[NFBofSC] FW: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, July 2023

[Frank Loza]

From: brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org <brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org> On Behalf Of Brian Buhrow
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2023 8:30 PM
To: brl-monitor at nfbcal.org
Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, July 2023

 


The Braille Monitor, July 2023


BRAILLE MONITOR


Vol. 66, No. 7 July 2023

Gary Wunder, Editor

Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

Mark Riccobono, President

telephone: 410-659-9314

email address: nfb at nfb.org <mailto:nfb at nfb.org> 

website address: http://www.nfb.org

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National Federation of the Blind

200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998

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. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND—IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES.

ISSN 0006-8829

© 2023 by the National Federation of the Blind

Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots—the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped.

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Vol. 66, No. 7 July 2023


Contents


Blind Students Win Lawsuit against Los Angeles Community College District: Jury Finds Schools Discriminated and Failed to Make Reasonable Accommodations

Define Your Future

by Patti Chang

National Federation of the Blind 2023 Strategic Plan

by Stephanie Cascone

The Role of Forgiveness in Advocacy Work

by Daniel Hodges

What a Blessing to be Givers

by Jonathan Franks

Cane I Stick Out Anymore?!

by Auna Mayes Namkung

Call for Articles: Celebrating Blind Equality Achievement Month

by Chris Danielsen

If Only I Had Braille…

by Cricket Bidleman and Gary Wunder

The End of an Era

by Peggy Chong

Taming the Accessibility Wild West

by Amy Mason

Mastodon: Not Just another Elephant

by David Andrews

The Nature of Independence

by Kenneth Jernigan

Uber’s Making it Easier to Hail a Ride—No App Required

by Curtis Chong

News Release: United States Department of Labor

Alert: USA Hire Assessment

by John Paré

Monitor Miniatures


Blind Students Win Lawsuit against Los Angeles Community College District: Jury Finds Schools Discriminated and Failed to Make Reasonable Accommodations


Los Angeles (May 31, 2023)

>From the Editor: This is taken from a press release that was distributed on May 31. The news is wonderful; the length of time it took for this to play out makes it clear why legal action is often our last strategic choice. Here is the release:

After a court battle that has lasted nearly seven years, a federal court jury last week found that the Los Angeles Community College District discriminated against two blind students, Roy Payan and Portia Mason, by failing to ensure them an equal educational opportunity as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The jury ruled that the schools discriminated in fourteen distinct ways, including by maintaining inaccessible websites, library resources, and educational software, as well as by failing to provide timely accessible course materials. It further found that in most instances, the district had discriminated intentionally through its deliberate indifference to its legal obligations. The jury awarded Mr. Payan and Ms. Mason a total of $242,500 in damages. The plaintiffs were supported in the litigation by the National Federation of the Blind, the transformative advocacy organization of blind Americans.

Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The National Federation of the Blind is committed to working collaboratively with educational institutions to help them create an accessible and inclusive environment. At the same time, we will fight for as long as it takes to vindicate the rights of blind students in court when institutions are unwilling to take advantage of available resources and the lived experience of blind people to guide them in meeting their legal and moral obligations. We thank the jurors in this case for recognizing the harm that was done to these students, and we are proud to have supported their fight for justice. It is long past time for institutions of higher education to lead the way in collaboration with the disability community rather than to perpetuate the history of low expectations that hold blind students back.”

“This moment has been a long time in coming, and I am so grateful to the supporters and to the legal team that have brought us here,” said Portia Mason. “I know that this team will continue to put its best efforts behind our cause in any further proceedings.”

“My grateful thanks for an amazing legal team from Brown Goldstein & Levy and Patricia Barbosa from the Barbosa Group,” said Roy Payan. “This win is not so much a win just for Portia and me, but for all those students who will continue to come after us who may be too afraid, timid, or intimidated by threats from the institutions to advocate for themselves. We follow in the footsteps of Robert F. Kennedy when he said, ‘There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?’ I see a world where I won’t have to beg for the accommodations I deserve, where I am provided the freedom of independence all others enjoy.”

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang]


Define Your Future


by Patti Chang

>From the Editor: This was delivered as the keynote to the 2023 graduating class at Harbor Springs High School in Harbor Springs, Michigan, on June 4, 2023. Readers will recognize Patti Chang as our current director of outreach, a former board member, and a former state president in Illinois. Her talents are certainly seen both in the Federation and outside it. Here is the way she was introduced and her address:


Patti Gregory-Chang, Development Director, Attorney, Advocate, Mother 


After graduating from Harbor Springs High School in 1981, Patti planned to attend school with hopes of becoming a teacher of blind students. After earning her teaching certificate at Michigan State University, she discovered a passion for law and enrolled in the University of Chicago Law School.

Patti graduated from law school in 1988 and worked in the City of Chicago Law Department for twenty-eight years. She became senior assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago Law Department in 1998. She belongs to several professional associations including the National Association of Blind Lawyers, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Illinois State Bar Association. Patti currently serves as vice chair of the Disability Law Committee of the Illinois State Bar Association and as a member of the Administrative Law Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association.

In 2016 Patti embarked on a second career, accepting the position of director of outreach for the National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the world. She currently serves as the second vice president of the Illinois affiliate of the NFB and has served on its National Board of Directors as well as working as national scholarship committee chair for some years.

Patti lives in Chicago. In her spare time, Patti and her husband love traveling, dancing, and spending time with family and friends.

Here are Patti’s remarks:

Good afternoon. I am so honored and happy to be here with you today. Let me say thank you so much.

To begin today, I have an admission. I should share that I applied to present today at the behest of my mom, Eve Lauer. I honestly did not plan to be selected. After I received a call from the principal, Leigh Inglehart, I realized, oh my gosh, I need to write a speech, which I did while enjoying the beach in Belize, Central America—greatest place to write a speech ever.

The message I want to share with you resonates with me and has since before our graduates were born. I currently serve as a director of outreach for a nonprofit, and I work now in development, which is an indirect way of saying that I am a professional fundraiser. As part of my job, I talk with members of the public who want to do good and corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Oracle on a regular basis. You hear a lot of negativity in the news and especially on social media, but if you talk with people and even businesses as often as I do, you see that there is a lot that is hopeful and good too.

The nonprofit I work for is the National Federation of the Blind. Our one-minute message is also hopeful, and it is the message I want to share today with all of you:

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines me or my future. Every day we raise expectations 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.

That elevator speech speaks to blindness, but it should be taken more broadly too:

We know that our characteristics do not define us or our future. Every day we raise expectations because low expectations create obstacles between us and our dreams. You can live the life you want.

If we unpack that message, what does it say?

For me it means that I cannot allow the low expectations for blind people that I encounter every day to define me or my future; to determine what I can and cannot do, will, or will not do, should or should not do, or even what I want to do. I surround myself with people who understand my capacity, and I strive to be all that I can be. There have always been people in my life who possessed lofty expectations and pushed and prodded me along the way. After all, none of us accomplish all that we do on our own. Ironically enough, given that I am standing here today, my parents fought to keep me in Harbor Springs Public Schools because the academics were more rigorous than the school for the blind in Lansing, Michigan. My great aunt Daisy spent hours and hours teaching me about the Gregory family history and taking me to the homestead and Grandma Matthews’s house. Do you know that the Gregorys, my dad is Don Gregory, lived in this area since before Michigan was a state? I possess the family archives, including a marriage certificate and indenture papers which are centuries old, in our home in Chicago, to prove it. My family trusts me with these gems because Aunt Daisy fostered my interest and understood that I possess ability. At one time this stadium was filled with wooden log seats skidded out from the school forest by my grandfather, Clarence Gregory, with draft horses.

But I digress, I was talking about how we all have people in our lives who make us better and anticipate much. I attended Michigan State University—Go Green. Professor Harold Spaeth at Michigan State University encouraged me to apply to the University of Chicago Law School after seeing my grades and LSAT scores. It had never occurred to me to apply to tier one law schools. And thousands of blind people over the years demonstrated for me that I could get married, raise two children, work as a litigator for the city of Chicago for more than twenty-eight years, travel independently all over the United States, and do all that I set my mind to do.

If I had allowed others to decide what I could accomplish, I would have done none of the above. It takes vigilance to define for myself what I choose to do. Some examples of the low expectations I encounter may elucidate.

I mentioned we were recently in Belize, Central America, where I wrote this speech. My husband of thirty-nine years was raised in Belize, so we travel there often. On our most recent trip, we went to check into a hotel on Caye Caulker, and the desk clerk, Ernie, decided that we needed a first-floor room. Caye Caulker is a sandy island, and first-floor rooms fill up with dust, so with my asthma, a first-floor room is a terrible notion. Even after I reminded him that I could climb stairs and had asked for a second-floor room when I made the reservation, he told a fib and said that all the second-floor rooms were dirty, but miraculously all the first-floor rooms were clean. Being the vigilant (some would say stubborn) self I am, I said we would come back after we ate and check in. We could go across to the Rainbow restaurant on the dock and be back in an hour or so. He finally gave it up and presented us with keys for a second-floor room, which was in fact clean. Some of you are a bit uncomfortable with that story. Now most of you are thinking he meant well, and I am certain he did mean well, but if I added all of the well-meaning people up who wanted to decide for me what I could and could not do or what I should or should not do, I would be sitting in a rocker on the first floor and doing lord knows what with my life.

While in law school an insurance law professor offered me a passing grade for mere attendance. Sounds like a deal, right? Not so much; if I leave the book closed and skip the exam, what do I learn? What does that say to the other students? I turned down his offer of a free pass, and it is a good thing I did because my first real job ended up being in insurance law, where the readings from that class came in handy.


Defying low expectations works


Instead of letting stereotypes and negativity determine my future, I have, to the best I know how, learned from positive role models and determined my own future. So instead of that rocker, I am blessed with a great family, loads of friends, a job I love, and the privilege of talking with you all here today.

All of us have something in our life, a characteristic that could hold us back. Maybe it is poverty, maybe it is wealth. Do you think you are smart enough, attractive enough, and on and on. Whatever that characteristic is for you that could hold you back—do not allow it to define you. Decide how you want to live your life—whatever that means for you. You will not do it on your own, but if you focus on those who encourage, prod, and envision much, and in addition push yourself to succeed, you can live the lives you want.

Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, a leader of blind Americans in the twentieth century, once responded to a letter he received from some blind students at a training center. The students were asking about his use of a long white cane and another technique called human guide. Human guide is a technique in which a blind person touches the elbow of another person, sighted or blind, and navigates by following that person. The students wondered why especially at conventions they observed Dr. Jernigan using human guide to navigate. After assuring the students that he did in fact have the skill to use his cane without a human guide, offering to demonstrate that skill, and explaining that sometimes efficiency or convenience led him to choose to travel holding the elbow of another person, Dr. Jernigan shared a conviction that is even more important. He said something like, but even if I lacked the skill to use a long white cane well without a human guide, I hope that the next generation of students coming after me would possess that skill. We all hope that the generation after us does better.

Dr. Jernigan ended his letter to the students in the same way I will end this speech:

You have the opportunity to profit from the collective experience of all of us—the things we tried that didn't work and those that did. On the foundation of love which we have established, you can make for yourselves better opportunities than we have ever known—and I pray that you will. The future is in the hands of your generation, and I hope you will dream, work, and build wisely and well. Congratulations.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Stephanie Cascone]


National Federation of the Blind 2023 Strategic Plan


by Stephanie Cascone

>From the Editor: Stephanie is the head of our communications team, and most of you know of her through her active engagement on social media, her visits on many Zoom meetings, and her frequent contributions to the Braille Monitor, the most recent being last month’s illustration. Here she writes a beautiful introduction and conclusion to our Strategic Plan, and it is important that readers know our priorities, commitments, and promises to one another:

Since our revolutionary start on November 16, 1940, the National Federation of the Blind has carefully constructed strategies built upon the priorities of the membership and executed by the leaders of the organization resulting in tremendous growth.

