Web site closed due to "security difficulties"?

Ya gotta wonder:

Last Thursday, subscribers to the National Library Service's Web Braille site found this announcement when they logged in:

"Because of technical and security difficulties, Web Braille will be unavailable in the near future. NLS regrets the inconvenience and will provide further information as soon as possible."

The public still can't find out what's happening or why.

No; it's not "national security." But still, awfully high-handed.

And no explanation we could find anywhere.  No media coverage at all that I've been able to find.

"imagine going to your favorite library or bookstore and finding it closed until further notice with no warning given beforehand," says a reader. "Further, imagine you live in a small town and your favorite source of reading material is almost your only source."

Web Braille offers access to thousands of electronic braille books for downloading. It's a service provided by the Library of Congress's  "National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped."

Earlene Hughes over at the blog Earlene's Audio Paradise is talking up the petition drive.

I suppose they're worried over at NLS that some illegal blind people might be wanting to get their fingers on those free digital Braille editions of books. Ya know, ones who haven't signed up to be "eligible."

Like most programs "for the blind and handicapped," Web Braille, while free, is available only to "eligible" people -- blind readers -- who must register for the service through their local library affiliate of the NLS.  It is almost impossible to learn about the existence of the Web Braille service fromtheir site; it seems, as with many government programs for blind and disabled people, there's an effort to keep the user base small.

Finally, after poking about, one can find the Web Braille Factsheet, which provides no way to access the Web Braille site itself. "The Web-Braille site is password-protected, and all files are in an electronic form of contracted braille, requiring the use of special equipment for access," says the Factsheet page.

From petitioners' comments:

I am hearing impaired and do not use audio books of any form. Web braille revolutionized the way I read and I thanked God the day I first signed up for it. I'm able to read anywhere now, and I don't have to worry about the limited space I have in which to store hardcopy braille books. The loss of Web braille will be keenly felt by many, such as myself, if it isn't brought back.

and

At the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind, our students use WebBraille every day. We have seen huge leaps in student interest in reading and resultant test scores. Please do not take this valuable resource away...

and

To take it away is like taking away colors to a sighted person, you need them and we need this...

and

NLS's decision to discontinue web braille is more than a mere "inconvenience" to Americans who are blind," said one peitioner. "It significantly blocks access to information as enjoyed by sighted persons and erodes equity of access which is every American's right. What happened to this Administrations's avowed commitment to "no child left behind" ? And what happened to all the hard-won gains under the ADA, the FCC and other Governmental regulations? ...

Read more petitioners' comments,

•  mah-MOOD ah-mah-dee-nee-JAHD, mow-HAHM-med

  el-bah-RAH-day.
  Slightly off topic, but I just found this great VOA site that gives the correct pronunciation of all the names CNN can't pronounce.
  http://names.voa.gov/...

  by AWhitneyBrown on Tue May 16, 2006 at 06:46:20 AM PDT

•  wacky..

  My guess is that people were sharing passwords and, for whatever reason, they're going to redesign the site. I still don't understand why a password is necessary for this type of site.. maybe someone's corporate interest?

  by Politburo on Tue May 16, 2006 at 06:55:19 AM PDT

  •  why's a password needed?

    That was my question exactly: it's not like the public is suddenly going to descend on the site by the millions and download James Patterson's latest?? We're talking BRAILLE here.

    Just another example of how agencies rule the lives of blind people.

    Has nothing-- zilch -- to do with money. Nobody's corporate interests. Just the old thing when it comes to blind and disabled people: paternalism.

    by mjohnson on Wed May 17, 2006 at 03:27:08 AM PDT

•  I know of at least one other site

  that is "down for a security audit" whatever the hell that is.

  Reckon the NSA is shutting down the Internet site by site?

  Iraq Moratorium

  by One Pissed Off Liberal on Tue May 16, 2006 at 07:01:20 AM PDT

  •  What site?

    You could tell is what this place is maybe, OPOL? Is it a .gov, .org, your favorite repository of naughty pictures, an archive of Elizabethan poetry?

    Department of Interior websites were down for months a couple of years ago as a result of a judges order in a lawsuit which showed that their security was, indeed, awful.

    And I imagine any of us who have been on the Internet more than a very short time have encountered innumerable forms of technoweirdness that causes sites to become inaccessible. (My own blog has been down for the last several days, but that's because we're switching servers, not persecution by the NSA.)

    No point in feeding our (entirely deserved) paranoia without some details.

    by Xan on Tue May 16, 2006 at 07:43:50 AM PDT

  •  Probably not.

    Generally, security problems mean a DoS attack or some kind of conventional hacking attempt.

    The NSA hardly has to attack websites within the US... a phone call would probably be sufficient for a voluntary closure.

    by RyoCokey on Tue May 16, 2006 at 08:06:45 AM PDT

•  Wasn't the mullah that orchestrated

  the 1992 bombing of the WTC blind?

  Just saying.

  by ROGNM on Tue May 16, 2006 at 08:01:13 AM PDT

•  ACB has nada on their web site.

  I just checked the American Council for the Blind site and they don't have anything on it. I used to work with the President of ACB and I left him a voice mail, so we'll see what's going on.

  Access for the blind is a huge problem. The government has been dragging its heels for years. I know of blind people having problems traveling alone on airlines, and they have made no progress on requiring video description to TV broadcasts and DVDs (which is absolutely doable) and braille on currency.

  Even if there is a legit. security concern on the WebBraille site, there is no excuse in this day and age for not having a detailed explanation. This stinks.

  by homogenius on Tue May 16, 2006 at 08:57:06 AM PDT

  •  Update from ACB.

    (Not that anyone will read this--LOL).

    I just received an email from Chris Gray, the President of the American Council of the Blind. ACB is taking a very proactive stance on this. They have made their displeasure known in no uncertain terms, both regarding the shut-down and the vague reasons given.

    You can be very sure that this is not going to go unchallenged. Thanks for caring, fellow Kossacks.

    by homogenius on Tue May 16, 2006 at 11:00:09 AM PDT

    •  ACB's displeasure...

      What ACB needs to do IMHO is to get the word out in the Big Media. They can do it. They've got the contacts. WashPo has been covering the Gallaudet protests; they can cover this as well.

      Maybe the site did have problems but to not explain the problem is really high-handed and nasty.

      by mjohnson on Wed May 17, 2006 at 03:24:42 AM PDT