a question about deaf/hoh people with secondary disabilities

I just got to say on the whole CP and other stuff. I am a direct service provider (care taker), and we still run into the stupid problems with people who are in the 'industry'. It's annoying, most people assume so much stupid stuff about people with any kind of disablity. Like "They must be nice people" (which I can say is total bull, I've met some real jerks), and "they must not drink or do other stuff like that". Which is also total bull. One of my clients loves to go out to strip clubs and drink his weight.

Oh and one more thing. I'm sick and of people telling me I'm doing a good thing because I do my job and work with disabled people! If I'm really doing such a good thing, vote for tax increases and more money to social programs so I can get a pay raise!
 
GraysonPeddie said:
Bear in mind that not all websites (like WCTV - HomePage -- WCTV is a television station broadcasting news) are accessable -- meaning the website failed a validation with 247 errors and a there are a lot of errors in CSS (cascading style sheet).
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Oh I know that.

However before I went online I used to feel very isolated. I don't feel like this any more and I'm so much better informed then I used to be. Who cares about those unaccessable sites. As long as I can access things I want to with Zoomtext (and maybe one day with a braille display if I ever need one) then that is good enough for me.

I think that more effort should be made to encourage and help deafblind people go online.
 
If I had the intelligence of a former classmate along with his financial resources, instead going to Bible school - Id be finding a way to help deafblind people lead productive fulfilling lives.

I agree that when you lose your hearing you begin to feel isolated in the hearing world. When it starts slipping you start realizing just how dependent you really are on your hearing for certain situations.

My speech is good and if I really wanted to I could probably 'hide' my deafness but truth is it eventually 'comes out' sooner or later because I make a fool of myself or I am having a very difficult time communicating with someone.
 
Dixie said:
If I had the intelligence . . instead going to Bible school . . .
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Sorry for cutting this, Dixie, but this is my dilemma, too. Can I ask where you went to Bible school? I attended North Central Bible College, Northwest College of the Assemblies of God and Seattle Bible College. I also attended Northwestern College and had a falling out there. I have yet to see a "Christian" college to be respectful and helpful to someone who not only can speak very clearly, but also has a significant hearing loss at the same time. If they're out there, I'd be hard pressed to find one.
 
pek, its not just Bible colleges that are crappy about providing services. Its also regular colleges as well! The gross majority of colleges out there really have no idear how to serve us.......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
dreama said:
Who cares about those unaccessable sites. As long as I can access things I want to with Zoomtext (and maybe one day with a braille display if I ever need one) then that is good enough for me.
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dreama, I hope you never lose your sight (or your hearing) to the point where you need to rely on a Braille display. As someone who uses a Braille display for computer access, let me tell you that inaccessible websites are a royal pain in the you-know-where. :pissed: :rl: :rl:

I agree that more resources need to go into helping more deafblind people get online because many of them can't afford computers.

At the same time, it's equally imperative that web designers are expected to keep their sites accessible. With an ever increasing use of graphical content, screen reader and especially Braille display users are rapidly falling behind the 8-ball so to speak because of the everyday graphical advances that are being made to computer technology.

Screen reader and Braille display users will *always* be 2-3 years behind the mainstream market due to the scripting that is necessary for any of the major screen readers to work with commercial programs.

If we don't advocate for accessible websites, severely visually impaired (those who can't use large print software), blind and deafblind people will lose. They will be unable to access the Net and eventually lose their ability to read the latest headlines, medical journals, TV listings, etc. etc. Totally deafblind people who exclusively rely on Braille will suffer the most because Internet access is the only means they have for keeping up with news headlines and communicating with others.

We can't neglect website accessibility. If we do, we will slowly lose the Internet access many of us have come to enjoy since the mid 90's.
 
kimeran said:
On a lighter side - when I was a kid, dad used to tease me with his artificial eyes...Dad used to hide his older, smaller eyes in places like my lego and my bed to make me squeal! hahaha.... :giggle: hence, I can talk about it in a very natural way and don't feel uncomfortable about it. Thanks dad :ty:
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LOL!

When I used to attend our state camp for the blind as a child, one of my friends had artificial eyes and did the same thing to me. One day she came up to me, asked me to put out my hand and placed both of her eyes in my hand. :eek3: I squealed and almost dropped them not knowing what they were until she told me. :giggle: I don't think I'll ever forget that day -- it was certainly one to remember! :lol:
 
Well i have several issues on my life, and DISABLITY is not an issue i'm taking the DIS out of the DISABLITY, i'm legally blind in my right eye and i still have my left eye, VERY recently have lost part of my left foot due to trauma, and currently am wearing a brace for it so in a sense i'm not letting these stop me from doing what i want to do that's educating the Deaf community! :)

one community = one love :)
 
Having cp and deaf is very common here in the USA. I have cp and Im hard of hearing. Im just lucky that mine is not bad and allow me to be indepence. I can do alot for myself. yeah I am in a wheelchair but still do alot for myself. Thanks God

Lisa
 
pek1 said:
Sorry for cutting this, Dixie, but this is my dilemma, too. Can I ask where you went to Bible school? I attended North Central Bible College, Northwest College of the Assemblies of God and Seattle Bible College. I also attended Northwestern College and had a falling out there. I have yet to see a "Christian" college to be respectful and helpful to someone who not only can speak very clearly, but also has a significant hearing loss at the same time. If they're out there, I'd be hard pressed to find one.
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EEK!! wait wait hold on - you misread me and misquoted me.

