Prioritizing the Learner

Imagine handing learners a training manual filled with dense, jargon-heavy text and lengthy explanations. Training doesn’t have to feel like a struggle. In fact, successful training modules are accessible, engaging, and even enjoyable. As a bonus, well-executed work-related training offers employees the opportunity to take a welcomed break from their daily routines.

Why Plain Language Matters

Plain language is a writing style that is clear, easy to follow, and uses simple words and phrases while avoiding unnecessary complexity or jargon.

• Example using complex and jargon-filled language: “The institution leverages a comprehensive cognitive training model with an emphasis on advanced problem-solving techniques, optimizing individual learning trajectories while fostering robust cognitive restructuring.”
• Example using simple, plain, and clear language: “At this learning center, educators use a training method that emphasizes problem-solving skills. They help learners improve their understanding by guiding them through different approaches to tackle challenges.”

The second example is more effective because it uses simplified language and direct explanations. The content becomes learner friendly and easier to grasp.

The Importance of Plain Language Writing

In the world of online learning, plain language writing is a powerful tool for designing effective courses.

Tips to write for clarity and understanding:

• Put information in logical order, with the important details first. For example: “’Designing Accessible Outdoor Spaces’ is a new course that will be offered this fall” is easier to grasp right away than “There is a new course offering coming this fall called ‘Designing Accessible Outdoor Spaces.’”
• Use active voice, with a clear “actor” in your writing. For example: “You must enroll in the course by Tuesday, April 9, 2024” is more clear than “Course enrollments must be completed by Tuesday April 9, 2024.”
• Use language familiar to your target audience and provide definitions for any unusual words. For example, let’s look at the unusual word “contagion” (disease that is easily spread). Tuberculosis is an airborne contagion, which means this disease is easily spread through the air by coughing, sneezing and spitting.
• Spell out acronyms as they are introduced and occasionally throughout the text. For example: “Every year, he donates $200 to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).”

Plain Language Adoption Success Story

In 2022 the OM Team determined that a set of onboarding modules for a private research university needed to be revised. The original modules were dense and text-heavy, making it difficult for learners to understand and engage with the content.

By embracing plain language and rebranding the modules, the creators were able to make the training concise, clear, and easy to understand. Learners responded enthusiastically to the new content.

Data showed a 44% increase in learner engagement and better understanding of the onboarding material. This success story demonstrates how plain language can lead to more effective and enjoyable learning experiences.

Final Thoughts

Plain language is not just a buzzword. It’s a powerful writing approach in successful course design. By embracing clarity and simplicity, course creators can transform their learning materials and uplift the learning experience for everyone.

You can find out more about using plain language and other accessibility topics by visiting Oleb Media and signing up for our newsletter: The Digital Inclusion News. You are also encouraged to download our guide on plain language: The Course and Content Creator’s Guide to Writing in Plain Language.

I encourage you to click through to read the full interview, which includes tips like improving how you use and create the alternative text (“alt text”) on your website and social media accounts. Here’s an excerpt:

Alternative text is a written description of what is shown in an image. It can also help assistive technology, such as screen reading tools, to interpret images. It’s a useful tool, but many users overlook it and some don’t use it correctly.

All images should include well-written alternative text. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have built-in alternative text features, but the generated text isn’t always reliable.

Digital inclusion specialist Belo Miguel Cipriani navigates social media with the help of assistive technology after becoming blind in 2007. He sometimes finds himself unable to decipher an image due to faulty alternative text.

“When it comes to social media, often what I hear is ‘image, image,’ or ‘image 024’ with a super long number,” Cipriani said.

“I wouldn’t rely on anything automated.” Cipriani said. “Anything that’s providing important information should be created manually. You don’t want the information to be missing important pieces.”

There are a few best practices for writing alternative text that should sound familiar to journalists. Some of them include: Use correct grammar, be concise and specific, and include all relevant details.

Cipriani said adverbs can cloud the clarity of the alternative text. His advice: Don’t use them at all.

Read the full interview on the Poynter Institute website and I encourage you to leave your comments below. Also, Oleb Media will be launching The Alt Text Master Class soon, so sign up to our newsletter to get the latest updates on when to expect the class to start — and much more.

