American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2024 WHAT'S HAPPENING?
National Federation of the Blind Scholarships
nfb.org/scholarships
Application Deadline: March 31, 2024
The National Federation of the Blind's annual scholarship program is the largest of its kind in the nation. Every year the NFB awards more than $250,000 in cash and prizes to blind scholars across the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in recognition of their achievements and professional aspirations. Thanks to many generous partners, there are thirty merit-based scholarships currently available, each valued at eight thousand dollars. All scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence, community service, and leadership. The finalists attend the NFB National Convention, when the winners of each individual scholarship are selected.
Applicants must be legally blind in both eyes; must reside in the United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico; must be eighteen years of age by July 3, 2024; must be pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time, postsecondary course of study in a degree-granting program in the US or Puerto Rico in the fall of this year; and must participate in person in the entire NFB Convention and all of its scheduled scholarship program activities.
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
nfb.org/bolotin
Contact: Everette Bacon, 801-631-8108
[email protected]
Application Deadline: April 15, 2024
Dr. Jacob W. Bolotin (1888-1924) was the world's first physician who was blind from birth. Winners of the annual Jacob Bolotin Awards break down barriers facing blind people in an innovative way, change negative perceptions of blindness and blind people, and push past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights. Winners receive a cash award. They have included entrepreneurs, filmmakers, authors, mathematicians, technology developers, artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations, programs, partnerships, and more. The awards are presented annually at the NFB National Convention in July.
The Jacob Bolotin Awards are funded by the National Federation of the Blind with assistance from the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust.
National Association of Blind Students 2024 Midwest Student Seminar
Contact: Hunter Kuester, [email protected]
920-285-8530
Registration Form: https://nabslink.org/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&action=preview&id=2
Location: Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5615 N. Cumberland, Chicago, IL 60631
Dates: March 22-24, 2024
The National Association of Blind Students (NABS) is thrilled to invite students to "Embrace the Quest; Experience the Now!" Students from the Midwest and beyond are invited to share experiences, challenge perceptions, and network with blind peers and mentors. There will be a mix of activities, thought-provoking conversations, and riveting presentations on topics from securing accommodations to finding identity as a blind person. This seminar promises to empower students to live the lives they want, regardless of where they are in their education.
NFB Writers Division Contest
https://writers.nfb.org/contestpage.html
Contact: Barbara Hammel
7408 Bryn Mawr Dr
Urbandale, IA 50322
Deadline for Entries: April 30, 2024
The NFB Writers Division sponsors an annual contest for blind writers. Adult contest categories are short fiction, nonfiction (including personal essay and memoir), novel excerpts, and poetry. Youth contest categories are short fiction and poetry. The youth contest is divided into three groups, determined by grade level: Elementary (first through fourth grade), middle (fifth through eighth grade), and high school (ninth through twelfth grade). Contest winners will receive cash prizes and may be published in the Writers Division magazine, Slate & Style. Youth prizes will be $30 for first place, $20 for second place, and $10 for third place. The youth contest is a contest for students who use Braille. See the online guidelines for more details.
InSights Art Contest
https://insights-art.org
Contact: [email protected]
Deadline for Submissions: March 29, 2024
Amateur and professional artists from around the world are encouraged to enter their work in the annual juried art competition sponsored by American Printing House for the Blind. The contest is open to all legally blind artists. Original works of two-dimensional art, sculpture, and crafts will be considered. Winners will receive prizes and will have their art displayed during APH’s annual meeting. They will have the chance to travel to Louisville, KY, to receive their awards.
Be My Eyes
https://www.bemyeyes.com
Contact: [email protected]
Using a smartphone Be My Eyes connects people who need sighted assistance with volunteers and companies around the world. Be My Eyes is pleased to announce a major new feature called Be My Eyes Groups. Not every person is comfortable asking for help from an unknown volunteer. Be My Eyes now offers a major new capability to give blind people more choices. In addition to their existing 7.1 million volunteers, now blind people worldwide also can build their own custom network of people to help with everyday tasks. Build your own trusted group of friends or family members to help with personal and sensitive tasks you might not wish to share with an unknown volunteer. Once you've assembled your trusted group, press the "My Groups" to connect with the first available person who is known to you. To create a new group, click on "My Groups" in the Be My Eyes app homepage and follow the instructions. After you have created and named your first group, you will be able to send an invite link to your friends and family members. You can enter up to twenty people in your circle and have up to five different groups on Be My Eyes.
Braille Signage
In July 2023 United Airlines began to add Braille signage on its aircraft. Braille markers are being posted to indicate row and seat numbers, and Braille signs are being placed inside and outside airplane bathrooms. United plans to install Braille signage in its entire fleet by the end of 2026.
At the end of September, 2023, Lukas Franck retired after serving The Seeing Eye for forty-five years. At the time of his retirement his title was Senior Consultant for Special Projects. In addition to being a gifted guide dog mobility instructor, Franck made invaluable contributions to the international guide dog movement. His work with traffic engineers to improve safety has benefited all pedestrians, blind and sighted alike.
64 Ounce Games
https://64-ounce-games.myshopify.com
3911 Greenwood Dr., Pearland, TX 77584
64 Oz. Games accessibility kits allow blind and sighted players to play together with a retail product. What is included in an accessibility kit can vary, depending upon the needs of the game. Most kits consist of a printout with the text of all of the game cards and instructions on assembly. Most kits require a blind and sighted person to work together for assembly. Some kits include custom dice or tokens specific to the game. All kits require the original retail game to be played. Some kits, listed as combo kits, come with both the game and the kit but are not yet assembled. Game kits available include Apples to Apples, Exploding Kittens, Bananagrams, Taboo, Five Crowns, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and Scattergories.
Guidelines for Standardizing the Design of Tactile Maps: A Review of Research and Best Practice
by Jakub Wabinski, Albina Moscicka, and Guillaume Touya
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00087041.2022.2097760
The Cartographic Journal, The World of Mapping
Vol. 59, Number 3, 2022
Based on questionnaires and an extensive literature review, this open-access article is a detailed investigation into methods for creating maps that easily can be read and used by blind and low-vision persons. With its extensive references, it consolidates an extensive body of information on this topic.
Research about Identity and Participation in the Blindness Community
Contact: Gina Ouellette
[email protected]
Gina Ouellette, a doctoral candidate at California State University, East Bay, seeks blind persons between ages eighteen and thirty-two for an online survey about identity and participation in the blindness community. Ten to twelve participants may be selected for an additional sixty- to ninety-minute interview via Zoom. Interview participants will be compensated with a Target or Amazon gift card.
Educational Technology Survey
https://nfb.org/legal/surveys
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 the Education Technology Survey once a semester and contribute to this important research.