The exhibit hall is always a dynamic and exciting part of the national convention. This is the recorded session with a transcript of the the 2022 National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind exhibitor showcase virtual preview from Tuesday, June 28. Learn about each exhibitor and how you can connect with them if you won’t be attending in person.
Transcript
ANIL LEWIS: Good evening, everyone, and depending on where you are or whether you're listening to the recording, good morning, good afternoon. But for real time, good evening. We're really excited to be doing this. This is kind of the pre- convention piece to get us excited to get back together again. I'm so looking forward to getting together with my Federation family, and I hope you're excited. This is a newer feature, that we're starting to offer as we learn and grow on an annual basis. So I'm excited our vendors get to join us and our attendees get to have a chance to preview what will be in the exhibit hall. Before I give the vendors their time to shine, I want to thank them for what they do. Many people say the vendor hall is why they come to Convention. I know that's really flattering, because it's because of the policy and the presentations and of course the banquet speech, but the vendors play an extremely important role in the organization. I want to thank each and every one of our exhibitors not only for exhibiting, taking the opportunity to interact with our members, giving us an opportunity to take a look at your products and services, to give you feedback to make them better, but also for supporting us in a real way. Not in just a way that puts money in your pocket, but also gives us an opportunity to really engage and create devices, etc., that are going to impact the lives of blind people and let us live the lives we want
I am remiss -- I'm Anil Lewis, the executive director of Blindness Initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind, and on behalf of President Riccobono, welcome to this event. I want to thank each and every one of you, again, not for just being exhibitors, but for being true partners, and also, for our attendees listening to this, I want to thank you as well. The vendors are one way we show our appreciation for the organization. But it's also all of us coming together. It's no one person or entity, but collective action on the part of NFB that makes this convention a wonderful event. I have no doubt that had this not been at the tail end of COVID that being at New Orleans for our convention would have resulted in extremely large numbers and maybe even breaking our attendance record. But I can't disclose the number, but I think you'll be extremely pleased with the number of people we already have registered, not to mention the number of people we'll have registered onsite. So I don't have any fear about having a robust, engaging convention of our members. A couple things I want to remind everyone about. Our Crowd Compass app, which we've used very effectively in the virtual environment, we're going to continue to use. And in the Crowd Compass app, you'll have the agenda, you can make your own personal little agendas. We're going to have the 1CapApp, which helps our deafblind individuals access the captioning provided to the convention. And I think it's live now. I think you can download the Crowd Compass app today, if not before now. And we're dealing with the aftermath of COVID, but we're making some pretty good COVID protocols that we're hoping you will all comply with before coming onsite. We're asking people to test 72 hours in advance of checking into the hotel. If you are able, please tend those to test results -- that's plural -- [email protected], and we're working with a number of organizations to make sure that blind individuals can test independently. You can actually go to the free COVID tests request form, and request an independent COVID test. And we hope to continue those collaborations to be able to conduct medical testing independently.
There will be testing onsite, but again, testing in advance is probably best.
On site, we'll have mask protocols and be encouraging everyone to remain masked throughout the convention. Once you register and prove you have a negative test, you'll have a wristband that identifies you as adhering to the protocol. And we'll be moving forward in the spirit of love and Federation family philosophy throughout the whole week.
Unfortunately, we have fewer individuals here that are volunteering. In the past, we've had a really robust relationship with UPS, and again, blaming everything on COVID puts us through, we're not able to tap into the volunteer resource we've had in the past. So we kind of need everyone to step up. So we're hoping that everyone can lean their shoulder to the wheel and get in where they fit in, find a solution to a problem before the problem exists. So we hope everyone has a spirit of volunteerism and is willing to work together to make sure it happens. Some of the ways we're mitigating the lack of volunteers onsite is we have our Good Maps application, which is a wayfinding application. If you want to go to the Apple Store and download the Good Maps app, I think it's also available on Android. I'm not familiar with Android stuff -- maybe the AT Guys can help us with that. But hopefully that wayfinding app will help individuals access and navigate the hotel venue.
We want to make sure that you take the time to engage, our members and exhibitors, and give us feedback on what works and what doesn't work, because only through feedback can we get better. We continue to revisit our in-person experience and I think we'll be making some new, innovative improvements in that as well
So any feedback you could provide will be extremely helpful.
Enough of me. Let's move to the exhibitors. And I just want you to know, I'm looking forward to seeing you in the Big Easy. I hope you guys are looking forward to the New Orleans experience, and until I see you onsite, laissez les bon temps rouler!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, Anil, and thank you so much for your words. Part of what makes our convention so special is what we do with our sponsors and exhibitors.
So, a few logistical points. The Q&A should be open at this point. If you have a logistical question, we'll do our best to answer it through the Q&A. If we can't answer it now, we'll make sure to get an answer to you later. When one person is speaking, everyone else will in fact be muted so that we can hear the speakers. We've asked each of our exhibitors, and we'll present them in opposite alpha order, we've asked them to keep their remarks to right around one minute. So with without further ado, I think I'm going to get started. Let's begin with World Institute on Disability.
REGGIE: Hello, everyone, my name is Reggie Johnson, and I'm the senior director for marketing and communications for World Institute on Disability, or WID. We advance the inclusion, rights, and justice of people with disabilities with the design and delivery of whole-community solutions. Our mission on a global scale is to continuously advance the rights and opportunities for more than 1 billion people with disabilities. We believe in the power of people with disabilities to lead, and that lived experience is critical in creating effective policies, systems, tools, products, and services.
We are proud to be attending this year's National Federation of the Blind National Conference, and we welcome you to stop by our table, as we would love to meet you. We also highly encourage you to visit our website, which is www.wid.org, to learn more about us.
It's an accessible website that is very easy to navigate, and we have some great resources that we think you, your family members, or circles of support would find extremely informative and helpful.
Thank you for your time this evening, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of this program.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you! Our next presenter has been with us before. If you're interested in wayfinding technology, WayAround is one of the wayfinding technologies that has been working with the National Federation of the Blind for quite some time. WayAround.
MICHAEL: Hi, everyone, my name is Michael Doies, I'm a developer with WayAround, and it's honor to be with you all this evening and to be at the convention representing WayAround next week. I'm really excited about that.
If you have heard of WayAround before, we are known for our home and office product, where you can scan and label all of your office supplies or home items through NFC tags, and we have plenty of new features, like the ability to read tags in the background, and we're starting our public tag program as well, where we're going to have tags in public locations where people can scan and get information about different points of interest in public. And we will actually be at the exhibit hall and places in the Sheridan hotel. So you can find our tags at the exhibit hall, right around the ADA signs, or 46 inches above the ground. So they'll be at the entrances and at the elevators and bathrooms. So you'll be able to experience that. We have all kinds of new features coming up. So we hope to see you at the conference, and, you know, if you would like your event tagged, you can contact [email protected], and we'd love to have that conversation with you. And if you'd like to find creative ways of tagging things, find me at the convention or contact WayAround. Thank you, everybody, and we'll see you at NFB '22!
PATTI CHANG: Appreciate that. Next up is Touching Words, LLC.
ANNA: I think we may have lost her, but we can go back at the end.
PATTI CHANG: No problem. The Seeing Eye Inc is next, then.
CHELSEA: Are you looking for The Seeing Eye?
PATTI CHANG: The Vagaries of JAWS, it sounded like "AI" to me!
(Laughter.)
CHELSEA: Gotta love JAWS!
Good evening, everybody, I'm Chelsea White, I'm outreach for The Seeing Eye, one of the 14 schools in U.S. and Canada that train guide dogs. We're located in Morristown, New Jersey, and we'll be at convention this summer, so please stop by and say hello. If for some reason you're not able to attend convention in person this year, you can reach us several different ways. The website is www.seeingeye.org. Or you can reach us by phone at 800-539-4425. Or if you have questions for me specifically, my e-mail is white, like the color, white, the letter c for Chelsea, at seeingeye.org. And I look forward to seeing everybody in New Orleans!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you so much. Our next presenter is probably the person who's calling in from furthest away -- it's 2:00 a.m. where he is. Raising Cane, you're next! JUAN: Hello, everybody, thank you for being here. My name is Juan Ruiz with Raising Cane. I'm the only blind mobility instructor in Europe, and I'm bringing to the U.S. canes produced here in Europe. These canes were developed with a lot of input from many different blind people in several different countries to accomplish what I would like to call a performance cane, which is a cane that first is foldable... but nevertheless, feels as close as possible to a straight cane. Second of all, we have a style that is not only foldable, but where the stop section telescopes from a range of about 6 inches, so, for example, the 51-inch goes all the way to 57 inches. Nice wooden handles. And they are durable (showing canes to the camera) and designed with precision so they do not wiggle with time. People love holding them in their hands! So I look forward to seeing everybody at the National Federation of the Blind conference, looking forward to you guys trying them out. You can reach me at www.raisingcane.shop, and we'll see you at the conference.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you so much for being here, especially early in the morning like that! Gotta love this next name -- PS You Are Fabulous! Go ahead.
ANNA: You're still muted.
ERICA: Hi, everybody, I hope you're doing well. Just imagine going to your closet and having the ability to select just the right outfit for the day. My company, PS You Are Fabulous, is helping you achieve this on a daily basis. Combining my passion and experience to change how the world sees the blind one day at a time.
So, you no longer need to depend or be inconvenient to family or friends, because I will work with you to get you into the latest fashion trends. PS You Are Fabulous provides a wide range of services, from taking you shopping and picking out just the right outfits for you. I've been in this business for 10 years as a fashion stylist.
