Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!26!Jack.O'keeffe
From: Jack.O'keeffe@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Jack O'keeffe)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Illinois Relay Center
Message-ID: <13099@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 25 Jul 90 02:13:33 GMT
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Index Number: 9469

[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

Hi there Annie!  My you are up early (or is it late? another all
nighter perhaps?)  But it sounds like you are having a ball with
VoiceBridge/VCO.  Can you use it with a "Y" connector (like Frank
had in LR), with a voice phone in one side and a TDD in the other?
A headset microphone like the phone operators use would probably
be the best bet.  That would leave hands free for typing.

All the posts I recall seeing from Roy Miller have been forwarded
from BitNet, etc.  But I could be wrong.  We would probably hear
more from him if we could get him on FidoNet.  That was a nice
message from him that Wayne forwarded re our get-together in LR.

BTW, whatever has happened to Laurie?  We've heard from all of
the other survivors of the Little Rock steam bath, but not a
word from her.  Hope everything is okay.

 AS> I just chatted with my brother in DC last night and he
 AS> mentioned he received two invitations to the signing of
 AS> the ADA at the White House next Thursday.

Well I haven't been invited to that particular party, but that's
fine with me.  I just want George to sign it so it can get moving.
One fear I have is that too many of us will delude ourselves by
thinking wonderful things will happen automatically once ADA is
signed into law.  We are still going to have to fight every step
of the way for things we need.  But ADA gives us the legal basis
for the fight.

 AS> I mentioned that I hoped he would see that the VoiceBridge
 AS> is included in the regs when they do the markups and he
 AS> said it was already notated in his list of suggestions.

I will be heading for DC again the end of this month for ANSI
A117 committee meetings.  This is where all the proposals for
specification changes that the task groups have been working
on will be finally voted on and ratified.  Items that are of
major interest to HI folks include provisions for visual alarms,
and accessable amplified phones and TDDs.  The dual party relay
service is fine, but unless we all carry those little portable
TDDs with us whenever we go out it's not much help away from
home.  If it is approved, the ANSI spec will require accessable
TDDs in public buildings.

Our phone company, Bell of Pennsylvania, is doing a fine job
of installing amplified public phones.  They committed to put
in 15,000 of them, and they are appearing all over the state
except in areas served by GTE instead of Bell.  They also
have plans underway to put in a number of those vandal-proof
Ultratec pay TDDs in airports, etc.  All this in advance of
ADA.  One of the major problems at the convention in LR was
the lack of useable accessable phones.  Both the Capitol and
Excelsior Hotels, as well as the State House Center will be
out of compliance with the new specs.

                                    Jack.

... Live, from Beaver County, it's . . . .

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