[NFBofSC] FW: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, June 2024

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From: brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org <brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org> On Behalf Of Brian Buhrow
Sent: Saturday, June 1, 2024 9:48 AM
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Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, June 2024

 


The Braille Monitor, June 2024


BRAILLE MONITOR


Vol. 67, No. 6 June 2024

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> 

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Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org <mailto:gwunder at nfb.org> .

Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to:

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

© 2024 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. 67, No. 6 June 2024


Contents


Interview with Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind

Taken from Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, State of AV 2024

Dr. Natalie Shaheen Wins $1.5 Million NSF CAREER Grant

by Aubrey Henson

Artificial Intelligence Directed by the Blind: Progress and Possibilities with Be My Eyes

by Mike Buckley

On Becoming a Father

by Marco Carranza

How a 19th Century Dutch Ophthalmologist Can Impact Your 21st Century Rights

by Greg Trapp, JD

How I Became a Blind Home Owner in Fifty Short Days

by Daniel Garcia

Support NFB Programs and Make a Difference for Blind People!

by Bridgid Burke

A Letter to the Editor

by Cricket Bidleman

Updates to the Social Security Administration's Procedures for Recovering Overpayments

by Jesse Shirek and Kyle Walls

Empowering the Blind Diabetic Community: Insights from the Diabetes Action Network Seminar

by Debbie Wunder

Is It Better at the Airport or Are We on a Merry-Go-Round?

by Patti Chang

Escape from the Tiny Kitchen

by Deborah Kent Stein

The Federation and Physician-Assisted Suicide

by Chris Danielsen

Convention Ambassadors’ Jeopardy

by Dan Burke and Corbb O’Connor

Looking Back as We Move Forward: The Past, Present, and Future of Federal Website Accessibility Regulations

by Sanho Steele-Louchart and Kyle Walls

I Am Just a Dad

by Bruce Sexton

Rebuilding What I Should Have Known: Reflections on My Journey to be Accountable to the Blind Community

by Shir Ekerling

Sighted Saviorism in the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind

by Justin Salisbury

Monitor Miniatures

[PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono]


Interview with Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind


Taken from Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, State of AV 2024

In an interview with AVIA, National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono explained why his organization and blind individuals are excited about AVs’ opportunities.

Tell us about the National Federation of the Blind.

The National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States. Established in 1940, the Federation is America’s membership organization “of” blind people. We have an affiliate in each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. As a leader in the World Blind Union, the Federation is the model for self-organization by blind people around the world. We know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future.

Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Our collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of all blind people.

Why are autonomous vehicles important to your organization and its members?

The National Federation of the Blind is comprised of members from diverse backgrounds across the United States. Some have been blind from birth, while others have lost their sight over time.

In the United States, driving is considered a valued privilege. The vast majority of Americans cherish the freedom of movement and flexibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle. However, in the early 21st century, we reversed the conventional belief that only sighted individuals could drive. At the Daytona International Speedway in January 2011, I shattered the misconception that vision is required in driving and demonstrated the power of accessible technology in the hands of capable humans by navigating a car independently as a blind person. Since that pivotal moment, we have redirected our resources toward autonomous vehicles.

Why? First, we recognized that an industry of new transportation was about to emerge and knew that by asserting the right of disabled people to participate from the beginning, we could enculturate the belief that the technology was for everyone. Second, we know that when the blind and others with disabilities are involved in design, the end product is better for everyone.

Whether you're sighted or blind, autonomous vehicles empower individuals to travel independently to their chosen destinations.

The technology also provides other benefits to society—fewer accidents, better use of drive times, and greater control by those who do not drive currently.

For the blind community, this represents a historic milestone—the first time we can enjoy equal access to motor vehicle transportation, just like the rest of society.

You testified before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on autonomous vehicles. What is your message for policymakers on AVs?

During my testimony before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, I emphasized the transformative potential of autonomous vehicles for more than seven million blind Americans.

Our community faces a staggering 67 percent underemployment and unemployment rate, and one of the key contributing factors is the lack of affordable, reliable transportation—especially in rural areas across the United States.

Autonomous vehicle technology holds the promise of enhancing access to employment, recreation, and family life. However, this promise can only be fulfilled if the technology is nonvisually accessible to blind individuals. We are pleased to collaborate with Congress and our partners in the autonomous vehicle industry to ensure that blind people can operate this technology with the same equity as the broader population.

What is the Autonomous Vehicle Accessibility Act, and why is it important?

The proposed bill aims to safeguard the civil rights of blind or disabled individuals who operate autonomous vehicles. Currently, there is no explicit protection for these individuals if they are pulled over by the police while riding in an autonomous vehicle. In such cases, a blind person could potentially be charged with driving without a license.

By passing this legislation, blind Americans would have equal rights to travel in autonomous vehicles, eliminating the need for a driver’s license and ensuring their freedom of mobility.

The legislation also contains a $5 million appropriation to study the convergence of urban infrastructure, autonomous vehicle use, and disability. This is an affirmation that disabled Americans have value and an example of how we design our future with accessibility as a core value fulfilling the commitments codified by our nation in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Natalie Shaheen]


Dr. Natalie Shaheen Wins $1.5 Million NSF CAREER Grant


by Aubrey Henson, April 19, 2024

Reprinted with permission from Illinois State University’s Redbird Scholar.

>From the Editor: Natalie is no stranger to those who are members of the National Federation of the Blind. She formerly worked for the Jernigan Institute, and her fingerprints are to be found everywhere in our STEM and other programs for students. Congratulations, Natalie.

Dr. Natalie L. Shaheen, assistant professor in the Department of Special Education (SED) is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant of just over $1.5 million. The five-year grant will address the inequities in science education for blind and low-vision (BLV) students. The NSF CAREER grant is a prestigious grant that is awarded to pre-tenure faculty who show potential to excel and become leaders in their field.

Shaheen’s grant is the largest grant to a single faculty member in SED in 25 years.

“The NSF is concerned about equity in STEM education,” said Shaheen. “This project is aimed at increasing the long-term accessibility of high school science classes, particularly when technology is used. We know from both research and legal actions that many technologies used in K-12 classrooms are not accessible to blind and low-vision students, and it appears the barriers may be most significant in STEM classes.”

The project will explore what high school teachers of blind students and high school science teachers know about constructing born-accessible (i.e., proactively accessible) classes where technology is used. In a born-accessible science class, all of the technology and teaching approaches are accessible from the start. That way if a BLV student chooses to take the class they do not have to wait for access, or worse be excluded from most of the learning.

“As a blind teen with STEM aptitudes, I was dissuaded from pursuing additional STEM coursework after a very inaccessible high school chemistry class. Today, over two decades later, blind and low-vision teens face similarly inaccessible science classes, even though we know how to make science classes accessible.”

In addition to the research, the project will create learning opportunities for in-service and pre-service teachers to learn how to construct born-accessible science classes where technology is used. Shaheen and her team will create a case library using data from Shaheen’s previous qualitative research and subsequently develop modules for pre-service teachers at ISU and later open educational resources that will be available around the world for university professors and school district professional development coordinators to use.

The NSF grant provides funding for Shaheen to build a team of younger scholars, from postdoctoral fellows to undergraduate research assistants, whom she will mentor. “I have benefited from tremendous mentorship throughout my career and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with the next generation of scholars.”

Shaheen shared that Director of the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Dr. Bekky Darner has been one of her mentors. “Dr. Darner has had a significant impact on my scholarship since I arrived at ISU as a new faculty member,” said Shaheen. “Bekky has continued to mentor me through the NSF CAREER grant writing process and provided invaluable insight that led to a funded proposal. I am deeply grateful for her mentorship and support.”

Through this grant, Shaheen and her team will work towards a more equitable education system in which BLV students have access to STEM education and careers.

“Blind and low-vision people are used to navigating a world that isn’t built for them and therefore have exceptional problem-solving skills, the type of skills that make great scientists,” said Shaheen. “But right now blind and low-vision students rarely get to put their problem-solving skills to work in a lab. Through this grant, and my broader work, I’m trying to do my part to change the unjust status quo.”

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. (2334693). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Mike Buckley]


Artificial Intelligence Directed by the Blind: Progress and Possibilities with Be My Eyes


by Mike Buckley, Chairman and CEO, Be My Eyes; San Francisco, California

>From the Editor: In response to reader suggestions, we have tried a new experiment this year. The request was that we make some room in the August-September issue of the Braille Monitor for news that might not be related to the convention, when previously the issue was devoted exclusively to convention activities. The thought was that we should also stretch out some of the convention articles so that they appeared later in the year. As you will see from this article, there is a downside to this which perhaps we could have avoided with more skill. Some of what you are about to read you already know because it has happened, but we think you will find the article enjoyable anyway.

On Thursday, July 6, 2023, Mike Buckley, Chairman and CEO of Be My Eyes addressed our national convention. Here are some of the remarks President Riccobono made in introducing him.

PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: Let me ask by show of voice: how many of you are familiar with Be My Eyes? [Cheers and applause] Okay. Well, you know they launched in January of 2015, and in 2018, Be My Eyes received our highest award. It was in October 2018 that our next speaker started at the company as an investor and board member. So I tend to think that it was the Bolotin Award that encouraged him to get involved with Be My Eyes. In December 2020 he became the new CEO and chairman for Be My Eyes, and he has been working diligently to get to know the community and to bring his extensive business and technical experience to leverage new opportunities for us and the Be My Eyes platform. I met him in March at the CSUN conference, and I was immediately impressed with how down to earth he is, but also how passionate he is about using the power of technology and putting it in the hands of blind people to do what blind people want it to do. I appreciate his coming to this convention, and he's working and rooted in the wisdom of blind people. I would like to welcome to this podium for the first time, Mike Buckley!

MIKE BUCKLEY: My name is Mike Buckley, I am chairman and CEO of Be My Eyes. It is an honor to be here. I thank you, and I thank President Riccobono for the opportunity. In addition to being chairman and CEO, now that we know from Mark's personal AI he's a guitar player, I can share with you that I am a guitarist and vocalist for an '80s cover band called "The Love Handles," and I am hopeful we can play at next year's convention. Mark, that's a plug.

I also want to say the vice chairman of Be My Eyes, Mr. Bryan Bashin, could not be here today. Thank you for clapping. Those of you who know Bryan know he is a remarkable human being. He was the former head of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. He misses you and wishes he could be here. I miss him. He is my friend and also has been my professor to help me learn as much as I can about this community and our issues. I love Bryan.

You know, I have given speeches in front of thousands of people before, but a couple of days ago, I realized I have never been as nervous as I am today. And I was trying to think about why that is. The first reason is my mom taught me that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason, and I think it's really important that I listen and ask questions and learn. So it's a little odd to be up here in any capacity opining to you, but I'm here, and I want to listen and learn at all times, so please know that. But that's one of the reasons I'm nervous.

The second reason I'm nervous is that two nights ago my wife said to me, “I know exactly why you're nervous, Mike.”

I said, “Tell me, tell me.”

She's like, “Well, everyone likes Be My Eyes, and you better not screw it up.” [Laughter] You have to appreciate that your spouse as the most honest person in your life....

I know you know Be My Eyes. We have more than half a million blind and low-vision people on our platform. We have an astonishing 6.7 million volunteers who are available to assist. We are available in 150 countries, and provide service in 180 languages. You know what? The volunteers love your calls. In every survey we do, they say it's the best moment of their day. The other thing we have learned is that more than 90 percent of our calls are successful. So the product works. The way I think about Be My Eyes is that it is a beautiful merger of technology and human kindness, and that's one of the reasons I love it. [Cheers and applause]

Our values are about choice. Our values are about empowerment. Our values are about openness. And, of course, one of our big values is our products and services are and will always be free. [Cheers and applause]

When I think about the future of our products and I think about our responsibility to this community, I think of three words: safety, efficacy, and choice. I'm going to talk more about each of these later, but they're really important. They're important to me, to Be My Eyes, and they are important to our community. Now, I know President Riccobono asked this, but I'm going to ask one more time. How many of you have used Be My Eyes? [Cheering] As many of you know, we recently partnered with Open AI to deploy what is called a text-to-image model that promises to help our community interpret the world around them. We call this currently "Virtual Volunteer." The way it works is it allows you to take a picture, which the technology then describes in fantastic detail.

Now, why did we do this? Why did we introduce a machine and introduce technology to answer questions like this? It's because of you. There are two big reasons you have told us why sometimes you're hesitant to use Be My Eyes. The first reason is sometimes we just don't want to talk to a stranger. I talked to a woman the other day who said, “You know, Mike, I don’t always want to call a volunteer because maybe my kitchen is messy.” So we wanted to be responsive to people in our community who maybe were wary of calling a stranger.

The second reason people don't make calls is they don't want to bother a volunteer. They think that the volunteer might be needed more by someone else. Now, I remind you again how much these volunteers love the calls. So, please call. But working with artificial intelligence and trying to put an assistance tool into our hands was directly responsive to the surveys and needs of our community. That's why we are moving forward with this.

Now media podcasters, Mark, and a ton of people have asked me what the experience is like. I'm very, very wary of the artificial intelligence hype cycle. I'm very, very wary of technology companies overpromising and underdelivering. I am very, very wary of technology companies saying, oh, I'm going to build this for you rather than with you. Right? [Applause] My words don't mean as much as the words of the blind and low‑vision beta testers who are using this product. I'm going to read a few for you, because their words have more meaning than my own.

“It's so exciting it feels like 1976 and the NFB's first reading machine.”

“This is so far superior to any tool on the market that it's tough to describe.”

“I’d feel an incredible loss if I no longer had access to this technology.”

“This is life changing.”

Again, these aren't my words. These are the words of the community. But why don't we do a quick demo for you right now.

What we're going to do is take a picture of this room. No, not me. Audience, smile. Are you smiling? [Sound of screen reader]

SPEAKER: Dressed in casual business casual attire… [Laughter] Atmosphere seems to be relaxed and people are engaged in conversations and waiting for an event to start. [Cheering]

MIKE: Pretty cool, right? Let's do one more. Mark, would you stand up for us. Gotcha. Thank you.

SPEAKER: This is a new picture, same conference room as the previous picture. A man is wearing a suit and tie. The text is not clearly visible. Standing near a podium with a microphone, which suggests he might be a presenter or speaker at the event.

MIKE: You see this is a pretty cool piece of technology. We have seen our beta testers use this in airports, in hotels, on subway maps, weather maps, reading electronic schematics in academic papers, helping orient photos, describing things, describing colors and patterns, describing comics, figuring out just what the vegetarian option is on a menu. I have never been more excited about a piece of technology in my life.

So the first piece of news today is that we are renaming this tool. We're not going to call it "Virtual Volunteer" anymore because the blind and low‑vision beta testers asked us to change the name. They didn't think Virtual Volunteer was apt or appropriate. As of today, this tool will be called "Be My AI."

I want to report on what the beta testers discovered. But before I do that, I have to tell you something. Artificial intelligence is not perfect. Artificial intelligence is powerful and awesome and sometimes scary. Suman's product is really cool. But AI Mark Riccobono freaked me out a little! [Chuckles] Our app told my colleague Bryan Bashin that his cane had a red tip. It does not. AI does something called hallucinations. It's really a term they use in the academic literature where sometimes the AI not only gets something wrong, but occasionally it makes something up out of thin air. So you can get an incorrect answer, and there are times when the AI is confident in its inaccuracy.

There are other problems and issues. The picture that I took of Mark, the AI system blurred out his face. How are we going to go on social media with it then? What if I want it to look at my holiday cards and explain the pictures of my grandkids or aunts and uncles. There are very real questions we have to answer together as a community, and we probably have to lobby some regulators to make sure that the power of these tools in our hands works for us the same way it works for anyone who is sighted. [Applause]

This is exactly why Be My Eyes is being cautious and deliberate about rolling out this technology more widely. But it's coming. [Applause] We expect to get this in your hands later this year, and we're working with Open AI to do so. Now, over the years you have heard a lot from tech companies, this and that. But it's not about us on this. It's about you. And I'm here to tell you that the blind people that are in this beta test are shaping this technology to bend it to your needs. A fundamental design principle of Be My Eyes is "with not for." So we've been developing with the community hand-in-hand, from our founder, Hans, to our Vice Chairman Bryan, to the nearly two hundred blind and low-vision beta testers. Ryan, Chancey, Gary, Everette, Anil, Mark, and a man behind me, Mr. Jonathan Mosen, and a guy named Mark Riccobono. [Applause]

Thank you for your passion, your intellect, your direction, your frankness, and for occasionally kicking our ass a little bit, to help shape this technology. Thus far this group has conducted more than 7,000 AI sessions, more than 5,000 chats with the AI. There are one hundred new tests performed every day, and we have one of the most robust conversation and feedback groups I have ever been involved in. It started out with WhatsApp with over one thousand messages, and now we’ve moved it to a multi-channel Slack group, and every day there are dozens of messages talking about how to improve the UI, talking about how to make the technology better, talking about bugs and things that aren't working well. I think this is the most exciting project I have ever been involved in, and it's functionally being directed by blind and low‑vision people around the world.

We also engage in wonderful, complicated, messy discussions about privacy, about facial recognition, about ethics, about where this works and where it doesn't work. But it just underscores the fact that safety is our most important value, and efficacy is mandatory. And we are going to work with Open AI to improve the accuracy of information at all times. But we're going to make sure that we put this in your hands so that you have the choice for how, if, and when to use it. [Applause]

We will also absolutely maintain our network of volunteers. Why? Do you know what I think the secret ingredient of AI is in the near and intermediate future? Humans. People. Suman said this when he talked. This is an extension, not a replacement. And there are times when we need to verify results, double-check results, and always make sure we have the option of a human in the loop. So when we put this tool in your hands, you will always have the option to call a volunteer to either double-check the results, or if the AI fails to answer your question, to get an answer in the first place. That's our pledge and that's our commitment. I'm also excited that we're going to launch a new product that we're announcing for the first time today. The product is called "Be My Eyes Groups." And how I want you to think about "Be My Eyes Groups" is you will have the power to set up a network, a closed network, of fifteen to twenty of your most trusted family and friends who could be the recipient of your first call.

So you will have the power to set up a circle of trust—in case you don't want to call the volunteer because your kitchen is messy—right? In case you have something that is more high stakes that you want to ask about. So a trusted circle will be another choice that we're offering to the community through "Be My Eyes Groups" and another extension of our principles of safety and efficacy, and another extension of choice for our community. By the way, what do you think we're going to charge for it? [AUDIENCE: Nothing!]

MIKE: Ding,‑ding,‑ding, ding! You won! [Applause]

I'm going to wrap up. But here is where I think all of this ends for us. Suman's demonstration was this wonderful window into the power of AI to assist us in multiple facets of our lives. I hope where this ends—is this community has an affordable, accessible, brilliant, wearable that is your personal digital and visual assistant, that you can choose to use when you want, how you want, why you want, whenever you want. I want it to go there. [Applause] We're committed to building to that future.

I also want to do two things. I want to thank a couple people and I want to ask a favor. The first is... I do want to thank our corporate customers. The reason why is they pay the bills. They help us keep this service free. [Applause] Microsoft, Google, Sony, Open AI, P&G, Spotify, Barilla, AARP, and so many others. They help us fulfill our mission and work with you every day on our products and services. And by the way, thank you to the NFB for everything that you do for us. [Applause]

Lastly, I'm asking you for something. Call us. Yell at me on email: Mike at BeMyEyes.com <mailto:Mike at BeMyEyes.com> . Tell us what you need. Tell us how it's going. Help us get more people in the community on to this application. There are so many people, particularly in developing nations, who don't have access to tools that they need. And we think that we have so much work to do expanding the availability of this across the community of more than a quarter billion people who are blind and low-vision. And we won't stop until we get to all of them. I want your feedback. I want your ideas. I want your criticism. I would love your love, if we deserve it. [Applause] I have learned more in the last seven months of this job than at any point in my life, and I will forever be grateful. Thank you very much.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Marco Carranza]


On Becoming a Father


by Marco Carranza

>From the Editor: Many of us who are blind parents have two reactions when we read about the extra scrutiny we may receive. One is fear and a bit of anger. The other is gratitude that we will be supported by the National Federation of the Blind. What we find is that blindness is usually a bigger issue for officials than it is for members of our family, and this is how Marco experiences fatherhood and how he explained it to the most recent convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana:

As a young man, I didn’t think much about becoming a father. In fact, I thought more about who I wanted to pursue to make fatherhood possible! However, when I did think about having kids, I always thought about the what-ifs.

What are the what-ifs you may ask? Here are some of the big what-ifs that were on my mind. If I decide to have kids, what if they are blind? What if my blindness makes me a bad parent?

As a young man I struggled with my blindness, and it made my life difficult for much of my adolescence. I didn’t have solid blind role models to demonstrate all the ways blind people go after their dreams, including parenthood. The what-ifs were winning. However, my training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind and my involvement in the Federation gave me the opportunity to meet many awesome blind mothers and fathers over the years who helped challenge my beliefs and turn all those what-ifs upside down. I’m thinking of Joanne Wilson and Arlene Hill, along with other countless blind parents who I didn’t directly know, but whose brief encounters at conventions filled me with hope for my own future as a dad.

I’m now the father of three kids: Sofia, Camila, and Mateo. My kids are so much fun! As a family, we love gardening, cooking, playing outside, and the latest obsession from our three-year-old, talking about poop.

When my wife Rosy was pregnant with our third child, we decided to go to Disneyland. It was such a great day. Pictures with princesses, check. Dumbo ride and Pirates of the Caribbean, check. A round of delicious churros, check! When we sat down for dinner, our youngest daughter announced that she urgently needed to go to the bathroom. A waiter explained that the nearest bathroom was behind the restaurant several blocks away. Sensing that the clock was ticking before her dam burst, I grabbed her little hand and headed outside to get directions. Using the travel skills and self-confidence I gained through the Louisiana Center for the Blind, we found the bathroom in record time. Papi saves the day, check! On the way back to the restaurant, we bought a bubble wand and laughed about how fast we had run to the bathroom.

Since that time, there have been so many other times that my LCB training and that my involvement in the NFB have given me the ability to successfully parent. I’ve chaperoned school field trips, taken my kids to parks, doctor’s visits, plane trips, zoos, and I can’t wait for all the experiences that the future holds.

So what about the what-ifs that I talked about earlier? It is my experience that my kids don’t really care about my blindness. What they most want are their emotional and physical needs to be met, and vision isn’t necessary. And about the question of having a blind child? My children are all sighted, but looking around this room and at the membership of the NFB, there is no doubt that with training and opportunity, blind children can choose parenthood, or whatever else they want to pursue.

For me, there is no happier feeling than knowing that as a blind father I can give my kids a fun and safe life with plenty of adventures and silliness.

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We Need Your Help


Attending my first National Convention in Orlando, Florida, I was overwhelmed by not only the resources, mentorship, and national community of students, but the love that filled every corner of the organization. The National Federation of the Blind gave me the world. - Trisha

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 students like Trisha. 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 Trisha.
*	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 online contribution page at: https://nfb.org/donate.


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 2023 our supporters helped the NFB:

*	Send 401 Braille Santa and Winter Celebration letters to blind children, encouraging excitement for Braille literacy.
*	Distribute over six 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 130,000 subscribers with print disabilities free of charge.
*	Give over seven hundred Braille-writing slates and styluses free of charge to blind users.
*	Mentor 321 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 in 2024, 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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How a 19th Century Dutch Ophthalmologist Can Impact Your 21st Century Rights


by Greg Trapp, JD

>From the Editor: Greg Trapp is the executive director of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, a position he has held since 1999. Prior to becoming director of the Commission, he was a senior staff attorney with Disability Rights New Mexico. He is also a longtime member of the National Federation of the Blind. Here is what he has to say about the surprisingly complex topic of legal blindness.

Most people are familiar with the term "legal blindness." The phrase has even entered the realm of entertainment with the Legally Blonde movie franchise. The origins of legal blindness can be traced back to 1862. That is when Dutch ophthalmologist Hermann Snellen created the first eye chart that allowed for the accurate and uniform measurement of visual acuity. The "Snellen" chart established the 20/200 acuity measurement that would eventually constitute "legal" or “statutory" blindness. More than 160 years later, ophthalmologists and optometrists continue to use the Snellen chart to measure visual acuity. While the Snellen chart remains in common use, recent decades have seen the increasing adoption of newer tests that are able to more accurately and reliably measure visual acuity. These newer tests use a Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution, or LogMAR. The LogMAR equivalent to 20/200 vision is 1.0 minutes of visual angle, which is expressed metrically as 6/60 vision. The most common LogMAR charts are the Bailey-Lovie and the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) charts. While LogMAR charts enable vision to be measured more accurately, they have also given rise to potential conflict as they can measure visual acuity that is between 20/100 and 20/200, a range of vision that is not specifically measured by the Snellen chart.

The potential for conflict exists because the use of Snellen and LogMAR charts can result in two persons with identical vision being treated differently, depending on whether their vision is measured using a Snellen or a LogMAR chart. For instance, a person with 20/160 vision would be determined to have 20/200 vision and be legally blind if that person went to an eye doctor who used a Snellen chart. This is due to the fact that the Snellen chart does not have increments between 20/100 and 20/200, so the smallest letters a person with 20/160 vision can read on a Snellen chart would be on the 20/200 line. However, a person with that same 20/160 vision would not be determined to be "legally blind" if that individual went to an eye doctor who used the ETDRS chart which has a 20/160 line. Similarly, it is possible that a person who has previously been measured as having 20/200 vision on a Snellen chart might in actuality have visual acuity that would be measured as 20/125 or 20/160 on an ETDRS chart.

Seeking to address an issue that presented significant concerns of consistency and fairness, the Social Security Administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on November 20, 2006. The proposed rule changed how visual acuity and visual field could be tested to meet the definition of legal blindness. The final rule became effective on February 20, 2007. The rule added additional tests that could be used to measure visual field. The rule also maintained the definition of legal blindness, which is “central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction, or a limitation in the field of vision in the better eye so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less.” While the rule did not change the definition of legal blindness, it did establish the use of “Snellen methodology” to determine who would “qualify as legally blind.” Under the rule, "if a person's visual acuity is measured with one of the newer charts, and they cannot read any of the letters on the 20/100 line, they will qualify as legally blind, based on a visual acuity of 20/200 or less." The rule is also set forth in POMS DI 26001.005, which says, "if best-corrected visual acuity for distance in the better eye is 20/160 using an ETDRS chart, we will find the claimant has statutory blindness."

Fans of the superhero movie “The Incredibles” will recall the scene where Mr. Incredible assists a tearful Mrs. Hogenson with her insurance claim. Mr. Incredible was secretly working as a claims adjuster, and he surreptitiously provided the weeping Mrs. Hogenson with the insider information she needed to successfully navigate the opaque inner workings of the insurance company. While “Snellen methodology” may technically not constitute insider information, understanding Snellen methodology can be the key to successfully accessing certain government programs and services.