I also go and, I can do a whole wardrobe overload and totally do your wardrobe over, or just go and pick out things that you need or don't need, put outfits together for you. I will explain styles and cuts, the type of clothing that suits you the best. And we can create the perfect outfit for you for any occasion. If it's just, you know, for a picnic or a wedding or whatever it would be.
All my services are free. I work on donations. So my goal is, right now, I'm located in Maryland, but my goal is, as long as I get donations, to go out throughout all of the United States to get the help that is needed.
So, let us help bring out the most fabulous you!!
And you can visit us at our website at www.psyouarefabulous.org. You can also give me a call at 240-575-1976. And I will be at the convention in New Orleans. So please stop by and see me! Thank you.
PATTI CHANG: I think I'll definitely do that! We have a daughter getting married next year in Belize and I can't figure out what I'm supposed to wear!
ERICA: There you go, I'm here to help.
PATTI CHANG: Appreciate it! Next we have Pathfinder Press
HARVEY: Hi there, I'm Harvey Mc Arthur with Pathfinder Press. We're looking forward to introducing you to 400 titles that we publish, books on the devastation of the working class under capitalism and the fight against it. 400 titles are available for the readers who are blind on Bookshare.org. This year, Pathfinder embarked on a project to make our books accessible as e-books with image descriptions and navigation. We'll have the demonstrations of our titles throughout the convention next week. And our e-books will be available at a 30% discount to participants.
Here are our titles: Are they rich, or are they smart? Class learning under capitalism. Evolution and the nature of humanity, the long view of history.
The communist manifesto.
Tribunes of the people and trade unions.
Washington's assault on Iraq, the opening guns of World War III.
The Clintons' anti-working class record.
To speak the truth: Why the war on Cuba doesn't end.
And the Jewish question: A Marxist interpretation of the question.
So we look forward to seeing you at the convention, we'll be booth 21.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you. Orbit Research, you are next.
VENKATESH: Hello, everybody, I'm Venkatesh from Orbit Research. We offer a range of affordable, daily use products including braille displays, calculators, money identifiers, apps for inclusive education. We're really excited to be exhibiting at the convention and we'll be showing two new products that we just announced. The orbit Speak is a speech based note taking device with a braille keyboard and synthesized speech output. It's a pocket sized, affordable product
And the Graphiti plus is the first ever product to bring to the world interactive, multi-level refreshable tactiles and braille into a single device. We'll also have the Orbit Writer and the Graphiti. All of these are available on the website, www.orbitresearch.com. Or our toll free phone number 888-606-7248. We'll also have some exciting convention specials we'll be announcing very shortly. So we'll be in booth 813. We look forward to seeing you all at the convention next week. Thank you.
PATTI CHANG: Look forward to seeing you too. Up next is one of my favorite services, NFB-NEWSLINE.
JESSE: Thank you, this is Jesse, operations specialist with National Federation of the Blind. NFB-NEWSLINE is excited to be with you at National Convention, we'll be at booth A18 and D19. NFB-NEWSLINE is an audio and braille information service. We make job listings, television listings, store circulars, magazines, newspapers, and online information accessible to blind people and people who have low vision. It's a free service. So please come to our table and check it out. We're happy to talk to you about the service. You can sign up at the table. If you're already a subscriber, you can get your user information, you can ask questions, and you can pick up how-to guides in print, braille, and audio. And come and meet our team and volunteers! We really want to connect with you. Again, that's the NEWSLINE table. We'll be at D18 and D19. If you're joining us virtually, please check out NFBnewsline.org, and if you want to reach out by phone, you can call our customer service line at 866-504-7300. See you at convention!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, Jesse. I realized yesterday, I need to visit our next exhibitor, because I'm down to my last long white cane! NFB Independence Market, you're next!
Independence Market: Good evening, everyone, thank you so much for being here at the exhibitor show case. I'm Gen White, most people call me. I'll be managing the Independence Market exhibit at the exception this year. I want you to know we're bringing the entire market to convention. So like Patti said, your cane, cane tips, watches, clocks, and all your other favorites will be there. If you're looking for the cornbread kit or the cube clock, though, uh-huh, forget it, they're all gone! You'll be disappointed. But there are some other things that we will have. We have some new items for you guys to come take a look at. We have a BIG rectangular shaped spot in the exhibit hall. We have some new watches and clocks, and even some in Spanish that speak Spanish, as well as we have some new NFB logoed apparel. We have jackets and polo shirts, as well as a drinking tumbler with the NFB logo as well.
We have put on sale, during convention, our NFB carbon fiber strength cane. So that will be on sale all through convention for $15. So if you guys need a straight cane and like carbon fiber, come on over and see us! You can reach us in the market at Independence Market@ NFB.org, or by phone at 410-659-9314, and the extension for the market is 2216.
I really am looking forward to seeing all my Federation family and friends, and come on by and see us, you guys! Thank you!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, nicely done. Lutheran Braille Workers, you're next, please.
