AirPodzzzz

 #HearingLoss #ReasonableAccommodations #NDEAM

Ugh. RantWoman has been struggling with hearing loss for a while. Boring details. One ear hears A LOT better than another. Paying attention to LOTS of Medicare news, RantWoman needs to get herself to a hearing test ASAP before benefits change at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, RantWoman is trying out LOTS of measures that actually help.

RantWoman's work takes her to lots of environments where part of the work is listening to people across big rooms. Sometimes there are movable mics but they can be unreliable. Sometimes people are soft-spoken or don't hold the mics well. RantWoman really does not have it in her to bellow PLEASE USE THE MIC or PLEASE EAT THE MIC as often as the gesture would be helpful. But onward!

One success point: last year for some of these sessions, the person doing CART transcription brought a tablet and helped RantWoman make the font large enough that she could read along as speakers spoke. This helped A LOT. It was visually tiring and a little bit got in the way of paying attention to body language, but it helped a LOT. For subsequent sessions, RantWoman also brought her own laptop and just relied on the captions link.

When RantWoman is in video conference calls, she now turns captioning on whenever she can. RantWoman realizes she really needs to nudge one organization about this topic. On this organization's calls the norm is definitely not to turn on cameras, but RantWoman needs to make the point that some people have enough vision to read captions. One of these days RantWoman will comment separately about both improvements in transcription quality and sometimes really funny transcription errors.

Next we come to Air Pods! Last summer RantWoman and a friend were sitting in an Amtrak station attempting to have a conversation. Friend at one point asked "I have an extra pair of Air Pods. Would you like them?" RantWoman tried them while they were paired to friend's phone. YES! They made a difference. But train stations are not great places for sustained interactions with technology directions. Progress got as basic help from a couple Google searches but not far enough for pairing success. 

Air pods Round 2

A quiet place. An annual autumn jaunt east of the mountains to a weekend retreat. A lot of people who go to bed earlier than RantWoman. Some fussing with directions. Pairing SUCCESS! Figure out the Android Sound amplification function. Grab a few YouTube videos through the Wifi without disturbing the Early to Bed crowd. Head into a small group discussion the next day. Phone on table. Airpods in ears. Figure out to use the Phone audio, not the Media audio. MUCH more energy for interacting with the content of the conversation!

The only quirk: RantWoman had to take the Air pod out of her good ear when she talked so she did not have to listen to herself twice,

Last week RantWoman had two more rounds of small group discussion in big room full of several small group discussions. One of these exercises came with a small portable Karaoke machine and a mic. SO COOL for the small group. Not so great for small group report back without a mic for soft spoken people across the room.

One small twitch: RantWoman is the sort of flake who might like gloves on strings through coat sleeves just like little kids get. Airpod size is VERY cool, but RantWoman frets about an Air pod falling out of her ear and getting lost in papers or on the floor. For now RantWoman will COPE. RantWoman will grumble but will cope, at least long enough to get a real evaluation.

USDoL ODEP celebrates 25 years of the National Disability Employment Awareness Month Friday October 16

#NDEAM #ODEP 

On Friday October 16 at 2pm ET, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is celebrating #NDEAM with a webinar covering ODEP's 25-year history and celebrating the record high number of employed individuals with disabilities. Register here:

NDEAM 2026: Celebrating Value & Talent — A Milestone Conversation registration - WebEx Enterprise Site

RantWoman also offers a couple technology related asides:

--Thinking of universal need for accessibility, RantWoman celebrates the evolution of accessibility for all the major video conferencing platforms: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and in particular WebEx, the platform used for this webinar.

RantWoman remembers a time when the WebEx brand sent much smarter blind people thant rantWoman just around the bend because of accessibility issues. RantWoman mentioned this when a major governmental buyer was considering adopting WebEx. RantWoman does not know whether her comments helped the governmental buyer include accessibility as a REQUIREMENT in their decision-making but RantWoman appreciates progress. There are still a few things RantWoman has not figured out in keyboard only mode. Maybe before the webinar RantWoman will check online for help. Maybe. Or maybe RantWoman will just wing it as she has been able to do so far.

