_______________________________________________________________________________
Vol. 68, No. 11 December 2025
Chris Danielsen, Editor
Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the
National Federation of the Blind
Mark Riccobono, President
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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND ADVANCES THE LIVES OF ITS MEMBERS AND ALL BLIND PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. WE KNOW THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. OUR COLLECTIVE POWER, DETERMINATION, AND DIVERSITY ACHIEVE THE ASPIRATIONS OF ALL BLIND PEOPLE. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND—IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES.
ISSN 0006-8829
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Vol. 68, No. 11 December 2025
Convention Bulletin 2026
Running for the Federation: Meet Roger Oberholzer
Double Your Impact: A Matching Gift Challenge to Advance the Lives of Blind People
Fifty Years of Federation Love: The DC Affiliate Honors Gail Snider with the 2025 Presidential Award
by Shawn Callaway
Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income Updates for 2026
by Jesse Shirek
Accessible Independent Check-Out: Blind-Centered Leadership Makes All the Difference
by Jake Konerza, Rick Walstrom, and Steve Decker
Owner of "Blind Guy Boards" Travels to DC on a Mission to Save Services for His Community
by John Hult
Plan for the Future
A Failure of Access, a Betrayal of Trust: Why Two Blind Students Are Suing West Virginia University
by Gary Wunder
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco Seeks Its Way through a Storm, but May Hit the Rocks
by Chris Danielsen
iOS 26 and Braille Access: Apple's Impressive Investment in Braille Literacy
by Jonathan Mosen
Announcing the 2026 NFB Scholarship Program
Monitor Miniatures
Copyright 2025 by the National Federation of the Blind
The National Federation of the Blind National Convention brings together blind people from across the country and around the globe. We come from all walks of life. Some of us have been blind all our lives, while others may be new to blindness. Some are young; some have been around the sun more than a few times. Some are convention first-timers, while others have been attending for decades. Our collection of individual experiences makes us stronger together, and it means that our national conventions are a celebration of our diversity.
Over the course of eighty-five annual conventions, nearly three dozen cities reflecting similar diversity have played host to the NFB’s biggest event of the year. Yet, among this eclectic list of destinations, our convention has never come to the capital city of Texas to gather and celebrate. This will change next July when we head to the JW Marriot Austin for our annual National Convention!
Austin is widely known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” having been home to the PBS program Austin City Limits for more than fifty years and host to the annual South by Southwest music and media festival. Austin also boasts a vibrant arts scene, with many public art displays throughout the city. But Austin isn’t just fueled by creative energy. A strong technology sector thrives here, with many tech companies having established headquarters in the city. Waymo and Tesla are two notable names, as both companies offer autonomous vehicle rides within Austin. The University of Texas at Austin, with over 50,000 students, sits just north of downtown. Visitors will notice an emphasis on local retailers over national chains. This broad and eclectic diversity perpetuates the popular “Keep Austin Weird” vibe and makes for a truly unique destination.
The upscale JW Marriott Austin will serve as our headquarters hotel, while the recently opened Austin Mariott Downtown, just a short walk away, will provide overflow space. All convention events will take place in the headquarters hotel this year. Both hotels offer a number of dining options, 24/7 fitness centers, and rooftop pools with cabana rentals. The hotels are in the heart of downtown Austin, surrounded by local restaurants and shops. A few blocks south, walking trails line the section of the Colorado River known as Lady Bird Lake.
Our 2026 convention hotel rate is $139 per night for singles and doubles. Triples and quads are available for $155 per night. Sales tax and a tourism fee total a combined 19 percent.
You may book a room as early as January 1. Look for reservation details in the January issue of the Braille Monitor and at nfb.org/convention. For each room you book, the hotel requires a deposit of the first night’s room rate, taxes, and fees, payable by credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Sunday, June 1, 2026, half of the deposit will be returned. Refunds will not be issued after that date.
The 2026 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be an exciting and memorable event, with an unparalleled program and renewed dedication to the goals and work of our movement.
Make plans to be a part of the 2026 National Convention. To ensure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, you should make reservations early. The hotels will be ready to take your call beginning January 1.
Remember that we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals. Prizes should be small in size but significant in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. As a general rule, we ask that prizes have a value of at least $25 and do not include alcohol. Drawings take place throughout the convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet.
Important note for attendees: You must be registered to win a door prize! Registration opens in March.
If you or members of your chapter are first-time attendees, please learn about convention through the First-Timer’s Guide available at nfb.org/convention.
The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology; meetings of our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; the most stimulating and thought-provoking program items of any meeting of the blind in the world; the chance to renew friendships within our Federation family; and the unparalleled opportunity to be where the real action is and where decisions are made—all of these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2026 National Convention. We look forward to seeing you in Austin in July.
From the Editor: Last month we introduced you to one of our National Federation of the Blind Movement Ambassadors for the California International Marathon, Ken Duke. Here is a profile of another, Roger Oberholzer, who tells us the following about himself:
As an NFB Movement Ambassador for the 2025 California International Marathon, I advocate for the inclusion of blind athletes in adaptive sports and their participation in both local and international events.
I grew up in Switzerland, moved to San Diego (where my journey into adaptive sports began), and later settled in Folsom, California. I began running in 2018 after a close friend encouraged me to join a community of dedicated running guides. Since then, I have completed several California International Marathons; numerous half marathons, 10K, and 5K races; and five of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors—the 2022 Boston Marathon, 2022 New York City Marathon, 2023 Chicago Marathon, 2024 London Marathon, and 2025 BMW Berlin Marathon—with the 2026 Tokyo Marathon ahead as I pursue the coveted Abbott Six Star Medal.
My introduction to adaptive sports began with the Blind Stokers Club in San Diego, where I first experienced the power of teamwork and accessibility. Since then, organizations such as Achilles International, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and United in Stride have played vital roles in helping me reach my goals through guidance, grants, and connections to remarkable volunteers.
I firmly believe that blindness is only one of my descriptions—not a limitation. With proper accommodations and adaptations, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. My hope is that others, whether they have a disability or not, find in sports the same balance, purpose, and joy that have enriched my life beyond measure.
In the National Federation of the Blind, we know that progress happens when blind people come together to share experiences, ideas, and innovation. Our movement thrives because every person brings their own perspective and passion to the table, and together, we transform what it means to be blind.
Every day, the National Federation of the Blind works to break down barriers and expand opportunity for blind people everywhere. Whether it’s advocating for accessible education, advancing the next generation of Braille and tactile technology, or opening new pathways to employment, our mission depends on collaboration with our members, partners, and generous supporters like you.
This year, we’re thrilled to have a new matching gift challenge to help move that mission forward. Thanks to the support of HumanWare and an anonymous donor, every dollar contributed through the end of the year will be matched up to $50,000. That means your gift today will go twice as far in supporting programs that build confidence, opportunity, and independence for blind people.
Your contribution is more than a donation, it’s an investment in equality, respect, and empowerment. Together, we’re ensuring that blind children have access to Braille, that blind students and professionals can access the tools they need to succeed, and that blind people can fully participate in every aspect of life.
With your help, we can continue to lead the way in creating a world that recognizes the ability and potential of blind people. Please consider making your matched contribution today and spreading the word to family, friends, and colleagues.
Here’s how you can give:
Your partnership, and the support of our generous partners at HumanWare, helps us turn possibility into reality. Together, we’re not just doubling dollars, we’re doubling the impact of our movement.
by Shawn Callaway
From the Editor: Shawn Callaway is a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors and president of the National Federation of the Blind of the District of Columbia. In this article, he writes about an outstanding leader in his affiliate who recently received its Presidential Award. Here is what Shawn, himself an energetic leader, has to say:
The ballroom at the Washington Plaza Hotel overflowed with a familiar mix of pride, joy, and the energy that comes whenever members of the National Federation of the Blind gather to celebrate one another. At the 2025 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind of the District of Columbia, I was honored to acknowledge the vital contributions of a long-time Federationist who helped build the strong affiliate that exists today. Our Presidential Award was bestowed upon someone whose Federation journey reaches back fifty years: Gail Snider. The room erupted with applause a moment before I even said her name. There are some Federationists who need no introduction, at least not in their home affiliate, and Gail is one of them. Hopefully, this short article will allow my Federation family throughout the nation to come to know her as well.
