Seattle Blindness Cafe 2013

RantWoman recently received the following link to an invitation to volunteer for / participate in Seattle Blind Cafe 2013:


http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/evg/3993416997.html

Hint: it's a Craigslist ad. If you are interested in volunteering GO FOR IT; if you come upon this after the event, do not expect this ad to be current.

Instead or in addition, please check out the Main Seattle Blind Cafe page
http://theblindcafe.com/national-federation-of-the-blind-seattle/



Now some trademark RantWoman quibbles and querulousness:
1. As of this writing, the main page does not live up to RantWoman standards of accessibility! One of RantWoman's preferred standards of accessibility is that headings be populated with text. One way RantWoman decides how to deal with a new site is to do a Headings List with her screen reader and then prioritize her attention for whatever section of the screen seems most on point. On this site, RantWoman gets two headings with text and about 8 in the midddle which only show the heading level but have no text. RantWoman thinks from reading the whole page, that form of headings is probably NOT what was intended. Word! RantWoman used other approaches and THINKS she got the available info off the page, but sometimes RantWoman turns out to be wrong about such things. Word.

2. RantWoman THINKS she understands the point of a dining experience in total darkness. If the room is dark, people cannot cheat very easily. Well, do they get asked to put away their digital devices? Some people will not test skills of blindness unless forced to. Everyone is on the same footing, well sort of except for instance all the people with unacknowledged hearing loss who suddenly find themselves unable to lipread.

However, only a small percentage of blind people are totally blind. People see different degrees of light, color, shape. Some people are functionally blind for example because of eyes that are hyperreactive to light or a neurological problem called nystagmus. Others see fog, blur, floaters, double vision for both neurological and eyeglasses reasons. RantWoman is often acutely aware that she is in a room full of people all living on very different visual planets. If RantWoman were putting together a tasteful spell of blindness tourism, she would be happy to issue diners ALL SORTS of temporary visual disabilities and then ask them to agree in small groups on lighting conditions that might serve everyone without causing anyone extruciating pain.

Perhaps it is a blessing that RantWoman is not playing tour guide for this event.

But Volunteer.

Enjoy.

Tell your friends.