Hello Deborah, and all,

Great response, Deborah. There have been a few great responses here, in fact. It's too bad such good, common sense stuff is so uncommon these days. Anyway, can someone familiar with the peeps in charge of CSUN, please provide the rest of us with the contact info needed to contact them -- so we can let them know instead of just keeping this good discussion between us, or merely on their facebook page? 

Thanks, all. 

Literacy is lovely, and Braille is beautiful! The need to read is the blood we all bleed. If a child has a right to, or "deserves" to learn to read  using print, then a blind child has a right to, or deserves to learn to read using Braille. 


Blessings to You and Yours, All Who Read This!
Everett
In Colorado Springs, USA
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-----Original Message-----
Terri and all, 
I was terribly disappointed not to go to CSUN this year, due to an accident that has sidelined me for a while. Reading this news takes the personal sting out of having to stay home -- and also is heartbreaking on a larger scale. 
I used to think of CSUN as the most perfect conference available to us. I loved the braille programs, the tactile maps -- I still have a few backpacks donated by vendors which have braille pressed into the fabric.  
Technology, great equalizer that it once was and sometimes still is, has made people lazy.  It takes less time and money to just give everyone a CD or tell them to download. In a technologically charged environment, I suspect that some who were not able to use these methods kept quiet due to embarrassment. The "cool kids' could use the DAISY format, after all. 
The discrimination is blatant here, and  what would constitute equality is as plain as the braille dots that used to be on a CSUN program page:
If print materials are distributed for those who need that antiquated system, then braille materials are also essential.  

Terri, thank you for having the chutzpah to speak up. 
The problem now is that here we are bemoaning this giant having lowered its standards, but we are preaching to the choir.  
If change (or rather, a return to previously higher standardss) is to occur, the Center on Disability at California State University at Northridge needs to hear voices, many voices, of blind people who expect such a conference to offer materials in that most familiar of alternate formats, braille.
It is encouraging to see how many agree that braille is still the most efficient way to get certain kinds of information, but after we tell one another, we need to tell CSUN. 
The Facebook page is great, but again, not everyone uses Facebook either.
Going back to my corner,
Deborah


-----Original Message-----
Terri and All:
Whether or not the show is lackluster, and whether or not it is next
to Disneyland next year, I believe these concerns are a coherent
discussion for this list and they are certainly a trend that I have
noticed and been distressed and excluded by recently.
I will address these concerns one by one below after each question and
answer that Terri so kindly organized for us all. I asked these
questions with follow up in mind realizing, as Tony Schwartz pointed
out that Braille is not a low or high tech system or solution. It is
simply a reading and writing system that provides a solution for
people who are blind and deaf-blind.
Q. Were there braille displays being shown at CSUN?
 A. Absolutely, numerous different Braille displays were being shown in the
 Exhibit Hall.
--My response to this is that braille is apparently a relevant item
for discussion and demonstration at CSUN. That being the case, I
believe it is a reasonable expectation and accommodation to make
braille available to those who need it.

 Q. Also, was the web site populated with a program, an agenda, an
 exhibitors' list and the like?
 A. Not only the website, but print materials were handed out to all who
 registered.
--My response here is that if the website was populated with the
information it may have been the expectation of the organizers that
"all" blind and visually impaired people will just use the website."
However, if printed information was handed out, that expectation is
different than the expectation for sighted folks using print. That is
discrimination.

 Q. This used to be a production of the State University system in
 California, is that still true?
 A. Yes, it is still hosted and organized by Cal. State University
 Northridge.

--My response here is an opinion: Many colleges and universities are
still having trouble understanding and meeting the needs of people
with disabilities in classes, literature requirements, online
productions, live presentations and conferences. It is important for
all of us to move forward with persistent and very aggressive tactics
to make sure these educational outlets understand our issues. The
graduates of these institutions are learning by action of their alma
mater that accessibility might not be very important after all.

I recently needed to remind a professor at the University of Maine
that their website calendar offering "Diversity Week" events needed
accessibility fixes. I mean, this professor was in charge of diversity
studies----those studies include discussion of people with
disabilities.

We have a long way to go; we must still work hard and together to make strides.

Thank you Terri for speaking up and bringing this issue to our attention.

Steve Hoad


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