Your 2021 Accessible Travel Checklist

Credit: The National WWII Museum

1. New Orleans, LA – The National WWII Museum

Rated the #3 museum in the United States, according to the 2018 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards, The National WWII Museum is continually enhancing its offerings to ensure that all history enthusiasts can explore its 300,000 sq. ft. of immersive exhibits and multimedia experiences safely and comfortably, including renewing its Sensory Inclusive certification with KultureCity. In addition to offering daily sensory bags with noise-cancelling headphones, sunglasses, fidgets, Feeling Zone thermometers, non-verbal cards and a KultureCity lanyard, the Museum has launched Sensory Friendly Mornings. Occurring the last Saturday of each month, the museum experience will be modified to make the visit more sensory-friendly for pre-registered guests by lowering the sound volume in louder areas, alerting visitors in areas where headphones are recommended, and offering designated Quiet Areas including private Quiet Rooms as needed. Guests will also receive a Social Story ahead of time to help plan their visit based on the content and advisories of each building. Additional information can be found here.

2. Various Destinations – Intrepid Travel

World leading adventure tour operator, Intrepid Travel, offers Tailor-Made trips, ideal for those looking to dream and design a trip that cannot be Googled. Tailor-Made trips offer fully custom or ready-made itineraries that can be personalized or adapted to suit the group’s comfort level, and to travelers with a disability. Travelers will have access to destination specialists who have expert local knowledge and will have the flexibility to choose when and where they’d like to begin their trip, thanks to flexible booking. Choose from unique accommodations with great character, and select the number of meals, public or private transport, number of activities, and more. A local guide will escort the group every step of the way. Whether the group is celebrating a special occasion or embarking on a special adventure, Tailor-Made trips offer authentic local experiences that you won’t find in a search engine. For example, Intrepid previously worked with athlete Dan Berlin to become the first blind person to run the Inca Trail in a single day in an astonishing 13 hours. Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, Intrepid Travel has made a number of updates to their safety guidelines, flexible booking conditions and trip departures.

3. Various Locations – Wheel the World

As a leader in the accessible travel category, and rated #1 by Lonely Planet in diversity and inclusion, Wheel the World offers a platform of accessible tours, experiences, accommodation and travel – encouraging exploration of the world and creating an atmosphere of unity among people with disabilities, their companions, and nature. From international surf trips, to rainforest tours, to volcano trekking, to dune bashing, Wheel of the World offers adventure in 40 destinations around the world and on every continent. With a mission to create experiences that are adaptive to specific needs, they plan trip recommendations based on individual questionnaire answers and are available 24/7 should you need assistance while abroad. Additional information on specific destinations can be found here.

Credit: Morgan’s Wonderland

4. San Antonio, TX – Morgan’s Wonderland

Opened in April of 2010, Morgan’s Wonderland is a first of its kind amusement park, designed entirely with special needs individuals in mind. The park features 25 Ultra-Accessible attractions including a sensory village, ferris wheel, swings and the water park, Morgan’s Inspiration Island, with no entry cost for those with special needs. Some highlights throughout the park include:

• Sensory Village – Imaginations can run wild at Morgan’s Wonderland’s Sensory Village, a make-believe community that encourages creativity. Visitors can head to the Fix-It Shop for a simulated test drive or visit Paramount Theater to watch interactive videos. Younger guests can stop by the Village Market grocery store and go on imaginary shopping trips, before heading to KMWL-TV to see themselves on TV.
• Whirling Wonder – This colorful ferris wheel takes guests on a mile ride, high up in the sky, for panoramic views of Morgan’s Wonderland. Located next to Starlight Amphitheater, right on the shoreline of Morgan Wonderland’s 8-acre lake, Whirling Wonder takes guests up five and a half stories and is visible from over a half-mile away.
• Wheelchair Swings – Kids of all ages can safely soar through the air on more than 30 traditional or adaptive swings, including those designed to accommodate wheelchairs.
• Morgan’s Inspiration Island – Keeping with the mission of Morgan’s Wonderland of being a safe and inclusive place to play, Morgan’s Inspiration Island is a tropical-like paradise filled with colorful splash pads, slides and a river boat adventure ride. Waterproof wheelchairs are even available to rent so that every visitor can partake in the fun.

Credit: Visit St. Pete/Clearwater

5. Florida – St. Pete/Clearwater

St. Pete/Clearwater aims to be a fun-filled, accessible vacation destination for individuals and families, whether they prefer sun-drenched beaches or want to experience the vibrant cultural/arts scene of the region.