The growth of the organization has brought great opportunities and increased complexity to the movement. Consequently, we must continuously review, revise, and communicate the evolved plans of the organization. The enclosed strategic plan is built on that tradition and reflects the organization’s priorities for our next phase of growth. The plan is significant for what is not included in it as much as what is included.

Over the last year, we went through several stages of the strategic planning process. Your feedback, your voice during the process made a big difference. Thank you. Moreover, now we move into the implement stage. We are excited to share the following framework. While the priorities of the national convention continue to drive our yearly work, this plan is the high-level framework that our Board of Directors will use to strengthen the broader capacity of our movement together.

In this plan, you will find the aspiration, mission, and values, commitments, and priorities set for the coming years.


Aspiration, Mission, Values


Aspiration Statement


We imagine a world where blind people can live the lives they want as valued and respected members of society.


Mission Statement 


We work tirelessly to improve the lives of blind people by fostering personal empowerment, coordinating nationwide advocacy, and building a network of collective achievement.


Core Values


Our values are the essence of our organization and the code by which we live—the principles upon which we make our decisions.

*	Believe in blind people
*	Lead courageously
*	Champion collective action
*	Foster inclusion
*	Dream big


Believe in blind people 


We believe in the capabilities of blind people; we take action to advance the aspirations of the blind; and we create a loving community where we learn to be our most powerful selves.


Lead courageously 


Our members and partners count on our expertise and our resolve. We will never shy away from the effort to surmount obstacles and convert skeptics in pursuit of richer, fuller lives for all blind people.


Champion collective action


We know we can’t do this work alone. The power of our membership and the support of our partners enable us to leverage collective action in pursuit of self-determination for blind people.


Foster inclusion


We recognize the diverse strengths, talents, experiences, and perspectives of our members, staff, and friends; and we cultivate an environment that is welcoming and inclusive for all.


Dream big


We know that blindness need not hold you back. We want our community to feel empowered to dream big; and we’ll work with determination so those dreams can be realized.


Strategic Commitments


To reach our aspiration and fulfill our mission, each of our commitments is based on and guided by our foundational values, leading the National Federation of the Blind toward a future where blind people can live the lives they want.


Commitment #1: Innovate 


Invest in innovative programming and initiatives that increase opportunity, lower barriers, and raise expectations for blind people.


Commitment #2: Include 


Foster a welcoming and inclusive culture that seeks and values the contributions of membership, affiliates, and staff.


Commitment #3: Collaborate 


Leverage our community of allies including employers, policymakers, donors, synergistic organizations, and strategic partners to maximize impact and affect lasting change.


Commitment #4: Dedicate 


Devote the human and financial resources required to realize strategic imperatives.


Strategic Priorities


Within each commitment is a set of priorities to help drive further action.


Commitment #1: Innovate 


Invest in innovative programming and initiatives that increase opportunity, lower barriers, and raise expectations for blind people. The priorities are:

*	Create and maintain a framework to assess program audiences, goals, and outcomes.
*	Evaluate and enhance the National Convention and other events to ensure they are inclusive and welcoming and continue to add value to our community.
*	Facilitate greater access to services including, but not limited to, legal services and community resources.
*	Develop and implement training programs at a national level to deliver practical and advanced skills to increase personal empowerment and reduce barriers for blind people.
*	Explore new revenue streams to sustain key programs, services, and offerings.


Commitment #2: Include 


Foster a welcoming and inclusive culture that seeks and values the contributions of membership, affiliates, and staff. The priorities are:

*	Establish comprehensive and measurable means to define, champion, and act on our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of the organization.
*	Develop frameworks for elevating staff contributions within our community.
*	Clarify and communicate organizational expectations to foster a culture that meets people where they are and contributes positively to their blindness journey.
*	Cultivate a culture of clear, consistent, and open lines of communication between chapters, affiliates, and the national organization.
*	Engage and empower absent voices and cultivate greater representation within the organization to increase diversity of lived experience.


Commitment #3: Collaborate 


Leverage our community of allies including employers, policymakers, donors, synergistic organizations, and strategic partners to maximize impact and affect lasting change. The priorities are:

*	Establish evergreen storytelling initiatives that raise awareness of blind people and their contributions across all sectors of society.
*	Partner with business allies to facilitate job skills development and placement programs to increase the employment opportunities for blind people.
*	Create outreach strategies to facilitate lawmakers' understanding of the barriers faced by blind people in order to inspire policy action.
*	Leverage our expertise to build relationships with synergistic partners to advance access and opportunity.
*	Develop curriculum for educators that promotes greater understanding about blindness and affirms the capacity of blind people. 


Commitment #4: Dedicate 


Devote the human and financial resources required to realize strategic imperatives. The priorities are:

*	Prioritize recruitment, retention, and leadership development to align human resources with organizational priorities.
*	Reimagine and implement new resource-generating avenues with institutional and individual funders.
*	Measure and interpret all program impacts and returns on investments.
*	Proactively communicate throughout the organization in support of the strategic plan and other national initiatives.
*	Establish strategies to amplify our existing work to facilitate greater stakeholder engagement and support.
*	Increase organizational capacity within state affiliates through leadership development, organizational infrastructure building, and sharing of effective practices.


In Closing


This plan represents the details of the promise we make to each other in this organization on a daily basis: a promise that is fulfilled in the large-scale strategic work we are doing to build our movement and the small acts of friendship that are shared among members on a daily basis. That promise is that together with love, hope, and determination, we will transform dreams into reality.

Let’s go build the National Federation of the Blind.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Daniel Hodges]


The Role of Forgiveness in Advocacy Work


by Daniel Hodges

>From the Editor: This essay first appeared as a post on Facebook and has been gently modified for the Braille Monitor. All of us know that it takes a certain toughness to be an advocate, and particularly is this so if we are advocating for ourselves. What Daniel makes clear is that toughness is but one part of being a real advocate and forces us to go beyond seeing one person or group as good and the opposing person or group as bad or evil or uncaring. Here is what he says:

As advocates, we find ourselves in the service of those who have been disadvantaged, harmed, or otherwise left behind. Regardless of whether these injuries arose from circumstance or human error, they are vividly painful to witness. With so much injustice in the world, the temptation to disdain those whom we perceive as perpetuating such harm is quite understandable. However, for the reasons outlined below, I believe we do a disservice to ourselves and others by indulging this tendency.

Like so many others with disabilities, I have endured numerous hardships over the years that were entirely unnecessary. My mind is full of painful memories that refuse to fade with time. Even now, I am constantly reminded of my perilous place within society. Nevertheless, I believe that these experiences can be refined into clean-burning fuel for my advocacy work. These trials may wound me, but I refuse to let them break my spirit.

I recall a talk that I recently heard in church on the topic of forgiveness. In her remarks, the speaker covered the spiritual and psychological benefits of allowing this practice into our lives. This was not a call for us to lower our standards or allow people to walk all over us. Rather, she spoke of recognizing our right to be angry, yet surrendering that right for the sake of our own well-being.

With that in mind, I returned to some questions that I've been churning in my mind for some time now. Perhaps you have pondered something similar.

*	Does anger provide us the clarity of thought we need in order to envision achievable solutions?
*	Will rancorous debate lead to mutual understanding and collaboration?
*	Does impugning the character of those with whom we disagree lead to sustainable empathy?
*	Are these feelings, however justifiable, helping me be the best advocate I can possibly be?

Personally, I would answer each of the preceding questions in the negative. Meeting people where they are sounds great in theory, but it often involves extending an uncomfortable measure of grace. Likewise, prioritizing results over revenge feels counterintuitive at times. However, the true cause of justice is to bring equity to those who have been marginalized. If we must set aside convenience and expedience for the sake of efficacy, so be it.

Please don't mistake these thoughts as a means of justifying weakness. In fact, I would argue that the opposite is true. Victory requires us to find strength in the most difficult of spaces, rather than fleeing from them. When our response is measured, respectful, and kind, it draws out the best in others. Upon that foundation, real change can occur.

Forgiveness is one ingredient in the cocktail that allows us to lead with such mental toughness and clarity. Accordingly, it is a source of immense power. May we all strive to reach a little further toward this goal—not because any of us deserves it, but because it works.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Jonathan Franks]


What a Blessing to be Givers


by Jonathan Franks

>From the Editor: We are told that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but many of us who are blind have never experienced the joy of giving because we have been thought of and in turn have thought of ourselves as unable to give. Sometimes we find it hard to be taken seriously when we ask for that very opportunity. But when it works, as it usually does with persistence, what a joyous feeling it is to help others. Here is how Jonathan describes it:

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines altruism as “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.” My late father taught me this concept and how one can gain a great sense of joy from giving back to others. I participated in several volunteering opportunities throughout my childhood while I was in the Boy Scouts. However, my true passion for giving back to others did not fully arise until I attended the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas, seven months after I lost my sight due to Diabetic Retinopathy and Glaucoma. While I was finishing learning the Braille code, I was asked to help teach the Braille tutoring after-hours class.

This passion continued after I graduated the Center where I would continue to volunteer at Criss Cole with other classes including technology, adaptive skills, and orientation and mobility. Later, I wanted to expand my horizons by volunteering with a younger crowd and I assisted with blind students who were having trouble with Braille literacy at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. I joined my first NFB chapter in 2010 and throughout the years, several community service projects have come into fruition. Such events include putting on birthday parties for families who are experiencing homelessness at the Salvation Army, putting together survival bags for seventy-five individuals who reside at a local homeless shelter during the NFB’s 75th anniversary, and introducing Braille to sighted children with other members of my chapter at a children’s museum.

After I joined the Community Service Division of the National Federation of the Blind, I fully grasped the concept that blind people are fully capable of giving back to our community and that we are most definitely capable of working alongside our sighted counterparts in making the world a better place for others and not just be ones who receive charity as people with disabilities. One of the community service events our division held was mulching and planting trees at a park in Orlando, Florida, during a national convention.

I became my chapter’s president in 2022 and one of my biggest dreams was to cook a meal for the families who are residing at the Ronald McDonald House for the children who are staying at the Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, Texas. Although I do not have a direct link to pediatric cancer and other life-threatening childhood ailments, I have always had the passion to give back to the families who are experiencing troublesome times. This year, my board and chapter decided that we would hold two volunteering events: one in April during National Volunteering Month and the other in October during Blind Equality Achievement Month. We held our first event on April 30th, where we made meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables, and dinner rolls for the residents. The event went off very successfully, and the Ronald McDonald House staff and residents were grateful for our contribution.

This event has left a true sense of pride and altruism in my heart. One of my personal beliefs is that you cannot put a price on doing good for others, and I cannot wait for the next time that we are able to put this event on again in October. I want to give a special thanks to Kingsley Martin who is a chapter member who gave a sizeable donation to help fund this event. Additionally, a special shout out to our second vice-president Ashley Franks is in order, as is one to our secretary Sarah Tamez, and our board member Marie Alvarez and Joe Tamez for either helping shop for the items and/or collaborating and cooking the meal together. Finally, I want to thank the compassionate hearts of my chapter members who unanimously voted to hold this event and approved the allocation of money and resources to put this event on.

Jonathan Franks MSW

President

National Federation of the Blind of Texas—Austin Chapter

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We Need Your Help


Very soon after I went blind, I went to my first convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Though as a six-year-old I was not scared about my future as a blind person, learning about the NFB and going to conventions showed me tons of independent blind people who I could look up to. Real life superheroes that I could aspire to be like. —Abigail

Blind children, students, and adults are making powerful strides in education and leadership every day across the United States, but we need to continue helping kids like Abigail. For more than eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With support from individuals like you, we can continue to provide powerful programs and critical resources now and for decades to come. We hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by including the National Federation of the Blind in your charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is easier than you think.

 


With your help, the NFB will continue to:


*	Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille.
*	Mentor young people like Abigail.
*	Promote independent travel by providing free, long white canes to blind people in need.
*	Develop dynamic educational projects and programs to show blind youth that science and math careers are within their reach.
*	Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved in their communities.
*	Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain their independence.

