[KeyStoneChapter] Fwd: [NFBCS] ANNOUNCEMENT: NFBCS Virtual Meeting, December 14, 2025, 8 PM EST

[David B. Goldstein]

Hey there PA Federationists,

NFB of PA President Emeritus Jim Antonacci put this on my radar. Read on 
to learn more about a meeting on how blind folks are succeeding in IT 
careers.

Regards,

David

 From: NFBCS [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Louis Maher 
via NFBCS

Apologies to those who may see this announcement more than once.

The National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science is presenting a 
Zoom meeting on how blind individuals are succeeding in careers in the 
field of information technology.

The Zoom meeting will take place from 8 PM through 9:30 PM Eastern 
Standard Time (EST), on Sunday, December 14, 2025.

Meeting Registration

To register for this meeting, go to

NFBCS Virtual Seminar Registration 2025 [1]. The seminar registration 
deadline is Friday, December 12, 2025. The meeting link will be sent to 
registered attendees on December 13, 2025.

Program

The speakers, talk titles, and presentation descriptions are:

Speaker: Michael Forzano, (michaeldforzano at gmail.com) 8:05 PM EST

Title: A Practical AI Approach For The Blind Developer

Description: The AI tools landscape changes fast -- faster than any 
single developer can keep up with, and especially fast for blind 
developers who must constantly navigate accessibility challenges 
alongside rapid technological change. In this talk, Michael Forzano 
shares how he adapts to the shifting world of AI-assisted development 
and what actually works in practice.
Drawing from his daily workflow as a blind Senior Software Engineer 
working on accessibility at Amazon, Michael demonstrates how he uses AI 
to explore unfamiliar codebases, reason about architecture, debug 
problems, generate and refactor code, and work around inaccessible tools 
when necessary. Rather than abstract hype, this session focuses on 
concrete techniques, common pitfalls, and the accessibility 
considerations that truly matter when you rely on AI every day.

Attendees will walk away with adaptable strategies for staying effective 
amid rapid AI evolution, plus practical methods blind developers can use 
right now -- regardless of which tools or models become the next big 
thing.

Speaker: Lewis Wood (lewislwood at gmail.com) 8:30 PM EST

Title: VS Code Introduction (navigation, how to, accessibility, and 
more)

Description: Lewis Wood started in Academic Computing at Southern 
Illinois University of Edwardsville. 1986. (JCL, Unix, IBM 360, Cobol, 
Fortran, Pascal 64, Ibgener, SAS/SPSS, REXX, and more.

Jumped on Borland Turbo Pascal when it 1st came out.  I fell in love 
with object Oriented programming and ability to program on my IBM 286 
and display graphics on my CGA monitor.

My first real job was Clipper (dBase compiled language)

I was downsized so I became independent and never looked back. I worked 
remotely for over 500 law firms. My final jobs/contracts were providing 
web hosting services.

Speakers: Brian Buhrow, Curtis Chong, Steve Jacobson, and Harry Staley 
(buhrow at nfbcal.org, chong.curtis at gmail.com, steve.jacobson at outlook.com, 
and staleyh at gmail.com) 8:55 PM EST

Title: The Challenges Of Using Tools Which Are Not Blind-Accessible

Description:

Brian Buhrow has worked in IT in various capacities for more than 30 
years.  His primary focus has been as a Unix/Linux system 
programmer/infrastructure architect and as an Internet network engineer. 
  He began his career working in the central IT department of the 
University of California at Santa Cruz where he designed and implemented 
their adoption of the Andrew File System, as well as designing and 
implementing various network services.  From there he moved to a company 
called Santa Cruz Operation, the makers of SCO Unix, where he designed a 
proprietary system for a fortune 500 company.  Next came a move to a 
small Internet Service Provider, ISP, where he designed, implemented, 
and managed the infrastructure for the back-end network services, think 
Web hosting, DNS, and e-mail, as well as the customer relationship 
management process.  Over time he expanded is knowledge of networking to 
include the management of the network itself, including routers, 
switches, cross-country circuits, and the management of the vendors who 
provide those circuits.

Brian also served as the chair of the NFB Research & Development 
Committee from 1997 until it was dissolved around 2020.  He now serves 
as the president of the NFB in Computer Science.

Brian is a firm believer in the NFB philosophy which says if we have 
training and opportunity,

we can compete with our sighted colleagues and succeed as first class 
citizens. That is why the

work of the NFBCS Division is so important. We need to show our students 
of today they can

succeed in technical fields by giving them the knowledge and tools to 
compete, as well as the

confidence to know they'll make it if they work hard and think 
creatively.  One of the ways we

give that confidence is to serve as role models for the next generation.

Curtis Chong spent more than 20 years working in information technology. 
He programmed his first mainframe computer in 1972, at a time when 
computers did not talk to the blind. As a designer/consultant at 
American Express Financial Services (now Ameriprise), he provided 
technical support for mainframe database and communications software, 
maintaining systems for sighted coworkers within the company. From 
1997-2002, Curtis worked as the Director of Technology for the National 
Federation of the Blind, supporting internal information technology for 
the Federation and its external programs to improve nonvisual access 
technology and accessibility for the blind in several different areas. 
He then spent ten years in Iowa as Director of Field Operations for the 
Iowa Department for the Blind and five years as an access technology 
expert with the New Mexico Commission for the Blind.

Curtis Chong has served as the president of the NFB in Computer Science 
for more than three decades and now serves as the treasurer of that 
organization. Today, Curtis Chong has retired from paid employment but 
still performs consulting in nonvisual access technology. He

continues his work to help blind people to live the lives they want 
regardless of their blindness.

Steve Jacobson has worked in a number of different capacities in 
Information Technology for almost fifty years, after majoring in 
mathematics.  During that time, he has often had to deal with 
inaccessible and changing technologies, often before there were any 
kinds of legal protections.  Currently, Steve is semi-retired and works 
part time for 3M Company as a Data Quality Analyst.

Final Remarks Brian Buhrow 9:20 PM EST

Adjourn 9:25 PM EST

Division Registration, And Division Email List Subscription Page

To either become a registered member of the National Federation of the 
Blind in Computer Science, or to renew your membership, go to NFBCS 
Membership Registration 2026 [2]. The dues are $5 a year per person. 
Dues paid in or after December 2025 will count until the end of 2026. 
The registration page has yet to be updated to show this early December 
registration date.

The "https://www.nfbnet.org/" website contains the Email/Web/FTP service 
of the National Federation of the Blind. The first link on the page is 
where you go to join or drop NFB mailing lists, as well as browse the 
archives. Clicking that link opens a page containing the NFB e-mail 
lists. Search for "NFBCS" and follow the subscription instructions.

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact Louis Maher (713-444-7838, 
ljmaher03 at outlook.com).

Regards

Louis Maher

Phone: 713-444-7838

Email: ljmaher03 at outlook.com



Links:
------
[1] https://web.nfbcal.org/nfbcsvirtual.html
[2] https://web.nfbcal.org/nfbcsreg
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