind people.
One cannot print standard Braille directly from the text in a
word processor, let alone print a tactile image equivalent to
anything containing graphics or exotic symbols such as plus or
equals signs. Standard Braille is a code that must be derived by
a translation process and has no way of representing exotic
symbols.

     By contrast, DotsPlus permits virtually any kind of text as
well as line and block graphics to be printed in tactile form
with nothing more than a font change. Anybody who can use
standard applications on a computer can make tactile diagrams,
charts, graphs, even math by simply writing it on a computer,
changing the font to DotsPlus, and sending it to a computer that
can print images that can be felt instead of just seen. The
revolutionary potential of DotsPlus on educational and
professional opportunities for blind people seems obvious.

     DotsPlus has been enthusiastically endorsed by a number of
blind educators and scientists. It has been used successfully by
several Oregon middle school, high school, and university student
volunteers for difficult scientific materials. But it has
previously been too difficult and expensive to produce DotsPlus
materials to permit the kind of widespread testing necessary to
learn whether it is something that most blind people can learn
easily.

     A new robust, potentially inexpensive embossing technology
now makes such a widespread DotsPlus test feasible. The Tactile
Graphics Embosser prototype introduced by the Oregon State
University Science Access Project early in 1997 is capable of
printing line and block graphics DotsPlus or any computer Braille
code (for printable ASCII only). It is the first true printer for
blind people.

     DotsPlus letters are standard Braille. Users have a choice
of a six- or eight-dot font to represent capital letters and
other symbols having a Braille cell representation. Text
consisting of words and punctuation marks reads very much like
Grade I Braille. The Braille representation for numbers is
familiar to blind Europeans but will initially feel strange to
Americans.

     Most of the thousands of other symbols that occur in modern
literature are represented as tactile images having a shape
similar to the printed symbol. For example, a plus sign, equals
sign, parentheses, and square brackets are tactile images shaped
like the print symbols. The symbol size is large, corresponding
approximately to a twenty-four-point font in order to be easily
recognizable tactilely.

     Before the development of the tactile graphics embosser,
DotsPlus could be produced only with swell paper or by a wax jet
printer that had been modified to pile up thick wax. The original
DotsPlus research used a wax jet printer that was available
commercially for about a year before it was withdrawn. Very
recently a modified version of the Tektronics Phaser wax jet
printer has been introduced.

     Most major organizations concerned with Braille and with
educational and rehabilitation issues for blind people, including
the Braille Authority of North America, the National Federation
of the Blind, and the American Council of the Blind, are aware of
DotsPlus research. All have taken a wait and see attitude pending
adequate information on its ultimate usefulness, readability, and
ease of learning. These organizations would have been invited to
participate in a test of DotsPlus using all three presently-
available technologies had the proposal been funded instead of
being rejected on a technicality.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Noel Nightingale]
           The Hollow Nature of Political Correctness
                       by Noel Nightingale
                           **********
     From the Editor: Noel Nightingale is a Member of the Board
of Directors of the National Association of Blind Lawyers and
First Vice President of the NFB of Washington. She is an attorney
in the Environmental Practice Group in the law firm of Heller,
Ehrman, White, & McAuliffe in Seattle. This is what she says:
                           **********
     There are several problems with the late twentieth-century
notion of political correctness, in which euphemistic words are
used to communicate meanings with which people are otherwise
uncomfortable. We are all familiar with the evolution of the
labels placed on us as blind people. Over a relatively short
period we have linguistically mushroomed from "the blind" through
several stages to "individuals who are visually impaired." The
primary problem with the notion that it is not politically
correct to call us "blind" is the clear implication that
blindness is not quite respectable, that it requires apology or
disguise. It implies that blind people are inferior because of
our blindness.

     That aspect of political correctness is the subject of a
1993 resolution passed by the National Federation of the Blind.
We ourselves accept the label of "blind" because we know that
blindness is just one of our characteristics and that nothing
about it is inherently demeaning. Consequently it is the official
policy of the Federation in the words of Dr. Jernigan that:

     We believe that it is respectable to be blind, and although
     we have no particular pride in the fact of our blindness,
     neither do we have any shame in it. To the extent that
     euphemisms are used to convey any other concept or image, we
     deplore such use. We can make our own way in the world on
     equal terms with others, and we intend to do it.
                           **********
     Another problem with political correctness is that it is the
most hollow of philosophies. When tested, the politically correct
person's attitude about the abilities of blind people frequently
crumbles to dust. Take the case of the Washington State
Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Along with other
government agencies it has adopted a policy of equal employment
opportunity. DSHS uses the right words when it talks about hiring
disabled individuals, but when actually put to the test, its
words lack substance.

     John Herring was hired in 1989 by DSHS to work as a Social
Security Insurance facilitator. He is blind and has a master's
degree in social work. In November of 1990 DSHS notified Herring
that it was terminating his employment because Herring's
supervisor found his work unsatisfactory. After Herring sued DSHS
for employment discrimination, DSHS told the court that, even
with reasonable accommodations, Herring's blindness prevented him
from performing the job. DSHS's expert witness, an
ophthalmologist, testified at the trial that Herring's disability
of blindness was so severe that he could not perform the
essential functions of his job. Herring's job primarily consisted
of reading, writing, and analysis.

     The jury who heard Herring's case didn't buy it. After a
six-week trial the jury found that Herring had been discriminated
against and wrongfully terminated. The jury awarded Herring
$55,000 for past economic damages, $500,000 for future economic
damages, and $550,000 for non-economic damages. The trial court
awarded attorneys' fees of $299,931 and costs of $18,715. DSHS
refused to give up and appealed the judgment, again arguing that
blindness in and of itself made Herring unqualified for the job.
The Court of Appeals didn't buy it either and affirmed the jury's
award.