Lutheran Braille Workers: Good evening, everybody, it's an honor to be talking to you about Lutheran Braille Workers. I'm Sandy Jenkins. We're celebrating 71 years of service this year and we're proud to continue to offer Christian texts in braille print. We have Bibles, hymnals, devotionals, topical materials, and other items for you. We're also excited to announce that we've added dozens of new titles over the past few years, including three new titles of nonfiction books about Christian missionaries and their powerful stories.
Lutheran Braille Workers continues to work in other languages, including Spanish, and we serve anybody who would like to request our materials in braille or large print. You can visit us on our website. It's www.lbwloveworks.org, or you can call our headquarters at 909-795-8977 to learn more. Please feel free to stop by our booth in New Orleans. We look forward to talking to you and meeting all of you, and we will see you there!
PATTI CHANG: Seems quite appropriate that Lutheran braille is followed by International Christian Braille Mission.
International Christian Braille Mission: Hello, NFB enthusiasts. I'm Thomas, administrative assistant, and with me is Mike Smith, president of the International Christian Braille Mission. ICBM produces and distributes Christian literature in formats readable by the blind free of charge. We provide braille in two formats, hard copy and downloadable on your e-reader. We also provide digital audio magazines, either in the Library of Congress digital cartridge or downloadable to your player.
Our catalog is available at our website, icbminc.org, the e-mail to contact is [email protected], and we can also be contacted by phone at 606-474-3411. Our address is PO Box 520 in Grayson, Kentucky, 41143, and at the NFB Convention we'll be in booth C10. Come visit and say hi to us.
PATTI CHANG: C10. Next up is Guiding Eyes.
MELISSA: Hello, everyone, I'm Melissa Carney, graduate support manager at Guiding Eyes. We're thrilled to join you in New Orleans next week. I hope to meet you at our booth in the exhibit hall to talk about our services. We offer a two week residential training program. We continue to be known for our community support care, follow-up support, and generous veterinary care assistance. We have recently started an outreach center to bring more guide dog awareness presentations to the general public, as well as formed a client experience team to further enhance applicant, student, and graduate satisfaction, customization of training, and accessibility modifications on campus. If you have any questions before, during, or after the convention you can reach me at [email protected].
PATTI CHANG: Thank you. The next name I find intriguing -- Guide Lights and Gadgets.
BARRY: Hello, my wife and I have been known for electronic and other products, and a few years ago we started bringing in portable daisy entertainment systems known as the Evil 10 and Evil 12 players, especially the Evil 12, which is amazing. As for leather, leather cases, bags, hands free phone pouches, display case, if it can be made, worn, or displayed with leather, we probably have. We recently added a locking, telescopic, lightweight and sturdy titanium cane, and we'll have a pretty exciting announcement about that, I think, at the booth next week. And lastly, a broad collection of products for guide dogs and their handlers, which is a labor of love that Kay has maintained as we've grown the business. We're at booth B19. You can reach me at 617-969-7500, or by e-mail at [email protected], and our website is www.guidelightsandgadgets us, not.com, and I'll see you next week.
PATTI CHANG: Guide Dogs of America.
Guide Dogs of America is in Southern California and we provide dogs at no cost to recipients across the U.S. and Canada. Our guide dogs become trusted companions and truly bring new opportunities for life experiences and social interaction. Myself and a graduate will be attending the conference, and we're excited to meet you, and provide you more information about our program and what it's like to get a guide dog at our school. So please stop by and say hello, and we will see you next week and hope you have safe travels. Thank you.
PATTI CHANG: Guide Dogs of America is different from our next presenter, which is Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Good evening, everybody, my name is Pam Berman. I will be at the convention in booth B14. Guide Dogs for the Blind is the largest guide dog school in the United States, and that we have two campuses. Our original campus is in San Rafael, California, and then we have a second campus in Boring, Oregon. All of our services are free. We also have an orientation and mobility immersion program, also free. I will be at booth B14 myself, Jane Flower, who does our youth programming, Robia Dahl will be there, Theresa Stern will be there. And a couple instructors will be there as well as field manager Bill Archie. The best way to reach us, if not at B14 in the exhibit hall, would be online. We are at guidedogs.com, or you could always call us at 800-295-4050.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at conference next week.
PATTI CHANG: Welcome, Pam. Welcome. Sticking with our theme, we have Guide Dogs Foundation for the Blind. LAUREN: Thank you, my name is Lauren, the consumer relations coordinator at the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. We were started in 1946 and are currently located in Smithtown, New York, which is on Long Island, and we breed, train, and place highly skilled guide dogs free of charge either through a two week on campus or home-based training. Our graduate support care teams then support the graduates and working dogs throughout their careers. You can visit us at booth D as in dog, 14. At the convention. Myself will be there, along with a few of our apprentice instructors, so our instructor s-in-training are getting their first experience going to a national convention. And then our graduate support manager will be in attendance as well. Our website is www.guidedog.org. We can also be reached by phone. This is my direct number, actually -- 631-930-9055. Or if you just want our front desk, that is the same number, but you just get rid of the 55. So it's just 631-930-9000. Or by e-mail at consumer services at guidedog.org. We look forward to seeing individuals in person and also just being available to answer any questions that anyone may have.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you very much. Eyes Like Mine, you're next.
