Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in response to Jamie Pauls' August 2018 article, An Evaluation of OrCam MyEye 2.0.
Wonderful—now rationalize to me how a retired, blind woman could possibly afford the ridiculously inflated price. Millions of disabled will get left in the dark, as usual.
Greedy!
Kerry
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in reference to Scott Davert's January 2018 article, A Big Compromise in Price with a Small Compromise in Features: a Review of the Orbit Reader 20 from American Printing House for the Blind.
I found this article very interesting. One suggestion I'd like to offer is that some explanation of terminology be given. For example, what does the term "panning" mean? Not everyone who reads articles in this magazine will have the knowledge base you and others do about the use of braille devices.
Agnes Ferris
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
This message is in reference to Aaron Preece's October 2018 article, Faster Typing on iOS with the FlickType Keyboard: An Evaluation and Overview.
First, all the writers for AccessWorld deserve much credit, because writing how to use something like a keyboard must be among the hardest kind of writing to perform. I can't tell you how many times I have to repeat sentences, because my old brain says, "what?" with quite an extended question mark. It's me, I know it is, but I'm still wondering, within the app versus what? Versus system-wide? The advantage of paying I'm afraid I don't get. It's okay, I'll read the article some more and it does sound like a promising way to input to the phone. You know what though, I really need to wood shed with braille input; I think that holds the key to my being able to leave my Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard at home.
Mike Cole
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
My name is Carey McWilliams, and I am the author of "A Shooting Guide for the Blind," out now on Amazon and other online venues. It is available in print and eBook formats. I have been completely blind since age ten due to domestic violence. Despite this, I have obtained over 30 years of documented firearms training from some of the most recognized authorities in the field, namely The National Rifle Association, law enforcement, and, incredibly, even the United States Army.
I see gun rights for blind Americans as an issue of civil rights. I have volunteered to mentor several shooters, both blind and sighted, for hunting, target shooting, and even self-defense at home or on the street. In so doing, I have found a great deal of misinformation out there about blind Americans and their access to the Second Amendment, with public safety being used as a club to beat down the rights of the blind, even though there isn't really any verifiable data to support such a prohibition.
For over 18 years, I have carried [a firearm] in most of the nation with my current crop of five state-issued concealed carry permits. In fact, my most recent North Dakota concealed carry permit is an upgrade, which is currently recognized in 40 states, the maximum allowed with reciprocity. The story behind that advanced license is that, last spring, I passed new testing requirements put in place in 2005 by my state's government after I made national and international news by passing the old system like everyone else in October 2000. Those government officials then claimed that the old system was too easy if a blind person could pass it. The new permit even allows me to carry my loaded gun in Minnesota where my completed application for a gun permit was denied by a sheriff under reelection.
The judge up held the denial, stating the American's with Disabilities Act, a federal law, did not apply. I guess Minnesota can tell Washington DC its laws aren't good, although I always thought federal superseded state law. In that 2006 case, I was forced to represent myself in court due to the unwillingness of different organizations to aid me in contesting the clearly discriminatory denial of my completed permit application. This however is not new, as the judge in his ruling acknowledged that I could carry anyway with a second permit I obtained during the class for Minnesota. Since then, I have carried in that state for over a decade now between two different permits with no problems, proving the issue was one of equal rights under the Constitution and not a matter of public safety, as some thought.
And so I have taken this knowledge along with photocopies of long disputed firearms training certification and I am attempting to bridge the gap and promote safety through my work. Gaining and maintaining the public's trust requires education and that is what my book and work is all about. Like I say, I know what it is like to have your freedoms under fire. Only by confronting the subject and turning words into deeds can we hope to keep our rights.
Carey McWilliams