     The solution of the problems associated with blindness is
not to dress up society's vocabulary but to change society's
beliefs about how blindness affects (and does not affect)
people's abilities. We know that, when equipped with self-
confidence and the skills of blindness, blind people can do
virtually anything we set our minds to, whether we are referred
to as "blind," "legally blind," "visually impaired," or
"partially sighted."

     Because I do not know him, I do not know whether John
Herring possessed the skills for his job, adequate training in
the skills of blindness, or confidence in himself as a blind
person. The jury who sat through his trial found that he was
indeed qualified to do the job. However, it is not Herring's
talents on which I am commenting; it is the false creed of a
government employer, DSHS, and others like it, which is the mere
shell of a philosophy about blindness. While DSHS knew the
politically correct language to use with regard to blind people,
its knowledge extended no further. Even in the face of its own
equal employment opportunity policies and programs, DSHS was
willing to make blanket assertions about the inability of all
blind people--not just allegations about John Herring--when it
was attempting to justify its actions.

     Herring's case and many others remind me of the protagonist
Winston in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The poor soul had the
mental faculty to remember what Big Brother had proclaimed the
day before and knew that what was being said by Big Brother the
following day was entirely contradictory. Winston looked around
him and wondered if he was the only person left on earth who had
a memory. The person who uses politically correct language today,
without having simultaneously adopted a positive philosophy about
the abilities of blind people, cannot be relied on tomorrow.
Words in and of themselves do very little good unless along with
them comes an understanding of our true abilities.
                           **********
                           **********
  Introducing Music Education Network for the Visually Impaired
                        by Richard Taesch
                           **********
     From the Editor: In general education circles in recent
years, people have become increasingly aware of the importance of
music education to the entire child, particularly with respect to
developing skills in mathematics and logic. This discovery or
rediscovery has obvious implications for blind youngsters as
well. (See the article "Music Education: Not Just a Frill" in the
Summer, 1997, issue of Future Reflections, the quarterly magazine
of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children.)

     The following article first appeared in the MENVI (Music
Education Network for The Visually Impaired) Fall/Winter, 1997,
newsletter. Richard Taesch is the director and founder of the
Braille Music Division of the Southern California Conservatory of
Music near Los Angeles and has chaired the conservatory's
Department of Guitar since 1976. He also serves as Music
Specialist for CTEVH (California Transcribers and Educators of
The Visually Handicapped) and writes for their journal.

     MENVI is a coalition of parents, educators, and students.
Its advisory committee is made up entirely of blind musicians and
teachers. MENVI exists for and is managed by blind musicians. It
is committed to the principle that the needs of blind students of
music are unique. Parents have a right to know what is available
for their children in music education, and educators must have
access to specialized materials and know how to use them. Not all
teachers of music know the Braille music code. They should,
however, encourage Braille music literacy at the earliest
opportunity. MENVI provides a network of information as well as a
resource guide to Braille music and the teaching of blind
children and adults. Here is Mr. Taesch's article:
                           **********
                      Teaching For Tomorrow
                           **********
     We have learned much about academic development through the
teaching of music. At the Southern California Conservatory of
Music, Braille Music Division, we have seen youngsters begin new
lives in the world of literary Braille by means of their own
natural musical gifts. We must, however, continue to look well
beyond the obvious advantages of providing music to our children
and beyond merely providing the opportunity to play a musical
instrument.

     Whether a youngster will plan to pursue music studies in
college or simply to play a band instrument in middle or high
school, we have a serious obligation to see that proper
groundwork is done at the most basic levels. Care must be taken
to see that music fundamentals are established as real academic
skills that can be built upon by future teachers. Perhaps no
subject is more difficult to re-teach than music. It is for this
reason that music classes are the one subject area in which most
universities and conservatories will not allow direct transfer of
credits. Normally students must either test out of a subject or
re-take it. In music, unlike other academic subjects, you must be
able clearly to demonstrate skills required--you can't simply
fake it!

     The SCCM Braille Music Division has the opportunity to
advise about and serve the music-transcription needs of at least
eight middle schools and several universities. From this vantage
point we are able to observe the weaknesses in Braille music
disciplines. Schools are becoming aware that blind students can
use written music just as sighted students do and are requiring
these skills at an accelerating rate. They are no longer forced
to treat VH students differently, other than procuring the
specialized media required.

     We must, therefore, insist on requiring and providing
specific approaches and good pedagogy for even the youngest
children. The educational consequences of weak fundamentals for a
musical blind child can be just as devastating as the inability
to read or write.
For more information contact Richard Taesch, SCCM Braille Music
Division, 8711 Sunland Blvd., Sun Valley, California 91352,
Phone: (818) 767-6554, e-mail: <taeschr@ix.netcom.com>
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Stuart Prost]
         EEOC Charges Filed Against Virginia's So-called
                    Disability Rights Agency
                        by Charles Brown
                           **********
     From the Editor: Charlie Brown is the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Virginia and a Member of the
NFB Board of Directors. The following report is reprinted from
the Winter, 1998, issue of the NFB Vigilant, a publication of the
NFB of Virginia. Stuart Prost is a long-time member of the
National Federation of the Blind. His wife Debbie was honored as
the NFB's 1997 Distinguished Educator of Blind Children. She
teaches in the Tidewater area of Virginia, where they live, so
when employment transportation problems began to develop for
Stuart, the Prosts did not have the option of moving in order to
keep his job because Debbie would then have been faced with the
same problem in reverse. Here is Charlie Brown's explanation of
the situation:
                           **********
     The Department of Rights for Virginians with Disabilities
(DRVD) is the one state agency charged with protecting the civil
rights of disabled Virginians. Its mission is to see that blind
people and other disabled folks get a fair shake in employment,
education, government services, and the like. One would think
that the DRVD would want to set an example in employing the
disabled, but I'm afraid that's just not so.

