KNFB Reader, the mobile app which has provided immediate access to printed information to the blind since 2014, has gotten an upgrade! Tinkering with the features or the user-interface of an app should never be undertaken lightly.

The National Federation of the Blind is the voice of the nation’s blind. We work to ensure that blind people can be fully participating members of our communities. More and more, our ability to participate in our communities and live the lives we want depends on the accessibility of the commonplace technologies being implemented throughout our environments.

The National Federation of the Blind engages in strategic legal action to defend the rights and advance the equality of blind people. While we do not have the financial resources to assist every blind individual who experiences discrimination, we help individuals bring legal action where we believe that the result is likely to be important systemic change.

The National Federation of the Blind is committed to being present and actively participating in forums that foster innovation toward increased independence. These gatherings present us with a wonderful opportunity to identify potential partners in our effort to create innovative, transformative technologies.

“This is hard! I don’t understand why I have to go left and right and up and down. My notetaker is so much easier.” I encountered several statements like this the summer I worked as a tech instructor for an independence summer program for blind high school students.

When my sighted daughter, Sarah, was a toddler, I worried that as her blind mom, I’d miss out on exploring arts and crafts with her. Coloring books, paint-by-numbers, water colors—everything marketed for kids was visually oriented.

The first time I attended college in 2001, a time I lovingly refer to as College 1.0, I was studying computer science. This required a decent level of mathematics, and the ability to gather information from, and create, certain technical diagrams.

My mom, who was also blind, had been a teacher before I was born. She understood child development and was determined that I would participate in the same activities my sighted peers were doing, even if that meant I did them slightly differently. 

Out of love, my parents clothed me. Out of love, they kept me safe. Out of love, they praised me for jobs well done. Out of love, they encouraged me to achieve all of my dreams.

When nearly five hundred blind Americans travel to Capitol Hill with our long white canes in hand and a call to increase the independence of blind people nationwide, the United States Congress knows that the members of the National Federation of the Blind have mobilized for security, equality, and opportunity.