More than Meets the Eye

My computer has dictation software that I’ve never used.   Setting it up is more difficult for people who live with less than perfect vision.   Since I took a full year of typing class in high school and type at a speed that must be slowed down to allow the computer keys to keep up with me, I haven’t even thought about dictating what I write—until now.   When I was making many choices about creating this new blog, Blogger tried helping me choose the URL.   Some sort of artificial intelligence connected some dots and came up with “The Blind Librarian.”   I considered it, tried it, deleted it.   It just didn’t feel right.   I decided to research “blind librarian” on BARD, the NLS audio book download website.   I found biographies of the Argentinian writer and blind librarian (who had no library training), Jorge Luis Borges.   I downloaded books about him in order to learn how this blind librarian performed his duties.   He did so...

  I was surprised to hear myself say, “The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed in 1990) isn’t worth the paper it is printed on anymore.”   The legislation that brought ramps and curb-cuts never used inclusive code that would allow the print impaired access to all of the information and options on a computer screen.   The cyber super highway with all of its social media and websites continues to be inaccessible for the blind and visually impaired who are seeking jobs, information, entertainment, and inclusion.   The current problem:   Some areas that contain links cannot be activated with the tab key or by moving the arrow key up and down and hitting the enter key.   The area on the screen can sometimes be located by a screen-reader, but it must be activated by a sighted assistant using the mouse to click enter.     At the beginning of the 1990s, I transferred ALA (American Library Association) credit courses from The Uni...

  Navigating the New Normal   Now that the stay-at-home orders are being lifted in some places, there is talk about a new normal.   What has become the old normal in cities like Ann Arbor, Michigan will be spreading to more rural areas that have not experienced living with restaurants that moved outdoors onto city sidewalks.   This old normal that blocks pedestrian travel is a nightmare for people who are blind, visually impaired, or using walkers and wheel chairs.   Tables and chairs are usually put next to the street, but servers walk in and out of the businesses at a fast pace as customers find or leave their seats.   If people who are living with disabilities are not included in the decision-making, the history of these communities will come full circle to a time when they were excluded rather than included.   We know what that looks like in ann Arbor because there are Grandfather laws.   These laws allow buildings to be exempt from ...