     On February 26, 1998, Federationist Stuart Prost filed
formal discrimination charges with the Federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the DRVD, alleging that he
was illegally forced out of his job as a disability rights
advocate with DRVD in violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

     Mr. Prost had served the DRVD well for over ten years as an
advocate in its former Virginia Beach office. Federationists will
recall that we adopted a resolution at our last State Convention
which vigorously criticized the DRVD for closing its Virginia
Beach office, leaving the residents of Virginia's largest
population area without a local office. The DRVD director, Sandy
Reen, claimed she just had to close that office, but she did not
close the DRVD offices in Richmond, Northern Virginia, and
Fishersville. We were not the only ones to criticize Ms. Reen's
arbitrary decision to cut services in the Hampton-Roads area;
other disability groups, the media, and General Assembly members
also complained, to no avail.

     Mr. Prost was then ordered to report to the DRVD's Richmond
Office. If he had been sighted, he would have had the option of
driving up each day from his home in Portsmouth, as his former
Virginia Beach Office co-worker decided to do. He checked into
possible alternate transportation, but the schedules didn't work.
Mr. Prost asked for some reasonable accommodation to his
blindness, as called for in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Since it was clear that disabled Hampton-Roads residents would
have to be served from the Richmond Office, it was certain that
Mr. Prost would have to spend much of his time back in that area
anyway, visiting places like the Eastern State Hospital. To cut
down on travel time and to make it possible for him to continue
to work for the DRVD, Mr. Prost asked that he be allowed to do
part of his job by telecommuting--tying his phone, computer, and
fax machine through the main Richmond DRVD switchboard.

     Today telecommuting is becoming commonplace, especially for
those responsible for covering large geographic territories. Many
businesses and government agencies use this approach effectively,
including other Virginia State agencies. I certainly agreed with
Mr. Prost that telecommuting would be reasonable accommodation in
his case. I discussed this with Ms. Reen on more than one
occasion over the phone and even went down to Richmond to meet
with her about it. She was adamantly opposed to any such option,
period, while offering no suggestions of her own. Frankly I was
amazed at Ms. Reen's bureaucratic attitude. In any event, her
failure to offer any reasonable accommodation to Mr. Prost's
situation resulted in his forced resignation in January.

     Filing a federal complaint was obviously a last resort for
Mr. Prost. After all, he just wants to continue to work for DRVD.
But at this point Mr. Prost and the Federation simply had no
other choice.

     When Sandy Reen took over at DRVD, she had our
organization's full support and that of many others; but she has
wasted this good will. During her tenure as DRVD director Ms.
Reen has been criticized in the media for DRVD's failure to
protect the rights of patients at Central State Hospital, a
highly negative evaluation from the Federal Department of Health
and Human Services, the closing of the Virginia Beach Office, and
more. Now Ms. Reen's unwillingness to provide reasonable
accommodation to Mr. Prost as required by the Americans with
Disabilities Act has forced out the DRVD's only blind employee.
The Prost case is just one more embarrassment for this deeply
troubled agency. This case is likely to be long and laborious,
but when an agency charged with protecting the rights of disabled
people engages in discrimination, what choice do we have but to
fight?
                           **********
                           **********
  National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities
                           **********
     From the Editor: We recently received the following notice
which could conceivably affect employment opportunities for blind
people in coming years. Here is the text:
                           **********
THE WHITE HOUSE, Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release, March 13, 1998
EXECUTIVE ORDER
                           **********
        Increasing Employment of Adults with Disabilities
                           **********
     By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in
order to increase the employment of adults with disabilities to a
rate that is as close as possible to the employment rate of the
general adult population and to support the goals articulated in
the findings and purpose section of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, it is hereby ordered as follows:
                           **********
Section I. Establishment of National Task Force on Employment of
Adults with Disabilities.

     A. There is established the "National Task Force on
Employment of Adults with Disabilities" ("Task Force"). The Task
Force shall comprise the Secretary of Labor, Secretary of
Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Commissioner of Social Security, Secretary of the
Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation,
Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Administrator of
the Small Business Administration, the Chair of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, the Chairperson of the
National Council on Disability, the Chair of the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and such
other senior executive branch officials as may be determined by
the Chair of the Task Force.

     B. The Secretary of Labor shall be the Chair of the Task
Force; the Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of
People with Disabilities shall be the Vice Chair of the Task
Force.

     C. The purpose of the Task Force is to create a coordinated
and aggressive national policy to bring adults with disabilities
into gainful employment at a rate that is as close as possible to
that of the general adult population. The Task Force shall
develop and recommend to the President, through the Chair of the
Task Force, a coordinated Federal policy to reduce employment
barriers for persons with disabilities. Policy recommendations
may cover such areas as discrimination, reasonable
accommodations, inadequate access to health care, lack of
consumer-driven, long-term supports and services, transportation,
accessible and integrated housing, telecommunications, assistive
technology, community services, child care, education, vocational
rehabilitation, training services, job retention, on-the-job
supports, and economic incentives to work. Specifically, the Task
Force shall:

          1. Analyze the existing programs and policies of Task
     Force member agencies to determine what changes,
     modifications, and innovations may be necessary to remove
     barriers to work faced by people with disabilities;

