Monitor Miniatures

News from the Federation Family

Krafter’s Division Craft Sale:

The Krafter's Division is offering an opportunity for crafters to sell their products during the 2019 NFB Convention. If interested, go to https://www.krafterskorner.org/convention/. There is a link here where you can use PayPal to pay the $50 registration fee for a table.

Note: The Krafter's Division is not responsible for your products or manning your table. We just provide the opportunity for you to sell at the convention.

If you have further questions, please contact Tammy Freitag, Krafter’s Division president at [email protected]

Elected:

The South Dakota affiliate held elections at our annual convention with the following results: president, Kenneth Rollman; first vice president, James Konechne; second vice president, Mike Klimisch; secretary, Beth Albury Konechne; one-year board position, Cheri Knispel; and two-year board position, Pam Fisher.

Governor Northam Vetoes Legislation to Change Virginians with Disabilities Act:

On May 3, 2019, Governor Northam vetoed House Bill 2296, which would change the Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA) by requiring a claimant to provide at least 120 days of notification to financial entities prior to the commencement of a lawsuit regarding web accessibility. The Governor’s full veto statement is below.

May 3, 2019

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 2296. This legislation changes the Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA) by requiring a claimant to notify financial entities including banks, trusts, savings institutions, and credit unions, at least 120 days prior to commencement of a lawsuit regarding web accessibility.

This legislation recognizes that as more banking services move online, it is essential that websites are accessible for all Virginians, especially individuals with disabilities. The legislation takes a positive step in ensuring accessibility by establishing web content accessibility guidelines. However, the legislation also creates arbitrary delays in the administration of justice for individuals with disabilities. It creates onerous preconditions for the initiation of a lawsuit and shifts the burden of identifying VDA violations from covered entities to people with disabilities. Additionally, the bill will make it more difficult for people with disabilities to obtain legal representation to aid them in protecting their rights under the VDA. Finally, House Bill 2296 does not address the issue that it seeks to remedy. While the bill makes changes to the VDA, it does not and cannot override the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. With this in mind, I encourage stakeholders to work together to find a solution.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.

Sincerely,

Ralph S. Northam

In Brief

Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity.

Announcements from Seedlings:

For teachers:

To celebrate our thirty-fifth anniversary in 2019, Seedlings Braille Books for Children is offering all certified US teachers of the visually impaired four one-volume books of their choosing for FREE this year!

• Order online at http://www.seedlings.org/order.php and use the code TVIP19 as your Purchase Order number so you won't be asked to pay.
• In the Check Out Information, include your school name and address. You may enter a different address in the 'Send to' information if you wish.
• Understand that by ordering these free books, you are agreeing to be on our email list for our quarterly newsletters and other updates.
• Please be patient. We will produce and pack free book orders when we are not busy with paid orders.
• Teachers are eligible to sign up for this program one time only during 2019.
• For more information about this and Seedlings' other free book programs, go to http://www.seedlings.org/special.php

For kids:

Children ages zero to twenty-one in the US and Canada who are blind or visually impaired are eligible to receive three FREE Braille books a year from Seedlings through our Book Angel Program. But they must be re-registered every calendar year. Sign up is easy!

• Go to http://www.seedlings.org/bkangel2009.php
• List four books from our online catalog http://www.seedlings.org/order.php and we will send three of them (as time and materials allow).
• If you have questions or if you would like us to mail you a printed catalog, please call Seedlings at 734-427-8552 or 800-777-8552 or email us at [email protected]. These offers are good throughout 2019, but why delay? Order/Register today!

The Hunger Games, Book One added to Seedlings' list of 475 UEB titles:

The Hunger Games, Book One is now available in Unified English Braille from Seedlings Braille Books for Children. The Hunger Games is one of ten books recently added to Seedlings' UEB collection for independent readers, bringing the total to 165!

The other nine are Boxcar Children #47: Mystery of the Hot Air Balloon; Magic Tree House #3: Mummies in the Morning; Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book One: The Lightning Thief; Sharks: The Perfect Predators; Ramona and Her Mother; Rosa Parks: My Story; Hana's Suitcase; A Little House Chapter Book: School Days; and Who Was Steve Jobs?

This brings to 165 the number of books Seedlings offers in contracted UEB for older children! Order today at goo.gl/oHp4X9 Check back often as we are regularly adding titles.

