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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hi All,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Please see a message below from our good friend and colleague Jonathan Lazar.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Dear NFB community members, </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Our research team, led by Professor Niklas Elmqvist at University of Maryland, College Park, aims to improve information accessibility for blind individuals through design and evaluation of interactive systems that represent data in the form of sound. We are designing an interactive tool to support data analysis using sound. We are interested in insights from Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training that we may effectively use in our design process.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>We are recruiting blind professional Orientation and Mobility experts as participants in this research. You also need to be 18 years of age or older.</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>We are interested in your instructional background, specifically your training of blind individuals, how blind individuals rely on sound for creating mental maps of the environment, and how blind individuals use auditory interfaces in activities of daily living. The interview will in total take approximately 60 minutes. The entire interview will be audio recorded. No personal data will be collected (other than for tax purposes) and all data will be anonymized.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Participants will be paid a $100 Amazon Gift Card for their time and efforts. Interview sessions will be conducted over the phone, or online using a video conferencing tool of your choice (e.g., Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts).</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>To sign up, please send an email to <b>Pramod Chundury</b> (<a href="mailto:pchundur@umd.edu" target="_blank">pchundur@umd.edu</a>) with your preferred appointment date and time. After receiving your email, we will reply to confirm your appointment, and provide details about the study.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Best regards,</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Dr. Niklas Elmqvist (</span><a href="mailto:elm@umd.edu" target="_blank"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>elm@umd.edu</span></a><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>) and Dr. Jonathan Lazar (</span><a href="mailto:jlazar@umd.edu" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>jlazar@umd.edu</span></a><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ronza Othman, </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>President</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>443-426-4110<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pronouns: she, her, hers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland 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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>