Mr. Incredible would certainly tell you to consider the impact of Snellen methodology for benefits or programs that use the criteria of legal blindness. For example, Social Security Disability, ABLE accounts, SNAP benefits, tax deductions based on blindness, vocational rehabilitation services, and eligibility to be a vendor under the Randolph-Sheppard Act all potentially use the definition of legal blindness. If you have vision that is worse than 20/100 but better than 20/200, or in some situations, have ever had vision between 20/100 and 20/200, you may potentially qualify for benefits or programs that base eligibility on legal blindness. Conversely, if you have been measured as having 20/200 vision and are subsequently determined to have 20/125 or 20/160 vision on a LogMAR chart, you may incorrectly be told that you do not qualify for benefits or programs that base eligibility on legal blindness.

It would be a definite advantage if Mr. Incredible was able to assist you with the opaque inner workings of the Social Security Administration. Social Security benefits and programs can be extremely complex, and the Social Security Administration is a difficult bureaucracy to penetrate. If your best-corrected visual acuity for distance in the better eye was determined to be 20/160 using an ETDRS chart, Mr. Incredible would whisper that you should be "classified as legally blind" and medically eligible for Social Security disability benefits. He would also tell you that Social Security has special rules for blind recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). These special rules include the deduction of blind work expenses under SSI and the higher blind substantial gainful activity level under SSDI. In addition, blind SSDI recipients who are fifty-five and older can fall under a rule that may allow for suspension of benefits in months in which earnings do not exceed the blind substantial gainful activity level. Persons who are blind are also covered by special rules for establishing eligibility for SSDI. Even when the rules are not based specifically on blindness, the ability to use Snellen methodology to establish an earlier date of blindness may be critical. For instance, the Disabled Adult Child (DAC) program provides benefits for persons who became disabled prior to the age of twenty-two and who are either unmarried or married to a person who is also receiving Social Security benefits.

Responding to requests for guidance regarding the Randolph-Sheppard Act and Snellen methodology, the Rehabilitation Services Administration adopted the Social Security Administration's use of Snellen methodology in 2008. For most of the history of the Randolph-Sheppard Act, persons who could see better than 20/200 had been prohibited from being a "blind licensee." The Randolph-Sheppard Act defines a blind person as a "person whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or whose visual acuity, if better than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its widest diameter subtends an angle of no greater than twenty degrees." According to the Rehabilitation Services Administration 2008 guidance, a person can qualify to be a blind licensee if the person's visual acuity would "convert to 20/200" if it were measured using Snellen methodology.

Like Mrs. Hogenson, you now possess the special information needed to navigate the inner workings of programs that are often opaque and difficult to penetrate. Unfortunately, the traditional interpretation of legal blindness can be deeply engrained within the programs that use 20/200 visual acuity to determine eligibility. Some of those programs may be reluctant to adopt Snellen methodology, and it may take some time, effort, and even litigation to penetrate those bureaucracies. The door has already been opened within the Social Security and Randolph-Sheppard Act programs. Mr. Incredible was frustrated by the system that prevented him from openly helping others, but you are able to freely share this information with those who might benefit. In doing so, you may bring clarity to an opaque system and potentially make an incredible difference in the lives of others.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Daniel Garcia]


How I Became a Blind Home Owner in Fifty Short Days


by Daniel Garcia

>From the Editor: Buying one’s first home is a significant experience for anyone. The thought of the money one is committing to pay and the number of signatures required can sometimes feel overwhelming. Blindness sometimes adds to this when people question our ability to sign documents and even express reservations about our ability to live independently and maintain the space we want to buy.

Daniel Garcia is one of the kindest and most energetic people I know. It is wonderful to see him celebrate the purchase of a house and even more wonderful that he shares his experience with us. Here is what he says:

On February 26, 2024, I was walking into a medical appointment with my primary care doctor, and I received an email message. When I checked this message, I was annoyed about the fact that my apartment complex was informing me that they would not renew my lease because they are in the process of remodeling. They offered me the choice to move into another apartment, but I decided right there and then that I would not go through the trouble of moving just to swap apartments. I decided then that I needed to buy a house, even if it was not on my original timetable. Needless to say, that when they took my blood pressure that day, it was quite high.

The next day, I spoke with my affiliate president, Shelia Wright, who lives only a couple of miles from me. She recommended a realtor, Paul, who used to be her neighbor who is very familiar with the “Northland,” the part of Kansas City, Missouri, north of the Missouri River where I wanted to purchase a home. I called Paul on Thursday, February 29, right before the live Presidential Release was about to start, and we agreed to meet on Thursday, March 7, to start the home-buying process. On Friday, March 1, I contacted the credit union that I bank with and started the process of getting preapproved for a loan. Over the weekend, I worked on getting the requisite documents, and on March 5, I had been preapproved for a loan.

On March 7, I met with Paul, and he explained how the home-buying process would work. He also asked me the type of home I was looking to buy. The next day he sent me some listings. Two of these listings interested me very much, and Paul arranged for me to go see these properties on Sunday, March 9. I forwarded the email message with the listings to my friends and family to have them look at these houses. They told me that both looked wonderful and gave me descriptions of various features of the houses. I took along my friend and chapter treasurer Jeff Giffen and his wife Kathy to see these houses. Kathy is sighted, and I wanted her there to give me an opinion of how these houses look and to make sure there were no glaring issues such as structural damage, peeling paint, etc. Of course, the house inspector would later on give a more detailed report if I decided to make an offer. I immediately fell in love with the first house we toured. The second house seemed cramped. Though people kept telling me not to bid on the first house I saw, I felt in my gut that this was the right house for me. There was a question about whether the house was in the ADA service area which would allow me to continue to get access to Kansas City’s complementary paratransit service. When I first inquired that day, I was informed that this property was not in the service area. On Monday I contacted various individuals in the Kansas City Area Transit Authority and got a confirmation in writing that this property was indeed in the service area. I had put in an offer with the provision that I would find out this crucial piece of information. On Wednesday, March 13, there was a house inspection which was positive, so I gave Paul the go-ahead to go forward with purchasing the home.

Let me digress at this point to provide some important information to help put things in context. I had originally moved to Kansas City on March 3, 2014, and started working for the Internal Revenue Service on March 10. I have been living in the same apartment since then, and during the first few years, my goal was to pay off my student loans, which I finally managed to do on April 16, 2021. After this, I finally decided to open an ABLE account, and I started to put as much money into it as I could. ABLE Accounts are a wonderful vehicle for blind people and people with disabilities to put money away and then take tax-free distributions for any purchase related to one’s disability. These tax advantage accounts were created by the passage of the Stephen Beck Jr, Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Also, since I began working for the federal government, I had started to put money away on my Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is the equivalent of the private sector 401(k) plan. This means that as I was celebrating my tenth anniversary of my move to Kansas City and my career with the IRS, I had to start planning, on an emergency basis, to move out of this apartment and into a house. One more thing to keep in mind is that the Kansas City Chapter (of which I am currently the president) and the Ivanhoe Chapter of the NFB of Missouri would be hosting the sixty-second Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri which would be held from April 11 to April 14. Needless to say that this time period has been very stressful for me.

Once I gave Paul the go-ahead to move forward, I started to line up the financing for the 20 percent down payment I wanted to put down. I had wanted to make such a large down payment to avoid having to pay the fee for private mortgage insurance (PMI). I made arrangements to borrow from my TSP and to withdraw money from my ABLE account. I had the money in my bank account the next week. All that was needed now was to wait on the closing, which was scheduled for April 9.

My mortgage officer Tanya said that everything was running smoothly and not to worry. She also said that the underwriter needed a statement from my ABLE account to ensure that the money that I was putting down is coming from a legitimate source. These statements are quarterly, and I was first advised I would receive it during the first week of April. I had also requested an alternative document from them in case the statements did not arrive. This alternative document did not contain the right information. So, on April 8, while the rest of the country was captivated by the solar eclipse, I again tried to get some alternative documents while waiting for the quarterly statements. By now we had decided that the closing needed to be moved to April 16, which would be the third anniversary of me paying off my student loans. Tanya made arrangements to get the loan approved without the quarterly statements, but I did send them to her for the principle of the thing on Monday morning after our state convention. I closed on the house on April 16. I have never written such a large check in my life, and I hope never to have to do the same again.

Paul went out of his way to help me purchase this house. He never doubted that as a blind person I could own a home. He was also thrilled to have me as his first blind customer. Considering the fact that 70 percent of blind people are unemployed and that some of the other 30 percent are underemployed or might be earning below the minimum wage, I consider myself lucky that I was able to go out and buy a house on an emergency basis and that I was able to make such a huge down payment. Had I waited one or two more years to save more money, I may not have been able to purchase a house for the price I did in the quiet Northland neighborhood where my house is. Although I was angry at first, I think my apartment complex did me a huge favor by pushing me out of my apartment now. I thought that when I started my house-buying process, I would have much trouble finding a house near the bus line and that I might have to get into a bidding war with individuals who did not care at all about having a bus line nearby.

When I moved to Kansas City in 2014, I took it for granted that I was able to rent an apartment and get insurance. What I know now is that this would not have been possible before the passage of the White Cane Laws. I am sure that buying a house before the passage of such laws would not have been as easy since there were no anti-discrimination laws in those days and the underwriter would have concluded that it would have been a risk to loan such a large amount of money to a blind person.

I had to sign several documents while applying for the loan and for the contract to purchase the home and the various amendments. This process was generally very accessible. The one place I needed help was with the borrower certification. This requires you to print out a paper document, sign it, scan it, and upload it to the portal again. I was able to get remote help from my family by doing a FaceTime call and by using a signature guide. The portal to sign the paperwork to authorize the inspection was not fully accessible because it required me to draw my signature in the screen, so Paul had to bring the paper copy which I signed onsite the day of the inspection. I never had any doubts about what I was signing because the documents are in PDF format which were well-tagged. Even the inspection authorization was readable, though I could not sign it online. As time goes by, more and more entities are accepting electronic signatures, so it was not an issue for me to provide electronic signatures. During the day of the closing, I had to physically put my initials or sign various documents, but I had already reviewed them, so I knew exactly what I was signing and could ask questions about any of them.

Many blind people I know at work and in the Federation are already homeowners, so I know I have a network of support in case I run into any problems. This is in addition to Paul saying that we will keep in touch and that he can recommend people who can help with home maintenance. Being blind does not prevent us from buying and maintaining a house. Buying a house is a scary undertaking for anyone, regardless of eyesight.

Ever since I began telling people that I would eventually buy a house someday, people kept telling me that it would be difficult for me to maintain a house because I am blind. I believe that it is no more difficult as a blind person to maintain a house than a sighted person. Not all sighted people have the talent and ability to fix things around the house, and many times they hire people to take care of them. Being blind does not prevent you from using tools and from having the ability to fix up things around the house. At the beginning, I am sure that I will hire more people to help me fix things, and as time goes by, I am sure that I will learn to fix some things myself with the proper alternatives techniques that a blind person uses.

Make sure that when you embark on your own house-buying journey, you get the right realtor and that you reach out to your Federation family for support. I am grateful for all the support I have received over the past fifty days.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Bridgid Burke]


Support NFB Programs and Make a Difference for Blind People!


by Bridgid Burke

>From the Editor: Bridgid Burke is one of the unsung heroes who does the paperwork, keeps the books, and ensures that we are in compliance with all of the laws and regulations so we are seen by charitable regulators as a highly regarded giving opportunity. The work she does is not glamorous, but it makes all the difference, and the enthusiasm she brings to it is infectious. Here is what she has to say about giving opportunities all of us have as we approach the national convention:

The National Federation of the Blind appreciates the continued support of our affiliates, chapters, and divisions that donate to the Honor Roll Call, door prizes, and PAC prizes.


Honor Roll Call 


Affiliates and national divisions support the NFB’s sustaining funds through Honor Roll Call contributions. The NFB accepts donations for the Kenneth Jernigan Fund, SUN shares, the White Cane Fund, and the Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund to support the Jernigan Institute in Baltimore. You can send your 2024 contributions by writing a check payable to National Federation of the Blind and mailing it to 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services – Roll Call, and write Roll Call in the check memo. Please send an email to rollcall at nfb.org <mailto:rollcall at nfb.org>  with the name of your organization and the amounts to go to each fund. If your organization is making a pledge to be paid later this year, please send an email to rollcall at nfb.org <mailto:rollcall at nfb.org>  telling us how much is being pledged for each fund and when we can expect the check. All pledges should be fulfilled by August 31.

 

All Honor Roll Call contributions and pledges made before the national convention are acknowledged on our website. We also appreciate chapters and affiliate divisions that make contributions. We suggest sending your contributions to your affiliate first. We will consolidate contributions sent to the national organization with an affiliate’s totals.


Door Prizes


NFB door prizes are a draw for a lot of members, and we appreciate donations from affiliates, chapters, divisions, and individuals. If you or your organization has items or cash prizes to donate, you can deliver them to Bennett Prows or Kenia Flores on the stage before and during breaks of the NFB national convention general sessions. Please put your cash donations in an envelope and label all donations in Braille and print so our Door Prize team can recognize your organization for its support.

Virtual attendees registered for the convention are also eligible to win door prizes! The NFB accepts cash donations to purchase gift cards for virtual door prize winners. If your organization would like to support our virtual door prizes, mail a check payable to National Federation of the Blind to 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services – Virtual DP, and write Virtual Door Prize in the check memo. We also appreciate you sending an email to prize at nfb.org <mailto:prize at nfb.org>  with the name of your organization and the amount you are sending so we know to expect your donation.

Good luck to all registered attendees!