CRYSTAL: Hello, everyone, my name is Crystal Allen. Happy preconvention week. I'm the CEO of Eyes Like Mine, Inc, and I'm particularly excited for the New Orleans convention to connect with all of you and to let you all know about Eyes Like Mine Inc. We're based in New Jersey, and our mission is to share awareness about the abilities and potential of individuals with vision loss through community service initiatives, comprehensive empowerment workshops, and innovative social change awareness events. And we will be exhibiting throughout the week. We will be able to share information about how you can connect with us virtually and in person through our peer support group that we are going to be launching on July 29th, in observance of the 32nd ADA anniversary. Our Reel Abilities Film Festival screening, highlighting the lifestyles of people with all different abilities. And our Finding Miss Blind Diva tour, the first and only pageant for women with vision loss, where we are in research and recruiting the woman who can take the title this year to receive a $1,000 cash prize and many more opportunities. Applications are open on our website right now. But at convention, we'll be doing a special giveaway for those interested women who would like to apply for our pageant this year. We're bringing our pageant in person for the first time since the pandemic. And it will also have a component where it will be part of a short film with award winning filmmaker Lisa Durden, who has had shows on BET, Eccentric, and A and E, and this year our pageant will be streamed on Light Beam TV. So all the participants this year will be connected to the short film in a feature, as well as any of their platforms that they are associated with.
You can connect with me through my digital business card that will be placed in the Q&A chat, and if you want to get a head start and apply, you can visit my organization's website at eyeslikemine.org. And you can also connect with me on July 8th in studio 1 with our seminar from 12:45 to 1:45, and we'll have lots of fun on our fabulous female Friday!
So, looking forward to embracing all of you at our table and on July 8th in studio 1. Thank you!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you. I'm so excited to see the variety of exhibitors we have this year. And so many new exhibitors!
Dream Vision, you're up next.
JAMIE: Hello, I'm Jamie Pickering with Dream Vision Group. We're thrilled to be doing the summer conventions in person this year. My partner and colleague Gen and Mike are thrilled and would love to you have come by booth C19 at the 2022 NFB Convention. As a blind-owned company ourselves, we really know the value of training and support, and therefore, our company commitment to our customers is that we will always put training and support over selling products. That said, we do have some unique and innovative products that we invite you to check out. We are the North American distributor of the handy tac smart braille display line from help tack GMBH. These are the only displays with ergonomic curves and, you can basically think of it as braille that follows you, with a lot of features like braille refreshing when you get to the end of the line no matter when you speed up and slow down when you're reading. A music braille editor that lets you hear notes plays as you type them and as you read them back on your braille display. Very cool. There's a face-to-face deafblind communication app that is powered by ATC. And a bunch of other new things that we'd like you to see.
Also, we're highlighting the Braille Sense 6 and the new Braille Sense 6 mini note taker, Android based note taker. The Tactilo learning system, and the new easy to use Lyric OCR Reading Machine.
As you know, we always offer our best deals of the year at the summer shows, and this year, we're doubly excited that we're able to offer financing. So you can ask us about payment plans of up to 36 months. So if you're shopping technology, definitely visit Dream Vision Group at booth C19. Those of you who may be visiting us virtually, our website is www.dvg-llc.com. That's www.dvg-llc.com.
And for those of you who do visit us at booth C19, we have some cool braille giveaways for you too. So, looking forward to seeing all of you next week in New Orleans. Thank you so much.
PATTI CHANG: Love those options, especially payment plan options. Cleanlogic, you're up next. TOMMY: Hello, everyone, I'm Tommy, representing Cleanlogic, a conscious and sustainable beauty brand that's an industry leader in raising awareness for the blind and visually impaired community. We've been raising awareness in the community since our brand first launched in 20006 and we started including braille on the front of our packaging. We've been fortunate to provide funding to a number of nonprofit organizations through the sale of our products such as through our annual tech grant awards, through our family owned inspiration foundation. This is only one of the many efforts we're striving towards each and every day. We're also looking to actively continue to build out our team towards our goal of reaching a 25% differently abled workforce by 2025.
In addition to this, we have various fundraising vehicles to work to put our continuous donations to other organizations. During the convention you can come to the Cleanlogic booth, booth C9, and grab a 20% off coupon. For each sale where this coupon is used, Cleanlogic will donate 10% of the sale back to NFB. We'll also have some of our favorite exfoliators as well. We look forward to meeting all of you, and have a wonderful convention. Thank you.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you very much! I love the donate back. That's always a good concept. Carroll Center, you're next.
