Blind Access Journal

NFB Streams 2009 Convention Using Inaccessible Silverlight Technology

2009-07-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

In an overwhelming display of hypocrisy, the National Federation of the Blind, claiming to be the representative voice of all blind people in America, has chosen to stream its 2009 national convention using inaccessible Silverlight technology.

While blind people can listen, they can't control the volume, mute or use any of the player's controls. While NFB is the primary actor in a lawsuit against Arizona State University over inaccessible textbooks, the organization delivers a listening experience to blind people that is inferior to that provided to the sighted for the purpose of hearing their own convention broadcast live on the net! Shame on the National Federation of the Blind for insisting that others be accessible while failing to practice the very message they claim to preach!

In contrast to NFB's poor example, The American Council of the Blind is broadcasting their convention coverage live through its long-established ACB Radio outlet using fully accessible technology. We urge all of you to enjoy the ACB convention and use the feedback option, one of the few accessible elements on the NFB's convention streaming site, to tell the organization's leadership exactly what you think about their blatant discrimination against the blind community they claim to serve. Choose accessible!

Good Thursday TV Coverage of the Kindle Lawsuit

2009-07-03T06:00:00.003-07:00

At around 4:00 Thursday afternoon, I was contacted by Melissa Blasius with Channel 12 News in Phoenix and asked if I could be available at 5:30 to be interviewed for a story that would run on the 10:00 newscast. I discovered I could prepare myself and make the necessary transportation arrangements for this sort of work within one hour after receiving the request.

You may now watch the video of the story on the 10:00 evening news. An article was also written based on this story, though its text is significantly different from the dialogue on the newscast. A copy of the article's text is provided for easy accessibility.

My thanks go to Chris Skarstad (Toonhead) and CathyAnne Murtha of the Access Technology Institute for their vital assistance making it possible to bring to all of you a direct link to the video despite accessibility issues with the 12 News web site.

Lawsuit says ASU discriminates by using e-books

by Melissa Blasius - Jul. 2, 2009 11:13 PM

12 News

A journalism student has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Arizona State University.

Darrell Shandrow, a junior, wants the university to delay a pilot program for electronic textbooks and readers called Kindles. He says the devices, made by Amazon, are impossible to use by visually-impaired people.

Sandrow, who is blind, says Kindles have a text-to-audio function that can read the books out loud, but he claims on-screen menus have no audio functions. That means he could never navigate to page one. Blind students would have to continue ordering specialty texts in braille or audio formats, and those books can take months to arrive.

Shandrow said, "Asking us to continue on as we're going is like saying to sighted students you are climbing on to jet age with your e-books, but blind students still need to use the horse and buggy."

The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which claims ASU's use of Kindles would put blind students on unequal footing.

An ASU spokesman sent a response to 12 News. It said Kindles would be used "for a single course where students may also access traditional textbooks."

In the statement, Spokesman Virgil Renzulli also said all campuses have Disability Resource Centers "providing the necessary tools so that all students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to be successful in their academic pursuits."

Positive TV News Coverage of the Kindle Lawsuit Against ASU

2009-07-01T08:38:00.002-07:00

Shortly after 9:00 Tuesday morning, I was contacted by Tim Vetscher with Channel 15, a local ABC affiliate in Phoenix, and asked to participate in a story on the Kindle lawsuit. He picked me up at 10:15 and we went to a nearby bar-restaurant establishment called Four Peaks Brewry, where he and Toby Phillips, a senior broadcast journalism major at the Cronkite School, talked with me for almost 45 minutes. The interview included a demonstration of Braille reading and accessible technology, part of which made it into the TV story.

After viewing the story, Chris Danielsen, director of public relations for the National Federation of the Blind, said: "Nice job on this. I see that they didn't get the nuance that books can be read aloud by the Kindle DX; it's the navigation that's not accessible. Still, I think we got our point across."

The story ran on the 6:00 evening newscast. I am happy to report that you can now watch the video or read the transcript below.

Reported by: Tim Vetscher

Email: tvetscher@abc15.com

Darrell Shandrow, a junior at ASU, is suing the university over its use of the Amazon Kindle for textbooks. (Tim Vetscher)

TEMPE, AZ -- A student at Arizona State University is suing the school over a new electronic textbook reader.

Junior Darrell Shandrow calls ASU's new pilot program to use the Amazon Kindle e-book reader in some classes this fall discrimination.

"I believe it's important for blind and visually impaired people to have the same opportunity to participate the sighted already enjoy," said Shandrow.

Even though he can't see, Shandrow doesn't shy away from technology.

Thanks to a screen reading program, Shandrow uses a labtop computer that talks to him and tells him what's on the screen.

That kind of accessibility, Shandrow says, helps him to attend ASU, where he's a junior in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

When ASU announced plans to begin using the Amazon Kindle as a textbook reader, Shandrow immediately had concerns.

"It's saying we're giving sighted students a new avenue for reading but we're not granting the same facility to blind and visually impaired students,"
said Shandrow.

Shandrow claims the Kindle lacks text-to-speech technology and therefore makes it accessible only to sighted students.

So Shandrow filed a lawsuit against ASU hoping to stop the use of the Kindle.

"We want the pilot program, we just want it to be accessible," said Shandrow.

An ASU spokesperson released the following statement to ABC15: "Arizona State University is committed to equal access for all students. Disability Resource Centers are located on all ASU campuses. The Centers enable students to establish eligibility and obtain services and accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. These efforts are focused on providing the necessary tools so that all students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to be successful in their academic pursuits."

"I feel the need for equal accessibility, that is to have an accessible Kindle reading device and accessible books, is a civil right," said Shandrow.

Amazon claims to be working on adding navigation accessible to the blind for the Kindle.

Shandrow says until that happens, the Kindle e-book reader should be shelved.

In the interest of full disclosure, reporter Tim Vetscher is an adjunct professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

D-Link Soon to Include Audio CAPTCHA and Implement Accessible Default Login on Routers

2009-06-26T13:46:00.001-07:00

D-Link will soon provide audio CAPTCHA and change the login default on its routers to make them more accessible to customers with disabilities.

In a May 12 press release, D-Link announced that it was the first company to add CAPTCHA to its routers as a means of protecting users against new threats. These potential security breaches are serious. "A series of recent Internet security attacks on home and small office computers are compromising networks where users least expect it - their routers. These malicious software invasions, in which users unknowingly download a Trojan horse when performing common tasks, invade the router to detect wireless capabilities, then alter the victim's domain name system (DNS) records so that all future traffic is diverted through the attackers' network first", states the press release.