PAC Prizes


Get on the PAC plan, sign up today…you know the song…we need your contributions right away! During our general sessions, the PAC Plan Committee draws winners for various incentive prizes. Your affiliate, chapter, or division can support the PAC plan by donating toward these prizes. Cash donations are to be sent to the national organization and will be used to purchase gift card prizes. To support the PAC program, send a check payable to National Federation of the Blind by mail to 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230, Attention: Fiscal Services – PAC, and write PAC Prizes in the check memo. Also send an email to PAC at nfb.org <mailto:PAC at nfb.org>  with the name of your organization and the amount you are sending so we know to expect your donation.

Thank you for your continued support of the National Federation of the Blind; with your help we make a difference in the lives of blind people!

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Cricket Bidleman]


A Letter to the Editor


by Cricket Bidleman

>From the Editor: It is almost always a delight to see something in my inbox that resulted from a recent issue of the Braille Monitor. Although we never want to stir up needless controversy, the hope is always that readers will understand that we welcome their observations to what has been presented here. Whether you agree or disagree, your views are most welcome. I never thought that the seven little rules we published in the last issue would draw comment, but it has, and I am thankful for the reflection and then the effort to write that has gone into this article.

Cricket is a member of our communications staff and is in charge of the work we do on social media. Here is what she has to say about one of those seven rules, followed by some of what I wrote back to her:

Dear Gary,

In reading the Monitor this month, I found your article on the seven rules of life. It is quite interesting, and I am wondering how these “rules” apply to the disability advocacy movement? In particular, Rule 4 seems to not be as all-encompassing as the author may intend.

No one is in charge of your happiness, except you. This rule places the responsibility for one's happiness squarely on their own shoulders, advocating for a proactive approach to seeking joy and fulfillment instead of expecting it to come from external sources.

As blind people who are often subjected to a paternalistic society, our happiness does sometimes depend on others. If others do not believe in blind people and our potential to live fulfilling lives, we are not encouraged to pursue our dreams. In particular, I remember a doctor who tried to convince me that I should always live with my parents, attend community college and probably drop out, and forego even the thought of having children so as to avoid passing on the curse of blindness. (My blindness is not genetic to my knowledge, which the doctor was aware of.)

As you know, I went to a four-year university, and I no longer live with my parents due to our fundamental disagreements on the nature of independence and many other things. One thing that my parents did do—which I will always cherish—was to instill in me high expectations. While some of their expectations were highly unrealistic (I was supposed to be on the Supreme Court by now), they said that I should not settle for low expectations. They also introduced me to the National Federation of the Blind.

The Federation is full of mentors who encourage blind people of all ages to pursue our dreams and to define happiness for ourselves. As you know, we also recognize people like the doctor who I described above, who try to define our potential without understanding the lived experience of successful blind professionals. These beliefs are harmful, and yet their toxicity pervades so many blind people’s lives. As a result, so many of us do not reach our full potential, and we are not treated with dignity. You could argue that if one does not understand options beyond what others prescribe for them, then they have no choice but to be happy with that prescription. But even with that argument, those who do the prescribing are not presenting an accurate picture of what blind people can achieve and are thus responsible for the blind individual’s concept of happiness.

Additionally, while you could place the responsibility of pursuing happiness squarely on the individual, it may be unrealistic and perhaps even harmful to do so. So many of us are sheltered, discouraged from seeking out communities like the Federation. Someone new to blindness may not know that the Federation exists, or that they can still achieve their dreams. Oftentimes, it takes a Federationist reaching out to someone, having those conversations, and raising their expectations, to help someone start building that self-confidence. While it may not be our responsibility to do so, many Federationists proactively take on this role, and we further the cause of the blind people’s movement by helping one more person turn their dreams into reality.

In conclusion, after much rambling, I propose a qualifier to rule four. Others are responsible for helping someone understand their full potential, and thus what happiness can mean. After that, it is that person’s responsibility to pursue happiness.

Since writing this, I have been told that I am reading far too much into these rules. However, I believe that if this is to be a philosophy-of-life conversation, then reading deeply is warranted—especially when considering these rules in the context of blindness advocacy.

Respectfully,

Cricket Bidleman

From: Gary Wunder

Hello, Cricket. Your correspondence is a welcomed item in my inbox. I don’t want the Monitor to constantly stir up controversy, but sometimes I am so glad for any kind of reaction, be it supportive or push back.

I believe that your letter to the editor should be published. Obviously a lot of thought has gone into it, and you have articulated your thoughts very well. The fact that rule four makes a statement with which you take some exception should appear just as rule four has been allowed to appear.

Why would this be an article in a blindness publication? It’s a good point, and I find myself often thinking about this when it comes to whether controversial things really are worth running for the risk that they will divide rather than unite us. On the flipside, we are, first and foremost, people, people who happen to be blind. So the maxims proposed for telling us how to behave, what to think, and how to feel are probably as applicable or inapplicable for blind people as they are for anyone else.

I think that rule four, “No one is in charge of your happiness, except you.” has value, but like every other rule, it has limits, and there are circumstances that make it less valuable. Is blindness a nuisance or a tragedy? We have a strong view that it is a nuisance, but for some people it is a tragedy. What your doctor told you is just plain hogwash, but even his misguided message had an advantage for you. You learned a good bit about discernment, about realizing where a person’s expertise lies and where it does not. You don’t see doctors as Gods anymore, if you ever did. The doctor unintentionally gave you an insight into the world that you are using to help yourself and others—not just the anecdote, but a way of thinking that acknowledges that you are the most important person in the world when it comes to forming your own opinions. Sometimes the Federation makes the difference, and sometimes we fail. If you are looking at the extreme, which is that everybody is discriminating against me and therefore I am deprived of happiness, then your life truly is in the control of someone else, and that in itself is a tragedy. I have had my own life difficulties by taking too literally what Abraham Lincoln said, “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Still, I would rather work with the mindset that I have control than with the mindset that I can only be as happy as others give me the opportunity to be. If I lived in a third-world country and/or one plagued by violence, I don’t think it would make sense to talk about a way to be happy.

I suggest that any of these seven rules is as vulnerable to criticism and noting where they may not apply as are other rules that many of us accept in the world. Many people would say that the Ten Commandments are sacred. Whether or not you believe that, many of them make sense. I believe in the prohibition “Thou shalt not kill.” Certainly, if I saw someone trying to do violence that might end your life, I would have little reservation about taking their life. If I caught you stealing from my refrigerator and realize that your family was starving, your family would mean more than the commandment. Although I believe in a day of rest for everyone, I expect an emergency room to be well-staffed when I suffer an injury on a weekend, and I am convinced that the surgeon who saves a life on a weekend has in fact won favor rather than condemnation with God.

Unless something stands in complete opposition to what I know and believe, I tend to read and listen with the idea that I will take what I like and leave the rest. In adopting this attitude, I have to close off the escape hatch and not start with the idea that I don’t like what someone is saying. To be fair, I have to hear them out, actively work at understanding what they are saying, and then make a decision about what I will incorporate as truth and what I will incorporate as their truth. Probably some dialogue will be involved in this if I’m really in a position to talk with the proponent.

I understand how someone can believe that you are putting too much energy into the analysis of this rule and taking it literally. To me, you are proving the value of choosing one’s life course by thinking rather than ideology. Living by an ideology or a philosophy is fine until you adhere to it so much that you are not willing to look at other points of view, not willing to acknowledge the experiences of others as real and valid, and absolutely certain that any good you enjoy is because of the good choices you have made, and any adversity they encounter is because of the bad choices they have made. As you noted in your objection to rule four, the world is not as simple as good choices and bad choices, and as much as we might wish it to be different, we don’t all have the same choices.

I love your focus on the fact that the choices blind people will have may well depend on what we in the Federation offer them. Dr. Jernigan pointed out that this is no game we play. Our action or inaction is as serious as what opportunities we and other blind people will have. What we are willing to contribute as blind people should and must be our choice, but there is no getting around the reality that how much we give, how hard we work, and the spirit we bring to what we do will shape the life opportunities we have both for ourselves and others.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Jesse Shirek]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Kyle Walls]


Updates to the Social Security Administration’s Procedures for Recovering Overpayments


by Jesse Shirek and Kyle Walls

>From the Editor: When the National Federation of the Blind was founded, one of our first goals was to see that blind people were provided with a monthly income that would allow for some independence, the ability to contribute to the income of the family, or perhaps to live alone and even start their own families. Social Security and other aid programs have made that possible for tens of thousands of blind people, but with this blessing has come the curse of the overpayment: the difficulty of disputing it and negotiating repayment if that is necessary. In this article, two of the brightest minds I know have taken up the task of explaining the recent changes that bring a bit more compassion and understanding to the regulations under which the Social Security Administration operates. Here is what they have to say:

For decades, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has sent out monthly payments to adults and children with a disability, and to adults aged seventy-five and older, who have limited income and resources. The Administration does an admirable job to ensure that the right amount is paid out to deserving recipients. However, there are occasionally miscalculations due to changes in a recipient's financial circumstances, which cause the SSA to send someone more money than they are entitled to receive. In these instances, the SSA is required by Congress to get that money back. As some of you undoubtedly know, the Administration has a history of being rather heavy-handed and often impractical in how it has sought to recover these funds in the past. Recent announcements by the Commissioner of the SSA, Martin O'Malley, have us optimistic that the Administration may take a more mindful approach moving forward.

On March 20, 2024, Commissioner O'Malley testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging and the United States Senate Committee on Finance. In his remarks, he noted that efforts to recover SSA overpayments "without regard to the larger purpose of the program can result in grave injustices to individuals, as we see from the stories of people losing their homes or being put in dire financial straits when they suddenly see their benefits cut off to recover a decades-old overpayment... Innocent people can be badly hurt. And these injustices shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans." Commissioner O'Malley also noted that the SSA is "continually improving how we serve the millions of people who depend on our programs, although we have room for improvement."

It is refreshing to hear the Administration acknowledge, first and foremost, that the past overpayment recovery measures have resulted in harm and injustice to recipients and that there is still room for improvement in the services the SSA provides. It was doubly refreshing to hear the Administration announce new procedures, which went into effect on March 25, 2024, regarding the qualification for benefits and the recovery of overpayments going forward.

What changes are now in effect? The Social Security Administration is now limited to withholding no more than 10 percent of your total monthly benefit check. Prior to this change, some beneficiaries found themselves feeling rattled after receiving a notice in the mail stating that the Social Security Administration paid too much in benefits and will now withhold 100 percent of their benefits until the overpayment is recaptured.

If you are dealing with an overpayment situation and need to have the amount withheld from your benefit check reduced or if more than 10 percent of your benefit check is being withheld as a result of an overpayment, please reach out to the Social Security Administration to request that they reduce the amount being withheld.

You can now request a repayment plan lasting up to sixty months, or five years. According to the Social Security Administration, the only information that is necessary is a verbal summary of your income, resources, and expenses. Previously, repayment plans could be extended for no more than thirty-six months, or three years.

How about a hypothetical example of how the difference in duration of repayment can affect your monthly benefits. Imagine you receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) monthly benefits totaling $1,800. During the pandemic you worked extra hours, which temporarily put your income level above Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), which is the income threshold limit for SSDI beneficiaries. SGA in 2024 is $2590. So, you receive notice that the Social Security Administration overpaid you $10,000. Under the old system, to recoup the $10,000 in thirty-six months, you must pay back $277.78 a month. If we stretch out the repayment plan to sixty months, you must pay back $166.67 a month, which would also put you under the 10 percent limit.

The Social Security Administration has also made it easier to request a waiver of overpayment. If you believe that the overpayment of benefits is not your fault in any way, or if you do not have the resources to pay back the Social Security Administration, you may request a waiver. The burden of proof is now on the Social Security Administration to prove that the beneficiary is responsible for the circumstances that led to the overpayment. Previously it was the beneficiary's responsibility to prove that they are not at fault for the circumstances leading to the overpayment.

An example you may want to take into consideration is a young person receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), because they are blind, and their family does not have many resources. If the parent starts receiving child support for the blind individual receiving SSI, that could alter the SSI benefit amount, causing an overpayment. The question that emerges is this: Is the SSI beneficiary responsible for repaying the overpayment, or is the parent responsible for the overpayment? The technical answer is that the beneficiary and the parent are both responsible, but this is a scenario in which the beneficiary can file a waiver of overpayment, because they did not have any control over the circumstances contributing to the overpayment.

The Social Security Administration also published a final rule that affects SSI recipients. Food given to beneficiaries no longer counts as In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM). Previously, if you were provided with food from a friend or family member, you were supposed to count it as a resource, and under SSI your resource limit is $2,000 for a single individual and $3,000 for a married couple. This rule reduces the burden in two ways: It lessens the stress when accepting food from other individuals, and it may help to reduce the total number of overpayments, as not reporting donations of food can result in an unexpected overpayment.

After reading this article, you may have learned that your individual circumstances have changed. Where can you turn for help? You can call the Social Security Administration directly at 800-772-1213. Alternatively, you can reach out to government affairs specialist Jesse Shirek at 410-659-9314, extension 2348, or email jshirek at nfb.org <mailto:jshirek at nfb.org> .

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Debbie Wunder]


Empowering the Blind Diabetic Community: Insights from the Diabetes Action Network Seminar


by Debbie Wunder

>From the Editor: Writing an objective headnote about this seminar is probably impossible for me to do. The president of the division is my wife, I was on the seminar agenda, and I suffered with her as she worried about whether or not she and the rest of us on the Board of Directors could actually pull this off. With fundraising on the part of the division and a grant from our national treasury authorized by President Riccobono, the seminar is now complete, having started with a dream, selling it to the board of the Diabetes Action Network, and then sweating over whether to work on an agenda to draw the people or drawing the people in order to draw good participation from speakers. Somehow the board managed to pull it off, and here is what Debbie has to say about it:

The National Federation of the Blind's Diabetes Action Network recently convened a transformative seminar, "Knowledge is Sweet," at the Airport Hilton in St. Louis, Missouri. Held over April 26 and 27, 2024, this event attracted participants from across the nation, spanning from Maryland and Florida in the East to California in the West. Amidst the vibrant discussions and shared experiences, attendees explored the multifaceted landscape of diabetes management through the lens of blindness and low vision.

One of the seminar's highlights was the insightful presentation by acclaimed author and journalist, Gary Taubes, who introduced attendees to groundbreaking perspectives on diabetes in his latest book, Rethinking Diabetes. Dr. M.J. Gardener, an esteemed doctor at the University of Missouri at Columbia heading the Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic, provided invaluable medical insights, underscoring the importance of tailored approaches for individuals navigating both diabetes and blindness.

Throughout the seminar, blind diabetics generously shared their personal strategies for effectively managing diabetes. One item of particular interest was a presentation from two blind people using insulin pumps. These devices can be particularly helpful in slowing the progression of the disease since they aid in tightly regulating blood sugar. Unfortunately, the design of most pumps does not envision their being used by blind people, so in most cases there are no tones or clicks to aid in setting the device and monitoring what it is doing. Their firsthand accounts illuminated the unique challenges they face and the innovative solutions they've devised while at the same time noting the significant challenges that the effective use of these devices require.

Access to medication and healthcare resources emerged as a crucial theme, with discussions centering on the accessibility of pharmacy services. A representative from the company Accessible Pharmacy talked about its commitment to provide labeled medication by mail and offering a wide range of options as to how one wants them labeled. A significant program that the company has initiated involves education, both for people who have diabetes and those who still may avoid the disease through understanding the role of proper diet and exercise.

It has long been known that diabetes can affect many life activities, but what is less well-known is the relationship those activities can have in the onset and/or progression of the disease. The lack of sleep has been identified as a significant contributor in this regard, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals delivered an excellent presentation on the role that non-24 sleep-wake disorder plays in the lives of blind people and contributes to the progression and severity of the disease.

The psychological dimensions of living with diabetes were also explored, acknowledging the difficulty in developing the self-discipline required to adequately manage the disease. Slowing the progress of the disease will only occur if one adheres strictly to measuring blood sugar, taking medications as prescribed, changing the way one eats to avoid large fluctuations in blood sugar levels, exercising to lower blood sugar, and adopting an inquisitive attitude in following the state-of-the-art thinking about how to live with this disease. Participants engaged in candid conversations about coping mechanisms, resilience, and the importance of finding and giving support in diabetes management.

Advocacy took center stage as attendees deliberated on the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act. Passage of this act is crucial because it not only affects the quality of one’s life but will very likely have some effect on the length of it. As blind diabetics, we not only wish to meet our own health care needs but to be of support to family and friends who can benefit from our help if we are able to use the in-home medical devices that are now appearing on the market.

Nothing involving medicine and medical care can be discussed without involving money and the insurance that is so often required to deal with medical expenses. Marc Mantia explained the difference between Medicare and Medicare Advantage, making it clear that one should not assume the word “advantage” really is one in making the selection of an advantage plan over the regular Medicare coverage available.

One of the most moving presentations, made with modesty and not a tinge of arrogance, came from Tim McGue, a volunteer for the National Kidney Foundation and himself a kidney donor some nineteen years ago. Since diabetes affects the kidneys, Tim did his best to explain what the kidneys look like, their size, where they are located, things that can cause their deterioration, and options for preserving them. His offering was not from the perspective of a medical professional but from a layperson who has made it his objective to understand the kidney, the lifesaving that can occur through organ donation, and the appreciation of life that comes with knowing that there are significant ways to make a difference in the world.

Although everyone makes their own contribution when participating in a Federation event, we should note that all of our participants made significant sacrifices to participate. Gary Taubes reduced his speaking fee to a fraction of what he normally gets. Curtis Chong came to deliver his unique blend of wisdom on philosophy and technology at no charge and with no reimbursement. David De Notaris keynoted the event, helped us all achieve and maintain a positive mood throughout the seminar, and though he is in the business of motivational speaking, he took not a dime from the Federation. To the best of our knowledge, each participant paid their own airfare, hotel, and registration, a significant demonstration of their commitment both to get and give to the seminar. In a brief survey at the end, all of the participants said that having intimate contact with other blind diabetics made the seminar meaningful, and they would like to see it happen again if we can arrange it.

As we reflect on the rich tapestry of discussions and shared experiences at the "Knowledge is Sweet" seminar, it becomes evident that unity, advocacy, and knowledge-sharing are indispensable pillars in the journey towards empowered living with diabetes, regardless of one’s vision loss or blindness. Our biggest challenges will continue to be receiving education from medical professionals and in turn educating them about blindness as together we figure out how best to manage it and to make the tools for ensuring that the state-of-the-art technology is as usable to us as it is to people who are not blind.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang]


Is It Better at the Airport or Are We on a Merry-Go-Round?


by Patti Chang

>From the Editor: I love it when Patti Chang writes an article for the Braille Monitor. The ones she writes about fundraising are good, but I love it when she gets all steamed up.

The question she raises in this article sends me back to a time when I thought that my job in the Federation was to work myself out of a job. I suppose the goal was more aspirational than something I really thought through. My goal is more modest now; I work with people when I can, and I try to rate my effect on the way I change a few people’s lives rather than the idea that I will change the world. Much work remains to be done, and I think you will come away after reading this spirited article knowing that Patti Chang is still ready to educate, express frustration so others know that blind people too have tempers, and insist on living the life she wants.

I travel often and have been contemplating the question: are airport experiences improving for blind people? So far this year I have travelled to Austin, Texas; Belize, Central America; and Baltimore, Maryland from O’Hare by air.

My most recent experience has left me angry, contemplative, anxious, and a little discouraged. The trip out to Baltimore was good because fellow passengers, TSA, and airline personnel all expected me to know how to travel independently and to know what I did or did not need to do; but let me tell you about my horrid trip back.

For those of you who heard Scott LaBarre’s speeches, you will recall Airport Girl and Airport Guy; I encountered both of Scott’s friends and then some.

First, while I was standing at the gate, a man approached and demanded my phone. Of course, I said no. I thought he was just being creepy. He may have been, but no, it turns out he was an airport assistant who did not even know how to introduce himself to the blind woman he was assuming could not negotiate the tunnel that leads to the plane.

But my no did not end the colloquy. This gentleman proceeded to tell me he was going to escort me onto the plane. When I responded that I did not ask for or want that assistance, he had the audacity to ask if I wanted to be safe. Okay, so now I was angry. Those that know me know that my voice gets lower when I am truly upset. I stepped close to the man and explained in a whisper that I decide for myself when it is safe and that I know perfectly well how to get down to the plane.

That encounter ended, and I boarded the plane and found my seat, expecting my bad experiences to end for the day, but alas, this was not to be. The flight attendant asked the man behind me if he was travelling with me. Admittedly, my response was snarky. I shared some things like, “I am sorry, I left my babysitter at home,” adding that I hated that question. Next, I heard the flight attendant ask another flight attendant if I was allowed to travel alone. The second flight attendant knew that despite blindness I could exercise my right to live in the world and travel without a personal assistant if I chose to do so and answered the first attendant accordingly.

My unsettling adventure did not end there. After embarking at O’Hare, I walked toward the down escalator which takes passengers to baggage from Concourse C. Just as I was stepping onto the down escalator, someone grabbed my cane arm, pulling it back. I insisted he let go and said that what he did was dangerous. I gave him “the look,” and that person had the nerve to be angry with me.

But that is still not all. As I was walking through the psychedelic tunnel between Concourses C and B at O’Hare, I heard a cart beeping behind me. The driver wanted to know if I wanted the cart. After I shook my head, she proceeded to tell me that the cart would be faster. Riding in a cart will take more time, and this I know because I travel O’Hare frequently. I was about two-hundred feet from the up escalator that goes directly to baggage and my husband who picked me up. If I believed her falsehood and rode the cart, a large elevator would have been necessary, and those elevators were further away than the escalator I was fast approaching.

By the time I met my husband, Francisco, I felt discouraged and furious. The timing was awful since our fortieth anniversary was coming up in three days and I wanted to focus on it. Since the trip back from Baltimore, my thoughts have returned to these experiences repeatedly.

Reflecting on my earlier trips in 2024, I must remind myself that trips to Austin and to Belize were without incident beyond people initially addressing my spouse for me, so my general feeling before my return from Baltimore was that things at airports were improving. Now I am not so sure, and I contemplate whether we must constantly work to improve our experiences. Employees leave employment, and people need retraining. Is this the way we should view the public awareness education we must do? Is it cyclical, or do we go forward overtime with the proverbial two steps forward and one step back? Should we expect a merry-go-round where it gets better when training is done and then people inevitably return to their biases and misconceptions? I’ll keep thinking, but share your thoughts, and help me and others figure this out.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Deborah Kent Stein]


Escape from the Tiny Kitchen


by Deborah Kent Stein

>From the Editor: I read Future Reflections religiously. One reason is that it is well written and interesting. A second is that there is so much material that can serve readers of the Braille Monitor as much as they do the readers of our magazine for parents of blind children. In this issue and the one that follows, I will likely borrow heavily from the special issue on cooking which Debbie has compiled. The articles I selected will likely deal less with specific procedures for cooking and more with the mindset that has been changed so that blind people see that being in the kitchen is as natural and necessary for us as it is for people who can see. Here is Debbie’s article, the first of several you will be seeing from Future Reflections.

My Aunt Autumn once paid me a compliment that I have always remembered. I was visiting her for the weekend, and she had invited some friends over for dinner. We spent the afternoon in the kitchen, preparing an elaborate meal with soup and salad, meat and vegetables, and a rich, creamy dessert. As I stood at the counter chopping celery, Aunt Autumn commented, "It's such a pleasure working in the kitchen with you! We share space so easily and comfortably! There's an intuitive feeling about it—we never get in each other's way."

Aunt Autumn's comment was unique and wonderful to me. For most of my life I had heard statements that were quite the opposite when I offered to help in the kitchen, no matter whose kitchen it happened to be. "Don't worry, I've got everything under control in here. There really isn't enough space in this kitchen for another person." "There's no room in here for you to help me. You can wash dishes after we eat." "There's hardly any counter space. I can barely move around in here myself. Just sit at the table and talk to me."

The kitchens of the world seemed to shrink the moment I approached. The message was unavoidable; my help wasn't needed or welcome. In all those tiny kitchens, I would only be in the way.

My mother was a bit of a perfectionist, and it was hard for her to watch me in the kitchen without swooping to the rescue. Fortunately, she came up with an original way for me to get some cooking experience on my own. Every Thursday, when Mom took my brother to his weekly piano lesson, I was in charge of preparing a simple family dinner. Mom would set out the ingredients and give me careful instructions before she and Gordon headed out the door. Then I had the kitchen all to myself, and I reveled in the sense of being in charge.

Despite those weekly forays into cooking, I didn't really experience the joys (and occasional disasters) of the kitchen until I had my own apartment, a third-floor walkup on the rundown side of Boston's Beacon Hill. I purchased ingredients at the neighborhood market, experimenting as I went along. With no one standing by to warn me about the pan sizzling on the stove or fly to the rescue when I picked up a knife, I had the freedom to learn through my mistakes and successes.

At that time I had only one Braille cookbook. It was called Cooking without Looking: Food Preparation and Techniques for Blind Homemakers, by Esther Knudson Tipps. The brief introduction explained that the book was "Taken from a Master of Science Thesis from the University of Texas, August, 1956."

The book was embossed in three soft-cover Braille volumes, with recipes that included breads, casseroles, cookies, meats, and vegetables. Sometimes Ms. Knudson Tipps was needlessly timid, as when she advocated baking hamburgers in the oven to avoid frying them on top of the stove. Overall, though, her book was an excellent introduction. I was thrilled to know that there were other blind cooks out there in the world. I wasn't alone as I mixed and stirred and waited breathlessly for the results.

Over the years the kitchen lost its mystery. I didn't live to cook, but I certainly cooked to live. By the time NFB President Mark Riccobono suggested that Future Reflections publish a special issue around cooking, my early adventures in the kitchen were a distant memory. Was there really anything to say about cooking that was especially relevant for blind children and teens? Did parents and teachers of blind children really need a cooking issue? How much interest could there be? What was there to say?

When I sent out preliminary queries, however, the response was overwhelming. To my surprise and delight, our readers were eager to share stories about their cooking challenges and triumphs. Clearly President Riccobono was onto something. An issue on cooking was long overdue.

The contributors to this issue represent people with a wide variety of perspectives. Carol Castellano explains how she exposed her children (one blind and one sighted) to cooking before they started school, letting them help out as she prepared the evening meal. Justin Salisbury describes his search for a fully accessible machine that would allow him to make espresso at home. NFB Past President Dr. Marc Maurer explains how he learned to grill hamburgers. Several authors share their experiences learning to cook and teaching cooking to blind children and adults.

Some of the contributors to this issue, including Melba Taylor and Jim Papania, cook professionally. MasterChef Christine Ha shares her story of becoming a celebrity cook.

Of course, cooking is only the first step in the dining experience. Eileen Rivera Ley writes about the etiquette of dining, a topic she has studied extensively. As she points out, preparing a meal is only the first step. In the end it's all about the fellowship.