• The Dali Museum – The Dali Museum wants every traveler to enjoy their visit. The museum offers a limited number of wheelchairs for public use within the building on a first come, first serve basis. For visitors with auditory needs, free audio content can be accessed by downloading the Dalí Museum App, including audio descriptions of selected artworks. The museum also offers a limited supply of courtesy Induction Neck loops, and ASL interpretation can be requested 2 weeks prior to visits at no charge. For visitors with vision needs, The Dalí Museum App interfaces with personal device Voice Over or TalkBack verbal description capabilities. For visitors with cognitive impairment needs, quiet hours are offered at the Museum on Sundays from 10am until noon.
• Museum of Fine Art – The MFA welcomes families with children with sensory sensitivities to explore the galleries on “Sensory Saturdays” every second Saturday of the month, from 10 am to 12 pm. During this time, all rotating audio components will be turned down or muted to ensure a calm environment. Visitors will receive a pre-packaged sensory bag with a guiding prompt, sketching materials, or other sensory-friendly activities.
• Great Explorations Children’s Museum- Great Explorations is listed as Autism Friendly in the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) Autism Friendly Business Directory. The museum’s full and part-time staff has attended trainings with CARD staff to increase awareness of the needs of visitors on the autism spectrum, and to enhance the team’s ability to respond effectively and sensitively to these needs. Great Explorations is also accessible to wheelchair users and other visitors who need to avoid stairs.
• Tradewinds Island Resort on St. Pete Beach – As a designated special needs friendly resort by Be Friendlier, Tradewinds staff undergoes continuous training to ensure they understand sensitivities, developmental disabilities and unique situations so they are equipped to help all families and children enjoy their stay. The resort offers a Be Friendlier safety kit (for a small replacement charge) complete with door alarms, extra batteries, visual aide “STOP” prompt signs, corner guards, stove knob covers, and outlet covers. Tradewinds also offers waterproof temporary safety tattoos with room for phone/room numbers, and gluten-free menu options for those with dietary restrictions.

6. Florida – The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel 

As an inclusive destination, The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel features easy, accessible tourism information for persons with disabilities. A full guide details access to everything from getting to and from the airport, visiting attractions and best places to stay. Highlights include:

• Airport – accessible parking, bathrooms and multiple ramps for wheelchair access.
• Ground transportation – public bus transportation provided by LeeTran with discounted passes and accessible vehicles available for rent at multiple locations including Avis and Advantage.
• Visiting attractions – 
  • Arts & Entertainment: Multiple art venues including Alliance for the Arts and Edison & Ford Winter Estates have accessible parking, entrance, restrooms, and seating, as well as audio described performances and pre-show touch tours for the visually impaired.
  • Beaches, Parks and Nature: Accessible parking, entrance, bathrooms and rentals at multiple locations including Bowman’s Beach Park, Cayo Costa State Park, and J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
  • Outdoor Activities & Sports: Accessible baseball/softball fields, stadium, soccer fields and restrooms at multiple locations including JetBlue Park and Mike Greenwell’s Bat-A-Ball & Family Fun Park.
  • Shopping: Accessible parking and entry with ramps and curb cuts, plus accessible restrooms and fitting rooms at multiple locations including Edison Mall and Miromar Outlets.
  • Tours: Captain Bubby’s IsLAND Tours offers tour service throughout Lee County using a van equipped with adaptations for physically challenged and/or visually impaired. 

Credit: Costa Rica Tourism Board

7. Costa Rica

New, innovative design and growing social awareness in Costa Rica are poised to make the Central American country’s natural wonders available to all. Costa Rica’s tourism industry is actively working to create more accessible travel experiences throughout the country, though several national parks, beaches and cultural attractions already possess disability-friendly designs.

• National Parks: Several of Costa Rica’s top national parks offer a range of accessible tours and accommodations. Manuel Antonio National Park opened a universal wheel-chair friendly trail called “El Manglar,” or the mangrove, in February 2018 for those with limited mobility. The trail, built over a mangrove, goes from the main national park entrance down to Espadilla Sur Beach and connects with other existing trails. El Manglar has 10 bays with information in Braille about the characteristics and attractions of each area of the park. Arenal Volcano National Park, home to the active Arenal Volcano, offers a completely handicap accessible experience with its trails at the “La Peninsula” zone. Carara National Park features low-incline paved trails, Braille and other information aids.
• Beaches: Costa Rica’s Jacó Beach is the first beach in Central America to be fully accessible to people with disabilities. In March 2019, Jacó Beach inaugurated a 206-foot long ramp constructed out of recycled plastic, which gives wheelchair users complete access to the shore and simultaneously reflects the country’s sustainability mission. Earlier this year, Playa Hermosa was declared another completely accessible beach in Costa Rica, with features including disability-friendly toilets, changing sinks and showers, and a transfer crane for those in wheelchairs. The beach features 52 meters of retractable walkway, made of recycled wood generated from 2,600 kilos of plastic, which provides access to the ocean. Costa Rica has an “Accessible Beach” program, led by the Costa Rican Accessible Tourism Network Association with the support of the Costa Rica Tourism Board, that works to make all beaches in the country more accessible by providing the proper equipment.
• Downtown San José: Travelers can rest assured that the sidewalks and pedestrian streets, as well as various cultural attractions of Costa Rica’s capital city of San José are disability-friendly. The remarkable National Museum, Jade Museum and Gold Museum are completely wheelchair accessible.