"We're excited to be the first in the market to announce we have taken the initiative to implement CAPTCHA into our routers, thus providing yet another layer of security to our customers," said AJ Wang, chief technology officer of D-Link.

The press release goes on to explain "the term CAPTCHA is an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that responses are generated by humans, not computers. A common type of CAPTCHA requires the user to type letters or numbers from a distorted image that appears on the screen."

Concerned that blind and visually impaired customers may be unable to access the company's routers, accessibility advocates quickly reacted. "We did hear from our customer base that there was some concern on the CAPTCHA implementation," said Dan Kelley, D-Link's senior director of marketing.

Kelley said a beta version of the firmware is now available that disables the CAPTCHA by default. It will be officially released as an update to all customers once it has undergone the necessary testing. Users will be able to access the router without the CAPTCHA requirement after unboxing. They may explicitly enable the security enhancement through the web user interface as part of the setup process.

"We're also going to be creating an audio version of the CAPTCHA which will be available in as soon as three to six weeks," Kelley said. "You can press the button and it will read off the letters that you need to enter rather than having you read them off the screen."

Effective accessibility evangelism may have helped D-Link executives understand the need for these changes. "In my discussions, I do remember that the audio version was already being planned but now I think that everything's being a little bit more expedited realizing that there's been some concern in terms of the feedback of the market," said Kelley. "We have heard from a couple of customers who need this and we have been able to take care of them promptly."

Companies like D-Link closely monitor their customer base and the overall technology marketplace for trends, including those pointing to greater accessibility. "We're going to be paying close attention to what others in the industry are doing in terms of making improvements to CAPTCHA," Kelley said. "We are always paying attention to customers whether through direct e-mail, on Facebook or on blogs."

In keeping with its "Building Networks for People" tagline, D-Link is willing to consider additional accessibility enhancements in response to customer feedback. "If there's anything that would help us figure out a way to make an improvement we'd be glad to hear it." said Joe Melfi, D-Link's associate director of business solutions.

GoPetition Rolls Out Audio CAPTCHA, Offers Blind Users Two Ways to Participate

2009-06-26T05:59:00.001-07:00

The managing director of the popular online petition site GoPetition announced Friday that an audio CAPTCHA has been put in place for blind and visually impaired users. Verified membership allows everyone full participation without CAPTCHA anywhere on the site.

GoPetition's declaration "Anyone or any group can use GoPetition to have their voice heard" now fully applies to blind and visually impaired people who may wish to create petitions, sign petitions or participate in the site's online discussion forums.

"GoPetition has now fully upgraded its signature process to allow blind people access to audio files for our security codes," said John Pope, GoPetition's managing director. "You may also be confident to start a petition at GoPetition if you wish as we are now user friendly for visually impaired people."

Those wishing to completely avoid CAPTCHA and deaf-blind users may register for full access to all of the site's services. The process requires e-mail address confirmation. According to a statement on the site: "as a verified member you will not have to navigate through complex codes or captchas, nor will you be subjected to confusing audio instructions."

Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against ASU and the Arizona Board of Regents

2009-06-25T18:54:00.001-07:00

In keeping with our tradition of accessibility and openness, we are glad to provide full plain-text copies of the complaint and the motion for a preliminary injunction against ASU and the Arizona Board of Regents to prevent use of the inaccessible Kindle in an upcoming fall semester university pilot program.

Complaint: Accessible copy of the complaint (The NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, The AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND, and DARRELL SHANDROW vs. The ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS and ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY) for discrimination against blind and visually impaired students under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.
Motion for Preliminary Injunction: Accessible copy of the motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to immediately stop ASU from implementing the pilot program at the beginning of the fall semester on August 24 while the complaint goes forward.

Darrell Shandrow Joins ACB and NFB to File Discrimination Suit Against ASU Over Inaccessible Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program

2009-06-25T13:36:00.002-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen@nfb.org

Darrell Shandrow

Publisher

Blind Access Journal

602-904-5191

editor@blindaccessjournal.com

National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind File Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University

University’s Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program Discriminates Against the Blind

Tempe, Arizona (June 25, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit today against Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent the university from deploying Amazon’s Kindle DX electronic reading device as a means of distributing electronic textbooks to its students because the device cannot be used by blind students. Darrell Shandrow, a blind ASU student, is also a named plaintiff in the action. The Kindle DX features text-to-speech technology that can read textbooks aloud to blind students. The menus of the device are not accessible to the blind, however, making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from Amazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available on the Kindle DX. In addition to ASU, five other institutions of higher education are deploying the Kindle DX as part of a pilot project to assess the role of electronic textbooks and reading devices in the classroom. The NFB and ACB have also filed complaints with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for investigations of these five institutions, which are: Case Western Reserve University, the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, Pace University, Princeton University, and Reed College. The lawsuit and complaints allege violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Given the highly-advanced technology involved, there is no good reason that Amazon’s Kindle DX device should be inaccessible to blind students. Amazon could have used the same text-to-speech technology that reads e-books on the device aloud to make its menus accessible to the blind, but it chose not to do so. Worse yet, six American higher education institutions that are subject to federal laws requiring that they not discriminate against students with disabilities plan to deploy this device, even though they know that it cannot be used by blind students. The National Federation of the Blind will not tolerate this unconscionable discrimination against and callous indifference to the right of blind students to receive an equal education. We hope that this situation can be rectified in a manner that allows this exciting new reading technology to be made available to blind and sighted students alike.”

Darrell Shandrow, a blind student pursuing a degree in journalism at ASU, said: “Not having access to the advanced reading features of the Kindle DX—including the ability to download books and course materials, add my own bookmarks and notes, and look up supplemental information instantly on the Internet when I encounter it in my reading—will lock me out of this new technology and put me and other blind students at a competitive disadvantage relative to our sighted peers. While my peers will have instant access to their course materials in electronic form, I will still have to wait weeks or months for accessible texts to be prepared for me, and these texts will not provide the access and features available to other students. That is why I am standing up for myself and with other blind Americans to end this blatant discrimination.”

Newegg Rolls Out Login Page Featuring Inaccessible CAPTCHA, Locks Out Blind and Visually Impaired Customers

2009-06-23T22:41:00.001-07:00

Responding to a report from a blind Newegg customer, an inaccessible CAPTCHA was discovered Tuesday in the company's login process for all customers.

