Unable To Spot Leaks

Spotting leaks for me is probably one of the most trying things in my life. A few weeks ago, as I was sitting on my bath tub, I was alerted to the fact that there was a leak in my bathroom. You see, my meditation was interrupted by a big fat drop of water that fell onto my head. So, up I got and climbed onto the side of my bath tub to investigate. I moved my hands cautiously around on the ceiling and, sure enough, I was right! Two of the tiles on my ceiling were completely water logged and had begun their final journey downward.

Now, had I not been assaulted by that bold and presumptuous drop of water, I probably would never have known that such a leak existed and what could have happened is anyone's guess. Probably, the tiles would have fallen either on me or in my bathroom making a real mess. If I were able to see, chances are that I would have spotted this leak long before the big fat drop of water warned me, but that's life for me. The same thing would apply if the leak had come from down below. That is, from my own toilet. I probably would have felt the water first before knowing about it.

In the world of a blind person, we are often warned by touch after the leak has started, whereas for the sighted world leaks are often spotted visually. Or, we are treated to the sensation of wetness or powdery stuff that tells us that a leak has indeed made its way into our world. So, how do I deal with spotting leaks?

It's not easy for normal, but I do need to take precautions. I am always listening for running water if I have not myself initiated it. In the kitchen, my hands are constantly roaming along the bottoms of mugs, cups, plates, saucers, pots and pans, shopping bags, etc. I am constantly feeling my way along my counters and dressers to ensure that nothing has leaked out of rice, pasta, salt, and sugar canisters, and I am constantly checking bottles and jars.

I check my fridge regularly for spills and leaks. I check my bathroom regularly for leaks from various jars, bottles, and various containers. My hands are constantly checking makeup cases for leaking powders and liquids. Time-consuming? Yes, but just think of what could happen if you do not check on a constant basis. It's just a part of my life.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your accessibility and special-needs business consultant, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and tell the rest of the world how blind persons cope with discovering leaks. If you would like to learn more about how blind persons cope on a daily basis then visit http://www.afb.org.

I Am More Exposed to Identity Theft

The title of this blog is a true statement. I am making this observation because as a blind person I can see where this particular group of persons is probably the most vulnerable when it comes to identity theft. True it is that seniors and persons with other types of disabilities run a very close second, but please allow me to explain a bit further.

As a person with precious little vision, I have to depend on my sighted family and friends to help me navigate through the mounds of paper generated forms. When it comes to filling out those cumbersome online forms, it's a whole new ball game. How does this make me feel? I'll tell you: helpless, vulnerable, scared, and left wondering who is really listening or really cares?

Each time I need to complete hard copy forms, it means that I have no choice but to share personal and confidential information with someone else and it means that I have to trust that person to keep my information private and confidential. I have to trust that the information I give is what is going to be written down exactly as I wish it to be and that the person completing information on my behalf will not copy that information on a separate piece of paper for their later use. In addition, I have to trust that the person reading the information to me is reading exactly what is there and not reading something else that they may choose to make up.

When it comes to completing those cumbersome and complicated online forms, I have to depend on either my screen reader software to tell me exactly what is being required or, if that is not possible, I have to depend on sighted assistance. At the present time, screen reader software still faces many challenges when it comes to being able to decipher the contents of forms and why is this? Because many website developers do not take the time to ensure that the forms have been designed to be accessible and usable. Just think of it in this way: If sighted persons have difficulty completing forms online, then the challenge for someone who is blind or visually impaired becomes twice or thrice as difficult.

So, the picture is this: If I am unable to complete forms on my own, then I must depend on a person with sight to help me which requires that I place complete trust in that person to read accurately to me and write accurately for me. This puts me in a very vulnerable position and opens me up to identity theft. There is a growing demand for forms to be provided in alternate formats. This means that forms need to be provided in a format whereby blind and visually-impaired persons will be able to read and complete their own forms independently.

If you would like to learn more about the meaning of alternate formats then you can visit www.tbase.com. This Canadian-based company provides alternate formats to those who are print-disabled which includes blind and visually impaired persons.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and start advocating for more information to be produced in alternate formats. It will not only help those with vision problems, but millions of others who are print disabled.