8. The Presidio Tunnel Tops – San Francisco, California

The Presidio Tunnel Tops project, comprising 14 acres of new national park land—will be an iconic “must see” San Francisco destination for the local community and visitors, offering a much needed sustainable green space to the city when it debuts in spring 2022. Thoughtfully designed by James Corner Field Operations (the firm behind New York City’s famed High Line), the Presidio Tunnel Tops will feature scenic overlooks with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the City, paths and gardens, a welcome plaza with food and visitor services, a campfire circle, picnic grounds and more. The Presidio Tunnel Tops will welcome people from all backgrounds and abilities to an inclusive and safe space, providing a green oasis right within the city limits. To accommodate visitors with disabilities specifically, the park provides accessible city park space for all and a direct connection from the Main Post where wheelchairs and other necessities can be found.  Additionally, Presidio Park has wheelchair accessible nature trails — from concrete and asphalt sidewalks to hard-packed sand and gravel — running throughout the park so everyone can enjoy the native wildlife. The buildings in the park, such as the Visitor Center, Walt Disney Family Museum, and Main Post are all wheelchair accessible. In 2019, The Presidio hosted a focus group with disabled individuals to provide feedback on accessibility at the park and how they could improve the experience for wheelchair users.

How many of the above accessible travel destinations have you visited or do you plan to visit? Do you have other accessible travel tips to share? Please let us know in the comments below!

Out of a list of the 72 most popular federal websites, only four sites earned perfect scores when tested for compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The four sites that passed the test include:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Department of Health and Human Services
• U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services
• The White House

The lowest-scoring federal websites for accessibility include:

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• United States Marine Corps
• Energy Information Administration

“Web accessibility should be a top priority for the federal government,” said ITIF Vice President Daniel Castro, who co-authored the report. “Creating an accessible website requires taking into account the fact that not every user will be able to see or hear content, or use a keyboard or mouse to navigate. Web developers should adhere to accessible-design principles, such as using high-contrast colors, providing text alternatives to audio and visual content, avoiding the use of flashing animations that might cause seizures, and using labels for buttons so people using a screen reader can navigate the site. Following those design principles will not only help people with disabilities, but also ensure all users can navigate federal websites more easily.”

According to the CDC, 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. Not only should web accessibility be a top priority for the federal government, it should be a top priority for all types of businesses and organizations.

Getting started with digital accessibility can feel like a huge task – especially without a technology background. Oleb Media specializes in helping organizations create a digital inclusion strategy so that they can operationalize digital accessibility and foster the most inclusive digital presence. Please contact us for a free one hour consultation.

As more people turn to online streaming to get their content, it can be difficult for a visually impaired person to know what accessible options are out there. It can be equally as frustrating trying to judge the quality of these services.

This mini guide provides a general overview of the accessibility services offered by streaming companies and how well they perform. Note: This list is focused on accessible streaming services, and does not include cable providers.

Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links (at no additional cost to you).

Accessible Streaming Services

Netflix

Price: $9 to $16 per month

Netflix began offering audio description (AD) in 2015. They describe nearly all originals, even newly released comedy specials. Older comedy specials won’t have audio description. They actively try to acquire third-party AD tracks from production companies wherever possible.

They have an audio description category on all mobile apps. Their audio description catalog on the web can even be filtered down by genre.

Netflix even offers audio description in languages other than English for people watching in the U.S. on selected titles.

When browsing titles on their website, their details page clearly says audio description is available. They have two play buttons, one to start with AD enabled, and one to start with AD disabled.

One major drawback of Netflix, however, is that they will only produce one AD track. This is a big problem for foreign originals that are dubbed in English because the AD is only available in that native language. There have also been reports that the AD is region locked. An English AD track for a Netflix original made in the U.S. won’t have an English AD track when a U.S. user travels to other countries, for example.

