THE
                           Braille Forum
                 Vol. XXXIV July-August 1995 No. 1

                           Published By
                 The American Council of the Blind

THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND STRIVES TO INCREASE THE
INDEPENDENCE, SECURITY, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, AND QUALITY OF
LIFE FOR ALL BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE.

                   LeRoy F. Saunders, President

           Oral O. Miller, J.D., National Representative

                        Nolan Crabb, Editor
               Sharon Lovering, Editorial Assistant

                         National Office:
                        1155 15th St. N.W.
                             Suite 720
                       Washington, DC 20005
                          (202) 467-5081
                        Fax: (202) 467-5085
             Electronic bulletin board: (202) 331-1058

THE BRAILLE FORUM is available in braille, large print, half-speed
four-track cassette tape and MS-DOS computer disk. 
Subscription requests, address changes, and items intended for
publication should be sent to:  Nolan Crabb, THE BRAILLE FORUM,
1155 15th St. N.W., Suite 720, Washington, DC 20005.  Submission
deadlines are the first of the month.

Those much-needed contributions, which are tax-deductible, can be
sent to Brian Charlson at the same address.  If you wish to
remember a relative or friend by sharing in the council's
continuing work, the national office has printed cards available to
acknowledge contributions made by loved ones in memory of deceased
people. 

Anyone wishing to remember the American Council of the Blind in
his/her Last Will and Testament may do so by including a special
paragraph for that purpose.  If your wishes are complex, you may
contact the ACB National Office.

For the latest in legislative and governmental news, call the
"Washington Connection" toll-free at (800) 424-8666, 6 p.m. to
midnight eastern time Monday through Friday.  Washington, D.C.,
residents only call 331-2876.

Copyright 1995 
                   American Council of the Blind

                         TABLE OF CONTENTS

President's Message, by LeRoy F. Saunders
He Lived Through The Nightmare The Rest Of Us Only Heard About, by
Nolan Crabb
News Briefs From The ACB National Office, by Oral O. Miller
A Very Special Human Being, by David Krause
Legal Access:  Another Dumb Act?  ADA At The Crossroads, by
Charles D. Goldman
Advocates Defend Detectable Warnings
Have You Heard A Good Adventure Story Lately?, by Sharon Lovering
This Is The Way We Wash Our Clothes, Or Is It?, by Deanna Noriega
Here And There, by Elizabet M. Lennon
From Your Perspective:  Changing The Braille Code:  An Access
Perspective, by Jenine McKeown
Observations From The White House Conference On Aging, by Teresa
Blessing
High Tech Swop Shop

                        PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
                       by LeRoy F. Saunders

    Since January of this year, I have watched very closely what is
happening in Congress.  I have decided that regardless of how we
may feel or what we do, we are facing some major changes in
rehabilitation and a host of other programs which we almost take
for granted.
    I believe the Rehab Act will be changed and will most likely be
set up in some type of block grant.  However, I feel
Rehabilitation Services will remain, but possibly be administered
in a far different manner than the one to which we're accustomed. 
Ideas in Congress are changing constantly and almost every day or
two there is a new bill out which affects some type of service.  It
is hard to determine at this point what to really expect as far as
the final bills are concerned.
    I also believe there will be some changes in Social Security
benefits sometime in a future Congress.  There is a possibility
that changes will occur in the SSDI benefits which are presently
available to the blind and visually impaired.  Needless to say, our
national staff is monitoring SSDI and other benefits
legislation presented in this Congress, and we are doing
everything we can to maintain our existing benefits.
    I'm convinced no Congress has ever moved as rapidly as this
Congress, especially in the House.  As you are most likely aware,
much of the work we do is done with Congressional staff.  Even
these folks don't necessarily represent the same names and faces
with which we've been familiar, and their approach is different
from what it has been in many cases.  In fact, we have had some
tell us we are wasting our time.
    One of the disadvantages we do face is that there are many new
members in Congress.  These members have little background or
experience in many of the programs which benefit blind
individuals in finding employment and becoming first-class
citizens of this country.
    Many of the Congressmen were not in Washington when some of the
programs we consider vital were established.  As a result, they
have no loyalty to these programs.  When they were elected, they
promised the voters they would make changes in the federal
government.  They promised to reduce spending; they would
allocate more money and responsibilities back to the states and cut
back considerably on the federal government's involvement in many
of these programs.
    It is very important that our state affiliates realize that
when all of this "shakes out" they will need to play a bigger role
in their states.  It will be crucial that all of us play a key role
in working within our states to make sure the money which is
allocated to state government, through whatever process, is used to
benefit blind individuals.  It will most likely make a difference
in what we at ACB have to do in the future.  We, of course, have
worked primarily on the national scene. It seems that these pending
changes will mean that we will work more with our state affiliates
to assist them in their statewide advocacy role.
    Of course, change is scary and many fear the unknown. 
However, I feel legislators may feel somewhat more concerned about
how their decisions affect blind and visually impaired individuals
than they might feel about those decisions that affect non-disabled
citizens.  Sometimes it is much harder for us to make changes and
adapt to different approaches than merely operate with a business-
as-usual attitude.
    It is vital that we accept change as a challenge, and by so
doing, learn to make changes work for our good.  I'm hopeful we can
still maintain much of the training and benefits which are needed
for blind and visually impaired individuals.  There is always some
good which comes out of everything and we have to make a point of
recognizing it and do the best we can to build on these
opportunities. 
    This is the last message I will have in the Forum as president
of the American Council of the Blind.  I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the many, many individuals who have assisted
me over the last six years to carry out the duties of this office. 
There is no possible way I can even begin naming all of those who
have helped me in so many different ways.
    I would like to thank the membership, officers, board and staff
of ACB for giving me the opportunity to preside over this
organization for six years.  I sincerely hope I have fulfilled your
expectations.  I hope my leadership of ACB has made a
difference during this time.
    I will remain on the board of directors as immediate past
president of ACB; therefore, I will not be completely out of the
picture.  I look forward to a somewhat reduced work load when
compared to that of the past six years.  Being president of ACB was
an honor I will never forget.
CAPTION
     Pat and LeRoy Saunders enjoy the 1993 convention banquet in
San Francisco.  Photo copyright 1993 by M. Christine Torrington.