          2. Develop and recommend options to address health
     insurance coverage as a barrier to employment for people
     with disabilities;

          3. Subject to the availability of appropriations,
     analyze State and private disability systems (e.g., workers'
     compensation, unemployment insurance, private insurance, and
     State mental health and mental retardation systems) and
     their effect on Federal programs and employment of adults
     with disabilities;

          4. Consider statistical and data analysis, cost data,
     research, and policy studies on public subsidies,
     employment, employment discrimination, and rates of
     return-to-work for individuals with disabilities;

          5. Evaluate and, where appropriate, coordinate and
     collaborate on research and demonstration priorities of Task
     Force member agencies related to employment of adults with
     disabilities;

          6. Evaluate whether Federal studies related to
     employment and training can, and should, include a
     statistically significant sample of adults with
     disabilities;

          7. Subject to the availability of appropriations,
     analyze youth programs related to employment (e.g.,
     Employment and Training Administration programs, special
     education, vocational rehabilitation, school-to-work
     transition, vocational education, and Social Security
     Administration work incentives and other programs, as may be
     determined by the Chair and Vice Chair of the Task Force)
     and the outcomes of those programs for young people with
     disabilities;

          8. Evaluate whether a single governmental entity or
     program should be established to provide computer and
     electronic accommodations for Federal employees with
     disabilities;

          9. Consult with the President's Committee on Mental
     Retardation on policies to increase the employment of people
     with mental retardation and cognitive disabilities; and

          10. Recommend to the President any additional steps
     that can be taken to advance the employment of adults with
     disabilities, including legislative proposals, regulatory
     changes, and program and budget initiatives.

     D.   1. The members of the Task Force shall make the
     activities and initiatives set forth in this order a high
     priority within their respective agencies within the levels
     provided in the President's budget.

          2. The Task Force shall issue its first report to the
     President by November 15, 1998. The Task Force shall issue a
     report to the President on November 15, 1999, November 15,
     2000, and a final report on July 26, 2002, the tenth
     anniversary of the initial implementation of the employment
     provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
     The reports shall describe the actions taken by, and
     progress of, each member of the Task Force in carrying out
     this order. The Task Force shall terminate thirty days after
     submitting its final report.

     E. As used herein, an adult with a disability is a person
with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at
least one major life activity.
                           **********
Section II. Specific activities by Task Force members and other
agencies.

     A. To ensure that the Federal Government is a model employer
of adults with disabilities, by November 15, 1998, the Office of
Personnel Management, the Department of Labor, and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission shall submit to the Task Force
a review of Federal Government personnel laws, regulations, and
policies and, as appropriate, shall recommend or implement
changes necessary to improve Federal employment policy for adults
with disabilities. This review shall include personnel practices
and actions such as hiring, promotion, benefits, retirement,
workers' compensation, retention, accessible facilities, job
accommodations, layoffs, and reductions in force.

     B. The Departments of Justice, Labor, Education, and Health
and Human Services shall report to the Task Force by November 15,
1998, on their work with the States and others to ensure that the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
is carried out in accordance with section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, so that individuals with disabilities
and their families can realize the full promise of welfare reform
by having an equal opportunity for employment.

     C. The Departments of Education, Labor, Commerce, and Health
and Human Services, the Small Business Administration, and the
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
shall work together and report to the Task Force by November 15,
1998, on their work to develop small business and entrepreneurial
opportunities for adults with disabilities and strategies for
assisting low-income adults, including those with disabilities,
to create small businesses and micro-enterprises. These same
agencies, in consultation with the Committee for Purchase from
People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, shall assess the
impact of the Randolph-Sheppard Act vending program and the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act on employment and small business
opportunities for people with disabilities.

     D. The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban
Development shall report to the Task Force by November 15, 1998,
on their examination of their programs to see if they can be used
to create new work incentives and to remove barriers to work for
adults with disabilities.

     E. The Departments of Justice, Education, and Labor, the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Social Security
Administration shall work together and report to the Task Force
by November 15, 1998, on their work to propose remedies to the
retention of people with disabilities from successfully
exercising their employment rights under the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 because of the receipt of monetary
benefits based on their disability and lack of gainful
employment.

     F. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor
and the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, in
cooperation with the Departments of Education and Health and
Human Services, the National Council on Disability, and the
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities,
shall design and implement a statistically reliable and accurate
method to measure the employment rate of adults with disabilities
as soon as possible, but no later than the date of termination of
the Task Force. Data derived from this methodology shall be
published on as frequent a basis as possible.

     G. All executive agencies that are not members of the Task
Force shall:

          1. Coordinate and cooperate with the Task Force; and

          2. Review their programs and policies to ensure that
     they are being conducted and delivered in a manner that
     facilitates and promotes the employment of adults with
     disabilities. Each agency shall file a report with the Task
     Force on the results of its review on November 15, 1998.
                           **********
Section III. Cooperation.

     All efforts taken by executive departments and agencies
under Sections I and II of this order shall, as appropriate,
further partnerships and cooperation with public- and private-
sector employers, organizations that represent people with
disabilities, organized labor, veteran service organizations, and
State and local governments whenever such partnerships and
cooperation are possible and would promote the employment and
gainful economic activities of individuals with disabilities.
                           **********
Section IV. Judicial Review.