A former classmate of mine has an IQ that can easily get him in Mensa (club for geeks), and during his undergraduate years at AR Tech Univ he was a buisness and finance major with the prospect of one day running his dads buisness. Well when he was a senior - he married a woman who is quite religious and actually this same woman used to be my best friend until we had our own falling out. Right after he graduated from ATU - he got it in his head that he was being led by god to be a minister. So he and his wife packed his bags and moved to Dallas where he got his graduate degree in Theology and ministry, then after he graduates there he decides to enter in the to Doctoral of Theology program which is another 4 years of hardcore Bible thumping and dissecting. Whats going to happen is this - he's going to be a Theological Doctorate with an emphasis on ministry - he's gonna be preachin' at the big churches. Not bad but he's going to have to start at the smaller backwoods churches before he can get his foot planted at larger ministries. Plus there is always the possibility he could become a Professor of Theology as well. This kid is unbelieveably intelligent with an odd sense of humor.
 
Hear Again said:
dreama, I hope you never lose your sight (or your hearing) to the point where you need to rely on a Braille display. As someone who uses a Braille display for computer access, let me tell you that inaccessible websites are a royal pain in the you-know-where. :pissed: :rl: :rl:

I agree that more resources need to go into helping more deafblind people get online because many of them can't afford computers.

At the same time, it's equally imperative that web designers are expected to keep their sites accessible. With an ever increasing use of graphical content, screen reader and especially Braille display users are rapidly falling behind the 8-ball so to speak because of the everyday graphical advances that are being made to computer technology.

Screen reader and Braille display users will *always* be 2-3 years behind the mainstream market due to the scripting that is necessary for any of the major screen readers to work with commercial programs.

If we don't advocate for accessible websites, severely visually impaired (those who can't use large print software), blind and deafblind people will lose. They will be unable to access the Net and eventually lose their ability to read the latest headlines, medical journals, TV listings, etc. etc. Totally deafblind people who exclusively rely on Braille will suffer the most because Internet access is the only means they have for keeping up with news headlines and communicating with others.

We can't neglect website accessibility. If we do, we will slowly lose the Internet access many of us have come to enjoy since the mid 90's.
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Oh I totally agree. I can't read graphic print with Zoomtext so all sites that use graphic print are out of bounds to me. However there are still some sites that are accessable that use standard print. I hope that they don't go graphic. A while back PDF files were also innaccessable but thanks to Aleser who posts here I can now get them turned into txt files which is a great help.

Visual verification is the biggest pain. I have to ask my dad to do it for me. Usually I don't bother though.


I also hope I don't need to use a braille display because they are very expensive and training is practically non existant. I did have one before but was never shown how to use it. I don't have useful hearing so speech is already out of the question for me.
 
dreama,

I don't know how to convert PDF files to txt, so thanks for mentioning that. I think I'll send Aleser a PM to ask how that's done. :)
 
Thats a surprise to me - PDF files cannot be read as text, but rather as a graphic? Thats almost a step backward - plus those files often take to damn long to load even on a DSL connection.
 
Dixie said:
Thats a surprise to me - PDF files cannot be read as text, but rather as a graphic? Thats almost a step backward - plus those files often take to damn long to load even on a DSL connection.
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Yes...Since PDF files are graphically based, they cannot be recognized by screen readers. The only way a blind or visually impaired computer user can read a PDF document is to use Acrobat Reader.

...and you're right about how long those files take to download. I'm on a dial-up connection and it takes forever. :(
 
I have always thought PDFs were pretty useless really. I work in a law firm and we use them alot, as the PDFs can't be altered (so I believe). We do alot by email and need to scan things in that can't be altered by other people.

But I still don't like it. They don't always work. They crash your computer - the files are ENORMOUS and just generally they tick me off. They are a nuisance! :rl:
 
kimeran said:
I have always thought PDFs were pretty useless really. I work in a law firm and we use them alot, as the PDFs can't be altered (so I believe). We do alot by email and need to scan things in that can't be altered by other people.

But I still don't like it. They don't always work. They crash your computer - the files are ENORMOUS and just generally they tick me off. They are a nuisance! :rl:
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They sure are...and if you search for documents on Google, you'll notice that more and more of them are in PDF format. :pissed:
 
but thing is how do you regulate the internet? Its international - not every country has ADA laws they have to follow so there for the internet is international and a free-for-all type thing.

But I agree PDFs are Pure Document Fuck-up. :giggle:
 
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