--Put the word dongle into the search bar. RantWoman thinks of the almost unreadable dongles she dealt with as campus tech support during grad school every time she gets a code accessible to her on her phone or email. The short version: accessibility is a bridge people keep building.

White Cane Awareness Day Zoom event Thursday October 15 (TODAY) at 7 pm pacific

#WeekWithoutDriving #NDEAM

 White Cane Safety Day or White Cane Awareness Day is observed annually on October 15th in the United States, to celebrate the independence, rights, and dignity of people who are blind or have low vision.  It is observed by reminding people to obey traffic laws and etiquette and to recognize the importance and value of using a white cane for people who cannot see well.    Please join us on October 15 at 7 pm Pacific Time, and invite others to this conversation.

Topic: White Cane Awareness Day
Time:  7 pm PT on Oct 15, 2026

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85883167956?pwd=Jc9jnOtH0fsLbYtaksuW3aaqWV8ayr.1

Or call
253-205-0468

Meeting ID: 858 8316 7956
Passcode: 679288

And as a reminder for people looking for an in-person event in Seattle Saturday October 17

Adventures of RantWoman: White Cane Awareness Day October 17. Register Now!

MAGA Congressman tries to shield Uber from 3000 pending SA civil lawsuits

 This post is about a PROPOSED amendment sitting in a house committee.

Aside from shielding Uber retroactively from lawsuits with NO demand for improvements in risk management, the amendment also tries to assert federal supremacy over stricter state regulations.

Over 100 DEMOCRATIC female lawmakers have demanded this amendment be removed.

Stunningly silent. #GOP women although it would be just fine if a lot of men of both parties decide this proposal is ridiculous.

WTBBL to re-open to the Public June 22, 2026!

The WA Talking Book and Braille wtbbl.org will reopen to the public on Monday June 22, 2026!

 

Anyone with a print, physical, or reading disability can now call the WTBBL main number and a staff member will fill out an application for service, and they will be instantly certified for all services by the person taking the application. It is not necessary to have a doctor or someone else sign off for you any more. This seriously lowers the barriers to access to Braille and digital talking books. The National Library Service is working on an online form to simplify this process as well.

 

In other news: There are 40 episodes available in their Literary Notes podcast, and transcripts are being added.

Due to the Marrakesh treaty, people from many other countries are downloading Washington produced books, and we now have access to tens of thousands of books recorded by other services from all over the world.

The assistive technology specialist at the library Dusty will be on leave till sometime in August, but many resources are available to fill that gap.

700 books are currently in production in the audio department, and over 200 in the Braile department.

If you have digital players and aren’t using them, please return them  to the library so that others may enjoy them.

And state librarian Sarah Jones is retiring. She will continue as a volunteer to advocate with the legislature for stable state funding for our library system.

Friends of WTBBL and the All Foundation are fud raising sources for the library if people want to get more involved.

For more information on any of these topics, call WTBBL: (206) 615-0400

Will World Cup games be available through OneCourt?

#WorldCup2026 #CopaMundial

RantWoman's personal experience with team sports: in public school, RantWoman REALLY liked volleyball, as long as all she had to do was serve. Quaintly, teams rotate positions and RantWoman's visual experience--double-vision, lousy depth perception, general lack of coordination got in the way of fielding. This personal ineptitude has also mostly translated to general lack of interest in team sports.

In particular RantWoman is NOT a giant fan of stadium sports. For one thing, a lot of the time RantWoman can neither visually track what is on the field nor follow narration provided by announcers. 

(yes, yes. Some games have audio description or really good broadcast narration. RantWoman still is not charmed enough about the social aspects of team sports to manage to follow very much.

RantWoman may have to reconsider this conceptual allergy, thanks to OneCourt

 What is OneCourt you ask?

OneCourt is the world's first tactile way to experience sports events. RantWoman first encountered OneCourt at a demo a local blindness group chapter meeting. That day, RantWoman decided her hands were too full of pizza sauce and the line of people wanting to try it was too long. RantWoman just listened.