  HE LIVED THROUGH THE NIGHTMARE THE REST OF US ONLY HEARD ABOUT 
                        by Nolan Crabb

    For most of us, April 19th will be remembered simply as the day
the bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City.  For Raymond Washburn, president of the Randolph-
Sheppard Vendors of America, an affiliate of the American Council
of the Blind, April 19th will be the day he got a new lease on
life.  For most of us, the images of the lifeless bloodied bodies
of babies and toddlers being carried out of a destroyed day-care
center will be unforgettable, but they will be images.  For
Raymond Washburn, those images are more than images; they're
accompanied by the screams of the injured and the dying and by the
awful smells of dust-filled destruction.  Most of us could change
the channel or turn off the radio when those images became
overwhelming.  Raymond Washburn had no such luxury.  Those images
will no doubt play periodically in his mind for as long as he
lives.  That's how it is when you're one of the images the rest of
us read about or saw on television.  Washburn operated a
vending facility in the federal building, and he was on duty the
day the bomb exploded and changed forever the way we look at
ourselves as Americans.  For the first time, we realize with shock
and sadness that terrorism doesn't have to be imported to be
terrorism.  All of us, blind or sighted, feel a new sense of
vulnerability.  Raymond Washburn says he feels a new sense of loss
for those who didn't make it out of the building and a sense of
relief because he is alive.
    Washburn says April 19th began normally enough for him.  There
were no premonitions of anything unusual þ no signs that this day
would be different from any other.  He received a call early from
an employee notifying him of her illness. 
Accordingly, he got to work around 7.  Around 8:45 that morning, he
urged a fellow worker to take a break, since she had been on duty
since 6.  She returned at 8:55.
    She had agreed to wait on customers while Washburn went to make
a car payment at a credit union inside the federal building.  Prior
to leaving, however, he decided to wait on one more
customer.
    "I waited on that customer," he recalls.  "And as I turned
around to pick up my money, (I had it lying on a safe in the store
room), something hit me on the head and on the shoulder.     "I
thought it was just a ceiling tile.  But it kept getting heavier
and heavier.  Pretty soon, [the weight of it] had pushed me down to
the floor.  My feet were caught in there," he recalls.  "As you
know, when you can't move your feet, you get excited.  I tried to
kick and couldn't kick.  So the only thing that was left for me to
do was to get my hands underneath and lift up what was on top of
me."
    He says he managed to lift the debris up about three inches þ
enough to move his feet.
    "In the meantime," he says, "I could hear my employee in the
kitchen hollering 'Help!  Help!  I can't breathe!'  At that time,
I noticed I couldn't breathe either.  All the oxygen had been cut
off.
    "During this time," he continues, "I never heard the blast þ
had no idea what it was.  I told her I'd meet her at the door and
we'd try to get out."
    As a result of the blast, Washburn's counter had fallen into
the mayhem below him.  "I met her at the door, and we started out
the front.  This customer I'd waited on had gotten up.  She told us
to get out through the back way, but my sighted employee
became somewhat disoriented.  The customer led me, and I grabbed my
employee around the waist and told her we had to get out.     "As
we started out the door," he says, "I turned loose of the customer
to reach over in the corner to pick up my cane.  Neither my cane
nor the wall was there!  The only thing that was left was the
stairs that were standing.  We managed to get down to the second
level.
    "On our way out," he says, "we met a man who helped us out too. 
Come to find out, this man was in the restroom during the
explosion.  He doesn't know how it happened, but he ended up in the
snack bar."
    On the second level, Washburn met one of the men who will not
soon be forgotten by the rest of us who watched the steady parade
of heroic but weary rescue workers moving slowly and determinedly
through the remains of the building.  "I told the guy from the
sheriff's department that I had a cut on my elbow," Washburn
recalls.  "He asked me if I had any kind of a heart problem, and I
told him I did.  They ultimately rushed me to the emergency room
where they stitched me up; my employee had a cut on her leg.    
"But while we were going out," he remembers, "the floor that we
were standing on back in the snack bar collapsed.  If we'd have
been there another 10 to 30 seconds, we'd have just gone on down
with the floor.  I felt pretty lucky to get out with just a cut." 
   Griff Palmer, the data base editor at "The Daily Oklahoman,
Oklahoma City's daily newspaper, " recalls what he saw minutes
after Raymond Washburn heard his snack bar collapse into the floors
below.
    "I live about a mile north of the blast site," Palmer
explains.  "I was ironing a shirt and thinking about a nice, hot
shower when the bomb went off.  It shook the hell out of my
house.  My initial thought was that there had been a natural gas
explosion in a nearby house."
    Palmer says he found no evidence of any explosion when he
rushed outside to investigate.  His view of the downtown area was
obstructed.  "Two doors down," he says, "a couple of windows were
blown out of a house.  I thought maybe it was a sonic boom.  But
then I realized that from as far as I could hear to the west, to as
far as I could hear to the east, burglar alarms and car alarms were
sounding.  I knew that it had to be more than a sonic boom.     "A
quick call to the newsroom fixed the location of the
explosion, and I headed downtown," he recalls.  "When I got to the
bombing site, the atmosphere was eerily quiet.  Around the corner
from the federal building, about a half-dozen people lay on a
sidewalk, absolutely motionless, covered with bloody
blankets.
    "In everyone's eyes, you could see the dawning realization that
a terrorist act of staggering magnitude had been perpetrated on our
quiet old cowtown," he says.  "One glance left little doubt that
the explosion had been caused by a bomb.  It was clear that the
blast had blown upward from the street."
    For Washburn and the other survivors who found their way out of
the building, the sights, sounds, and smells are
unforgettable.  Palmer describes what he saw this way:  "Burning
cars that had been parked across the street from the federal
building sent a plume of black smoke across the downtown area.    
"Survivors sat stunned on the curb near the federal building, with
varying degrees of injury.  Bloodied children from the
Central Branch YMCA day-care center were being tended to by
emergency workers."
    "As we were walking out of the snack bar," Washburn recalls, "I
could hear people screaming and hollering for help.  There was
nothing anyone could do except get out and try to help those who
were injured.  I had no idea how badly people were injured."    
"As the shock wore off, survivors began urgently conducting head
counts and preparing lists of the missing," Palmer recalls.  "Shock
turned to sobbing emotion.  A mother whose child was in the federal
building day-care center screamed frantically as she arrived and
saw the extent of the damage."
    Palmer says emergency workers began converging on the site
almost immediately.  They did what they could for the injured and
sent them to local hospitals.  "When I got to the hospital,"
Washburn remembers,  "they rushed me in and checked me over.  At
the hospital, it was just a madhouse.  People were running;
doctors were running in and out; nurses were running in and out;
sirens were going off; that's all you could hear þ nothing but
sirens."
    To make matters worse, rumor reared its ugly head, as Palmer
recalls.  "Suddenly, word went out that another bomb had been
discovered inside the federal building.  The situation
degenerated into utter panic as hundreds of bystanders and bomb
victims fled for safety.
    "Rumors flew that the second bomb was bigger than the first;
that another and yet another bomb had been discovered at other
locations.  Later in the afternoon, authorities discounted the
reports of other bombs.  According to some reports, the scare had
been sparked by the discovery of dummy training bombs in the
quarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which had
offices in the bombed building."
    Washburn says his attempts to call his wife from the hospital
met with only busy signals.  "Someone had called my wife at work
and asked her if she had a radio on, and she said no," he
recalls.  "She learned of the explosion and got within eight or ten
blocks of the site before they turned her back.  She could do
nothing but wait at home.  She turned on the TV and said she didn't
know how anyone could survive that blast."
    According to Palmer, destruction and devastation were
everywhere.  "The concussion from the blast shattered windows,
buckled masonry, and collapsed overhead doors for a six-block
radius around the blast center.  The Kerr-McGee Center, just
southeast of the federal building, had windows blown out to the top
of its 20-plus floors.  I later saw shattered shop windows a mile
and a half north of the federal building."
    "Finally," Washburn says, "the hospital got hold of my wife and
told her I was there, but they wouldn't tell her any other
information.  She came down to the hospital and found me sitting in
a waiting room.  I believe she was more shook up at that time than
I was."
    While the external damage Palmer describes was significant
indeed, the internal damage done to Washburn in the explosion's
aftermath had its own stark reality.  "While we were sitting here
at home," he says, "I was just at a blank; I was just shocked. 
Finally ... well, ... I just broke down.  I just couldn't hold it
any longer."
    His physician gave him a shot to relax him, and Washburn began
the process of physically and mentally recovering.  "I had all this
debris in my hair," he recollects.  "It was in my
clothes; it took me two or three days to get some of this junk out
of my ears.  It was embedded in there."
    Washburn says later that afternoon and evening, the TV and
radio reports began to take their toll on him.  "These TV and radio
stories brought back memories of hearing people hollering.  I told
my wife, 'I can't take it.  I need to get some
counseling.'"
    Washburn was re-admitted to the hospital that night in an
attempt to bring the memory demons under control.  "They told me
the only way I'd be able to deal with this is to talk it out," he
says.  "They encouraged me to wake my wife up and talk to her about
it.  There were several nights that I did just that."
    He says for weeks after the explosion, he had a fear of
entering buildings.  "I'm doing better with that, but loud noises
þ sirens and like that þ still bother me."
    He admits if the trauma he experienced has a positive side, it
would be reflected in his feelings for his family.  "I feel much
closer to my wife than ever before.  I really feel I can talk to
her about anything."
    Washburn grieves for the loss of those who died in the
explosion.  As a vendor, he came to know nearly everyone in the
building.  They often frequented his facility, and over time, he
learned the voices and names of his customers.  "They were like
family," he says.  "These people paid my salary.  I knew them, and
I grieve for their loss.  I had close contact with those little
kids in that day-care center.  The people who ran it would bring
those little kids up to the snack bar and I'd give 'em ice cream
and pop.
    "Those little kids who didn't make it will never have the
chance to grow up þ never go to school," he laments.  "That's
what's sad.  These kids won't ever have a life."
    As for the aftermath, Washburn wonders whether bombing
suspects will ever get a fair trial.  "I resent what they did," he
says.  "I don't think they deserve a fair trial.  I think they
ought to build some kind of memorial there for the survivors and
for those that didn't make it."
    As for his own future, at press time, Washburn hadn't decided
whether to go back to work or retire.  "I know one thing þ I don't
want to work in a federal building."
    He paid two final visits to the site the Sunday before it was
demolished.  "I spent darn near seven or eight years down in that
building," he says.  "I knew a lot of people.  It was really hard
to see the building and think on those memories knowing it was
going to go down in a couple of days."

             NEWS BRIEFS FROM THE ACB NATIONAL OFFICE
            by Oral O. Miller, National Representative
    The annual awards banquet of the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights (LCCR), of which the American Council of the Blind was the
first organizational member, made up of disabled people, is one of
the very few functions in Washington each year that attracts most
of the advocacy and civil rights leadership.  The 1995 LCCR
conference and awards banquet was no exception as
hundreds of people representing the almost 200 organizational
members of LCCR gathered recently to take stock of civil rights
matters, current legislative issues and a variety of advocacy
issues.  One of the highlights and sadder moments of the evening
consisted of the presentation of the LCCR's top award and the
extension of a cordial farewell to its longtime and very
effective executive director, Ralph Neas, who is entering the full-
time teaching of law at Georgetown University Law School.  ACB
members who attended the 1989 national convention banquet in
Richmond, Va., will remember the very informative and stimulating
speech which Mr. Neas gave at that time.
    What a pleasure it was recently for me to take part in the
state convention of the Vermont Council of the Blind, held in
Rutland!  I was, indeed, impressed by the vigor, knowledge and
industry of the organization and was very pleased to learn of the
worthwhile things its members are doing throughout the state þ such
as educating public officials as to the appropriate use of audible
traffic signals, advocating for the inclusion of a
vending facility in a large new federal building and providing
funding for the state library for the blind to purchase popular
audio-described movies for lending to blind borrowers.  Since I had
not been in Vermont for some time, I especially appreciated the
opportunity to enjoy a few activities that are almost unique to
Vermont þ such as a small town church supper and a leisurely drive
through the beautiful green mountains.
    While ACB considers further the recent decision by the
Federal Transit Administration exempting the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from having to install
detectable warnings along its subway platform edges as required by
federal regulations, ACB staff members have continued to
cooperate with WMATA as it apparently takes other steps to
enhance accessibility to its system þ such as by creating and/or
updating tactile maps and reviewing procedures for making more
information available audibly.  We plan to continue cooperating
with WMATA to the extent its proposed actions are in the best
interest of blind and visually impaired people, but that
cooperation should not be construed as necessarily accepting the
"Mickey Mouse" proposal accepted by the Federal Transit
Administration in lieu of a commitment by WMATA to abide by
common-sense federal regulations.  We are also using some of our
international contacts to monitor electronic guidance and
mobility research going on in other countries.
    Legislative developments are taking place so rapidly now that
a report at this time would be substantially out of date by the
time of publication.  For this reason it is important for all
readers to call the Washington Connection on a regular basis
inasmuch as that service is updated frequently as a way of
keeping up with issues which change almost from day to day.  Some
of the issues which we are monitoring and publicizing include the
substantial gainful activity level for SSDI recipients who are
blind, telecommunications accessibility, possible consolidation or
redesigning of rehabilitation and job training services for blind
people, education of blind children and further
implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Recently
the Washington Connection was switched to an answering machine that
is capable of answering several telephone lines at a time.  The
change has already brought about a marked improvement in our
ability to disseminate information quickly.
    The ACB national staff continues active in consulting with
employers and service providers concerning the quality of such
services to blind people.  For example, recently Jennifer Sutton
met with officials of American Airlines to examine that company's
policies and procedures in serving blind and visually impaired
customers.  Nolan Crabb took part in the meeting of the National
Association of Radio Reading Services and Glenn Plunkett
participated in a national conference focusing on services to
elderly people.  Activity with reference to services for elderly
people will probably be influenced greatly by decisions made by the
recently completed White House Conference on Aging.
    I am pleased to report that our 1995 college summer intern is
Miss Paulette Monthei, who has just completed her junior year at
Creighton University as a major in occupational therapy.  During
the school year, Paulette is an active member of the Omaha
chapter of the ACB of Nebraska.  I am pleased to report also that
the national office this summer is the beneficiary of a voluntary
internship by Miss Cynthia Lovering, a Virginia resident who has
just completed her sophomore year at Mary Washington College while
preparing to major in business and psychology.  As reported
previously, Jennifer Sutton, ACB's Coordinator of Affiliate and
Membership Services for approximately the past two years will be
leaving ACB employment as of the end of June to prepare to enter
graduate school in the field of English.  We wish Jennifer the best
and thank her sincerely for her dedication to ACB as she prepares
to move to the next phase of her career.