All of Seedlings' 310 print-and-Braille books for younger readers are already in UEB. See our entire catalog at http://www.seedlings.org/order.php

Get Stevie Wonder, Mary Poppins, and 480 more titles in UEB from Seedlings:

Seedlings Braille Books for Children just added five more books to its Unified English Braille collection for independent readers! One is a brand-new title, Who is Stevie Wonder? The others were converted from the old Braille code: Mary Poppins; Catching Fire, Book 2 of The Hunger Games; My Father's Dragon, a Newbery Honor Book; and Boxcar Children #3: The Yellow House Mystery. This brings to 170 the number of books Seedlings offers in contracted UEB for older children! Order today at goo.gl/oHp4X9

Check back often as we are regularly adding titles. All of Seedlings' 310 print-and-Braille books for younger readers are already in UEB. See our entire catalog at http://www.seedlings.org/order.php #braille4kids

National Inventors Hall of Fame Announces 2019 Inductees at CES:

On January 8, 2019, nineteen innovation pioneers were announced today as the 2019 Class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) on the main stage at CES®.

These innovators, whose inventions range from the UNIX operating system to fluoride toothpaste, will be celebrated as the newest Class of Inductees during the NIHF Induction Ceremony. In partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), NIHF will honor these Inductees in Washington, DC, on May 1-2 at one of the innovation industry’s most highly anticipated events—“The Greatest Celebration of American Innovation.”

“I am honored to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame," said 2019 Inductee Bill Warner, pioneer of digital nonlinear editing for video. “I love how inventions can change the world for the better, and I am thrilled to join this year’s Class.”

Of the nineteen inductees, Monitor readers may be most interested in Chieko Asakawa, who was inducted for her web browser for the blind and visually impaired. Asakawa invented the Home Page Reader (HPR), the first practical voice browser to provide effective internet access for blind and visually impaired computer users. Designed to enable users to surf the internet and navigate web pages through a computer’s numeric keypad instead of a mouse, HPR debuted in 1997; by 2003, it was widely used around the world. For full biographies of each Inductee, visit http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/.

The Class of 2019 will be honored at “The Greatest Celebration of American Innovation,” a two-day event held in our nation's capital. Danica McKellar—star of the TV show The Wonder Years, Hallmark Channel regular, mathematician, and author—will serve as master of ceremonies.

The Illumination Ceremony at the National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum at the USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, where new Inductees will place illuminated hexagons displaying their names in the Gallery of Icons™ will take place on May 1, 2019. On May 2, the Forty-Seventh Annual National Inventors Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, where the new Inductee class will be honored for their contributions to society during an evening including a black-tie dinner, ceremony, and after-party. To learn more about the event, visit http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/induction-ceremony/.

“The National Inventors Hall of Fame honors the innovation game-changers who have transformed our world,” said NIHF CEO Michael Oister. “Through inventions as diverse as life-saving medicines and web browsers for the visually impaired, these superhero innovators have made significant advances in our daily lives and well-being.”

About the National Inventors Hall of Fame

The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is the premier nonprofit organization in America dedicated to recognizing inventors and invention, promoting creativity, and advancing the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Founded in 1973 in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, NIHF is committed to not only honoring the individuals whose inventions have made the world a better place, but to ensuring American ingenuity continues to thrive in the hands of coming generations through its national, hands-on educational programming and collegiate competitions focused on the exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate. For more information, visit http://www.invent.org. To nominate an inventor for Induction, visit http://www.invent.org/nominate.

Xavier Society for the Blind Goes Digital:

Xavier Society for the Blind is pleased to announce that our conversion to digital talking book format is now complete, and we have added some popular titles on cartridge to our library! These books can be played on the talking book machines provided by the National Library Service. With an existing catalog of over 1,500 Braille and audio titles, Xavier Society for the Blind provides inspirational, spiritual, and religious reading materials in Braille and audio to the blind and visually impaired community of the faithful free of charge. One of our primary objectives is to choose new titles which will appeal to a larger audience, and we hope that the combination of more appealing titles and the digital talking book format will allow us to reach many more people. Adding titles in Spanish is a key objective as well. For more information, including how to register for our materials, please visit our website http://www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org or call us at 800-637-9193. We look forward to serving many more patrons in new and innovative ways!

State Resource Handbooks Available for Purchase:

I have created forty-four screen-reader-friendly resource handbooks containing resources pertaining to the blind and visually impaired for use by consumers and professionals. This handbook is for the residents of specific states and includes the many organizations for the blind and visually impaired covering areas such as employment, housing, transportation, and more. The handbooks include contact information on the local, regional, and national level.

Currently the handbooks are for Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Oregon, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, North Dakota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, and Iowa.

The Resource Handbooks are available in the following electronic formats: Microsoft Word, PDF, HTML Microsoft Word, and Rich Text. Since these are electronic formats it will be sent to you by email with an attachment.

If a large-print hard copy is desired, please contact me at [email protected].

When contacting me regarding large print hard copy, please let me know what state resource handbook you desire so I can give you the correct pricing information.

For more information on pricing and formats please contact Insightful Publications by email at [email protected] or by phone at 808-747-1006.

NFB Pledge

I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.