Below are just a few of the many tax-deductible ways you can show your support of the National Federation of the Blind.


LYFT Round Up 


By visiting the menu, choosing donate, and selecting the National Federation of the Blind, you commit to giving to the National Federation of the Blind with each ride.


Vehicle Donation Program


We accept donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation. We can also answer any questions you have.


General Donation


General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. You can call 410-659-9314, extension 2430, to give by phone. Give online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit our Ways to Give Page at: https://nfb.org/give.


Pre-Authorized Contributions


Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, call 877-NFB-2PAC, or fill out our PAC Donation Form https://www.nfb.org/pac.


Plan to Leave a Legacy


The National Federation of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and imagination of members and special friends who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. You can join the Dream Makers Circle in a myriad of ways.


Percentage or Fixed Sum of Assets


You can specify that a percentage or a fixed sum of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts.


Payable on Death (POD) Account


You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary on a Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to leave a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime, and you can change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease.


Will or Trust


If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary.

Visit our Planned Giving webpage (https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving) or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information.

In 2022 our supporters helped the NFB:

*	Send 371 Braille Santa and Winter Celebration letters to blind children, encouraging excitement for Braille literacy.
*	Distribute over three thousand canes to blind people across the United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities.
*	Deliver more than five hundred newspapers and magazines to more than 100,000 subscribers with print disabilities free of charge
*	Give over seven hundred Braille-writing slates and styluses free of charge to blind users.
*	Mentor 207 blind youth during our Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning® Academy.
*	Award thirty scholarships each in the amount of $8,000 to blind students.

Just imagine what we will do this year, and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years to come. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into reality.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Auna Mayes Namkung with her guide dog.]


Cane I Stick Out Anymore?!


by Auna Mayes Namkung

>From the Editor: Auna Namkung is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in helping individuals who are blind. She is particularly passionate about helping children in the area of social skills, helping people who are blind navigate a world that is not designed for them, and supporting individuals and their families through the process of vision loss. Auna utilizes evidence-based therapeutic models including Positive Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She runs a successful private practice in North Carolina and is the mother of two boys. She received her master’s in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master’s in visual disabilities from Florida State University. Auna worked as a teacher of students with visual impairments before deciding to serve the blind community in a different way. Auna has also earned a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has won gold medals on the state and international levels before becoming blind. Now she enjoys practicing Brazilian Jujitsu and loves to ballroom dance.

All of us have a story about how we came to know the white cane. Sometimes it was with joy, but more often than not, it was dread that later came to be joy. In the telling of our stories, we sometimes skip quickly to the conclusion, perhaps because we forget how hard it was to accept what my family referred to as “that damned stick.” “Why do you need that when you have us?”

This article gets to the joy of using a cane but encourages us to remember that how we sell a skill or the philosophy that motivates its creation and use can be of tremendous importance. Sell it wrong, and people may never have the independence it offers. Here is the wisdom Auna Mayes Namkung offers:

When a veteran becomes disabled, someone who is elderly needs hearing aids, or someone becomes blind, they often need adaptive aids which become a symbol of an identity they do not yet want to accept, but often need, in order to be more independent. Many people experience the grief process which involves five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. People may experience all or some of these emotions and vacillate between these emotions. Often well-meaning professionals, family members, etc., go directly to the solution phase which involves acceptance; however, they unknowingly can undermine the individual’s autonomy and their need to process these emotions. My hope for this article is to highlight some of the difficult interpersonal interactions and helpful solutions between someone who uses a cane and the people in their lives.

Please allow me to provide some background information, and perhaps you may have some personal experience with this yourself. I have been visually impaired for as long as I can remember. I was obviously different from the rest of the students in my class. I looked to the right when talking to someone because of my scotoma (blind spot), and I used a magnifier and read with my nose to the paper. I had a premier spot at the front of the classroom with volumes of stinky, brown, large print textbooks, a bright lamp, and a big slant board.

The last thing a typical child wants is to be different. The same is true for a child or adult with a visual impairment. Although I did not use a cane then, I can imagine the horror I would have felt if a well-meaning authoritative figure had said that I had to use a long reflective stick attached to the front of my body that would make me stick out even more, pun intended. Like many other experiences in our lives, it can be hard for a sighted person to understand our world. It can be difficult for someone who is sighted and who also has our best interest at heart to understand why we can feel reluctant about using a cane. Although the hope is to feel confident using a cane, it is an emotional process we must experience before achieving this confidence.

This is a case when I believe understanding the five stages of grief developed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and the five stages of change; precontemplation, contemplation, determination, action, and maintenance; developed by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente are helpful. I think as parents or professionals, our first priority is safety, and we are often faced with the dilemma of not knowing how to best facilitate the use of a cane. Being able to recognize where your student/family member is on the continuum of change can assist the professional/family member in developing a more comprehensive view of the psychosocial effects of vision loss/blindness. People with a visual impairment often feel reluctant to use a cane for several reasons. We do not want to be ostracized, we want to be accepted, we want to have a say in life-changing decisions like using a cane, and we might not be ready to accept that we are losing or have lost our sight.

Let us explore some ideas about the challenges of working with a person who does not want to use a cane. I would like to first point out that in order to have the courage to be different and be proud to be different, one must first accept themselves. There are two issues here: the first is the acceptance of oneself as a person outside of a visual impairment; the second issue is the acceptance of a visual impairment as part of one’s self. In order to most effectively help your family member, student, or client, we have to "work with them" in all areas of their life, i.e., a holistic approach and not "against" their resistance to using a cane. We can start doing this by acknowledging their hesitancy when using a cane. It does not matter if their viewpoint is aligned with yours. These are your student's /family member’s feelings, and no matter what, their feelings are real and a fact within themselves. Validating these feelings is the first step in building rapport and helping them in the grief process. I believe this will also increase the likelihood of them listening to your perspective.

An unproductive versus productive conversation might sound like this:

"I don't want to use a cane. It will make me stick out."

You say or think in your head, “Well, you fumbling around makes you stick out even more.”

A better response is: “You’re right—it does set you apart. I understand why you don't want to use it. Nobody wants to stick out for weird reasons. Let's work together to help you fit in better."

In the latter situation, you are respecting the person’s autonomy, which is critical for developing self-advocacy and other emotions and skills. This is also the perfect opportunity to help your child or student with their other behaviors that need to be modified, such as posture, rocking, eye contact, etc. Then, later, you can have a conversation about the differences between what a competent and a non-competent cane user looks like. This can also lead into a discussion about how people react to each scenario. Will others be put off or intrigued?

Like many people who are blind, I enjoy various hobbies, one of which is ballroom dancing. When I walk onto the dance floor with my head held high and a genuine bright smile, people are fascinated and want to learn more about this blind ballroom dancer. In contrast, before my acceptance of my use of a cane, I would struggle to overcome the social and logistical barriers of life without using a cane. People would often wave from across the room and wonder how I could be so rude as to ignore them.

My point here is not to brag about myself, but that one must build and integrate their personal character and confidence as an individual and as a person who is blind so that we may better handle the unique challenges of being blind.

As a professional, parent, or friend, helping a person develop their confidence is a unique process, and there are many moving parts. One very important interaction that we must pay close attention to is respecting the individual’s autonomy and how their autonomy is tied to learned helplessness, confidence, and their development as a person. When one is forced to use a cane, they experience learned helplessness because they learn they do not have reasonable control over their life.

"I don't need a cane."

"Yes, you do. You could get hit by a car when you cross the street."

"Then I can sue them and be rich."

"Well, you won't be able to enjoy that money if you are dead."

I think many people with a visual impairment who need a cane know deep down that they need one. What they have trouble articulating is "I need a cane, but I am not sure how to deal with the social dynamics of being a cane user. Can you help me?"

As professionals, part of our job is to help them navigate this uncharted territory. I had the great fortune of having the cane introduced to me in the proper way and under the right circumstances. The cane was introduced to me as something that made me uniquely cool, something that I could use to my advantage, and something that "I" could choose to use “if I wanted to.” The person who introduced me to an ID cane was someone who I wanted to be more like, or a better and more current word might be role model, which according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Brochure on Resilience, is one of the ten factors of resilience. Kimberly Hudson cared for me, first and foremost, as a person. She cared for me by talking with me and helping me with issues in my life outside my visual impairment. Basically, she had an incredible rapport with me. I cannot remember the exact sequence of events, but in addition to focusing on my personal strengths, like pointing out my inquisitive nature, she started by making being visually impaired something that I could use to work for me, and not against. We started by getting a state ID card together that said “Visually Impaired” on the back. I thought, "Ok, this is sort of cool. I don't have a driver’s license, but I do have an ID card.” Some time had passed, and I asked Kim to attend a Tim McGraw concert with me. When we got there, what I thought were great seats ended up being nosebleed seats. Kim planted a seed. She said, "Auna, why don't you show them your ID card that says ‘Visually Impaired’ on the back and ask them if they can help you get closer to the stage." So I did. To get straight to the point, we ended up getting front row seats.

Side note, people with a visual impairment can get into all national parks with four other people for free. Given the difficulty in being included in society and the barriers to employment, this pass is a helpful way to contribute back to our social group.

To tie things together, there are various factors that are involved in the emotional evolution of the acceptance of a cane. People have to weigh the cost and benefit of using a cane. Will this ostracize me? Will it help me avoid a dangerous situation? Can this even improve my life somehow? Like dealing with the loss of a loved one, these emotions take time to process, and it is my opinion that respecting another’s autonomy and treating people who are blind as intelligent people who can make decisions for themselves is tied to other skills like self-advocacy.

Today, when someone offers to help me cross the street because they notice I am blind, I accept their help. I don't accept it because I need it. I accept it because this brief social interaction, that would have never occurred if I did not use a cane, could be the start of a lifetime relationship. This also gives them the opportunity to make a contribution and to be more aware of people with visual impairments. In short, besides safety, the benefits to using a cane are numerous, including the opportunity for unique social engagements, a socially accepted and quick explanation of a person's visual impairment, and the opportunity to help society to learn how to relate and work with people who are different from them, and it can serve as a micro-lesson in overcoming adversity. Let me close this segment by saying that I am having more fun as a cane user than I ever did as a non-cane user. I can say this with conviction because I accept myself first as a person and also a person who is blind. I once heard a joke that went something like this: "Finding a mate is like finding parking spaces; the good ones are taken, and the rest are handicapped.” Well, I say the BEST parking spaces are the handicapped ones.

I would love to hear your challenges and success stories. You can email me at aunanamkung at gmail.com <mailto:aunanamkung at gmail.com> .

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen]


Call for Articles: Celebrating Blind Equality Achievement Month


by Chris Danielsen

The National Federation of the Blind makes a special point each year of celebrating the organized blind movement during October. Throughout the month, our members conduct a variety of outreach activities in their local communities. Many of these activities center on White Cane Awareness Day, which is October 15th. Although you may be reading this as you recover from the national convention, October will be here before we know it, and it’s not too early to plan for the October festivities.

This year, The Braille Monitor cordially invites you to contribute to what we hope will be a vibrant dialogue surrounding this significant event. As the flagship magazine of the National Federation of the Blind, we want to tell the best stories about our Federation activities in these pages, and those stories come from you.

Blind Equality Achievement Month serves as a beacon of empowerment, shedding light on the remarkable achievements and inspiring stories of blind individuals and the successes of the organized blind movement. It is a time to celebrate progress and to reflect on the challenges that have been overcome, as well as to plan for the opportunities that are still ahead.