                    A VERY SPECIAL HUMAN BEING
                          by David Krause
    (Reprinted with permission from the Braille Revival League
"Memorandum.")
    (Editor's note:  David Krause is currently the president of the
Nevada Council of the Blind.  He is a charter member of the
Council.  In fact, his name and that of his wife Betty are two of
the three original signers of ACB's first corporate charter
submitted to the government of the District of Columbia.  A
former Washington, D.C., resident, Krause has been in Las Vegas for
15 years.  His association with Alma Murphey goes back to their
school days at the Misouri School for the Blind.)
    When Alma Murphey died on January 21, 1995, the world lost a
very special human being.  I never knew anyone who could pack more
accomplishments into a 24-hour day, and not just on rare occasions,
but as a permanent pattern of her life.  Leadership talent,
organizing ability, volunteer spirit, effectiveness of action þ
these were the special qualities that made it possible for Alma to
accomplish so much.  Together they spell L-O-V-E þ an additional
factor that made Alma Murphey such a special person.  She loved her
husband; she loved her children; she loved her friends; she loved
her colleagues in the organized blind
movement; and she loved people in general.
    I knew Alma most of my life.  We both graduated from the
Missouri School for the Blind.  As a young adult she met and
married Jack Murphey, who was both blind and deaf.  In the years
that followed, she served as business manager and contact person
for Jack's very successful chair caning business, while, at the
same time, serving as homemaker and mother of six healthy and happy
children.  On top of all this, she still found time to be an active
participant in the organized blind movement.
    When things needed to be done, Alma was always there
volunteering to help with the difficult jobs.  In the 1950s, Alma
and I and a few others took on the task of reorganizing and
revitalizing a long-dormant statewide organization which is now the
Missouri Council of the Blind.  While I left shortly
thereafter for work in Washington, D.C., Alma continued to play a
key role in building the Missouri Council of the Blind into one of
the largest and one of the most prosperous of the ACB state
affiliates.  Down through the years, she served as secretary and
president of MCB, as well as co-editor of "The Missouri
Chronicle," the organization's quarterly magazine.  In addition to
serving in these capacities, she spearheaded the organization of
the Missouri Council of the Blind Credit Union, which was one of
the first credit unions established by ACB affiliates.
    A few years before I left Missouri, Alma was among those who
helped me in starting a new organization of the blind in St. Louis
known as Real Independence Through Employment for the
Blind.  Down through the years Alma played an important part in the
growth and development of the organization, serving as
president and secretary on more than one occasion.  Today RITE for
the Blind is a strong, prosperous and highly respected
affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind.
    In 1961, Alma and Jack were among that small group of us who
walked out of the NFB convention in Kansas City, Mo. and went next
door to the Aladdin Hotel and organized the American Council of the
Blind.  Alma served as secretary of the fledgling
organization and remained active in it until the day of her
death.  She also served as editor of "The Braille Forum," ACB's
magazine, for several years during the organization's early
years.
    She also helped found and build the Braille Revival League, a
special interest affiliate of the ACB.  During the four years she
served as president of the Braille Revival League, she led the
successful struggle to get the United States Congress to pass a
joint resolution proclaiming the first week of January as Braille
Literacy Week.
    Alma received many awards and commendations in recognition of
her long life of service to blind people.  Probably the one she
cherished most was the George Card Award, which was presented to
her and Jack jointly at an annual convention of the American
Council of the Blind a number of years ago.  This award was very
special to her for two reasons.  First, the George Card Award is
not an annual award, but it is presented only periodically when the
ACB deems that a person or persons are deserving of special
recognition for many years of dedicated service to blind people. 
Second, because George Card for whom the award was named was a
close friend and colleague of all of us who were charter members of
ACB.
    Perhaps the greatest tribute paid to Alma was in 1977 when she
was sent to Belgrade, Yugoslavia to represent United States women
with disabilities at a worldwide conference on women with
disabilities, which was a part of the United Nations' year-long
observance of The Year of the Woman.  Alma presented a paper at
this conference dealing with her experiences as a blind homemaker
and mother.
    A human being as special as Alma Murphey does not come along
very often.  I know that I will never meet another one like her. 
Alma taught me many things in the many years we worked together in
the organized blind movement, but the one thing that I have always
remembered and tried to practice is never tell anyone you are too
busy to help.  Goodbye, good friend.  Sleep well.  You deserve the
rest.
    When Jack Murphey was alive, he dedicated much time and
energy to the publication of "Good Cheer," a braille magazine
directed to deaf-blind readers.  When Jack died, Alma picked up the
torch and carried on Jack's work on behalf of "Good Cheer."  In
keeping with Alma's last wishes, Bettye and I have made a cash
contribution to "Good Cheer Magazine."  The address is Good Cheer
Magazine, c/o Mr. Rod McDonald, 805 Easley St., Silver Spring, MD
20910.
CAPTION
Alma Murphey proudly shows off her life membership plaque at the
1993 San Francisco convention.  Photo copyright 1993 by M.
Christine Torrington.

                           LEGAL ACCESS:
             ANOTHER DUMB ACT?  ADA AT THE CROSSROADS
                       by Charles D. Goldman
      (Reprinted with permission from "Horizons," July 1995.)    
The first five years of the Americans with Disabilities Act have
brought unexpected results.  Many of the bright expectations of
enactment on July 26, 1990 have given way to the disappointing
realities of implementation in the mid-1990s.
    Whether the high hopes of the community of persons with
disabilities will ever come to fruition depends on the Clinton
administration and the Congress.  If the Clinton administration and
Congress fail to ensure adequate resources for the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance, case resolution, and
enforcement, ADA will not be a civil rights mandate but just
Another Dumb Act from Washington.
    The most fundamental expectation was that more persons with
disabilities would get jobs and become taxpayers, no longer tax
users.  President Bush in his remarks prior to signing the bill
into law called for business and industry to hire persons with
disabilities.  But as the latest Harris survey shows, the actual
number of persons with disabilities being hired has gone down, not
up, after the ADA!
    Another reality which surprises people is that the most
common impairment in the charges being filed with the EEOC is a
back impairment, almost 20 percent of the cases.  The popular
expectation was that it would have been persons with mobility
impairments, closely followed by hearing and vision impairments. 
EEOC's reality mirrors societal demographics.  Hearing and vision
impairments are roughly 3 percent of the charges which
corresponds to the population numbers.  Mobility impairments don't
make the top 10, though emotional/psychological are way up there
(15 percent).
    Persons with disabilities were also expecting vigorous
enforcement of the ADA by the federal agencies which would be
suitably funded.  Simply put, it has not happened.
    In a nutshell, EEOC and Justice are overwhelmed with more
complaints than they can handle.  As this is being written (which
is before the most current ADA statistics are available, so the
numbers are actually higher), Justice had received about 5,600
complaints under ADA Titles II (state and local government) and III
(public accommodations).  EEOC had more than 45,000 charges under
Title I (employment) and a backlog in excess of 100,000 complaints
under ADA and other laws!  Cases linger unresolved in the systems. 
Requests for technical assistance þ when you can get through þ take
weeks to answer.  With responsible enforcement and timely technical
assistance by the feds, more voluntary
compliance and hiring of persons with disabilities should follow. 
   Congress, except for applying ADA (again) to itself, seems to
have forgotten completely about ADA.  Not a single oversight
hearing has been held!  Congress has not held a single hearing in
the Bush or Clinton administrations to address basic issues such as
how (in)efficient EEOC and Justice have been in administering ADA. 
The bureaucrats þ good and bad þ and politicians þ
Republican and Democrat þ have not been called to account in a
public forum.  Almost anyone who has filed a charge with EEOC or
tried to call the Department of Justice can attest to the
slowness and downright unresponsiveness of their systems.
    Congressional felonious inaction in not overseeing ADA is
compounded by Congress not addressing the key corollary issues. 
Since employment for persons with disabilities has gone down after
ADA, why hasn't Congress developed positive incentives for hiring
persons with disabilities?  Why hasn't Congress acted to eliminate
some of the disincentives to employment in the social security
program?
    The Clinton administration must seek and fight for funding from
the Congress to make the ADA work.  But that is not all it should
do.
    The Clinton administration has the tools at hand, in its
commitment to reinvent government, to make the ADA work.  It could
make the agencies pursue alternative dispute resolution with much
greater vigor.  (In fairness to EEOC, it is moving in that
direction on all the laws it enforces, not only ADA.)  The Clinton
administration also could consolidate resources from programs whose
missions are surpassed or duplicated by the
critical ADA enforcement agencies.
    The Clinton administration must take an INSTITUTIONAL
approach to government, eliminating agencies such as the
President's Committee on Employment of Persons with Disabilities,
National Council on Disability, and Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, which lack final
regulatory authority and whose missions are otherwise superseded by
the ADA.  This is not throwing good money after bad, as
supporters of these agencies claim.  Rather, it is recognizing
INSTITUTIONAL realities of these agencies' duplicative missions and
that if EEOC and Justice fail on ADA, then the federal
government fails on ADA þ no matter what any other agency does or
does not do.
    It is ironic that the politicians and bureaucrats who love to
bash attorneys may make ADA more of a lawyer's relief act by
failing to effectively implement the ADA.
    The ADA is now five years old.  The bloom is literally off the
roses in the White House garden where the law was signed.  The
Clinton administration and Congress must not rest on any residual
laurels but must do a reality check.  Both the president and
Congress must ensure adequate funding to ensure responsible
enforcement of the ADA.
    If the Congress and president do not take a policy path which
results in adequate resources for EEOC and Justice, the only road
left will be the one to the courthouse.  And that is the last thing
anyone þ able-bodied or disabled þ wanted five years ago.  If the
Clinton administration and Congress do not adequately fund the
Americans with Disabilities Act and the courts become the primary
forums for public policy, then the ADA will not mean the anti-
discrimination mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act but
Another Dumb Act from Washington.
    Which way, Mr. Clinton?  Which way, Congress?

