[Massachusetts-NFB] FW: [NFB-Conventions] FW: Paid Research Opportunities for NFB 2026 National Convention Attendees

Thu Jun 25 16:47:12 UTC 2026

Shara Winton
President, National federation of the Blind of Massachusetts
www.nfbma.org
sharawinton at gmail.com
617-304-0347

-----Original Message-----
From: NFB-Conventions <nfb-conventions-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Andrews via NFB-Conventions
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2026 11:13 AM
To: nfb-conventions at nfbnet.org
Subject: [NFB-Conventions] FW: Paid Research Opportunities for NFB 2026 National Convention Attendees

The voices of the nation’s blind are essential to shaping a future that truly reflects the needs and experiences of our community. During the 2025 National Federation of the Blind (NFB) National Convention taking place from July 3 to July 8 in Austin, Texas have the unique opportunity to participate in research that focuses on technology, educational tools, and services designed for and impacting blind people. Your first-hand insights are invaluable; without the lived experiences of blind and low vision individuals, research cannot be fully relevant, inclusive, or effective. Participating in these studies not only helps researchers design better solutions but ensures that the outcomes truly benefit our community. As a token of appreciation, all research participants will be compensated. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Dear Parents: Is your child interested in trying out new creative coding technology from MIT? At the NFB National Convention in Austin on July 4 and 5, MIT will offer playtests for young people who use screen readers (ages 8 to 18) to try OctoStudio, a free app for creating stories and games. Your child's feedback will help improve the app, and they'll receive a small toy or game for participating.  

Sign up on the OctoStudio playtest form, or stop by Saturday July 4th between 10am to 5pm or Sunday July 5th from 9am to 3p. For more information, see the OctoStudio research page <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAATySVbIEbk18AlCa99hBi7aCmj2jnAKsYFi6UzPt-yASVQ/viewform> . (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAATySVbIEbk18AlCa99hBi7aCmj2jnAKsYFi6UzPt-yASVQ/viewform)

To participate, individuals should contact Alicia Lynch, octo-study at media.mit.edu <mailto:octo-study at media.mit.edu>  

Saint Louis University

Digital, Multimodal Charts and Data Visualizations: Our study investigates 2 different ways to improve access to digital charts, graphs, and data visualizations. We have prepared 2 touchscreen-based investigations (one utilizing different vibrations and sounds on a tablet, the other utilizing vibrations, sounds, and a peripheral wearable device with the tablet). We hope to learn more about the efficacy of presenting graphics in these different ways, as well as understand user preference for the different access modes and take improvements to the systems.

Participants may participate in one or both study sessions (touchscreen graphs only; touchscreen graphs with wearable device). During each session, participants will interact with digital graphs (line graphs, scatter plots, bar charts, etc.) on a touchscreen using either vibrations/audio or vibrations/audio/wearable device. They will be asked to answer questions related to the content of the graph, their understanding of the graph, as well as questions related to their experience using either system. Interested individuals should email: chromelab at slu.Edu <mailto:chromelab at slu.Edu> 

Participants will receive a $50 gift card for each study.

Amazon

As Terminal User Interfaces (TUI), which blends traditional CLI with GUI, become more popular in coding tools like Claude Code, we are looking for screen reader users to help us understand how they interact with TUI output and navigate any accessibility painpoints. Participants will answer questions about their TUI use and try out a TUI prototype on either a laptop they bring or a provided laptop.

Potential participants should fill out the following survey <https://pulse.amazon/survey/YTZSWEN7?p=0>  to express interest. (https://pulse.amazon/survey/YTZSWEN7?p=0) We will reach out to participants who are selected. Issues completing the survey, contact Dorian Villalba at dorianrv at amazon.com <mailto:dorianrv at amazon.com> .

Participants will receive a $50 Amazon gift card

Google

The purpose of the research is to deep dive into feedback from screen reader users on the causes of their pain points with the screen reader, awareness of features, and highlights of using their screen reader. Individuals interested in participating should complete the survey <https://forms.gle/g5XLyY5g1zB43Lu18>  at: 

(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO4qWugx6MS7HLE7Es3SctSuSZWceLkTJCiLYjSGk2bG_1gw/viewform)

Participants will receive a $75 gift card.

Renaissance Learning

Renaissance Learning, one of the nation’s leading educational technology companies, is conducting usability testing for a new educational product that will be used in K–12 schools across the country for instruction and practice.

The research team is seeking feedback from individuals who use screen readers to help ensure the product is accessible and effective for blind and low-vision users. Two groups of participants are being recruited:

•             Parents or guardians and their K–12 student <https://www.userinterviews.com/projects/zHTBT2GGXA/apply>  who uses a screen reader -  apply using this link: (https://www.userinterviews.com/projects/zHTBT2GGXA/apply) 

•             K–12 <https://www.userinterviews.com/projects/vvUns-xR1g/apply>   teachers who use screen readers should apply using this link: (https://www.userinterviews.com/projects/vvUns-xR1g/apply(

Participants will be asked to provide feedback on their experience using the product and help identify opportunities to improve accessibility and usability.

Individuals interested in participating should complete the appropriate application form for their participant group.

For questions or additional information, please contact Leora Yardenay at Leora.Yardenay at Renaissance.com <mailto:Leora.Yardenay at Renaissance.com> .

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