"Wow, well, until I can get a hold of someone at NewEgg, guess I'm not going to be able to buy stuff there. They now have a CAPTCHA in order to log in to one's account!!!!!" said Tina Ektermanis, a blind college student in Colorado who wanted to order two SD memory cards. "It's interesting that if you submit without filling in the code, it takes you to the old page, without the captcha, but we need to let them know about this before they put it in place for everything requiring a log in."

A statement on the company's login page claims "If you are visually impaired and are having difficulty navigating this site, please call our Customer Support line via our toll free number (800) 390-1119."

Ektermanis said a friend of hers tried to order products from the company shortly before Christmas 2008 but the request was declined despite the stated promise of assistance.

Mia, a customer service representative, confirmed this lack of assistance during an investigative telephone call to the stated number. "I apologize, but we are not able to take orders by phone," she said after the unusable validation code was explained.

"Our customer service representatives are supposed to help. This help covers everything, including placing orders and processing returns," said Vincent Agular, Contact Division Manager in Newegg's customer service department. He said he is requesting follow up from the company's web team in light of the availability of numerous alternatives that provide both security and reasonable accommodations.

All blind and visually impaired Newegg customers and potential customers, and those who care about us, are asked to submit feedback to the company's webmasters asking that they make an accessible alternative to their visual CAPTCHA available right away so as to allow everyone to transact business on terms of equality.

Nevada Blind Childrens' Foundation Defends Web Site Despite Accessibility Problems

2009-06-16T17:18:00.002-07:00

An article posted Sunday on the Accessibility NZ blog reports that the web site of the Nevada Blind Children's Foundation fails to follow basic web site accessibility guidelines.

"I couldn't quite believe what I saw," said Nicolas Steenhout, leader of the web accessibility consulting firm Accessibility NZ. "The entire site is one big Flash object. You don't get much LESS accessible than that."

"We are dedicated to providing information and services that enable families, health care professionals, and the community to understand and meet the unique needs of infants and children who are blind or visually impaired," the foundation claims in its public mission statement.

Lori Moroz-White, the foundation's executive director, defends the inaccessible web site. "Thank you for being the 'accessibility police'. I have been aware that our website is inaccessible, and have been concerned, and when funding becomes available to change this, it will be changed," said Moroz-White. "For now, in my opinion it is better to have an inaccessible website, than not to have one at all."

Moroz-White adds "We offer blind specific technology access, blind specific programs and maintain a Braille, electronic and game library." But the inaccessible web site may call into question the goals of the foundation's programs.

"I think it's a lot more symptomatic of a culture of dependence," said Steenhout. "Here's an organisation who is there to assist people with disabilities becoming more independent, yet they miss the boat completely with their website. The message here is 'we'll teach someone else to take care of you'."

Some in the connected online blind community are deeply concerned about the poor example shown to the world. They believe the site should be temporarily shut down until such time as it can be made accessible. "Inaccessible sites that are ran by agencies that work for the blind should be taken offline", said Michael McCarty on Twitter.

"One might say that a website should be an expression, a representation, of an organisation. And if that's the case, then either the website fails the Foundation, or the Foundation fails their ultimate 'clients' - children with vision impairments," Steenhout said. "One might also wonder if the Nevada Blind Children's Foundation receives federal funding, and if so, should they be meeting §508 of the United States Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended."

ILA Responds to Accessibility Concerns

2009-06-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's article generated responses from Independent Living Aids and the members of the connected online blind community.

ILA's account manager, Frank Boyden, posted a public comment Thursday morning. "ILA appreciates the feedback. We are always trying to improve and be accessible to our customer base. If you have a question or your not sure about something please ask, we always try to go the extra length and accommodate. Our customer service team is well trained and has been with ILA for a long time as many of our customers know. Although Marryann could have phrased her words differently it sounds to me like she was trying to help. If you have suggestions on how we can improve please feel free to send me an email," Boyden said.

Boyden removed his comment three hours later despite its lack of controversy. "It was pulled because he was not authorized to give you any answer," said office manager Barbara Chernosky. "I don't want somebody posting anything good or bad if they're not authorized."

The removal of Boyden's public comment brought on ethics concerns. Consulting members of the blind community, everyone we asked seemed to be in favor of reposting it for all to see. " Wow I can't believe they deleted their own comment," said an anonymous source.

Chernosky said in a Friday telephone conversation that the Franklin English and Spanish Talking Translator is no longer sold by ILA and that more effort will be expended to identify products that may not be accessible to all customers. "We're going through every product with a fine tooth comb to make sure this doesn't happen again," said Chernosky. "I'm not saying we don't make mistakes, but we're correcting them immediately."

Chernosky further indicated that the company's representatives are specifically trained to imagine what it would be like to be blind or visually impaired so they will accommodate ILA's customers and treat them with respect. She also pointed out that Stephen Guerra, a totally blind person and active member of the connected online blind community, heads the company's technical support team. "Technical support is available all day to help," Chernosky said.

The company is proud of its web site. "We're adding sound to our watches and our other speaking products," said Chernosky. "We're one of the few companies in the nation with NFB web accessibility certification."

Product documentation is another area where Chernosky said the company is improving. "Many of our products have instructions that are posted on the web site," Chernosky said, indicating that Guerra and his team are spearheading this effort.

We thank ILA representatives for their willingness to do the right thing. Upon receipt of the inaccessible product, Chernosky said ILA will refund not only the purchase price but also the shipping costs to Karen, so this situation has a positive ending for us. We can take an important lesson from this story. Even when ordering from a company selling products for the blind and visually impaired, carefully read the product's description and/or ask a customer service representative lots of good questions to make sure the product will meet the needs of the person who will be receiving it.

Be Careful What You Purchase from Independent Living Aids!

2009-06-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

I'll be doing some more targeted journalism on this issue in the near future, so all of you may consider this article to be a rant. ILA continues to have some real problems with selling inaccessible products with inaccessible documentation to blind people, then trying to deliver customer service that's inappropriate for blind customers.

