Category: Accessible experts

Coming soon: A world of perspective from the global blind community. The World Blind Herald.

Published September 12, 2022 by L. Legendary

Chris Hofstader has been a fixture in the blind community for decades. While the bulk of his career was spent as an executive Vice President at Freedom Scientific, now known as Vispero, he is probably most well-known for his writing. His web site, “Blind Confidential,” offered candid, and anonymous, commentary on assistive technology products, service agencies and organizations, and legislation relevant to the blind community. His unique, journalistic writing style, often biting, sometimes intellectual, and almost always controversial, won him a devoted readership.

Chris briefly attended Harvard University as an English major, and graduated from NYU with a degree in computer science. He is well traveled, well read, and has an abiding love of music, art, and baseball. He also has a new project underway, a venture that will enable Chris to share his skills and interest, while providing a platform for others to do the same.

On January 4th, 2023, a new digital publication, the World Blind Herald, will make its debut. As editor-in-chief, Chris plans to curate, create, and collaborate with other writers to publish a weekly digest of content relevant to a global blind community. Topics include sports and science, travel and technology, fashion and lifestyle, employment news, accessibility issues, and medical breakthroughs, just to name a few. Many of the articles will be published in a digest format, with links back to the original content. A global network of contributors will provide featured articles, and share their own experiences as a blind person living in a sighted society. The mission of World Blind Herald is to inform and entertain readers by publishing articles on a wide array of topics regarding blindness and blind people from the entire English speaking world.

“Our fundamental values are that the community of blind people is not homogeneous and that different blind people have different values, dreams and aspirations,” says Hofstader. “We intend to show this spectrum in all of its brilliant colors.”

You can visit the web site, WorldBlindHerald.com here, and subscribe to receive pre-launch versions of the digest, as the countdown to launch begins. Follow World Blind Herald @BlindHerald on Twitter, and look for a Facebook page, coming soon.

My role will be that of marketing and promotion, so I’ll be the one behind many of the social media posts and front-facing communications. I’ll also occasionally contribute articles in the fashion and lifestyle category, and edit those that are submitted by guest authors.

If you’d like to contribute articles for publication in World Blind Herald, contact Chris at chris.hofstader@gmail.com or find the contact form on the World Blind Herald website.

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Am I your next new hire?

Published February 13, 2021 by L. Legendary

Okay, readers, fans, and friends, this is one of those times when I must tap my network. I’m counting on you to spread the word. I need your help.

In case you have just stumbled upon this blog, and have no idea who I am, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Laura. I am many things, chief among them, a speaker, author, advocate, and business owner. I live near Las Vegas, Nevada.

I’m writing this post in an effort to raise my visibility for a new vocational pursuit. I am already known for my company, Elegant Insights, an enterprise now in its tenth year. I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished through thick and thin over the past decade, and I plan to continue the effort. However, it’s time to take on additional challenges to keep my skills sharp and continue to grow professionally. Ten years is a long time to be focused on one thing. It’s time I reach out to my huge network to explore what else is out there.

I cannot say with conviction what I’m looking for. Here’s my resume in two sentences: For the past ten years, I’ve been running my own business. For the prior ten years, I ran my own business. Unpacking all that two decades of self-employment have encompassed would make my CV a long read.

Here’s how I think I could provide value to any organization: My strengths are heavily weighted to the soft skills. I am highly organized, thorough, meticulous, and professional. As they used to say on old-school job applications, I have excellent oral and written communication skills. I am an articulate, polished speaker and a great sales person. I can sell anything. I have hosted large, multi-day events and have worked as an educator and mentor.

Are you looking for a product advocate? A company spokes person? An outreach coordinator? A community manager? A trainer? An event organizer? These are the types of jobs for which I am well suited. I believe in servant leadership and I am laser-focused on customer service.

I have enjoyed an extensive history of volunteering, so I will not take on any more of that type of work. Nor am I looking for something full time, necessarily. I’m flexible. I intend to continue to run Elegant Insights, but working two jobs is not a problem. Pandemic life has left me feeling as though my business presence has shrunk to the point of near invisibility, and I need to augment my skills and rejoin the professional world.

If you are already familiar with my body of work, and you think I would make a valuable and meaningful contribution to your enterprise, then let’s chat. If you believe one of your colleagues or contacts could make good use of my skills, then please refer me. If, at last, our world is on the way to reopening, I want to be in on the action.

Thank you in advance for helping to spread the word, and I’m open to suggestions as to how to further my efforts. Yes, I can hit up a job board, but I’m rolling the dice on a more personal connection. Taking chances is what we do here in Las Vegas, anyway, right?

You can contact me here.

Let the networking begin!

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New book club for blind women entrepreneurs…yeah, both of you

Published January 19, 2019 by L. Legendary

Sorry…Couldn’t help myself with the title of the post. I’m not sure how many blind women entrepreneurs there are out there, but for a few of you I’m thinking of, this book club might be for you.

