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Debee:<br><br>
You are right about Aira and people taking the easy way out. Another
danger is that entities will use it as a quick accommodation, instead of
fixing their accessibility problems. Intuit pays for Aira use, for
customers in certain instances. It would be better for all if they
fixed their accessibility problems, once and for all.<br><br>
Personally I resent being forced to use one method, when others might be
available and/or better.<br><br>
Dave<br><br>
At 04:48 PM 11/7/2018, you wrote:<br>
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<br>
I’ve noticed that many colleges are now supplementing help for blind
students using Aira. Aira is a service that enables one to use either
their phone’s camera or special glasses to show a sighted agent what they
are having difficulty with and the agent assists. The agent can help the
user navigate, read signs, understand study materials such as charts and
graphs, and do anything else that “requires” sight.<br>
<br>
Aira is also popular with newly-blinded folk, because it’s an easy way to
get instant help.<br>
<br>
Their website is here<br>
<br>
<a href="https://aira.io/">https://aira.io/</a><br>
<br>
And a an edited description of the new plans is here:<br>
“AIRA Killing Unlimited Plan, Raising Prices for Others, Adding $29 Intro
Plan”<br>
Reported by Blind Bargains<br>
<a href="https://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=19611">
https://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=19611</a><br>
<br>
Copying from that page’s pricing info:<br>
<br>
New Plans<br>
• Intro: 30 minutes for $29 a month. 97 cents per minute.<br>
• Standard: 120 minutes for $99 a month. 83 cents per minute.<br>
• Advanced: 300 minutes for $199 a month. 66 cents per minute.<br>
• Premium (not advertised on website): 700 minutes for $329 a month. 47
cents per minute.<br>
<br>
Former Legacy Plans<br>
• Basic: 100 minutes for $89 a month. 89 cents per minute.<br>
• Plus: 200 minutes for $129 a month. 65 cents per minute.<br>
• Pro: 400 minutes for $199 a month. 50 cents per minute.<br>
• Unlimited: unlimited minutes for $329 a month. 47 cents per
minute.<br>
<br>
Other Notes<br>
• Additional minutes can be purchased for $50 for 50 minutes, or a dollar
per minute, which is higher than the cost of minutes on any of the
current plans.<br>
• All plans except Intro can be shared with up to 2 other users.<br>
• Those wishing to use the Horizon glasses also will need to pay an
additional $25 a month for 24 months or $600 one-time. Horizon is also
not available<br>
on the Intro plan.<br>
• The plan for NFB members also remains, which is 140 minutes for $99 a
month, so essentially 20 additional minutes.<br>
<br>
What bothers me about Aira is that it’s tempting to use it to simply save
time, which works great if you already know how to do something on your
own. If you need to make sure you put tuna in the sandwich and not cat
food, or you need to understand the anatomy textbook to prepare for an
exam, Aira can be a lifesaver. I have friends who know how to use their
phone to identify packages, and they know how to ask for directions to
navigate an unfamiliar area. But they use Aira because it’s more
convenient than struggling. It’s nice to have an Aira agent tell you if
your colors match or you really are at the right restaurant. <br>
<br>
However, what happens when using Aira becomes a substitute for learning
to do things on your own? Nobody’s talking about this, but just as
notetakers are often used when a student would do better with notetaking
technologies like Sonocent, my concern is that Aira will become the easy
but pricey fix. Technology does this too – the modern taxi driver seems
unable to cope when his GPS goes down. So maybe I’m just a luddite.
Still, when I FaceTime my girlfriend in Walmart to check the color of a
garment before purchasing it, I’m glad I don’t need Aira to
function.<br>
<br>
--Debee</blockquote></body>
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