Harvesting Capabilities

The Board Meeting Minutes for January 2009 have been posted to Handicapable’s website.

The first American coin with readable Braille characters will be a silver dollar commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, creator of the alphabet for people with visual impairments. The new design was recently unveiled by the National Federation of the Blind and the United States Mint.

The front of the coin shows the word “Liberty” above an image of Louis Braille. The back features the Braille code for the word Braille, Brl, which is inscribed above a description of a boy reading a Braille book.

Although other coins distributed by the Mint can be distinguished by size and weight, the silver dollar will be the first coin to have Braille characters. The new coin will be available in spring of 2009.

A free web-based service, www.readthewords.com, can transfer words into audio clips for people who have difficulty reading printed materials. Upon visiting the site, an audio recording provides instructions for using the site.

Users have a variety of options for inserting text to be converted to audio, including cutting and pasting content or uploading a file. There a number of files formats that can be read, such as: Word, PDF and HTML or RSS feeds. There are a number of readers to choose from, and the service can also read in Spanish and French.

To hear the audio clip, users have multiple options, including downloading the file to an MP3player, listening to the audio online, turning the audio into a podcast and more. You can also post your reading into your website or blog.

It’s a 100% free service and quite cool! Check it out!

I just read some information on the Indiana Governor’s Council for Disabilities website that others might find beneficial.

If you have a disability and are experiencing difficulties with paying your utilities, here are some viable options and contacts for you:

Energy Assistance is provided through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.  The Energy Assistance Program provides financial assistance to low-income households to maintain utility services during the winter heating season. The program is implemented through the Community Action Agencies with outreach offices in every county in Indiana.  hese agencies provide intake, application processing and utility vendor payments. 

Energy Assistance Income Guidelines: The income qualifications for the EAP programs are 150% of the federal poverty level. For example, a family of four making less than $31,800 would qualify, as well as an individual with an income of $15,600 or less. The average benefit is around $250 per year, and is paid in a lump sum directly to the applicant’s utility company.

A monumental lawsuit between Northwest Airlines and five Detroit-area airline travelers with physical disabilities has brought attention to a crucial question: How does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect air travelers with disabilities?

As the law is currently written, aircraft are excluded from the definition of “specified public transportation.” Past court cases have interpreted this to also mean that airport terminals are excluded from ADA coverage. However, in this most recent case, U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh said in a 13-page opinion that this interpretation is “inconsistent with the plain meaning of the statute.”

The Detroit-area residents filed suit against Northwest Airlines and Wayne County Airport Authority in Detroit (which was recently dropped as a defendant), claiming that the airline and airport failed to provide proper accommodations in a number of areas. Among several complaints, the plaintiffs said Northwest failed to provide boarding assistance in some cases, dropped passengers to the floor when assisting them improperly and damaged wheelchairs in the airline’s possession during flight.

Because aircraft are excluded from ADA coverage, airlines have been held to the standards of the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in air travel and requires air carriers to accommodate the needs of passengers with disabilities.

However, individuals are not allowed to file private claims under this law and must depend on the federal government for enforcement. Northwest argued the case should be dismissed because the ADA does not apply to airlines, and the ACAA does not allow individuals to file
private claims.

Judge Steeh dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims under the ACAA, but ruled the ADA does apply to airport terminals and thus the case may continue. He said that although aircraft are covered by the ACAA, airports are covered by the ADA, which includes terminals operated by the airlines,
such as Northwest Airline’s terminal at the Detroit airport. Therefore, Northwest’s terminal — and all airline terminals — must meet ADA guidelines. “This interpretation is consistent with Congress’ intent to limit the ACAA’s reach to aircraft and the ADA’s reach to public spaces, such as terminals. In fact, to conclude otherwise would leave the door open for acts of discrimination that could not be remedied,” Judge Steeh said in his opinion.

In the ADA language, “public accommodation” is defined to include entities affecting commerce such as “a terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation.” And according to Judge Steeh, the Northwest Airlinesterminal at the Detroit airport is considered a public accommodation, as it’s used for “bus, rail and other motorized transport along with its principal function as a center for transportation by aircraft.” Peter Berg, project coordinator of technical assistance at Great Lakes ADA, said the ADA applies to airport facilities, which includes anything from the front door to the jet way. The ACAA requires airlines to assist travelers with disabilities, such as helping someone in a wheelchair board the plane safely and guiding someone who is visually impaired from the ticket counter onto the airplane.

These services are not limited to the airplanes themselves, according to Berg; airlines are responsible for providing these services in the airport terminals. Thus, as they operate within their terminals, airlines are subject to the standards set forth by the ADA. In an article in “The Detroit News,” Kristin Baur, a spokesperson for Northwest, said the airline “is currently reviewing the ruling and evaluating its options regarding future actions.” Baur also said the airline continues to be committed to providing accessible air travel for all customers.

Visit the Federal Aviation Administration’s Web site at www.faa.gov to learn more about traveling rights for passengers with disabilities.