To honor Gail’s legacy, a tribute written by long-time friend and Federation leader, James Gashel, was read aloud. Although he could not attend in person, Mr. Gashel sent his love from Hawaii, where he wrote that the Hawaiian concept of ohana—extended family—perfectly describes what binds Federation members together. He recalled meeting Gail around 1975, while he was serving as chief of our Washington office prior to the establishment of our headquarters in Baltimore. This was during the critical reorganization that shaped the modern National Federation of the Blind of the District of Columbia. Through the years, he wrote, Gail has been the embodiment of two essential words: commitment and service. With warmth and humor, he observed that if it were possible to clone Gail, he would place one of her in every affiliate and chapter across the nation.
I was then privileged to present the plaque signifying the Presidential Award, recognizing Gail’s “extraordinary service to the blind of the District of Columbia.” Gail stepped forward to accept the honor with obvious emotion. Her first words, through surprised laughter, were: “I don’t know what I must have done to deserve it.” Her humility, however, only underscored why she was being recognized.
Gail reflected briefly on her decades of work at the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, where she served as the first point of contact for many newly blind people unsure where to turn. It was, she told the audience, not just a job. It was a privilege to be the reassuring voice answering the phone when a person called in fear or confusion, hoping someone would pick up.
She also shared a heartfelt story about the responsibilities of being a blind parent. She recalled living in England and calling the police to ask whether she could briefly leave her baby in the house while she ran next door. The officer’s curt response made it clear that blindness does not exempt anyone from parental responsibility. “Just being a blind parent is no excuse,” she said. “It is what it is.” Through that anecdote she affirmed a message central to our movement: blind people live the full range of life’s responsibilities, and we meet them. As a blind father, my most important role, this observation spoke to me. It was fitting that Gail’s son David was present for these moments.
Gail spoke proudly of the District of Columbia affiliate, particularly its leadership in recent years. She noted that the affiliate now reflects the diverse community it serves: “straight-talking, straight-doing, kind people,” as she described our membership. The room rang with approval at that truth. “It’s a privilege sometimes just to step aside and be proud,” she said, acknowledging the next generation of leaders, particularly Black leaders, rising behind her.
Near the close of her remarks, she offered a simple philosophy that has guided her life and her Federation work: “What we do is we try our best to lead a good life and to do right by our fellow man and woman and child and just keep it going.” A moment later she added, “We do what we can, right? We do what we can because we are Federation.” The audience responded with a standing ovation, followed by photographs and greetings that stretched longer than the formal presentation. Gail beamed with gratitude, still shaking her head in disbelief at the warm recognition and tangible expression of love that she was receiving.
The 2025 Presidential Award celebrated Gail’s past accomplishments, yet it was also a tribute to her continuing example. Her fifty years and counting with the National Federation of the Blind remind us that progress is achieved not only through sweeping advocacy or high-profile campaigns but also through the steady leadership of grassroots members who show up, who answer the phone, who raise children, and who keep the affiliate alive and growing. Fifty years in, Gail Snider is still doing the things that make members like her indispensable. The Federation is stronger because she is part of our ohana.
by Jesse Shirek
From the Editor: Jesse Shirek is a Government Affairs Specialist on our Advocacy and Policy team, and Social Security is one of his core areas of work. Here is his annual update on changes to benefits coming in the new year:
On October 24, 2025, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a 2.8 percent cost-of-living increase for 2026, and as you may expect, we have our traditional end-of-year updates for your review.
In 2026, approximately seventy million Americans will see a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in their benefit amounts. Thus, come January, monthly checks will be higher. The 2026 amounts are below, along with some general concepts pertaining to the Social Security and Medicare programs, in case you want to better understand or refresh yourself about your rights. The COLA is based on the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of inflation against the wages earned by approximately 173 million workers across the nation over the previous four quarters starting with the third quarter of the previous year.
FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: If you are employed, you know that you do not bring home everything you earn. For example, 7.65 percent of your pay is deducted to cover your contribution to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Funds: 6.2 percent covers OASDI, and 1.45 percent is contributed to the HI Trust Fund. Additionally, your employer is required to match this 7.65 percent for a grand total of 15.3 percent.
For those who are self-employed, there is no “employer” to match the 7.65 percent, which means a self-employed individual pays the entire 15.3 percent of their income. These numbers will not change in 2026 regardless of whether an individual is employed or self-employed. In 2026, individuals with earned income of more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) pay an additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes; this does not include the above amounts.
There is a ceiling on taxable earnings for the OASDI Trust Fund, which was $176,100 in 2025 and will increase to $184,500 in 2026. Thus, for earnings above $184,500, there is no 6.2 percent deducted for OASDI. As for Medicare, there is no limit on taxable earnings for the HI Trust Fund.
The OASDI Trust Fund is kind of like an insurance policy; you have to pay a premium to participate. Therefore, to qualify for Retirement, Survivors, or Disability Insurance benefits, an individual must pay a minimum amount of FICA taxes into the OASDI Trust Fund by earning a sufficient number of calendar quarters to become fully insured for Social Security benefits.
In 2025, credit for one quarter of coverage was awarded for any individual who earned at least $1,810 during the year, which means that an individual would need to earn at least $7,240 to be credited with four quarters of coverage. In 2026, the amount increases to $1,890 for one calendar quarter or $7,560 to earn four quarters of coverage for the year.
A maximum of four quarters can be awarded for any calendar year, and it makes no difference when the income is earned during that year. Basically, the taxes you pay into the OASDI and HI Trust Funds are your premiums to take part in the Social Security and Medicare programs. The total number of quarters required to be eligible for benefits depends on the individual’s age. The older the individual is, the more quarters are required. Furthermore, a higher average income during an individual’s lifetime means a higher Social Security or SSDI check when benefits start. Remember that the above quoted numbers for quarters of coverage to become fully insured are only minimum amounts.
This concept is often misunderstood. The amount of earnings required to use a trial work month is not based on the earnings limit for blind beneficiaries but instead on the national average wage index. In 2025, the amount required to use a TWP month was only $1,160, and this amount will increase to $1,210 in 2026.
If you are self-employed, you can also use a trial work month if you work more than eighty hours in your business, and this limitation will not change unless expressly adjusted.
The earnings limit for a blind beneficiary in 2025 was $2,700 per month and will increase to $2,830 in 2026. Again, it is important to remember this is not the amount of money an individual makes to use a trial month. This is to say that the TWP can be exhausted even if your income is well below $2,830 per month. See the above information about the TWP.
In 2026 a blind SSDI beneficiary who earns $2,830 or more in a month (before taxes but after subtracting un-incurred business expenses for the self-employed, subsidized income for the employed, and impairment-related work expenses) will be deemed to have exceeded SGA and will likely no longer be eligible for SSDI benefits.
The standard federal monthly payment amount for individuals receiving SSI was $967 in 2025 and will increase to $994 in 2026. For married couples, the standard federal monthly payment amount of SSI will increase from $1,450 to $1,491.
In 2025, the monthly amount was $2,350 and will increase to $2,410 in 2026. The annual amount was $9,460 in 2025 and will be $9,730 in 2026. The asset limits under the SSI program will remain unchanged at $2,000 per individual and $3,000 per married couple. If you find yourself approaching the SSI asset limit, I urge you to continue reading the next section regarding ABLE Accounts.
If you have questions related to your SSI and SSDI benefits or if you are seeking help, contact Jesse Shirek by phone at 410-659-9314, extension 2348, or by email at [email protected].
The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act has a significant impact on resource limits associated with the SSI and Medicaid programs for people who became blind or disabled by the age of forty-six, as of January 1, 2026. Prior to 2026 a person needed to become blind before age twenty-six to qualify for an ABLE Account. To learn more about the exciting opportunity created by the passage of the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which was supported by the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind, please watch for an informative article in a subsequent issue of the Braille Monitor. Historically, SSI beneficiaries have been required to adhere to strict resource limits, such as a maximum of $2,000 in the bank for an individual receiving SSI benefits. However, under the ABLE Act, the amount held in an ABLE Account can be much higher than the two-thousand-dollar resource limit. ABLE Account contributions must be designated specifically for purposes such as education, housing, employment training and support, assistive technology, health, prevention and wellness, financial management, legal fees, and funeral and burial expenses. Check with your financial institution of choice for the status of ABLE Act regulations in a specific state and to see if an ABLE Account is right for you.
It is important to note that SSI beneficiaries should consider the many other purposes not subject to the traditional resource limits when making ABLE Account contributions, since there are also tax advantages associated with ABLE Accounts. If you are seeking out more information about ABLE Accounts, you can reach out to Government Affairs Specialist Jesse Shirek at 410-659-9314, extension 2348. Alternatively, visit https://www.abletoday.org/.
by Jake Konerza, Rick Walstrom, and Steve Decker
From the Editor: At the 2025 National Convention, a team from Target gave the following presentation. Since it is the time of year when many are visiting stores to purchase holiday gifts, we thought it was a good time to share their presentation about an industry first from this partner company: a completely accessible self-checkout process for blind shoppers. Here is the presentation, beginning with President Riccobono’s introduction:
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: We’re going to roll right into this next presentation about technology, but from a little bit different point of view. We’re going to talk about accessible independent checkout. [Applause and cheers] How about that? So Target and the National Federation of the Blind are now forever tied together in history. Our relationship started about twenty years ago or so because we sued Target. [Laughter] And that case on web accessibility gets quoted in many places. That’s a piece of history that some of you might not have known because for the majority of the past twenty years, we’ve been proud to work closely with Target as a partner in the accessibility journey, and we want to start this morning by honoring the fact that Target moved from that part of our relationship to really being an industry leader in innovating accessibility. [Applause]
One of the things that Target has done is they’ve gone out to find the best and brightest to work on accessibility and, no surprise, many of those are members of the National Federation of the Blind. [Applause] Our presenter today is the director of digital accessibility at Target, and he’s brought a number of members of his team with him. He is responsible for leading the corporate efforts to ensure that its digital platforms and experiences are inclusive and accessible. It’s not an easy task, both dealing with the in-person experience and the digital experience. He comes with a proven track record in this area, and I’ve already told you that Target has made a commitment to hiring some of the best folks to work on accessibility. And as evidenced by their longstanding partnership and being here at this convention, they take very seriously the idea of feedback from blind people. How many of you made it to check out—to check out!—[Laughter] the Target efforts earlier this week? [Light applause] I didn’t make it over there myself, but I heard many people talking about it, and I’ve been talking to them about the work that they’ve been doing, and I think it’s going to be a, you know that I don’t use this phrase lightly, a game-changer. So here to talk about it, to lead us off is the Director of Digital Accessibility at Target. Please welcome Jake Konerza. [Music: “Check This Out”]
JAKE KONERZA: I kind of wish we had “Baby Shark,” but we’ll take that one. [Laughter] Well, thank you President Riccobono and good morning NFB. I’m honored to be here today with some fellow leaders from both our accessibility as well as our technology teams. We’re here to share our accessibility journey as an organization. Our last address to the convention was ten years ago, and today we’re here to talk to you about how we have advanced both in our accessibility journey as well as our journey for disability inclusion as an organization. But let me start with a quick introduction of myself. As President Riccobono said, I’m the Senior Director of Digital Accessibility for Target. I spent the last fifteen years in a number of different technology roles, always focused on improving the customer experience, and it’s been the absolute honor of my career to spend the last six years leading digital accessibility. When people ask me about the impact of digital accessibility, I answer this in a couple of different ways. First, from a personal standpoint, this space gives me the opportunity to be an ally for disability inclusion in a large organization, which really matters. But even more important than that, it gives me the opportunity to give people with disabilities a seat at the table to share their voice directly. [Applause] What we find when people with disabilities have a seat at that table, they can bring their lived experience and their unique perspectives to allow us to make even greater innovations. This work impacts friends of mine, it impacts family members, and when done right, digital accessibility creates the type of inclusive world that I want to be a part of. [Applause] But beyond that, if I think about why accessibility matters to business, accessibility creates a more enjoyable experience for all consumers. And what I know and what we’ve seen is that everyone enjoys an experience like that and it drives business results. So our message to every organization that may listen to this presentation is that accessibility is the right thing to do. We can all agree to that, but it’s really, really important to remember that accessibility is also the smart thing to do to drive business results.
[Applause] So throughout our presentation today, we hope to bring to life how we’ve infused this mentality into our organization. Today at Target, accessibility is at the forefront of how we develop and design every experience. So today we hope to share three things with you. One, we want to walk through the accessibility journey we’ve been on for the last seventeen years. Two, we’re excited to share with you what the path looked like for us to create the accessible self-checkout experience that we’re rolling out. And thirdly, we’ll end with the lessons and learnings that we’ve had from this journey we’ve been on.
So President Riccobono mentioned this a little bit, but let’s go back to where our journey began. Our journey into accessibility as a company began seventeen years ago, initially because of a push from the NFB with a mandate to us to make our website accessible. Early on, we were working in a really reactive way. We were fixing issues that existed on our website, meaning we were fixing issues that were causing blockers for people that use assistive technology. We spent a lot of time inside our company educating people on why accessibility matters and why we were focused on accessibility. We used our own internally developed standards rather than industry standards to determine accessibility. It is an absolute understatement to say that those early days were a really tough and uphill battle. However, if we flash forward to today, seventeen years later, we have certainly grown, matured, and evolved as an organization. I’m really, really proud to say that we are strategic members or we are strategic partners of the NFB. And what this means is that we go to NFB leadership early in the development of creating new and innovative solutions to get their perspective, to get their unique experiences. And in fact, we had a member of NFB’s leadership at our Target headquarters recently to check out self-checkout before we brought it here. [Applause] Thank you. That partnership with NFB really, really does matter.
Accessibility is now a part of our culture as a company. We no longer have to fight for accessibility. Accessibility is not seen as a barrier in technology. Accessibility is seen as an innovation driver at Target. [Applause] We have a culture of accessible design, and this culture is embedded within our product, our technology, and our user experience teams. I’m really proud to work in an organization where accessible experiences are the norm and they are the expectation. They’re no longer the exception. And what this culture means is that our website, our digital apps, and all consumer digital experiences are fully accessible. Why this matters is that all customers can independently experience the joy and delight of shopping at Target, including all customers with disabilities. [Applause]
As we’ve matured as an accessibility team, we’ve spent the last number of years expanding our reach to create accessible tools for our employees because we know that it’s as important to have accessibility for employees as it is for our customers. One example of this is the main handheld device that’s used in-store by our employees to do their job. These handheld devices are used by hundreds of thousands of employees every single day to do their jobs, and these devices are a fully accessible experience, [Applause] and that’s important because that unlocks opportunities for everyone. We continue to look at how we leverage technology to enhance accessibility for customers and employees. We’ve not fully arrived because this is a journey and this is a journey which we need to continue on because there is always more to do, but we are really pleased to share our progress, and progress that was started because of a really important push from the NFB.
So now let’s shift gears. We’re excited to discuss with you all the development of the first accessible self-checkout in US mass retail. [Applause] Many of you have had the chance to experience it this week, and we’re excited to share with you the behind-the-scenes work and partnership that it took to get to what you’ve experienced this week. So with that, I’ll turn it over to my peer from the technology team, Rick Walstrom.
RICK WALSTROM: Thank you, Jake, and thank you NFB. By way of introduction, my name is Rick Walstrom and I own Target’s guest-facing hardware in our stores, including our self-checkout. Creating a sense of belonging for all of our guests is part of our DNA at Target, which is one of the many reasons I’m thrilled to share our work in accessibility with all of you. To further that mission, I’m so excited to formally announce the first retail self-checkout experience that is fully accessible to the blind. [Applause] By early 2026, Target will have deployed an adaptive controller and screen reader to every single self-checkout in our stores. [Applause] This will give blind and low-vision guests the option to independently check out across the nation.
Intentionality is baked into all aspects of our controller, with large tactile buttons, Braille incorporated in important touch points, and an easy-to-grip mount that allows guests a more steady experience while using it. We’ve also fully integrated the credit card reader into the same audio experience, so guests don’t have to move their headset between devices. [Applause] And through this deployment, we’re also able to help sighted guests who would otherwise have difficulty using a touchscreen, including those living with Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and other motor control disabilities. [Applause]
And while I know many of you have tried out the experience, I do invite all of you to check it out in more detail up on the fourth floor in the Bonaparte room today between twelve and two to experience it yourself.
Now, this achievement didn’t happen overnight. Over five years ago when we set out to completely redesign our self-checkout experience, we made a commitment: accessibility had to be integrated from the start. We collaborated closely with internal and external accessibility experts during the design process, ensuring that all physical touch points were well within reach for wheelchair users. From there, we turned our focus to the needs of the blind and low-vision community. We incorporated Braille interactive elements, introduced high-contrast UI modes, and enabled text enlargement. We added audio prompts on our payment devices, but we knew we could and should do more. So we began the journey toward full screen-reading capabilities for the entire checkout software experience.
The turning point came through a powerful encounter. My principal engineer, Adam Nawrocki, who’s with us here in the audience today, witnessed the real-world frustration a blind coworker faced when trying to use an ATM. That moment inspired Adam to build a prototype on his garage workbench using just a basic circuit board and $10 worth of parts. His goal was simple: create a controller that would work with tools the community already uses. From this humble beginning, we partnered with UI/UX researchers, product designers, software engineers, manufacturers, my teammates here on stage, and of course the Federation to bring the idea to life. And Target isn’t keeping this to ourselves. We freely handed our designs to our manufacturing partners at ELO Touch Solutions so that they can bring this controller to market in order to increase the availability of accessible shopping for all. [Applause] We’re laying out a challenge to other retailers to bring accessibility to the forefront, not as an afterthought. [Applause] And the best part is that it doesn’t end here. We plan to refine our experience over time and have already collected great feedback from many of you here at the convention that will be incorporated as we roll out. Continuous improvement is our commitment, and we’ll keep evolving to serve our guests better. With that, I’m incredibly lucky to introduce Steve Decker, a leader on our accessibility team [Applause] and over twenty-year member of the NFB, who will walk you through what we’ve learned and where we plan to go from here. Steve?
STEVE DECKER: Good morning, fellow Federationists. Thank you, Jake and Rick. I am Steve Decker. I’m a senior manager of digital accessibility. I’ve been working at Target in accessibility for over thirteen years, and I’m so excited to be with all of you today. [Applause] So I want to share some learnings and lessons from this journey, and there are so many that I don’t have time to cover them all today, but I will say we’ve learned so much even this week, and we will always continue learning and making this better. When we first set out to make our self-checkout kiosks accessible, we knew that there weren’t any reliable existing models that we could directly emulate. Things like voting machines, food service kiosks, and ATMs gave us lots of great inspiration, but there was nothing that specifically existed for blind users that was like ours. That meant we had to build something new from the ground up, but still rooted in familiar intuitive patterns. One of the most recognizable pieces we designed was the physical controller that Rick mentioned. We worked very closely with many from the Federation staff to ensure we were aligned with real-world needs. I want to shout out Jack Mendez [applause] for spending several days at our headquarters sharing invaluable insights and honest real feedback and even helping our engineers make better changes in real time. Also, Karl Belanger with our Center for Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility, or CENA, [Applause] who saw a much rougher prototype in January in New York and gave us great feedback as well, pushing us to do more and do better. Because our kiosks run Linux, we selected Orca as the screen reader, even though it doesn’t fully support touch screens. This limitation turned into a benefit, as it reinforced the need for physical buttons, which benefit users with disabilities other than blindness. [Applause]
Another key insight was how frustrating it would be to swap earbuds between audio sources. So really early on, we prioritized a unified audio experience between the card reader and the checkout from the start, knowing we could find a way. As we tested flows and interfaces, we discovered lots of things. For instance, scanning items turned out to be very fast and easy, but users could initially benefit from some clear instructions on the motions of scanning and bagging items, something sighted people see others doing all the time. And since Orca doesn’t have touchscreen support, team members can still use the screen naturally while blind users can follow along through the audio, building trust in these shared interactions. We also know that we have more work to do to train our team members on the best ways to interact with blind users and help them understand this new experience.
Finally, the process itself was deeply educational. Building this internally at Target forced dozens of people to become deeply engaged with accessibility in a hands-on way more than ever before, including our UX research team, two of whom have been here with us this week. We’re not only including blind people in research, we’re systemically building long-term processes to do so moving forward. But our journey doesn’t stop here, as Jake and Rick both mentioned. We are committed to refining this experience. Guided by your feedback, we’ll make the interactions easier, the speech better, and the instructions even clearer. So much of the work we’ve done to serve our guests has also laid a really solid foundation to create opportunities for blind and low-vision team members in stores, and I’m so excited, so excited, as well as the rest of the entire team, to work on this in the coming year and beyond. [Applause]
Accessibility at Target is not new. It’s already a core part of how we build digital products, and now it’s becoming a deeper part of our in-store culture too. As that foundation expands, we’re scaling our efforts to make accessibility something everyone at Target can own. To that end, we’ve launched champions programs for designers and developers, equipping even more people with the tools and knowledge to build inclusively. These programs are growing fast, and they’re a big part of how we plan to keep accessibility a default mindset, not a one-time project. We’re also exploring lots more, like the role of AI and how we might use it to generate more meaningful alt text for all of those product images out there. But no matter how we innovate, the core remains the same. Blind and disabled people must be at the center of everything we create. Ultimately, we know that innovation can foster access and accessibility drives innovation. As we continue to build for access, we’re unlocking new ways to innovate across Target.
I want to close with a couple personal reflections. How many of you are excited to try out the first accessible checkout in the US? [Applause] I have a confession to make. I never used self-checkout before Target (that’s not the confession), but I honestly didn’t think it mattered that much. I mean, I could always ask someone for help or order online through our fully accessible apps and website, and I love to do that. But after spending a few days demoing what we had built in New York, I was genuinely excited about the independence this would offer. I could grab junk food without judgment. [Laughter] I could make a purchase without small talk or explaining how I became blind for the fifth time that day, and I could have the same privacy as any other shopper. [Laughter and applause] Most importantly, I could shop like everyone else with all of the same choices on how to do so. My three kids, Kyra, Serina, and Malia, love roaming the aisles of Target. And while they can help me find the things they want and maybe the things I want, I’m the one who knows how to check out, and that shift is powerful. [Laughter and applause]
Now, the Federation has always invested in blind-centered leadership, and this is deeply personal to me. Twenty years ago in Louisville, I received a Federation scholarship, but far more than that, I received the training and the philosophy, the skills, and the attitudes that shaped my path. [Applause] From my first job at BLIND Inc., now the Minnesota Center for the Blind, to the work I do today. The NFB’s leadership and advocacy, including its legal action with Target in 2006, helped spark needed change later. Our partnership grew because the Federation knows when to fight and when to collaborate, but always it pushes us to do better, raising the expectations so that blind people can live the lives we want. [Applause] It’s high expectations that helped Target build a world-class accessibility team, one that’s now a model across the industry. Accessibility is a part of our culture. It’s backed by our leadership and it’s embraced by our partners today. We’ve laid the foundation for accessible independent checkout, and we will keep improving it through your feedback and our partnership with the National Federation of the Blind. [Applause]
Finally, blind-centered leadership comes full circle. Recently I visited my local Target store with my thirteen-year-old, Kyra. Like her amazing mom, Kallie, she’s blind, and while she has some usable vision, it’s not enough to easily check out, but she was able to plug in those earbuds and she learned how to check out on her own. [Applause] Most importantly, she learned that working together as part of a movement, we can make the world better, and that blind-centered leadership makes all the difference. [Applause]
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: Thank you very much, Target! [Applause]
by John Hult
From the Editor: John Hult is a reporter for South Dakota Searchlight. Below is his article, reprinted under license and originally published on November 4, 2025, about the South Dakota Federation affiliate president, Ismael “Izzy” Collazo. This big-hearted and energetic leader and businessman was one of many Federationists who traveled to our nation’s capital in early November to oppose cuts to the Department of Education’s offices that enforce laws critical to blind people of all ages. He was also profiled on a local television station. Here is the article:
On Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., Ismael Collazo of Brookings will board a plane for Washington, DC, with plans to advocate for the programs he says put him in the position to buy tickets, board planes, and advocate.
Collazo, a former line cook at a Hard Rock Hotel in Florida, lost his vision twelve years ago. After a rough patch of depression and heavy drinking, he signed up for a vocational rehabilitation program that offered job and business training.
As a result, Collazo, who moved to South Dakota to be nearer to his wife’s family, has owned and operated his own business, a woodworking company called Blind Guy Boards, for the past six years.