     This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive
or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United
States.
                           **********
                           **********
                             Recipes
                           **********
     This month's recipes have been submitted by members of the
National Association of Blind Lawyers. It may be possible to draw
some deeply significant conclusion from the facts that 1. five of
the six recipes submitted came from members resident in either
Washington State or the District of Columbia, 2. three of the
recipes are for chili, and 3. two of the remaining three recipes
are for fish. In any case, the lawyers are a cautious lot, so
they provided the following disclaimer and insisted that it be
included as part of this head note:
                           **********
        DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES
     The National Association of Blind Lawyers (NABL) does
     not make any warranties of taste, texture, or edibility
     of the following recipes. The NABL disclaims liability
     for any and all injuries and property damage that may
     arise from the use of the recipes. Such injuries
     include, but are not limited to, gastroenteritis,
     indigestion, or a general feeling of malaise. The NABL
     also excludes any consequential damages and loss of
     consortium arising out of the use of these recipes.
                           **********
     Assuming that we are able to understand that bit of
lawyerese, we have all been warned.
                           **********
                    Ipse Dixit Border Delight
                        by Les Barr, J.D.
     Les Barr is an attorney in Norman, Oklahoma.
                           **********
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground chuck
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can ranch-style beans (pinto beans, not kidney beans)
1 white onion, chopped
1 can chopped rotelle tomatoes
1 small bottle Pace or favorite picante sauce (hot, medium, or
mild), to taste. It is generally prudent to use the mildest
picante sauce if you are serving very small children or guests
from northern states.
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
large bag of tortilla chips
Red chili pepper, black pepper, and onion salt, to taste
                           **********
     Method: Brown meat in a large skillet, turn off stove, and
drain excess fat from meat. Add chopped onion and combine with
the meat in the skillet. Cook combined onions and meat in covered
skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add corn, tomatoes,
ranch-style beans, and picante sauce. Allow to simmer for five to
ten minutes over medium heat. Add onion salt, black pepper, and
red chili powder to taste. Turn off heat, remove lid from
skillet, and sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top of the
food. Place about 1-1/2 cups of tortilla chips in each of four
soup bowls. Use large serving spoon or ladle and dip two or three
spoonfuls into each bowl, over the chips. Tip: If you enjoy
spicy, add hot jalapenos and substitute Creole spices for the
onion salt and black pepper. (My mouth is watering now!) Serves
approximately four adults.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Bennett Prows]
                       Prowsecutors' Chili
                        by Bennett Prows
     Bennett Prows is past president of the NFB of Washington. He
is an Equal Opportunity Specialist in the Office for Civil
Rights, Department of Health and Human Services and lives in
Seattle. Bennett's comment with his recipe is, "Prosecutorial
maxim applies: `Make it hot for 'em, and they may spill the
beans!'"
                           **********
Ingredients:
One package great northern, pinto, or other tough beans
(approximately 12 ounces)
1 or 2 green bell peppers, minced.
1 or 2 large onions, diced
3 to 4 tomatoes, chopped
2 cans tomato paste
2 to 4 teaspoons chili powder
2 to 4 teaspoons cumin
1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (depending on the amount of
pressure needed or heat to be applied)
2 pounds sirloin tip or other roast (cubed) (Can use ground beef,
but the quality of the chili will be diminished, and remember the
steaks are high)
chopped olives, celery, and mushrooms, optional
salt & pepper to taste
                           **********
     Building the Case: a.k.a. Method: Cover beans with water in
a large stock pot and soak overnight. Do not drain the water (if
any is left after soaking). Saute the meat and vegetables in
small amount of olive oil, add to the beans, and bring the
mixture to a boil. Add tomato paste and spices. If you want more
liquid, add tomato sauce. Stir the pot for several minutes at
rolling boil. Turn down the heat and cover, allowing steam to
escape. Simmer for three to four hours, stirring occasionally,
and of course tasting. Serves a bunch, and can be frozen for use
later.
                           **********
                           **********
                      Ad Hoc Split Pea Soup
                       by Noel Nightingale
     Noel Nightingale is First Vice President of the NFB of
Washington, a practicing attorney in the Environmental Practice
Group of the law firm of Heller, Ehrman, White, & McAuliffe in
Seattle, and a member of the NABL Board of Directors.
                           **********
Ingredients:
16-ounce package of split peas, green or yellow
1 medium onion, yellow
2 medium carrots
4 ribs of celery
5 bay leaves
salt and pepper
                           **********
     Method: Chop onions, carrots, and celery. Place split peas,
vegetables, and seasonings to taste in large pot and add two and
a half quarts of water. Cook over low heat for one hour or more.
Remove bay leaves before serving.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dan Frye]
                          Squid Pro Quo
                           by Dan Frye
     Dan Frye is an active member of the Lawyers Division and
works with the Social Security Administration in Washington
State.
                           **********
     Method: Boil the cleaned squid body for a few minutes until
it turns a solid white. Cut the body into rounds and let cool.
Add olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh chopped parsley, salt,
pepper, and diced red or white onion. The squid should be just
covered. This dish is served cold.
                           **********
                           **********
             Res Ipsa Loxitur (Honey Mustard Salmon)
                       by Michael Baillif
              The baillif makes no bones about it.
                           **********
     Michael Baillif is a tax attorney practicing in Washington,
D.C.
                           **********
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets (5 to 6 ounces each)
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and ground pepper to taste
                           **********
     Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse the fillets and
pat dry; set aside. In a shallow bowl whisk together the honey,
mustard, and lemon juice. In a separate shallow bowl combine the
cornmeal with the thyme and a few shakes of salt and pepper. Dip
each fillet into the honey mustard sauce and then dredge it in
the cornmeal mixture to coat both sides evenly. Place the fillets
in a sprayed or lightly oiled baking pan and bake, uncovered, for
twenty to thirty minutes, or until thoroughly hot and tender.
                           **********
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Charlie Brown]
                Superior Quart (Crock Pot Chili)
                It's a crock, but it's appealing.
                        by Charlie Brown
                           **********
     Charlie Brown is a Member of the Board of Directors of the
National Federation of the Blind and President of the NFB of
Virginia. He is the Assistant General Counsel of the National
Science Foundation.
                           **********
Ingredients:
2 pounds chuck, cut in small cubes, browned and drained
2 16-ounce cans light red kidney beans, drained
3 or 4 fresh ripe tomatoes, cut into eighths
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 large green pepper, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
2 bay leaves
                           **********
     Method: Combine all ingredients in crock pot, stir once, and
cook on low setting for ten to twelve hours. Note: the amount of
meat and number of tomatoes used may vary, depending on crock pot
size.
                           **********
                           **********
                       Monitor Miniatures
                           **********
Piano Tuning Training:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Piano tuning and related technologies have been viable
vocations for blind men for over 150 years. In the last twenty-
five years both men and women--most of them sighted--have been
flocking to the profession. Now visually impaired men and women
can learn the art and craft of piano technology at the Emil Fries
School of Piano Tuning and Technology.