After tweeting out a link to a list of business books that discuss contemporary business thought and strategies, I was contacted by Erin Edgar (@erinedgar), who suggested we start a book club. Erin thought it would be fun to invite other women who are blind, and who are either entrepreneurs or who are interested in launching a start-up. This seemed like a great idea to me, since all six of the books in the list I tweeted out went right onto my wish list queue. How fun to have others with whom to share ideas and entrepreneurship trials and tribulations.

If this sounds fun to you, please join us! In addition to the list I shared, I have read a ton of business books over the years, and it would be interesting to compare notes as to what others have read as well. I mean, if you haven’t read “Purple Cow,” or “Who Moved My Cheese,” then you just don’t know how to party. If you are interested in joining us, please contact me @Accessible_Info or Erin @erinedgar on Twitter.

Laura – LL

PS: Please share this!

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Everything you need to know about ABLE Accounts: A must-hear show on ACB Radio

Published January 30, 2018 by L. Legendary

On Thursday, February 1st at 8 PM Eastern time, 5 PM Pacific, you’ll be able to catch the first Legendary Insights radio show of 2018. The program has been airing on ACB Radio for just short of two years, and as the show host, I work hard to post informative programs and offer relevant topics, as sometimes suggested by my listeners. For this next show, I’m launching a short series of programs on financial literacy.

Before you stop and think, “why would this interest me? I have no money to be literate about,” hang on for a minute. You’ll want to hear this show.

Like many of you, I noted with mild interest the announcement a couple of years ago about a new savings/investment vehicle for people with disabilities called an “Able Account.” I then proceeded to ignore it completely, figuring I either did not qualify, or that this info would not apply to me for whatever reason. I must also admit that the name alone made me cringe. However, ignoring the information about these Able Accounts was a mistake. You might want to take a closer look as well. Here’s why:

My guest on Legendary Insights this week is Jonathan Simeone. Jonathan graduated from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been licensed to practice law in Massachusetts since 2005. Professionally, he has worked in politics and disability law. And he knows a great deal about Able Accounts.

After talking with Jonathan, I realized I needed to learn more about how having an Able Account can benefit people who are disabled, and I’m now convinced this program will benefit just about anyone who qualifies. To qualify, you need only to have been considered disabled prior to age 26. However, you are not required to show proof of your disability to sign up.

I encourage everyone who has a disability, or who has a child with a disability, to listen to the show. Jonathan and I chatted for so long, I wasn’t able to fit all the great content into one half-hour show, so I will post the second half the first Thursday in April. the basic info with the most relevant details are all packed into the first episode, but Jonathan and I went into greater depth in the second show, which may answer additional questions you may have about your particular circumstances. I feel so strongly about the benefits of Able Accounts after learning from Jonathan that I will make part two of the Legendary Insights Able Accounts audio available for anyone who wants more information right away. After the first episode airs, I will place the unedited, raw audio of part two in my public DropBox folder, and post the link for anyone who wants it. After all, this is really news you can use, and if you are still unsure about the program after listening to the first show, you will likely want the info presented in part two immediately. I don’t want anyone to pass up an opportunity to get all the details you need to make a decision. Since the next episode of Legendary Insights will not post until the first Thursday in April, it would be too easy to forget about it altogether. Now is the time to get your financial house in order. It’ doesn’t’ matter how much money you have, or how little, and based upon what I’ve learned, Able Accounts may be the best chance to get ahead financially for people with disabilities I’ve heard of.

Whether you are on SSI, SNAP, Medicaid, or SSDI, or are partially or fully employed,, you need to hear these programs. Please go to ACB Radio at:

acbradio.org/mainstream/
and tune in to Legendary Insights Thursday night at 8:00 o’clock PM Eastern time. Then, let me know if you want to hear the rest of the audio in advance of the next program, and I’ll send you the link to part two. Missed the first show? Don’t worry. ACB Radio repeats the programs multiple times throughout the days following the original airing, so you will have more than one opportunity to hear the show. Additionally, the show is eventually pushed out as a podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes. Just do a search for Legendary Insights, and catch up on any of the shows you’ve missed.

Check back here in a week or so, and look for that DropBox link. You can also hit me up directly at either @LLOnAir or @Accessible_Info on Twitter.

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Legendary Insights radio program to feature Hartgen Consultancy

Published October 6, 2016 by L. Legendary

Considering all the time I spend marketing and promoting my various projects on social media, it would pain me to think you are unaware of my radio program on ACB Radio Mainstream, called Legendary Insights. However, if my outreach has fallen short, then I encourage you to tune in this evening to see what it’s all about.

A few months ago, I was invited to create and host a program on ACB Radio, an Internet radio station sponsored by the American Council of the Blind, ACB. The station has a number of channels, each emphasizing a different aspect of ACB business, blindness issues and legislation, access technology, and general information. The channel on which you can hear Legendary Insights is called Mainstream.