“I’ve learned how to be my own accountant, how to be my own maintenance, my own salesman, my own bookkeeper,” said Collazo, South Dakota state president for the National Federation of the Blind. “I do it all.”
The program that trained Collazo is administered by the state Department of Human Services, but is federally funded through the United States Department of Education. That vocational rehabilitation program, designed for people who go blind as adults, is one of several under that department’s umbrella that Collazo sees as under dire threat. The Trump administration issued an executive order to unwind the department earlier this year. During the ongoing government shutdown, the administration issued a “reduction in force” notice for the department that would reportedly remove most of the employees responsible for administering the programs.
Following through with the staffing threats would “decimate the workforce that runs the Department of Education,” Collazo said. “That’s what we’re fighting for: the what now?” he said. “These programs are mandated by law, so what happens to these programs?”
The answers are unclear on several fronts. The administration hasn’t released detailed lists of which employees in which areas of government could be impacted by the reductions in force the president first alluded to in a social media post on Oct. 2, although court filings have put the total number at about 4,200. “I can’t believe the radical left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote. Labor unions have since sued the administration over the layoffs, and a California judge recently ordered the administration not to carry them out during the shutdown. An Oct. 10 court filing in that lawsuit from the federal government put the number of Education Department employees targeted for staff reductions at 466. The administration’s lawyers have appealed, arguing that some layoffs were planned before the shutdown began and ought to be allowed to proceed.
Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind and editor of its Braille Monitor magazine, said his organization’s volunteer leaders are acting under their understanding of the situation, which is a proposed staffing cut at the Education Department’s Office of Special Education Programs, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, and Division of Civil Rights. The first office funds services to blind students in K-12 schools. The second funds the vocational programming Collazo used, as well as training for elderly people who need help setting up their homes to safely stay in them after they experience age-related vision loss. The third offers an enforcement mechanism for families who say their children with disabilities haven’t received the federal services afforded them under federal law.
The National Federation of the Blind, Danielsen said, is one of several in the blind and disabled community to have sounded alarms and written letters about the changes. Everyone who serves as a Federation leader at the state level has been urged to touch base with their respective congressional delegations, Danielsen said, and to travel to Washington if they’re able. He didn’t know exactly how many state-level advocates would show up to the United States Capitol alongside Collazo this week, but said the figure is in the dozens. “Our organization is all volunteer-run, so people are going as they are able,” Danielsen said.
The state Department of Human Services administers the vocational program funding and funding for the elderly. According to spokeswoman Kristen Kilmer, nothing has changed at this point at the Division of Service to the Blind and Visually Impaired. The vocational program served 391 people between 2023 and 2024, according to that division’s most recent annual report. Of those, 52 were employed by the end of the program. The elderly service program served 332 people, the report says. The two programs continue to operate at full capacity, she wrote, and serve “the same number of clients as before.” The state got $2.7 million for vocational rehab last year, and Kilmer said more than half of that money is remaining and available for use through September of next year. The state “hasn’t gotten notice” of the money it might get from the federal government for federal fiscal year 2026, which began in October of this calendar year. The Independent Living Older Blind program gets $225,000 a year. The state doesn’t have leftover money, she said, and has covered the bill thus far, to the tune of $19,700. “That will eventually be reimbursed” by the federal government, Kilmer said.
Danielsen, the spokesman for the Federation, said the continuing resolution to fund the government—which has been voted down numerous times in the US Senate since the shutdown began—includes funding for programs for the [blind]. The funding won’t do much good, he said, without staff. “You can effectively kill a program if you get rid of the staff that run it and have no plan on how to run it going forward,” Danielsen said.
That’s what Collazo is most concerned about, for himself and the approximately 19,000 other [blind] people in South Dakota. He said he would not have been able to open his business without the vocational program, and that the same is true of plenty of people who lose their sight as adults. In reality, he said, the programs save money for taxpayers by keeping [blind] people in the workforce and off government assistance.
Beyond vocational and elderly programming, he’s concerned about the Randolph-Sheppard program. Since 1936, that program has put blind entrepreneurs in charge of businesses and federal buildings, often food service businesses. He intends to talk about all of it in meetings with the offices of South Dakota Republican Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune on Wednesday, his first day in DC. He’s working with the office of Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson to set up a meeting, as well, but that will likely be back in South Dakota. Collazo plans to return Thursday.
He plans to talk to the elected officials about his journey from chef to blind woodworker, and about the independence he wasn’t sure he’d have a dozen years ago, when he lost his eyesight. He’s produced cutting boards, countertops, and even some cabinetry, with the help of tools like a click ruler, which makes sounds to indicate measurements, and saw stops, which have electronic detection systems and shutoff mechanisms to protect their users. “You never know what you can accomplish until you’re put into a position where you have to,” Collazo said. Other South Dakotans in such positions ought to have the same opportunity to learn how to push their limits, he said.
“What if I was never blind? In April 2013 I received a diagnosis of Stargardt Disease. I often felt adrift, uncertain of how to chart a course towards a fulfilling life. At that time, I was employed at McDonald’s and had temporarily paused my undergraduate studies. If I hadn’t received that diagnosis, my life might have followed a completely different trajectory. I would have continued working at McDonald’s, feeling stuck and uncertain about my future, but without the guidance and support that I found through the National Federation of the Blind, I might have struggled to navigate the challenges of vision loss. Instead, that diagnosis became a turning point for me by forcing me to confront my circumstances and seek out resources and communities that could help me thrive despite my blindness. The NFB helped me realize that my vision loss didn’t have to define me or limit my aspirations. By believing in my abilities, by entrusting me with leadership positions, and through intensive mentorship, the Federation changed my life. My community helped me excel beyond where I would be if I were sighted. Mentorship is what has brought me to this point in life thus far. Without my mentors I am not sure where I would be right now. I just hope I can pay it forward someday.” - Dustin
Blind children and adults are making powerful strides to live the lives we want every day across the United States, but we need to continue helping blind people like Dustin. For more than eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With support from individuals like you, we can continue to provide powerful programs and critical resources now and for decades to come. We hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by including the National Federation of the Blind in your charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is easier than you think.
With your help, the NFB will continue to:
Below are just a few of the many tax-deductible ways you can show your support of the National Federation of the Blind.
We accept donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation. We can also answer any questions you have.
General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. You can call 410-659-9314, extension 2430, to give by phone. Give online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit our online contribution page at: https://nfb.org/donate.
Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, call 877-NFB-2PAC, or fill out our PAC Donation Form https://www.nfb.org/pac.
The National Federation of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and imagination of members and special friends who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. You can join the Dream Makers Circle in a myriad of ways.
You can specify that a percentage or a fixed sum of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts.
You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary on a Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to leave a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime and you can change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease.
If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary.
Visit our Planned Giving webpage (https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving) or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information.
by Gary Wunder
From the Editor: Although we try to avoid litigation if we can, the National Federation of the Blind brings many lawsuits to vindicate the rights of blind students, blind employees, and other blind people who experience discrimination and unequal treatment. Too often, however, many Federationists never meet the courageous individuals who are the faces of our litigation. Gary Wunder has rectified that in this case by interviewing two bright and brave West Virginia University students who are challenging their institution’s failure to meet its legal obligations to them. Readers who want to take an even deeper dive can hear part of this story in their own voices on the Nation’s Blind Podcast. Here is Gary’s article:
For Harold Rogers and Miranda Lacy, graduate school was supposed to be the final step toward achieving their dreams. Both are high-achieving West Virginia natives enrolled in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at West Virginia University (WVU), and both share a passion for serving their home state’s most vulnerable populations. But as they would soon discover, individual competence and good-faith advocacy are often no match for institutional inertia and university reluctance to pivot from a departmental struggle to avoid blame to unified action to create real and equitable opportunity for blind students. Instead, WVU has systematically denied them the tools, materials, and opportunities necessary to learn.
Now, they and we are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the university, alleging widespread and persistent discrimination that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Recognizing that individual students, no matter how competent, often cannot win this kind of battle against a state university on their own, the National Federation of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia have joined the suit as co-plaintiffs. Using our limited and precious resources, our involvement brings the collective power, legal expertise, and organizational resources necessary to challenge systemic discrimination. In keeping with the Federation’s tradition, discussion and negotiation always come before any lawsuit. These negotiations began with these students, came to include the NFB of West Virginia, and eventually involved our national body. The students’ story is not just one of inaccessible websites; it is a case study in institutional failure, retaliation, and the profound personal cost of being denied an equal education.