               ADVOCATES DEFEND DETECTABLE WARNINGS
    On June 6, ACB members and others interested in preserving
detectable warnings regulations within the Americans with
Disabilities Act met in Washington at the offices of the
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, (the
Access Board), for the first meeting of the Communications
Subcommittee of the ADAAG Review Committee.  That subcommittee is
reviewing petitions submitted by the National Federation of the
Blind, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the
Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority which would virtually
repeal regulations mandating detectable warnings.
    During the course of the meeting, ACB members and others
testified in favor of maintaining detectable warnings regulations
under the ADA.  We include here particularly relevant and
powerful testimony submitted by Dr. Billie Louise Bentzen, of
Boston College and director of research for the Carroll Center for
the Blind.
    "I have 25 years of experience in teaching blind persons to
travel independently.  I also have a Ph.D. in perceptual
psychology and have conducted research related to the
accessibility of the built environment to persons with visual
impairments since 1979.  In that year I began research for the
Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) to identify problems
experienced by visually impaired travelers in the rapid rail
environment. 
The results of that research, published in 1980, documented that
falling or fear of falling from a high level transit platform was
a major problem and cause of anxiety amongst visually impaired
travelers.  Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) reported that one-
fourth to one-third of platform edge accidents occurring during the
first 10 years of their operation of rapid rail service were
accidents involving persons having visual impairments.
    Subsequently I conducted research for UMTA to identify a
surface which was sufficiently detectable to be defined as a
standard for use on platform edges.  Building on previous
research by other investigators, I identified two surfaces which
were highly detectable both underfoot and by use of the long cane. 
One was a linear pattern; the other was a truncated dome pattern. 
The truncated dome pattern was recommended, reserving the linear
pattern for possible use as a direction indicator.     The
truncated dome surface was then applied to all platforms in BART. 
More
than seven years later, the platform edge accident rate for all
passengers, but especially passengers reporting visual
impairments, has decreased.  According to Safety and Security
Manager Ralph Weule, 'No individual or group of individuals has
objected to the use of this surface at platform edges.'  A
truncated dome warning surface was also installed system wide in
Metro Dade (Miami).  Al Hartkorn, Safety Manager, considers
detectable warnings to be a standard safety feature, enhancing
platform safety for all riders.  Both of
these providers, having more experience with truncated dome
warning surfaces than any other transit authority, consider
detectable warnings having a standardized truncated dome design, to
be standard, universal design features on transit platforms.  A few
other transit authorities with limited experience have voiced
objections to the installation of detectable warnings even in key
stations.  I submit that the voice of experience should speak
louder than the voice of inexperience.
    The first extensive American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) standard
(A117.1) providing access to the built environment for persons with
disabilities recognized that if the one positive cue or piece of
information specifying to persons who are blind the precise
location of the ending of a sidewalk and the beginning of a street
was removed by installation of curb ramps, another
positive cue was needed to inform persons with visual
impairments that they had arrived at a street.  A surface was
specified based on the only research then available.
    Two separate projects by different investigators (Barlow, J. &
Bentzen, B.:
Cues Blind Travelers Use to Detect Streets; and Hauger, J.S.,
Safewright, M.P., Rigby, J.C. & McAulley, W.J.: Detectable
Warning Project) have recently documented that persons who are
visually impaired, in particular persons having little or no
vision, who travel with a long cane, even though they are well-
trained, skillful and frequent travelers, have a relatively
high probability of being unable to detect the presence of an
unfamiliar intersecting street.  This is true despite the
presence of active traffic on that street.
    One of these projects (Hauger et al.) also documented that
detectable warnings help blind travelers make good street
crossings and that they were highly desired by persons having
visual impairments.
    This project (Hauger et al.) and Bentzen, B.L., Nolin, T.L.,
Easton, R.D., Desmarais, L. & Mitchell, P.A. (Detectable
Warnings: Safety and Negotiability on Slopes for Persons who are
Physically Impaired) have also demonstrated that persons having
physical disabilities experience, in general, little or no
difficulty as a result of the application of detectable warnings to
curb ramps or laboratory ramps as steep as those normally permitted
by ADAAG.  One of these projects (Hauger et al.) found that curb
ramps having truncated dome detectable warnings were generally
perceived by persons having physical disabilities as being safer,
more stable, providing better traction, and
requiring less effort than curb ramps surfaced with brushed
concrete. 
    Both of these projects found some few persons with physical
disabilities were adversely affected in some way by detectable
warnings on curb ramps or slopes.  One project (Bentzen et al.)
concluded with a recommendation of a compromise solution that
considers needs of persons with physical disabilities as well as
persons with visual impairments.  This is the installation of a 24-
inch-wide detectable warning (wide enough for most persons who are
visually impaired to detect and come to a stop without
stepping into
a street, and consistent with the width of detectable warning
required at transit platform edges) to be placed at the bottom of
a curb ramp, i.e. on the pedestrian walkway side of the junction
between the pedestrian and vehicular ways.  This same
recommendation was the consensus (one dissenting voice) of the
Research Advisory Committee on detectable warnings and curb ramps
sponsored by the Access Board June 4 and 5, 1995, with an
additional accommodation to persons with physical disabilities
through the recommendation that the domes of the detectable
warning surface by aligned in the primary direction of travel on a
curb ramp, thus permitting relatively unimpeded travel by
wheels.
    The Task Force on Detectable Warnings of the Communications
Subcommittee of the ADAAG Review Committee was asked to consider
the adoption of performance standards for detectable warnings. 
Performance standards would subvert the intent of providing
warning information.  In order to assure accurate and prompt
response to any warning information, whether it is visual,
tactual or auditory, is that it is immediately recognized as having
a particular meaning.  It was the unanimous recommendation of a
large advisory committee associated with research on
detectable warnings sponsored by the Access Board in the mid-1980s
that detectable warnings must be a unique surface which is
standardized and which is used exclusively in situations
requiring warning information.
    There has been a 15-year history of federally sponsored
research to identify
a surface which is sufficiently detectable both under foot and by
use of a long cane, when used in association with other walking
surfaces, to function as a standard indicating immediately and
unequivocally to persons who encounter it that there is a hazard in
the path of travel.  Many surfaces have been tested.  We have
learned that grooved surfaces are not highly detectable. 
Surfaces which differ primarily in resiliency are not highly
detectable underfoot unless the difference is more extreme than is
practicable in transit or intersection environments (e.g. Astroturf
adjoining concrete).  Surfaces differing primarily in sound on cane
contact are not highly detectable underfoot or in noisy
environments.  Truncated dome surfaces are highly
detectable underfoot and through the long cane.  Persons lacking
good tactile sensitivity can also detect them through differences
in resiliency or sound on cane contact.
    The existing descriptive standard does not preclude the
development of a variety of materials for different applications. 
More than 40 manufacturers now product truncated dome surfaces. 
Minor variations have been demonstrated to result in no decrease in
detectability and are acceptable by the current equivalent
facilitation policy.  Equivalent facilitation should, however, be
based on human performance tests as described in demonstrating
equal or better detectability under foot and by use of a long cane,
as well as recognizability as that specific surface which warns of
a hazard in the path of travel.  It must be a
distinctive walking surface.  It must be a passive system, not
requiring use of any additional technology which must be carried by
or activated by the user. The Research Advisory Committee
concluding its meeting of June 5, 1995, recommended the existing
descriptive standard, not a performance standard. 
    The existing standard does not preclude the additional
provision of audible or other information precisely specifying the
relative location of a blind traveler and a hazard in the path of
travel.  As the primary human factors researcher who has conducted
research on audible signage I would like to make it absolutely
clear that the only audible signage which is currently installed,
operating and used by many persons who are blind, e.g. the infrared
remote signage technology called Talking Signs, does not and will
not substitute for absolutely precise, reliable information
specifying the relative location of a traveler and a hazard in the
path of travel.  At intersections, Talking Signs provide
information including the name of the intersecting
street, the block of that street, the compass direction of
travel, and, when the user is within the crosswalk, information
regarding the status of the light cycle.  Therefore, emerging
developments in audible signage technology should have no bearing
on any standard for provision of warning information precisely
specifying the location of a traveler in relation to a hazard.    
In conclusion, ample repeated research has demonstrated the high
detectability of the currently specified detectable warning
surface.  It also demonstrates the lower detectability of a great
many other surfaces which intuitively seem that they would be
highly detectable.  Repeated research has demonstrated very
limited impact of detectable warning surfaces on the travel of
persons having physical disabilities, and perceived benefits to
many persons having physical disabilities.  Such truncated dome
surfaces have been recommended for new construction and
alterations of curb ramps (not required) in England for the past
eight years.  They are now accepted without question or objection
by any members of the traveling public or by those responsible for
the installation, maintenance and financing of curb ramps. 
Truncated dome surfaces have been widely used as warning surfaces
in Japan since the 1960s.  They are now overused according to
orientation and mobility specialists in Japan.  They are not
standardized, nor is their placement standardized.  This has led to
confusion and lack of effectiveness in situations where lack of
clear, unambiguous information leads to a threat to life
safety.  The carefully limited, consistent use of a specified
warning surface is the only way to assure improved safety of
pedestrians who are visually impaired.
    Continuing the requirement for curb ramps which eliminate the
only cue which has provided precise information to blind
travelers regarding their location in relationship to a hazard in
the path of travel, without replacing that cue with another
source of reliable information demonstrates an unconscionable
disregard by the Access Board for the life safety of blind
travelers.  I call on the Access Board to retain descriptive
specifications for detectable warning surfaces at transit
platforms, hazardous vehicular ways and curb ramps.  I recommend
research-based modifications in the placement and design of
detectable warnings at curb ramps as follows.
    Curb ramps shall have detectable warnings which are 24 inches
wide extending the full width of the curb ramp, and placed at the
bottom of the ramp where it adjoins the vehicular way. 
(Appendix)  Detectable warnings having the domes on a square grid
aligned in the primary direction of travel are preferred, as they
are easier for some persons having physical disabilities to
negotiate.  They are detected as readily by persons having visual
impairments as detectable warning surfaces having the domes
aligned on a diagonal grid."

