American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention Issue 2025 GENERAL SESSIONS
Access On through Collective Action: Mobilizing Leadership through Blind-Centered Technology Perspectives
by Jonathan Mosen
Introduction by Mark Riccobono: We’re going to talk technology for the next little while. Over the past year we’ve been reimagining what the Federation’s role can and should continue to be in this area. Step one was to bring this gentleman aboard to Team NFB. We were really happy that he joined earlier this year as our Executive Director for Accessibility Excellence.
Many of you have gotten to know him from some of his podcast work and from his work at tech companies. Through his leadership now as one of our executive leaders on the staff at the National Federation of the Blind, I believe you will have even more opportunities to get to know his heart and his commitment as a blind person. You know, it’s not an easy task to pick up and move to a new country and dive into a leadership position at the National Federation of the Blind!
I think that says all you need to about this guy. I’m really glad he is a friend and a colleague. Here he is for his first presentation to our Federation family as Executive Director for Accessibility Excellence. Here’s Jonathan Mosen!
Thank you, Mr. President, and good afternoon, fellow Federationists! It is an honor to be here as the Federation’s Executive Director for Accessibility Excellence. I would like to thank everyone who has made me feel so welcome to the Federation and to the United States.
Technology affects us all. Some of us embrace it. Some of us wish we could avoid it. Some of us find it intuitive, and some of us find it inscrutable. Some of us rise to the challenge. Some of us want to throw the damn thing out the window!
While technology evokes various responses and emotions, we all want this stuff to work so we can get on with our lives. We demand access that is equal in functionality and reliability. We proudly and unashamedly assert our worth, and we deserve no less.
When companies develop technology for our use, we, the blind, expect to have a seat at the table at a time when our voice can matter. President Riccobono chose the title of this address, “Access On through Collective Action.” I was delighted that he gave me this title. Collective action is the reason we have much of the technology we now take for granted.
Sometimes people say things to me such as, “I’m not really much of a joiner. When I feel strongly about an issue, I can just whip up a frenzy on social media or start an online petition and make change that way.” It’s true, you might have some success if you have a big enough following. Your issues get sufficient traction, and all the noise reaches the right person who can implement the change you’re asking for. I’ve seen it done, but it’s rare. It takes time, skill, and a lot of luck. This organization has an unmatched track record of bringing about technological advancements through the power of collective action.
Social media is often an echo chamber, but history proudly chronicles that the voice of the organized blind has been echoing through the corridors of power, changing the world for eighty-five years. It is the voice that cannot be silenced and will not be ignored. While an individual complaint may be seen as a personal grievance, the organization representing the nation’s blind transforms that complaint into a civil rights issue.
My fellow Federationists, the NFB is not fighting for us. Collective action means that the Federation is us fighting for ourselves and for one another. We are stronger together, unstoppable in our momentum, gaining solace and strength from our solidarity.
Now, to attendees in the room who have come to find out about the NFB, and to those listening online who aren’t a part of our movement yet, I have this to say. If you want to see technology evolve and improve, if you believe that the blind have not just the right but the duty to build on the work of those who have gone before and worked so hard to give us the technological victories we now enjoy, then our doors, our hearts, and our arms are open. Come join us. There is a place for you in the National Federation of the Blind at our Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility, which we call CENA for short. We inform, advise, educate, and advocate about technology.
Artificial Intelligence
I have to start with artificial intelligence, AI, specifically, generative AI. This is disruptive technology, and it has the ability to disrupt myths about blindness. The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness isn’t what holds us back, but constraining attitudes certainly do.
All the major AI players are well aware that, without intervention, AI may perpetuate harmful stereotypes about blind people. The generative AI revolution has presented an opportunity to correct the record, and we intend to see that it is corrected. We are making progress. Fortunately, it’s been a long time now since I’ve had an AI express sorrow to me that I’m blind.
AI companies are actively rebalancing data, ensuring that we are portrayed accurately. Many AI companies now have ethics boards that monitor AI for inaccurate portrayals. They use blindness specific data sets where we ourselves demonstrate what it is to be blind, help to reduce bias, and better inform the AI.
