In today's Sunday NYTimes newspaper there is an article about new innovations such as flat screen TV being installed in hotels. Will your favorite soon sport inaccessible technology? Here's a quote from the article, used as a teachable moment here. "Technology like wireless Internet can help hotels in older buildings stay up to date without the expense of running extra wiring to each room, said Vijay Dandapani, the chief operating officer of Apple Core Hotels, which has five moderate-priced hotels in Manhattan. "We have had WiFi for two years," he said. Flat-panel televisions are being installed in a 132-room La Quinta hotel that the company is building adjacent to MacArthur Airport in Islip on Long Island. he said. "You put the flat screen on the wall and the room feels bigger," he said. "The only furniture you have is a dresser, and it looks nicer." Mr. Born said he was installing flat screen televisions in the Pickwick Arms Hotel on East 51st Street, between Second and Third Avenues in Manhattan; the hotel is undergoing renovation. It is a minimalist "pod hotel" with small rooms, some with bunk beds, aimed mainly at young travelers on tight budgets. Rooms with bunk beds will have televisions for each bed that flip out from the wall, with earphones, so that the occupants can watch different programs in peace. He said he was considering installing a check-in kiosk at the Pickwick that would largely eliminate the front-desk function. A guest arriving at the hotel would insert a credit card, register electronically and receive a key card from the machine to gain access to the room." I wonder if these proposed kiosks and, in fact, the current flat screen TVs are accessible. Maybe Mr. Dandapani at Apple Core needs a call asking about access issues on his TVs and kiosks? You can call call 1-800-567-7720(toll-free) or +1-212-790-2710. I have been told that this reservations number can also connect with corporate headquarters so I will call and ask tomorrow. Hope you will too! This reminds me of the recent elevator article in AccessWorld talking about touch pad elevators. If we don't get in on the ground floor, they'll get ahead of us, just like ATMs. There is still a shocking lack of ATMs that are accessible here in Maine. posting from Emma's Family Farm Windsor Maine; Steve Hoad VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html