Hi Jackie, Here is the strange part. They claimed Section 508 Compliant, but obviously not. I considered legal action, but at this time, I think it might hurt my career. Sad we have to make such choices -----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Jackie McBride Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 12:43 PM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Accessibility in the work place George,meaning no disrespect, Sir, but section 508 only applies to the federal government, & this is a private concern. The truth is that there is really no applicable legislation that addresses software accessibility here. Some folks have argued that the Americans w/Disabilities Act intends that this be the case, w/varying degrees of success. Recently, a client of mine has written a book, regarding which you can find information on www.disabilityrightslawanalysis.com. His book is entitled "People with Disabilities and Employment Law", & it's a highly readable treatice on the subject. I recommend it for anyone who wants a good overview of the issues being faced by disabled folks in this arena. & No, I don't have any financial affiliation w/Mr. Mendelsohn except that he hosts his website w/me. On 7/25/16, George Bell <george@techno-vision.co.uk> wrote:
I guess it just shows how little effect Section 508 has had.
George
-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Billy Irwin Sent: 25 July 2016 16:54 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Accessibility in the work place
Vick,
Yes, I made the mistake of sharing a rough draft. I won't do that again. As for the hiring manager. The entire company at this point knows that their software doesn't work with any access technology. In my many years of experience, I've always found a way to make it work except for this time. What is sad is that the company I work for is actually upset they can't keep me on because of my experience. The problem here in my opinion is that the software companies that sale their software aren't bothering with writing their code to be accessible from the start which doesn't make any sense. It is truly poor coding.
I am sorry that this didn't present well. I felt safe enough here to share. My apologies for wasting everyone's time.
Billy
-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 9:35 AM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Accessibility in the work place
Greetings
Although this is too late, I cannot stress how important peer editing is in many situations, this one especially. If we don't have the luxury of having someone look over some of our communications, what else can be done is to right the draft, leave it then return to it the next day.
The note below isn't clear in what is expected. People don't have a lot of time to read through everything. It is important to put what is the question or solution first. After that provide some supporting comments.
Whether we like it or not we are ambassadors for the community of people with varying levels of vision impairment. I wouldn't be surprised if the manager or team leader who is the target of this type of communications will end up with an attitudinal barrier when it comes to hiring or inviting the next person with a disability. They may not admit it of course, however they now have the thought in their mind that people with a disability cannot use their systems with the end result being that people will be screened out before having the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.
Vic Pereira
Project Manager, Networks and End-Users Branch Shared Services Canada / Government of Canada vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca / Tel: 204-781-5046
Gestionnaire de projet, Direction des réseaux et des utilisateurs finaux Services partagés Canada / Gouvernement du Canada vic.pereira@ssc-spc.gc.ca / Tél: 204-781-5046
-----Original Message----- From: Blind-sysadmins [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Billy Irwin Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 14:20 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Accessibility in the work place
Guys,
I've had to write a report based on my job that I referenced earlier. Here is a very rough draft but I wanted to get this out to my fellow SysAdmins.
Beginning on June 20th, 2016, I started an internship with VC3 Inc. who provides Information Technology services for various local governments and private companies in the Southeast U.S. These services include but are not limited to Virtual Desktop Interfaces and Physical Systems Administration. The internship promised to end with full time employment as a Systems Engineer with their South Carolina Team. This position was exactly what I was looking for long term. This position was responsible for Server Administration, Network Administration and Design for over 200 different agencies over 3 or so states.
Unfortunatley, when I started the postion, accessibility became to be a large barrier in completing my dutires. I first started out by training in the First Call Resolution Team that is responsible for taking the initial calls from customers with their various technical issues like resetting passwords and creating user accounts. While in this team, I was t training on the billing and ticketing system known as ConnectWise. I found this software completely inaccessibile to JAWS and Zoomtext. I spent several days trying to use different techniques that I thought would work in order to allow me full access to this fotware. Eventually, I I found and App for the Apple IOS and tried it with no success. One application would allow for limited access to some features and the other wouldn't.
While working through those issues I was introduced to another application called Labtech which is responsible for remotely administering all systems maintained by VC3. This software too was very inaccessible and was virtually useless to me. As before, I began experimenting with it's settings and with no luck again, found myself really struggling to do anything productive. During all this, I reached out to the software vendor along side VC3. At the end of the internship, we were unable to get the software vendor to see how important this issue is for my employment.
The only good thing that came from this internship is networking with other individuals that are in my field. They were able to see that I am well versed in my field of Information Technology. Sadly at this time, I am unable to recommend others to attempt employment at VC3 who have a visual impairment.
_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins
_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins
_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins
_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins
-- Jackie McBride Website Hosting, Repair, & Development Author of the Upcoming Book "My Site's Been Hacked, Now what?: A Guide to Preventing and Fixing a Compromised Website" www.brighter-vision.com Where Visionaries & Technology Unite for Good _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org https://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins