The Big Benefits Row

Or, 

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Disability Campaigners.

I'd been looking forward to seeing this debate ever since I'd first noticed it in Channel 5's schedule. They have managed, in the past, to produce programmes about the UK's minorities which were neither patronising nor sensationalist – in comparison to the tabloidesque offerings from some other television channels. I've seen a couple of pretty well-balanced debate programmes on Channel 5, too. So, as I said, I'd been looking forward to this debate and had tried but failed to find out how to get a place in the audience.

On the night, however, I checked the telly guide, spotted the dread name Katie Hopkins (right-wing, loud-mouthed, poor-hating, ex-Apprentice 'star') and, feeling somewhat under the weather, tired, and in pain, decided to go to bed instead. Now, I rather wish I'd watched it so will hunt it down on catch-up; but having read Sue Marsh's excellent article (see link) I'm rather glad that I couldn't find a way to get tickets. I'm a wheelie, too, and had I managed to get there, the building might have collapsed under the pressure of five entire wheelchairs, as you will understand, gentle reader, should you click on the link and, please, read on:

http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-big-benefits-row.html

Inaccessibility, Speech-to-text, Post-surgery 'fun' and Other Stories

Trey Harris's eloquent report on his recent surgery and the resultant need to use dictation software - in his case, mostly Dragon Dictate - should stand as a wake-up call to anyone who builds such software. Massive improvements are needed.

There are more and more people who need to be able to use reliable speech-to-text, speech-to-code and voice-control software; either because of temporary disability - post-surgery or injury - or because of permanent disabilities. We need it to live 21st Century lives, whether that be social interaction on the internet, preparing books or letters or posters or whatever for hobbies, or, indeed, in our working lives. There is a massive market there and absolutely anybody could need this tomorrow, either short- or long-term.

And there is a massive, mostly untapped, potential market amongst all the people who would love to be able to say, "Computer: print me a copy of the letter to Phipps & Co. and put dinner with Jo and her lot in my diary for next Friday and open G+ for me please. New post. Take dictation..." - and have it all happen. Smoothly. There's a Mac Concept film: Apple's 1987 Knowledge Navigator Video, on the theme of future-computer, where the guy and his computer converse in natural speech. It might have inspired, or been inspired by, Heinlein and/or Arthur C. Clark. Trey Harris found it for me after I’d tried and failed. But that future should be now or hereabout!

Honestly? Full accessibility should be baked-in to every OS - and every browser! - by now, damn it! After all, just as with wide access gates at stations, automatic or button-operated doors at shops, libraries, hospitals, etc., ramps and level entries on buildings, everybody would use it – even when they're not burdened with prams, buggies, or both hands full!

And, Googlers and Blogger Team, that goes for visual accessibility on every web-page (or site) too. It's not enough to say, oh you can set preferred or minimum text sizes and page-contrast in your browser or system-preferences-pane. Not while every web-site uses a different font-size to start with so you often end up having to over-ride your over-ride. A small control panel with three sizes of 'A's and two or three contrast settings, tucked into the settings cog in the black bar - and repeated in the sign-up process - then remembered as your personal site settings - would do it. Please?

P.S. I typed this, rather than dictating it. My speech has reached the slurr-y stage, editing-in punctuation is a drag and, right now, my typing is less slurr-y ;-)

P.P.S. I originally wrote this as an introduction to a ‘share’ of Trey’s post but Rowan Thunder suggested I put it up as an individual post. I’m also posting it to my blog.

Links:

This is Trey’s original post, which I’d ask you to read - there are some good hints and tips in the comments on it, too!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/116222833568410151476/posts/Npm9MeBhKKg

This is the link to Apple’s ‘Knowledge Navigator’ video:
http://youtu.be/HGYFEI6uLy0

This is the link to this article on Google+. If you read it there, you'll notice some minor differences:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110866754584285378195/posts/TfXixypfUNq

 

Note:

Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov are twentieth-century ‘hard’ Science Fiction writers, all of whom included ‘aware’ computers in at least some of their novels. You can find out more about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov

Waxing Lyrical

I’ve been slightly-off-world lately, in great part thanks to the interesting side-effects of the counter-intuitively trade-named Lyrica which continue to steal my words and give me other ones instead.

Par example:

The other day I was sitting in the sunny patch on my doorstep* directing S as to how exactly I wanted the gardening chores done when, while sipping my tea, a clever, space-saving thought struck.

"S," I said, "is there anywhere on the wall to hang my rain-barrows?"

"Your... what?" came the reply, quizzically.

"My rain-barrows. If they were hung on the wall it'd save space and clutter."

"I don't get it. What are they, again?"

"Rain Barrows!" I enunciated clearly, although at this point I was beginning to doubt that I was using the correct term and wonder what on earth might be another word for them.

"Rain-barrows?" I repeated, somewhat hesitantly, pointing at one of the rain-barrows which was perched six feet away from me on top of some empty plant-pots. "Barrows," I said, while thinking it isn't a barrow it's something, um, "for carrying rain," not rain, that doesn't come out of taps, "to spread on the..." Damn - that’s not right... My voice faltered away.

"Watering-can?" S suggested, gently, while stifling mirth...

I could only nod. And blush. And start to giggle.