I hope you enjoy reading this special issue of Future Reflections as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. I hope these stories will help more blind young people make room for themselves in the kitchens of the world. Those kitchens are not so tiny after all.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen]


The Federation and Physician-Assisted Suicide


by Chris Danielsen

This article addresses suicide. Suicidal thoughts or actions (even in very young children, older adults, and people with life-threatening illness/disability) are a manifestation of extreme distress and should not be ignored. If you or someone you know needs immediate help, call or text the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

>From the Editor: I love the process of policymaking that takes place when we consider resolutions. In some cases the facts and circumstances articulated make it clear what our policy should be and our resolves speak to who we are going to tell and exactly what we will say to them. In other cases, the information we have for consideration has, in my opinion, been insufficiently clear for us to make a good decision between the time we first see a resolution and when we are asked to vote on it. I think the Braille Monitor should be a good place to discuss information and opinions that eventually lead to resolutions, and I thank Chris for his attempt to provide some framework for what we may again consider about physician-assisted suicide. As we have said so many times before, what we publish is often not our definitive opinion or policy but a view based on one person’s efforts to articulate their position and the facts they have uncovered. For what he has written, I offer Chris my thanks. Here it is:

It’s a running joke that there are never any controversial resolutions debated at national convention. In reality, there is usually at least one resolution that gets people talking, either off the convention floor or on it, and often both. At our 2023 convention in Houston, the controversial resolution was entitled “Regarding Opposing the Revival of Eugenics for the Blind.”

I was one of several people who spoke against the resolution. I happened to be the last person to do so. Some people have claimed that I killed the resolution. I do not claim such power. Indeed, I was somewhat reluctant to speak against the resolution because people I both love and respect in our movement supported it. Furthermore, I did not believe then, and do not believe now, that their concerns about the issue it sought to address are entirely unfounded. But I felt strongly that the resolution was not the right vehicle for addressing those concerns.

My late father used to debate issues with my sister and me. Whenever we had a lively dinner-table discussion, he would remind us that he was not as interested in hearing about what we were against as in hearing about what we were for. With that in mind, this article is not primarily intended to rehash the failed resolution or my objections to it. Instead, because I believe the issue will, and perhaps even should, come up again, I hope to propose an approach to the issue of physician-assisted suicide that I believe will be more constructive and consistent with our philosophy.

First, a couple of housekeeping details. I have chosen to use the term “physician-assisted suicide” because I think it is the most accurate term for the practice we are trying to address. People with different opinions about it may call it different things, but what we are discussing is the assistance of a physician in ending someone’s life.

In addition to the precise definition of what we are discussing, it’s important to stipulate that I will only discuss laws surrounding the practice in the United States. Those laws limit physician-assisted suicide to patients whose diseases or medical conditions are terminal, meaning that the inevitable result of the disease or condition’s progress will be death, with or without intervention.

A Wikipedia article entitled “Assisted Suicide in the United States” says that eleven jurisdictions, ten states, and the District of Columbia have laws permitting this practice. It further indicates that all of those laws limit its use to terminal conditions, often in cases where at least two physicians have independently diagnosed the condition and certify that the prognosis is that a patient only has a maximum of six months to live. In addition to the agreement of two doctors on the diagnosis and prognosis, the laws also typically require some combination of other safeguards: The patient must have the capacity to make decisions, must be examined in order to determine whether they have an underlying mental illness, and must receive counseling. If and when all of these conditions are met, a physician prescribes a lethal dose of drugs called barbiturates, which the patient must typically administer themselves. Thus, physicians in these states are not committing euthanasia, which is when one person kills another to end the other person’s suffering. They cannot and do not act on their own initiative to end someone’s life. They are instead providing the patients with the means to end their own lives. You can read the article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_suicide_in_the_United_States.

Not all of the laws are exactly the same. Furthermore, Wikipedia isn’t always an indisputably accurate source of information. However, the article doesn’t have any of Wikipedia’s flags indicating that it might not be accurate. Also, the editor of this magazine asked its readers for their understanding of the assisted suicide laws in the states where they lived, if their state had one. Those who responded indicated that they believed their state laws roughly conformed to the conditions and restrictions the article describes. A Federationist in Oregon told me in a conversation that the state’s safeguards appear to be rigorous. She said that she knew of a case where a patient with Alzheimer’s disease wanted to avail themselves of the state’s assisted-suicide law, which has been on the books for some thirty years. Although this patient met the requirement of having a terminal illness, their disease, which is characterized by dementia that worsens as it progresses, was also sufficiently advanced that the doctors who examined them did not believe they still had the mental capacity to make the decision. As a result, their request for physician-assisted suicide was denied.

All that said, this is not a research piece. I prepared it on my volunteer time, not as part of any official duties with the National Federation of the Blind, and that time is limited. I think it is probably worth someone doing a deep dive into the law and practice of assisted suicide, or perhaps someone can point readers to somewhere that has been done. I am basing my arguments only on what I know and have gathered based on a time-constrained look at the issue.

I lay this groundwork because it is important for readers to understand the assumptions and evidence that I am using to make my arguments. Readers may have information that I don’t have, and I am sure the Monitor editor joins me in inviting them to share such information so that the discussion can continue.

I understand the concern that physician-assisted suicide is a potential danger to the blind, the deafblind, and others with disabilities, at least in theory. We all know that public attitudes about blindness are generally awful. That fact is one of the reasons our movement exists. We are constantly refuting the belief that our lives cannot be meaningful, productive, fulfilling, and joyful. We are, in the view of far too many, broken people whose lives are severely limited, with our suffering only relieved by the aid of others, which makes us a burden to them and to society as a whole.

Worse yet, popular culture has too often endorsed the idea that dying is preferable to living with a disability. The Oscar-winning film “Million Dollar Baby,” in which a female boxer convinces her coach to help her commit suicide when a severe injury ends her career and leaves her with permanent disabilities, is just one disturbing example of this trope.

Finally, we know that people experiencing vision loss often do feel depressed and even suicidal. Some of us have spoken with individuals who are going through these emotions, and a friend recently told me that she knew people who went through with suicide, although not of the physician-assisted variety. It’s easy to imagine that someone who has not yet been exposed to positive messages and role models might seek to take the physician-assisted-suicide route, if available, as a way out of their sense of grief, isolation, and helplessness.

All of these are important concerns, and they have implications for the provision of healthcare generally, and possibly for physician-assisted suicide in particular. The late and dearly missed Dr. Adrienne Asch, in a convention speech recently reprinted in this magazine, laid out some of those implications better than I can. Among them is the question of allocation of healthcare resources: Will blind people, and other people with disabilities, be pushed toward the end of the line for lifesaving care?

For me, these genuine concerns suggest that the National Federation of the Blind ought to be engaged in our nation’s continuing conversation about various healthcare issues, including physician-assisted suicide. Because we believe, as a movement, that blind people’s lives are as worthwhile as anyone else’s, we do not want others making adverse decisions about them. We do not wish to be first in line to die or last in line for lifesaving treatment. We can and should fight to ensure that neither of those things happen.

While most of us can nod in agreement when reading the previous paragraph, our philosophy also raises a counterargument. We believe that blind people have capacity for self-care and self-determination. We also hold true that we are a cross-section of society and reflect its diversity. That means that to some of us, the idea of killing ourselves, under any circumstances, is abhorrent. But others of us, while we would never seek our own death because of blindness or deafblindness, might wish to avail ourselves of physician-assisted suicide under other circumstances.

We probably all agree that blindness should never be the single or even primary condition that makes someone a candidate for assistance in dying. But blind people should not be precluded from such assistance if we want it for the reasons it is traditionally granted in the states where it is allowed. Most of us would be rightly indignant if, on the basis of blindness, our doctors suggested that we did not have the capacity to consent to an appendectomy, or plastic surgery, or any other given medical treatment, critical or elective. If we live in a jurisdiction where physician-assisted suicide is lawful, is it consistent with our philosophy to argue that it cannot and must not be among our options? Is it not the very essence of custodial thinking to argue that because we are blind, we must be protected from ourselves and denied the ability to end our lives in the manner of our choosing, rather than waiting for a prolonged and painful condition to finish us off?

As a movement, we also want blind people, subject to the jurisdictions where they reside to have the same legal rights as everyone else, even if as individuals many of us would never exercise some of them. I may not wish to grow or smoke marijuana, but I want other blind people to be able to do it if it is lawful where they live. I feel the same way about physician-assisted suicide.

This was my problem with last summer’s resolution. Although it contained some passages affirming our right to self-determination, its tenor, and some of its specific clauses, suggested that our organization ought to oppose physician-assisted suicide categorically because the practice, by its very nature, violates our Constitutional rights and threatens our existence. At least in this country, I do not think there is evidence for this proposition, based on my admittedly limited research. (I do think there is potential evidence of the practice occurring beyond this limited scope in other countries.) Our existing laws seem clear that patients must have a terminal condition, one that will naturally end in death within six months. Blindness and deafblindness are not terminal conditions, regardless of one’s attitudes about them or their impact on quality of life. A physician who claimed otherwise would be making a subjective judgment rather than one based on solid medical evidence, and therefore opening themselves, in my view, to discipline that might include the removal of their medical license, and possibly even to criminal punishment. I doubt that existing laws give physicians the kind of leeway we fear. But if we believe they do, then a tailored approach would involve amending them to specify that blindness and deafblindness are not grounds for physician-assisted suicide.

I want to close by reiterating that I am applying this argument exclusively to the matter of physician-assisted suicide. As Dr. Asch pointed out, there are other ethical issues that we need to be aware of as medical science continues to advance. We need to stand firm that our lives are worth living and make sure that the legal and medical establishments recognize that truth. But I believe that we should be careful of trampling on the rights of others, or even inadvertently on our own, as we do so.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Dan Burke]

[PHOTO CAPTION: Corbb O’Connor]


Convention Ambassadors’ Jeopardy


by Dan Burke and Corbb O’Connor

>From the Editor: The role of Convention ambassadors is very important to those of us who are grateful for all of the assistants who give their time and energy to help us. Here is what Dan and Corbb have to say about our upcoming 2024 National Convention:

Answer: Once known as "marshals," these members serve in many capacities at our national convention to ensure that all in attendance enjoy a welcoming and meaningful experience.

Question: Who are the ambassadors?

Answer: Easily their most obvious role, this ambassador function gives members audio targets to find their way to such places as elevators, escalators, the exhibit hall, and the doors to the General Session ballrooms.

Question: What are "talking signs?"

Answer: The ambassadors are organized, scheduled, and assigned duties by these two co-chairs.

Question: Who are Dan Burke and Corbb O'Connor?

Answer: The best way to do this is to go to https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/national_convention_ambassador_ and complete the forms with your available times and contact info.

Question: How do I volunteer to be an ambassador in Orlando?

Answer: Serving as an ambassador is one of the most satisfying ways you can give back to your fellow Federationists at the national convention.

Question: How can I make a positive difference at this year's convention?

>From the Co-chairs: If you are unsure about volunteering to be an ambassador, the answer is that we can really use you. If you don't know if you will have time to volunteer, we can find a time that will work for you. And if you have yet more questions, or even answers, reach out to Corbb and Dan using the email ambassadors at nfbmn.org <mailto:ambassadors at nfbmn.org> .

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Sanho Steele-Louchart]


Looking Back as We Move Forward: The Past, Present, and Future of Federal Website Accessibility Regulations


by Sanho Steele-Louchart and Kyle Walls

>From the Editor: Website accessibility has been an issue for blind people since the creation of the web in the first attempt of screen reading software to present it to us. Whether or not it is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act has been a subject of considerable litigation and speculation. Business claims that it is under an obligation it doesn’t understand because there are no clear regulations. The Department of Justice claims that the intent of the ADA is clear, that businesses are covered, and there is sufficient information already out there for them to comply. In an attempt to put an end to or at least reduce the controversy, the Federation has pressed the Department of Justice to issue regulations. To say that it has done so kicking and screaming might not be fair to those within the department who worked hard on it, but from the outside, it has taken a very long time. Here is some good news in this regard provided by two of our most competent members who also serve on our staff:

More than thirty years ago, on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by then president George H. W. Bush on the South Lawn of the White House. The landmark legislation required increased accessibility in many aspects of life in the United States. However, one area in which the law was not explicitly clear was the internet, and it’s easy to understand why.

Imagine, if you will, an era before social media, before rideshares, before the ability to order anything on a whim from Amazon, before smartphones, and for most Americans, before having a laptop or personal computer in their home. The internet, as the immense research, social connection, communication, and consumer tool for the masses as we know it today, was barely in its infancy on that hot July day in 1990.

Many of the lawmakers who passed the law probably had no idea what it even was, let alone had it at the top of their mind when they cast their votes. Nevertheless, that infant grew into an all-encompassing and ever-connected leviathan that the vast majority of Americans use every single day.

Unfortunately, the regulations concerning the accessibility of the internet did not keep pace, leaving millions of blind and disabled Americans unable to access all of the things non-disabled peers accessed with ease. To combat this accessibility gap, on July 26, 2010, President Barack Obama, on the same South Lawn as President Bush exactly twenty years earlier, held a ceremony to announce the publication of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to address the shortcomings in the accessibility of the websites of public entities (ADA Title II) and private companies (ADA Title III). This marked the first step toward making the digital world more accessible for people with disabilities.

It would take another six years before the next meaningful step was taken toward website accessibility with the release of a supplementary Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Notably, this supplementary notice separated the Title II and Title III regulations, choosing to focus exclusively on Title II. It also posed more than 120 questions about digital accessibility. It wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for, but finally, six years after the announcement of forthcoming digital accessibility regulations, there was real movement toward making the online world accessible to people with disabilities.

Unfortunately, and to the surprise of many, the ANPRM would be withdrawn by the Department of Justice a little over a year later in December of 2017, but the Federation never stopped advocating for website accessibility regulations. In the years after the ANPRM was withdrawn, we drafted legislation and got it introduced in both the 117th and 118th Congresses; we wrote a letter to the assistant attorney general for civil rights; and we passed two separate convention resolutions regarding website accessibility. We had no intention of letting this issue, which affects nearly everyone, be quietly swept under the proverbial rug.

