Dear Dr. Cranmer and all my friends on the Committee,
As per our quick draft on the phone as to the purpose if this
epistle, we are looking to cooperate fully with blind consumers
as we forge ahead with our new grant proposal. It will help us
greatly if we can cement our affiliation with the NFB-RD
Committee.
Incidentally, we have much to propose on tactile maps -- from
talking puzzles to use of a new inexpensive Dreml PC-controlled
milling machine for creation of masters.
If our request for funding is accepted, it will kick in about
June, just in time for a big "confab" about July; what say? If
not before, see you then.
Cordially, Bill Gerrey
Draft of Sample Letter in Support of Collaboration:
John Brabyn, Ph.d.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
2232 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Dear Dr. Brabyn:
Since 1975, when I attended the conference on technology held in
San Francisco, jointly sponsored by Smith-Kettlewell, the
Rehabilitation Services Administration, and the Veterans
Administration, The Bureau of Technical Services at the Bureau
for the Blind of Kentucky and the National Federation of the
Blind have watched your research activities with interest.
Our cooperative effort to develop an early prototype of the
RS232C "data-transfer-in-progress" indicator (later refined and
produced as the "tweedledump") serves as an example of
engineering, as it should be done, in collaboration with the
consumer organization most successful in putting assistive
technology into the hands of consumers. Your Braille (as well as
tape and diskette) publication, The Smith-Kettlewell Technical
File is recognized as an international link between current
developments and consumers who, with moderate technical ability,
can exploit technology to engage in small-scale production of
needed appliances.
We appreciate that, in 1987, you sought advice from consumers
before attending the guidelines committee of GSA and NIDRR before
submitting recommendations for government purchase of accessible
electronic office equipment.
Given the spirrit of cooperation between us, we would be glad to
collaborate with you in future work. There is much to be done,
particularly in making displays accessible, but also in exploring
new methods of presentation of information as multimedia products
become commonplace.
As per a recent commonication by E-mail, some of our stated
interests are:
GUI access
Tactile Map reading
Tactile graphics
Tactile bandwidth
Large braille display
Materials research
:Braille reading strategies
Braille teaching strategies
Computer games for the blind
Electronic orientation aids
Access to kiosks
Access to Internet resources
Blind-man-machine interface
Please know that the Research-and-Development Committee of The
National Federation of the Blind is most eager to collaborate and
share ideas, we are ready to advise, test, and assist your
development efforts, and that we speak in support of your 1995
grant application to continue the Rehabilitation Engineering
Research Center in its activities targetting blind, deaf-blind,
and visually impared people.
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