Amazon Prime Video

Price: Comes free with Amazon Prime membership ($12.99 per month), or $8.99 a month if purchased separately. If you have a valid EBT or Medicaid card, Prime benefits cost $5.99 a month for a maximum of four years.

Amazon started offering audio described content in 2017. Amazon has titles that can be rented or purchased with audio description. Some titles can be streamed for free with a Prime subscription. The titles that can be streamed for free rotate due to licensing deals. The Prime originals, created by Amazon, can only be accessed with a Prime subscription, but will never expire because Amazon is the producer. Amazon took three years to include audio description information in details of titles. The web player isn’t fully keyboard accessible, but the iOS app is accessible, as well as the Apple TV app. Many blind Android users report that the app is accessible. Audio description doesn’t work on all third-party TVs though, so if you have an obscure smart TV or a Roku device, you may not be able to get AD.

Amazon has recently started actively working with AD companies that provide text-to-speech AD rather than human-narrated AD. Some say this is a good thing. While I firmly disagree, it could lead to more titles with AD that never had the chance to get AD in the past.

Even though Amazon provides described content, that content isn’t easy to search for and filter. They only have one audio description category link. There’s no AD category on any of the apps. Searching for audio description within the Prime Video app on both iOS and Apple TV leads to inaccurate results.

IMDb TV

Price: Free

IMDb, the Internet Movie Database, is owned by Amazon. In addition to their well-known online database of movie data, they operate a free streaming service called IMDb TV, which includes some audio described content. This is the only technically free service to watch described movies. One could argue that it’s supposed to persuade you to buy Amazon Prime to get commercial free Prime video, but the service has no limitations. It does feature ads though, at random times throughout the movies. There’s no way to tell what movies have audio description, though. There’s no AD category, nor audio description details on movie pages. You can watch IMDb TV through their website or by connecting it to your Amazon Prime account and selecting “stream free with ads” on a title’s Prime detail page if it’s available.

Disney+

Price: $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year.

Disney+ has described content. Everything within Disney+ is owned by Disney, but not everything is described. Diligent staff members are working to eventually make their entire catalog have audio description, which is their reasoning for not including an AD category within the app, nor an AD designation symbol. Still, it won’t happen overnight, which is why I wish Disney would put an audio description identifier on detail pages.

All originally produced titles during and after 2020 will have audio description. Still, the quality of the accessibility service is somewhat inconsistent. Their support staff doesn’t know what audio description is, or even screen readers. Sometimes, audio description won’t retain across titles or devices. Their web player isn’t fully accessible via the keyboard. It can be difficult for screen reader users running older versions of JAWS to use their website. Their iOS and Apple TV app is fully accessible, though. Blind Android users say their Android app is fully accessible.

Apple TV/iTunes

Price: Varies per title

Apple started offering described movies around Global Accessibility Awareness Day in 2016. Users can rent or buy described titles. Like everything else “Apple,” it just works. AD is designated in a movie’s details page on both the iOS and Apple TV details page. AD is in English only when browsing for described titles. It just works. That’s it. Find a described movie and play it. If your AD setting is turned on in accessibility settings, the AD will automatically start.

Two major drawbacks are that the audio description category isn’t easily located on the Apple TV. It’s buried under an obscure genre list in the features tab of the TV or movies app. The other drawback is that TV shows, except for Apple TV+ originals, don’t have AD at all. Apple says that acquiring TV licensing rights is more complicated and different than acquiring movie rights, but that claim doesn’t make sense when their competitors obtain AD tracks for TV shows regularly. If Apple could get AD tracks for TV shows, this service would be my number one pick for accessible media services. All elements are labeled. Everything just simply works.

Apple TV+

Price: $5 per month

Apple TV+ is my number one choice for accessible streaming services. Apple TV+ is their subscription offering, where users pay a monthly subscription and watch Apple original shows whenever they want. Apple TV+ has everything described. Considering that Apple TV+ consists only of Apple originals, this isn’t shocking. AD is available in multiple languages on every title. AD isn’t region locked. AD isn’t encoded in a low quality, either. AD is available in Dolby Atmos.

Everything is labeled. All menus read. Everything is accessible. It also sounds great on a high-quality Bluetooth speaker. It just works, and it works far better than any other service. I also rank Apple’s content higher than any other originals. I have yet to dislike a show or movie on there.