Legendary Insights is still something of a work in progress. I’m not entirely sure I’ve found my voice yet, so to speak, and I’m still not sure where I want to take the program. I’ve been given a wide latitude to flex my creative muscles, and so far, I haven’t felt as though I’ve been particularly creative. Yet, there is a theme to the show, based upon one of my favorite quotes.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, whether here on my blog or on social media, then you know that I have a love of language. I enjoy the written word, thoughts beautifully expressed, and timeless words of wisdom. As to that last, I particularly love quotes, and I used one of my favorites as the basis for the radio program. As mentioned in prior posts, it’s attributed to a poet and playwright by the name of Neil Marcus, who said, in part: “Disability is not a ‘brave struggle,’ or ‘courage in the face of adversity.’ Disability is an art…It’s an ingenious way to live.”

Since I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, the theme of Legendary Insights is “live your ingenious life.” Every other month, on even-numbered months, you can hear me share ways in which we can all live our best, most ingenious life. Whether that is by way of new ideas, new tips or tools, new products, or interviews with experts you may never have heard before, I hope I can help my listeners to enjoy a greater quality of life.

Tonight’s episode features Brian Hartgen of Hartgen Consultancy. Brian will share details of some of his most popular assistive technology products, such as J-Say, J-Dictate, and Leasey. Brian will also talk about his love of music and radio, and share his thoughts about helping others to live their own ingenious lives.

Tune in tonight at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific time on www.acbradio.org/mainstream/ to hear the show. You can also listen on the fantastic ACB Link iOS app, available in the Apple App Store.

As I mentioned above, the show airs every other month, so the next episode will drop the first Thursday in December. I’m thinking about sharing some ideas for holiday home decorating, and if you have any favorite holiday tips or recipes, family traditions or creative party ideas, feel free to send me an email at laura@acbradio.org.

You can find me live tweeting during the programs on @LLOnAir and use the hashtag #LLonAir when tweeting about the program. Don’t worry if you miss an episode. The program is also available as a podcast onn iTunes.

So, don’t forget to tune in tonight. Also, there’s lots to explore on the Hartgen Consultancy web site, so go here to check it out:

www.hartgen.org/

Follow Brian on Twitter: @brianhartgen
Thanks for reading…and for listening!

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Freshen up your playlist with a new podcast on digital accessibility

Published January 29, 2016 by L. Legendary

The world of podcasting has undergone a couple of boom-and-bust cycles, thanks to changes in technology and the ways in which we consume information. Remember Juice? Now, with most of us using smartphones and “iThings” to either consume or create content, and watch or listen to that content anywhere, it seems that podcasting is enjoying a resurgence.

If you love listening to podcasts, then you probably fall into one of two camps. One is the information overload camp, where you subscribe to so many podcasts that you cannot possibly listen to them all, and you find yourself culling through the ones that have downloaded and taken up space on your device, madly deleting or quickly skimming through that which you missed, in an effort to catch up and make more storage space available. Or, perhaps you fall into the second camp, where you have become bored by the rehash of similar content across a particular category, and the mind-numbing chit-chat of the hosts, who seem to enjoy listening to the sound of their own voice more than imparting useful information. Either way, you are about to become a happy podcast camper, thanks to a new offering called Digital Accessibility Made Simple.

Digital Accessibility Made Simple with Lyndon Dunbar is a weekly podcast dedicated to digital accessibility. The goal is to bridge the gap between technology and digital accessibility so that persons with disabilities can engage in fulfilling work and lead a life of independence with confidence. The podcast will be co-hosted by Desiree Reed, a writer and speaking coach. The DAMS podcast will be posted on Mondays, with each new episode featuring tips on digital accessibility, or a featured guest. For example, episode 2 is entitled, “Getting Started with Digital Accessibility,” and episode 4 will offer “Three Simple Tips to an Accessible Website.” The first guest will be yours truly, appearing on episode 3, called “Small Business Accessibility with Laura Legendary,” set to post the third week of February. The DAMS podcast will cover multiple platforms, so unlike other podcasts on the subject, you can expect to hear timely and relevant content pertaining to a variety of devices and operating systems.

Digital Accessibility Made Simple will launch on Monday, February 1st, 2016, and you can listen via the link below.

www.lyndondunbar.com/podcast

About Lyndon Dunbar:
Lyndon Dunbar is the CEO at Dunbar Accessibility Group, LLC which provides digital accessibility services to technology companies in order to ensure their websites, mobile apps and documents are accessible to all people with disabilities. Lyndon is also the co-host and creator of the Digital Accessibility Made Simple Podcast with his co-host Desiree Reed. In 2014, Lyndon received his master’s degree in assistive technology from California State University, Northridge. Lyndon also regularly attends and presents at the annual CSUN Conference in San Diego, CA. You can contact Lyndon either by phone at 678-775-8234 or by email at lyndon@lyndondunbar.com

About Desiree Reed:
Desiree is the owner and founder of 5 Seconds to Impress LLC, a copywriting and ghostwriting agency. Desiree is also the co-host of the Digital Accessibility Made Simple Podcast. She works with professional speakers, coaches, consultants, and small business owners by using words to help them get visible, provide value, and get paid. She’s strong where many entrepreneurs are weak. Her unique relationship with words enables her to clearly communicate the message and brand that many business owners struggle to express. You can contact Desiree either by phone at 678-201-1027 or by email at desiree@5secondstoimpress.com

Social Media Info:
Lyndon on Twitter: Lyndon Dunbar (@LyndonDunbar)

Be sure to tune in on February 1st.