           HAVE YOU HEARD A GOOD ADVENTURE STORY LATELY?
                        by Sharon Lovering
    It's summertime and time to think of vacation.  How about a
trip to the Amazon?  "Dreams of the Amazon" can take you there
without leaving home.
    "Dreams of the Amazon" is the first story in the "Travels with
Jack" series by ZBS Audio Adventures.  It opens in a French
restaurant, with the main character, Jack Flanders, ordering his
meal.  When he's finished ordering, a woman's breathy voice asks if
she can sit with him; once seated, she begins a striptease,
finishing with just a crystal skull without eyes.  
    When he gets home, he dials a number in Brazil and learns that
the crystal skull was stolen; Jack is invited to Brazil for the new
year's festival.  He declines, but when he hangs up the phone,
interesting things begin to happen.  His apartment turns into a
jungle, and he sees the crystal skull again.  That experience is
enough to convince him to book a flight to Rio de Janeiro for that
night.
    This tape's sound effects draw you into the scene.  In the
apartment jungle, you'll hear water, hissing snakes, and spiders;
you'll feel as if you're right there with Jack.  Jack's first task
is to find the crystal skull.  Or, as he puts it, he came to Brazil
to "let the skull find me."  And it does.
    So he, Newman, and others go on a quest to find a lost city
under the Brazilian jungle brush.  Listeners can hear the swish of
machetes that get the adventurers through the underbrush, the rush
of a waterfall over the caverns through which they must pass to
find the city, and the toucans þ "they look like flying beaks" þ
singing.  With the assistance of the skull, they get to the lost
city.  The intoxicating smell of orchids, is so vividly described
we can almost smell them ourselves.  When Jack attempts to put the
skull back in its altar, something unusual happens.  He climbs to
the top of the existing stone temple, through the mist, and sees a
crystal temple like the one depicted on the ceiling of the stone
temple.  He crosses through an arch he couldn't see through and
puts the skull back.  At the end, listeners are left wondering, as
Jack does, if it was the skull's mind he was wandering through, or
his own.
    "The Turban of El Morya" is a sort of science fiction adventure
story that takes place on the planet, Sumanula.  The music on this
tape is Arabian at first, other-worldly later on, combining to make
an eerie, "War of the Worlds"-type effect.  Listeners hear about
the mythical moon of Santalore and the four coins.  It began when
the Nooleans left the planet, taking its fourth moon with them, and
four golden coins.  Taru tells us that his father is "the foremost
authority on the mythical moon of Santalore."  Ruby, who has one of
the golden coins, tells Pops Taru that at first when she flipped
it, a little girl would appear, wanting to play.  He tells her
about the myth of the coins: "when all four coins came together in
the palm of one hand, the world would cease to be," and advises her
to see Toots Malaka, better known as Toots Mutant, who also has one
of the coins.
    We also hear about Andor, who wears the turban of El Morya,
which he is using to build a light machine that's anchored in the
fifth dimension.  Nicola Tessla, his mentor, tells him that he
wants to split the planet into two planets.  When someone steals
the turban, there's trouble.  Kapur, the "sneaky little rodent" who
took it, gets beamed up somewhere instead of Andor.  Toots tells
Ruby that there is, as she suspects, a connection between the
lizards (actually alligators or crocodiles), the dimensional shift,
and the emotional problems.  The planet the "lizards" come from is
deteriorating, so they're looking for a new home, and planting
astral disturbances into people.  Toots tells us she can look into
someone's eyes and see the holes, the deterioration.  The reptoids,
as she calls them, feed off that disturbance.  To settle things
back down, the characters need a light machine to kill the
disturbances.  Ruby thinks of Andor right away.  If she can get
Andor and his light machine, she can get the second coin.
     Both of these stories leave you wanting to hear the endings. 
Unfortunately, they're on the tapes I don't have.  So if you're
hooked and want to hear more, contact ZBS Audio Adventures for a
catalog at (800) 662-3345 or (518) 695-6406 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eastern time.  Or write to ZBS Foundation, RR 1 Box 1201, Fort
Edward, N.Y. 12828.

          THIS IS THE WAY WE WASH OUR CLOTHES, OR IS IT?
                         by DeAnna Noriega
     Two weeks ago, my faithful laundry assistant, a 16-year-old
Kenmore washer, ground to a halt half full of soapy water and my
husband's shirts.  A call to the Sears 1-800 repair number had a
repairman out the next day.  His visit unfortunately was the
beginning of a torturous journey.  After examining my long-time
friend, he diagnosed its condition as terminal.
     The next day, I headed down to Sears to find a new washer. 
Choosing a new appliance can be confusing at the best of times, but
the fact that Sears has always made braille overlays available to
its visually impaired customers made them my first stop.  All
appliances have become more complex as features multiply and
control panels have become increasingly confusing.  I selected a
model whose features I liked and, armed with my credit card, I
proceeded to sign up for delivery.  However, I asked the salesman
to order braille overlays for my machine.  She found that they were
now only produced for one model and that they would cost me an
additional hundred dollars.
     I was shocked because I had bought a Sears dryer two years ago
and was not charged for the overlay or cassette tape of
instructions.  My Sears store didn't have a floor model of the
machine that would accept a braille overlay.  So I would have to
buy the unit without being able to examine it.  When the salesman
inquired at the warehouse about acquiring one for me, she was told
that they were temporarily out of stock.  The washer was one of the
more expensive units.  A person needing a cheaper unit wouldn't be
able to buy a low-end machine at all, and then they would have to
spend another hundred dollars for a plastic, gum-backed overlay and
taped instructions.
     I decided to look again at the floor model I had originally
chosen to see how difficult it would be to label the control panel
myself.  To my consternation, the pointer on the dial controlling
the washer cycles was completely inaccessible behind a plastic
shield.
     I went on to examine several other washers manufactured by
other companies.  I discovered that Amana, one of the sturdiest
models on the market, also had a dial not tactually detectable. 
This was particularly disappointing, because Amana machines have
stainless washer drums and metal gears in their transmissions,
making them especially attractive to a mom of three teenage girls
who put a washer to a lot of use.  Many of the cheaper machines now
have plastic tubs, and all but one other brand have gone to nylon
or plastic transmission gears.
     I discovered at Maytag that dials were equally inaccessible,
and no overlays were available.  When I phoned their 1-800 number,
they claimed never to have been asked for such an item.  This
surprised me, since I had asked about their availability when
looking for a dishwasher last year.  The service representative
asked for my phone number and quickly pulled my address from her
files on her computer, confirming my previous request.  I gave her
the name of the company that produces the kits for Sears.  But I
have a feeling that for my part, the Maytag repairman will have to
remain the loneliest man in town if something isn't done about
their cycle selector knob.
     I live in a town of about 17,000 people with only the limited
shopping choices that such a town can provide.  Therefore, my
survey was not comprehensive, but I do have some good news for
those of you who might find themselves in a similar appliance hunt. 
Whirlpool provides free overlays for all of its models at no charge
to the customers.  General Electric was my final choice, because
they produce the other unit with metal transmission gears.  This
wasn't the end of my trials and tribulations though.  When I
contacted the company concerning overlays, I was told that they
were available for most models.  When I asked about the model I was
considering for purchase, I was told that they couldn't tell me if
they had the overlay unless I gave them the serial number as well
as the model number.  Since the floor model I examined was almond-
colored and I wanted to buy a white washer, and this would have to
come from the warehouse, I wouldn't know what the actual serial
number was until after the machine was delivered.  Since the
delivery men would have to wrestle my defunct unit out of the
laundry area and down two flights of stairs before they could bring
my new machine up those same two flights of stairs, I suspected
they wouldn't be thrilled if I asked them to come back and take
away the machine if it was discovered to be one of the models that
the company didn't provide an overlay for.  The service
representative explained that she had no access to the list of
models for which they had overlays and wouldn't find out until four
to six weeks, when an adaptation kit was sent to me.  I insisted
that I couldn't buy their machine without obtaining an answer as to
its availability.
     By this time, I had the bit between my teeth and was
determined to get what I felt I needed.  Gone was my willingness to
settle for less or to make do with dymo tape or other makeshift
solutions.  The Rogue Apache (my husband's nickname for me) was on
the warpath.  The service representative, a charming young lady
named Susan Shepard, promised to see what she could do and call me
back.  Two hours later, she could finally put my mind to rest about
my model machine.
     As I write this, a week's worth of family wash is being seen
to by my new General Electric washer.  Although I don't have the
braille overlay for it yet, I have been assured that it is on the
way.
     You may be asking why I was so adamant about getting a braille
overlay.  The machine I chose to buy, like so many new appliances,
has 12 choices for water level, a number of settings for water
temperature and agitator action.  It is supposed to handle
everything from hand-washable items to heavy-duty fabrics.  So the
control panel is very complicated.  I don't want to rely on my
memory or some make-do marking system.  In search of my new
machine, I discovered how little manufacturers care about our needs
for accessible control panels.  Besides cycle knobs without
pointers, I found those electronic touch pads with no way to tell
where to touch.
     I have a feeling that unless more of us insist on being
considered in designing such controls, that we may find ourselves
forced to buy only expensive models, or have our choices severely
limited.  I think we should confront companies with our needs, make
ourselves heard.  Only then will we be able to buy what we need at
a price we can afford.  Companies like Sears will not be able to
pretend that they are serving the visually impaired while pricing
their support at a punitively high cost if we express our outrage. 
If we meekly accept such treatment, things can only get worse.  I
realize that we braille users are declining in numbers, but I can't
believe that there aren't other people out there who wouldn't like
to know for sure how to set their machines to the proper parameters
to avoid spoiling their clothing.
     Oh, by the way, did you know that despite all the confusing
claims to be extra capacity or heavy-duty, washers come in only two
sizes?  They will handle either 18- or 20-pound loads.  I hope that
my frustrating experience will result in General Electric changing
the procedure to make it easier to find out which models they can
provide overlays for.  I also hope that the knowledge that a little
persistence can often get you what you want will encourage others
to make their voices heard.

                           HERE & THERE
                      by Elizabeth M. Lennon
     The announcement of new products and services in this column
should not be considered an endorsement of those products and
services by the American Council of the Blind, its staff or elected
officials.  Products and services are listed free of charge for the
benefit of our readers.  "The Braille Forum" cannot be responsible
for the reliability of products or services mentioned.
CHURCH CONFERENCE
     The National Church Conference of the Blind will hold its
annual conference July 23-27, 1995 at the Holiday Inn Fresno, (209)
268-1000.  For more information contact Rev. Frank Finkenbinder,
P.O. Box 163, Denver, CO 80201; phone (303) 455-3430.  Make your
own reservations.  There will be Bible study, talent time, fun and
fellowship for all.
SUMMER RETREAT
     A summer retreat for visually impaired persons will be held at
Black Hills State University July 20-29.  The agenda combines
dormitory housing, most meals, classes on a variety of subjects,
tours of some Black Hills attractions, and other recreational
opportunities.  Classes being offered this summer include Black
Hills history, villains in American history, and theater and music
appreciation, with hands-on experiences.  Classes are offered in
the morning; afternoons will be for field trips and social events. 
The complete package costs $595 per person.  A bus will transport
participants from the Rapid City airport to the campus. 
Applications are available by contacting Verla Fish, coordinator,
extension/summer sessions, University Station Box 9508, 1200
University St., Spearfish, SD 57799-9508, or by phoning (605) 642-
6771.  Registration is limited to 25 participants.
DISASTER RELIEF
     A disaster relief fund for victims with visual impairment has
been established by the Oklahoma Council of the Blind to help
displaced workers, dislocated residents, and those who have
acquired a visual impairment as a result of the bombing.  It will
provide information and referral services, peer counseling, and
financial assistance.  The Iowa Council of the United Blind has
already donated $750 for the fund.  If you would like to help, send
your donations to the Oklahoma Council of the Blind, P.O. Box 1476,
Oklahoma City, OK 73101.  Questions or comments should be directed
to Diane Bowers at (918) 745-0807 or Judy Pool at (405) 779-1476.
ADA INFO HOTLINE
     The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund has a hotline
that provides information on Titles II, state and local
governments, and III, public accommodations, of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.  It operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. 
The number is (800) 466-4232.
SEEING EYE BBS
     The Seeing Eye, Inc., has an electronic bulletin board
service, Buddy-BBS.  Computer users can access it to exchange
messages, upload and download files, and participate in conference
discussions.  The Seeing Eye quarterly newsletter and application
information are also available on the bulletin board.  Its phone
number is (201) 539-9546.
KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL
     The dedication ceremony for the Korean War Veterans Memorial
in Washington is officially scheduled for July 26-30, 1995.  More
than 500,000 veterans and their families from all over the world
are expected to attend.  All veterans, their families and friends
are invited.  For more information, call (800) 567-8387.
LARGE PRINT STUFF
     The Large Print Publishing Company offers a wide range of
large print puzzles to individuals and organizations.  Giant two-
foot crossword puzzles, circle the word, trivia quizzes, crossword
fill-ins and adult coloring designs are available.  To request a
sample pack of items, send $5.50 to cover shipping and handling to
Large Print Publishing Company, 103 Forest Glen, West Springfield,
MA 01089-1994 or call (413) 739-0894.
JOB OPENING
     The American Friends Service Committee is seeking a disability
issues specialist.  This specialist will oversee ongoing projects
concerning physical accessibility of AFSC offices and assistance
for accommodations needed by staff and committee members; work
closely with staff and committees in all AFSC regions and program
units to identify needs with regard to improving integration of
people with disabilities and disability issues into programs
throughout the organization.  This job requires strong commitment
to affirmative action and equal opportunity for all people;
demonstrated knowledge of disability issues, including legal
aspects of accommodation, ADA and state regulations; at least three
years experience with disability issues; developing and
implementing informational and experiential training; ability and
willingness to attend evening and weekend meetings, with 30 to 40
percent travel time throughout the United States to provide
technical assistance; knowledge of computer-based data management
or willingness to learn.  Send cover letter and resume to Willa
Brown, Human Resources Department, AFSC, 1501 Cherry St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479, or fax (215) 241-7247.
SCOURBY WINNERS
     The American Foundation for the Blind presented its ninth
Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Awards on June 5.  The
winner in fiction, Christopher Hurt, is a narrator in the NLS
program and at AFB's New York City studios, and has recorded more
than 200 titles.  In non-fiction, the winner is Ray Foushee, a
narrator at the American Printing House for the Blind since 1984,
and an announcer, producer and on-air personality at WDRB-TV since
1981.  The winner in periodicals is Bob Butz, who began recording
for Talking Book Publishers in Denver in 1971, and became a full-
time reader in 1977.  Butz began his media career in 1946 as a disk
jockey at KCRT, and became news director at KBOL following his
graduation from Colorado University.
BRAILLER CARE
     Nino Pacini can repair your Perkins brailler.  If you have a
machine that's in poor shape, call Nino at (313) 885-7330 evenings
and weekends.  Trade-ins are accepted; payment plans are
negotiable.
WHATEVER WORKS
     "Whatever Works" is a booklet developed by The Lighthouse Inc.
of New York to provide suggestions and simple solutions to people
who lose their vision during their adult years and to assist
families and friends in their efforts to provide support.  It
includes tips about reading, gardening, cultural activities such as
going to the theater, and sports and exercise.  It is available in
large print, braille or cassette.  To order, send $3 payable to The
Lighthouse Inc. to: Publications Department, Lighthouse Industries,
36-20 Northern Blvd., Long Island City, N.Y. 11101.  Specify P840
and medium desired.
CALIFORNIA CANES
     The California Cane is a four-jointed folding cane.  Its
joints and shafts are made from 100 percent carbon fiber, giving it
strength and durability.  The handle is made of high-grade Lamkin
golf-type grip and has an elastic wrist loop with knot cinch. 
Joints are 2 1/4 inches long.  Mechanical breakdowns of canes will
be covered for one year.  Folding canes cost $35; rigid canes, $28. 
Standard tips cost $2 each; marshmallow tips cost $4 each. 
Handling costs $2 per cane, $1 per tip.  For single cane orders,
add $5 for shipping and handling.  Send your name, address, order
and payment to California Canes, 25611 Quail Run, Suite 123, Dana
Point, CA 92629-2125.  Allow two to three weeks for delivery.  For
more information, call Jeff Carmer at (714) 489-1973.
TELEDESK'S CONSOLE
     Conveyant Systems, Inc., now has TeleDesk Visually Impaired
Operator Console available.  It is a system to meet the needs of
blind and visually impaired telephone operators.  It comes with a
console keyboard, TeleDesk software, equipment, power supply,
speech synthesizer, screen reader software, text-to-speech
management software, PC speech mixer card for handset/headset
integration, and industry standard 486 computer.  For more
information, contact Conveyant Systems at (714) 756-7100, or write
the company at 2332 McGaw Ave., Irvine, CA 92714.
IRIS AVENEWS
     Independent Reading, Information Services is a new service
business that wants to provide information pertaining to everyday
living tasks, such as ingredients and directions listed on food and
medicine packages, savings promotions, transportation and
information about communities.  The service is still in the
planning stages, and is conducting a survey to ask people to tell
us what they want and how they'd like it.  Without responses, the
service will have to base business on best guesses.  Planned
information mediums are cassette tape, large print, computer disk,
Internet files and braille.  To contact them, send e-mail to
iris1@boulder.earthnet.net, or write to IRIS Avenews 2255 N. Main
St., Suite 108-292, Longmont, CO 80501.
NEW BOOK
     "The Transition to College for Students with Visual
Impairments" is a new book from the Mississippi State University
Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low
Vision.  It identifies previous research and literature on
transition, and is available in regular print, cassette, or
computer disk for $20, and braille for $60.  Write to RRTC at P.O.
Box 6189, Mississippi State, MS 39762.
CHECK THIS OUT
     Any Blockbuster customer who rents or buys a captioned video
can have it checked before leaving the store to ensure that the
captions are being properly displayed, according to "Telability
Media."  To support this new service, Blockbuster has purchased
2,500 caption decoders from National Captioning Institute.  The
decoders will be connected to a TV and VCR in participating stores
in the United States and Canada.
VOCAL-EYES 3.0
     GW Micro has completed version 3.0 of Vocal-Eyes.  There are
several changes, the most obvious being the installation program
which lets you install only the files you wish.  There is also a
video attribute dictionary feature, allowing you to identify text
that has a certain characteristic indicated with a special video
attribute.  For ordering information, contact GW Micro at (219)
483-3625.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY
     Candle in the Window is holding its 10th anniversary program
August 17-20, 1995 at Wilder Forest, a retreat and conference
center near Marine in St. Croix, Minn.  This year's topic is
internal oppression.  Some activity-oriented sessions are also
planned.  The cost for this year's conference is $160 if you
register after June 1, which covers four days and three nights of
food, lodging, programs and transportation to and from the
conference site.  For more information call Kathy Szinnyey at (502)
895-0866.  If you have attended previous conferences but will not
be able to attend this year, send a cassette telling what you're up
to now and what you plan to do in the future; please tell us what
impact Candle has had in your life.  Please limit your comments to
five minutes.  Tapes will be shared with this year's attendees
unless otherwise specified.  Send the tapes to Lolly Lijewski at
1225 LaSalle Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55403.
NEW CATALOG
     The Mariano Pacini 1995 Product Information Guide is now
available in print or braille.  The company deals exclusively in
high-quality, lower cost mobility items.  Products include many
different types of cane tips, folding canes and rigid canes.  For
more information, or to request a copy, contact Mariano Pacini at
Ren. Cen. Station, P.O. Box 43052, Detroit, MI 48243-0052 or phone
(313) 224-2059 weekdays, (313) 885-7330 evenings and weekends.
CONFERENCE, PROGRAM
     Women with disabilities and their allies are urged to
participate in the U.N. World Conference on Women's NGO Forum in
Beijing, China, from August 29 to September 8, 1995.  To register
or get additional information on the forum, contact the NGO Forum
Secretariat, Attn: Ann Berancon, 211 E. 43 St., Suite 1500, New
York, NY 10017.  Be sure to inform them of your accessibility
needs.  The International Symposium on Women with Disabilities will
take place on August 29.  For information about the symposium, send
$5 for postage, copying and handling to Mobility International USA,
Women's Conference, P.O. Box 10767, Eugene, OR 97440; phone (503)
343-1284.
SOUTH DAKOTA REUNION
     Former students of the South Dakota School for the Visually
Handicapped should mark their calendars for an all-school reunion
on Sept. 9, 1995 in Aberdeen, S.D.  Anyone interested in receiving
information about the reunion, write or call Dawn LaMee South
Dakota School for the Visually Handicapped, 423 17th Ave. SE,
Aberdeen, S.D. 57401-7699; phone (605) 626-2580.
SPACE CAMP FOR KIDS
     Space Camp for Children with Visual Disabilities will take
place Sept. 16-23.  Level II campers will attend Sept. 16-23, and
level I campers will attend Sept. 17-22.  This program is also
coordinated by the West Virginia School for the Blind.  Cost of the
programs range from $500 to $725.  Additional costs include
transportation and souvenirs.  Depending on your arrival time,
there may be additional lodging and food costs.  For more
information, contact Kathy Johnson at (304) 822-4897 (office) or
Dan Oates at (304) 822-4883 (office).
SEEKING PEOPLE
     A nationwide long-distance reseller is looking for
representatives to sell its long-distance service.  Rates are 15
cents per minute during the day, no surcharges for credit cards,
and only 20 cents per minute.  The company also has six-second
incremental billing.  Selling the service involves making
Interstate Services Inc. your primary long-distance carrier.  Work
at home full- or part-time.  For more information call (800) 346-
3710 and leave your name, address and phone number.
INTIMATE GIFTS
     Lingerie in pure silk, cool cotton or stretch velvet lace,
lotions, and more gift items are available from Top Drawer.  Each
gift is romantic, tasteful and mailed discreetly to the significant
person of your choice.  Items for men and women are available.  For
your free voice catalog of products selected by and for blind
people, write to Top Drawer at 2584 Finkbonner Rd., Bellingham, WA
98226.
LOW VISION CONFERENCE
     Discovery '95, the third low vision conference, will be held
October 12-14 at the Ramada Congress Hotel on Michigan Avenue in
downtown Chicago.  The conference is designed to bring together
people with visual impairments, their families, educators,
ophthalmologists, optometrists, rehabilitation professionals and
vendors.  For more information, contact Mary Ellen Simmons at (602)
730-8282 or Mary Zabelski at (312) 666-1331.
OUTRAGEOUS RED
     Outrageous Red Concepts, a unique and innovative greeting card
and product line, offers cassette tapes of fiction (short stories
and poetry) for $9.95 each.  Send checks or money orders for $9.95
plus $1.50 shipping and handling to Larnette Phillips, P.O. Box
10067, Pensacola, FL 32524-0067.  Allow four to six weeks for
delivery.
TUTORIALS AVAILABLE
     Affordable computer tutorials are now available from Top Dot
Enterprises.  The company sells the following on cassette: Top DOS
5/6, containing instruction for beginning 
and intermediate users of DOS through version 6.22, three cassettes
and a supplementary disk of utilities, games, macros and batch
files: $19.50 plus $2.00 shipping.  Top Guide to ASAP, tutorial on
the Automatic Screen Access Program, two cassettes, $15.00 plus
$2.00 shipping.  Complete Audio Guide to the Braille 'n Speak,
covers both the BNS classic and BNS 640 through the 1993 revisions,
three cassettes, $16.00 plus $2.00 shipping.  Top Introduction to
Computer Knowledge, a combination computer buyer's guide and
introduction to computer use, containing "sound bytes" of word
processing, shopping, reading print, and more, one cassette, $9.00
plus $1.00 shipping.  For more information or to order: Top Dot
Enterprises, 8930 11th PL SE, Everett, WA 98205; phone (206)
335-4894; e-mail: deamar@eskimo.com.  Quantity discounts available;
credit cards not accepted; purchase orders incur an additional
$5.00 charge.
BRAILLER REPAIRS
     The Selective Doctor specializes in the repair of Perkins
braillers and IBM typewriters.  Repairs for braillers are $40 for
labor, plus the cost of parts.  Send your brailler via U.S. mail to
The Selective Doctor, P.O. Box 28432, Baltimore, MD 21234.  Free
matter shipping is accepted; the brailler should be insured, which
will cost about $6.  The Selective Doctor will add the cost of
return insurance to your bill.  For more information, call (410)
668-1143.
BASEBALL GAME
     The World Series Baseball Game and Information System, version
9, is now available.  It comes with 149 teams and eight information
programs.  Updates are released following each season.  The cost is
still $15 for new users, $5 for updates.  Send your check to Harry
Hollingsworth, 692 S. Sheraton Dr., Akron, OH 44319, or phone (216)
644-2421.
MORE CHOCOLATE
     The Chocolate Experience has added more messages to its line
of choco-braille: "happy retirement," "happy anniversary," "good
luck," and a modified "I Love You," in addition to its "love you,"
"thank you," "happy holiday," "have a nice day" and "happy
birthday."  In addition, musical chips þ "Congratulations," "Love
Me Tender," and "Happy Birthday" þ can be added to any card. 
Regular chocolate bars cost $2.50; sugar-free bars cost $3.50. 
Chocolate bars with nuts cost $1 more, and music adds $1.50 more. 
For more information, contact Judy Geva at the Chocolate
Experience, (800) 669-6665; in New York state, (718) 461-1873. YOUR
CHOICE
     Choice Magazine Listening is a free service for those who are
unable to read standard print because of a visual or physical
impairment.  Six times a year, CML brings eight hours of unabridged
selections of articles, short stories and poetry from leading
publications such as "The New Yorker," the "New York Times
Magazine," "National Geographic," "Esquire," "Sports Illustrated,"
and many more.  This is all a free service of the non-profit
Lucerna Fund.  If you would like a free subscription to Choice
Magazine Listening, call (516) 883-8280 or write to them at Box
ACB12, 85 Channel Dr., Port Washington, NY 11050.
SEEING EYE CHOICES
     The Seeing Eye now has a comprehensive multimedia package
containing "Choices: Living with Vision Loss," which is a 23-minute
video, and "If Blindness Occurs," a large print booklet that lists
sources for obtaining assistive devices.  This packet illustrates
that, with a positive outlook, emotional support and professional
instruction, life after sight loss can remain rich and fulfilling;
the choice of moving forward despite vision loss is up to the
person.  To get a copy, send your name, address, payment of $39.95
($29.95 for graduates of The Seeing Eye program), and request to
The Seeing Eye, P.O. Box 375, Morristown, N.J. 07963-0375; phone
(201) 539-4425.  Single copies of "If Blindness Occurs" are free
(agencies are asked to pay $10 to cover shipping per 100 copies).
NEW FROM ARKENSTONE
     Arkenstone now has a new version of An Open Book called Easy
Edition, designed specifically for people who want an economical,
one-touch reading appliance.  The Easy Edition is priced at $4,695,
which is $800 less than the company's top reading machine, with no
sacrifice of speed, accuracy or storage capacity.
     The company has also upgraded its ArkenClone system to 60 mHz
chips, designed to support PC-based access technology.  This
version costs $1,695, and has more storage capacity, a fax/modem,
two disk drives (a 3.5-inch and a 5.25-inch), and CD-ROM drive.   
  In addition, Arkenstone's Open Book reading machine products can
now support the Creative Labs TextAssist speech synthesizer. 
TextAssist software runs only on Creative Labs sound cards,
specifically the Sound Blaster 16 with ASP and the Sound Blaster
AWE 32.
     For more information on any of these products, contact
Arkenstone at (800) 444-4443 or write the company at 1390 Borregas
Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
10TH ANNIVERSARY
     The National Radio Club is celebrating the 10th anniversary of
its DX Audio Service, which was originally started as a "books for
the blind" publication.  For more information, send a self-
addressed stamped envelope to Kenneth Chatterton at National Radio
Club, P.O. Box 164, Mannsville, NY 13661.
MATERIALS ACCESS
     Transcription Technologies Inc. can provide materials in
accessible formats to visually impaired individuals and agencies,
organizations, businesses or industries providing goods or services
to that person.  The company will convert print materials into
braille, large print, four-track tone-indexed cassette, DOS disk,
and WordPerfect 5.1 disk.  All materials are confidential; both the
original and the accessible copy will be returned after payment. 
A copy will be kept on file in case an extra copy is desired later. 
Braille and large print materials will be bound and covered, if
desired, or three standard notebook holes will be made and rings
inserted.  Cassettes and disks will be labeled in print or braille. 
Materials that can be converted include: correspondence, personal
documents, brochures and newsletters, magazines, newspaper
articles, books, manuals and menus.  Permission from book
publishers is required to convert any copyrighted material.
     The company also has a bimonthly magazine that includes a
variety of articles from syndicated columns and other print
sources.  "Noteworthy News Magazine" offers news of medicine, short
entertaining news nuggets, and articles related to current issues
in the news nationally and internationally.  A single issue in any
format (braille, cassette, large print, DOS disk or WordPerfect 5.1
disk) costs $16; a year's subscription costs $45.  Make checks
payable to Transcription Technologies, Inc.  For more information,
contact the company at 470 Tunnel Rd., Vernon, CT 06066.
RICHCREEK GOODS
     C. Richcreek Enterprises, of Oregon, offers products for the
visually impaired.  One device is the Easy Writer guide, complete
with beads for marking your place while writing a letter.  Its
suggested retail price is $16 plus $4.50 shipping and handling. 
Also available is a scanner deck, allowing a scanner to be placed
at the edge of a desk while supporting a book on either side, made
for the HP Scan Jet IIP.  Another item is the Aladdin Knife
Sharpener, which is mounted on a stained oak plaque and comes with
a mounting screw.  Its suggested retail price is $12.95 plus $1.50
shipping and handling.  For more information call (503) 325-4005 or
write C. Richcreek Enterprises, Route 5 Box 42B, Astoria, OR 97103.
MESSAGE CENTER
     Every house has a place þ usually by the phone or on the
refrigerator,
where household members leave written messages for each other.  But
what about the visually impaired?  What's an effective, easy system
for recording and transmitting messages to and from the visually
impaired?
     We have the answer.  A simple compact (7 2/3" x 6 1/4") free-
standing device for recording and playing back messages.  This
solid state electronic device has a digital memory (no tape) which
allows for a total of up to 60 seconds of messages on each of four
separate channels.  Alternatively, the channels can be combined so
that there are two channels of 120 seconds each.  The ergonomic
design and special tones make operating the device child's play. 
The message center has already enjoyed much acceptance in Israel. 
In fact, the Ministry of Defense recently decided to purchase it
for all qualified visually impaired veterans.      Our target
retail price is $98.
     Please note: the message center allows for both AC and/or DC
(4 AA
batteries) operation.  Batteries and AC adaptor not included.  For
more information, please contact us either by fax, e-mail or
regular mail: Dr. Aaron Lerner, H.S.C. (Israel) Ltd.,
P.O. Box 982 Kfar Sava, Israel; phone 972-9-904719; Internet
address: imra@netvision.net.il; fax 972-9-911645.  
TAPES AVAILABLE
     Jeanine Linster sells tapes for beginning to advanced keyboard
players as well as chord or melody dictation for other instruments:
guitar, wind and vocal.  Individualized tapes are geared to the
ability and desires of the client.  Age is no drawback.  Many types
of music are available.  Most 60-minute tapes are $15;  90-minute
tapes are $23.  A tape usually keeps a person busy for a month or
longer.  Christmas tapes are specially priced.  Contact Jeanine
Linster, 409 30 1/4 Road, Grand Junction, CO 81504; 303-434-8639.
VOICE TOUCH
     The Voice Touch by TFi Engineering makes the One Touch II
talk.  The One Touch II automatically turns the Voice Touch on and
off; the flick of a switch is all it takes to choose a high quality
male or female voice.  Optional fast mode allows users to skip
enunciating unnecessary messages.  It has non-skid rubber feet,
volume control, an earphone for private listening, large print and
cassette instructions, and much more.  For more information, call
TFi Engineering at (800) 331-8255 or (617) 242-7007, or write them
at 529 Main St., Boston, MA 02129.
HEALTH CARE
     Non-profit organizations involved in health care qualify for
a nationwide corporate donations program that provides new supplies
at minimal cost.  Materials available include office supplies,
computer software, clothing, janitorial and maintenance items,
tools, toys and games, paper products, and personal care items. 
Corporations donate their new, excess inventory and earn a federal
income tax deduction.  Recipient groups pay $645 annual dues, plus
shipping and administrative fees.  Delivery is by UPS.  For more
information, contact the National Association for the Exchange of
Industrial Resources at (800) 562-0955.

                      FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE:
        CHANGING THE BRAILLE CODE:  AN ACCESS PERSPECTIVE 
     Imagine yourself as the proprietor of a restaurant.  You have
just spent thousands of dollars building ramps, widening doorways
and adapting rest rooms to precise state and federal accessibility
codes.  Your personnel have gone through disability awareness
training, have learned basic sign language and know proper behavior
around service animals.  You have even had your menu put into
attractively bound braille/large print volumes.  Many new customers
express their satisfaction with your efforts.        Now imagine a
customer coming up to you one day with an indignant glare stating
that you are in violation of the law and that he will see to it
that you are prosecuted.  
     "What law?" you ask in dismay, thinking you have covered all
your bases in accessibility.  
     "This braille does not meet the new Unified Braille Code
standards," the patron exclaims, waving the menu at you.  "Didn't
you know that braille has changed to better reflect print?  I think
you'd better investigate this and make the appropriate changes."  
   You are mystified.  Even though you paid attention during the
training  to the part that talked about two different "grades" of
braille, you don't understand this new wrinkle.  What on Earth is
the Unified Braille Code?  Do you really need to go out and get all
new menus printed?  Nobody else has mentioned this new code to you
and your restaurant has a growing number of braille-reading
customers since you offered the menus.
     This is not just a ridiculous scenario.  It could actually
happen if the Unified Braille Code is to be implemented on a wide
scale.  Having reviewed the material from BANA on this proposed
code, I realize that changes to such things as menus will not be
substantial, but as long as there are people opposing such common-
sense items as tactile warnings, there will be those who will carry
out the above scenario.        Now put yourself in the position of
a restaurant patron.  You are happy to notice the braille menu
offered to you along with the print ones for your sighted
companions.  Braille, for you, is a convenient means of
independence.  You may never read a novel or even a magazine, but
the menu is a welcome sight for your fingers.        Wait a minute,
what in the world is this?  It doesn't look much like the braille
you learned way back when.  Confused and embarrassed, you yield to
your sighted friends to decipher the items.  
     Then you hear about this new Unified Braille Code in which
such attributes as bold, underlined and otherwise highlighted type
are individually identified with a combination of characters.  The
spacing is all off from what you are accustomed to in the literary
braille you learned.  It looks like the foreign language sections
of those braille airline safety manuals you get as the jet takes
off.  And what happened to the dollar sign?  This is all well and
good for those who are really "hot to know" exactly what they are
missing in print, but you are convinced that this old dog will not
be able to learn new tricks as quickly as necessary to use the "new
braille."      Whether you find merit in the Unified Braille Code
or not, it is difficult to deny the problems major changes in the
code could mean to general accessibility.  A good example lies with
local and state governments who, under Title II of the Americans
with Disabilities Act, are obligated to provide material in the
consumer's medium of choice.  Such facilities rarely are set up to
produce these materials in house and must contract with
transcribing services or private businesses for the job.  Funding
is often limited.  "Do it once, correctly, because that's all the
money we've got."      What happens when manuals, books and other
documents must be reproduced to meet Unified Braille standards? 
Even if changes to literary braille end up being few, reproduction
will be necessary.  The unified code also requires more space due
to its adherence to the appearance of print.  More space means more
paper and more money.  Where will the funds come from for this? 
How will blind people wishing to read Unified Code combat the
funding excuse? 
     Access issues aside, how long, realistically, will it take for
the general braille-reading public to be comfortable with the
Unified Code?  It seems odd to me that teachers of the code are
being saddled with a great responsibility to know and adequately
explain complex principles of character definition to students when
one of the issues in "Braille Bill" legislation being passed in
many states is the inadequate instruction of braille already being
given to our school children and the lack of braille instruction at
undergraduate and post-graduate levels of rehabilitation and
educational curricula.  
     It is claimed that "one code" will make it easier to learn the
baffling system of "computer braille."  Would it not be better to
improve the initial educational material supplied to those needing
to work with computer braille?  Why not develop training material
to assist those moving from the literary code to the computer code
specifically?       Back to the access issues posed by an adoption
of new standards for braille.  We must realize that the system of
raised dots which is so familiar to us is totally foreign to
sighted people.  It is viewed as everything from a gimmick, used by
"those amazing blind people," to so much extra paper they have to
keep on hand to comply with the law.  Like material in Spanish,
they realize they must have it to support the needs of a population
and look toward the nearest "expert" to provide the appropriate
material.  I am sure every braille reader has, at one time or
another, read something produced by an "amateur braillist" and been
told he/she should be lucky to have braille at all, never mind its
quality.  Computerized transcription has increased the number of
people able to produce the code, but has it affected the quality? 
Yes, and more often than not, not for the better.  This is not a
problem which can be solved by changing the code though.  It is an
ethical business issue, to be solved like any other, through
education of those seeking braille services.  Through stricter
licensing of transcribers and proofreaders and requirements that
governmental institutions only utilize such licensed services, we
can at least attempt to set some standard for quality, no matter
what code is used.                    Jenine McKeown, Columbus, OH

