Hi Mark and Shelley!
While I can not agree with all of Shelley's post, I do find the access
statement of the press release strange. In no particular order:
* First, I thought PDF was NOT a good idea alone as an alternate
format. I thought many screen readers had trouble with PDF files.
* Second, I have a hard time with calling a reading difference a
communication impairment and there is no reason to step into the
nomenclature quagmire.
* Third, the beauty of universal design is its universality. People
continually miss the fact that many people use alternate formats for
different reasons. For example, I may want a book on CD because I can't
hold a book still enough to read it or have trouble turning pages. I may
also want it electronically so I can do my version of highlighting and
writing in the book margins, take notes, and cut and paste quotes and
citations. It's much easier for me to cite your work if have it to cut and
paste. PDF doesn't make on this count.
I think the main issue is to not be prescriptive but to be responsive. I do
not want to see us locked into strict alternate format rules -- stifles
creativity and creates "orphan alternate formats." Simple state what you
can offer, be prepared to be flexible, and see who comes...............
devva
At 08:54 AM 3/12/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Notice how the announcement below demonstrates once again that (despite
>their pronouncements to the contrary) proponents of the social model hold an
>impairment-based view of disability. For the announcement does not simply
>state the different modes in which the text will be made available, and, in
>doing so, imply that universal access (or something approaching it) is a
>human right and should be the rule, not the exception to the rule. Instead,
>there is a compulsion on the part of the Centre to single out various groups
>of people who might differ from "normal book-users" (i.e., sighted people
>or people with 'normal' communication abilities who use printed text) and
>who, insofar as they differ from the norm, require 'special treatment' when
>it comes to books.
>
>
>S.L. Tremain
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Priestley" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 5:13 AM
>Subject: new book
>
>
>Hi
>
>As some of you may be aware, we were pleased to publish a new title in the
>Disability Press book series this month, as follows:
>
>Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research
>
>Edited by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer
>
>This book contains 13 chapters on the theoretical and research implications
>of the social model of disability. Over the last three decades disability
>activists have established the social model of disability as a comprehensive
>critique of mainstream academic theories and policy approaches. The
>contributors, including established figures and newcomers to the field,
>raise a number of important controversies and concerns central to theorising
>and researching disability in the 21st century. Taken together they provide
>ample testimony to the continuing vitality of debates around the social
>model in disability studies. It will prove to be an invaluable addition to
>the growing body of knowledge that underpins disabled people's ongoing
>struggle for a fair and just society.
>
>'Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research' is also
>available at no additional cost on CD, in PDF format, for ease of access for
>people with visual or communication related impairments.
>
>'Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research' is only
>available by mail order
>
>at: £16.50 including postage and packing (20% discount for orders of four or
>more)
>
>Payment may be by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) via telephone, fax,
>email, or by Stirling cheque drawn on a UK bank (payable to the University
>of Leeds). To order contact Marie Ross
>(44) 113 3434407 (tel. and minicom)
>(44) 113 3434415 (fax)
>email: [log in to unmask]
>or by post at:
>
>Centre for Disability Studies,
>School of Sociology and Social Policy,
>University of Leeds,
>LS2 9JT
>UK
>
>________________End of message______________________
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Devva Kasnitz, PhD
New Focus Partnerships
Association of Program for Rural Independent Living
Disability Studies at Cal (DiSC)
Institute of Urban and Regional Development
Ed Roberts Postdoctoral Fellowship in Disability Studies
Academic Coordinator
University of California, Berkeley
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