AI describes the world around us, and many of us find it helpful. Sometimes it produces vivid, accurate descriptions. At other times, though, it just makes things up. Although it continues to improve steadily, guided by member feedback, we in turn provide guidance to AI companies about the kind of information AI should convey in a range of settings.
AI should never replace our own travel skills and awareness of surroundings, but neither do we wish for companies to be overly cautious when they have the potential to provide us with useful information. We continue to talk with technology companies about the concept of AI as an alternative technique of access to visual information.
Everyone else can identify people they already know in a crowded room. In theory, AI can permit a blind person to do that, too. We must make it happen! We must find ways of allowing a blind person to identify someone they know while respecting privacy concerns. This problem is no longer technological; it is ethical. We will work with the industry to figure it out. You’ll be hearing much more about agents in the world of AI in the year ahead.
AI has the potential to create a new screen reading paradigm that will be particularly beneficial for people who become blind in later life and may not have vocational goals. It can be conversational and easy to use for daily tasks such as shopping and communication. We look forward to working with a range of companies in the mainstream and with access technology sectors to see this new product category emerge in a way that makes technology more inclusive while preserving the efficiency so many experienced users need.
Efficiency
Speaking of efficiency, we continue to receive feedback from members about the need for companies to remember efficiency when designing for accessibility. Some applications are broadly accessible but are unnecessarily verbose. Software developers mean well when they design in this way, but it is the equivalent of ordering a cup of coffee somewhere, and then when someone hands it to you, they say, “Be careful. That’s hot.” We know it’s hot! That’s what we ordered.
To give you an example, when we press Enter in a web browser to load a page, we don’t need to be told the page is loading. That’s what we ordered. We’re in the undesirable situation of having some applications speaking way too much. Third-party screen readers with far fewer resources than big tech are in the position of having to invest some of their limited resources in making these applications bearable. That is wasteful, pure and simple.
Some may think this is a finicky complaint, but it is not. When you calculate, over a work or school year, the lost productivity because of suboptimal experiences, it is clear that accessible but inefficient user interfaces hold us back.
Smartphone Accessibility
Now I want to talk about something that we’ve received many phone calls and emails about: Facebook. Given how much concern people have expressed, I think it is important that I speak in detail to the convention about our advocacy on this subject.
Blind smartphone users who use Facebook have not had an easy time of it. Several severe bugs crept into the Facebook app, and they were left unresolved for a long time. Not everyone uses a smartphone. That is their choice and their right. If a desktop site exists, we demand that it be fully accessible to everybody.
Late last year, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, when people often use social media to connect with one another, Meta closed down its Mbasic Facebook site. We know that change is the only constant when it comes to technology, and that the Mbasic site was designed for older mobile phone browsers that no longer exist. However, many blind people used it because it was clean, simple, and accessible.
I don’t think Meta appreciated the accessibility impact of depreciating the site. The elimination of that workaround exposed how increasingly riddled with accessibility problems the primary Facebook site had become.
Things were pretty bad, but the National Federation of the Blind and Meta have been in constructive, respectful, forthright dialogue. We’ve gathered your feedback. We’ve found common threads and provided helpful steps for the Meta team to duplicate defects. Meta, in turn, has been responding. It has fixed some of the particularly egregious bugs that were frustrating smartphone users. We are starting to see improvements to the main Facebook website, with some of the keyboard shortcuts fixed and extraneous block characters removed.
We are not yet at our destination. The journey continues, but as long as we see changes in response to our feedback, we will keep the conversation going.
I want to acknowledge Meta’s presence here at our national convention. They have come so they can hear from their blind users. We are pleased that they have responded to our feedback on improving the Meta Smart Glasses. I think you will be impressed with what is coming.
International Braille and Technology Center
It was a significant moment in 1990 when Dr. Marc Maurer unveiled the concept of the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind. He said, “When the blind buy technology, we deserve the same consumer report-style independence that sighted people take for granted. The International Braille and Technology Center (IBTC) will exist only to answer one question: What really works for a blind person?” At a press briefing we launched the IBTC fifty years to the day that our Federation was founded.
Dr. Kenneth Jernigan said, “The IBTC has at least one of everything: every speech synthesizer, every Braille display, every scanner we can find. It is the tool we will use to keep industry honest and to keep blind people employed.” The Federation delivered. There is no place on the planet like the IBTC!