The only drawback is that Apple TV+ isn’t made for binging. TV shows release episodes every week. Still, there’s something about clearing out my weekend calendar to dive into an Apple TV+ episode that leaves me feeling calm. I’m not overwhelmed by binging and I’m happy I don’t feel like I have 30 episodes to go all at once. This, of course, is a personal preference. Still, my Apple love shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Hulu

Price: $5.99/mo. (Hulu) or $54.99/mo. (Hulu + Live TV)

After refusing to take accessibility seriously and ignoring the visually impaired community, Hulu and advocates from the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and Bay State Council of the Blind (BSCB) reached a settlement agreement in October 2018 to increase the accessibility of Hulu’s streaming service. Their deadline was January 2020. Hulu offers Hulu originals and third-party content with audio description. Their apps are also now much more accessible than they were previously. Described content can be difficult to find without browsing their AD catalog page online. The iOS and Apple TV apps have the same category, but it’s buried under the genre menu for some reason. Titles don’t designate audio description availability in detail pages at all. AD isn’t in high quality as on other platforms. Many customer service representatives don’t know what audio description is without asking supervisors. Hulu seems to be adding described tracks for third-party content the slowest out of all the services.

CBS All Access

Price: $5.99 per month

CBS All Access has audio description. That’s the only good thing I can say about it. Their app has a ton of unlabeled buttons. Audio description doesn’t play in both channels when wearing a Bluetooth headset. AD skips and stutters while programs continue to play. Audio description settings never retained for me when switching shows or devices. Their customer service representatives are very convinced that audio description is closed captioning, even after a lengthy explanation. AD isn’t available for all seasons of originals or third-party content. AD has static when listening via a Bluetooth speaker. The AD audio channel mutes some shows completely. An episode isn’t described when an audio description language option exists. There’s no way, inside the app, to tell what shows or episodes have audio description at all.

Out of all the other services on this list, I’d actually say you should avoid paying for this service at all costs, even if there are originals you may want to watch. There are far more accessible services out there that deserve your money. CBS All Access doesn’t deserve money from the visually impaired community at all in its current state.

Graphic of audio description symbol: Font Awesome Free 5.2.0 by @fontawesome / CC BY

For most young people, adolescence is a time filled with fashion and romantic concerns. For Alex Koren, his teen years were the beginning of a quest for equal access for the hearing impaired.

“When I was 13,” Koren shared, “I went to a camp that had a program for deaf kids as well. We shared bunks, activities, everything. Some of the counselors were deaf and we had interpreters on staff to help bridge the gap, but we were all encouraged to learn some sign and just truly be friends with no barriers.”

But as inclusive as the camp felt, Koren discovered there were some activities that could not be truly all encompassing.

“We’d get back to our bunks afterwards,” continued Koren, “and laugh about what we’d done that night, often inadvertently leaving out our deaf friends who had missed out. It had an extremely lasting effect on me and was probably my first glimpse into the separation that exists between the deaf and hearing communities.”

Years later, Koren found himself in a similar situation when a friend with a hearing impairment vented to him about a theater experience.

“When Marty, my family friend, approached me to describe his horrible experience at the theater using an assistive listening device, it brought me right back to those years in camp.”

Fueled with the desire to make the movie-going experience more inclusive, he applied to the Thiel Fellowship — a $100k grant awarded by the Thiel Foundation that allows young people to drop out of college to pursue entrepreneurial projects — and he received the prize in 2014. Koren left Johns Hopkins University his sophomore year to work on technology that bridges the gap between the able-bodied and people with disabilities.

Now 24 years old and a Berkeley, CA resident, Koren is the co-founder of Actiview — the mobile app that provides audio description for the blind, closed captioning for the hearing impaired, and Spanish translation to films at the theater.

“We quickly realized that the need went further than just amplification and we set out to make the ultimate access tool for entertainment, offering audio description, amplified audio, closed captions, sign language interpretation, and multi-language support,” said Koren.

Koren’s co-founder is 20-year-old entrepreneur Braun Shedd. The duo was later joined by Pixar’s former head of post production, Paul Cichocki, who came on board after seeing the Actiview demo. Actiview backers include the ex-CEO of DirecTV and the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco.

While Actiview’s initial launch was focused on providing better access to the movie-going experience for people with disabilities and non-English speakers, the startup has big plans for expanding their reach.

“While we’re doing theatrical releases in the very near future, we’ve been building our technology with so much more content in mind. Actiview will be available for online streaming services in the home as well, and we’re working on extending the technology to live theater and sports stadiums too! Actiview will be your one-stop shop for entertainment access,” said Koren.

To learn more about the app and to be notified of service updates, you can follow Actiview on Twitter or join their newsletter by visiting their website at: www.actiview.co.

Belo Cipriani is an award-winning author and prize-winning journalist. His new book, Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities is now available on Amazon.

“We are committed to inclusion,” said Emily Minardi, associate marketing director of Rice Krispies Treats, “and we want everyone to have access to messages on our packaging.”

In the summer of 2017, Rice Krispies Treats released writable wrappers, which made it possible for parents to pen messages onto the wrapper of the chewy snack. While the message sharing became a popular way for families to bond over the lunch hour, it was 11-year-old Eme Butler-Mitchell, a blind student and musician, who reminded Rice Krispies Treats that not everyone had access to the written notes.

“With more than 62,000 blind and visually impaired children across the U.S.,” shared Minardi, “it was important to us to find a way to include this community.”

Rice Krispies Treats partnered with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) — the largest blindness organization in the U.S. — and began the process of making the Rice Krispies Treats writable wrappers inclusive to children and parents with vision loss.

“When we were approached by Kellogg’s,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the NFB, “we were very excited at the opportunity to raise the profile of blind people. There was a focus on building awareness around the idea that tech has not replaced Braille, and that Braille is still important.”

“In the U.S.,” continued Riccobono, “the idea of putting Braille on packaging has not gotten really far. Kellogg’s is the first to make such commitment, and I hope this serves as a springboard for more package and consumer goods with Braille.”

The stickers are heart shaped and the Braille dots are well defined on the adhesive paper; the eight colorful messages range from “Love You Lots” to “Good Luck.” The re-recordable audio device is for auditory learners, or kids who do not read Braille, and are rectangular shaped. It opens up like a book and plays a 10 second voice message. The box fits two Rice Krispies squares, and allows for voice messages to be re-recorded up to 1,000 times.

“This is our first campaign with a Braille focus,” said Minardi, “but Kellogg’s has a long history of working with the blind community.”

“Our founder,” she continued, “W.K. Kellogg, went blind near the last ten years of his life. He instilled a culture of inclusion that is still going strong today.”

While supplies last, you can obtain a free sheet of Braille stickers or an audio device at https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/love-notes/braille-stickers.html

The Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network (RTB) was the world’s first radio reading service for the blind when it was established in 1969. At that time, there was no access to newspapers, many magazines, and many books for people who were unable to read print. Although it was part of Minnesota’s State Services for the Blind, the radio has always included a wide variety of people with print disabilities among its customers — people with dyslexia, traumatic brain injury, and any physical disability that does not allow a person to hold a book or turn the pages.

From the very beginning, the station was recording books, even though the National Library Service (NLS) was also recording books, because it was obvious that there were many books they were not recording. For many years, those books were only available to residents of Minnesota, on vinyl disc or on cassette. About ten years ago, we established a tighter relationship with the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library, which is Minnesota’s Regional Library Service for the NLS, and, at that time, we established that people could request books recorded by the RTB by requesting an interlibrary loan from their own regional library connected to the NLS.

The airing of books, which are aired serially, one hour per day, is only part of what the RTB offers. Monday through Friday, people will hear eleven hours of books, four hours of today’s newspapers, and nine hours of programming taken from around three hundred periodicals. Saturdays and Sundays only have four books, which consist of a self-help book, a book of regional interest, a book aimed at children 8 to 15, and a book of contemporary poetry; the rest of the weekend programming is periodicals and newspapers.

The signal is available to people in Minnesota via a closed circuit digital radio, but it is available to people outside of Minnesota as one of the stations on iBlink, or by accessing the stream on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/rtb and using the password “rtb”. Articles from the RTB are also available as podcasts on the AudioBoom podcast site — look for RadioTalkingBook.

I have been the manager of the station since 2000, and have been working at the station since 1986.

We are always looking for additional ways of making our products available to a wider audience. Last summer, we began exploring ways of adding our books to BARD. Since BARD is run by the NLS, they are very particular about not only what they allow on BARD, but about the quality of the materials that are put into the system. Our first book to be on the BARD system was put up there in January of 2015. It is a book entitled Sky Tinged Red: A Chronicle of Two and a Half Years in Auschwitz, written by Isaia Eiger, and translated by his daughter, Dora Eiger Zaidenweber. Though the NLS was most interested in us having BARD books that were of particular interest to people of Minnesota, that is not a necessity. This book, however, does have a Minnesota connection because the daughter who translated it lives in Minnesota.

The RTB records our books in a DAISY format and our volunteers, around 500, are all over Minnesota and outside of Minnesota as well. We have volunteers in New York state, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and more. The volunteers who do not come into our offices have equipment that we loan them on which to record the books. They burn their recordings onto CDs, send them to us, and then we compile the recordings here in St. Paul, making any adjustments we need to for volume, etc. before they go onto the radio or get put into a format for distribution.

Our readers take a fairly stringent Oral Reading Test. They come from many walks of life, though some of them are experienced in theater, radio, or television. We also have people who are dermatologists, lawyers, teachers, real estate agents, artists, and musicians. What they have in common is that they enjoy reading and they passed our Oral Reading Test. One of the very important rules for our readers is that if they are not absolutely certain of a pronunciation of a word, they need to stop their recording and find out how to pronounce it. One might think this doesn’t happen often, but it does. Most people are not aware that the average speaking vocabulary is only one-third the size of the average reading vocabulary. We see words all the time in print that we don’t use in conversation, so much of the time we are not certain of the pronunciations. We have a huge English language vocabulary — over five times the size of the next smaller language (German) — so it is impossible that any one person will know the pronunciations of all the words. Our attention to that detail is one of the elements that convinced the NLS to allow us to put our books on BARD.

Our recording studios in St. Paul are some of the largest in the United States. We have twenty recording booths. When you add the numbers of people we have recording in their homes, that adds up to a great deal of recording happening at any one time. At this time, our recording system is a custom-designed DAISY system, which is integrated with our library, volunteer management, and billing systems. When we started recording in DAISY, we were the only ones in the U.S. to be doing that, so we had to design our own system. Now there are a number of systems available and we are in the process of evaluating them to see which might suit our needs if we move to an off-the-shelf product.

So, how would one find out what books the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network has put up on BARD? As far as I know, BARD does not have a way of searching for what organization has produced the books. The RTB does have a Facebook page, and the books that will be airing each month are listed there. It is listed as Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network. One can also see this month’s books listed on the department’s website at www.mnssb.org.

At this time, the books we have posted on BARD are the following: Sky Tinged Red: A Chronicle of Two and a Half Years in Auschwitz, by Isaia Eiger; The Keillor Reader, by Garrison Keillor; Evergreen, by Rebecca Rasmussen; Augie’s Secrets: The Minneapolis Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip, by Neal Karlen; The Heart of All that Is: Reflections on Home, by various authors; The High Divide, by Lin Enger; Into the Paradox: Conservative Spirit, Feminist Politics, by Toni A. H. McNaron; Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota, by Stewart Van Cleve; The Last Kind Word: A McKenzie Novel, by David Housewright; We’ll be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter, by Rachael Hanel; The Unseen Trail: The Story of a Blind Hiker’s Journey on the Appalachian Trail, by Michael O. Hanson; Vikings Across the Atlantic: Emigration and the Building of a Greater Norway, 1860-1945, by Daron W. Olson; and Your Legacy Matters: Harvesting the Love and Lessons of Your Life: a Multi-generational Guide for Writing Your Ethical Will, by Rachael Freed.

To learn more about the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, visit their website at www.mnssb.org and connect with them on Facebook.

Photo Courtesy of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network. Photo shows one of our volunteers wearing a recording head-set. Judy McGuigan was a wonderful volunteer who passed on some years ago, but she left us a great image of what a volunteer should be.

The two biggest issues with the new design are the floor-to-ceiling poles by the entrance doors and the segregated area for users of scooters and wheelchairs.

“For more than a year,” says Fiona Hinz, Systems Change Coordinator for the Independant Living Resource Center of San Francisco, “we have been advocating for a redesign. Yet, BART has not been responsive.”

Fiona, who has joined forces with other agencies to spread the message, says that the federal government can revoke funding for BART’s new fleet if they do not make the cars accessible. She encourages everyone to write to the transportation agencies listed below to inform them of the poor design.

Here are some action items included in an email distributed by the Disability Organizing Network:

Attached is a sample letter that can be used as a template to send to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Federal Transit Administration Office on Civil Rights, and Department of Transportation. Please email your letters to the:

Metropolitan Transportation Commission (info@mtc.ca.gov)
Federal Transit Administration Office on Civil Rights (CLICK HERE)
Department of Transportation

Please also email a copy of your letter to fiona@ilrcsf.org.

You can also tweet your concerns to @MTCBATA, @FTA_DOT, and @USDOT —> Please help us keep BART’s fleet of the future accessible for all! #accessibleBART

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the “Get to Work” columnist for SFGate.com, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and  YouTube.

Photo: “BART” by Paul Sullivan is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0