On Monday, June 8, I received a couple of anniversary gifts from Karen. They were purchased from ILA. One was a Franklin English and Spanish Talking Translator. Karen thought this might help me learn and practice Spanish. There were a number of problems with this gift that, in my opinion, shouldn't have existed when ordering from a business in the disabilities field. First, it was packaged in one of those hard plastic containers that's almost impossible to open. Second, the product was accompanied only by a small print booklet. Its documentation was not supplied in any accessible alternative format. Third, and worst of all, the product itself was completely inaccessible for a blind person! Karen's boss helped her figure out how to use the product. There's no feedback as you press its keys. Only after typing a word can you press another key to hear it translated in Spanish. That's the only talking this product does; everything else is displayed on a small LCD.

This morning, I contacted ILA's customer service department and got Maryann on the phone. I mentioned the three issues above, but she wasn't at all interested in hearing what I had to say. She was willing to process an RMA to return the product. After giving me the RMA number, she reminded me to fill out the form included in the box. After telling her I was blind, she asked me if I could have a sighted person assist. Frustrated at this point, I said no and indicated that I felt it was inappropriate for her to ask given the field in which ILA does business. I reminded her that blind people are not able to see and, thus, we are not able to directly read or write print without personal or technological assistance. Of course, we can do so easily when information and technology is delivered in a way that's accessible to us. Apparently, ILA does not have an accessible copy of the RMA form on hand. She gave me the RMA number and ILA's mailing address without requiring me to complete the form. Fortunately, I am going to be able to return the inaccessible product, but we're going to get stuck with the shipping cost! Yeah, that's right. It's "company policy..."

I am very disappointed with ILA. Their people continue to sell inaccessible products or products without appropriate documentation to blind customers. At this point, I would like to see ILA do the following things to improve the situation:

Review all products being offered to ensure they are appropriate for ILA's customer base.

When a product is not fully accessible, provide relevant information in the printed catalog and on the web site.

Train everyone answering the phone on how to communicate with customers in such a way so that they are fully aware of which products are accessible to which types of users. For instance, tell the customer if a product requires some sight.

Ensure that appropriate documentation is supplied in an accessible format for each product sold.

Independent Living Aids, being a company that does business in the blindness field and sells to the blind community and those who care about us, really should know better! The company should be a leader! We really shouldn't need to have this unfortunate discussion in the connected online blind community about inaccessibility within the companies that do business with us. Come on, ILA and other offending companies, get with the program already!

Apple Announces iPhone Accessibility, Blind Community Cautiously Optimistic

2009-06-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

At Monday's WWDC conference, Apple announced the inclusion of VoiceOver on its new iPhone 3 GS, making a unique touch screen interface accessible to a cautiously optimistic blind user community for the first time.

"iPhone 3G S provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3G S display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications," said Apple representatives in a June 8 press release.

Loyal Apple fans in the blind community are ecstatic to have been granted access to the iPhone after waiting over two years.

"My God. I am in awe," said Josh de Lioncourt, publisher of the popular Mac-cessibility Round Table Podcast on Twitter.

Shane Jackson, publisher of the BlindWorld Blog and Podcast said on Twitter "Jump up and down, folks. Jump really, really high! iPhone! Yes!"

"It’s the world’s first gesture-based screen reader, enabling you to enjoy the fun and simplicity of the iPhone even if you can’t see the screen," said Apple representatives on the company's iPhone Accessibility page. "Instead of memorizing hundreds of keyboard commands, or endlessly pressing tiny arrow keys to find what you’re looking for, with VoiceOver, you simply touch the screen to hear a description of the item under your finger, then gesture with a double-tap, drag, or flick to control the phone."

Some blind technology users are uncertain about the practicality of making a native touch screen interface accessible, but they are reserving judgment as they wait to see the new iPhone in action. "I am very very concerned about the touch interface. That could be a deal breaker but will wait and see," said Jeff Bishop, a blind database developer at a major university.

Twitter Quietly Fixes Broken Audio CAPTCHA

2009-06-06T16:32:00.001-07:00

A blind Internet user has reported that Twitter has corrected issues with its audio CAPTCHA during a one-hour Friday evening maintenance window. Blind Access Journal has confirmed the fix.

On August 22, 2007, Twitter implemented the ReCAPTCHA service to protect the site from abuse while granting a level of accessibility to blind and visually impaired people wishing to sign up for the new social networking service. The enhancement was implemented by Twitter in cooperation with members of the connected online blind community. Twitter received praise for this move.

On December 7, 2008, reCAPTCHA began deploying a new audio playback scheme. "Instead of using spoken digits or letters, our new audio CAPTCHA presents entire spoken sentences or phrases that the best speech recognition algorithms failed to recognize," Luis von Ahn, the project's executive producer, said on the reCAPTCHA Blog.

"For now, if you are using our custom theme option, we ask that you update the instructions for the audio CAPTCHA to say something along the lines of 'type what you hear'", von Ahn told web site developers who implemented reCAPTCHA, signifying the possible need to modify their sites in response to this change.

Reports began to surface of blind people locked out of Twitter's account creation process. Investigating, Blind Access Journal opened the urgent support ticket 329388 with Twitter's technical support team on May 28.

"Please resolve this because, as it stands right now, some people are being locked out solely because they're blind / visually impaired," Darrell Shandrow stated as part of the request for assistance.

On June 3, the support ticket was closed and removed with the statement "Twitter is a free service, and while we try to provide as much help as we can, we can't get to every email". A subsequent request for follow up went unanswered.

On Friday, Twitter underwent an evening maintenance window lasting approximately one hour. Shortly after, an update appeared on the Twitter Status site "The maintenance was successful and we are back up!"

Early Saturday morning, Mika Pyyhkala (pyyhkala) reported "the audio captcha for the Twitter sign up process has been fixed and works now!"

Twitter has made no statement regarding the audio CAPTCHA or any other issues that may have been resolved in Friday's maintenance downtime.

"Unfortunately it was a very frustrating issue for a lot of people who couldn't get beyond it," said Larry Gassman (Lgsinger).

Code of Ethics

2009-06-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

One of the courses I took last semester was Journalism Ethics and Diversity. Our final assignment involved writing a personal code of ethics accompanied by an explanation of how we arrived at the conclusions in that code. I have decided to share this with all of you, my dedicated readers, in hopes that you may find it helpful in your own lives. As with everything else on this blog, all constructive feedback is appreciated.

