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News from the Federation Family

Essay Contest:
In an effort to support blind children and their education during this trying time of uncertainty, NFB of Texas is offering an essay contest. These essays are meant to be a way for children to explore what they are going through and process their feelings. Hopefully in writing things down, it will enable children to feel more in control of their surroundings and empowered in their situations. Please contact Emily Gibbs at [email protected] or 281-968-7347 with questions.

Instructions: Please answer the following question: How have you dealt with the coronavirus, social distancing, or another life challenge? Upload answers using the following form: https://forms.gle/CmY45rgeqiGgYVxp8. Answers should be no less than 500 words.
Answers will be uploaded to NFB-NEWSLINE® for everyone to read. A $50 gift card will be awarded to one essay in each of the following grade brackets: K-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12.

Donate to the NFB of Texas
https://www.nfbtx.org/donate.php

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Blind Americans Encountering Discrimination by Restaurants and Other Services During COVID-19 Crisis.

Restaurants, Banks, and Others Denying Service to Blind Pedestrians
Baltimore, Maryland (April 3, 2020): The National Federation of the Blind, America’s civil rights organization of the blind, today demanded that restaurants, banks, and other businesses, as well as drive-through COVID-19 testing facilities, provide equal service to blind customers, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, whether the blind customer is on foot or in a vehicle. Many businesses are offering drive-through service only during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Federation of the Blind has received numerous reports of discrimination against blind people who have tried to access drive-through windows on foot, and at least one local television station has reported on the problem.

“We reject the argument that accessing a drive-through window on foot is unsafe for blind people, since we regularly cross busy intersections and interact with vehicles,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “But even if a restaurant, bank, or testing center is unable or unwilling to offer pedestrian access to its drive-through window, the law clearly requires that it offer reasonable modifications to allow the blind and others with disabilities to take advantage of its public services. The bottom line is that, especially at a time when access to vehicle transportation for non-drivers is limited, there is no legal or moral excuse for denying service to blind people simply because we are not in a car. To do so is unlawful and discriminatory, and we will not tolerate it.” This news brief is also available at: https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/blind-americans-encountering-discrimination-restaurants-and-other-services

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.

Word to EPUB is Now a Reality:
I am delighted to let you know that the DAISY Consortium has released WordToEPUB! Finally, a free and easy to use tool that creates valid, accessible EPUB files from structured Microsoft Word documents. To learn more about this feature-rich tool, visit the news announcement at: https://daisy.org/news-events/articles/new-epub-creation-tool/.

And visit the download page at: https://daisy.org/wordtoepub

To find a list of EPUB Apps and our reviews, visit: https://inclusivepublishing.org/rs-accessibility/

And the best bookmark for Inclusive Publishing visit: https://inclusivepublishing.org/

SSA Kiosks to be Made Accessible:
The National Federation of the Blind and two blind individuals, Lisa Irving and Amy Bonano, have resolved their 2017 lawsuit against the Social Security Administration and entered into a settlement agreement designed to ensure that SSA’s visitor-intake-processing kiosks are accessible to blind users by December 31, 2021. Per the agreement, SSA will work with a third-party, kiosk-accessibility expert to redesign the agency’s kiosks so that blind users can enter required intake information, including their Social Security number, privately and independently.

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.