Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three major credit reporting companies, will begin providing accessible credit reports to people with vision impairments starting October 31, 2008, according to one of their press releases.

The reports will be available online and in Braille, to enable people with vision impairments to monitor their credit and protect themselves against fraud and identity theft. This was done by the three companies mentioned above in conjunction with the American Council for the Blind.

Free Rice.com will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN world hunger organizations for every vocabulary word that you match to its correct definition.

I have donated 5000 grains of rice, already.

Go for it!

I heard about this at work and thought I would pass the information along to anyone who has a vision impairment or who has a friend or relative with one.

Mind’s Eye Travel creates tours for people who are visually impaired or blind. Our hosted trips let both visually challenged and fully sighted people tour comfortably and free of worry. Our itineraries are customized not only for great comfort, camaraderie and enjoyment but also for full sensory discovery, and they offer options for independence. Our destinations are carefully screened in advance and we hand-pick activities, restaurants and lodging while keeping in mind our needs as visually impaired and blind travelers.

Our trips for 2008 include:

• Discovering mid-coast Maine.
  
• Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon.
  
• Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
  

Two Useful Tools for People with Low or No Vision:

Read This to Me is a service for the visually impaired that will read to a person anything that is faxed to them, including bills and letters. The downside to it is that you have to be able to fax things, which means (unless you own your own fax machine) going to your local Kinko's--if you can get transportation. I think I've mentioned them in this journal once before.

System Access To Go is free screen reader software from a company called Serotek that you can download to any computer, wherever you are, whereas JAWS software must be installed on your computer and limits you to that one computer.

I'm not impressed with their website, because it only has the screen reader on it (Click on the 'Begin' button.) and doesn't go into much detail that it is a screen reader, though it does show it working on the site. I would think most computer users would like to know the specifics of a download before they do download it. Other than that quibble, no objections.

There is a place called the Texas Center for the Physically Impaired that gives computers to blind people in the US and Canada at a cost of $100 to cover shipping and handling. They accept donations of old computers, and you can get a tax deduction for donating to them.

Challenge Meme: Nabbed from caersidi

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, graphic techniques, etc

Current Mood: busy

Available to Texas residents statewide:

Medical Transportation Service

Texas Department of Transportation has a service called the Medical Transportation Program in place to accommodate those in need of accessible non emergency medical transportation services. It is a charter service made up of 12 passenger vans equipped with a lift. The van will take you to and from your doctor’s office, dental office, or hospital. This service may be covered by Medicaid or Medicare, but check with your provider to be sure. You can also pay for the use yourself for the fee of $35.00 round-trip.

To schedule a pick up call 1877-MED-TRIP between 8:00am and 5:00pm CSTon weekdays. You must schedule your pick up for at least two working days in advance but will attempt to accommodate urgent requests. Persons requesting service should have their nine digit Medicaid or Medicare number or Social Security number, their Health Care Provider’s name, address, and phone number, and the date, time and location of the appointment.

To be eligible for the service you must have a current valid Medicaid ID card and have no other means of transportation.