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<h1><b>President's Notebook</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>National Federation of the Blind</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>Mark A. Riccobono</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b><a href="mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org">
officeofthepresident@nfb.org</a></b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>410-659-9314</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
Dear Fellow Federationists,<br>
<br>
I am hoping that each of you had a relaxing Labor Day weekend. As the
Riccobono children were sent off to school today with excitement in their
voices, I am reminded that each of us is engaged daily in learning.
Leadership is a journey and building our affiliates is a process of
continuous improvement. I hope you approach it like the Riccobono
children approach the new school year. I am certainly prepared to help do
my part to make your affiliate-building successful. Do not hesitate to
call on me for assistance; I am here to support your work. Furthermore, I
appreciate that you continue to advance my own thinking about what we
should do with the resources we have in our movement.<br>
<br>
We require talent and expertise at all levels of our organization. I
encourage you to promote career opportunities at our national office.
They can be found at
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/about-us/career-opportunities">
https://www.nfb.org/about-us/career-opportunities</a>. We are currently
seeking a new manager of governmental affairs and will soon put up a
posting for a social media coordinator. We are always seeking talent.
Please continue to invite people you know to apply. Your word-of-mouth
advertising of our career opportunities is the best tool we have for
promoting the Federation team.<br>
<br>
Finally, note that I will be making the presidential release on Thursday,
so it will be ready for Saturday chapter meetings. If you have feedback
for me about the release and what would be most helpful to chapter
development, I would love to hear from you.<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>News:</b></h2><br><br>
Amazon Employment Discrimination Case Filed:<br>
We have filed a suit in the Federal District Court for the Eastern
District of Michigan against Amazon.com for employment discrimination.
Maryann Murad, a blind member and co-complainant, tried to apply for a
virtual customer service position with Amazon but could not complete the
inaccessible online assessment on Amazon’s proprietary customer service
platform, which is incompatible with Voiceover, the Apple text-to-speech
screen-reading software. We tried to work with Amazon to resolve the
issue, but we were unsuccessful. More information can be found
<a href="https://nfb.org/about-us/press-room/blind-woman-files-employment-discrimination-suit-against-amazoncom">
in the press release on our website</a>. <br><br>
<h2><b> </b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Labor Day:</b></h2><br><br>
As many celebrated a long weekend, the National Federation of the Blind
continued to fight against the federal law that creates a second-class
workforce. Read the recent blog post,
“<a href="https://www.nfb.org/blog/shout-out-forgotten-laborers">Shout
Out to the Forgotten Laborers</a>.” Additionally, we commend those who
are committed to fair wages for all, such
as<a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/07/12/the-power-of-inclusion-extending-our-learnings-from-the-supported-employment-program/">
Microsoft who will not work with any supplier that participates in
subminimum wages</a>. <br>
<br><br>
<h2><b> </b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Open-House GatheringCalls for Prospective
Members:</b></h2><br><br>
Share this event information with contacts who are interested in the
National Federation of the Blind but are not members yet: On Wednesday,
September 18, 2019, at 8:00 p.m., we are hosting another call for blind
people to learn more about the benefits of membership. Take advantage of
this opportunity to hear from active members and leaders on the myths and
uncertainties of the Federation. Sign up by emailing
<a href="mailto:membership@nfb.org">membership@nfb.org</a> or calling
410-659-9314, extension 2509. <br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Meet the Blind MonthWebb and Technology:<br>
We celebrate Meet the Blind Month every October, with members conducting
outreach activities across the country. If you are still looking for
ideas for the month, a recommendation is to focus on web and technology
accessibility. Here are some ideas: demonstrate accessibility and the
tools used for daily activities using an iPhone or computer at a public
library, a local event, or a school; or plan a presentation to a local
business such as a bank. If you aren’t comfortable with a technology
demonstration, plan an event in your local community to talk about
blindness and the NFB philosophy. There is still time to order materials
from the Independence Market such as Braille alphabet cards. Send your
date, location, and a brief description of the event details to
<a href="mailto:web@nfb.org">web@nfb.org</a>.
<a name="_Hlk18423096"></a>Please use #MeetTheBlind in social
media.</b></h2><br><br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Complete WebAIM Screen-Reader-User Survey:<br>
WebAIM, a web accessibility solutions provider, conducts an annual survey
to help inform development choices for those creating accessible web
content and web standards. There are thirty-three brief questions that
will take approximately ten to fifteen minutes to complete. It is the
most comprehensive collection of data on these topics and is also
referenced by many in the industry when discussing trends and making
decisions in the field of web accessibility.
<a href="https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey8/">Take the
survey now!</a> </b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<i>Imagineering Our Future</i>:<br>
Our monthly e-newsletter is a great way for members, supporters,
volunteers, and contributors to stay up-to-date with what is happening
and learn about the awesome work we do every day. Please encourage those
who are friends and family of the Federation to sign up for our
newsletter and to follow up on the action items in each month’s issue.
This is especially helpful if you can encourage our local chapter and
state affiliate donors to do so. It helps us keep in regular touch with
them. Sign up at
<a href="https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/imagineering-our-future">
https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/imagineering-our-future</a>
.<br>
<br>
<br>
Live Streaming Conventions:<br>
A number of our affiliates have been live streaming their affiliate
conventions. Sometimes these streams are operated by third parties which
do not reflect the brand of the Federation and which leverage our name
for their own benefit. In the interest of keeping a unified brand with
consistent delivery of content, we are exploring supporting affiliates
with the backbone components of streaming. This might include our
operating a stream around the clock to provide Federation
contentsomething some of you have long advocated for us to do.<br>
<br>
If you have a fall convention and if you currently have been doing
streaming, would you want to use such a service from the national
organization? If you have not been offering streaming, would you want to
invest in streaming for this fall? Please reply by the end of the week if
possible. You can send your reply to Ross Kirschner at
<a href="mailto:rkirschner@nfb.org">rkirschner@nfb.org</a>.<br>
<br>
Keep in mind that there will be some work on your end to make streaming
work properly. However, we believe a national infrastructure could better
serve our organization as a whole.<br>
<br>
Most importantly, I urge you to vet use of any third-party streaming
vendors through our national organization before doing further work with
them.<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Dates to Keep in Mind:</b></h2><br><br>
<ul>
<li>September 18, 2019: Open-House Gathering; email
<a href="mailto:membership@nfb.org">membership@nfb.org</a> to sign up
<li>September 24, 2019: Accessibility Boutique on Website Accessibility
Basics; email <a href="mailto:KZimnik@nfb.org">KZimnik@nfb.org</a> to
sign up
<li>February 10, 2020: Great Gathering-In; Washington Seminar begins
<li>March 26-27, 2020: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium, Baltimore,
Maryland
<li>June 30-July 5, 2020: NFB National Convention, Houston, Texas
</ul> <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Mark A. Riccobono, President<br>
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230<br>
(410) 659-9314 |
<a href="mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org">
officeofthepresident@nfb.org</a> <br>
<br>
<br>
<a href="https://nfb.org/">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/nfblogo.png" width=210 height=76 alt="National Federation of the Blind">
</a><br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/facebook.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Facebook">
</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/twitter.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Twitter">
</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/youtube.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Youtube">
</a><br>
<br>
The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and
friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind.
Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
<br>
<br>
<br><br>
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