Ethical Development Overview

“Living in a way that is transparent. It means allowing light to pass through with little or no interruption or distortion so that objects on the other side can be clearly seen, to be completely open and frank about things.” (Gilligan 236)

Ethical development in my life seems to focus primarily on an evolution from a rights based approach to Carol Gilligan’s ethics of caring theory combined with Sissela Bok’s concept of consulting one’s conscience and engaging in discussion with experts prior to making decisions. Louis Hodges’ circles of intimacy theory on privacy and trust also factor heavily in the way I form and maintain relationships.

Many aspects of my life as a person with a disability have compelled me to focus on protecting my rights to equality of opportunity in endeavors such as education and employment. Staunch accessibility evangelism has, from time to time, caused me to insist on enforcement of existing disability rights laws and to show a willingness to bend established rules in order to reach a desired, fair outcome. In this regard, especially when interacting with unknown individuals or those I deem to be on the wrong side of an issue, I have employed a strictly rights based ethical approach much like that suggested by Lawrence Kohlberg. (Patterson and Wilkins 343) In this way, correct results are my primary aim, there are times when the ends justify the means and making friends is definitely not high on the list of priorities.

When it comes to close friends and relatives, those in my second and third circles of intimacy, (Patterson and Wilkins 154) my approaches are much different. I focus on maintaining strong connections with those closest to me. In many cases, I place their needs and desires above my own when making important decisions. The relationship holds the highest priority over all other considerations. Despite a tough, no-holds-barred public exterior, I am actually a person who craves acceptance and approval, especially from those about whom I care the most.

“We sat watching the candles burn down. Stars spinning in their distant constellations. Maybe love is the revolutionary emotion, the true freedom, because it releases something in ourselves…” (Gilligan 153)

The justice oriented approach has, thus far, served me quite well most of the time in professional and public life. My parents won the right for me to attend public high school in 1987 after winning a settlement in Federal court. I have successfully employed similar approaches in order to retain employment, save my wife’s job and bring accessibility advocacy efforts to a positive conclusion. In the public sphere, the way I have done business has largely equated to Kohlberg’s scenario in which a husband justifies stealing a lifesaving drug from the pharmacist in order to care for his terminally ill wife. My struggle has always been how to merge the caring ways in which I interact with those closest to me with the harsher rights based manner by which I have dealt with the rest of the world.

“A good listener will refrain from judgment, respect the narrator, and be willing to experience some of the terror, grief, and rage.” (Cote & Simpson 234)

In Carol Gilligan’s work leading to the theory of the ethics of caring, women were questioned about Kohlberg’s pharmacist scenario. (Patterson and Wilkins 344) By and large, their answer was to form a connection with the pharmacist in order to make a mutually beneficial arrangement that would enable him to justify handing over the drug. Many in my inner circle have suggested, and I believe they are right, that I ought to place a greater effort in demonstrating my caring nature to the wider world. Combined with the advocacy experience I have already established, they contend the results obtained would be even better. I would not only have accessibility and greater opportunities but I would also have new friends in my corner.

In class, I have learned about an ethical theorist whose model may represent a useful bridge between Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s theories. Sissela Bok (Patterson and Wilkins 5) suggests a three-step ethics model in which we consult our conscience, seek advice from experts and conduct a public discussion of an issue prior to making an informed ethical decision. This is something I realize I already do on a frequent basis when I informally consult my closest friends and, sometimes, engage in wider discussions on the Internet as I move forward with my advocacy work.

"Principles are not less sacred because their duration cannot be guaranteed." (Bok 67)

This statement from Bok nicely sums up my personal code of ethics. It is a merging of traditional, old-world Western Judeo-Christian values and new ideas about how we can all be more caring and inclusive of everyone in our decision making. The journalism ethics and diversity course has given me a more systematic understanding of the concepts behind the ethical decisions I make on a daily basis and has acquainted me with new ideas I can apply as I confront future challenges.

Code of Ethics

Always demonstrate the greatest loyalty to my closest friends and relatives through actions, feelings and words.

Protect the equality of opportunity and self-determination of everyone, regardless of their age, disability, gender, race and any other condition or circumstance outside their control.

Treat others as I would like to be treated.

Actively seek and tell the truth without omission unless full disclosure would harm an innocent person.

Whenever possible, seek advice from experts and close associates before making important decisions. Consult my “personal board of directors.”

Equally consider the relationships between all involved parties as well as their rights and obligations when making all decisions.

Hold myself and everyone else accountable, as appropriate, for the consequences of actions taken.

Respect the religious beliefs and political ideologies of everyone without prejudice.

Advocate for accessibility for people with disabilities to participate equally in society to those without disabilities. Accessibility is a right!

Always ensure that my life is an expression of traditional values such as caring, dedication, hard work, loyalty and trust.

Works Cited

Bok, Sissela. Common Values. University of Missouri Press; Columbia, MO. 1995, 2002

Cote, William & Simpson, Roger. Covering Violence: A Guide to Ethical Reporting about Victims & Trauma. Columbia University Press; New York, NY. 2006

Gilligan, Carol. Kyra. Random House; New York, NY. 2008

Patterson, Philip and Wilkins, Lee. Media Ethics: Issues and Cases. McGraw-Hill; Columbus, Oh. 2008

New Solona CAPTCHA Solving Service Gets the Job Done, Implications for Accessibility are Uncertain

2009-06-02T18:20:00.001-07:00

A new approach to solving CAPTCHAs has arrived on the scene for the blind and visually impaired. "Solona is a service that provides CAPTCHA solution assistance for visually impaired Internet users who encounter CAPTCHAS that are difficult or impossible to solve," says Bernard Maldonado, the site's creator. This unique service enables blind and visually impaired users to upload a CAPTCHA image and quickly receive the solved CAPTCHA code from a sighted person while safeguarding the users' privacy and security.

I tested Solona on Twitter's Create an Account page, where solving a CAPTCHA is required in order to sign up. After signing into Solona and opening the Twitter signup page in a new browser tab, I filled out Twitter's form and captured the CAPTCHA image by pressing Alt+Print Screen. I then ran MSPaint, pasted the captured image into it and saved the image as a 256-color BMP file. Finally, I switched back to Solona, selected the option to Submit a CAPTCHA, uploaded the captured image file and pressed the Refresh button a couple of times as I awaited the solution. Within approximately 40 seconds, I received a correct answer which enabled me to create another Twitter account!

My experience, and that of many other blind Internet users, shows that Solona is a viable way to solve CAPTCHA images on web sites. I have two concerns with the Solona approach: one is practical and the other is philosophical.

