Is it inclusive, accessible and usable?

The photo included in this blog posting is a stylized painting created by Carolyn Butts.  It portrays a blind entrepreneur in the fast lane wearing a business suit with brief case in hand, red tie flapping in the wind - holding onto the red harness of his running guide dog. This painting has personal significance to me and to my business as it depicts a world in which all blind individuals are participating fully and actively in all aspects of the social and economic mainstream, which is the true vision behind T-Base Communications.
                              
It has been a longstanding business mission for T-Base Communications to ensure that blind, partially sighted and deafblind consumers can receive information and correspondence in the format of their choice and are afforded the same protection, privacy and security as all others. As a blind entrepreneur, I created T-Base Communications to ensure that this mission is fulfilled.
                             
My inspiration was my inability to decipher every day documents such as my monthly bills and bank statements without assistance. I knew that other blind consumers were experiencing the same level of frustration and the need for mainstream alternate format services became increasingly apparent.  As a result of the lack of accessible communication materials available to me, T-Base Communications was born. I was fortunate enough to have background and skills to impact and facilitate change, providing organizations with the opportunity to communicate directly, and much more effectively, with their blind, partially sighted and deafblind customers.

I attribute my drive to a personal interest in legislation along with my intimate knowledge of the services consumers seek. As a consumer, I completely understand the plight of the customer who is unable to independently access their private financial statements and bills, and as a businessperson, I understand the importance of ensuring cost effective, scalable solutions to ensure compliance, and to ensure these needs are met.

I feel it is important to help organizations understand the issues with respect to independent, secure and private access to information for their customers and design service delivery with access in mind.  I also feel it is equally important to have any active relationship with all of our corporate customers, and in turn with their end customers, to ensure ongoing excellent visibility into consumer needs.

I have created this blog as a forum for open and honest dialogue from consumers and organizations on accessible service delivery in the hopes that both can derive and provide important benefits from exchanges of perspective.

I invite seniors, blind, partially sighted and deafblind consumers, as well as corporate organizations dealing with issues around accessibility to contribute by comment. I recommend readers do so by asking themselves one simple question¦ Is the information I am publishing inclusive, accessible and usable?