And so, after years of tireless advocacy, six years after the withdrawal of the ANPRM, and thirteen years after it was first released, the Department of Justice finally published the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on August 4, 2023. For those unfamiliar with the regulatory process, the NPRM is the penultimate step before the final rule is published. We had some pretty significant reservations about the content of the NPRM, namely the exceptions for certain kinds of digital files that the rule would be introducing into the law, so we submitted our formal comments to the Department. Just a little over seven months later, on April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice published the final rule in the Federal Register.

The final rule, while imperfect, is a massive step forward for disability justice. Although it is true that the included exceptions build on the existing defenses of undue burden and fundamental alteration, it is also true that codifying our right to digital accessibility guarantees a legal foundation that government actors can’t merely wish away. The rule requires state and local governments with fifty thousand citizens or more to be in full compliance by April 24, 2026. Special district governments and governments with fewer than fifty thousand citizens have until April 26, 2027. Cities and other local governments will use the same population numbers to determine their mandatory compliance date. Compliance with the rule will be assessed using WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which we hope will be updated as the guidelines progress.

It is understandable that members of our community would be particularly concerned about the five exemptions to the rule. These five exemptions are archived web content, preexisting conventional electronic documents, content posted by a third party not subject to contract or other legal arrangement with the covered entity, individualized documents that are password protected, and preexisting social media posts. The NFB applauds the Department of Justice for having heeded our call to remove some of the proposed rule’s most egregious exemptions such as a carve-out for digital content owned by public schools and universities. Similarly, the NFB recognizes that the Department of Justice tightened its exemptions considerably after we published our response. The five exceptions included in the final rule are as follows:

Archived web content is that material created before the covered entity’s mandatory compliance date, kept only for reference, research, or recordkeeping, kept in a special area for archived content, and that has not been changed since it was archived.

The preexisting electronic documents exception applies to materials such as Word documents, PDF’s, presentations, and spreadsheets that were available on the website before the agency’s mandatory compliance date and are not still being used to access that agency’s activities, programs, or services.

The third-party web content exception pertains specifically to content posted to a covered entity’s webpage or social media account, but which they have little to no control over due to having no preexisting legal relationship with the poster. That is, content posted by an agency’s vendor, contractor, or subcontractor would need to be WCAG 2.1 compliant. Material posted by a member of the public would not.

Individualized documents that are password protected are those documents that are word processing, presentation, PDF, or spreadsheet files (as in the archived web content exception above), about a specific person, property, or account, and password-protected or otherwise secured.

Finally, the exception regarding a covered entity’s preexisting social media posts simply means that the covered entity is not required to make their social media posts conform with WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines until that entity’s mandatory compliance date.

In all of these cases, the Department of Justice stresses that the long-standing processes by which someone requests and receives a reasonable accommodation will continue to apply. A disabled American may make a written or verbal request for an accessible copy of a document, and only if providing such an accommodation would constitute either an undue burden or a fundamental alteration may the entity deny the request. Entities who fail to fully comply with the new rule after their mandatory compliance date, including the requirement to review and grant requests for reasonable accommodations, may face litigation from a private individual and/or prosecution from the United States Department of Justice. Such lawsuits often result in both injunctive relief as well as considerable financial penalties. One factor in determining compliance, however, is whether a covered entity can show that a breach of this rule is immaterial, meaning that it is so insignificant a breach that it could not realistically harm a disabled person’s ability to access the entity’s programs, services, or activities. An example of this may be a single unlabeled graphic or a level of contrast that although technically not up to code, was essentially irrelevant. Only those barriers determined to materially harm a disabled person’s equitable access to an entity’s programs, services, or activities will be considered for further action.

This sea-change in the legal landscape raises one obvious question: What about private businesses? The Department of Justice tells us that we can expect an NPRM for Title III-covered entities sometime in the future. The NFB urges the Department to issue the NPRM as soon as is practicable so that disabled Americans can enjoy equity not just as it relates to government materials, but to those materials available in the private sector, as well.

This rule is by no means a panacea. Government actors will still get it wrong from time to time, and disabled Americans will still need to advocate when they do. It is our sincere belief, however, that this rule moves the Overton window further toward the side of accessibility and equity than it has ever been. We will still face access barriers, but those barriers will be fewer in number and more easily corrected. The National Federation of the Blind stands strong in its commitment to advance accessibility and equity for all—be it through education, legislation, or litigation as the case requires. We know that accessibility, not disability, is the problem. Blindness need not hold us back.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Bruce Sexton]


I Am Just a Dad


by Bruce Sexton

>From the Editor: It is not uncommon to hear a blind person say that he or she was inspired to become a parent because another blind person demonstrated that it was possible. In this article, Bruce shows that we can inspire other people to become parents, not because they are blind or because we are blind, but simply because we handle the tasks competently.

Bruce currently works for the American Printing House for the Blind and is in charge of its diversity program. He is proud that APH is the largest distributor of educational materials for students in K through twelve in Braille anywhere in the world. Here is what he says about parenthood:

Reflecting on a cherished memory from when my son was about a year old brings a sense of deep fulfillment. At that time, I was living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I would often take him in the carrier for walks around the neighborhood—just doing what dads do.

 

Sometimes it was to get my son to nap. Other times it was to pick up takeout for dinner. Once it was to give my partner a break while I put out garage sale signs. But, just like any first-time dad, however, you worry if you’re doing things right, you’re learning how to strap the kid in safely. You’re learning how to pick him up, rotate him onto your back, and then buckle him in. You’re afraid you’ll drop him and break this precious life. But then the more you do it, the better you get. And before you know it, you’re doing it with ease and confidence. But sometimes your brain doesn’t register this until someone comes up to you and comments.

While on a couple of these walks, that’s exactly what happened. Two sighted men approached me on separate occasions. Each shared his own hesitations about entering fatherhood. One man confessed that repeatedly observing my confidence and grace as a parent inspired him to take the chance to have a child. The other complimented my parenting and remarked on my son’s contented demeanor.

These moments were incredibly empowering. They highlighted that my actions, which I considered just part of normal fatherhood, fraught with a lot of preparatory anxiety and struggle, had inspired confidence and aspiration in others. It wasn’t about overcoming my disability in their eyes; it was about excelling in a universally challenging role. The compliments I received were genuinely about parenting skills, making them feel particularly validating and significant. It was a profound reminder that we can inspire others in the most unexpected ways, simply by living our lives authentically—not for being blind, but in this case, for just being a dad. And you know what? For once, it felt good to be inspiring.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Shir Ekerling]


Rebuilding What I Should Have Known: Reflections on My Journey to be Accountable to the Blind Community


by Shir Ekerling

>From the Editor: Few issues charge people up as much as access to the web because it is so crucial in functioning fully in commerce, education, and recreation. The fact that the web is generally far less accessible than it should be is a cause of tremendous concern, but recently how web accessibility is achieved has also become a hot topic.

At the 2023 Convention the National Federation of the Blind invited the founder and chief executive officer of accessiBe to address our convention. Here is what President Riccobono said in his introduction:

PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: Our first three speakers were invited to engage us in conversation about the things that we might be able to do together. You might wonder why this next person was invited.

In 2021, we pushed back on the very harmful marketing practices and business activities of this company, and this convention affirmed the action of the Board of Directors. The company, accessiBe, had planned to sponsor this convention in 2021. We sent the money back.

By the way, we haven't said it throughout this convention, but it came to mind in Jonathan's presentation. It's really powerful that companies come here and engage us meaningfully, and part of the way they do that is by sponsoring our convention. We appreciate that. [Applause] But just in case any of our sponsors think that by being a sponsor they have bought us off, it does not happen. [Applause] Over the years I sat with many of a sponsor who was upset about a resolution being offered by the convention because they were also a sponsor. The fact of the matter is, when you show up here, blind people are much more eager to give you feedback, which is why people come, right?

This situation was a little different. We felt it was very necessary to tell this company not to come, and that they needed to do some serious work to stop harmful practices that were taking advantage of the work that we're trying to do to advance blind people in society. They needed to stop attacking our people for being advocates, and they needed to work honestly to be good stewards of the message of accessibility that we want to happen.

Now, the idea of overlays have been around for, I don't know, fifteen or sixteen years. I think that is about the first time it was ever discussed at this convention that I remember, and we're still discussing the merits of those.

But we will not be misrepresented by the companies that are trying to sell tools into the marketplace to help us with our cause, which is equal access. We will not be used! [Applause]

Now, it wasn't a certainty that accessiBe would ever appear on this stage. And I have had some very frank—many very frank conversations with this gentleman. He sent a letter to our board of directors last fall, and the board decided to allow him to publish an apology in the Braille Monitor. We told him that you all would decide whether the apology was adequate or not and that making an apology does not build the trust. It's the first step. [Applause] We told him that building trust is going to take time. I also have told him that his appearance on this stage is not an endorsement, and I think he knows he's probably amongst the least popular people in this room.

But to his credit, he still came. [Applause] I could say more about the situation, but I want to give the platform to our guest to talk about his journey and his aspirations for how he can rebuild trust and potentially do something to advance our cause in accessibility rather than harm our cause. Here is Shir Ekerling!

SHIR: Hello, everyone. My name is Shir Ekerling. I'm the founder of accessiBe. I'm very excited to be here today and address you at the convention, and I want to thank NFB leadership and President Riccobono for giving me the opportunity to do that.

I believe that you have already read my apology letter, as Mark mentioned in May's publication of the Monitor or heard my interview on the podcast [by Jonathan Mosen] last month or at least heard about one of these things. The title of my talk here today is "Rebuilding What I Should Have Known: Reflections On My Journey to Be Accountable to the Blind Community." [Applause]

This is a continuation of our efforts to demonstrate our commitment and accountability to the blind community, and I will use my approximately fifteen to twenty minutes here to talk about that and our path forward.

Many don't know, but in the last two years we have been working night and day alongside many disability community leaders, individuals, and organizations to change and transform a lot of what we do, following two of the NFB's 2021 resolutions regarding overlay products and accessiBe. The NFB guidance was clear, instrumental, and very much appreciated. [Applause]

I'm aware that the changes I'm talking about took a long time to establish, and perhaps a little too long. But some of the things we have worked to change required us to do a complete overhaul in many aspects. We had so much to learn and understand to ensure that we never repeat the same mistakes again.

Accessibility is a basic civil right. So we wanted these changes to be as thorough, comprehensive, and correct as possible. Today I'm happy to tell you that we have addressed all the points you brought forward in the 2021 resolutions. [Applause]

I will give you examples in a moment. But before that, I want you to know that this does not mean that our work and changes are over. Far from it, actually. Today we are pushing forward even further and much, much harder. We know that building trust takes time. But we are here for the long term and not afraid for a long and hard process. There is still so much more that we need to learn, do, and change, and your feedback and criticism is what helps us do things correctly. We are here to learn from you. You are the experts, and you know best. [Applause] Also, I know that many of you already have heard or read about some of the changes I'm going to mention here. So after today, our communication to you in conventions and otherwise, will mostly focus on new projects, new initiatives, and all the new things that we are building together with the community. There is a lot of activities and work being done behind the scenes together with individuals and leaders from the blind community, which we have not publicly talked about yet, but you will hear about many of these very soon.

So the resolutions included multiple topics. Today I will focus on the four most major ones and give you examples on how we address the points relating to, one, our communication, feedback, and executive team; two, our products and services; three, our technical implementations; and four, our marketing activities and campaigns.

So, let me start with communications, feedback, and our executive team. I truly believe that the way we communicated in the past was very bad, to say the least. I think this was one of the biggest reasons for the issues we had and the mistakes we've made. There are so many reasons for these communication issues, but the biggest, in my opinion, is the fact that we, the three founders of the company, were very much inexperienced in business. We were not savvy businesspeople, and the cultural barriers also were no help. When we started accessiBe, we were very young and ambitious, twenty-six and twenty-seven-year-olds, who wanted nothing more but to do a lot of good to the world and create solutions that truly helped people. And although we were software experts in web accessibility, as we have been providing accessibility services for years, we did not really know how to listen, communicate, and receive feedback and criticism correctly. Many times we reacted inappropriately.

To follow the resolutions, address these issues, and overcome our weaknesses, we had to overhaul multiple departments internally, including replacing almost all the management and stakeholders in the company and bring new people that can teach us what we needed to change and how to approach the changes correctly. [Applause]

So we sought the help of leaders in the disability community who for two years have helped us shape the new version of accessiBe that knows how to handle feedback and criticism, how to communicate properly, and is accountable to and driven by the disability community. AccessiBe 2.0, you could say.

And here are a few examples of this. One, we have created a completely new product and research department that is focused on creating product and services with and for the community. This is a huge point, and I will talk a lot more about that in a few moments. But, two, we have incorporated professionals from the disability community into every aspect of our company. Today, everything we do is made with or by talent from the disability community in the process. This includes the creation, review, guidance, or approval in creating products and services, delivering marketing campaigns and customer communications, and much, much more.

Three, we have created community feedback testing and relations teams that focus on receiving feedback and addressing any problem quickly and swiftly. [Applause] Also, I personally hands-on lead the efforts to receive comments, issues, feedback and problems from users in meetings, emails, and anywhere else. I want to hear from you. Your feedback, your criticism, your advice: We want to learn from you, and we want to work together.

In the Braille Monitor letter, I gave everyone my personal email, because I wanted to engage with you and make sure your feedback gets to the right place and implemented correctly. So please use it, my email.