Why I Touch Light Bulbs

As a rule of thumb, the mainstream person with enough vision can usually tell when a light bulb has had it; they can usually do this after turning on the light switch and noticing that the bulb is not lighting. For me, it is very different. When I had enough vision, it was no problem for me to tell whether or not a light bulb was lighting, but ever since losing my vision over five years ago, it is a different story.

I now have to use a different method to tell me if the good old light bulb is lighting up. Often times if a light bulb is ready to quit lighting, you would usually hear a "pop" sound when you turn on the switch but you can't always depend on this indicator. So, I have to use another technique. Yes, you got it! I have to touch the light bulb to see what's going on or, if the light bulb is close enough to me, I can just bring my hand close enough to feel if there is any heat coming from it.

The other day, I went to turn on a switch in my office and as I did so I heard something go "pop." I immediately realized that one of the light bulbs had blown; but which one of the two was it? I took my step ladder and climbed towards the light bulbs. First I had to locate them by feeling along the ceiling for the chandelier. Next I had to stretch all the way to see which one was hot and which was cold. After a minute or so, I found the culprit and then had to climb back down, turn off the switch, and then climb back up and repeat the process of finding the chandelier. Upon locating the blown light bulb, the cold one, I removed it and then returned with a new light bulb. But there was more to come!

After screwing in the new light bulb, I climbed back down, switched on the light, and returned to make sure that the new light bulb was lighting. I tested both light bulbs with my hand and, lo and behold, the new light bulb was not lighting. It was cold. So down I went to repeat the process all over again. After a few minutes, I had things working again.

Last year, I discovered a little gadget that I can use to tell if lights are on in a room. If you turn it on and it buzzes, then there is light but if it does not buzz then there is no light. A very handy little thing for telling if my computer screen is on or off but be careful now! It will only work if there is no residual light close at hand. For example, daylight. I will hasten to add that I could not have used it in the incident described above because there were two light bulbs for me to deal with.

You may be asking yourself if I am unable to see the light, then why do I bother to turn on lights? Very simple! It is for the sighted world, in case I should have visitors. And, somehow it makes me feel as if I am still part of the sighted world.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and reminding you to go out there and tell others what blind and visually-impaired persons do in order to tell if light bulbs are working.

To learn more, Visit Independent living aids (ILA) at http://www.independentlivingaids.org.
Tel: 1-800-537-2118
Or Maxi Aids at: http://www.maxiaids.com
Tel: 1-800-522-6294

Internet Service Providers Not Providing

I sort of grew as a businessperson along with the era of the Internet and modern technology. However, there is still so much for me to get used to and it is growing on a daily basis. It is one thing to have been involved in this growth all along, but quite another to be able to keep up with it; and, when you are blind or do not have enough vision to see things, there is a huge gap.

The mainstream person (someone without stereotypical special needs) who is lucky enough to be able to see and learn things, who can easily understand and fix technical problems, and who knows how to communicate with technical support teams at their Internet service providers, can consider themselves lucky. However for me, the picture is different. Yes, for the most part when a glitch occurs in my Internet service I can understand what is going on, but the trouble starts when I try to communicate this to technicians at my Internet service provider.

You see, my Internet service provider is staffed with technicians whose first language is not English and their culture is one where they have not been exposed to persons who are either technically disabled or otherwise disabled due to anyone of the following: hearing, sight, or physical impairments. So whenever I phone them with a problem, they are at a loss as how to communicate with me. 99% of the time, I spend the first 15 minutes trying to explain why I am unable to give them the requested info about my modem. The conversation goes something like this:

Technician: "Please give me the model number on your modem."
Donna: "Sorry, but I can't because I am blind."
Technician: "Well, do you see the lights on your modem?"
Donna: "No, I do not see any lights on my modem because I am blind."
Technician: "Okay, then what color is your modem?"
Donna: "Sir, I told you that I am unable to see because I am blind."

After about 15 minutes of this type of conversation the technician finally gets it and understands that something is wrong with me, and he then informs me that maybe my modem is not working. This occurs after much wasted energy and only after I have convinced him to check to see if there is a signal to my modem from his end. He tells me that there is no signal, so the modem is dead. He is going to order a new modem for me but guess what? I will not be able to install the modem when it arrives because it requires vision to do so.

