[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 03/ 04/2019

Tue Mar 5 02:50:31 UTC 2019

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>410-659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
>
>March has rushed in, bringing us ever closer to 
>our national convention. I have been encouraged 
>by all the great conversations about membership 
>that have been happening around the Federation. 
>I note that about a dozen affiliates have 
>already received their membership coins, with a 
>number of others getting ready to ship. I am 
>soliciting fun ways that we can use the 
>membership coin at the national convention to 
>emphasize the importance of membership. If you 
>have ideas, please send them along. I will have 
>my coin with me, and I will look forward to 
>engaging with members of the Federation around 
>this important expression of participation in 
>our movement. If your affiliate needs help in 
>completing the spreadsheets, please let me know. 
>You will certainly not want to be left out of 
>the fun at the national convention. If your 
>affiliate is doing a ceremony to give out 
>membership coins at a chapter meeting, please 
>take photos and submit them for the Braille Monitor.
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>Below are a number of important items to call 
>your attention to as we head into March. Please 
>focus on getting students to complete those 
>scholarship applications and send along your 
>nominations for the Bolotin awards.
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>News:
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>Convention Preregistration Opened March 1:
>Online preregistration will be available from 
>March 1 to May 31, 2019. Additionally, 
>registration will be available on site in Las 
>Vegas. When purchased online by May 31, the 
>preregistration fee for convention is $25 ($30 
>on site) and the cost of a banquet ticket is $70 
>($75 on site). For more information regarding 
>preregistration and other details, please visit 
><https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention>https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention. 
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>
>March Presidential Release:
>The March Presidential Release is available at 
><https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases>https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases. 
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>
>Braille Book Fair 2019:
>It's time to sort through all those boxes of 
>Braille books and donate those gently used but 
>no longer needed Braille books to the 2019 
>Braille Book Fair sponsored by the National 
>Organization of Parents of Blind Children and 
>the American Action Fund for Blind Children and 
>Adults. Our primary goal is to get more Braille 
>books (in good condition) into the hands of 
>children, youth, and beginning adult readers, so 
>we need print/Braille storybooks (i.e., Twin 
>VisionÂ®), leisure reading (fiction or 
>nonfiction) books, cookbooks, and poetry. We do 
>not accept magazines, textbooks, or audio books 
>at this time. Ship your donations to:
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>2019 Braille Book Fair
>National Federation of the Blind
>200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
>Baltimore, MD 21230
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>Please note that you are shipping the books Free 
>Matter for the Blind; you do not need to pay 
>shipping cost for Braille items. Handwrite, 
>stamp, or affix a label to the upper right-hand 
>corner of the box stating: FREE MATTER FOR THE 
>BLIND. Take your package(s) to your local post 
>office. There is no shipping fee for Free Matter 
>for the Blind when mailed through the USPS.
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>Just a reminder that you can offer a book at any 
>time of year to the Braille Book Fair by posting 
>it to ShareBraille.org and designating it for the Braille Book Fair.
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>
>FDA Policy Statements:
>The National Federation of the Blind submitted 
>comments regarding the Food and Drug 
>Administration's (FDA) Draft Guidance for 
>Industry and Food and Drug Administration 
>Staff—Monitoring Blood Glucose Test Systeems for 
>Over-the-Counter Use and the related draft 
>guidance regarding blood glucose monitoring 
>systems used in health care settings. In both 
>cases, we urge the FDA to require nonvisual 
>accessibility as a part of design consideration 
>and the recommended standard for development. 
>Both of these comments and other recent policy 
>statements can be found on our 
><https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/policy-statements>Policy 
>Statements page.
>
>New York Lawsuit Settled:
>Blind voters in New York will now have access to 
>the websites of the State Board of Elections 
>(SBOE) and the Department of Motor Vehicles 
>(DMV). We joined with the Center for the 
>Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY), 
>and two individual blind plaintiffs, Eva Eason 
>and Meghan Parker. As a result of the 
>settlement, the SBOE and DMV have agreed to have 
>fully accessible websites by 2019, ensuring 
>blind people have the ability to vote privately and independently.
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>NFB-NEWSLINEÂ®:
>NFB-NEWSLINE is now offering monthly training 
>sessions for subscribers to become better 
>acquainted with the many access methods and 
>tools of NFB-NEWSLINE. Past topics included 
>using the Amazon Alexa skill and using the 
>NFB-NEWSLINE mobile app. This month's training 
>will cover downloading material to the 
>second-generation Victor Reader Stream, as well 
>as how to access NFB-NEWSLINE using a Google 
>Home device. Training will take place on March 
>19, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. eastern time via an 
>online and phone conference platform. 
>Subscribers will be notified by email, alerts on 
>the mobile app, and under option one when you dial into NFB-NEWSLINE.
>If anyone interested in these trainings does not 
>have an email address on file or needs to update 
>their information, please call or email us so 
>that we can update your information and ensure 
>you receive notices of training sessions. Have 
>an idea for a topic to be covered? Call us at 
>866-504-7300 or email us at 
><mailto:swhite at nfb.org>swhite at nfb.org with that as well.
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>Twitter Chat:
>There is a twitter chat tomorrow regarding 
>eliminating the subminimum wage. If you are 
>available tomorrow and have Twitter, it would be 
>beneficial if you could join Kimie Eacobacci and 
>Marcy Carpenter. The announcement is below.
>In collaboration with Rooted in Rights, 
>â€œ#EqualPay4OurWork Twitter Chat: The Fight to 
>Eliminate the Subminimum Wageâ€ will be 
>Tuesday, March 5 at 3 p.m. eastern. Follow the 
>hashtag #EqualPay4OurWork to join the 
>conversation–anyone can join in if they have a 
>Twitter account. Thhe questions can be found 
>ahead of time at 
><https://rootedinrights.org/equalpay4ourwork-twitter-chat-the-fight-to-eliminate-the-subminimum-wage/>https://rootedinrights.org/equalpay4ourwork-twitter-chat-the-fight-to-eliminate-the-subminimum-wage/. 
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>    * March 17, 2019: 
> <https://nfb.org/programs-services/national-center-blind-youth-science/nfb-eq-application>STEM 
> EQ application deadline
>    * March 28-29, 2019: 
> <https://nfb.org/law-symposium>Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium
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>Â·         March 31, 2019: 
><https://nfb.org/scholarships>NFB scholarship application deadline
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>Â·         April 15, 2019: 
><https://nfb.org/programs/dr-jacob-bolotin-awards>Dr. 
>Jacob Bolotin Award application deadline
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>    * June 16-22, 2019: 
> <http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq>NFB EQ, Baltimore, Maryland
>    * July 7-12, 2019: 
> <https://nfb.org/convention/2019>NFB National Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada
>
>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>Mark A. Riccobono, President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
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>
> 
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