LL
Author’s note: The launch date for the DAMS podcast has been updated to Monday, February 8th, 2016.

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New audio channel makes fashion accessible for people with disabilities

Published September 19, 2014 by L. Legendary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Laura Legendary
Co-founder, Fashionability
USA: (509) 264-2588
l.legendary@elegantinsightsjewelry.com
Emily Davison
Co-founder, Fashionability
UK: (+44) 7541858610
UK: (020) 85164981
fashioneyesta@gmail.com

New audio channel makes fashion accessible for people with disabilities

September 19, 2014 – In a partnership dedicated to making information about fashion accessible to people who have disabilities, Emily Davison and Laura Legendary have created Fashionability, a social media franchise consisting of an audio channel on the Audioboo platform, a Facebook group and page, a Twitter account, and a blog and RSS feed. Davison, blogger on the Fashioneyesta.com blog based in the UK, and Legendary, designer and owner of Elegant Insights Braille Creations, based in the US, joined forces in a very stylish collaboration to create an audio guide to accessible style.

The Fashionability channel aims to cover many aspects of fashion and beauty, jewelry and accessories, health and fitness, to provide tips and education, as well as to raise awareness about representation of people with disabilities in the media. “I have been campaigning with a team of dedicated individuals with the organization Models of Diversity to target fashion brands to add models with disabilities to their advertising campaigns.” Says Davison. “there is the fundamental fact that people with disabilities are not equally represented in the fashion advertising industry. This immediately creates problems for people with disabilities as it shows society that disability is not considered to be relevant to fashion and thus all these unfair stereotypes occur.”

Content on the Fashionability channel will also be provided by guest contributors, people with disabilities who are subject matter experts in a variety of fashion-related topics. One such contributor is the organization Living Paintings, www.livingpaintings.org, based in the UK.

The Fashionability channel is set to launch on September 19, 2014, and will be available via RSS feed and in the Lifestyles category on Audioboo, www.audioboo.fm. Plans are also in the works for text transcripts of the audio programming, which will be made available on the Fashionability blog. “The Fashionability brand will focus on accessibility and inclusion,” says Legendary. “When most people think of fashion, or more broadly, style, they may think of it only in terms of a visual medium. The lack of accessible information suggests that people with disabilities are somehow less interested in looking and feeling their best. I hope that, with the help of Emily and our contributors, we can create a resource inclusive of all walks of life, all ages, all socio-economic strata, all body types and all abilities. I want to provide sensible, approachable, fashion and style information that is within reach…of everyone.” For more information, send email to fashionabilitychannel@gmail.com. Visit the Fashionability Channel at www.audioboo.fm/channel/fashionability

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About Emily Davison: Emily Davison is a UK based writer, disability campaigner, and journalist who currently writes about fashion on her blog fashioneyesta.com which she founded in July 2012-a blog created to enable people with sight loss to access fashion and cosmetics.

About Laura Legendary: Laura Legendary is a speaker, author, and educator, specializing in disability awareness, advocacy, accessibility, and assistive technology. She is also the owner and designer of Elegant Insights Braille Creations, a distinctive collection of jewelry and accessories, made in the USA, and embossed in Braille. Visit www.elegantinsightsjewelry.com. To read Laura’s blog, go to Accessible Insights Blog at www.accessibleinsights.info/blog.

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A collaboration spanning two continents: An interview with the fashionable Emily Davison

Published September 12, 2014 by L. Legendary

After posting the news about my newest venture, the Fashionability Channel, on which I am collaborating with Emily Davison of Fashioneyesta.com, I thought I would tell you a bit more about her. I asked Emily to answer some questions about her current work and her background in the fashion industry. Emily, in turn, will post an interview with me on her own blog, the link to which I will add at the end of this post. If you think you, or someone you know, might be interested in the content offered on the Fashionability Channel, please read on so as to get to know my partner a bit better. She is smart, funny, full of life and a strong advocate for people with disabilities.

LL: Please share a bit about your current projects, and what you spend the most time working on.

Emily: I have been involved in many different projects, many of which are related to fashion and cosmetics for people with sight loss.

Some are still currently in preparation and therefore I cannot say too much about them. But, I am doing a lot of work around campaigning for braille on cosmetics products and have worked closely with one particular company who will be launching braille on their products in the future.

I have been working very closely alongside the charity Living Paintings, a charity that produces tactile, audio guides on different aspects of the visual world. From fashion, science, nature, art to cookery they are all included. The fashion guide is what I have predominantly been working on and have been advising the charity on how to best explain fashion concepts to visually impaired people.