RantWoman still has not quite tracked the technology that allows the product to track players and render their moves in a way that blind or low vision people can enjoy.  OneCourt exists at some sport venues. OneCourt devices are or soon will be availabe for individual purchase. RantWoman is probably not interested for herself either in attending World Cup games or in buying a device. But RantWoman is definitely intrigued enough to tell other people about it and to ask whether any World Cup games will have a OneCourt stream?

But, but, do blind people really do photography? Sure. Now take me to the volcanoes

Which details
are not in the Alt text and / or
should just be cropped

 

Still a few days left to enter the IcelandAir "Really bad photographer" contest, and RantWoman is trying to demonstrate unique skills.

RantWoman again encourages everyone who might be intrigued or even just slightly interested to read the contest guidelines.

Really bad photographer | Icelandair US

But, but RantWoman keeps talking about vision loss and accessibility mixed in with bad photography commentary.

Yep. Plenty of visually impaired and blind people are very interested in photography, both as a craft and as something essential for documenting  realities of daily life that Need To Be Dealt with. Lots of people in the blindness community get very good at describing our wildly varying visual experiences. Readers who need some RantWoman perspective, please consider checking out the Death By Powerpoint topics.

But, But this adventure sounds like it might involve a lot of outdoor activity and Ambassador Thwack the Badly Behaved White Cane and Anger management consultant has a thing or two to say.

Thwack may have a thing or two to say but RantWoman is in charge. Would RantWoman pursue some sighted guide options? Will RantWoman rely on AI or call-in services? RantWoman will be interested to know what is available in Iceland. Plus, RantWoman wonders how much choice a person will have about where to visit....

RantWoman, do you actually know anyone in Iceland?

RantWoman does not know anyone in Iceland but does know a very wise accessibility hero originally from Iceland. RantWoman met this person a long time ago at the sort of mentoring event where people with different life timeliness and blindness experiences get together to network, share perspectives.

These days, RantWoman encounters this person from Iceland on the internet. He turns up in online demos of people using screen readers, text to speech tools that enable blind users to navigate around the Internet, or at least to do so better than without screen readers. One reality of screen reader use is the playback speed of the speech. RantWoman tends to fall asleep when listening too long to normal speed screen reader speech and runs her own screen reader quiite a bit faster. However, many blind people working in tech or finance can be found on the internet demonstrating screen reader speeds a lot faster than RantWoman.

Please note: a screen reader is not the only thing necessary for online accessibility: websites, apps, portals all need to be developed with some standard features to ensure that screen reader users can find and operate the same functions as other users, some of whom might have other accessibility concerns. The people and organizations who do this right are truly accessibility heroes.

The real reason RantWoman considers this acquaintance a hero: RantWoman's most recent Google search turned up a LinkedIn profile showing a job at a large financial services organization and lots of  connections to other names widely recognized in the online accessibility world. These are the people who not only persist in their work in their own organizations but also insure that organizational websites work for the likes of RantWoman who just wants things to work so she can do other things sighted people take for granted, in this case including managing whatever earnings there will be for 10 days of work after one figures out what all expenses to take on to make the trip a success.

And for fun some erupting volcano videos for different perspective than the pacific coast subduction zone

25 million M3 of Magma on Hold by Grindavik - Earthquakes in South Iceland

Iceland Magma Is Primed, But When Will It Erupt? Geologist Analysis

Iceland Is On Fire

Iceland: Fourth and strongest volcanic eruption in three months | DW News

AFB Study: Exploring the Use of AI by people with and without disabilities

 

AI Impacts Everyone: Tell Us How You Use It Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live, work, and connect. But is it working for everyone? The American Foundation for the Blind is conducting a study on how people interact with AI. We want to hear from adults with and without disabilities, whether you are an experienced user or not. Your input will help us better understand how AI is being used across different communities. To ensure the depth and accuracy of our findings, we are actively seeking responses from individuals without disabilities. We continue to welcome participation from people with disabilities as an essential part of this research. Who can participate: Adults age 18 and older People with or without disabilities What to expect: Complete a short screening form If you qualify, you’ll receive a survey link within 24 hours The online survey takes 10 to 45 minutes, depending on your AI use You’ll have a chance to win one of twenty $50 gift cards We invite you to share whether you’ve used AI, how you use it, your opinions about it, and any challenges you’ve encountered. To begin, go to: www.afb.org/AISurvey.  Questions? Email: asilverman@afb.org. The survey will close on September 30, 2025. If you have already completed this survey, please disregard this email. Thank you for your participation!