We have been so successful in our advocacy that many devices available for general purchase now offer accessibility features. The IBTC purchases a selection of such devices, but we have stayed true to the founding mission of the IBTC. When a device specifically for blind people comes on the market, we purchase it. We evaluate it without fear or favor, and we communicate our findings to you.
In 2017, in his banquet address, President Mark Riccobono observed, “We live in a time in which technology is constantly a part of our human experience. Of course, we’ve always lived with technology. However, the difference today is the speed with which technology is becoming increasingly important in our lives. The changes that occur as technology alters the pattern of our lives take place not in decades, but in days. The increased velocity of change will soon demand altered patterns of thought and behavior from us hour by hour or minute by minute. Technology has changed the way we work and play, and even the way we think.”
In response to the rapidity, impact, and nature of technological change, last year President Riccobono concluded that the time was right to create an executive director position with a technology focus. The Federation never stands still, and the time has come to write an exciting new chapter.
Strategic Review
I recently completed a thorough strategic review of CENA, which includes the IBTC and related functions. There are ten key strategic objectives that will guide us as we move forward.
One: Be a timely, credible source of technology advice for our members.
Two: Make recommendations, provide technical advice, and perform detailed evaluations in service of the core programs of the Federation: for example, legal work, advocacy priorities, capacity building projects, et cetera.
Three: Facilitate means by which members can share information about the increasingly complex area of technology. No matter how talented our staff, they can no longer be expected to keep up with every option in minute detail.
Four: Conduct thorough, fair evaluations of products, based on a published test methodology to ensure transparency and equity, reducing the prospect of personal bias creeping into evaluations.
Five: Raise awareness of accessibility in the wider community, ensuring that the NFB is seen as the definitive authoritative source of information on the accessibility of technology for blind people.
Six: Build strong relationships with companies producing technology that blind people use, both mainstream and blindness specific.
Seven: Act as a conduit between members experiencing accessibility challenges and technology companies to promote speedy defect resolution, thus materially improving the lives of our members and adding value as an organization.
Eight: When necessary, provide clear information and calls to action that allow the membership to campaign on accessibility issues of importance.
Nine: Provide guidance to individuals and startups seeking to enter the access technology field, encouraging them to adopt a genuine interest in co-design and a respect for the self-determination of blind people.
Ten: Seek international cooperation with individuals and organizations with whom we have mutual objectives.
In the years ahead, we’ll be making operational changes that better equip us to deliver on these strategic objectives. As President Riccobono said in his report, in the coming year he will create a committee to more closely link the membership with CENA’s work. But there is much more to be done. We’ll find innovative ways to bring the knowledge of the IBTC to you. Our new technology podcast, Access On, is just the beginning.
Access On is an opportunity for us to tell you about some of the technology that we’ve been evaluating. Often you will hear the movers and shakers talking about the latest developments in technology. We also love listener contributions. Plenty of people in this room can add immense value to the podcast, giving it a strong Federation flavor. If you have something to share—a concern, a demonstration—others may benefit from your tech tip to improve efficiency. Remember, Access On is the Federation’s podcast, which means it is your podcast.
Now, as Steve Jobs used to say, I have one more thing I’d like to share with you. This is our bold dream for the International Braille and Technology Center of the future. We are re-imagining the IBTC’s layout to reflect that technology is not an end in itself, but the means to living the lives we want. In the IBTC of the future, when you look at equipment that can help you study, you’ll do so in a classroom. When you consider equipment to help you succeed on the job, you’ll do so in an office where you can sit down at your desk and try as many solutions as you need to. In the IBTC of the future, we’ll have extensive home automation set up so you can bring your own smartphone along, see what’s possible, and learn how effective it is to control the home yourself.
These changes will take time and significant resourcing. But we know that when the National Federation of the Blind has a dream, we always turn the dream into reality through the grit, determination, and love that are the life blood of our movement.
This dream must come true, because technology affects us all. Accessible, functional, useful technology developed not only for us, but with us, means employment, education, entertainment, and empowerment. Let’s do what we must to preserve it and take further control of our technological future. Let’s make it happen! That is our right. That is our duty. That is our destiny. We are the National Federation of the Blind! Thank you so much!