{"id":1832,"date":"2013-06-04T13:45:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T17:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2013-06-04T13:46:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T17:46:20","slug":"globally-accessible-books-6413","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=1832","title":{"rendered":"Globally Accessible Books, 6\/4\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP<\/em><\/p>\n

The World Intellectual Property Organization is considering a treaty which will make books more accessible to the blind.\u00a0 We think this is great news and would like to show our support for the treaty by signing a petition at whitehouse.gov:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/petitions.whitehouse.gov\/petition\/side-blind-over-obstructionist-companies-secure-treaty-blind-makes-books-accessible-globally\/ZJtgcVph<\/a><\/p>\n

The below is an excerpt from the website which gives a much more eloquent description than I can properly render.<\/p>\n

“We petition the Obama administration to:<\/p>\n

Side with the blind over obstructionist companies to secure a Treaty for the Blind that makes books accessible globally.<\/p>\n

Less than 1% of printed works globally are accessible to the blind. This is because laws around the world bar printed material from being turned into formats useable by the blind and visually impaired, or for such material to be shared across borders.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why 186 countries will soon convene in Morocco to finalize a Treaty that would empower the world\u2019s nearly 300 million blind citizens with the same rights to read, learn, and earn that the sighted enjoy. However, huge and powerful corporations \u2013 many wholly unaffected by the proposed Treaty \u2013 are working to fatally weaken it or block its adoption.<\/p>\n

Ask the President to compel US negotiators to fight for a strong Treaty that gives blind people equal access to books and doesn’t burden those who want to provide them. Please sign today!”<\/p>\n

\u00a0BUT…<\/h2>\n

Did you sign the petition?\u00a0 Great, easy, mere moments\u2014unless you are using a screen reader like Jaws for Windows.\u00a0 The White House requires a registration process which depends on a visual captcha process.\u00a0 That\u2019s the technical name for the little box where you type the fuzzy words in the box to prove you are a human user and not some sort of automated system.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, a petition for blind people is basically inaccessible. It\u2019s true there is a process for an audio version of the captcha to be played to you.\u00a0 I tried this 3 times.\u00a0 The words, if they are words, are so scrambled as to be incomprehensible.\u00a0 What is to be done?<\/p>\n

It turns out there is a plug-in for the Firefox web browser called WebVisum which can solve captchas.\u00a0 It worked flawlessly for this site.\u00a0 That\u2019s great if you have a particular computer, running Windows and Firefox.\u00a0 For Mac owners there is a more complicated solution.\u00a0 If you want to solve a captcha using a tablet or some other device, you are out of luck.<\/p>\n

In response, the National Federation of the Blind has started an alternate petition – https:\/\/nfb.org\/civicrm\/petition\/sign?sid=2&reset=1.<\/a> Not \u00a0surprisingly, their setup is accessible and much less complicated.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope they get enough support on both petitions for this important issue.<\/p>\n

<\/div>