I prefer ‘rain-barrow’ now. It's a much better name for the object, since I often find mine filled up with a few days'-worth of free liquid from the sky and imagine that others do. Mine would be filled by the down-pipe in the guttering sometimes if it weren't for the slight obstacle of all the drain-pipes from the flat roof of this block of flats (and the balconies) being built inside the walls and linked directly to the main drain. 

Waste of rain! Plus, ultimately, it is rain that comes out of the taps. And barrows surely don't have to have wheels...

* Don’t be daft - I was sat upon a chair. I’m not quite limber enough, these days, to sit on the step. Well, just not and get up again...

Blame And Recrimination

Blame And Recrimination

(A Protest Song in a Reggae Style, inspired by Life, Aswad,  Benefits, Disabilities, Prejudice - and a new typeface called Syncopate, which doesn't copy over!)

*One-a, Two-a, Three-a*

(Nothing but) blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK

So pick up your broken body, take it to work

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

They say, you ain’t sick cause I seen you online

And that is the proof that you’re perfectly fine

They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK

So pick up your broken body, take it to work

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

They say, I saw you went out on the town

Gonna report you so the judge sends you down

They say, you ain’t sick ‘cause I seen you online

and that is the proof that you’re perfectly fine

They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK

So pick up your broken body, take it to work

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

But they don’t see how we crawl up the stair

The hour it took just to comb out our hair

How we don’t eat if there’s no-one to cook

The struggle to turn over the page of a book

That we need both hands just to pick up a glass

Have to ask for help to clean our own

Aah-ah-ah-aah,

Apparently the government gives us all a free car,

And electric wheelchairs and loads of money

The latest computer and a plasma TV

They send lots of people to do all our chores,

To cater every whim and to open doors

We take three holidays every year,

Expenses all paid, free wine and free running beer

And just to make sure that we never feel cold

They insulate our houses with 18carat gold! Hah!!!

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

Nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

No, nothing but blame and recrimination

On the disabled of our nation

Copyright (2011) vests in the writer here known as Rockhorse. The lyrics may be used for non-commercial purposes only but credit must always be given. For any other purpose, please request permission before use.

A Valentine's Gift to Current Welfare-To-Work Programme Contractors and Other Stories

Watching "Live Questions to The Work and Pensions Secretary and his Ministers" on BBC Parliament this afternoon I thought I heard Iain Duncan Smith say, in answer to a question from Dame Anne Begg MP, that the bidders for the new (future) Work Programme had been decided. In this I was mistaken as, according to Hansard, it was Chris Grayling speaking and he actually said that:

"...the Work programme bidding process closed this morning, and we have had a substantial number of bids, which is very encouraging. It looks as if the Work programme is going to go ahead according to plan, which is good news." (Question 18, Hansard: HoC 2.30pm 14.11.2011 )

Reading this relieved me of my belief that a decision had been made within hours of the bidding period closing; so, Good Times. Sort of. Since the new contracts for the new Work Programme were, I understood, due to start in April.

What shocked me was what he said next.

"I would also say to the hon. Lady that, shortly before the start of these parliamentary questions, I placed a written statement before the House, giving details of an extension to the welfare-to-work contracts under existing programmes through to next June." 

Shock and horror. That might sound dramatic (and might be so) but I know a few people who are currently making weekly or twice-weekly visits to the offices of at least two of the existing contractors. Those people are actually quite looking forward to the end of March, as the replacement contractors might actually have some idea how to help them find decent training or jobs. Or, indeed, any training or jobs...

And then there is the question of when, exactly, is 'next June'? I've tried but failed to find an online copy of the written statement so no help there. Is it 'the next June due' which would be this June, 2011. Or is it June 2012? I know not. But perhaps the existing staff will no longer be overheard on the telephone to employment agencies seeking new jobs for themselves. Or they'll go and be replaced by people who'll try harder to help those they are meant to be helping. It'd give me a break from a fair amount of the tear-drying, calming-down, making properly constructive suggestions and even setting up of interviews for training or work which I do for my friends and acquaintances. I don't mind doing it, when I have the spoons, but people and organizations are being paid vast sums of money for a "service" they appear incapable of providing. And they get their contracts extended...

In Other News

A great array of questions were asked of the Secretary and his Ministers regarding Work Capability Assessments, DLA, ESA, Universal Credit, the Mobility Component for people living in Residential Care Homes and Special Boarding Schools; all of which makes a full reading of today's report instructive and often jaw-dropping. 

In particular: during Topical Questions (at the end of the session's report) at "T:9" Atos rears its head:

"Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab): Recently, a constituent contacted me regarding his Atos Healthcare assessment. Three specialists had considered him to be unfit for work, yet it was suggested that he could be a bingo caller or a car park attendant. My local citizens advice bureau has identified many such cases which are resolved in favour of the claimant after an expensive review or appeal. Are there any plans to review Atos Healthcare’s delivery of medical assessments?"

Mr Grayling gave an answer but did not answer the question.

This did not surprise me.

Quotations are taken from the Hansard report on the proceedings in the House of Commons, Oral Questions, Work and Pensions at 2.30pm on Monday 14th February 2011 which can be read in full here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/01.htm

There are two pages and some of the questions do not relate to disability or sickness but all make interesting reading and there are some gems in there...