Update from the Bay State
Now that the semester is rolling along merrily - much like a steam locomotive being taken out of cold storage and cranked up to full capacity [it takes a while, it's messy, and you just have to anticipate a wreck] I am able to take a breather and catch up on the blogs. Well - not really - I am as busy as ever but have hit the wall and need to take a break. [blogging as a break? - I expect the membership of ATHEN to understand]
I took part in an interesting conference call the other evening. I lurk on the listserv of MAVIS [Mass Alliance of Visually Impaired Students] and contacted them when I saw they are planning to rewrite and reintroduce accessible textbook legislation [originally proposed in 2001]. I decided to offer my services as educator and service provider. As the individual responsible for providing textbooks in alternate for mats for SWD’s at the 4th largest independent university in the U.S., I know as well as anyone how important such legislation has become.
In fact, I had heard of the project in 2001 and tried to get in touch with the organization at that time but to no avail. As it turns out, the young student who wrote the original proposal has stuck with it over the years and is now the President of the organization. I must say that I was quite impressed with this group - lawyers and law students, graduate students and tech-heads, not only does this crew understand the issues but has the knowledge necessary to be taken seriously. In fact, one member met with Barney Frank and asked about national legislation. The Congressman was quite -- well, frank -- with the students in his opinion that now is not the time to try for this at the national level. I think that getting it enacted in Massachusetts will be enough of a challenge - but very very possible.
As a group we were trying to determine the best way to communicate and update our progress - especially considering that we may not be able to get together on any regular basis. The answer - Wiki. A MAVIS member is going to create a Wiki page so that we can all contribute with ease. Interested in creating your own Wiki - here are some resources:
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