Date of Meeting: February 10, 2001
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. Following introductions, the minutes were read and approved as written.
Jim Roberts announced that as of this date we had 24 members, and that he knew that there were approximately 8 more people who had paid him as of the time of the meeting.
Amy advised us that several people have expressed an interest in signing up to be a member via the use of a credit card. We discussed several ways of implementing this option including seeing whether we could set up an account through connectivity, and using the same service Amy has used for her subscription list. Also, Mike Kosior offered to look into the possibility of establishing an account that we could use for processing credit card payments. We decided that people wishing to pay for memberships via credit card would be charged an additional fee of $1.25 to cover the minimal costs we would incur for processing their payments. For now Amy has agreed to process the payments until we have made a final decision on which service we will use for making payments.
Amy announced that the March meeting will feature a presentation by Tom Wlodkowski, Project Manager, WGBH who will discuss research efforts currently under way to make the Web, DVD-ROM, and CD-ROM more accessible to those with disabilities.
She also announced that Connect Out Loud has been released, and it can be downloaded from Freedom Scientific. Amy suggested that people should check out the Archives at ACB Radio To learn more about the newest developments in Freedom Scientific.
Amy announced that a controversial Braille Bill is being proposed which would require all college text materials to be made available in Braille and suggested that people either read the e-mail announcement or contact her for additional information following the meeting.
She also told us that there was a job opening for a Braille Supervisor at MAB. Interested people should contact MAB regarding this vacancy.
Amy told people that the movie "The Wedding Planner" was being shown with audio description at the Fenway theater through Thursday, February 15, 2001. She encouraged all who could to attend, pointing out that if we wished the descriptive service it was important for us to support it whenever possible.
She also asked us to take note that the Wang theater had added another performance in February of "Phantom of the Opera" with audio description.
Fred announced that he has a V-Tech system to sell. It was suggested that he contact MATP, as it might be possible to advertise this sale on their website.
We were reminded that the Society of Arts and Crafts, at 175 Newbury Street, has a hands-on exhibit on Tuesday which people might be interested in viewing. Contact them for more information.
Amy announced that Goldwave 4.23 has been released.
After a brief question and answer period, David McCallum demonstrated the screen enlargement program ZoomText, made by AI Squared. The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanette Kutash
Vibug Clerk