First Convention Experience

by Charles Ny

From the Editor: Charles writes as a new member of our New York City Chapter and a first time attendee of our national convention. He is a member of Manhattan Community Board Five, where he is on the Budget and the Parks and Public Spaces Committees. He runs a YouTube channel where he films interesting things to do in New York City and in other states. He does a lot of advocacy for the blind and visually impaired community at public meetings at the New York City Council and the NYC MTA board meetings. 

There I was in Houston, Texas, at my first-ever National Federation of the Blind National Convention in 2023. Months before, I had signed up for the NFB Convention after becoming a member of my local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind in New York City. Some of the very informative seminars that I attended were "Every Traffic Light Accessible with OKO," "Non-24 Hour Sleep Disorder," "What's New with Google Accessibility," "What's New with Alexa," and "Blink Camera Accessibility."

I really enjoyed the OKO app seminar. There was a demo of how the app works with audio feedback, along with information on its functionality and how to use it. The session included many good questions and answers from the audience. The seminar was very in-depth and easy to understand, and I will try the app out sometime.

The "Non-24 Hour Sleep Disorder" seminar was useful. Even though the presenter couldn't go into too much detail, as they were not a medical clinician, I still gained some general information about the disorder. I liked that there was a small book that, when opened, had audio that spoke about non-24 hour sleep disorder, which I took home with me. Also, I appreciated that there was a way to have follow-up support from the pharmaceutical company if desired.

I was really excited to learn about the new Chromebook Accessibility Certification Program through the Academy of Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals in partnership with the Lighthouse Guild of Palm Beaches during the Google Accessibility seminar. It is really good that there are accessible certification programs in technology that the blind and visually impaired can take, which could help them pursue a career in technology.

Rounding up with the "What's New with Alexa" and "Blink Camera Accessibility" seminars, my takeaways are that it is great that Amazon is using audio description in product instructional videos and in the images displayed from the Blink camera.

Overall, my first NFB National Convention was very informative and resourceful.