i think you are exaggerating the nfb position.  what concerns me is that
eventually people may think that audio description is required before a
blind person can enjoy a movie.  this reminds me of the fixed route method
of cane travel long taught and still much favored in this state.  i recall
being taught that i was not to ask a question of a sighted person on the
street unless absolutely necessary.  this was a different notion of
"independence" than i have now.  of course, i was not expected to go to
unfamiliar places, but only on the routes i had learned.  the point is
that we as blind people need to learn as many alternative techniques as
possible, including simple asking, in order to function as efficiently as
possible.  flexibility is key.  this is true in traveling, in employment
and at the movie theater.  i will always remember the first blind person i
knew who frequently traveled to unfamiliar places.  i couldn't wait to ask
him how he did it, and he simply said i ask people what i need to now.
seemed so simple, but it was the opposite of what had been drilled in to
me and countless other students.  cathy close


On Tue, 7 Jul 1998, Kelly Ford wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I'm by no means against the serendipitous accessibility that happens all
> the time.  The point of things like audio description is that you don't
> have to rely on serendipity to enjoy a movie.
>
> Peter, what do you think your attitude would have been had you not been
> able to get any descriptions.  Would the movie have been as enjoyable?
> What if you knew you could go to any movie any time and would be guaranteed
> of the description being there?
>
> The NFB attitude seems to be that serendipity and learning to ask are good
> enough.  Well you know what sometimes there's not someone around to ask
> about a movie or maybe you'd like to talk about something else other than
> the descriptions.
>