In practical terms, the instructions for using Solona are rather complex, especially for all beginning and many intermediate blind computer users. There are instructions for use on Mac and Windows-based computers. Users are expected to understand concepts including copying and pasting, downloading and uploading files, saving files in a specific location or path and switching among several windows. Since many web sites time out if the CAPTCHA is not solved right away, the usefulness of this approach is likely to increase for beginners only after many unsuccessful practice attempts. Some intermediate and all advanced users should find the instructions easily within their grasp.

As an accessibility evangelist, I have a philosophical
concern about the use of services like Solona, where direct sighted intervention is required in order for the blind person to achieve their desired result. According to the instructions on Solona's How it Works page, "The process is a two prong approach: The user submits a useable image of the CAPTCHA according to our instructions and a Solona operator processes the image and returns the text solution back to the user in order to proceed with the offending website." This solution is dependent on the availability of a sighted operator. When noone is available, we can't use this approach and an inaccessible CAPTCHA will lock us out once again. Web site owners may feel they're off the hook with respect to ensuring the accessibility of their CAPTCHA schemes. Instead of improving accessibility, they may tell us: "Use Solona. That's what it's there for, isn't it? To help you blind people?" My ultimate worry here is the creation of a separate-but-unequal status for blind people where a form of accessibility exists for us that is vastly inferior to that granted the sighted.

A major advantage of Solona is its complete accessibility for everyone, including the deaf-blind who continue to go completely unserved by web site owners who implement audio playback as their "accessible" CAPTCHA scheme. Unlike automated CAPTCHA solutions such as CAPTCHA Killer and Webvisum, no "cracking" or "hacking" is involved and there are no reasonable concerns that the service may be easily utilized to breach the protection CAPTCHA intends to deliver against spammers and other abusers. Solona is also cross-platform. Any computer and web browser that can be used to capture and upload images can be used with the service.

If stable plug-ins or screen reader scripts are created to make Solona easier to use for beginners, plans to ensure the continuous availability of sighted operators are realized and an organizational structure is established to ensure the ongoing viability of the service into the future, we may ultimately have an accessibility winner on our hands! Will the blind community embrace Solona as an acceptable way to solve CAPTCHA authentication? How will the technology industry respond? Will it raise awareness of the need for better access or will companies just dump us over to Solona without meeting their responsibility to deliver reasonable accommodations? Once a viable organizational structure exists for Solona, who will provide the funds to sustain the project? Would web site owners consider donating to Solona in leu of improving the accessibility of their own CAPTCHA schemes an acceptable accommodation? I invite all of you, my loyal readers, to take a stab at any or all of these questions in your comments. As always, your reading and participation is appreciated.

The Desert Cafe Goes Live Tonight!

2009-06-01T16:10:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Come in from the heat and be cool. Join Darrell and I in the Desert Cafe. We will serve up some fun tunes and favorite beverages. If you haven't heard 70's music in awhile and want to Celebrate Summer, be here with us. You don't need a mood ring or strobe lights.

We will also be celebrating our third wedding anniversary, which is June 3. You will have a chance to hear the audio from our Ceremony in Boston.

In addition to all this fun, Darrell will tell us all about what we can do to advocate for an international copyright exemption treaty that would enable the reproduction and exchange of books that have been converted into accessible formats for the blind and others with print reading disabilities.

The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that's Monday evening in the United States at 7:00 Pacific (and Arizona), 8:00 Mountain, 9:00 Central and 10:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.

See you tonight,

Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

Abledbody Blog Covers International Copyright Exemption Treaty Letter Writing Campaign

2009-06-01T12:45:00.002-07:00

We thank the folks at Abledbody for including an article about the letter writing campaign in their News Watch segment. This blog appears to be an excellent resource for advocacy and information about assistive technology and disability rights activities. I have just subscribed to their RSS feed in Newsgator, and recommend all of you consider doing likewise in your favorite RSS aggregator or reader.

Updated Information on Contacting the White House Electronically

2009-05-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

We have discovered that it is no longer possible to write to the President by simply sending e-mail to president@whitehouse.gov. Doing so results in an automatic reply that gives information on the accepted ways to make contact. All information needed to send comments to President Obama is available on the White House's contact page.

In our letter writing campaign on the international copyright exemption treaty, please submit an electronic message of 5,000 characters or less, FAX the White House or send your letter via snail mail if you are able. We may also want to consider calling the White House, but I feel getting started in writing may be best at this time. I hope all of you are writing and sending letters to President Obama on this important issue. Please feel free to stay in touch and let us know how we may be of assistance.

Letter Writing Campaign Asks President Obama to Fully Support International Copyright Exemption Treaty for the Blind and Print Reading Disabled

2009-05-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have written the letter shown below to President Obama. Thanks to Alena Roberts, Kelly Ford and Milica Trpevska for their assistance in the editing of this letter through three revisions. I am asking all my American readers to send a similar letter to president@whitehouse.gov to show support for an international treaty that would expand the copyright exemptions we enjoy in the United States to the blind and other people with print reading disabilities in the rest of the world. If you are not an American citizen, please write a similar supportive letter to your nation's prime minister or other appropriate political leaders.

May 30, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

As a blind American, I am writing to ask you for your help in order to expand our limited access to printed books. Specifically, I would like you to direct your representatives on the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights in the World Intellectual Property Organization to fully support the treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired persons.

In the United States, Blind Americans currently enjoy the highest level of accessibility to books in the entire world! The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provides tens of thousands of books as audio recordings. Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic provides thousands more books in recorded form primarily to K-12 and college students with reading disabilities. Finally, a project called Bookshare delivers access to more than 50,000 copyrighted books in an electronic format we can read with our Braille displays and on our talking computers in a manner that is most similar to the way sighted people are automatically able to read. All of this is possible by way of an exemption we enjoy in our copyright laws called 17 USC Section 121 that allows certain authorized organizations to make books accessible to us without the constant need to obtain written permission from publishers.

In contrast with the specialized nonprofit organizations (authorized entities in copyright law) that work with us to adapt reading material, the marketplace has continued to fail the blind despite ongoing advocacy. I am willing to purchase books in the same way as our sighted peers, so long as I am able to read them in an accessible format. Almost without exception, however, authors and publishers have been unwilling to work with the blind on a voluntary basis and have vigorously resisted all the legislative gains we have made to force their compliance.

