American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2022 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lighthouse Guild
Contact: Bryan Dotson, [email protected]
917-796-8632
Lighthouse Guild announces that human-rights lawyer and disability-rights advocate Haben Girma is the first recipient of the Dr. Alan R. Morse Lecture in Advocacy for People with Visual Impairment. The Morse Lecture in Advocacy was established this year to honor those who have demonstrated leadership, raised awareness of low vision, addressed barriers, and are working to make a world where no person is limited by their sensory capacity. The award includes an honorarium of $25,000. Haben Girma was the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. She teaches organizations the importance of inclusion and is the author of the memoir Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. She was named a White House Champion of Change by President Barack Obama and appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Insights Art
American Printing House for the Blind
www.insights-art.org
On Friday, October 7, American Printing House for the Blind (APH) celebrated the artistic creations of blind and low-vision students and adults at its first in-person Insights Arts ceremony since the onset of the pandemic. Since 1992 APH has hosted the annual international art contest for artists of all ages who meet the definition of legal blindness. With approximately two hundred entries, the contest is broken into six categories based on student grade levels and three categories based on artistic medium (two-dimensional, sculpture, and craft) for adult artists. Entries include drawings, paintings, prints, and works in metal and wood.
Braille on Demand
https://www.loc.gov/nls
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) has launched a two-year pilot for Braille readers of all ages. Braille on Demand allows NLS patrons to request hard copies of any Braille book currently available on BARD that they would like to keep permanently. All currently registered NLS patrons, including overseas patrons, will be able to order one book per month during the pilot. Materials will be mailed directly to the requesting patron. For more information, contact your network library.
Audiobooks on Bookshare
bookshare.org
Benetech recently released several enhancements to its Bookshare library program, including a suite of free reading apps for web iOS, Android, and Alexa, along with the addition of five thousand human-narrated audiobooks. Bookshare is available to individuals who have a qualifying reading or perceptual disability, a visual impairment, or a physical disability that affects their ability to read printed works. Membership is free for US students and costs $50 per year for non-students. Bookshare's library of books in accessible electronic formats includes more than a million titles in English and in thirty-three other languages.
Emoji Tactile Graphics
National Braille Press
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/EMOJI.html
If you want to know more about these popular, playful, shorthand ways of expressing human emotion, this is the book for you! In this one-of-a-kind publication you will learn the names and meanings of ninety-seven different Apple face emoji, as excerpted from emojipedia.org and explore each one in tactile graphic format.
National Federation of the Blind Surveys
https://nfb.org/legal/surveys
The National Federation of the Blind works to advance disability rights. One important way to do that is to learn about your stories. The NFB is conducting several surveys to gain more information in various areas of access. Please review our current survey categories and report your experiences. Links to these surveys can be found at the address above. Thank you for your time!
Rideshare Discrimination Survey
The National Federation of the Blind is seeking feedback from Uber and Lyft customers who have been discriminated against by either rideshare company because of disability, including but not limited to a rider's use of a service animal or white cane, or due to inaccessible rideshare app technology. Please take time to report all instances of discrimination through the Rideshare Discrimination Survey.
Education Technology Survey
The NFB is gathering information regarding the accessibility of educational technology used in our nation's schools (kindergarten through graduate level). If you are a student, parent, teacher, or administrator who uses screen access software or other accommodations to participate nonvisually in educational programs or services, or if you are the parent, teacher, or administrator of someone who does, please complete our Education Technology Survey once a semester and contribute to this important research.
Access to COVID 19 Vaccine and Testing Survey
The National Federation of the Blind is gathering data to monitor and challenge access barriers for blind people to COVID-19 vaccines and tests. It is vital that blind and low-vision Americans receive the same opportunities and tools to participate in ending this public-health threat as others do. Please complete a five- to fifteen-minute survey regarding your experience with COVID-19 vaccines and testing.
Access to Digital Library Services Survey
Equal access to digital library services is a priority for the National Federation of the Blind. Digital services provide additional opportunities to engage with libraries and increase the availability of information. Your feedback will help us advocate for improved access to digital library services in public and school libraries. Please complete our survey on access to digital library services.
Unemployment Benefits Survey
The National Federation of the Blind is investigating barriers or denials related to unemployment benefits. If you have been terminated or laid off from your job within the past two years, please complete this important survey.
Blind and Low-Vision English Learners from Spanish-Speaking Households
Contact: Conchita Hernandez Legorreta: [email protected]
Joan Kester: [email protected]
Metas is conducting research on the experiences of blind and low-vision high-school students who are English-language learners. Students will share their experiences through focus groups where they will respond to prompting questions.
American Printing House for the Blind
https://communities.nonprofitleadershipalliance.org/nsitecommunity/home
Contact: Judy Musa, 732-687-1556
[email protected]
The American Printing House for the Blind ConnectCenter and NSITE deliver resources and access to job opportunities to create a diverse and inclusive workforce for job seekers. Leaders in talent acquisition and sourcing collaborate to create on-demand job-seekers’ toolkit for career-ready blind and low-vision individuals. The job-seeker’s toolkit is an accessible, self-paced, free online training course that helps students and job seekers who are blind or have low vision develop career exploration and job-seeking skills. The course provides five sixty-minute sessions that cover self-awareness, career exploration tools and resources, the preliminary employment process, the interview, and maintaining employment. The toolkit also can be used by professionals to follow their students’ progress and provide feedback.