We haggle on the phone for another 15 minutes, and in the end I am told that there is no one from the company to help me with this at the present time. A technician will not be available until about three days later. So in the meantime, I will have to do without Internet service. Tough. If I really want to restore my Internet service sooner than this, I will need to pay a technician about $100 to come to my home office and install the modem which the Internet service provider is only too willing to send to me via priority post.

So what is the problem here? As a general rule of thumb, most Internet service providers do not provide on site technical support to their customers. If you need help over and above phone support, you are out of luck and you will have to pay out of your pocket for on site technical support. What disturbs me greatly is that my particular Internet service provider falls woefully short when it comes to both phone support and lack of on-site support. Yet every month they are more than happy to accept my payments, but if you make the mistake of missing a payment one month, then see how quickly they will cut your services.

What Internet service providers need to understand is this: Their bread and butter consumers of tomorrow will be those who did not grow up in the age of technology. Aging baby boomers, retirees, seniors, and the ever-growing number of those with physical, hearing, and vision challenges. If they continue to ignore these consumers, then much sooner than later they will find themselves facing a massive exit of customers seeking better services or even more serious may be a series of lawsuits by customers who will take them to court over inadequate service.

Internet service providers need to provide better support services to their consumers; phone support by technicians who can communicate better in English, and reliable on-site support. This can all be accomplished but we need to have cooperation and communication between Internet service providers and their consumers.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your accessibility and business needs consultant, wishing you a terrific day and reminding you to start educating your Internet service providers as to how they can better serve their bread and butter consumers of tomorrow.

An Introduction: If I could see what you see...

... what a better world it would be!

Five years ago my world came crashing down when I lost almost all of my vision. I was born blind but was able to see colours, shapes, shadows, and light. Then, when I was a teen I received one of the most precious gifts in life; new vision due to a cornea transplant. My whole world suddenly opened up and expanded, and my life changed drastically. My new life lasted for almost 25 years but sadly, it came to a sudden, unexpected end on one of the coldest Canadian winter days in January of 2004. On that day, as fat snowflakes chased each other outside and the frigid winds howled at the landscape, doctors crowded into an operating room in downtown Toronto to try to save my sight. The team of surgeons and residents fought valiantly, but in the end they had to admit defeat.

My retina had detached in three places; it was one of the worst detachments that they had ever seen and blood had trickled in to the eye causing damage to the cornea. The end result was devastating: 99% of my vision was gone and it was to herald the start of a new path for me. While it is true that I was born with a visual impairment – to put it more bluntly, I was born blind -- but what most of the world does not fully realize is this: Every bit of vision counts and when you go from being able to see light to barely seeing shadows, the change is traumatic!

I have spent the last five years living as a person who is almost totally blind. I have gone from a kid with useful vision, to a teen with a lot of vision, to someone who is now fighting to keep my head above water in the fall years of my career. As a realist, I know that as I approach retirement within the next decade, life is only going to get more challenging for me. However, I am not prepared to limit my life, shrink my world, or change my persona in any way. And, I fully realize I am not alone. Many are facing challenges and becoming part of the special-needs community, especially as the population ages.

No, what I am going to do is produce blogs that you can use to help others. To help your kids overcome challenges, show your parents and friends how to deal with disabilities and drawbacks, and make companies and governments accountable to you whenever they fail to respect your rights as human beings.

I am going to use my life experiences and skills as an accessibility and special-needs business consultant to help you.

My most heartfelt mission is to ensure that the children of the future have equal access to information and job opportunities. I have many supporters and motivators to keep me going, and whenever I feel myself stumbling all I need to do is to remember the final words of my brother Robert who succumbed to cancer in May of 2007.

As he began his final approach to the other side, he managed to take one last look at his wife and doctor and softly plead, "Somebody do something!" It breaks my heart every time I think of his plea, and that they were unable to do anything.

But I know I can do something…something to help. I faithfully promise that I will not give up.

So, I invite you now to walk with me, and during our time together I will tell you all about some of the most common problems that you could and would encounter both as a person with a disability and/or someone who knows someone with a disability. I will also provide you with suggestions and solutions from both myself and from others.

Until next…