We invite Monitor readers to share your experiences, insights, and success stories surrounding this month-long celebration. We encourage you to contribute articles that highlight the following:

1.	Successful Events: We would love to hear about the events and initiatives organized in your chapters, divisions, and affiliates that have effectively promoted blind equality. Share your strategies, lessons learned, and outcomes, inspiring others to create meaningful and impactful events in their communities.
2.	Community Service Projects: Tell us about the community service projects your organization has undertaken during Blind Equality Achievement Month. Whether it’s advocating for accessible infrastructure, mentoring blind individuals, or engaging with local schools, these projects help strengthen the bond between blind individuals and the wider community. They don’t even have to be strictly blindness-related. Perhaps you helped clean up a local park, planted some trees, helped neighbors make home improvements, or supported a local event. The greater Baltimore Chapter of the NFB of Maryland, for example, handed out water to runners in Baltimore’s annual running festival, which includes a marathon, half-marathon, and more.
3.	Other Successes: Apart from events and community service projects, we are eager to learn about any other initiatives that have contributed to the success of Blind Equality Achievement Month in your region. It could be partnerships with local businesses, legislative efforts, awareness campaigns, or innovative new programs. Your experiences can provide valuable insights to help others in their advocacy and outreach work.

Of course, you may be able to contribute to the discussion of Blind Equality Achievement Month and what it represents to our movement in ways that are not listed here. Perhaps you have done something as an individual that surprised sighted members of your community and may inspire other blind people to try something new. Or maybe you have been inspired by someone else in your chapter or community who is truly living the life they want. Let your imagination run wild and contribute whatever thoughts you feel are appropriate. We are confident that your contributions will not only enrich our understanding of the strides being made towards blind equality but also inspire other readers from all corners of the nation to get involved and take action. Together, we can continue to dismantle barriers and foster a society that recognizes the immense potential of blind people.

We’d love to feature your stories of past successes in an issue this fall, so please submit relevant items by August 15, 2023, so that we have plenty of time to review them. You can send them to the Monitor editor or to cdanielsen at nfb.org <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org> . Of course, this won’t be your only opportunity to share these stories in our pages, but we’d love to feature the items we can as close to this year’s celebration as possible. If you’re not sure you have a full article in you, then let us know about your idea, and we’ll work with you to share it. Let us use this opportunity to showcase the incredible achievements of blind people and our movement, which prove that with love, hope, and determination, dreams can be transformed into reality. We eagerly await your contributions.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Cricket Bidleman]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder]


If Only I Had Braille…


by Cricket Bidleman and Gary Wunder

We shared a Facebook post by the American Action Fund and solicited responses from our membership. The request was: Will you finish this sentence for us? If only I had Braille...

These are some of the answers we received, along with our responses. Please note that some comments have been abridged for clarity and length.

Statement: I could thaw what I intend to thaw and make dinner by putting labels that would stay on bags in the freezer.

Reply: One of the things we do for blind people is help from having to reinvent the wheel each time one of us has a problem. For example, someone replied suggesting using reusable labels with rubber bands around the freezer bags. We also have Braille label-makers and such in the Independence Market. Some people choose to organize their freezers in a certain way so that they know approximately where everything is.

Statement: We could create and make available jobs for the blind.

Reply: Some workshops for the blind are criticized because they have contracts requiring reading print shipping labels. Braille on the print labels would make these jobs doable regardless of vision. Some jobs these days require driver’s licenses, or other things that blind people just can’t do or don’t have. These are forms of discrimination, but with the proper accommodations, blind people can do anything.

Statement: I would order something other than burgers at restaurants.

Reply: Places of public accommodation (including restaurants) can provide reasonable accommodation, such as having someone read menus. They aren’t required to have Braille, although it would be ideal. Some that don’t have Braille use QR codes that take blind patrons’ smartphones to what we hope are accessible websites. Of course, this assumes that we know where the codes are and how to make them work. If we aren’t told that QR codes are available, we are forced to ask someone to read the menu.

We had some comments talking about the difficulties that people with low-vision face when learning to read. It’s certainly true that others have different standards for people with different levels of blindness. Or at least, that’s how they view it. Perhaps there’s some denial of the fact that vision can change at any time. But we all need the skills to be independent in all situations. This is why we must press hard for the early learning of Braille. As Amy Porterfield said, “Eyesight may change, but empowerment is forever.”

Statement: Braille clothing tags would be nice to have.

Reply: Independently finding clothing of proper sizes and colors while shopping would be a fantastic advancement. Many of us who label other items are not nearly as consistent with sewing labels into our clothing. What information would be most helpful on clothing labels? What about when clothing has patterns? How have others resolved this problem?

Statement: If I had Braille in the places where sighted people had print, or an app that translated print signs to Braille, then I could window-shop alone in huge, echoing shopping malls where I've never been before. I could go into a bookshop and buy a physical book or read reference books in the reading room of a library.

Reply: We have both been totally blind since birth and have never just browsed through stores at our own pace. Most trips to the mall have been made with specific purchases in mind. Gary’s wife has always been blind, but until recently she had enough vision to read signage and labels. Now that she has lost all of her vision, shopping is not the pleasure it once was. It doesn’t matter that she can hire someone to read; she either feels pressured to make quick decisions or that she is wasting money by asking for the same kind of information she used to get independently. While she still shops, she considers the lack of independence one of the inconveniences of being totally blind. It is no longer an enjoyable recreational activity.

Statement: If only I had Braille, reading cooking instructions on boxes would be so much easier.

Reply: Amen! With all the tips and tricks we can provide that will make labeling easier, it’s hard to swallow the idea that sighted people take print labels for granted. Would Braille serve as well as we think on small boxes or on products with complicated cooking instructions? Maybe what we really want is technology that reads labels, goes to a database, and produces those instructions on Braille paper or on refreshable Braille displays.

Statement: If I had Braille, appliances would be so much easier to use instead of having to label everything.

Reply: Appliances pose two problems: reading operating instructions and labeling the controls to do so. With a refreshable Braille display, reasonably good web skills, and the luck to encounter a website that is truly usable with the screen reader, instructions can be a breeze. Unfortunately, instructions rely more and more on pictures than on readable text. Labeling appliances is increasingly difficult with the popularity of touchscreens. Certain types of touchscreens can be impossible for blind people to use. iPhones with Braille but without screen-reading software would be of no use to blind users since the screens are touch-sensitive but not pressure-sensitive. Our tried-and-true techniques have tremendous value, but we must always be innovative to keep up with today’s technology.

Statement: If only I had Braille at a younger age, I believe I would be further along than I am today!

Reply: This is true for many blind people, and is what drives our education programs and initiatives like our NFB BELL® Academy, and our continued advocacy. We may not be able to change the opportunities you had, but we can use your love, hope, and determination to create better futures for young blind people. Your story, heart, and willingness to help means that fewer of us will have to make these reflections in the future.

Statement: If I had Braille, I would have access to the known universe and all of its knowledge.

Reply: As tragic as the lack of Braille skills is, we can acquire knowledge in other ways. Dr. Jernigan wrote an article about one summer vacation in which he had only one Braille magazine. He apportioned how much he would read each day so that the next day or week would hold something special for him to read. We have gotten beyond this rationing of material. For many of us what we must decide is where to focus our energy. In conversations with people about working as a computer programmer, Gary would ask them to be specific about what they wanted to learn about computers. Their answer was often that they wanted to learn everything. No one specialized in both hardware and software. No one had a complete mastery of either. The field is too vast. The same holds true for the universe, which is constantly developing. The absence of Braille has created unnecessary difficulty for some of us, but we live in a golden time for acquiring information and incorporating Braille in the process.

Finally, we had some comments talking about blind people being relegated to learning audibly, whether via audio books or live readers. One person asserted that they would be a much better writer/speller if they had learned Braille, and while modern technology like smart-speakers can help with that, we don’t think there’s truly a replacement for Braille. Additionally, hiring readers costs more than having books or files that can be read by many. In the end, learning Braille gives us choices. Do we like audio books or hardcopies or electronic files? Do we like board games that are already accessible or coming up with creative solutions? The answers won’t be the same for everyone, but if we all learn Braille, then we will be able to choose. This is why our advocacy work is so essential.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Peggy Chong]


The End of an Era


by Peggy Chong

>From the Editor: Many of us are a combination of proud and grateful for what we have, and we credit the National Federation of the Blind and the citizens of the United States of America for helping us live the lives we want. When I read articles like the one that follows, I realize that blind people were successful before many of the programs I credit with playing a part in my own success. Enjoy:

In July of 1933, the telegraph in the Associated Press offices at the Denver Post transmitted its last message just before dawn. The room was silent. Slowly, the reporters, copy boys, and teletype operators left the room. The long-time telegraph operator, Charles Smith, sat over the telegraph machine with his hands on the keys for several minutes. With reverence, he touched the entire machine. With a tear in his eye, he stood up and left the room. His career of more than forty-one years was at an end.

Charles was born on October 19, 1878, in Peoria, Illinois, the son of a telegraph operator who died when Charles was only nine. Charles left school at age eleven to work as a messenger boy for Western Union in Muscatine, Iowa.

His family left Illinois about 1890 and moved to Denver where his sister Clara got a job as a manager at the Denver Western Union offices. Clara learned the telegraph system from her father. When Charles was thirteen, he joined the family in Denver. Clara hired her baby brother to work at the Western Union Telegraph office as an operator.

In 1897 Charles began work as a telegraph operator at the Metropolitan Stock Exchange. In 1899 he got a better job at Logan and Bryan Brokerage telegraph office in Denver. While at the brokerage firm Charles worked out of the Denver office, but was sent to Colorado Springs and Chicago frequently.

On August 29, 1905, Charles was playing catch with friends and was hit in the head with a baseball. Soon he lost all his eyesight. He lost his job as well.

Charles and wife Myrtle attended church revivals where the traveling preacher set up tents to preach the word of God. The preachers worked the crowd into a religious frenzy. They called all to the front to be healed. Charles had been raised in a religious family, so he held out hope that the Lord could do what the doctors could not. Several preachers came to town. With each service, Charles went up to be healed. After each service he left as blind as when he came. When God did not heal him, Charles gave up on organized religion.

After lengthy discussions, his old firm took him back part-time to take down New York stock quotes over the telegraph with a pencil. Although he could not see what he was writing, his handwriting was legible enough for the staff to read what he wrote. Worrying his handwriting was not going to be sufficient in the future, he taught himself to type.

In 1910, Charles left the brokerage firm when the offices relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah. Charles did not want to leave Colorado. To increase his keying speed, he approached the Associated Press (AP) offices in Denver and asked to practice on their machines. They agreed.

He applied for a job with the AP but was turned down. A friend took Charles’s application up to Melville E. Stone, the general manager of the AP. Stone instructed the Denver office to give him a trial at the next job opening.

Telegraph operators learned the “Phillips” code. It consisted of a telegraph shorthand. A letter could be an abbreviation for up to three words. A word might also mean a phrase. “POTUS” meant president of the United States. “HOR” was House of Representatives. Charles memorized the code and phrases. Knowing the subject matter, he could instantly translate the strange words into phrases without needing to run to the code book as the other operators frequently did before typing their clean copy.

Managers watched Charles listen and transcribe using the typewriter, and he was faster than some of the employees. His first copy was clean. They asked him to start as a vacation relief operator. Charles jumped at the job offer. His first assignment for the Associated Press was Colorado Springs on an irregular basis. The editors of the local papers were much impressed with his typing and clean copy right off the wire.

On November 12, 1911, Charles was given a full-time position in Leadville. Five months later, Charles was transferred back to Colorado Springs. The AP telegraph was housed in the Gazette newspaper offices.

Myrtle came to work with Charles for the first year or so to be his reader for any printed material he needed to transmit. Soon regular AP employees or those bringing in copy to the office read their material directly to him.

When he took down incoming news, Charles rolled in three sheets of paper with carbon paper between each into his typewriter. The first copy was for the Colorado Springs Gazette, the second was for the Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph. The third went to the files.

Charles typed directly to the typewriter, meaning that he took less time getting his copy to the editors. And he rarely made a mistake. Charles worked the shift from 6 p.m. till 4 a.m. He averaged 17,000 words a shift. News of how fast Charles could take down the messages spread throughout the company. Several sighted operators came to Colorado Springs for a friendly competition to out transcribe the blind guy. None of them could.

One evening a man came to pick up some local gossip for his show at the Burns Theater across the street from the newspaper offices. Local color personalized his shows, bringing audiences back repeatedly. The man was columnist Will Rogers. Rogers asked if there was any good gossip or local political scandals he could use in his show in a couple of hours.

“You have to talk to Charley for the details,” someone said.

Rogers heard typing in a dark room and wondered who could be typing in the dark. Will walked into the dark room and began talking to Charles between his incoming stories. The two talked about the local news, then some of the national news. Rogers was surprised to find the blind man so well informed.

The time passed quickly. The stage manager of the theater came running up the steps of the AP offices. “Mr. Rogers! The curtain was supposed to go up ten minutes ago. We have a full house tonight,” he exclaimed.

When Rogers walked on stage, he apologized to the audience. “I am sorry for being late. I was talking with the most remarkable man I ever met, Charlie Smith, the blind telegraph operator.” Everyone in town knew of Charlie, and all was forgiven.

When notable events were expected, townspeople gathered outside of the newspaper offices and waited. It was Charles who first heard the news on the wire and broke the news to waiting crowds that Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany abdicated.

Charles wrote an article for the local papers where he described the role of the AP telegrapher, himself, that early morning. At 1 a.m., the telegraph began to click. Armistice Confirmed! Charles could hardly believe it. He called to reporter Ford Frick, “Armistice Confirmed!”

“Are you kidding me?” Ford responded. He ran to the composing room, and it seemed as if a party exploded. There were shouts of joy everywhere. The editor of The Telegraph was wakened, and she ran from home to the newspaper office in her bedroom slippers.

As soon as Charles typed out the news, a copy boy or staff member grabbed it right out of the typewriter, ran to the open window, grabbed the bullhorn, and began to read.

The night was cold and snowing in the Springs. By 3:30, the streets were full of noise coming from the townspeople aroused and sharing in the excitement.

Crowds often gathered at the newspaper offices outside when news was anticipated. Charles got the sports scores, and they were rushed to the man with the bullhorn who announced them to the crowds in the streets. It was almost a real-time broadcast (before radio was invented) from the wire to the typewriter, then to the bull horn. National games and Sky Socks news sometimes meant the street below was so crowded for at least a block in each direction of the Gazette that no buggy or man on horseback could get through. Even when the Gazette-Telegraph installed an electric scoreboard, Charles still yelled the scores to the copyboy.

But the telegraph was on its way out. Colorado Springs kept Charles until the telegraph was no longer used at the papers. He was replaced with a teletype machine. AP sent him to New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Casper, Wyoming, where they still used a telegraph.

In 1928, Myrtle and Charles moved back to Denver, still working for the Associated Press, at the offices of the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. But in July of 1933, it was over. For a while, Charles was kept on by the AP to manage the new teletype machines. But it was not the same.

Within a year, Charles opened a cigar and candy stand in the Kittredge Building in downtown Denver. The Kittredge Building housed the offices of attorneys and state agencies, causing a steady stream of customers.

Each night he brought home his money. He sorted the coins. Myrtle sorted the bills into piles. Charles counted the bills and added up each pile in his head and then all the piles together. He was rarely wrong in calculating the day’s total take.

After the end of WWII, they returned to Colorado Springs. Charles opened a newsstand in a small building next to the Gazette-Telegraph offices. Myrtle accompanied him on the bus to and from work each day. The store lasted no more than five years.

Charles suffered a heart attack that cost him his speech. He entered a nursing home. One of the healthcare staff knew Morse code. The two communicated by the staff member tapping Morse code into Charles’s hand and Charles doing the same. He died October 17, 1963, in Colorado Springs.

To schedule The Blind History Lady for your church or community group, email: theblindhistorylady at gmail.com <mailto:theblindhistorylady at gmail.com> .

Purchase a copy of my book, Don Mahoney: Television Star at its new low price at

Don Mahoney: Television Star: Chong, Peggy: 9781098082956: Amazon.com <http://Amazon.com> : Books

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Mason]


Taming the Accessibility Wild West


by Amy Mason

>From the Editor: I love this title, and it only gets better as you read the article. Amy Mason is employed by the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and formerly worked for our International Braille and Technology Center. She did the closest thing to a column the Braille Monitor has known in my time as the editor, taking as her task teaching people the way to get around on the web with various screen readers and web browsers. But I drift off in my praise; enjoy this article:

Accessing mainstream technology as a blind person has often been a story of Wild-West-style intuition, inventiveness, and sheer stubborn resolve. Take my story as an example. I didn’t start dealing with access technology until I was in high school. (No, I will not tell you when that was, but I will tell you that my first version of JAWS was 3.0. Feel free to do the research… and the math.) This was shortly after screen readers had begun to support the new Windows 95/98 environment. Accessing the desktop and programs like the Microsoft Office Suite was the very edge of the accessibility frontier.

I had only one afternoon of training, with my rehab counselor showing me the commands for moving the cursor on the number pad. I remember having to do archaic tasks, like going into the office file folder to remove Clippy by hand, lest he corrupt the information my screen reader needed to provide me. I remember how difficult just getting the computer to read the basics was. I remember having to stop and restart JAWS, Word, or the whole computer because it couldn’t review what I had written. It was next to impossible to get Excel to read anything at all, and the web wasn’t what we know today. Getting access to the ability to jump by headings was a revelation when it came out a few years later in JAWS (I want to say, six… but don’t quote me on that).

I will admit that part of my difficulty was my own lack of training, but a much larger part of the challenge we early Windows users faced was the lack of built-in accessibility hooks in Windows itself. JAWS and other screen readers were actually hacking and working around the operating system, rather than working with it. For instance, mirror drivers were pieces of software that JAWS created to scrape information directly from the video driver to process on-screen information not provided by the software it was trying to read.

Think of this like the difference between using a GPS yourself to fill in information on a route you know and having someone in a hot air balloon relay instructions from a distance, while their GPS occasionally loses signal or they lose sight of you. In the first case, you and the technology are on the same page. There may be occasional dropped signals, but for the most part it has the information it needs to give you what you need. Whereas the person with the GPS at a bit of a distance has a much higher chance of losing track of you and on not having the most up-to-date information on your location or what’s going on. You have an extra layer of interference between you and the directions you need—quite a bit more frustration.

In many ways, we have moved past those bad old days. Operating systems, programming languages, and websites, for the most part, can be built with hooks that the screen reader can grab to give us accurate information about our digital surroundings, not just best-guess reckoning. Accessibility for folks with other disabilities has also come a long way.

That said, we have a problem. The tools to build accessible websites and software are there, but many businesses and developers don’t know the importance of accessibility, much less how to implement it in their products. Without clear guidance and government regulations, we live in a different sort of Wild West of access. No one seems to agree on whether or not, and how, accessibility should be implemented. There have been strategic court cases from organizations like the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) that have moved our cause further, but there have also been a lot of junk click-by lawsuits that could put accessibility-as-a-standard-practice back for years. There are also a lot of folks claiming “quick and easy” accessibility fixes that don’t deliver. Without good standards and regulations, these snake-oil peddlers have a much easier time getting away with their grift, hurting the cause of access even further. We have the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which are fantastic, but without regulatory backing and technical assistance, many businesses will find reasons to not attempt to meet them.

This is why the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act is so vital. With this act, we can create the hooks that are needed to make accessibility more seamless on the regulatory front. We have had the technical tools for quite some time now, but the regulations outlined in this legislation would provide clear guidance on how and why to use them. The NFB continues to push forward into the wildest corners of the accessibility frontier, and that won’t change. But websites, desktop, and mobile applications are all known territory, and it’s time for a little law and order in this accessibility town.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: David Andrews]


Mastodon: Not Just another Elephant


by David Andrews

>From the Editor: David Andrews is well known to readers of the Braille Monitor because of his long service in monitoring and maintaining our listservs, his exemplary work as a staff member for the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, and his steadfast work as a Federationist for at least half a century. Doing what he does best, he gives us an explanation of the evolution of social media, our participation in it, and the move we are now making to Mastodon. Here is what he says:

Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a changing.” While this is certainly true in many areas, it is especially true in Artificial Intelligence, AI, and social media.

In the area of social media, or social networks, we have seen the emergence of many social services, such as Truth Social, Parler, and Rumble. Facebook has become Meta and has changed its emphasis. TikTok has taken over much of the world, and Twitter has gone through monumental changes in the past six months or so.

Because of changes at Twitter, we have seen the emergence of Mastodon, another “micro-blogging service.” The National Federation of the Blind, NFB, has dipped its toe into Mastodon, and it plans on doing much more. This article will provide you with some of the background so that you can understand what is going on and why. While it is not a how-to-do guide for Mastodon, we will also provide you with some high-level information to get you started.

Twitter was started back in 2006 and grew to be a service with approximately three hundred and thirty million users at its peak. It allows users to post messages which are 140 characters in length. This was later increased to 280 characters, which is what it is now. You can also attach audio, video, and/or pictures to messages. If you have an account on Twitter, you can “follow” people, and they can “follow” you back. They will then see anything you post. You can also use the pound sign, “#”, to add key words to your posts. You can then search for these hashtags and read messages posted by others when the subject is of interest. You may or may not follow these people, but information posted by them under the hashtag will appear. For example, you could use #NFB, or #NFB23 to identify your posts. You can also send direct messages to people with whom you are connected. Twitter has been widely used by journalists, politicians, corporations, organizations, and others to disseminate information and to keep up with what is going on. The NFB has had a presence on Twitter for some time.

In October of 2022, Elon Musk, of Tesla and SpaceX fame, bought Twitter for approximately $44 billion, with a B, and took it private. Since that time, Twitter has gone through changes and suffered from a great deal of turmoil. Over half the staff has been laid off or quit. A number of users, who had previously been banned from Twitter, were allowed back on. The most famous of these is former President Donald Trump. Twitter has also stopped removing content that many found objectionable. Consequently, most people now feel the service distributes much more hate speech, conspiracy theories, and other negative content than it was doing in the past. Many minorities and marginalized groups no longer feel safe on Twitter.

Twitter also laid off its entire accessibility team in one fell swoop. The service had made substantial progress in the area of accessibility in the past few years and seemed to be genuinely committed to accessibility, but it no longer seems to be so. There are two main ways you can access Twitter: through its website, or through a third-party client or website. These “clients” are third-party software programs that give access to Twitter and run on a variety of platforms: Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and others. A number of clients written specifically for blind people were very popular, such as Chicken Nugget and TW Blue. In addition, many mainstream packages were also accessible, such as Twitterrific. Third-party software accessed Twitter using an API. This gave them access to the content which they could present in different ways. Twitter has cut off access via its API by most third-party clients. Consequently, blind or visually impaired people have fewer options when it comes to accessing Twitter.

It is important to understand that Twitter is a “centralized” service. This means that it controls everything. You have an account with the service, and it set the rules for who can be on and what they can post. You can think of Twitter as a huge apartment building. Individuals, organizations, etc., have apartments (accounts) in this building and interact with others. Twitter is the landlord and controls everything. You can think of Mastodon as a city filled with houses that are connected to each other. Each house is an instance or server, and the people living within it can interact with each other as well as people in other houses. Each house has its own landlord and sets its own rules.

Until October of 2022, Twitter tried observing the norms which were developing for social media. They identified content that was false, banned some people for violating their rules, and moderated content to remove hate speech and other problematic content. When Elon Musk took over, much of this went out the window. He says he is a believer in free speech, so he let many banned people back on the service and laid off much of the content moderation staff. Consequently, many people felt that there was a need for a service that was more responsibly run. Enter Mastodon!

What is Mastodon? Mastodon was started in 2017, primarily as an alternative to Twitter. It is a service with many of the same functions of Twitter, but it is structured and run differently. Because of the Mastodon name, the elephant and Mastodon reference and puns are widely used. However, for our purposes, Mastodon is a decentralized social networking and micro-blogging service which is similar to Twitter.

Like the NFB, Mastodon is a “federation” of smaller parts that come together for common purposes. The NFB has fifty-two affiliates who are all a part of the central entity or Federation. Mastodon is a part of what is called the “Fediverse.” It consists of separate servers that run the same software and exchange messages and other data. Each server can set its own rules as to what kinds of content is acceptable and what isn’t. They can also decide whether or not to accept messages from another server. Mastodon uses an open standard protocol for storing and exchanging information. It is called CommunityPub and is also used by some other social networks. In late May, I read that Mastodon had over eleven million users, although this may not be accurate.

Once you are signed up and start using the service, it acts much like Twitter. You post Toots instead of Tweets, and you Boost posts by others instead of retweeting them. You can also “favorite” or like toots or boosts. Each server can set its own message size; five hundred characters is the default, and one thousand- or two-thousand-character limits are used by some instances. You can follow other people, and they can follow you. Hashtags are used widely. You can access different timelines, both on your instance and in the Fediverse.

When you decide to use Mastodon, you must first pick a server and establish an account there. The prospect of picking a server seems to overwhelm many people. This is in part because there are lots of servers, also called instances, out there. I recently read that there are over seven thousand. However, it should be remembered that it is relatively easy to change instances, should you change your mind. Most people sign up via a website run by their instance. There are general instances like Mastodon.social and Tweesecake.social. There are also countless instances that cater to different interests, such as the disabled, accessibility, technology, music, food, LGBTQ+, geography, and more. The site joinMastodon.org provides lists of available servers and other useful tools. Depending on where and how you sign up for Mastodon, the server Mastodon.social may be the default choice provided. You can use it or pick another, but if you use it, the site uses a user verification system called HCAPTCHA. It, of course, is visual, but there is a process for blind users to get verified. The process is accessible—you just have to follow the steps.

Like Twitter, there are a number of ways you can access Mastodon. You can use the web, or you can use a third-party client. Most people choose an instance and sign up via its website. The software landscape is changing quickly because of the recent popularity of Mastodon. Most of the clients seem to be either for iOS or Android phones and tablets. There are not as many Windows or Mac applications. Some but not all of the clients are accessible to blind or visually impaired people. I am currently using a mainstream package called Mona, which is quite accessible, and there are others. There are versions for iOS, iPad, and the Mac. Jonathan Mosen, on his Living Blindfully Podcast, did an excellent audio tutorial on using Mona with VoiceOver. You can find it at https://www.livingblindfully.com/category/episodes/, look for episode 227. There is a version of TW Blue for Mastodon. This is a Windows application that previously gave blind people access to Twitter. It has been modified to work with Mastodon. You can download it at https://twblue.es/downloads/.

Brian Hartgen of Hartgen Consultancy is conducting a two-part audio class on Mastodon in July. Many people find his tutorials to be useful and of high quality. You can sign up for a fee at http://www.hartgen.org/Mastodon.

A number of individuals and organizations in the blindness arena feel that we should not support Twitter, since it has thumbed its nose at disabled persons. While the NFB will keep its Twitter addresses and post updates to them, we are moving our efforts and support to Mastodon, as have many other organizations and companies. We have established our own server or instance, nfb.social, and we have established two accounts on that instance, which you can follow. They are: @president at nfb.social and @nationsblind at nfb.social.

We are currently seeking input and making decisions about where we will go with our server and how we will get there. In Presidential Release 527, President Riccobono said: “We want to know, though, what ideas Federation members have for how we can use Mastodon to build the Federation community. So we want you to share information about what your experience has been in Mastodon. What are your favorite mobile applications or web-based applications for engaging in Mastodon? What tips and tricks do you have, and how would you like to see the Federation using this social media networking tool? To share those ideas, you can send us an email at mastodon at nfb.org <mailto:mastodon at nfb.org> .”

To further support our members and other blind people and to help each other, we have started an internet mailing list on nfbnet.org <http://nfbnet.org> . It is called NFB-Mastodon, and here is information on its purpose and how to join.

With increasing numbers of blind people moving to Mastodon, we know that many of you will have questions. For this reason we are establishing an internet mailing list to support you and Mastodon. The list is nfb-mastodon at nfbnet.org <mailto:nfb-mastodon at nfbnet.org> .

The purpose of the list is to support Federationists and our blind friends who may have questions about Mastodon and how to use it. Topics for discussion and questions include, but are not limited to: different Mastodon clients and their accessibility, how to sign up, how to find and follow people, and hashtags and more. Come and join us, and we will do our best to answer your questions and support you as we all explore the Fediverse together.

You can join either by sending email to nfb-mastodon-subscribe at nfbnet.org <mailto:nfb-mastodon-subscribe at nfbnet.org>  and leave everything blank, or go to: http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-mastodon_nfbnet.org and fill out the form. You have five minutes before the form times out.

The list Tech-VI Announcement List from David Goldfield regularly posts Mastodon-related materials. Email: tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io <mailto:tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io>  to subscribe. If you wish to explore Mastodon and the Fediverse further, use your favorite search engine to find information. Put in key words like Mastodon, blind, accessibility, tutorial, how-to etc., and see what comes back. It can be a little daunting, but many blind people have gone before you, and they will help.

See you on Mastodon!

@dandrews920 at tweesecake.social

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan]


The Nature of Independence


An Address Delivered by Kenneth Jernigan

at the Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind

Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, July 6, 1993

>From the Editor: It has been thirty years since this speech was delivered, and my memory is that it happened sometime in the midmorning. When I listened to it, I felt many emotions. I was proud of the people who wrote to Dr. Jernigan to express what they saw as a contradiction between his words and his behavior. While they did so in the politest of terms, something I consider a real virtue, they were asking tough questions with the hope that something they saw as a contradiction could be resolved. I was proud that he did not dismiss their concerns and went to some length not just to say why he did what he did but the way he thought about what real independence meant in his life and by extension in the lives of others who are blind.

One thing I wish Dr. Jernigan had included in one of the most quoted Federation pieces in our literature is the concept of interdependence and how good it feels when one is able to get what he needs but in turn is able to meet a significant need for another human being. When I go shopping, I prefer to do so with someone of my choosing. When I need a human reader, the same is true. I know that they are giving me a service, but I am also giving them one in return. How wonderful that feels to a person who thought that his primary role in life would be as a taker. Sometimes the person who assists me is a volunteer, and their reward is that I listen with real interest when too often they do not find people who give them their undivided attention. When the person who provides me service is paid, how wonderful it is to know that my trip to the grocery store will in turn at a later time provide them with an opportunity to go to the grocery store. There is nothing wrong with occasionally being a taker just as there is nothing wrong with occasionally being a giver, but how wonderful it is when life gives me the opportunity to play both roles at the same time. Perhaps most of this is implied in what Dr. Jernigan has written, but I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to say it, and I hope you appreciate the wisdom which follows that has proven so helpful to many of us as we strive to find balance in our lives between dependence and independence. Here are Dr. Jernigan’s remarks:

Shortly after last year's convention, I received a number of letters from students at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. It was clear that the letters were written as the result of discussions held at the Center and that, although the apparent topic was independent mobility, the real issue was independence in general, and how blind persons should live and behave. I want to share those letters with you, then tell you how I answered them, and finally say a few things about what I think independence really is. The letters are all dated July 23, 1992. Here is a composite of them:

Dear Dr. Jernigan:

I am a sophomore in high school. Right now, I am in a teenage program that the Louisiana Center for the Blind is sponsoring. It is the STEP program. That means Summer Training and Employment Project. We are allowed to get jobs and make money as well as have classes.

A few weeks ago I attended the national convention. I really enjoyed all your speeches and everything. People noticed that you and Mr. Maurer walked sighted guide sometimes, [I interrupt to call your attention to the almost code-word use of the term “sighted guide.” Not “walking with a sighted guide” or “walking with a sighted person” or “holding the arm of a sighted person,” but “walking sighted guide.” This makes it clear that the concept of “sighted guide” has been the topic of considerable conversation. But back to the letter.] and we thought you all would never walk sighted guide, because you all are so highly involved in the NFB. I never thought sighted guide was OK until then. So why did you all use sighted guide? I know there are many reasons why this might be. We discussed this in one of our talk times and came up with one reason this might be. We know that you all have to be at meetings all the time, and it would be faster if you would use sighted guide. [I interrupt again to call your attention to the use in the following sentences of the depersonalized “it.” Now, back to the letter.] I am sure you don't use it so much that you lose your cane travel skills. I am not trying to say this is wrong. I was just wondering why you do this. Someone brought up that if we, as the people being trained at the moment, were caught using sighted guide, they would fuss at us. And I realize that you are not the one in training, so it is not wrong. We couldn't use sighted guide, because we might want to use it more than the cane if we use too much of it.

Yours truly,

Dear Dr. Jernigan:

During this past convention in North Carolina some of us noticed that you did not walk with a cane. I do not understand this at all. I can understand that you have to be in many places in a short amount of time at the conventions, and that might be the reason you went sighted guide. But I also know that when you came for a tour of the Center, you also went sighted guide. We do not understand this.

We all have our own theories as to why you went sighted guide, but we want to get the correct answer straight from the horse's mouth.

Your fellow Federationist,

That's a very clear-cut letter, and I am pleased to be called that end of the horse. Here is the last one:

Dear Dr. Jernigan:

This year I came to Charlotte to attend my third national convention of the NFB. I am currently a student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind in the STEP program for blind teenagers. This program stresses cane use, Braille literacy, employment readiness, and self-confidence based on achievement. While at the convention I heard from a friend that you were never actually seen using your cane. I discussed this with a group of friends, and it was decided that you most likely had many places to go and had to get to them quickly. This made sense, and the question seemed settled. Then one of the group remembered you using sighted guide during a tour you took of the Center while passing through Ruston on the way to the Dallas convention in 1990. This was such a hectic situation, and the question was no longer settled because the only alternative travel technique anyone noticed you using was sighted guide.

I do not mean this letter to imply any disrespect towards you, the Federation, or its many achievements. If the Federation had not pushed so hard for independence for the blind, I would have no grounds on which to write this letter. It is because of my own personal convictions about independence that I ask why the figurehead of the NFB is not himself using the alternative techniques that his student, Joanne Wilson, has been teaching for nearly ten years in Ruston.

I would prefer to end the letter on a positive note. I realize that you are responsible for the training I am currently receiving, and I am grateful for it. I am not implying that you have no cane skills, because I do not honestly know.

Sincerely,

These are straightforward letters, seriously written. They raise fundamental questions, questions that deserve a reasoned answer. Here is the expanded substance of what I wrote:

Baltimore, Maryland

July 29, 1992

Under date of July 23, 1992, the three of you wrote to ask me why I didn't travel alone with a cane during the national convention in Charlotte and why on a visit to the Louisiana Center in 1990 I took a sighted person's arm instead of walking alone with a cane. I appreciate your letters and will tell you why I do what I do.

In the first place let us assume that I didn't have any cane travel skills at all. This might be comparable to the situation of a parent who had no education but dreamed of an education for his or her child. That parent might preach the value of education and might work to send the child to high school and then to college. The parent might, though personally uneducated, feel tremendous satisfaction at the learning and accomplishment which his or her effort had made possible. In such circumstances what attitude should the child have toward the parent? The child might be critical of the parent for his or her poor grammar and lack of education and might even be ashamed to associate with the parent—or the child might feel gratitude for the sacrifice and the work that had made the education possible.

This is not an apt analogy since I have perfectly good cane skills, but it has elements of truth about it. When I was a child, there were no orientation centers or mobility training. The only canes available were the short heavy wooden type, and we youngsters associated carrying a cane with begging, shuffling along, and being helpless.

It was not until I finished college and had taught for four years in Tennessee that I first carried a cane. It was made of wood and had a crook handle. I might also say that it was longer than most of those in vogue at the time, forty inches. I started using it in 1953, just before going to California to work at the newly established state orientation center for the blind. The Center had been in operation for only a few months and had enrolled only four or five students by the time of my arrival.

In those days the California Center was using 42-inch aluminum canes. They were a tremendous improvement over the 40-inch wooden cane I had been carrying, and I immediately adopted the new model. Even so, it seemed that something better was needed. I worked with the person who had been employed as the travel teacher, and we experimented with different techniques and canes.

In the mid-1950s the solid fiberglass cane was developed. It was first made by a blind man in Kansas, but we at the California Center popularized it and brought it into general use. We also worked to improve the tip. Our students received intensive training, those with any sight using blindfolds (or, as we called them, sleep shades), and our students and graduates were identifiable in any group of blind persons because of their competence and ease in travel. Since they had enjoyed the benefit of our study and experimentation, as well as intensive instruction and the time to practice, many of them probably became better travelers than I—and I felt pride and satisfaction in the fact. We were advancing on the road to freedom and independence.

In 1958 I went to Iowa as director of the state commission for the blind, and I carried with me the experience and knowledge I had acquired in California plus a 48-inch fiberglass cane and a head full of new ideas and hopes for the future. I hired a young sighted man who had no experience at all with blindness and spent several days giving him preliminary instruction in mobility, using blind techniques. First, I had him follow me all over Des Moines, watching me use the cane while crossing streets and going to various places. Then, he put on sleep shades, and I worked with him to learn basic skills. Next, I sent him to California for three or four weeks to gain further experience and to compare what I had taught him with what the California Center was doing. Finally, he came back to Des Moines, and I spent several more weeks working with him until (though sighted) he could (under blindfold) go anywhere he wanted safely and comfortably using a cane.

During all of that time I worked with him on attitudes, for unless one believes that he or she is capable of independence as a blind person, independence in travel (as in other areas) is not truly achievable. This travel instructor's name is Jim Witte, and he developed into one of the best I have ever known.

Iowa students rapidly became the envy of the nation. You could single them out in any group because of their bearing, their confidence, and their skill in travel. As had been the case in California, some of them undoubtedly traveled better than I, and I felt a deep sense of fulfillment in the fact. Joanne Wilson (the director of your own Louisiana Center) was one of those students, and I am sure she has told you how it was at the Iowa Center—how students were treated, what was expected of them, the relationship between staff and students, our dreams for the future, and how we set about accomplishing those dreams. Arlene Hill (one of your teachers) was also an Iowa student. Both Joanne and Arlene are living examples of what we taught and how it worked. So are President Maurer, Mrs. Maurer, Peggy Pinder, Ramona Walhof, Jim Gashel, Jim Omvig, and at least fifty others in this audience.

It was in Iowa that we developed the hollow fiberglass cane. It was an improvement over the solid cane, lighter and more flexible. We also gradually began to use longer and longer canes. They enabled us to walk faster without diminishing either safety or grace. As I have already told you, I started with a 40-inch wooden cane. Then I went to 42-inch aluminum—and after that to solid fiberglass, then to hollow fiberglass, and (three or four years ago) to hollow carbon fiber. As to length, I went from 40 inches to 42, then to 45, 48, 49, 51, 53, 55, and 57. At present I use a 59-inch cane. It seems about right to me for my height and speed of travel. Will I ever use a still longer cane? I don't know—but at this stage I don't think so. Obviously there comes a time when a longer cane is a disadvantage instead of a help.

I've told you all of this so that you may understand something of my background and approach to independence in travel, and independence in general. The doctors who established the medical schools a hundred years ago were (with notable exceptions) not generally as competent and skilled as the doctors they trained, for they did not have the benefit of the kind of concentrated teaching they themselves were providing. Obviously, they could not stand on their own shoulders. Through their students they extended their dreams into the future, building possibilities that they themselves had not known and could never hope to realize.

So it is with me in relation to you. You are the third generation of our mobility trainees, having the benefit of what I have learned and also of what Joanne and the other Iowa graduates have learned. Unless you make advances over what we have done, you will, in a very real sense, fail to keep faith with those who have gone before you and those who will follow. In this context I would expect and hope that some of you will become better travelers (and, perhaps, better philosophers and teachers) than I, and if you do, I will take joy in it.

Having said all of this, let me come back to my own travel skills. During the 1950s I traveled completely alone on a constant basis throughout this entire country, going to almost every state and dealing with almost every kind of environment—urban area, city bus, taxi, complicated street crossing, rural setting, hired private car, country road, and almost anything else you can imagine. During late December and early January of 1956 and 1957, for example, I traveled alone to fourteen states in eleven days, writing testimony for the NFB's Right to Organize bill. It was no big deal, and not something I thought about very much. It was simply a job that had to be done, and the travel was incidental and taken for granted. I have taught travel instructors and have developed new techniques and canes. I travel whenever and wherever I want to go in the most convenient way to get there—and sometimes that means alone, using a cane.

Once when I was in Iowa, students observed that I walked to a barber shop one day with another staff member, and they raised with me some of the same questions you have raised. That afternoon in our business class (you may call it by some other name—philosophy or something else) I dealt with the matter. I told the students some of the things I have told you, and then I went on to say something like this:

“Although what I have told you should mean that even if I couldn't travel with much skill at all I might still not merit your criticism, we don't need to leave it at that. Follow me. We are going to take a walk through downtown traffic—and see that you keep up.”

I took the lead, and we walked for eight or ten blocks at a fast clip. When we got back to the classroom, I didn't need to tell them what kind of travel skills I had. They knew.

Then, we talked about why I had walked to the barber shop with another staff member. In that particular instance I had matters to discuss, and I felt I couldn't afford the luxury of doing nothing while going for a haircut. As a matter of fact, in those days I often made a practice of taking my secretary with me to the barber shop and dictating letters while getting my hair cut. Of course, I could have made a point of walking alone each time just to make a visible demonstration of my independence, but somehow I think that such insecurity might have made the opposite point and would certainly have been counterproductive.

In the Iowa days I was not only director of the state Commission for the Blind but also first vice president and then president of the National Federation of the Blind. Both were full-time jobs, requiring me to use to best advantage every waking minute.

I was up before 6:00 to go to the gym with the men students; I wrote over a hundred letters a week; I entertained legislators and other civic leaders an average of two or three nights a week to gain support for our program; I traveled throughout the state to make speeches; and I spent long hours working individually with students. Besides that, I handled the administrative details of the Commission and the NFB on a daily basis. At the same time I was doing organizing in other states and dealing with problems brought to me by Federationists throughout the country.

In that context it would have been a bad use of my time (and both Federationists and Iowa students and staff would have thought so) for me to spend much of my day walking down the street to make a visible show of my independent travel skills. I traveled alone when I needed to, and I gave demonstrations to students, legislators, and others when I needed to do that—but I never did either to convince myself or to establish in my own mind the fact of my capacity or independence. It didn't seem necessary.

So what about the NFB convention in Charlotte? I was in charge of convention organization and arrangements, and there were a thousand details to handle. There were four hotels and a convention center, each with its own staff and each requiring separate handling and a myriad of decisions. Sometimes I had not only one but two or three people with me as I went from place to place, talking about what had to be done and sending this person here and that person yonder.

Even so, I might (you may say) have refused to take the arm of one of the persons with me and used my cane to walk alone. But for what reason? When a blind person is walking through a crowd or down a street with somebody else and trying to carry on a meaningful conversation, it is easier to take the other person's arm. This is true even if you are the best traveler in the world and even if both of you are blind.

In fact, I contend that there are times when refusing to take an arm that is offered may constitute the very opposite of independence. If, for instance, you are a blind person accompanying a sighted person through a busy restaurant closely packed with tables and chairs, do you create a better image of independence by trying to get through the maze alone, with the sighted person going in front and constantly calling back, “This way! This way!” or by simply taking the sighted person's arm and going to the table? What is better about following a voice than following an arm? From what I have said, I presume it is clear which method I favor. Of course, if no arm is conveniently available, you should be prepared to use another method, regardless of how crowded the restaurant or how labyrinthine the path. In either case you should do it without losing your cool.

But back to the convention. When you are trying to get through crowds quickly to go from meeting to meeting, and possibly also trying to find different people in those crowds in a hurry, the efficiency of sighted assistance multiplies. Incidentally, even if I were sighted and doing the things I do at national conventions, I would want two or three persons with me—to look for people in crowds, to send for this and that, and to talk and advise with.

As an example, consider what happened at last year's convention with respect to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. He has normal eyesight and is in every other way, so far as I know, able-bodied and energetic. I am sure that he can drive a car and walk vigorously. Yet, he sent an assistant to Charlotte a day in advance of his arrival. The assistant scouted out the convention and then went to the airport to meet the Secretary. The assistant drove the car from the airport to the convention, accompanied the Secretary into the meeting hall, went with him to the platform, met him at the edge of the platform when he finished speaking, and drove him back to the airport. If the Secretary had been blind, I wonder if somebody would have said, “Just look! He's not independent. He has to have a sighted person with him at all times, accompanying him everywhere he goes and driving his car.”

Since I am not a student trying to learn to travel independently or to establish within my own mind that I can compete on terms of equality with others, and since I can and do travel by myself when that is most convenient, I feel no particular obligation to make a demonstration when it is more efficient to do otherwise. If I were a student, I should and would behave differently. As an example, I think a student should always use a rigid (not a collapsible) cane. But I generally use one that is collapsible. Why? Students often are uncomfortable with canes, and if they are allowed to use those that fold or telescope, they may tend to hide or conceal them because they think (even if subconsciously) that it will make them look less conspicuous. I have carried a cane for so long that I would feel naked without it, and I always carry one whether I am with somebody or not. Because they were so rickety, I refused to carry a collapsible cane until we developed the telescoping carbon fiber model. I pull it to such a tight fit that it doesn't collapse as I use it, and I almost never collapse it unless I'm in close quarters. Again, it is a convenience, and my sense of independence is not so brittle that I think I have to carry the rigid cane to prove to myself or others that I am not ashamed to be seen with it or uncomfortable about blindness.

When I was teaching orientation classes in California and Iowa, I often said to those in attendance that students at a center tend to go through three stages: fear and insecurity, rebellious independence, and normal independence—FI, RI, and NI. During fear and insecurity, one tends to be ultra-cautious and afraid of everything, even if at times putting on a good front. During rebellious independence one tends to be overly touchy, resenting anybody who attempts to offer him or her any kind of assistance at all, even when the assistance is appropriate and needed. In the rebellious independence stage, one is likely to be a pain in the neck, both to himself or herself and others—but this is a necessary step on the road from fear and insecurity to normal independence. Unfortunately, some people never get beyond it.

Hopefully one will eventually arrive at the stage of normal independence, with relatively little need constantly to prove either to oneself or others that one is capable of independence and first-class citizenship. This means maturity in dealing with condescending treatment, and it also means flexibility in accepting or rejecting offers of assistance, kindness, or generosity. Sometimes such things should be graciously or silently taken, sometimes endured, and sometimes rejected out of hand—but the reason should never be because you doubt your own worth, have inner feelings of insecurity, or wonder whether you are inferior because of blindness.

Normal independence also means not rationalizing your fear or inability by saying that you are just doing what is convenient and efficient and that you don't feel the need to prove something when in reality you are just covering up the fact that you are as helpless as a baby—and it means not going so far the other way and being so touchy about your so-called independence that nobody can stand to be around you. It means getting to the place where you are comfortable enough with yourself and secure enough with your own inner feelings that you don't have to spend much time bothering about the matter one way or another. It means reducing blindness to the level of a mere inconvenience and making it just one more of your everyday characteristics—a characteristic with which you must deal just as you do with how strong you are, how old you are, how smart you are, how personable you are, and how much money you have. These are the goals, and probably none of us ever achieves all of them all of the time. Nevertheless, we are making tremendous progress—and we are farther along the road now than we have ever been.

I am pleased that you wrote me, and I am especially pleased that you are able to receive training at the Louisiana Center. It is grounded in Federation philosophy, and it is one of the best. You are getting the chance while you are young to learn what blindness is really like, and what it isn't like. You have the opportunity to profit from the collective experience of all of us— the things we tried that didn't work, and those that did. On the foundation of love and organizational structure which we have established, you can make for yourselves better opportunities than we have ever known—and I pray that you will. The future is in the hands of your generation, and I hope you will dream and work and build wisely and well.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Jernigan

That is what I wrote, and there have been a number of subsequent developments. One person, hearing these letters, said, “I can see your point, but don't you think you should try to be a role model?”