Both Harold and Miranda are members of the National Federation of the Blind and came to WVU with impressive academic records. Harold was a member of Alpha Delta Mu and an active member of its local chapter. He graduated with honors from West Virginia State University (WVSU) with a B.S. in Social Work. He was one of only twenty-three trainees nationwide selected for a prestigious fellowship funded by the United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Miranda, also a WVSU honors graduate, is a 2024 NFB National Scholarship winner. She was a member of Psi Chi International Honor Society and the Phi Alpha social work honor society.
Miranda and Harold chose WVU, believing its masters-level program would best prepare them for their careers, but the barriers began immediately. Miranda, who lost her remaining vision just before starting the program, found the online new-student orientation inaccessible. She was unable to operate on-screen buttons to move through the modules and ultimately had to ask a sighted volunteer for help. She finds it ironic that the process to take her money was accessible but not the process that would begin her learning at the university.
This lack of accessibility, they soon learned, was the norm. Harold described the situation at WVU bluntly in our interview: “It’s like we’ve gone back in time to before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.” The lawsuit and our subsequent interview detail a staggering list of accessibility failures that permeate every aspect of the MSW program.
The university uses Blackboard Ultra. Harold and Miranda report that core functions like the gradebook and course messaging are inaccessible. Interactive elements like true/false or multiple-choice quizzes cannot be operated with a screen reader. Even basic navigation fails, with “back” buttons that don’t function with a screen reader, forcing them to log out and log back in just to move between a module and the main course page.
Textbooks provided by the Office of Student Accommodations (OSA) arrive piecemeal, not as a whole book at the start of the semester. The PDF files are often improperly tagged or untagged, making it impossible to use a table of contents, search function, or glossary. Images, such as a brain scan students were meant to analyze, are provided with no alternative text. There is more to a book or an article than text alone; navigation—the ability to move by sentence, paragraph, heading, page, chapter, part, and other important sections—is absolutely essential if one is to compete productively. With many of these documents, being able to read continuously was impossible because the malformed document would cause the screen reader to jump erratically.
The barriers extend beyond the classroom. The WVU library website’s search filters are so complex and poorly organized for a screen reader that it took Miranda an hour to apply filters a sighted student could apply in seconds. Even then, the filtered results were not what she needed. She is forced to have librarians select research articles for her, denying her the ability to conduct her own independent research. Other essential platforms, like Handshake (for scheduling meetings) and Tevera (for managing field placements), are also inaccessible.
When faced with these barriers, the university’s response, according to the students, has been a masterpiece in blame-shifting and gaslighting. Miranda, in particular, has been asked to spend five to ten hours a week in meetings with WVU staff demonstrating the inaccessibility of their systems—effectively performing unpaid accessibility testing for the university that is failing her. “You may be surprised to find how long it takes to find a problem, be requested to show it to them, and then have them ask for a Zoom call to see if the problem has been fixed,” she said. When Miranda requested a human reader to access the vast amount of inaccessible content—a standard accommodation—her request was met with confusion and denial. Miranda was told by Disability Services that a private reader would be considered a “personal care attendant”—an assertion she called “degrading and so humiliating.” The request was formally denied as recently as February 2025, but the university has suddenly granted her use of a visual interpreter through Aira and limited assistance by a graduate student.
The most critical failure, and one that figures prominently in the lawsuit, involves their field placements. The MSW field experience is described by WVU as a “cornerstone” of the degree, where students learn from practicing social workers. For both Harold and Miranda, this cornerstone crumbled because WVU failed to ensure their placement sites were accessible.
Harold was placed at an agency called The Counseling Connection in the fall of 2023. He quickly found that the agency’s computers did not have the screen-reader or magnification software he needed to perform his duties. The complaint filed noted that the WVU field placement office was “unwilling to assist him” in obtaining accommodations. The stress from the inaccessibility exacerbated Harold’s pre-existing health conditions. The agency ultimately terminated his placement.
What happened next was retaliation. The university brought him up on academic charges. They accused him of falsifying his timesheets—timesheets he had to log in the inaccessible Tevera system. They accused him of falsifying a signature on a form, which he explains was a simple formatting error due to his screen reader. As a result, WVU placed him on probation, removed him from his prestigious HRSA fellowship, and forced him to pay back the $5,000 stipend. His graduation, originally set for August 2024, is now delayed by nearly two years to May 2026.
Miranda’s first field placement was at the Appalachian Center for Independent Living. When she requested JAWS screen-reading software on the agency computers, WVU refused to pay for the license. She was forced to negotiate for access herself. The agency eventually installed the software on an old, isolated computer in the back of a hallway, limiting her ability to integrate with her colleagues.
For her current placement at the YWCA, she credits the agency with high marks and believes it is doing everything it can to accommodate her. What they don’t know, they are willingly and enthusiastically trying to learn. In contrast, she says, the university has done nothing to facilitate access other than to help her with scanning eleven documents, the forms used as part of the intake process.
The toll of this fight has been immense. Harold has been hospitalized for depression directly related to the stress. Miranda, a single mother, has found some of her health conditions exacerbated and has developed a new one, which she attributes to the stress of the program. “The time that this program has taken from me is time that I have missed with my children,” she told me, her voice heavy. “That is precious.”
Of course, these students are fighting not just for themselves but for a principle. “We just want systemic change,” Miranda said. Harold hopes the lawsuit will set a critical legal precedent. “What’s at stake here,” he explained, “is whether or not the university has a legal obligation to facilitate the accommodations... at the field placement. I don’t believe there is any twenty-first-century legal precedent that will be as meaningful as the one for which we’re pressing.”
When asked whether the students were looking for real change or a settlement, both were firm in their responses. “We are poor folks and could really use the money, but that’s not what this is about,” Miranda says. Their message is unmistakably clear in their words and emphasis. They are entitled to an education preparing them for the noble profession they seek, and nothing short of that will do. They are also committed to making the experience of future students seeking their degrees as free of pain and stress as they can.
This is precisely why organized, collective action is essential. Their goal, and the goal of the National Federation of the Blind in bringing the suit, is to ensure no student has to endure what they have. Every blind person must recognize that the law is not self-enforcing. Filing and following through with a lawsuit normally requires money, expertise, and a collective commitment to the people and principles at stake. Through the National Federation of the Blind, we marshal these forces and demand first-class treatment for blind citizens. We provide the structure needed to raise the money, hire the legal experts, and develop the deep organizational expertise required to hold a major institution like WVU accountable. As Harold so powerfully stated, laws “are only as powerful as the people who are willing to fight to protect them.” Harold Rogers and Miranda Lacy are fighting, and now they have the organized strength of the nation’s blind behind them. Their university should be ashamed that it came to this. We should be heartened by their willingness to stand up for their rights, to exercise the humility and good sense to ask for help, and to lend their strength through involvement with us as together we work to help those of us who are blind to live the lives we want.
In the National Federation of the Blind, we do what we do out of love and respect for our fellow blind people. Everything we do is based on a shared belief in one another, and that belief carries with it nothing less than the responsibility to extend our hands and hearts in a spirit of helpfulness through action.
by Chris Danielsen
The San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired (LightHouse) has recently been the subject of public protests, internal unrest, and questions about its financial health and management practices. The Braille Monitor first reported on these matters in an Early Access article in July 2025, which can be read at https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/braille-monitor/early-access-articles/beacon-over-troubled-waters. The following is a recap of some key facts from that article and some important recent developments.
Since Fiscal Year 2023, LightHouse has been running operating deficits exceeding $10 million annually, projected at $14–15 million this year, according to its interim CEO, Brandon Cox, who granted this magazine an hour-long interview at the end of July after the publication of our Early Access article. Mr. Cox, who is not blind and has a long but controversial history in rehabilitation, said the agency is covering these deficits through its $80 million cash portfolio—remnants of a $125 million bequest received a decade ago that allowed LightHouse to purchase and renovate its headquarters building—but warned that “drawing $15 million annually means the nest egg will shrink quickly.” He attributed much of the shortfall to the high cost of operating in the Bay Area and inadequate reimbursement rates from state vocational rehabilitation contracts for services such as orientation and mobility and independent living training. Tim Elder, president of the National Federation of the Blind of California, told the Monitor that he believes overspending on capital projects at the headquarters and the agency’s rural Enchanted Hills Camp also contributed to the problem, and others in the area blind community and beyond agree.
In May of 2024, the City of San Francisco terminated its lease on the first eight floors of the 1155 Market Street headquarters building, a prime piece of downtown real estate. That lease had been providing the revenue to service a $48 million mortgage covering that part of the building, which had been split into two parcels in the original purchase agreement. The loan contained an automatic default clause triggered by the city’s lease termination. This resulted in LightHouse seeing the property’s market value decline by $17 million. The organization continues to own the top three floors of the eleven-story building outright and debt-free, while the lower floors are now in receivership. Not only did LightHouse purchase the downtown building, in an area mostly occupied by for-profit entities including high-tech companies, but also hired blind architect Chris Downey to redesign it and oversee renovations. That move garnered a segment on 60 Minutes and other positive coverage at the time. There was little if any talk of the risks involved in San Francisco’s notoriously volatile real estate market, but they have now materialized with a vengeance.
Mr. Cox confirmed that LightHouse has been running deficits since 2023 and has responded with cost-cutting measures including office closures and layoffs, which have been a source of consternation for agency employees and clients. The North Coast office has closed, and the Ed Roberts Campus location will close in 2026, though services in Alameda County will continue through community partnerships, Mr. Cox said in July, although later events described below call all future plans into question.
The Northern California Association of the DeafBlind (NCADB) is leading a “Decertify LightHouse Now” campaign. The effort seeks to revoke LightHouse’s certification to administer the National DeafBlind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP), also known as iCanConnect, in the state of California. The campaign has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which provides and oversees the program’s federal funds, seeking said decertification. The campaign alleges systemic mismanagement, retaliation, and discrimination against deafblind clients and employees. It cites the termination or reassignment of staff who allegedly raised various concerns, including Kathy Abrahamson, Sook Hee Choi, Sequence Gilder, and Mussie Gebre. Mr. Gebre filed an informal complaint with the FCC in September 2023 alleging rule violations and whistleblower retaliation. He was fired from the agency three days later. In its responses to the FCC, LightHouse maintains that it terminated his employment for cause. In January of 2025, the FCC dismissed Gebre’s claims for damages but allowed the administrative case to proceed. Based on the Monitor’s review of available documents on the FCC website, the case is still in its discovery phase, and no final decision has been issued. Mr. Gebre also filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in California Superior Court in August of 2025.
The Decertify LightHouse Now campaign says it supports transfer of the entire iCanConnect program to the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults. But this agency has its own shortcomings, specifically its lack of deafblind leadership. The Federation consequently passed Resolution 2025-04 at our most recent Convention, demanding better deafblind representation.
The Decertify LightHouse Now campaign makes numerous and serious accusations on its website, but it does not refer to sources for many of them, and the Braille Monitor has been unable to verify them through public records. LightHouse leadership asserts that most claims made by the Decertify LightHouse Now campaign are inaccurate or unverified, and that the organization remains in good standing with the FCC and the iCanConnect program. Mr. Cox emphasized that confidentiality and ongoing legal proceedings prevent public rebuttal of specific allegations but maintained that LightHouse’s policies protect whistleblowers and prohibit retaliation. Staff may report concerns through multiple channels, including the HR department, the CEO, the board president, or the third-party co-employer ADP. LightHouse provided its written policies outlining these procedures to the Braille Monitor. Mr. Cox further argued that few of the complaints now being made in the public or the press were ever raised internally through these documented processes.
In September 2023, around the time of Mr. Gebre’s firing, LightHouse employees formed LightHouse United, affiliating with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 29, to advocate for higher wages and greater job security. Workers voted 50–22 to unionize. The process appeared contentious at its start, with LightHouse initially seeming to reject the need for a union and, according to union representatives, engaging in bad-faith stalling and union-busting tactics. The union even filed an official complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, although it was settled within a few months. After nearly two years, LightHouse and the union reached a tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on October 2, 2025. As relayed to the Monitor by an email from LightHouse spokesperson Heather Sorensen, the agreement includes staggered wage increases—5 percent for the lowest-paid staff, 4 percent for mid-range, and 3 percent for higher earners—effective October 1, 2025, along with negotiation reopeners tied to a proposed merger with Lighthouse Guild that the LightHouse SF Board of Directors is currently considering. Mr. Cox told a town hall meeting held on November 12, 2025, the main purpose of which was to discuss the merger proposal, that the CBA approval process had just been completed, with the LightHouse Board of Directors having just voted to approve the CBA the day before.
LightHouse has seen substantial leadership turnover in the past three years. Bryan Bashin, a member of the Federation, now with Be My Eyes, was the CEO at the time of the $125 million bequest and purchase of the headquarters building, but resigned in 2022. Sharon Giovinazo then took over for three years before resigning at the end of March 2025 to focus on a battle with cancer, according to her LinkedIn profile. Mr. Cox, now Interim CEO, said in July that while all this change is challenging, it is not a crisis. In late summer, the LightHouse board of directors launched a national search for a permanent CEO and set up a search committee on which Tim Elder was serving. The search has since been paused pending the merger discussions with Lighthouse Guild. The board also aims for at least half its members to be blind or low-vision, Cox said. Two of nine current executives identify as blind or low-vision, he said. The Board of Directors page on the LightHouse website lists eighteen individuals, including Federationists Tim Elder (also president of the NFB of California), Jamie Principato Crane, and Kathryn Webster. The board chair is Jennison Asuncion, who is blind. However, the details of the proposed merger, as outlined in the November 12 meeting, indicate that the result might not be a blind-led agency; see below for more details.
In the past two months, the LightHouse Board of Directors has been exploring a partnership or merger with Lighthouse Guild, which is based in New York and led by its new President and CEO, Thomas Panek, the first blind person to hold that position. Readers may remember Mr. Panek’s presentation to the 2025 National Convention and his previous service as CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the only guide dog school to financially sponsor the Federation’s Rideshare Rally in October of 2024. Mr. Panek told a town-hall-style meeting that LightHouse held on September 16, 2025, that he reached out to offer collaboration after learning of LightHouse’s recent challenges. That meeting was largely a feel-good affair, with a lot of emphasis on the idea that the two entities were only in an exploratory phase and on Mr. Panek’s accomplishments and expressed good intentions. Jim Dubin, the Lighthouse Guild’s board chair, also projected helpfulness and goodwill. Nonetheless, this writer and other attendees detected a strong whiff of the medical model of disability in the Lighthouse Guild’s programs and its pitch to the LightHouse SF community. Lighthouse Guild’s website speaks of patients instead of clients, and its history page says that the entity was formed by a merger of Jewish Guild Healthcare and Lighthouse International.
The follow-up meeting on November 12 mentioned above, which Mr. Panek did not attend apparently because of a last-minute circumstance, was much more startling. Mr. Dubin—who according to his bio page on the Lighthouse Guild website recently retired from a long career as a high-powered corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters, as well as a CEO of for-profit companies—made abundantly clear that his concept of the merger was essentially a takeover, with the current LightHouse SF board reduced to an advisory capacity and a new LightHouse CEO, if and when appointed, reporting to Mr. Panek. When Mr. Dubin’s statements did not go down well with attendees, Mr. Cox weighed in with dire predictions that walking away from the merger proposal would result in further drastic cuts to LightHouse staff and services. Despite his nice-guy demeanor, Mr. Cox’s statements seemed to this writer like an attempt to put the squeeze on opponents of the deal.
The reaction of attendees who asked questions, such as National Federation of the Blind of California Secretary Shannon Dillon and former American Council of the Blind President Chris Gray, mostly ranged from skeptical to hostile, with the understandable concern being that such an arrangement of governance from three thousand miles away would not best serve the needs of the local blind community. In response to questions about specific programs, Mr. Dubin would not guarantee that any of them would continue as is.
The next day, an open letter to the LightHouse board of directors opposing the merger from former LightHouse SF directors and others (not including anyone officially representing our California affiliate) was published. That letter said in part: “We recognize and empathize with the financial crisis currently facing [San Francisco LightHouse]. However, we firmly believe that the responsible course of action is to directly confront and resolve these fiscal challenges, rather than abdicating stewardship through an arrangement that risks the value, autonomy, and mission of our organization. Any proposed partnership, once executed, would be irreversible. Furthermore, with the board’s attention entirely focused on the [Lighthouse Guild] relationship, you have no remaining bandwidth to identify and evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed relationship. We urge you to focus on fixing our LightHouse rather than on giving it away.”