I have also been campaigning with a team of dedicated individuals with the organization Models of Diversity to target fashion brands to add models with disabilities to their advertising campaigns.

I am an avid writer and spend a lot of time writing blogs and articles around fashion, identity and disability. I cross network with other websites and blogs and am passionate about changing stereotypes surrounding disability.

LL: How was Fashioneyesta born? What was your inspiration, and what are you most proud of?

Emily: Fashioneyesta was born from a concept to make fashion and beauty more accessible for people with sight loss. One day when going about my business I encountered my first ever comment of someone remarking that I ‘didn’t look blind.” So, this got me thinking about creating a space that I could spread ideas, positivity and hopefully break down this stereotype that surrounds not just sight loss but disability in general. I didn’t want people with sight loss to be considered as being unfashionable, nor did I want people with visual impairments to not have access to information and ideas about how they can develop their own sense of style.

Fashioneyesta has grown in the last two years and I am extremely proud of how far it has come. It has enabled me to meet so many wonderful inspirational people, charities and fashion professionals. On a regular basis I get people emailing me to tell me how it has helped them to develop their own sense of style and in turn their confidence. But, I suppose my biggest achievement that it has helped me accomplish is that this year I am due to be featured in Pick Me Up Magazine here in the UK and I have also been shortlisted for the Young Persons Achievers Award by Guide Dogs UK.

LL Tell me a bit about your background and interest in fashion. How did you get into the business?

Emily: Fashion was always something that I had a deep passion for, I grew up in a very fashion orientated household. My mother worked for a cosmetics company, my aunt worked on the stage in her younger years and my nan is an avid buyer of clothes, cosmetics and jewelry. My early memories are of my mum when I would see her curling her hair and adorning makeup for work. Fashion was something I grew up with. By the time I was 15 I was writing fashion articles for my school magazine. When I was 18 I had obtained a scholarship to study English Literature and my passion for writing intertwined with my flare for fashion and so I started my blog and the rest is history.

LL: How would you describe your personal sense of style?

Emily: I would describe it as both classic and adventurous, my style is essentially feminine but with different twists depending on my mood. One day I may choose to go down the 1950s route with a full circle skirt, but updated with a statement necklace and brightly colored sweater. On another day I may choose to opt for something a little more oriental, wearing a kimono and jeans. My style embraces classic cuts and styles like the 60s dress, but incorporates aspects of modernity into them.

LL What do you hope to achieve with the new project, Fashionability?

Emily: So much, I really want to use Fashionability as a place to spread positivity and ideas throughout the disability community in engaging fashion. I want to create a space that opens up a whole new world to people and is a place of inclusion. I want this space to be something that causes change in the fashion industry and convinces brands that disability is not something to be considered as external to fashion.

I want to use all of my knowledge, contacts and resources to make this a project that gives all people with varying disabilities the confidence to use fashion to create their own sense of style and with it there own identity. That is the crux of it I suppose, style gives people their own unique identity and that is what I want people to have and not to be characterized by what society believes them to be.

LL: What do you see as problematic for men and women who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise disabled in fashion? What do you think are the most significant barriers, if any?

Emily: I think there are barriers that people with sight loss and other disabilities have to overcome. To begin with there is the fundamental fact that people with disabilities are not equally represented in the fashion advertising industry. This immediately creates problems for people with disabilities as it shows society that disability is not considered to be relevant to fashion and thus all these unfair stereotypes occur.

There are others surrounding accessibility and whether a shop or online store are made accessible to their visually impaired and disabled clientele. Many companies in the cosmetics industry do not incorporate braille onto their products which causes further inconvenience to visually impaired people when trying to access products. What’s more I also thing that in general companies need to provide better disability awareness training and need to provide further resources such as braille, audio and large print catalogues to their visually impaired customers to make it easier for visually impaired people to access fashion.

LL: What are the ongoing plans for Fashionability? How do you hope to reach an audience?

Emily: Fashionability is currently being planned and organized by Laura Legendary and myself. We are currently working on content, schedules, ideas and ways of interacting with our audience. We hope to engage with our target audience by promoting what we do via social media sights such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs. What’s more, I hope to use all of my media contacts and charity contacts to spread the word about what we are doing. I want to cross link with disability charities such as Scope, as well as working with organization’s such as Models of Diversity to promote what we are doing.

What’s more, I hope to feature Fashionability on media publications and websites that I have or am currently partnered with. In particular I aim to showcase the channel on the Royal National institute for the Blinds Insight Radio. Which is a UK based radio station created by the Royal National Institute for the Blind for people with sight loss. It is the first channel in Europe to be dedicated to people with sight loss and covers a range of topics from lifestyle, technology, music and health.

LL: What else would you like my readers to know about you?

Emily: Aside from fashion and literature, what many people don’t know is that I am an avid astronomer and was the first visually impaired person to qualify with a GCSE (General Certification of Education) in Astronomy from the Greenwich Royal Observatory in the UK. I also do a lot of volunteer work for Guide Dogs UK and am very keen to help charities. I am also a journalist having written for the Guardian and Huffington Post and I am also an avid disability campaigner.

