Hi,

Does anyone have any idea how many blind or visually impaired hams there are 
and how many are ARRL members?

While this sounds drastic, should we consider a class action law suit if we 
could find an attorney who would pursue this.

It seems it would be easier to fix this up-front rather than fix it later.

Just my thoughts.

73's

Howard #3

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 12:33 PM
Subject: Digital QST And Accessibility


> Hi,
>
> A fellow blind ham apparently spoke to someone at HQ recently to ask =
> about the upcoming digital edition of QST. The person he spoke to seemed =
> to indicate, according to Scott, that not only was the digital edition =
> of QST not going to be accessible, but there were no plans to make it =
> accessible.=20
>
> Needless to say, this is disappointing, if true.=20
>
> However, it's possible that there is a misunderstanding of the issues =
> involved here. We of course don't want a special edition, or something =
> like that. However, it seems to me that an online edition of QST could =
> be inherently usable by blind members. There are, of course, formats =
> that just don't work well (or at all) with screen access technology. The =
> system that CQ Communications has chosen to implement, for instance, =
> can't be used by screen readers. Your standard garden variety PDF, =
> however, will read with most screen readers, assuming that the PDF isn't =
> solely an image scan of a paper document.=20
>
> I would be interested to know what digital format the ARRL will be using =
> for its electronic distribution. Knowing this will help determine =
> whether or not I will be able to read it when it becomes available.=20
>
> While I wasn't on the call that I mentioned, I can tell you that my =
> friend felt as though he was not valued as a member in good standing, =
> that his membership was somehow less important because of his =
> disability, perhaps that he was asking for something unreasonable. Bear =
> in mind that, while we do get QST on tape from the Library of Congress, =
> the issue comes about two months after the general public gets it. I, =
> for one, would be willing to pay full freight for a membership that =
> included a timely and accessible version of QST. However, if my =
> membership as a blind ham is of no value to the League, perhaps i should =
> rethink that. Note that I have no reason yet to believe that this is the =
> case, but one of the staff's members has certainly left at least one =
> member with this impression, not by the possible inaccessibility of the =
> digital edition, but rather by the way the issue was handled. Or, =
> rather, blown off.=20
>
> I would love to discuss this further. We can start with what format the =
> digital edition will take and go from there.=20
>
> While I must admit to some disappointment that accessibility wasn't even =
> considered when the decision was made to go digital, and, to my =
> knowledge, no blind members were contacted to get any input on the =
> issue, I would like to believe that this is something that can be =
> considered now. Better late than never.
>
> Vy 73,
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY