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: Travelin' Message-ID: <17603@bunker.UUCP> Date: 4 Feb 91 17:26:05 GMT Sender: wtm@bunker.UUCP Reply-To: Jack.O'keeffe@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.org Distribution: misc Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/26 - SoundingBoard, Pittsburgh PA Lines: 81 Approved: wtm@bunker.UUCP Index Number: 13484 [This is from the Silent Talk Conference] MT> As for ALD Professionals: . . . I think you people on the MT> SHHH Tech Committee could make this a significant item MT> for your agenda. First, we need to get some meaningful accessibility standards requiring ALDs. Then we might work on developing professionals and means to pay for them. You were at the Bethesda SHHHcon in '89, so you must have seen what a mess the "Professionals" from Oval Window made of things there. Things were not much better in Little Rock. So while I basically agree with you on the issue, I fear that if we went for professional certification of ALD competency at this point we might be grandfathering a whole bunch of marginal to incompetent practitioners. This does not mean we should be standing still. The ANSI A-117 Standard for "Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities" is due to be released for public comment on February 22. The comment period will extend for 60 days. I have seen a draft of the new standard and, although there is some good in it, in balance I strongly believe it is inadequate. Concerning ALDs it is impotent, even weaker than the previous toothless standard. Mitch, I strongly encourage you, and any other SilentTalkers who are interested in doing something constructive about this issue, to write to the A-117 Committee Secretariat and obtain a copy of the proposed standard for review and comment. The address is: Secretariat, ANSI A-117 Committee Council of American Building Officials 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 708 Falls Church, VA 22041 (703) 931-4533 Sections of the proposed standard of particular interest to hearing impaired people are 4.10 (Elevators); 4.26 (Alarms); 4.29 (Telephones) and 4.32 (Auditoriums and Assembly Areas). In the prior (1986) version of the A-117 Standard, ALDs were addressed in the section on Auditoriums and Assembly Areas (then numbered 4.31). There was a requirement that "such areas having audioamplification systems shall have a listening system complying with 4.31.6 and 4.31.7 to assist persons with severe hearing loss in listening to audio presentations." I indicated in a prievious post that there had been instances where the intent of this standard had been evaded by simply removing the public address system. Instead of improving things, the new draft standard goes even farther in the wrong direction and deletes the ALD requirement altogether. In 4.29, proposals for amplified telephones and TDDs were not accepted by the full committee and not included in the proposed new standard. In 4.10 audible signals are required to indicate whether the elevator car is going up or down (sound once for "up" and twice for "down"). But visible signals are merely required to show which car is answering the call. (Am I the only hearing impaired person who boards elevators going in the wrong direction?) Section 4.26 contains a major improvement in the requirement for Visual Alarm Signals, but some facility owners are opposed to this. This section could benefit from positive comment. MT> I don't see any other way Access 2000 can realistically happen. Mitch, hearing impaired people are a timid bunch. Since it is an "Invisible Condition" many of us try to conceal it. We do a very wimpish job of advocating our needs compared to people with other disabilities. Let's face it, ACCESS 2000 isn't gonna happen unless we make it happen. Here is an opportunity for all SilentTalkers and SHHHers to DO SOMETHING! Get a copy of the A-117 proposal and COMMENT! Let ANSI know what you think. Jack. ... lllegitimii non Carborundum! -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!26!Jack.O'keeffe Internet: Jack.O'keeffe@f26.n129.z1.fidonet.org