I am a real animal lover and an advocate of animal rights, I am against Animal Testing for cosmetics and regularly advocate this on my blog. I am a huge fan of companies such as Lush who promote the welfare of small charities and make wonderful fair trade, cruelty free beauty products. I am a self acclaimed spend thrift and I enjoy treating myself after lots of hard work.

My thesis on life as a Classical Liberalist is to allow people to experiment with their life and unless they are hurting anyone else, to allow them to make their own choices free from control. I am a strong believer in the power of autonomy and free will and one of my pet peeves is when people try to convince others to their way of thinking. One thing I will never do on my blog is to try and persuade people to my way of thinking about style. I give them advice on different looks and how to recreate their own. But, I love creativity and that is something that fashioneyesta.com thrives on.

I hope to finish my degree in English Literature and move on to study for a Master’s degree in children’s literature. After that my goal is to write children’s books and to continue writing about fashion, style and cosmetics for people with disabilities. The one thing I want to do in life is to make others happy and to give people the chance to feel the same way I do. Many people forget that happiness is something they have to right to feel and I want to remind people of that.

Here are Emily’s social links:
Blog: fashioneyesta.com
Email: fashioneyesta@gmail.com
Twitter: @DavisonEm
Skype: fashioneyesta
Instagram: fashioneyesta2012
Audioboo: ?audioboo.fm/fashioneyestaInstagram: ?instagram.com/fashioneyesta2012
Facebook Page: ?www.facebook.com/Fashioneyesta
Facebook group: ?m.facebook.com/groups/5494521…eBayStore: ?myworld.ebay.co.uk/emilykd94?_…
Pinterest: ?pinterest.com/emilykd94/Tumblr: ?davisonem.tumblr.com
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/fashioneyesta
Second YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-t0TXzskGxFvNlzPT1DaA
Tumblur: davisonem.tumblr.com
Emily appears on RNIB’s Insight radio at 2.15 pm every Friday.

Please join us for the launch of our new project, the Fashionability channel! I’ll post the official press release in a few days.

If you would like to read Emily’s interview of me, you can find it here:

is.gd/nb5Su7

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The CVAA Advanced Communications Implementation Best Practices to be presented at CSUN 2014

Published March 13, 2014 by L. Legendary

During the week of the CSUN Conference on Disability and Assistive Technology held from March 17 – 22, 2014, Pratik Patel will be very busy indeed. he will be presenting information on a number of topics that will surely elevate his visibility throughout the week, as well as ensure the edification of all who attend his sessions. Patel’s speaking lineup offers something for just about anyone, as he is fluent and knowledgeable in a number of industry topic areas.

When Pratik agreed to an interview with me, I had no idea that I would find one of his presentation topics so compelling that I plied him with questions for over an hour. He was gracious and forthcoming, and shared a great deal as to developments in an area of communication that directly affects those of us in the blind community. Since this post is merely a promotional piece which can only provide the briefest of overviews in an effort to garner interest in his session, I must say that I cannot do our interview justice. Here, I will focus on our conversation regarding his presentation entitled, “CVAA Advanced Communications.” I encourage you to attend this session, and if time does not permit all of your questions can be answered, contact mr. Patel via the details at the end of this post. I’m certain you will find the subject matter as interesting as I did.

Patel began the interview by explaining that his goal was to set out best practices for implementing accessibility in telecommunications with users in mind. On October 8, 2010, President Obama signed a comprehensive law enabling people with disabilities to access communications of all forms including televisions, DVRs, telephones and other forms of communications. Two of the requirements of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), require that manufacturers of devices, cable and television service providers, and other telecommunication firms make changes to their services, programs, and devices to ensure that people with disabilities will have full access.

Patel says, “Now that the CVAA is in effect, and many of the parts of the CVAA are being implemented, little by little, we need to talk about what the best practices are so that these features are implemented in such a way as to keep all users in mind.”

I asked Patel to give me an example of accessibility features that were implemented without users in mind, as I found this assertion to be confusing at first. he explained that the way television and other content is distributed now, the major carriers are intermediaries, and there are a number of factors that can be barriers to users with disabilities.

“The mechanism for delivering video description became very complicated with different televisions and digital technology,” comments Patel. “For example, televisions requiring that a user navigate menus and turn on certain features, or DVR and set-top boxes that can be inaccessible, because these devices may have their own menuing system, where a person once was able to press a button on their remote control to get access to descriptive services. The original way to deliver description was to use the Secondary Audio Channel (SAP) functionality.”

I was frankly incredulous that accessibility had been an afterthought to such a degree, and Patel assured me that it was. “One of the things I want to do is not only to suggest guidelines, but to highlight manufacturers who are doing it right.” Says Patel.

He plans to outline ways in which manufacturers can standardize access to descriptive services, not only in general principle, but in specific technical terms. Additionally, Patel will reveal how you can be a part of the process. He plans a call to action that I know many will find compelling. Attend his session to learn more.