     If you would like to learn more about this business
opportunity and how you can receive the training necessary to
start your own piano-tuning and service business, please contact
the Emil Fries School of Piano Tuning and Technology, 2510 E.
Evergreen Boulevard, Vancouver, Washington 98661, phone (360)
693-1511, Fax (360) 693-6891, e-mail <dsmitch@pacifier.com>
                           **********
In Memoriam:

     Jim Willows, President of the NFB of California, recently
wrote to say: "It saddens me to report the deaths of two long-
time California Federation members. Both were chapter presidents
when they died. The Reverend Nancy Smith died on February 27
after a brief hospitalization. Nancy was the founding president
of our Ventura County Chapter. I met with Nancy at our State
Convention in November, and she had many good ideas for building
her chapter. Nancy was enthusiastic, and we will miss her
greatly. Arlene Johnson died on March 3, 1998. Arlene was
President of our Pathfinders Chapter in Los Angeles. Arlene
became president in December, following the death of Rosye
Manning. Arlene was new to Federation leadership, but she was
showing great promise as a chapter president. I wrote in our
monthly California Newsletter following my attendance at the
Pathfinders' January meeting that I recommended that all chapter
presidents attend one of Arlene's meetings for a good lesson in
chairing a Federation meeting. We already miss both Nancy and
Arlene very much."
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     I have for sale a Perkins electric Brailler with Dymo tape
holder attachment, used very little, $595 or best offer. Willing
to negotiate a payment plan if needed. Write to Donna Wilson, 415
North Main Street, Apartment 10R, Greenville, South Carolina
29601, or call (864) 271-7310.
                           **********
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Science and Engineering Division President John
Miller (left) and NFB President Marc Maurer (right) at the
Division meeting.]
Convention Breakfast Announcement:

     A breakfast for scientists, engineers, and those with career
interests in these fields will take place at the National
Convention on Monday, July 6. Please meet promptly at 7:00 a.m.
at the concierge desk in the hotel. We will go from there to a
restaurant. Please make your reservations by sending e-mail to
one of the following: John Miller, President, Science and
Engineering Division, <miller@isl.stanford.edu>
Robert Jaquiss, Division Treasurer, <robertj@teleport.com>
                           **********
Elected:

     The Siouxland Chapter of the NFB of Iowa elected officers
for 1998 at its January 24 meeting. They are Richard Crawford,
President; Dorothy Yockey, Vice President; Karen Clayton,
Secretary-Treasurer; and Will Kitto and Greg Hanson, Board
Members.
                           **********
New Talking Thermometer Available:

     The Talking Digital Thermometer (marketed by Mabis
Healthcare, Inc.) is now available at the National Center for the
Blind. It announces temperature; recalls the last reading in
memory; is accurate to two-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit; and can
be used orally, under the arm, or rectally. It is available in
English or Spanish. To place an order, contact the Materials
Center, National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21230, or call (410) 695-9314 between 12:30
and 5 p.m.
                           **********
Producing Tactile Graphics:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     There is an easy and fast way to make tactile graphics. Any
image can be drawn or photocopied onto a special paper called
capsule paper and then processed by Pictures in a Flash, PIAF.
High-quality tactile graphics can be made in minutes. It is easy
to make Braille directly on the graphic. Call your local
Humanware distributor for more information. Contact Humanware at
6244 King Road Loomis, California 95650, (800) 722-3393, fax
(916) 652-7269 or e-mail: <info@humanware.com>
For Canada, Aroga Technologies, Ltd., 1611 Welch Street, N.,
Vancouver, British Columbia, V7P 3G9, (604) 986-7999, (800) 561-
6222, fax, (604) 968-7070 or e-mail: <bob@aroga.com>
                           **********
Elected:

     The San Fernando Valley Chapter of the NFB of California
held its 1998 elections on February 14. The following are the
newly elected officers: Don Burns, President; Tina Thomas, Vice
President; Ron Smith, Treasurer; Shari Main, Secretary; and Donna
Roysner, Board Member.
                           **********
Special Museum Tours in Los Angeles:

     Natalie Nankin has asked us to carry the following
announcement:

     As a blind participant in the Los Angeles Arts Community, I
have helped institute a new program for the blind at the Skirball
Museum. Every other Friday a specially-trained docent will lead a
tour of museum exhibits for the visually impaired.
                           **********
Pass-along Braille wanted:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     As a deaf-blind person, I would appreciate receiving pass-
along copies of the National Library Service's new Braille
magazines (Harper's magazine, Health newsletter, Rolling Stone,
Short Story magazine, and Popular Mechanics. Any other general
interest Braille magazines or books are welcome. Send to Gordon
Janz, 101-2425 Brunswick Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5T
3M1 CANADA.
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     I have for sale a Braille twenty-thousand-word dictionary in
five volumes for $125, or best offer. Before sending money,
please call or write Laurie Marsch, 211 Southbrooke Drive, Number
6, Waterloo, Iowa 50702, (319) 232-1750.
                           **********
Elected:

     On November 9, 1997, the NFB of New York State elected the
following officers: Carl Jacobsen, President; Marie Kouthoofd,
First Vice President; Gisela Distel, Second Vice President; Tracy
Carcione, Secretary; and Ray Wayne, Treasurer.
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Optacon II, in excellent condition, barely used. Accessories
include extra battery pack, tracking aid, manuals, and AC
adapter. Asking $1,500 or best offer. Contact Diane Hostetler,
100 N. Senate Avenue, Room N103, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204,
(317) 233-6302 (days) or (317) 359-3140 (evenings).
                           **********
GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Dancing Dots Braille Music Technology announces release of
the GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator Version 1.1. To prepare
Braille transcriptions using GOODFEEL, you do not need to know
how to read Braille music yourself. GOODFEEL interprets the
musical information stored in these files, producing the
equivalent music Braille. A GOODFEEL demo is now available on the
Internet. Download from
http://www.netaxs.com/~ddots
or a copy can be mailed to you.

     The full-featured GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator costs
$795. The trial version, which gives you 100 pages of music
Braille, is available for $49. Subtract this $49 from the
purchase price of GOODFEEL on converting to the full product. Or
order GOODFEEL, Lime, and MIDISCAN as an integrated package for
the discounted price of $995.

     For further information call (610) 352-7607, fax: (610) 352-
4582, Dancing Dots, 130 Hampden Road, Third Floor, Upper Darby,
Pennsylvania 19082-3110, or visit the Web site at
<http://www.netaxs.com/~ddots>.
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     I am selling a Brytech Note Teller. This is a pocket-size
device that speaks the amount of any U.S. paper currency. Call
Erik Weihenmayer at (303) 778-6822 with your best offer.
                           **********
Elected:

     The NFB of Pennsylvania's Capital Chapter elected new
officers at its January 11 meeting. They are Fred Leader,
President; Jerry Handel, Vice President; Anne Leader, Secretary;
Linda Rhinehart, Treasurer; and Cindy Handel, Bob Eschbach, and
Norma Flinchbaugh, Board Members.
                           **********
Talking Watches Available:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     The Great American Images Corporation of Burlingame,
California, announces the availability of attractive talking
digital watches of a sporty style. The one sample that we saw was
black. They are fairly easy to set, and they come with an alarm.
The price is $13.95 plus $3 shipping and handling. To order,
contact Great American Images, 819 Cowan Road, Burlingame,
California 94010-1204, or call (650) 697-2900.
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Braille Blazer printer, including carrying case, AC adapter,
and tape tutorial. No printer cable is included because the
machine uses the normal parallel or serial cable. Asking $1,100,
excluding shipping and handling. The printer prints text only and
is five years old but rarely used. No personal checks will be
accepted. Call Denise Avant, (773) 325-1117, all day on weekends
and between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. during the week.
                           **********
Corel WordPerfect Tutorial Available:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Crista Earl of CrissCross Technologies announces the new
release of Corel WordPerfect tutorial, Speaking of Corel
WordPerfect. The cost is $75. Send checks payable to John Harden,
Hear and Know, 1741 Decree Avenue, West Columbia, South Carolina
29169.
                           **********
Elected:

     Election of officers and directors of the Phoenix Chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona was held November
8, 1997. The officers are Norma Robertson, President; Fred
Rockwell, First Vice President; Shirley Sloop, Second Vice
President; Tom Johnson, Secretary; and Donna Silba, Treasurer.
Board Members are Paul Wagner and Steve Curiel.
                           **********
Talking Caller ID:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Full Life Products announces talking caller ID with quick
setup; audible call review announcing the caller's telephone
number; visual and audible message-waiting indicator; and several
other features. For more information or to order, contact Full
Life Products, P.O. Box 490, Mirror Lake, New Hampshire 03853-
0490, or call (800) 400-1540 or (603) 569-2240, or Web site
<http://www.superproducts.com>.

                           **********
Crocheted Gifts Made to Order:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     Graduation and other special events will soon be here, and I
am willing to make crocheted items. For large items (such as
afghans) a deposit is required. I am a recently diagnosed
diabetic and a proud new member of the Diabetes Action Network. I
will donate part of the proceeds to the NFB. Please send requests
in Braille or print to Karen Mahone-Smith, 4433 7th Avenue,
Sacramento, California 95820.
                           **********
For Sale:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     I have the following items for sale: Romeo Braille printer
with software, manuals, and all necessary cables, asking $1,200
plus shipping; RCA stereo with dual cassette, AM/FM radio, and 5-
CD player, asking $150 plus shipping; ASAP Windows screen reader,
works well with Windows95, $300; small stereo with dual cassette,
AM/FM radio, and record player, $75 plus shipping. For questions
contact Carol Meeks, 841 N. Main Street, Jacksonville, Illinois
62650, (217) 245-6524, or e-mail <cmeeks@csj.net>
                           **********
VersaBraille Programs Needed:

     Federationist Colleen Roth writes: I have acquired a
VersaBraille II and need a calculator program, a communication
program, an ASCII-to-VersaBraille format program, or any other
programs that people have found useful. I can provide disks for
copies of any programs people are willing to share. Contact
Dudley or Colleen Roth, (419) 661-9171 or e-mail: 
<n8tnu@concentric.net>
                           **********
Elected:

     The NFB of New Mexico elected new officers at its March 15
convention. They are Art Schreiber, President; Adelmo Vigil,
First Vice President; Vicki Trujillo, Second Vice President; Kay
Boyd, Secretary; and Brenda Laurion, Treasurer. The Board Members
are Jim Salas, Jennifer Hensley, Patty Harmon, Larry Lorenzo,
Larry Hayes, and Carlos Servan.
                           **********
Naval Memoirs on Tape:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     The Naval Institute Press announces the production of its
latest "Now Hear This" audiobook, Battleship Sailor by Theodore
C. Mason.

