It’s being called a major victory for the visually impaired.  The City of Richmond is installing new technology to help the blind cross intersections.  A blind Richmond man’s fight for more accessible crosswalks has resulted in the city testing new features at intersections.

Rob Sleath was about to proceed this week with a human-rights complaint against the city for not making crosswalks as accessible as possible for visually impaired people.  The new devices will be programmed to say street names and give verbal prompts when it’s safe to cross.

Rob Sleath lost his sight 18 years ago and has spearheaded the campaign because crossing intersections was becoming too dangerous for him.  “One of the issues for us, is sighted people can look up on any street corner and figure out where they are, but a visually impaired or blind person doesn’t have that option.  There is no Braille, or verbal message, there is nothing.”

As for crosswalks, Sleath adds until the change, the visually impaired had no way of safely crossing.  “When we are standing at a crossing, short of the sound of traffic there is no real way of knowing when that walk light comes on or the light goes green.”

Initially, the technology will be installed at five crosswalks and Sleath hopes other cities around the Lower Mainland will follow suit.

Choreographer Chitra Krishnamurti put together her admiration for Helen Keller, the deaf and blind American author, political activist and lecturer, with dancers from her Nrityalaya classical Indian dance studio to create a multimedia performance that portrays Keller’s life and travels. The result will be performed Friday evening at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center on Montgomery College’s Rockville campus.
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“Every person deserves the opportunity to enhance their lives through access to the books that teach, entertain and inspire,” said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. “Bringing access to huge libraries of books to the blind and print disabled is truly one of benefits of the digital revolution.”

Kahle also announced that the Internet Archive will be investing in the growth of its virtual bookshelf by funding the digitization of the first 10,000 books donated. Individuals and organizations are welcome to donate their favorite book or a collection of books. Books in all languages welcome. To donate books visit: http://openlibrary.org/bookdrive

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Blind people must have access to repositories of digital information if we are to reach our goal of becoming full and equal participants in society. Access to the books that have been scanned by the Internet Archive in a format accessible to the blind will be another step toward that goal. We are excited about continuing to work with Internet Archive to make access to more books a reality.”

The 1 million+ books in the Internet Archive’s library for print disabled, are scanned from hard copy books then digitized into DAISY — a specialized format used by blind or other persons with disabilities, for easy navigation. Files are downloaded to devices that translate the text and read the books aloud for the user to enjoy. To access books visit: http://openlibrary.org/subjects/accessible_book

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Virginia Tech are developing a new  car that can be driven safely by a blind person – and plan  to demonstrate it on the famous Daytona International Speedway track next year.

The car will be controlled through a number of non-visual interfaces. For example, sensors transmit information about twists and turns in the road via vibrating gloves.

Another technique uses puffs of compressed air from behind the wheel to alert the driver to the objects around the car, such as other vehicles or obstructions in the road.

Other interfaces include a vibrating vest that gives feedback on speed, a click counter steering wheel with audio cues and spoken commands for feedback on the car’s direction.

The team demonstrated its first-generation prototype, http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/43264-car-lets-the-blin-take-the-wheel a modified dune buggy, last summer. The new version is a Ford Escape, which will be demonstrated at the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 29.

Limited free services are available for the visually challenged

For a service request please call 1 dash 773 dash 481 dash 1769 after 7 PM CDT.

We have partnered with DAM Computer Service to offer remote computer support and free help with ZoomText Screen Magnifier and Screen Reader for the visually challenged.