Hello, everyone, thank you for being here and listening to me for just a minute. My name is Nick Corbitt and I'm the training director at Carroll Center for the Blind located in Newton, Massachusetts. The Carroll Center offers many training and rehabilitation programs for people at any age with any stage of vision loss. At the NFB convention I'll be highlighting all the programs featured at the Carroll Center, as well as the new screen reader user tester training program, which I teach along with David Kingsbury author of multiple books on using Windows computers with screen readers
At the convention, feel free to connect with me and we can chat about anything related to technology that you want to. We can explore Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, all the different screen readers, and I can make recommendations for you if you have any questions. I'll give you a couple of websites here. The Carroll Center's main website is www.carroll.org, and Carroll is spelled with 2Rs and 2Ls.
If you want to check out the website for my program specifically, it's carroll.org/screen-reader-user-testing-training-program/. It's a long URL!
(Laughter.)
But I'll be there with business cards, print and braille handouts with all the URLs. And for this program specifically you can, on the website, take the prescreening, try it out, see how you like the program. It has tremendous opportunity for people looking to get into the digital accessibility space and make really good income. So I look forward to chatting with you all at the convention.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.
Next up is 4Blind.
Hello, everyone, it is very nice to be here this evening. My name is Anastasia, and I'm with the 4Blind company. We're an engineering company based in Boston, and we are focused on expanding the capabilities of the blind and deafblind communities by developing and manufacturing assistive devices. It is a great pleasure for us to participate at the National Federation of the Blind National Convention as exhibitors this year. We have the great pleasure to invite you to stop by our booth, B13, where our representative and CEO will be glad to tell you more about our solutions, which I will just briefly mention.
The first one would be the Help 2 Braille, our communication solution for deafblind people, allowing them to communicate with anyone without assistance from a third party. You will be able to try it yourself.
Also at our booth you'll have the opportunity to learn about our brand-new solutions which will be available later this year. The first one would be the Total Charger, a smart charging adapter with sound and vibration identification that will keep the user informed of the charging process, and the second one, probably the most exciting, would be the Braille Pad Tactile Tablet. Braille Pad will be a cost-affordable tablet for viewing images, graphics, maps, and texts. We believe this tablet will be of the most interest for parents and teachers, as it opens up new opportunities for the educational process. Lastly, do not miss a chance to get a $200 voucher for purchasing our products and more information will be available at our booth, B13.
Also, please visit our website for more information, which is www.4blind.com, and feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
Thank you, and enjoy your time at the convention.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you very much! Now, John, before we go to 3DPhotoWorks, I want to see if we have Touching Words back.
JJ: Patti, you skipped me!
PATTI CHANG: Oh, no, AT Guys!
ANNA: We have a list of people to go to at the end --
JJ: No problem.
PATTI CHANG: But I did pass by Touching Words. Did we have Touching Words?
BONITA: Touching Words is here!
PATTI CHANG: Yay! All right, go ahead.
BONITA: It's such a good omen -- good evening, everyone, it's good to be here. It's a good omen, because once again something went wrong, my computer died!
But anyway, we are so happy to be here. I'm Bonita Abadie, I'm with my husband, Ulysses, and we're proud members of the National Federation of the Blind, proud residents of New Orleans, and we are so excited to be a vendor. We have a newly formed company, Touching Words, and we will have plaques and magnets of various sizes that will give words of inspiration, biblical verses, and they will be in a print and braille format. We are located in booth C18, and our website is www.touchingwordsnola.com, and it will be launched on July 5 at the start of the convention. So we are so excited to be a part of this. We want you to stop by booth 6 -- I'm sorry, C18, and connect with some of our Touching Words. And it's our hope that these words will inspire, encourage, motivate. And one of the ones that we have that can truly be related to anyone in the Federation, and it is "blindness is not a disability. Blindness is different abilities". So we look forward to meeting you all at the convention. And we thank you all for letting us be a part of this exciting exhibit.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, very consistent with our one-minute message, which begins with "the National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines me or my future". We're going to go to 3DPhotoWorks, and I do have your additional list, so we'll come back to people who we didn't catch the first go-round.
JOHN: I'm from 3DPhotoWorks and its subsidiary, tactile images. We create tactile images from great photographs, great art. We've done 27 museum installations since we went live in 2016. Nearly a decade ago, we partnered with the National Federation of the Blind. This will be our tenth convention.
18 months ago, the Federation, 3DPhotoWorks, and Getty Images partnered to make 45 million images available to the blind community. In New Orleans, we're doing something really exciting this year. We are exhibiting, but in addition to exhibiting, we're installing a 7-piece installation of fine art. It's an exhibit that normally would be installed in museums, but it's going to be in the public area at the Marriott for everyone to enjoy.
We're exhibiting in booth A16. We'd love you to come by and introduce yourselves and say hello, and if it weren't for the Federation and its membership, we wouldn't be where we're at today. The membership and the leadership gave us the support and the information we needed to develop a product that we hope in the next 10 years will change the world for the blind community. See you there!
