[Faith-Talk] Technology Review With Inclusion of the Blind in Faith Communities

[ajzderad at midco.net]

Chris,
	Thanks so much for your response.
	Since I am just becoming familiar with activity in this area, would be interested in engaging in this space - as appropriate.
	Am a member of the Minnesota NFB, and the beginnings of the Minnesota Center for the Blind; formerly, BLIND Inc.
Allen  

-----Original Message-----
From: Faith-Talk <faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Chris Nusbaum via Faith-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, December 9, 2025 3:40 PM
To: faith-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Chris Nusbaum <cnusbaumnfb at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Faith-Talk] Technology Review With Inclusion of the Blind in Faith Communities

Hi Allen,

Following up on Linda's comments, I agree with you that Jonathan Mosen's "Access On" podcast (now published by NFB) is a great resource—one of many in the access tech and accessibility field. I also agree that there is great value in sharing with our churches the tools we use, both high-tech and low-tech, to access materials inside and outside our communities of faith. I think, though, that "Access On" has become such a wealth of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects that it would be necessary to select specific episodes of the podcast or even segments of those episodes that would be relevant to this purpose. Also, I wonder if our community of AT trainers and similar professionals, as well as day-to-day users who have experience with church activity, could be tapped into to serve as subject matter experts. In other words, I think it would be necessary to put together something dedicated specifically to this audience if we are to have the desired effect, though we can of course draw on existing sources such as Access On and the Braille Monitor. With that in mind, Linda is correct that this is a goal of the Faith Inclusion Network's toolkit project. As a professional AT trainer and active church member, I have been asked by their executive director to contribute to that part of the toolkit and perhaps others. Admittedly, for reasons both professional and personal, I haven't completed anything yet. So perhaps your email is serving as a very public call for me to get on that!

If you have any further ideas on this subject, please get in touch. The most impactful demonstration is always the real-life example of a blind person participating in church with their tools of choice. However, we can certainly tap into our wider community to consult with faith leaders, and I imagine that other trainers would be interested in this. Thanks for bringing up the topic.

Blessings,
Chris Nusbaum, Board Member
NFB Assistive Technology Trainers Division

> On Dec 9, 2025, at 3:58 PM, Linda Mentink via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Allen,
> 
> We are addressing this in the multi-faith toolkit that some of us here are working on with the Faith Inclusion Network. I will forward your message to the Executive Director, since I don't know anything about what Jonathan Mosen has done. I am not personally in needed of all that you suggest, which is why I'm not familiar with it all.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Blessings,
> 
> Linda
> 
> 
>> On Dec 9, 2025 1:08 PM, Allen via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi All,
>> 
>>                With the excellent accessibility technology being 
>> provided through the Access-On hosted by Jonathan Mosen, wondering if any of our
>> folks have considered  summarizing and/or reformatting   selected content
>> with the intent of providing  it to church/congregational leadership?
>> 
>>                From my experience as a blind person, it is surprising 
>> how, those who are otherwise experts in the use of audio and visual 
>> arts technology, seem to be uninformed of, and unaware of the tools 
>> within their tool-box of software applications which can be employed 
>> to accommodate congregants with vision, or hearing,  loss in the life 
>> and ministry of the church.
>> 
>>                The understanding is that there is/may not be anything 
>> unique in the use of this technology for church-based application; 
>> but rather, is a matter of repackaging the content with language that 
>> would resonate with our congregations.  For example, speaking of 
>> making church bulletins/worship folders  available in an accessible 
>> format, providing annual reports in accessible Pdfs, or equivalent, 
>> providing Sunday morning worship songs/hymn lyrics  in a form usable and concurrent along with other congregants, etc.
>> 
>>                This may seem to some of us to be obvious, or a given; 
>> however, my experience over the past 20+ years has been the opposite.  
>> Even special education educators in our congregations seem to have a 
>> disconnect in applying schoolroom classroom practices to the church.
>> 
>>                Welcome any thoughts.
>> 
>> Allen
>> 
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