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE 
CONFERENCE ON AGING
by Teresa Blessing
     As a recent delegate to the White House Conference on Aging
(WHCoA), I want to share with you a finding that was not on the
agenda; I think it is of great importance to all of us who are
blind living in a visual world. I know that I have had experiences
as many of you may of had that sighted people are impatient with
us, do not consider our concerns and make us feel isolated and
groping for access to information easily available to others.
However, in my time with the 2,250 delegates, large numbers of
WHCOA staff, volunteers and hotel staff, I was deeply impressed by
the courtesy and helpfulness displayed by everyone, not just the
paid staff.
     With such large numbers of people gathered together in one
hotel, I am sure you can appreciate the long lines for every
activity and facility.  One would have expected frayed tempers and
discourtesy, but I did not witness any such behavior.  Coming from
a state where tourism is the primary industry, attitudes of
courtesy and helpfulness were welcome surprises.  My efforts to
participate and have my voice heard could have been a harrowing
experience, but indeed the opposite was true.  I keep thinking that
if the degree of courtesy and great love demonstrated in that
gathering could permeate the world, what a wonderful place this
would be.
     Another observation that became quite evident to me at the
WHCoA meeting is that, as visually impaired and blind people in
this society, it is imperative that we learn at an early age to be
assertive.  This does not mean that we should be aggressive and
rude; it merely means that we need to know that we are very
important people who sometimes are overlooked because we do not see
well in a visual society.  We must develop the courage to verbalize
our needs, thoughts, and desires and see that they are acted upon. 
    Try it, you will be amazed at how helpful people are and what
a great place the world is to live in.
     The delegates to the WHCoA adopted 52 resolutions covering
many diverse subjects involving aging and intergenerational matters
since we all recognize what we do now will affect not only
ourselves but our children and their children.  The adopted
resolutions will be published for the public to review and comment
upon with suggestions as to how they may be implemented and by
whom.  Those of us representing the aging blind and visually
impaired were successful in changing some of the language in some
of the resolutions to include "aging blind and visually impaired"
in areas where it was important that blindness and visual
impairment would impact upon the programs being promoted.      It
behooves us all to work toward implementing policies and
recommendations emanating from the WHCoA in whatever form it takes
at the federal, state or local levels.

                        HIGH TECH SWAP SHOP
     FOR SALE: VISTA card, mouse, version 2.1 software, and manual
in print, to be used with EGA or CGA monitors, make offer.  1200
baud external modem, excellent condition, $15.  Acoustic printer
cover, great for braille printer, $100.  Sony 7-inch reel-to-reel
four-track tape recorder, needs repair, $25.  Apollo 14-inch CCTV,
needs repair, would be great for parts, make offer.  All prices
negotiable.  Contact Tony Rock, 151 Connie Dr., Pittsburgh, PA
15214; phone (412) 931-4793.
     FOR SALE: Visual Tech Voyager XL.  Nine years old, in great
condition þ barely used.  Like brand new.  Asking $2,000 or best
offer.  Call Cindy at (716) 836-7818.      FOR SALE: Telesensory
CCTV.  Purchased in 1993 for $2,695.  Perfect condition; minimal
use.  Asking $1,100 or best offer.  Contact Bill Denham at 3003 Van
Ness St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20008; phone (202) 364-0920.
     WANTED TO BUY: Disk drive for a Versabraille II+.  Call
Leonard Suchanek at (703) 237-7934.
     WANTED TO BUY: Optacon R1D, preferred on service agreement to
verify condition, but others considered.  Write in any medium or
call: Janell Peterson, 303 Harvard Ave. E., Apt. 302, Seattle, WA
98102; phone (206) 328-4778.      WANTED: Power supply for Votrax. 
Contact Tzipporah Ben Avraham, P.O. Box 1183, Brooklyn, NY 11219.

ACB BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sue Ammeter, Seattle, WA 
Ardis Bazyn, Cedar Rapids, IA 
Patricia Beattie, Arlington, VA 
Christopher Gray, San Jose, CA  
John Horst, Wilkes-Barre, PA 
Jean Mann, Guilderland, NY 
Kristal Platt, Omaha, NE
M.J. Schmitt, Berwyn, IL
Pamela Shaw, Silver Spring, MD 
Otis Stephens, Ph.D., Knoxville, TN 
Richard Villa, Bedford, TX

BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS

Billie Jean Hill, Chairperson, Alexandria, VA 
Kim Charlson, Watertown, MA 
Thomas Mitchell, North Salt Lake City, UT
Mitch Pomerantz, Los Angeles, CA 
Edward Potter, Goldsboro, NC 
Ex Officio: Laura Oftedahl, Watertown, MA 

ACB OFFICERS

PRESIDENT
LEROY SAUNDERS
2118 N.W. 21st ST.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73107
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
CHARLES S.P. HODGE
1131 S. FOREST DR.
ARLINGTON, VA 22204
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT
STEPHEN SPEICHER
825 M ST., SUITE 216
LINCOLN, NE 68508

SECRETARY
PATRICIA PRICE 
5707 BROCKTON DRIVE #302
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46220

TREASURER
BRIAN CHARLSON
57 GRANDVIEW AVENUE
WATERTOWN, MA 02172

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
ELIZABETH M. LENNON