Go to the CSUN sessions page to indicate your interest in “CVAA advanced communications,” and be sure to save yourself a seat. www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2014/sessions/index.php/public/presentations/view/393

Patel is also planning to co-present with Sina Bahram (@SinaBahram) on API comparisons between iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Check it out here:
www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2014/sessions/index.php/public/presentations/view/394

He will again partner with Sina Bahram, along with Billy Gregory (@thebillygregory), and Sarah Outwater (@SassyOutwater) to present:
Crowd sourcing the accessibility problem:
www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2014/sessions/index.php/public/presentations/view/383

More about Pratik Patel:
Mr. Pratik Patel is the Founder and CEO of EZFire, a firm dedicated to bringing new enterprise, mobile and individualized solutions to a rapidly-changing technological landscape. Since the company’s founding in 2006, Mr. Patel has worked with such clients as Columbia University, Boston University, Amtrak and The Major League Baseball to develop innovative technology solutions as well as develop policies and procedures to provide accessible technology solutions for millions of consumers with disabilities. Focusing on consulting work such as accessible, usable website, equipment interface design for the commercial sector, and usability to variety of interfaces, integration of accessibility into information technology in the higher education sector, as well as nonprofit management and development, Mr. Patel has led his company to a success. In 2014, Mr. Patel stands ready to introduce several new projects that will allow him to use his experience and expertise on interface design as his passion for knowledge and learning.

Over the last few years, Mr. Patel has served as the Executive Director of Society for Disability Studies, a nonprofit that promotes increased use of disability studies in academic and in general life. Since 2006, MR. Patel has also focused on variety of projects to ensure access to vital technologies for students with disabilities at the City University of New York. Through this work, Mr. Patel’s primary focus has been policies and procedures to improve university-wide responses to information technology access.

Until 2006, Mr. Patel served as the Director of the Assistive Technology Services Project for the City University of New York. His seven years of work with the Project enabled Mr. Patel to successfully develop and deploy assistive technology solutions for faculty, students and staff at CUNY. Through his work, the CUNY Assistive Technology Services Project was named as one of the top 100 best practices in the nation. Mr. Patel’s collaborative work with the City University’s centers that promote excellence led to a four-year PeopleTech Project by the U.S. Department of Education to bring access technologies into CUNY’s classrooms and allow the university to conduct vital research on providing access to science and mathematics material for students with sensory disabilities.

Mr. Patel has served as the East Coast Vice President for the Access Technologists in Higher Education Network (ATHEN), a professional group dedicated to ensuring IT access throughout America’s colleges and universities. Mr. Patel also serves on the New York state Governor’s advisory Council to the Department of Education to implement the requirements of the higher education e-text legislation. In that capacity, Mr. Patel has worked closely with institutions of higher learning and top publishers of classroom material to ensure access to curricular material for students with disabilities. Serving on the New York State Independent Living Council as well as on the board of Directors of the Queens Independent Living Center, Mr. Patel has focused on the use of technology among people with disabilities. Serving as the chair person for the Information Access Committee as well as the Advocacy Services Committee for the American Council of the Blind, Mr. Patel has focused on information access and advocacy needs for blind Americans. As the President of American Council of the blind of New York, Mr. Patel works on a variety of nonprofit development and advocacy issues facing blind New York residents.

Pratik Patel’s contact info:

Telephone: 888-320-2921
Email: ppatel@ezfire.net (or pratikp1@gmail.com)
Follow on Twitter: @ppatel
Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/pratik-patel/9/985/882
Skype: Patel.pratik

Be sure to head to the main CSUN sessions page to make your session choices, and don’t forget to use hashtag #CSUN14 when tweeting about the event.

See you soon.

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Two must-attend CSUN COD sessions presented by Lainey Feingold

Published March 10, 2014 by L. Legendary

This year at the CSUN 2014 Conference on Disability, some of the people presenting educational sessions will be busier than others. Lainey Feingold will be among the busier ones, as she is giving more than one talk at the CSUN Conference. Lainey does some incredible advocacy work on behalf of people with disabilities, and I encourage you to attend both of her sessions. This award-winning legal eagle will be offering key information on a couple of important topics.

First, Lainey will be co presenting with her colleague, Linda Dardarian. The session is her Annual Legal Update on Digital Accessibility. To indicate your interest in this session, and to get location information, go to the CSUN COD page:
www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2014/sessions/index.php/public/presentations/view/119

Lainey described her sessions this way: “The legal update session will be an overview of everything that’s happening with digital accessibility law suits, settlements, regulations and laws. The focus will be on the U.S., but we’ll touch briefly on other countries. We will present the legal issues in a straight-forward way designed for non-lawyers. The session is for anyone who cares about digital access and usability for everyone regardless of disability and is curious about the role of the law in making tech and information more accessible.”

The second session (Friday morning at 8:00) is called Structured Negotiations: the Book! Lainey says, “this session is conceived as a give and take. Structured Negotiations is a collaborative process that aims for a win-win solution to information and tech access issues. It can be used to resolve other issues as well.”

