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