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, John. We have next up, Light House for the Blind, and Computers for the Blind, you're on deck after Light House for the Blind.
SHERI: Good evening, everyone, I'm Sheri Alver, outreach coordinator for the Light House for the Blind in San Francisco. So excited to see everybody in person. We'll be at B22. We have been around since 1902, and our mission has been to promote the independence, equality, and self-reliance for those individuals who are blind and have low vision.
What we are bringing to our exhibit hall table this year are mostly the products from our MAD Lab, which is the Media and Accessible Design Lab, which is something that is really unique to Light House in San Francisco. They are the products that have been home-grown and unique to us that no one else really has. One of the major products that I'm speaking about is our T Maps. These are tactile maps, which are, put in an address, we can put in an address, and it will give you tactile surroundings of any address from two different elevations. And we are going to be able to do this right from our exhibit table. We will be embossing these maps at your request.
So even before you leave your home, you will be able to know what your surroundings are, whether it be also your workplace or if you're moving or from your school or place of work, you will have a tactile image of the surrounding area from these T Maps.
We also will be having our booklet of intersection diagrams, which is really interesting, especially if anyone is an orientation and mobility instructor. Also, if anyone is a Lord of the Rings fan, we have Middle Earth maps available in a booklet for you, which I understand have been very popular.
Another popular homegrown MAD Lab product is our braille and print greeting cards. These are very tactile. For instance, birthday cards with a very tactile birthday cake on the front, and braille and print inscribed on the inside.
We also have UEB learning manuals. For all of you who are still confused by the UEB (laughing) learning braille code.
And also, I will also -- and these will all be there, and discussed with our MAD Lab team, plus Rocky Gomez from our Adaptations store. She's the manager. And she can also discuss anything else that we sell at our Adaptations store.
Now, if you're going to be joining on a virtual format, you can feel free to go to the Light House Adaptations store, where you also can order these T Maps and other braille products. And the website for Adaptations is simply adaptations.org. And we have a full catalog online where you can order things and have them shipped to you.
And also, I will be there to discuss any of our other programs and services that we offer from Light House. And even though we are located in downtown San Francisco, one wonderful thing that came out of the pandemic is -- well, maybe it's the only thing, I don't know -- but is that we do offer a number of virtual offerings, classes, that probably will continue for a very long time now that anybody all over the world actually, and throughout the country can participate in. So I am very much looking forward to meeting all of you. Again, we'll be at B22. And stop by and visit the Light House team. Thank you so much.
PATTI CHANG: Thank you. Computers for the Blind, you're next, and on deck behind Computers for the Blind is T-Mobile.
Computers for the Blind: Thank you, Patti, hello fellow vendors and participants. This is Christi, director of Computers for the Blind. I am really excited to be attending the conference as a first-time in-person vendor-participant. We are a small but growing nonprofit in the Dallas, Texas area. We take good, solid used computers donated from large corporations. We have volunteers that refurbish them and add accessibility software. And then we sell them starting around $150 to $200 to persons with visual impairments all over the United States. So I will be at booth B10 at the conference. Stop by, say hi, find out about grants and discounts that we have. Or if you are attending virtually, you can reach out to our fabulous customer service folks at 214-340-6328, or at info at computersfortheblind.org. Or, of course, on the web at computersfortheblind.org. Thanks so much, everybody.
PATTI CHANG: Wonderful service. T-Mobile, you're up, and JJ, you'll be happy to know you're on deck after T-Mobile. INTERPETER: Give me one second, let me just have the caller start over again. Thank you so much.
Okay, thank you, yes, I'm speaking through a sign language interpreter, and I actually wanted to speak for myself, so we can go ahead and have that happen.
So, T-Mobile is looking to speak for himself.
Oh, it's fine, I can just go through the interpreter,.
Okay, hi, this is Keith Clark. I am Deaf and blind. And I am here in Dallas, Texas. I work for T-Mobile. And my group is called T-Mobile Accessibility. Our group focuses on many different relay services that are available for Deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind consumers, as well as people with speech impairments and disabilities, all going through our relay service that is free of charge for anyone to utilize those services. Whether they are local, state, or federal access, businesses, organizations, it is all a free service.
And the only requirement is that the individual must be Deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or have a speech disability.
As a deafblind individual, I am very excited to show you the deafblind technology that we have available to our individuals. It is not only a deafblind organization, but we do focus on individuals who have different services. And I'm looking forward to see what opportunities we have, talk about our offerings and services, and talk about our community throughout the United States. The best way to get in touch is the website, www.tmobile.com/access. Or you can e-mail me directly at [email protected].
So either one of those would be the best way to get in contact with us. And of course, we do focus on accessibility through IP relay. We do have some other relay services as well. So we're looking to support our T-Mobile customers and the company as a whole to help make us the number one and best services through our 5G networks for your home, your mobile devices, and we do support our customers through customer care and have other plan options and data options for you as well. So we're very excited to meet you at convention. Please check us out on our website or get in contact with me if you have any other questions. But thank you so much.
