Hi Richard,

I actually have no problems providing reasonable proof of disability to join
Handiham.  It is an excellent organization.  Like all organizations dealing
with those of us who have disabilities, Handiham staff need to take all
reasonable steps to be accessible to us, including making the membership
process as accessible as possible.  This is just a matter of common sense.
Why not join Handiham?

Electronic materials are best when it comes to accessibility and real
reading capabilities.  I am not, and never have, said that audio recordings
should be eliminated.  They're great as far as they go and are the only
possibility for those who do not yet have computer technology at their
disposal.  But, at the same time, come on.  We're now living in the 21st
century.

My big problems with the state of accessible study materials for amateur
radio are that the League is leaning too heavily on Handiham to provide
everything that is accessible to us while Handiham probably just doesn't
have the resources to fully do what needs to be done to provide the highest
possible level of accessibility to the study materials.

I guess it is time for me to go buy that book and start scanning!



----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 12:42 AM
Subject: Re: Revisiting accessible amateur radio study materials.


> Message-Id:
> <20050116014521.CYLF1992.imf20aec.mail.bellsouth.net@[68.212.97.82]>
>
> nu7i wrote:
>   >Handiham's web site indicates that membership is required in order
>   >to purchase materials...
> That is always as I understood it when I was checking into their
> equipment manuals.  I had a 2 meter rig I wanted am anual for.  I
> didn't want a cassette manual for the same reason I wouldn't want
> cassette or audio file study materials.
> SUch formats are not quickly searchable, hence the same weakness with
> mp3 audio files.  Any word processor or text file viewer has a text
> string search function making such doccuments  quite usable when one
> wants to get to a certain piece of information quickly.  Manuals on
> tape were good enough when that's all there was, I grew up with many
> textbooks for school and college on tape, but the capabilities fr
> surpass that era.
> Halfwayu isn't good enough when you hold yourself out as "doing
> something for the disabled" and hence I join no general purpose
> disability organizations, handihams included.
> I know folks they've benefited greatly and I applaud their efforts,
> but when it comes to blindness they've only gone part of the distance.
> I can see no reason to supply them with the doccumentation they might
> need from doctors voc rehab etc. to prove I'm really blind to join
> their organization and get a manual on cassette tape.
>
> My lady and I end up going through manuals for audio equipment for my
> studio as well as ham gear and translating the weirdness as we go
> making me usable quick refernce guides which I then buzz off on my
> braille embosser.  sTill cumbersome but beats abridged study materials
> and manuals on cassette.
>
>
>
> Richard Webb
>
> Electric Spider Productions
>                                            "They that can give up
> essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
>
> --- Benjamin Franklin, NOvember 1755 from the
> Historical review of Pennsylvania