Thank you.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
Clive Lever
Sent: 13 March 2018 21:11
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Slightly Off Topic - Braille on passports - a result
Hi Alexandra,
Even better, Ms Pearce has promised me that even though the staff email made no
reference to the suggestion that we would find the passport number useful,
she's going to continue to press for that one. I was dismayed to learn that
that staff Email didn't give her any credit whatsoever for bringing the issue
to the attention of the Passport office, and no manager has so far recognised
her achievement. I am tempted to find out the name and email address of her
immediate line manager and get people to write to him praising her for the
positive impact her initiative will have on Braille-reading passport holders. I
for one am glad I won't have to keep pestering my wife to ask when my passport
will become due for renewal. It's empowering.
Best,
Clive
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
Aleksandra Surla
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:04 PM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Slightly Off Topic - Braille on passports - a result
What a brilliant email! I am all up for Braille so your enthusiasm is really
great.
Aleksandra
On 13/03/2018, Eleanor burke <eleanormarthaburke@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
excellent news Clive.** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
http://www.justgiving.com/Eleanor-Burke-Aniridia
On 13 Mar 2018, at 19:43, Clive Lever <clive.lever1955@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
Last year, when I applied to renew my passport, I commented that,
though it was nice to have a Braille label on the front of my
passport as per my request, It would be more useful to have the
Passport holder’s name, the passport expiry date, and even the
passport number on the front. Rachel Pearce, the lady I spoke to at
the passport office last year called me today to say that staff at
the Passport office received an email on Friday saying that as from
now, Braille labels on passports would show the holder’s name and the
expiry date. Apparently the email was silent on the question of including
the passport number. This will mean that:
1. People living in households with no sighted people and more than
one blind person will be able to distinguish between each other’s
passports, and those of their kids, without having to resort to
makeshift improvisations of their own. The expiry date will help to
make sure that we can renew our passports in time when travelling
abroad close to the end of the document’s life. The value of having
the passport number available is that sometimes companies ask you to
provide it when you are making online holiday and flight bookings,
and this could be a pain if you’re half-way through completing the
form, and can’t complete until you can get sighted help – that’s the
on-topic bit, folks!
As a result of the change made by the Passport Office, it could
become easier to effect ‘a campaign for real Braille’, to make sure
Braille legends on other items are any use. Here are three examples
where braille is currently shown, but itdisplays information you
could easily do without instead of the genuinely useful info:
1. Disabled Persons’ Rail Card holders are given the option to have
a Braille label on their cards. The label simply says “Railcard. A
second line saying 20-11-2021 would be handy, so that you didn’t have
to ask someone else to tell you when you needed to re-apply.
2. Similarly, the expiry date would be useful on a blue badge, and
would be better written boldly on a label than very faintly on the
card itself. At present, all it says on the front is: Front. The
legend itself is so faint that I wouldn’t expect people with limited
sensitivity in their hands to be able to make it out easily. For
example, some people have reduced sensitivity in their fingers as a
symptom of diabetes, another symptom of which can be deteriorating sight.
3. We have a Recycling bin, a General waste bin and a garden waste
bin in our front garden. It would be helpful to have the legends
“General”, “Recycling” and “Garden” written on these bins, rather
than, of all things, the number of litres each would hold! That info
strikes me as eminently irrelevant to a householder.
Best,
Clive]
