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Re: A better PDF editor for accessibility?

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From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Jun 13, 2013 11:34PM

<< Jonathan wrote: "Speaking as a libertarian, I guess it¹s all my fault
then. We¹re just money-grubbing jerks out to nickel and dime the American
people."

Well, if you say so, Jonathan. Those were not my words or thoughts at all.
I do not equate what the Koch brothers are doing with libertarianism. It's
far from that! It's more like what can they do to make their company more
profitable, using the cover of political parties for their gain.

But let's bring this discussion back to accessibility and away from
political parties.

I view accessibility as a way to include people into society and give them
equal access, rights, etc. Here's my first-person experience with exclusion,
the opposite of accessibility.

Here in my home town of Washington, DC, we receive millions of visitors from
around the country. A lot of those visitors come to make their opinions
known, either through visiting their Senators and Congressional reps on
Capitol Hill, or joining a formal protest, march on the Mall, or other
event. Good for them. I may not agree with their opinion, but I do agree
with their right to voice it.

Over the past 10 years, I've seen some behavior that is divisive and
frightening. Our visitors are carrying hate signs around town. I walk out of
an ordinary office building in downtown DC, heading out to lunch, and I'm
nearly run down by a man carrying a sign that says "God Hates Blacks."
Another time I'm eating dinner at a restaurant and someone's wearing a
t-shirt that says "God Hates Gays." Then it's a baseball cap with "God Hates
Obama."

It has to be 2-3 dozen times I've seen a visitor wearing something that says
"God Hates Fill-in-the-blank." I wonder, how long will it be before I see a
sign that says "God Hates Italians" my ethic heritage? Or "God Hates People
in Wheelchairs." Or people who are disabled and walk too slow and get in the
way. Or people who are blind. Who's going to be attacked next in a hate
sign?

And who's god is going around hating various classes of people? Not mine,
that's for sure.

A couple of years ago I was waiting at a crosswalk in downtown DC about 2
blocks from the White House, and on the opposite side of the street a senior
couple was also waiting with their young grandson who held a sign that said
"God Hates Jews." It was a well-made sign, professionally printed from a
$10/foot wide-format printer used for posters and banners. This was not a
hand-lettered sign tacked onto a scrap piece of wood. Someone paid a good
$15-20 to have this professional sign made.

The walk light came on and half-way across the street we passed. And I
stopped and asked, "I'm curious about your sign. Would you tell me more
about why you think that?" And in a few minutes, I learned that a) they're
scared about the economy, b) they traveled from the mid-west for a protest
on the Mall in DC, c) they couldn't afford the trip so the caravan of busses
was arranged and paid for by their local organization, d) they were given
the sign by the organization. The organization arranged this hate-fest?
Americans for Prosperity, which is funded nearly entirely by just 2 people.

Exclusion, hate, and anti-government are being heavily funded, and it's more
than just 2 grandparents holding a fancy hate sign.

As I said previously, it doesn't matter what the regulation is regulating:
environment, health, worker safety, or accessibility. If they don't like the
reg, they now
have the financial power, politicians, and public opinion to do what they
want.

I'll let you know when I spot the sign that says "God Hates Section 508 and
all those disabled freeloaders who live off our tax dollars."

—Bevi Chagnon
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