The allegations of Decertify LightHouse Now are serious and disturbing, but as yet they have not been tested by independent, outside reviews. The campaign clearly does not trust any internal process at LightHouse to rectify issues, and LightHouse cannot discuss employee matters due to confidentiality laws, all of which makes it hard for this magazine to verify claims that are usually not attributed to specific people. What is clear is that the agency burned through tens of millions of dollars and that its property lost value, leaving it struggling in the aftermath. Whether through genuine malfeasance or bold but risky decisions that turned out badly, the agency’s stabilization plan has involved layoffs and office closures. Anxiety and mistrust among many of its consumers, employees, and supporters are understandable. What remains to be seen is whether LightHouse can successfully defend its actions, stabilize its finances and service delivery, and restore the trust that it has lost. So far, its proposed solution, other than rearranging the proverbial deck chairs, is the merger with Lighthouse Guild.
The National Federation of the Blind has said consistently throughout our history, most recently and thoroughly in Resolution 2020-05, that any private agency serving the blind must be “responsive to the interests, needs, and aspirations of its constituency.” (Indeed, Resolution 2020-05 calls for half of the management team and board of directors of private agencies to be blind people, which is not the case for either LightHouse or Lighthouse Guild, although LightHouse’s interim CEO has said it aspires to such parity on its board.) It appears to this writer that LightHouse, whatever the legal accuracy of individual accusations and however well-intentioned individuals serving on its staff or board may be, is not currently responsive to its community or headed in a direction that indicates it will be. Too many of its constituents simply do not trust the agency, and that is the ultimate test.
That said, our California affiliate, which is closest to the situation, has not issued its own official position, although it did link to the open letter referenced above on its Facebook page. We will update our readers if and when the National Federation of the Blind of California speaks officially on the matter.
We welcome letters to the editor, article submissions, or news tips that provide further information or context on LightHouse and its troubles, and we will keep our readers advised of further developments. Send letters, comments, or news tips to [email protected]. For further information, please consult our submission guidelines at https://nfb.org/braille-monitor.
by Jonathan Mosen
In the National Federation of the Blind, we are passionate about Braille. We know that Braille is the key to literacy and to opportunity. So when Apple released iOS 26 in September 2025, we were encouraged to see that the company had spent so much time and effort on Braille accessibility. The new Braille Access feature is the most significant accessibility advancement for blind people in this new operating system release. It demonstrates Apple’s commitment to supporting Braille literacy in a way that few mainstream technology companies have done before. They have gone far beyond simply supporting Braille displays to work with the device and have written software for the exclusive use of Braille users. We applaud Apple for this. Although I will be focussing on iOS 26, Braille Access is also available in iPadOS 26 and MacOS 26.
Before diving into the details of this feature, let me address the obvious question: how did we jump from iOS 18, which was the name of Apple’s previous iPhone operating system, to iOS 26? Apple has adopted a new nomenclature across all its operating systems, based on the year in which we will primarily use the operating system. Apple released iOS 26 in September 2025, but it will serve us through much of 2026. With the version numbers of Apple’s operating systems varying widely, standardizing this convention makes it easier to know whether users are running the latest version.
Now, back to Braille Access, and why it is such a significant development. As someone who once managed several blindness notetaker products, I have firsthand experience of the challenges these access technology manufacturers face. Technology has always moved quickly, but developments have sped up dramatically with AI advancing so rapidly. It can be difficult for access technology companies to keep up, because they have far fewer resources at their disposal than big tech. Some have turned to Android-based platforms, but we have seen these devices fall behind with outdated operating system versions.
The iPhone becomes attractive because it keeps up with the latest technology while remaining accessible. There is an increasing number of accessible apps available, and we congratulate Apple for adding so called “accessibility nutrition labels” in this release, giving developers a chance to stipulate the degree to which their apps are accessible. These “nutrition labels” are optional for now. We hope that once developers have had time to get used to them, they will be a requirement of submitting an app to the App Store.
Yet for all the power of using an iPhone with a Braille display, there are blind people, including some who are expert iPhone users, who still preferred the speed and ease of use of a blindness notetaker product. With iOS 26, Apple is seeking to respond to the need for that greater simplicity.
Education has always been a priority area for Apple, and notetakers are currently prominent in the blindness education market. Braille Access represents Apple’s play for this market. The value proposition is compelling: give a student an iPad, which is something teachers, parents, and support staff already understand, and have Braille notetaker functionality on that device along with all the benefits of using an iPad.
Those with free e-readers from the National Library Service also gain significant benefit from this new feature. These devices allow reading books locally and can connect via terminal mode to other devices, but they lack built-in editing functionality. With Braille Access in iOS 26, users can have notetaker-like functionality simply by pairing their NLS e-reader with their iPhone. If you have an eReader at home, and another Braille display at work or school, your Braille content can live in iCloud and be available on whatever Braille display you have to hand.
Starting Braille Access is straightforward. If you’re using a Braille input keyboard, press dots seven and eight together to invoke the menu from anywhere. For an 8-dot computer Braille table, you may need to press dot-78 with the space bar (dot-78 chord).
The menu offers several powerful functions:
If you find yourself using a Braille Access function regularly, you can bypass the menu entirely by assigning direct commands to specific Braille Access functions through your Braille display’s command settings.
What makes Braille Access particularly powerful is that your iPhone itself remains unaffected by Braille Access mode. Your Braille display can perform all these Braille functions while your phone continues whatever else you’re doing. You could be in a podcast app or reading email while taking notes on your Braille display. Simply toggle Braille Access on and off with dots 7 and 8 to move between it and your phone’s current app. Essentially, Braille Access turns your Braille display into a dedicated, stand-alone notetaker powered by your iPhone.
For those with Braille displays featuring QWERTY keyboards, Apple has introduced Braille keyboard input mode. Use FDS for dots 1-2-3 and JKL for dots 4-5-6, with A as dot-7 and semicolon as dot-8. The keyboard command VO+Y typically invokes this mode.
It is my hope that this is only the beginning for Braille Access, and that Apple will allocate resources to ensure we see feature enhancements going forward. For example, key players in the Braille arena are collaborating on the new eBraille standard, which will facilitate the production of more navigable files capable of supporting rich content including graphics. As Apple rolls out support for more multiline Braille devices, it will be essential for Braille Access to support eBraille if it is to stay relevant and on the cutting edge.
There are plenty of other accessibility enhancements that have come to our iPhones this year. To learn about more of them, I invite you to listen to, or read the transcript of, Access On episode 45, which is devoted to iOS 26 and contains audio demonstrations. Access On is the National Federation of the Blind’s technology podcast. We publish a new episode weekly.
We also enjoy receiving your feedback, so if you have thoughts on Braille Access or other new iOS 26 features, you are most welcome to share them with Access On.
The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to announce our 2026 scholarship program. We offer thirty $8,000 scholarships to blind students who will be at least eighteen years of age by July 3, 2026. Students may apply if they reside in the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico and will be enrolled in a full-time accredited post-secondary degree program during the 2026-2027 school year. The National Federation of the Blind may award up to five of the thirty scholarships annually to applicants enrolled part-time who meet all other eligibility requirements. Additionally, we recognize that employment, family caregiving, and ongoing medical care concurrent with post-secondary enrollment can contribute to a need for students to carry a part-time courseload. Our application has been revised in order to provide an opportunity for students who will be enrolled part-time in the fall to share additional information with the committee.
All scholarships will be awarded at our 2026 National Convention, which will take place in Austin, Texas, from July 3-8.
The application period begins December 1, 2025, and closes at midnight EST on March 31, 2026. Go to www.nfb.org/scholarships. To apply during the four-month open period: read the rules and the submission checklist, complete the official 2026 scholarship application form, supply all required documents, and request and complete an interview with an NFB affiliate president. Remember, the only way to win is to apply!
The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made nor the quality of the products for sale.
We have a QBraille XL 40-cell display in like-new condition for sale. It comes with a protective case, strap, charger, and the original box with directions. Asking $1,000 or best reasonable offer. Please email [email protected] with any questions or interest.
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.
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