“I’m in the middle of writing a book about the process and the advocates who have made the work possible.” Says Feingold. “I’ve negotiated, along with Linda, close to 50 agreements using this method without filing a single lawsuit. In the session I want to share what I’ve learned about the process, it’s potential for other issues, and what I’m learning in writing the book.”

Feingold continues, “Most of all I hope to hear from the audience their experiences with the issues we’ve worked on. Those issues include Talking ATMs, web and mobile access with MLB, Bank of America, Weight Watchers, and many other companies, accessible pedestrian signals, tactile point of sale issues, video description in movie theaters, and more.”

Go to the Structured Negotiations: the Book! (page on the CSUN site: www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2014/sessions/index.php/public/presentations/view/343

Lainey was kind enough to take time from her busy schedule to answer a few of my questions about her presentations. After reading more about her, I concluded that the disability community couldn’t ask for a better advocate. After you finish reading, I’m sure you’ll agree.

LL: Who is the target audience for your presentation?
For the “Legal Update” session, anyone working on technology and information accessibility. Advocates need to understand how the law can help convince entities of the importance of access. Champions inside even the largest corporation need the legal developments at their finger tips. There are legal digital accessibility developments this year across a wide spectrum of issues — education, travel, retail, voting, news consumption, employment, government, and more. Our goal is to demystify the legal issues and focus on the civil rights foundation — the right of people with disabilities to access information and technology so they can fully participate in all aspects of society.

For “Structured Negotiations,” the Book session: The target audience is anyone interested in resolving access problems collaboratively. For anyone who would like to know how the blind community was able to get some of the largest companies in the United States to the negotiating table and end up with positive national results. Also, anyone who would like to share their experience with any of the issues we’ve worked on is especially welcomed to come. (A list of all the settlements is here: lflegal.com/negotiations )

LL: What do you hope your audience takes away from your talk?
In the Legal Update session, a way to talk about the law in human terms. A way to use the law not to frighten people into compliance, but to make people understand why we have laws protecting access to digital information. People will also get an understanding of different legal strategies being used to improve digital accessibility and how to use the law most effectively.

In the Structured Negotiations session, an understanding of a different way to use the law without filing lawsuits. An understanding of how the blind community has used Structured Negotiations over the past twenty years and what the results have been, and how the method could be used for other disability civil rights issues, and other issues generally.

LL: What has been your motivation to continue your work as an advocate?
I am motivated by the ongoing need for a digital world that is available to everyone regardless of disability. The feeling that if we don’t do this work now, today, we will miss the opportunity to create the digital environment as it should be: open and available to everyone. There are many, many people who share this vision and are working hard to make it a reality. I am lucky that as a lawyer I can have a role to play and I am motivated by the work being done by everyone else in their roles. I’m motivated by the blind people who have trusted me with their legal claims and who teach me every day about what true access and usability means. I’m motivated by the amazing flood of friendship and community that the accessibility world constantly brings me. I’m motivated by everyone’s generosity in helping me and teaching me about issues that I need to do the lawyer part effectively.

LL: What are your long-term goals for your firm, and for advocating for people who are blind or otherwise disabled?
Short and long term, I hope to finish my book, find a publisher, and spread the stories of blind advocates and how they used structured negotiations to make information and technology more accessible. I hope to be able to mentor younger lawyers who want to practice law in a more collaborative way and have a commitment to disability justice. I would like to find audiences outside of the accessibility world to “spread the gospel” of accessibility. I would like to keep doing the work I’m doing, but I also have a fierce desire for the world to be so accessible that there will be no business for lawyers like me!

LL: Some of my readers may already know you won the California Lawyer of the Year award. Where can we learn more about it?
Linda and I won this together. The post about it is here: lflegal.com/2014/02/clay-award/

More about Lainey Feingold:
Lainey Feingold is a disability rights lawyer who has worked with the blind and visually impaired community on technology and information access issues for the past twenty years. She is nationally recognized for negotiating landmark accessibility agreements and for pioneering the collaborative advocacy and dispute resolution method known as Structured Negotiations. Along with her colleague Linda Dardarian she has negotiating digital accessibility agreements with entities as diverse as Major League Baseball, Bank of America, the American Cancer Society and Safeway Grocery Delivery. A full list of her settlements is available at http:lflegal.com/negotiations

To contact Lainey Feingold:
Email: LF@LFLegal.com
website: lflegal.com
Twitter: @LFLegal
Phone: 510.548.5062

About Linda Dardarian:
Linda is a partner in the Oakland California civil rights firm of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian and Ho. gbdhlegal.com. Linda does the structured negotiations work with me and others, and also litigates disability rights cases, including the CNN captioning case which is one of the biggest development in digital accessibility law this year. Her email is LDardarian@gbdhlegal.com

Head to the CSUN conference main sessions page to read more about these two must-attend sessions at the 29th annual CSUN International Conference on Disability. Don’t forget to use hashtag #CSUN14 when tweeting about the event.

See you there.

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