Some of the items here are not technologically related, but there is a lot
of good news here (with an ACB bias, of course).

Best, Peter

+== acb-l Message from Charles Crawford <[log in to unmask]> ==+


               NEWS NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE.

For the week ending December 8, 2000.

      *  ACB joins Pennsylvania Council  of the blind in mourning.

      We learned this week that Ms. tina Root of Pennsylvania who
was a PCB member was fatally injured while crossing a street.  We
have no details about the tragedy other than her white cane was
found at the scene, and can only extend our deepest sympathy to
the family and all Pennsylvania Council of the Blind members and
friends of Tina.

      *  National office staff: high tech consultants?

      This was a week for consulting on accessibility to both
Microsoft and America On Line.  Charlie Crawford spent three days
in Washington State with other representatives of disabilities
consulting with the Microsoft Accessibility Technology Group.
Meanwhile, Terry Pacheco visited with the brass of America On
Line to hear about their progress on making AOL accessible.  Much
of the Microsoft meeting contained information exchanges that are
prohibited from disclosure, but it can be said that there are big
changes coming over the next five years and many new products
will have accessibility built in from the start rather than
trying to patch them at the end.  On the AOL access issues, there
has been progress on using alt-text in version 6.0 of their dial
up software, but more work will be needed to especially fix the
font problems for low-vision users.

      *  Project Action to help access right at the local level.

      Charlie Crawford returned from Microsoft to attend the
Project Action meetings in Washington.  We learned our advocacy
efforts to prioritize accessibility at the local transportation
provider level has now moved into pre-grant status and soon there
will be announcements for available funding to support educating
local transportation systems on accessibility.  Stay tuned for
developments since this could mean funds to back up our local
efforts to get stop announcements, accessible ped signaling,
detectable warnings and other access features for ourselves and
folks with other disabilities.

      *  Battle lines forming in Baltimore.

      In a disappointing move, the Mayor of Baltimore has backed
off his commitment to accessible pedestrian signaling.  This we
understand has to do with objections from the Maryland affiliate
of NFB and we have been discussing our options.  The ACB of
Maryland President and others have been talking with us to design
a response that will have the teeth to put us back on track and
we are ready to launch the plan.  You will hear more as events
unfold.

      *  ACB and Federal Transit Administration to talk about just
how final key station compliance is?

      Last week, an ACB member reported that there are still
stations in the Washington DC subway system that do not have
detectable warnings.  When the public transportation provider was
informed of this, they simply responded that the station
mentioned was not a "key station."

      ACB has always held that this notion that subway systems
simply need to make their key stations accessible with detectable
warnings and not do so for other stations is simply wrong.  Our
view is that the Americans with Disabilities Act only required
compliance with key stations to speed the immediate addressing of
our needs, but never was intended to stop there.  We have brought
this issue to the attention of the federal government and will be
discussing it next week.  ACB will continue to keep you advised
on this critical issue.

      *  First win on the way for ACB web access program.

      ACB received notice this week that our first complaint filed
against an inaccessible web site will be satisfied by the end of
this month.  The company responsible for designing the site has
already started work on the fixes and has committed itself to be
done by December 31.  Congratulations are in order for the
courage of our blind complainant and the wisdom of the bank in
question to get the job done.

      *  ACB to look at working conditions change at industrial
program for the blind.

      While details cannot be released at this point, ACB has been
advised of certain changes in working conditions at a particular
industrial setting for blind workers which may  need
intervention.  This may become a circumstance in which the people
attempting to form an ACB  blind industries workers affiliate
could be of assistance.

      *  MCI responds productively to ACB concerns.

      After ACB was made aware of a proposal to charge for the
bundling of MCI bills with local telephone bills in braille or
other alternate media such as large print, we advised the company
of our concerns that such a charge would violate our rights.  We
are pleased to let all know that we have received a very gracious
call from MCI letting us know that they will issue a credit in
every bill for the amount that they would have otherwise charged.
This credit will be associated with all bills coded for braille
and large print, where the local phone company had been sending
the bills in that media.

                                          ***

      News notes are a compendium of highlights from the preceding
weekly events and not intended to provide a comprehensive report
on the topics covered.

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