Many electronic books are now sold for reading only on Amazon’s Kindle book reader. The Kindle is inaccessible to the blind, Amazon has made no plans to rectify the issue and no software exists to convert the books to an accessible format. Even the most recent revision of the reader, the Kindle II, contains voice output, but remains completely unusable by a blind person. Further, the Author’s Guild is working against people with disabilities by advocating publishers disable voice output on Kindle books and making statements about audio books that could hamper the expansion of accessibility. One major publisher, Random House, is selling their Kindle electronic books with the text-to-speech feature disabled. Even if the Kindle were to become accessible to the blind, many books sold in that format would remain unreadable by blind customers. Other books are sold in equally inaccessible formats that employ security features specifically designed to disable our specialized screen reading software. As long as the marketplace continues to ignore our need for equal access, I am asking you to intervene in ways that support our efforts to adapt information so that it is readable by those of us with print disabilities.

American accessibility projects like NLS, RFB&D and Bookshare represent an attempt by our own community to essentially make our own accessibility. Hundreds of Bookshare volunteers acquire, scan and convert books into a specialized accessible format known as DAISY. NLS readers and RFB&D volunteers verbally read books for distribution as digital audio recordings in another subset of the specialized DAISY standard. In all three cases, the blind and others with reading disabilities must prove eligibility in order to receive access to copyrighted books through these authorized organizations. This level of access to books really makes a positive difference for blind Americans who wish to learn, work and participate in all aspects of our society on terms of equality with the sighted.

Alena Roberts knows firsthand what a difference accessible books can make in the life of a blind person. A graduate of the University of Oregon, she struggled with the lack of accessible textbooks. “In college, if my required books were not available at RFB&D, my university had to do the recordings, which meant in a lot of cases that I only got to read the pages that my professor required,” Roberts says. “I can't tell you how many times I've listened to book reviews on the radio just to find that they're not available in an accessible format.”

Recent advancements in the accessibility of books have opened the world for Alena and tens of thousands of blind Americans. “For me personally, having access to books means that I get to read what I want to read more often,” says Roberts.

Despite this level of accessibility, most published books continue to be outside our reach. Many are still found only in print while the vast majority of electronic books are delivered in formats that are incompatible with our screen reading software. Internationally, the World Blind Union says that people with print reading disabilities are granted access to less than five percent of all reading material available to the sighted. I believe that, were your closest friends and relatives locked out of 95 percent of the world’s books, you and Michelle would be insisting on change now. I am certain you are sensitive to the need for equal access for blind people everywhere.

In comparison to the American experience of people like myself and Alena Roberts, Milica Trpevska, a journalism student from Macedonia attending American University at Bulgaria, lives in the dark ages with respect to the unavailability of accessible books. Many of the textbooks required in her classes are made accessible in the United States, but copyright laws prohibit her from acquiring and reading them simply due to her location. An accessible copy of a book that is available to blind Americans for the cost and time of a download over the Internet requires hundreds of hours of work by herself and one or more sighted people in order for Milica to be able to access the same content her sighted peers can read without a thought. In addition, Milica has scanned hundreds of books over the years that she is unable to contribute to accessibility efforts like Bookshare due to the same restrictions currently imposed by international copyright law. Your full support of an international copyright exemption for people with print reading disabilities would open many doors for deserving people like Milica while further increasing the amount of printed material accessible to blind Americans.

It is time for positive change in the availability of reading material for the blind and others with print disabilities. I am asking you to help make the resources we already enjoy here in the United States available to the rest of the world. Doing this would serve to increase accessibility not only for people with print disabilities outside our nation, but it would also foster full international participation in our efforts to increase our access to the world of reading. Duplication of efforts would be eliminated and organizations in other countries would finally be able to deliver to us new books not yet made accessible here in America.

As a blind person who relies on the ability to read the same material enjoyed by my sighted peers in order to learn and to work as a productive member of society, I am asking for nothing less than equality of opportunity. If a copyright exemption is good enough for us here in the United States, then it is good enough for the rest of the world. Please work to expand the letter and spirit of 17 USC Section 121 to the rest of the world through the WIPO treaty by directing America’s delegates to avoid delay by prioritizing the needs of people with disabilities, actively demonstrating this stance to authors, publishers and the rest of the world and approving the treaty every time it comes up for a vote.

Sincerely,

Darrell Shandrow

Accessibility Evangelist

BlindAccessJournal.com

Balanced Agenda on Internationalization of Copyright Exemptions for People with Print Reading Disabilities

2009-05-30T16:08:00.001-07:00

At the 18th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) of the World Intellectual Property Organization recently held in Geneva, a treaty was proposed by the World Blind Union to grant a copyright exemption for the production and distribution of books in a specialized format accessible by people with print reading disabilities. The result of such a treaty could be the international availability of accessible books from organizations such as Bookshare, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled and Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic.

Predictably, organizations representing authors and publishers are concerned about any copyright changes that might expand the piracy of their work. These concerns are currently being expressed by SCCR delegates as opposition to the copyright exemption treaty. Blind people and others with print reading disabilities need and deserve equal access to books, while authors and publishers have the right to earn an income in compensation for their efforts. According to blogger James Love, who updated us via Twitter as the meeting progressed, "Group B has offered amendments to a proposed conclusion for the WIPO SCCR 18 meeting. The amendments are designed to eliminate any agreement to discuss a treaty for blind and reading disabled persons at the next meeting of the SCCR. The United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, the Holly See (the Vatican), the members of the European Union and other high income countries have joined in this statement."

I think all of us in the connected, online blind community can agree that print reading material and other forms of information should be usable by the blind and other people with disabilities that curtail their ability to read print. Further, I also think we can agree that the marketplace (companies and organizations representing authors and the publishing industry) has largely ignored us and has taken unfortunate steps to curtail our right to equal access. This overall ignorance on the part of the marketplace has generated the need for copyright exemptions that enable us to make our own accessibility without the need to seek written permission from publishers to reproduce books in accessible formats.

We achieved a victory in the conclusion of the 18th SCCR session. The copyright exemption proposal will be discussed again at the 19th session of the SCCR. We have an opportunity to advocate for our right to equal access in a way that expresses a sensitivity to the needs of all stakeholders, including the very authors and publishers who regularly ignore us. In our advocacy, I propose the following overall agenda for our activities:

Accept publishers' desire for reasonable anti-piracy measures that do not curtail our access, including: definition of what constitutes an "authorized organization" for the distribution of accessible books, description of who is eligible to receive accessible materials under the exemption, standardization of the specialized formats that will be used to deliver accessible books and specifications for any digital rights management (DRM), usage tracking and watermarking for the purpose of preventing unauthorized duplication of accessible materials.