PATTI CHANG: You're welcome, we're excited to have you join us. AT Guys, you're up next. And NLS, you're on deck.
JJ: Thank you, I wasn't worried, I appreciate you all. Wonderful, AT Guys, your home for affordable and cool tech and gadgets , and we're at booth A, as in alpha, 11. Everything we offer you can take home with you, including our accessible power banks. You can keep your devices charged during session, comes in two sizes. Our portable handheld light detector!
I don't know if you could hear that or not. It's only 25 bucks, come check it out. The blind shell 2 accessible talking cell phone with physical buttons, the paperless braille slates full size and mini. We have open air headsets from Shocks, noise cancelling headsets, both two and one ear, USB headsets, sleep phones, the keyboards that I think are going to sell out so come quick, Bluetooth in two sizes. We have braided 6-foot cables and wall plugs, Orbit writer, Orbit 20 plus, Orbit 40 will be there, we'll have them in stock, labels from our friends at WayAround and more, a free gift with purchase of $100 or more, skip the line and preorder now and go to atguys.com and use the code NFB22. You can even do that from your hotel booth if you want to. We'll be at booth A11. You can use the code convention22 for free shipping over orders of $99 in the U.S. Thank you for having us, and great to be back in person in New Orleans
PATTI CHANG: We're looking forward to having you too. Next is NLS.
GABRIELEE: Hi, I'm Gabrielle Lawrence, and I'm from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Many NFB members are part of our service, and we're excited to be back in person this year. NFB patrons will be excited to come to our booth to see the new versions of the braille e-reader that we are coming out of our pilot program with, so, now they are beginning to be distributed through our network libraries across of country. And many states are starting to get them, so you can come by and see the versions of -- there are two versions of the e-reader. You can come by and see those, and see the hardware that's involved in that.
We've got other updates to Bard and to our network services.
And we're just always excited to see and talk to our friends from NFB. So make sure you stop by our booth, and talk to me, I'm Gabrielle Barnes, exhibit administrator. And Tamara will be there, our engagement specialist. So we're excited to be back in person. Thanks for having us on this exhibitor spotlight.
PATTI CHANG: Gabrielle, thank you. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those readers! I've been waiting because they aren't a test state!
Florida Vision Technology, you're up.
ANNA: Patti, I think we may have lost them. Is there anyone else?
PATTI CHANG: Did I miss anybody? Hopefully I caught everybody...
Not hearing anyone I missed. Does anybody have any questions that didn't get to ask them in the Q&A?
Any hands up or...
If anybody wants to just unmute at this point...
ANNA: We answered some questions about where folks can find this recording. It will be posted on our exhibit hall page.
PATTI CHANG: I think we should push it out again, too. So for those of you who will be visiting the exhibit hall in person, don't forget to stop by the info desk. You can get a listing of the exhibitors, and of course a tactile representation of how the exhibit hall is organized.
If we don't have any other questions, Anna, do you have any final announcements that we should make?
ANNA: Just a reminder that the exhibit hall will be in the Sheraton in the Napoleon Ballroom on the 4th floor of the Sheraton. Look forward to seeing you there.
PATTI CHANG: And please give us your feedback about what you liked and didn't like about it. We appreciate it very much. Thank you!
ANNA: Thanks very much. SHERI: Excuse me, I have an announcement. This is Sheri from Light House. I want to make sure that everybody knows, Light House has provided, with funding from NFB, a tactile map of the French Quarter. So please be on the lookout. I don't know where they're going to be presenting it, either at the check-in desk or the registration desk. But we have printed 1,000 copies of the French Quarter in a tactile map format for everybody.
PATTI CHANG: I love that! I didn't even know that. Yay! Thank you.
SHERI: Sure.
PATTI CHANG: All right, everybody take care. Have a good night.
ANNA: Thanks, everyone. I'm still answering a few Q&As typing.
PATTI CHANG: Okay, I won't close you out then!
(Laughter.)
Sorry about that. I almost did!
ANNA: No, no, I'm just typing them. I'll answer it in the Q&A for everyone who still has one.
I think there was a question about where someone can get the e-reader, and I think that was in reference to the National Library Service e-reader.
PATTI CHANG: If it was toward the end, it was, otherwise Orbit mentioned an e-reader.
ANNA: So I'm going to send links to that questioner about those, for those two.
PATTI CHANG: Yeah, I've been asking Illinois about it for months, and we still don't have them here, but at least I can go check it out!
ANNA: Okay, I think we've got all the questions answered. Thanks, everyone
PATTI CHANG: Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it.
ANNA: Thank you, good night!
LIVE REMOTE CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY:
Ennis Captioning Solutions, LLC
Claire Baldi, RPR
Note: this is being provided in a rough-draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. A final proofing will be provided soon. Thank you!