[IABS-Talk] President Riccobono's notebook for the week of May 24

[Marilyn Green]

Critical Actions:

Register for the 2021 National Convention Before May 31:

The National Federation of the Blind National Convention is July 6
through July 10, 2021, from anywhere and everywhere. A member toolkit
was sent via email last week to encourage members to promote
registration—please share registration promotions in your local area.
Early registration, by May 31, provides voting eligibility for
members, enters registrants’ names for door prizes during convention,
and enables registrants to receive pre-convention emails.
Additionally, the registration process provides the opportunity to
make access support requests. We are committed to making our meetings
a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for everyone. Register now at
https://nfb.org/registration.





News:

Plan to Attend the June Presidential Release—Captioning and Spanish Available:

The next Presidential Release of the National Federation of the Blind
will be delivered on Tuesday, June 1, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. After the
remarks there will be an opportunity for questions. Submit questions
in advance to cdanielsen at nfb.org and put PR506 in the subject line, or
call 410-659-9314, extension 2473. Closed captions and Spanish
interpretation will be available. Mark your calendars! The link to
join is https://zoom.us/j/91778192252 and other Zoom details will be
available soon.



Door Prizes:

Miley Cowes from Eureka, Montana…do you remember how it felt when your
name was called for a national convention door prize? Or do you hope
to hear your name announced at this year’s convention? It’s exciting
to hear your name announced for everyone to know you are attending the
convention and then to be the winner of a coveted door prize. We are
continuing the long-standing fun tradition of door prizes at the 2021
NFB National Convention. Please help us share the excitement of
winners’ names being announced and attendees anticipating their
coveted prize.

We are accepting door prizes for the 2021 NFB National Convention. We
request cash donations so that we can distribute gift cards and gift
certificates as prizes. Cash donations make it easier to create prize
groups and to distribute prizes from one location. Please make your
checks payable to National Federation of the Blind and write Door
Prizes in the memo. Mail the check to National Federation of the
Blind, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230, Attention: Fiscal
Services - DP. By addressing the check this way, we will easily
identify it as a door prize and process it accordingly. You should
also send an email to prize at nfb.org to let us know you are sending a
contribution for the door prizes and the full name of the organization
that the contribution is from. We want to make sure we recognize your
organization in our thank-you list. You can contact Bridgid Burke
(bburke at nfb.org or extension 2271) or Belinda Hooks (bhooks at nfb.org or
extension 2508) with any questions. We discourage everyone from making
door prize donations through the nfb.org/donate page; however, if a
door prize donation is received through this page, we will reduce the
donation by 3 percent to help us offset the credit card transaction
fees. We are looking forward to another informative, fun, and
prize-filled convention.



PAC Prizes:

Every year the Pre-Authorized Contribution program holds various
contests during the national convention that NFB affiliates and
individual members contribute to the prizes. We are again asking NFB
affiliates and national divisions to support our fun PAC contests by
contributing cash donations to the contest prizes. Please make checks
payable to National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street,
Baltimore, MD 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services - PAC. You should also
send an email to PAC at nfb.org to let us know you are sending a
contribution for the contest prizes and the full name of the
organization that the contribution is from. We want to make sure we
recognize your organization in our thank-you list. You can contact
Scott LaBarre (slabarre at nfb.org) or Bridgid Burke (bburke at nfb.org or
extension 2271) if you have any questions. We are looking forward to
another fun-PACked convention!



Amendment to the Endless Frontier Act from Senator John Thune:

Update: Last week we told you about the Endless Frontier Act in the
Senate and how Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced an
amendment that contained two important provisions to ensure that
people with disabilities would be included in the design and
utilization of highly automated vehicles. The first would create an
exemption classification for manufacturers who “provide transportation
access for individuals with disabilities (as defined in section 3 of
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)),
including non-visual access for individuals who are blind or visually
impaired,” as long as the vehicle was equivalently safe to a
non-exempt vehicle. The second would prohibit a state from issuing a
“motor vehicle operator’s license for the operation or use of a highly
automated vehicle in a manner that discriminates on the basis of
disability.” For a more detailed summary of these provisions, please
read the recent letter to Senators Cantwell and Wicker that I wrote in
support of the amendment. The Endless Frontier Act is still being
debated in the Senate this week, so you still have a chance to make an
important impact through your calls and emails. Please contact your
senators and ask them to support Senator Thune’s automated vehicles
amendment.



We Reached Our Goal! Thank You for Your Support:

We did it! Thanks to everyone who contributed last week, we reached
our goal of $25,000. Because of the generosity of Deque Systems and an
anonymous donor, that amount will be doubled in honor of Global
Accessibility Awareness Day. That means that every dollar you gave
will go twice as far in advocacy, education, and helping blind people
live the lives we want. Thank you!



Recent Blog: “Lack of Awareness Makes Accessibility Inaccessible”:

Many people have their lives needlessly disrupted due to the lack of
knowledge of the tools that would make it possible for them to
maintain their quality of life despite the onset of blindness. We must
promote awareness of the availability and need for accessibility. Read
Anil Lewis’s story in our recent Voice of the Nation’s Blind Blog.



Career Opportunities at the National Federation of the Blind:

The National Federation of the Blind is seeking flexible, hard-working
individuals who will work with us to ensure independence and equality
for all blind Americans. Currently we have several opportunities to
include: Braille proofing and production specialist, program assistant
NFB Independence Market, operations specialist for NFB-NEWSLINE,
outreach program coordinator. Learn more about our career
opportunities.



Dates to Keep in Mind:

(all times eastern)

June 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m.
June 9: App Development Seminar, www.nfb.org/cena
June 29: Rookie Roundup, 8:30 p.m.
July 6-10: NFB National Convention, anywhere and everywhere

-- 
Marilyn Green, President
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
312-343-8396
www.nfbofillinois.org