When issues of digital rights management arise, we should prefer the Bookshare scheme over those employed by organizations like NLS and RFBD.

Except in cases where DRM technology makes existing electronic books inaccessible to us, let's try to keep the issues of equal access and DRM as separate as possible in the communications that make up our advocacy efforts.

American citizens who are blind or have other print reading disabilities, and those without disabilities who care about us, should write letters to President Obama asking him to direct his delegation at SCCR to fully support the treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired persons.

Similarly, citizens of other Group B nations should write letters to their prime ministers and other appropriate political leaders asking that they direct their SCCR delegations to fully support the treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired persons.

It may be worth considering the creation of an online petition as a means of simply demonstrating the high levels at which most technology experts and users will support the proposed treaty.

Finally, we all must work tirelessly over the next couple of months to promote our cause and spread the word of our efforts as far and wide as possible as the 19th meeting of the SCCR nears.

I think it is absolutely critical that we advocate strenuously for our right to equal access to books while expressing a willingness to make reasonable compromises with those stakeholders who have significant financial investments to protect. We may endure a little pain along the way, but if we are willing to consistently advocate for ourselves and stay in the game for the long haul, I'm quite confident we will come out ahead.

Phoenix Area Dial-A-Ride Fares Increase on July 1, 2009

2009-05-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

We have been asked by a Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA) official to post the following important announcement concerning fare increases for Dial-A-Ride customers in the greater Phoenix area.

ValleyMetro.org

602.253.5000

TTY 602.261.8208

Due to tax revenue shortfalls and increased operating costs, fares will increase on July 1. The new fare structure is designed to maintain transit service at levels that Valley residents need, although service cuts may continue to occur with the ongoing decline in sales tax revenues. Sales taxes provide a majority of the funding for bus and light rail service.

New East Valley ADA Paratransit Fares

EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2009

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Why have fares increased?: Valley Metro’s funding is based primarily on sales tax revenue. Since people are not buying as much in this economy, sales tax revenues for transit have declined by millions of dollars. At the same time, the cost to provide transit service is continuously rising.
How does this affect Dial-a-Ride fares?: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Paratransit Dial-a-Ride fares must keep pace with the bus/light rail fares. In the East Valley, the ADA Dial-a-Ride fares are $2.50 beginning July 1, 2009 with an increase of $.50 each July 1 thereafter until the ADA fare reaches $3.50. Please note that non-ADA fares for East Valley Dial-a-Ride are not increasing. In Phoenix, ADA Paratransit Dial-a-Ride fares will be two times the local bus fare or $3.50. For seniors and persons with disabilities using non-ADA services, fares are changing as follows: $1.50 to $2.50 for same day/first zone fare and $.50 to $1.50 for same day/each additional zone. For other city Dial-a-Ride fares, please contact your local Dial-a-Ride provider for specific changes to their fares. For your local Dial-a-Ride provider, visit ValleyMetro.org or call 602.253.5000.

I Don't Live in a "Dark World"

2009-05-21T05:53:00.002-07:00

A classmate in my journalism ethics and diversity course wrote this article about me. I said a lot of things in that interview, yet I feel the overall slant of this work portrays blindness in a negative way. Of course, maybe, it also had something to do with the fact I wasn't having such a wonderful time. In any case, I clearly wasn't on my game as a positive representative of the blind community on the day Theresa interviewed me for this feature story. I did like the quote from Lance Harrop at the end. As always, feel free to comment.

The Desert Cafe Goes Live Tonight

2009-03-23T10:27:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Visit us in the Cafe,
Great music we will play,
It's the last Monday in March, its now Spring,
No worries, I will not sing
But you we will entertain,
Here there is no rain or snow
It does not matter where you live on the world map,
Let's bridge the gap
Work together hand in hand,
Across the land
From sea to shining Sea
Here on ACB
In the cafe, we'll have most beverages and good things to munch,
It does not matter if its your breakfast,dinner or lunch
Come join us,my friend,
Stay the 2 hours,till the end.

The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that's Monday evening in the United States at 7:00 Pacific (and Arizona), 8:00 Mountain, 9:00 Central and 10:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.

See you tomorrow night,

Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

The Desert Cafe Opens for Business Tomorrow with a Slightly Irish Theme

2009-03-15T21:15:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Top of the morning Lads & Lasses,
Stop by the Desert Cafe after your classes,
When you awake or at the end of your day,
we will entertain, great music we will play.,
Bring your dancing shoes and good cheer,
We will have no green beer,
May have Irish Soda Bread and hot Tea,
point your browser to ACB.
You can do an Irish Jig and bring your Harp or Irish flute,
Here is the route,
Travel on the information Highway, Destination Interactive.acbradio.org,
we wil not assimilate you like the Borg,
If you don't wear Green, you we wont pinch, willnot do this,
our show, you don't want to miss,
You will feel good, when its time to go
so do listen to our show
We will play the 60's through today,
please Stay
so, spend time with Darrell and I,
on ACB R I

The show can be heard on ACB Radio Interactive at 02:00 Universal time on Tuesday, that's Monday evening in the United States at 7:00 Pacific (and Arizona), 8:00 Mountain, 9:00 Central and 10:00 Eastern. Visit http://interactive.acbradio.org to listen.

See you tomorrow night,

Karen and Darrell in the Desert Cafe on ACB Radio Interactive

The Desert Cafe Opens in Eight Hours!

2009-03-09T10:54:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Take a gamble and join us in the Cafe,
As usual a variety of music we will play,
We hope this blend will cleanse your heart and soul,
We'll play songs about changing friendship from artists like Sarah McLachlan and Billy Joel.
From Asia to the Doobie Brothers,
and many others.
Mostly 70's,80's but also some Modern Stuff,
We will not play any Hilary Duff,
or Simply Red,
here in the U. S, Remember, The Clocks for most are one hour ahead,
it will still be at 2 to 4 UTC,
Fun it will be.
There will be plenty of virtual Beverages and food to devour,
some healthy,tasty, some sweet, or sour.
Darrell is the Technical Master,
he will also tell you about the Mock Disaster,
the Terrorist attack that will occur Tomorrow morning at ASU,
if your interested, listen, please do!.
Be there,
or be square,
for now Take care.