Register Now for DSB Spring Town Hall May 20 6:30-8:00 pm on Zoom

 DSB Spring Town Hall Meeting A virtual event to provide agency updates and answer  community questions. 

The Department of Services  

for the Blind (DSB)  

announces the Spring Virtual  

Town Hall is scheduled for  

Tuesday, May 20, 2025,  

6:30 – 8:00 p.m. 

DSB Town Halls are held  

virtually to allow input from  

citizens across the State of  

Washington and offer the opportunity for members of the public to  hear directly from the agency, ask questions and raise concerns,  and share what’s important to them.  

DSB will provide brief updates on:  

• Current State of the Agency 

• Community Input/Perspective on VR Services 

• Streamlining VR Services to Increase Rehab 

Outcomes 

The remainder of the event is dedicated to taking questions and  comments from the audience members. 

Everyone is welcome to log into this virtual town hall! This event  is free, but participants need to register in advance. Zoom  meeting invitations will be provided to registered individuals a  week prior to the meeting.  

Closed captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided. For  additional assistance with accommodation, please contact  Yvonne.Verbraak@dsb.wa.gov. 

Washington State Department of Services for the Blind 

www.dsb.wa.gov ● info@dsb.wa.gov ● 800-552-7103

Barbie's 65th year with shameless fundraising from from the American Foundation For the Blind

 Reprinted as is from a fundraising email. AFB is always a worthy cause.

Have you heard about the latest Barbie? It’s the first blind Barbie Fashionista doll! It ranked as the #1 selling doll on Amazon and among the hottest news releases of the week. From The New York Times to People, Barbie is prompting people to talk about blindness and low vision. In its first 24 hours, the blind Barbie had over 2 billion media impressions.

AFB’s team of experts has advised Mattel at every step. From Barbie's white cane to the braille on the box, we aimed to make this launch an inspiration to blind and low-vision children. The result is an authentic representative product that has already begun a conversation about what it means to be blind. With your support, we can turn our vision into reality. Through initiatives like the Blind Barbie, we aim to break down barriers and promote understanding and inclusion in society. Your contributions play a crucial role in making these initiatives possible.

This is already among our milestone achievements, including work on the first audiobooks and a uniform braille code to be adopted worldwide. The consistent factor throughout it all has been the power of the AFB community. We’re working hard every day to continue this legacy of innovation and inclusion. You can help us change the national narrative about blindness—and so much more. Please donate today. P.S. Our 2024 Leadership Conference (AFBLC) will be held in Minneapolis, MN, this Sept 23-25! This is a pivotal platform where we bring together our corporate partners, advocacy groups, government representatives, and the blind and low-vision community to share information that propels our mission forward. Explore our exciting conference agenda and register for AFBLC to join us in leading the way for an inclusive future.

Shameless reprint: New Barbies! Representation!

 

Barbie® Introduces the First Blind Barbie Fashionista Doll and Black Barbie Fashionista Doll with Down Syndrome, Allowing Even More Children to Tell Stories Through Play

Released as part of this year’s global Barbie Fashionistas lineup, Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind and National Down Syndrome Society to ensure doll designs accurately reflect the community they are designed to represent EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 23rd, 2024 – Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) announced today the addition of a blind Barbie doll and a Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome, created to allow even more children to find a doll that represents them and inspire all children to tell more stories through play.  “We recognize that Barbie is much more than just a doll; she represents self-expression and can create a sense of belonging," said Krista Berger, Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls. “We proudly introduce a new blind Barbie doll and Black doll with Down syndrome to our Barbie Fashionistas line, reinforcing our commitment to creating products that represent global belonging and inclusivity in the doll aisle.” Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), an organization dedicated to creating a world of endless possibilities for individuals with blindness and low vision, to ensure details of the blind Barbie doll, including face sculpt, fashion, accessories, packaging experience, and e-commerce communication, accurately depict individuals with blindness or low vision. Counseled by AFB, Barbie was committed to represent individuals with blindness and low vision throughout all stages of the design process, from the doll’s sculpt to the dress pattern:

Accessories: The doll comes with a white and red cane with an identifiable marshmallow tip and includes stylish and functional sunglasses. With some blind or low-vision individuals sensitive to light, the lens provides additional eye protection. Elbow Articulations: The blind Barbie doll includes elbow articulations to ensure comfortable cane use. Textured and Vibrant Fabrics: Barbie conducted testing with blind and low-vision children to ensure that the doll provided an accessible and satisfying play experience for kids with blindness or low vision. With AFB’s guidance, Barbie designed the doll’s fashion to include a satiny pink blouse with a textured ruffle skirt for tactile interest. Additional details include a brightly colored high-contrast hook and loop fasteners for closure on the back of the doll’s top, as well as an elastic skirt waistband to make swapping outfits easier. Packaging and Design: Barbie worked with AFB to create accessible packaging for the doll, including the placement and writing of ‘Barbie’ in braille on the package. Eye Gaze: The doll is designed with an eye gaze facing slightly up and out to accurately reflect the sometimes-distinct eye gaze of a blind individual.

"It was an honor to collaborate with Barbie on the development of the blind Barbie doll,” said Eric Bridges, CEO and President, American Foundation for the Blind. “By increasing representation and promoting awareness about the experiences of blind individuals and those with low vision, our shared goal is to inspire boundless opportunities for everyone, ultimately leading to a world of greater accessibility and inclusion." In 2023 Barbie introduced the first-ever Barbie doll with Down syndrome, which won the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year award presented by the Toy Association. This year, Barbie once again partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) to introduce its next doll with Down syndrome to the Barbie Fashionistas 2024 lineup. Throughout all stages of the design process, Barbie and NDSS worked together to ensure the Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome accurately reflected and resonated with members of the Down syndrome community. NDSS connected Barbie with a focus group of Black individuals from the Down syndrome community, including a young Black woman with Down syndrome, to review the doll’s sculpt, hair, fashion and glasses:

Sculpt: Barbie collaborated with the NDSS to accurately represent physical characteristics of people with Down syndrome including a shorter frame, longer torso and low muscle tone. Additionally, the doll’s palms include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome. Special care was put into the face sculpt, featuring a rounder shape, smaller ears, and a flat nasal bridge. The eyes are slightly slanted in an almond shape while white dots can be seen in the iris. Hair: The doll has a braided hair texture which was one of the key features asked from the Black Down syndrome community. Fashion: Symbols are incorporated throughout the doll’s outfit, and the blue and yellow color palette represents Down syndrome awareness. The three arrows in some of the hearts on the dress, represent the third 21st chromosome that individuals with Down syndrome have. Glasses: The doll also wears pink eyeglasses, representing individuals with Down syndrome who often experience difficulties with their vision.

"NDSS is thrilled to introduce a second Barbie doll with Down syndrome. Having this doll launched alongside the new Barbie doll with Blindness marks another important step in expanding representation for the disability community,” said Kandi Pickard, President and CEO, NDSS. “We are proud to partner with Barbie as they grow to reflect our diverse and beautiful world." “We are delighted to introduce these dolls in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind and National Down Syndrome Society to further our mission for every young girl to feel represented and celebrated through Barbie.” Berger continued. Doll play has proven to help develop empathy and social processing skills among children, fueling social skills needed to excel in their futures as they imagine they can be anything. As the brand's most diverse doll line, the Barbie Fashionistas series offers more than 175+ looks in a variety of skin tones, eye colors, hair colors and textures, body types, disabilities and fashions. This includes dolls with vitiligo, dolls that use a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb, a doll with hearing aids and a doll without hair. The 2024 Fashionistas dolls aim to advance Barbie’s continued goal of reflecting a multi-dimensional view of beauty and fashion, allowing more children to see their world reflected through play. The 2024 Fashionistas dolls, including the blind Barbie doll and Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome, are available online now and in store this Summer at major retailers for $10.99.

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