Well, obviously he's reading in Braille! Either with a Braille book or one of those Braille machines.
I think it was said before - people who write in the Heckler column are not journalists! It's like writing a letter to the editor, only longer, and they're apparently supposed to be funny (and to their credit, a lot of them are). I'm not necessarily defending journalists here, but it's not entirely their fault this time. Sure, the editor still published this rubbish, but...
About standards for these animal restraints - is it really the purpose of the CARs to outline such standards? Wouldn't that be more suited to the AIPs, CAOs or another such document that is not considered to be "legislation"? Is there an Australian Standard, set by Standards Australia? Or an international standard set by ICAO or IATA? I'm no aviation lawyer, either, but maybe we will find such standards in other documents (no, I haven't looked, but maybe someone who has easier access to those documents can). If there is no such standard set generally, perhaps airlines should take it upon themselves (if they have not already) to make such standards in their own operating procedures and supply the equipment on request. How would this be any different to how they supply equipment like wheelchairs?
Perhaps Mr. Innes, however ignorant (if that is the right word) he may be about the existence of CAR 256A(2)(c) has raised an important issue about the assistance visually impaired travellers.
Oz Mate!