To which I replied, “I thought that was what I was doing.”

Then, there was the letter I got about a month ago from a person who attended a seminar at the National Center for the Blind last Christmas. She said in part:

The discussion about the letter from the students at the Louisiana Center for the Blind has stuck with me and helped me in two ways. I no longer feel the deep embarrassment I had been experiencing about being unable to read Braille and having less-than-perfect travel skills. I remain painfully aware that I could be much more efficient than I am, particularly if I could read and write Braille, but I no longer feel that I am less worthy because of the lack. And, by the way, I hope to take care of my deficiencies in that area soon.

The discussion also helped me better to appreciate and respect my dad, who was blinded by an on-the-job accident when he was 26. After he became blind, he went to law school, and I have always admired his relatively quick adjustment to blindness. On the other hand, I have always felt somewhat embarrassed that when traveling he uses a sighted guide the majority of the time. (For instance, I was horrified and disbelieving when I heard my dad flew to Alaska by himself to go fishing without his guide dog or a white cane!) He has a guide dog but only used him when he was going to work. I have never seen him use a white cane although I have just learned that he used one while in his office at work. However, the seminar discussion helped me to understand that everyone's situation differs and that the opportunities available are not uniform. My dad has accomplished a lot: He was an administrative law judge until he retired last month; he is an avid fisherman; and he is as pro-Braille as anybody I have ever met.

That is what the seminarian wrote me, and her letter makes a point. It is simply this: We absolutely must not become so rigid and dogmatic about the means and precise details of achieving independence that we make ourselves and everybody else around us miserable. Down that road lies bigotry, as well as the loss of any real independence or true normality.

Usually when I go to bed at night, I read myself to sleep with a recorded book. A few months ago, somebody took me to task for this. The person said something to this effect: “You should not read recorded books. You should use Braille. After all, the Federation advocates Braille literacy, and if you use tapes and talking books, you decrease the circulation of Braille from the libraries, and you also set a bad example. What kind of statement are you making? What kind of image are you creating? You have an obligation to serve as a role model.”

I didn't argue with the person. It wouldn't have done any good. Yes, I use Braille; and as you know, I find it helpful. More than that. My life would be poorer without it. But Braille is a means. It is a vehicle, not an article of faith. I am conscious of the fact that I have an obligation to be a role model, and I do the best I can to meet the requirement. But the kind of role model I want to be (for anybody who cares to see me that way) is that of a competent, well-balanced human being, not a caricature. The fact that I don't want to die of thirst doesn't mean that I want to drown.

What is independence? I would define it this way. With respect to reading, it means getting the information you want with a minimum amount of inconvenience and expense. For me that means Braille, but it also means using live readers, recordings, and (despite my limited competence in that area) a certain amount of work with computers. For somebody else the combination may be different, but any active blind person who lacks skill in Braille will be limited—not necessarily unable to compete but definitely limited.

As to travel, independence is the ability to go where you want when you want without inconvenience to yourself or others. Probably none of us (blind or sighted) ever fully achieves that goal all of the time—and almost all of us achieve at least some of it some of the time. Usually we are on a continuum.

If I could not travel by myself without discomfort or great expense, there are times when it would be a real problem. What about the trip I made to Kansas City in May of this year to meet with local Federationists and speak at a JOB seminar? My wife had other things to do, and it would have been inconvenient to take somebody else. I went alone. Did I have any assistance during the trip? Yes. At times—when it was convenient for me and not inconvenient to others.

What about the time last month when I was called for jury duty? It would have been very difficult for a guide to have accompanied me to the jury box or the jury room—so, of course, I went by myself. Does that mean that nobody showed me where the jury box was or gave other assistance? No. It means that I went where I needed to go without inconvenience to me or those around me. That is what I call independence.

Just as with the sighted, there are times when you as a blind person want privacy—want to go somewhere (to see a boyfriend or girlfriend, for instance) without being accompanied by your daily associates, want to buy a present for a friend or a loved one, or just feel like following a whim. In such cases a dog or a cane is helpful. On the other hand, there are times when the assistance of a sighted person is extremely beneficial. Taken by itself, the use or lack of use of a sighted guide has very little, if anything at all, to do with real independence. In fact, the whole notion of independence (not just in mobility but also in everything else) involves the concept of doing what you want when you want, and doing it without paying such a heavy price (either monetarily or otherwise) that the thing is hardly worth having once you get it or do it.

In conclusion, I say to each member of this organization: Hold your head high in the joy of accomplishment and the pride of independence—but not because of dog or cane or human arm, and not because of your ability to read Braille or use a computer. These are the trappings of independence, not the substance of it. They should be learned, and used when needed—but they should be regarded only as means, not ends. Our independence comes from within. A slave can have keen eyesight, excellent mobility, and superb reading skills—and still be a slave. We are achieving freedom and independence in the only way that really counts—in rising self-respect, growing self-confidence, and the will and the ability to make choices. Above all, independence means choices, and the power to make those choices stick. We are getting that power, and we intend to have more of it. That is why we have organized. That is why we have the National Federation of the Blind. We know where we are going, and we know how to get there. Let anybody who doubts it put us to the test. My brothers and my sisters, the future is ours! Let us meet it with joy; let us meet it with hope; and (most important of all) let us meet it together.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong]


Uber’s Making it Easier to Hail a Ride — No App Required


by Curtis Chong

>From the Editor: This helpful piece of information is taken from the May issue of the Blind Coloradoan, the official blog of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. Although it references Denver, it suggests it is available to all who live in the United States.

Uber announced Wednesday at its annual Go-GET event in New York City that it’s launching a new ride-hailing option for people who aren’t as familiar navigating a smartphone. By dialing the toll-free number 1-833-USE-UBER (1-833-873-8237) in the US, customers can speak with an agent in English or Spanish to request a ride on-demand or reserve one for a future trip.

Uber has piloted ride-hailing via phone before. It launched the program in select regions around December 2020, specifically Arizona and Florida. But the company temporarily paused the service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the feature is back and more widely available.

When calling this number, people will have their cell phone number verified through a one-time code, and they will then be asked to provide a credit card number to establish a payment method. This will happen regardless of whether a person already has an existing Uber account. In fact, my testing has shown that this new service has no connection with any Uber account, and thus, no ability to draw upon any subsidies or alternate profiles that the original Uber account may have available to it.

Here’s how it works:

*	Customers call Uber from a phone to talk to a team member.
*	Once the ride has been confirmed, Uber sends information via text message about the ride, including the driver’s name and picture, license plate number, and their estimated time of arrival.
*	Finally, the customer receives another text message when the driver arrives at their pickup location.
*	What about tips? Booking an Uber via phone doesn’t provide a way to do that—surely to the chagrin of drivers. But Uber points out that riders can give cash tips if they choose to do so.

“Providing customers with more ways to use Uber remains top priority and we’re excited to nationally expand this updated offering,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch via email.

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News Release: United States Department of Labor


May 11, 2023


US Department of Labor announces 2023 themes to promote importance of advancing disability employment, honor landmark legislation’s anniversary celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Rehabilitation Act of 1973


WASHINGTON—To mark two significant events in 2023 for people with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced its Office of Disability Employment Policy has selected themes to promote National Disability Employment Awareness Month and honor the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

ODEP has chosen “Advancing Access and Equity” as its theme for National Disability Employment Awareness Month in 2023. Observed each October, NDEAM celebrates the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities past and present and showcases supportive, inclusive policies and practices that benefit employees and employers alike.

Each year, the agency chooses an NDEAM theme for use by organizations around the nation to recognize the importance of ensuring people with disabilities have equal opportunity to prepare for and succeed in employment.

Similarly, ODEP will use “Advancing Access and Equity: Then, Now and Next” to celebrate the passage of the Rehabilitation Act a half-century ago and its importance in prohibiting discrimination based on disability in employment by federal agencies, federal contractors, and recipients of federal funds, and in the delivery of federally funded programs and activities. ODEP will use the theme to promote activities to mark passage of the act, the first federal legislation to address access and equity for people with disabilities.

“National Disability Employment Awareness Month reminds us of the valued contributions people with disabilities make in our nation’s workplaces, and the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 marks a major milestone in our nation’s ongoing quest to advance access and equity for all Americans,” said Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams. “So, from now through October, we will be exploring the act’s impact on everything from employment to community living to non-discrimination to accessible technology.”

The Rehabilitation Act laid the foundation upon which the more comprehensive Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 now stands. These laws continue to be vital tools used to advance access and equity for workers from historically underserved communities and meet the goals in the department’s Equity Action Plan.

Learn more about ODEP and NDEAM, including how different organizations can participate.


Media Contacts:


Bennett Gamble, 202-693-6587, gamble.bennett at dol.gov <mailto:gamble.bennett at dol.gov> 

Christine Feroli, 301-793-3023, feroli.christine.e at dol.gov <mailto:feroli.christine.e at dol.gov> 

Release Number: 23-810-NAT

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The department’s Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the department at (202) 693-7828 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (federal relay).

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[PHOTO CAPTION: John Paré]


Alert: USA Hire Assessment


by John Paré

Dear Federation Family:

We are gathering feedback on the Federal government’s use of an assessment tool called USA Hire. This tool consists of a series of timed assessments that are administered as part of the Federal government’s employment application process in an attempt to measure reasoning and analytical skills. It is similar to the civil service exam that was used but discontinued due to discrimination in 1981. USA Hire assessments are applied to some but not all job applications posted on USAJobs. The purpose of the assessments is to evaluate an applicant’s “general competencies and soft skills.”

We are seeking information from those who have experienced challenges with USA Hire in the following areas:

1.	Accessibility of the platform using assistive technology

4.	Insufficient amount of time for the timed assessments
5.	Difficulty with logic games and vision-centered questions
6.	Difficulty requesting and receiving reasonable accommodations
7.	Requirement to produce medical documentation for a reasonable accommodation within OPM prescribed deadline (three calendar days)
8.	Requirement to produce medical documentation from only OPM approved sources (ophthalmologist, etc.); and
9.	Other areas of difficulty

If you experienced any of the challenges referenced, please contact our advocacy and legal group at legal at nfb.org <mailto:legal at nfb.org>  or by calling 410-659-9314, ext. 2440.

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Monitor Miniatures


In Brief


Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rosemary Boeglin, 202-993-5811


Sen. Markey, Rep. Eshoo Applaud FCC Vote Advancing New Accessibility Standards for Video Conferencing


Washington (June 8, 2023)—Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Representative Anna Eshoo (CA-16), authors of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), released the following statement today after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve proposed rules to strengthen accessibility standards across video conferencing platforms:

“We applaud the FCC for adopting the proposal in our Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA) to require video conferencing platforms to be accessible for people with disabilities. Today’s unanimous vote will ensure that everyone has access to the tools and technologies that are essential to everyday life. Whether using video conferencing services for recreation, work, education, or healthcare, people with disabilities deserve full and equal access to these services. We thank Chairwoman Rosenworcel for her leadership on this essential issue and congratulate the advocates for their work to make video conferencing platforms accessible for everyone. We look forward to continuing to work with the FCC, the disability community, and our colleagues in Congress on making sure accessibility is never an afterthought.”

Senator Markey is the author of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which became law in 2010 and mandates accessibility of devices and services for the millions of Americans with disabilities, and enables the use of a wide range of devices and services needed in the digital era. In November 2022, Senator Markey and Representative Eshoo introduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA) to amend the CVAA to keep pace with the proliferation of emerging technologies that have come online since 2010. The CVTA would strengthen standards for television programming and emergency communication; expand accessibility requirements, including closed captions and audio descriptions, to online platforms and video conferencing services; and equip the federal government with the ability to improve accessibility of emerging technologies.

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NFB Pledge


I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.

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