     When first published as a hardcover book in 1982, this
memoir was hailed as "one of the best and most readable memoirs
of the Navy at the onset of World War II" by the San Diego Union,
and it has been one of our most sought-after titles ever since.
(Eight 100-minute cassette tapes, unabridged at $44.95.)

     And released in April: Trapped at Pearl Harbor: Escape from
Battleship Oklahoma by Stephen Bower Young. The true-life story
of being capsized and trapped for twenty-five hours in a
battleship. The intensity and suspense rival that of any
fictional thriller--the recounting of his escape is particularly
spellbinding.

     To place an order, contact Naval Institute Press, 118
Maryland Avenue, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis,
Maryland 21402-5035, (410) 268-6110, fax (410) 269-7940, or e-
mail <sartigiani@usni.org>
                           **********
Old Testament Cassette Recordings Available:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     The "Tales of the Old Testament" audio cassette is a
dramatization of the Old Testament with digital audio music,
professional actors, professional narration, and sound effects.
Twelve volumes, individually recorded, can stand alone for $9.95
per volume. For more information contact David Minor, P.O. Box
185, Loxahatchee, Florida 33470, (561) 790-0149.
                           **********
Braille and Large-Print Periodicals Needed:

     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

     The Jamaica Society for the Blind Library needs usable
Braille or large-print copies of PC Computing, Tactic, Reader's
Digest, The Ladies Home Journal, Guideposts, or other
publications on a regular basis. Send to Jamaica Society for the
Blind, 111 1/2 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6, Jamaica, West Indies,
(809) 927-3760, (809) 927-6759, fax (809) 927-6757.
                           **********
Cassette Albums for Sale:

     Steve Benson, President of the NFB of Illinois has asked us
to carry the following announcement:

     Have you completed your spring cleaning? And have you
carefully constructed stacks of cassettes you didn't dream you
possessed? And are these columns of cassettes teetering, primed
for the slightest vibration to cause cascades of cassettes to
crash to the floor and into every imaginable cranny and corner?
Well, now capture and keep those cassettes in attractive white
vinyl NFB of Illinois cassette albums that accommodate twelve
cassettes. The album spine is wide enough for a Braille label,
and the front, back, and spine also have sleeves for print
labels. Don't wait a minute longer. Send your check or money
order (payable to the NFB of Illinois) at $3 each for the number
of albums ordered, to Stephen O. Benson, President, NFB of
Illinois, 7020 N. Tahoma Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60646. If you
have questions, please call (773) 594-9977.
                           **********
Braille Text on Medical Terminology:

     To give away: Understanding Medical Terminology, 4th
Edition, by Frenay, in fourteen Braille volumes, excellent
condition. This older version of this text gives excellent basic
background in medical terminology. Will give to the person who
has most need of it. Contact Janell Peterson in Braille or tape
at 303 Harvard Avenue East, Apartment 302, Seattle, Washington
98102-5487, or call (206) 328-4778.
                           **********
The Last Word on the Convention:

     Just as we were going to press, Norma Crosby sent us the
following summary of information about the upcoming National
Convention:

     The National Federation of the Blind of Texas is planning a
spectacular convention for you. We have lots of great tours on
the afternoon of July 8, the evening of July 10, and the morning
of July 11. We have great fiddle music on July 4, and on July 7
there will be a party under the stars featuring all the free beer
you can drink and lots of great live Texas music.

     Throughout the convention shuttle buses will run between the
Hyatt and the new Grapevine Mills Mall, which is located about
two miles north of the airport and features over 200 stores,
restaurants, and entertainment venues. Shuttles will run from
both the East and West Towers from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on
July 4, 5, and 6 and from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on July 8. On
July 7, 9, and 10 the buses will stop at the East Tower only and
will run from noon until 2:00 p.m.only. 

     As you will recall if you attended the 1990 and 1993
conventions, the Hyatt is actually located inside the DFW
International Airport, and those who don't have too much luggage
should consider riding the airport's train to the hotel. You can
ride the Yellow Line from any terminal to the hotel, and, if you
arrive at either terminal 3E or 4E, you can also use the Blue
Line. You can catch this free people-mover on the lower level of
each terminal. When the train announces that it is stopping at
the Hyatt Regency, exit and turn left. You will find an escalator
which will take you up to ground level. When you reach the top,
walk forward a few feet. You will find yourself in a long
corridor. Turn left to get to the hotel's West Tower and right to
get to the East Tower.

     If you have questions about the Mall, the train, or anything
else relating to the good time we all plan to have during the
week of July 4 to 11, call the NFB of Texas at (512) 323-5444 or
(713) 956-4909, or, e-mail us at <NFB Texas@aol.com>.  Please
note that this address includes a space after NFB, which should
be included in all e-mail messages.
                           **********
                           NFB PLEDGE
                           **********

     I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the
National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality,
opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies
and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.