Four, we also have created completely new advocacy and nonprofit departments focusing primarily on working with hundreds of nonprofit and disability‑focused organizations to raise awareness and educate about the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in the world. Our focus today is on giving the disability community a platform to reach and educate the millions of businesses, developers, and the global population directly about civil rights and disabilities, without us representing or speaking for the community in any way. [Applause]

We have replaced our entire marketing department, including all the managers and executives who could not line up with our new way of doing things, [Applause] and with our accountability to the community. We moved away from emphasizing legal actions, and our marketing today is based on the positive aspects of becoming an inclusive business. We want businesses not to fear accessibility or disabilities but be excited about the opportunities accessibility provides to their business and all the new customers they will be able to attract. [Applause]

Also, we are focused on educating the professional community: developers, designers, and managers about accessibility, both technically and socially, so they can start building and designing accessible websites and applications right from the get‑go. [Applause]

The overarching point in our marketing communications today is that accessibility should become a pillar when building for the web or when doing business in general. We advocate and educate the business community in how to achieve exactly that in every business practice, both on the web and in general.

These and many others are the types of activities we are mostly focused on today and what we invest funding in.

Back to products and services. The changes we made on this front are even more significant. Our approach today is very different from our approach two years ago, and this is thanks to all the work we have done together with the community.

Today we no longer believe in an air quotes “one size fits all” approach to accessibility. We recognize that providing accessibility should be much more comprehensive than that.

In the last two years, we have created a comprehensive ecosystem of tools, products, services, solutions, and educational programs for businesses of all sizes to provide accessibility to the best of their abilities and resources. Our solution ecosystem today focuses on giving any business, even the tiny family business or mom‑and‑pop store, ways to address and learn about accessibility thoroughly as if they were a large corporation and budget was a non‑issue.

Our goal is to help businesses implement inclusive business practices through services, products, and educational activities, many of which we provide for completely free in order to eliminate any financial argument businesses sometimes raise not to include accessibility in a comprehensive manner. [Applause]

We advocate first and foremost for native accessibility as much as possible. And our company today provides the biggest variety of options, services, and tools for business to approach, learn about, and provide web accessibility to their users. Our services department provides all accessibility services, including in‑house human audits, user testing, document mediation, accessibility consultancy on every level, for any project, technical and social training, and educational programs for companies and for professionals; and we have already successfully run and finished hundreds of such projects. [Applause]

We also provide technical guidance directly to end users if you need it. This includes comprehensive operational guides, direct technical assistance, and providing feedback and bringing issues to our attention.

Before my time is up, I want to also tell you about a few other important products we have added to our comprehensive ecosystem. AccessFlow is our new platform to test, monitor, and remediate the accessibility of websites and web applications that help developers achieve and maintain native accessibility with complete source code remediation. With this product, we enable businesses to treat and address accessibility as another pillar to address while developing for the web. Just like businesses prioritize their security and performance of their websites and applications, with accessFlow, web accessibility now gets the same treatment and the same priority. [Applause]

In simpler words, what accessFlow does is to teach and help businesses and developers integrate web accessibility natively and seamlessly into their existing software lifecycle and development process. [Applause]

AccessScan is a completely free product but a critical part of our accessibility ecosystem. For businesses to consider web accessibility, they first need to be aware of it and its importance. Unfortunately, we see many businesses, especially small ones, getting so overwhelmed by web accessibility to the point that they sometimes choose to brush it off, ignore it, and hope things will be okay, but they will not.

AccessScan is designed to raise awareness in the simplest way possible so every business owner can understand where their website stands in regard to accessibility without technical knowledge required on their side.

The whole point in accessScan is that businesses can get streamlined, simple and friendly introduction to web accessibility and disability education without being overwhelmed or concerned. We see a lot of success with this approach, which is very exciting to me.

AccessCampus is one of the biggest focuses for the near future and a major part of our efforts to help businesses create native accessibility and become truly inclusive businesses when it is released. As the name implies, accessCampus is an online education platform only for teaching accessibility and inclusivity. This is both from the technical standpoint and the social standpoint. Teachers in accessCampus are diverse and made of experts from the disability and accessibility professional communities [Applause] who teach developers and businesses from their own lived experiences and expertise. For example, blind experts will teach developers and product managers to use a screen reader properly so professional communities will have that basic knowledge when building their projects right from the get‑go. Many of these programs are also going to be completely free. This is an attempt to dramatically increase awareness and further provide a simple and friendly way for businesses and professionals to learn truly how to implement accessibility natively on the web and in many other aspects of business.

Lastly, even though most services and projects today are used by developers and businesses, I'm very excited to tell you that we're working on three completely new products and services created directly for you, the end user, and not developers or businesses. We have partnered with community leaders who directly lead and manage the creation process of these products and services while we provide primarily the engineering capabilities, resources, and the funding.

Also we are funding community projects and initiatives, investing directly in talented individuals from the blind community who are top experts in assistive technologies so they can build new and very exciting assistive technologies both in software and in hardware, and more information on that will be coming soon. These are products and services made directly by the community for the community or by the users for the users with accessiBe support, assistance, funding, and expertise.

That's it. I truly appreciate the opportunity to address you today and am very much looking forward to expanding our relationship with NFB members in working together toward creating a much more accessible world. Thank you.

PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: So, this is a beginning to the conversation. But this organization has never shied away from difficult conversations. And this is part of our effort to do exactly what Jonathan talked about earlier. We have a responsibility to not simply tell these companies what we think, but to steer them in the right direction or to steer them out of business.

We do appreciate you being here, Shir. [A speaker asks for the floor.] Briley, go ahead.

BRILEY O’CONNOR: I think what we have here is not a communications problem but an honesty problem. I'm looking at the website, your home page right now, and you promise things that don't exist. You promise WCAG compliance with an automated solution that can't give that. You promise 508 compliance with automated solution, and that doesn't exist. You promise two-minute integration and immediate turn‑around. You can't provide accessibility. If I could do accessibility in two minutes, if the automated solution already existed, I would be out of a job. I don't see anything on your home page about the importance of native accessibility and how accessiBe can help people build a sustainable accessibility practice. There is a place for overlays when they're better, but all the things that you have just said don't seem to be reflected in the communications. Are you planning to change any of that?

SHIR: Thank you for the question. As I said, we're not afraid to have difficult conversations and the long process and hard work. And to answer the question, there are multiple layers to that. First, anything that you or anyone else believe that we have done wrong or gotten wrong on our Home page or any other place, I implore you to tell me—email, or here, or any other way—so we can sit down with you and formulate the way that these things should be phrased in a better way.

I can tell you a few other things. The work we have done with the community is exactly that. The website, almost all the pages, and other communication have been created with a lot of experts. Not just experts: experts and users from the community, not just review but actual creation. Still these will not be perfect and are subject to change. If we got something wrong, we will be sure to change that.

Now, in terms of automated remediation and integration, what our Home page promises, at least when I read it—maybe it's not what you get from that, and if that's the case, I want to sit down and make the changes so it will be clear to everyone. To me what our Home page says today is we have an ecosystem of tools and solutions that together, when you implement them, you can achieve accessibility.

The two-minute-integration, the phrase is not that you achieve accessibility in two minutes, but that our systems are installable and can get in your platform in two minutes. It does not mean you have fully remediated all your product forms and other practices in two minutes. It means you install in two minutes. If that's not clear, we will work to change that, with you or anyone else willing to give us that guidance. Thank you for the question. [Applause]

PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: We're running short on time, but I would say that we do appreciate you being here. This is the beginning of a conversation, and I think the truth will tell itself in what we see accessiBe do and what this audience says about it going forward. So, thank you for appearing on our stage.

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[PHOTO CAPTION: Justin Salisbury]


Sighted Saviorism in the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind


by Justin Salisbury

>From the Editor: Justin is a frequent contributor, and usually what he brings causes me to think. In this article, he attempts to call out and define sighted saviorism. I’ve never heard this phraseology before, but I think I have known sighted people, some of whom come to help us and some of whom actually become a part of us, who demonstrate what Justin is articulating.

Initially I rejected Justin’s first contribution on this subject, suggesting that it was too abstract and lacked real world examples. I hope you will agree with me that his article is worthy of thought and some planning as to how we can prevent this without pushing away sighted people who want to help us while at the same time figuring out how we will deal with situations in which our life decisions are taken away by someone else by virtue of their vision. How do we bring into the fold people who are willing to become blind people at heart and not encourage participation by those who firmly believe that in the world of the blind, the one-eyed man will and deserves to be king? Here is Justin’s article:

I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a national representative for about thirty-five years. In one of my visits to an affiliate, there was no food served at the hotel. This was not a large convention, so many of us went to a nearby restaurant to eat. It took longer than we wanted for the food to arrive, and before many of us had finished eating, one of the sighted people at the table got up and said it was time to get back to the hotel and that the time for convention to start was quickly approaching. The president objected, saying that our goal was to get breakfast, and now that it had come, we were going to eat it. At this point the sighted person made it clear that he was the one driving the van and that the van was leaving to go back to the convention. The sighted man said that the president, and those of us who wished to remain with him, could decide whether we were going back to the convention or whether we would find our own transportation. This was before the days of Uber and Lyft, and the town in which this convention was being held had a taxi system that was unreliable at best.

To many who read this, I will be introducing a new term, but I expect that most blind people reading this will recognize the phenomenon that I am describing. Let’s call it “sighted saviorism,” which comes with derivatives like the “sighted savior.” In preparing this article, I searched the internet to see who else had ever written about this. I found a few mentions, but it does not seem to be used very often. I want to examine this concept. I have not found a direct definition of sighted saviorism or the sighted savior. I would like to attempt this myself and urge any readers who have a better one to publish it so that I can cite it in the future.

Let me define “sighted saviorism” as “the belief that sighted people exist to protect, save, help, and teach their blind counterparts.” Let me define the “sighted savior” as “a sighted person who embodies sighted saviorism.” Not all sighted people working with the blind embody sighted saviorism, but everyone is harmed and limited by it, regardless of their role. Sighted staff in blind service agencies may exhibit sighted saviorism. They may have been attracted to that job or work setting because it would feed their desire to be sighted saviors. This does not apply to all sighted people working in blind services, but it does happen. When it does, we need to be able to interact with the phenomenon effectively.

If anything undermines the culture of low expectations for the blind, the sighted savior’s ability to be a savior is diluted, so the sighted savior is likely to oppose efforts to raise expectations of the blind. Consider a scenario where a nonprofit blind services agency hires a local NFB leader to a leadership position overseeing adjustment-to-blindness training. This NFB leader is competent and puts forth positive messages about blindness. The development director, who is responsible for marketing the agency to corporate donors, had previously been marketing the agency with sighted savior narratives at cocktail parties over wine and cheese. The organizational culture had been living out the sighted savior narratives, but that old culture is now being disrupted by the positive blind role model in a leadership position. Students begin asking for new program offerings from management because they start to realize that it is okay to want something and ask for it. The sighted development director complains to the sighted executive director about how this blind employee’s positive messaging and role modeling is disrupting the way that business had always been done in that agency. The sighted development director is promoted to a newly created position where they supervise and shut down the positive messaging of the blind role model, gradually stripping her of responsibilities until they terminate her employment. A sighted savior will not want competent and independent blind people in their presence. Their self-knighted identity as a sighted savior requires an understanding of blindness that frames us as helpless. As soon as we are there, in the flesh, demonstrating that we are not helpless, this pulls the plug on their ability to be a sighted savior.

Sighted saviorism can conflict with chains of command. When competent blind professional staff of equal or superior power are present, it can disrupt their position of savior. I believe this is also true for blind professional staff of lower rank but still close proximity. In such a system, the blind professional staff are expected to embrace their role as the person who is to be protected and saved by the sighted savior. A blind person who appears to be in a top role and supervises a sighted savior may find that subordinate trying to exercise sighted saviorism on their supervisor. For example, a sighted orientation and mobility specialist sees his blind supervisor standing up in the same train car as they commute home. He approaches his supervisor, puts his hands on his supervisor’s shoulders, and encourages him to sit down in a nearby vacant seat. His supervisor declines, noting that he’d been sitting all day and is fine standing. The sighted savior persists, and his supervisor decides to sit to end the interaction. The protective and custodial actions of the sighted savior are not overtly hostile, but they constantly nudge us, individually and collectively, toward an identity that inherently needs their protection, saving, and help. However we choose to react, we must not allow ourselves to get sucked down that drain. We may not confront every instance of sighted saviorism because we have to pick our battles, but expanded awareness helps us to evaluate the battles before we pick them.

Many professional preparation programs for pre-service professionals in the blindness field, such as master’s degree programs in teaching the blind, are constructed and maintained by people who are programmed to reinforce the Vision Industrial Complex. They may be aware of it, or they may not be. They may be sighted, or they may be blind. If they operate under the Vision-Centered approach, they reinforce the Vision Industrial Complex. Sighted saviors are entangled in the Vision Industrial Complex. Sighted saviorism frames blind people as perpetually needing protection, saving, help, and teaching, and this idea seems to be both an input and an output of the self-perpetuating Vision Industrial Complex. The faulty concepts lead us through a circle: if blind people are helpless and need perpetual saving, then we need more service provider sighted saviors, and the sighted saviors teach us that blind people are helpless and need perpetual saving.

Institutions within the Vision Industrial Complex are now following national trends and using performative inclusivity to lure in blind people who want to make genuine improvements in the blindness field. Then, they condition them to support the Vision Industrial Complex. By doing this, they lure in the people who might have otherwise stayed outside the institution and fought publicly for reforms and turn them into agents of their own marginalization. Performative inclusion often becomes predatory inclusion, where the people from the marginalized group are welcomed into a space but included only on the terms that they will be exploited and held at lower status. As one of my mentors explained to me, these faculty may bring us in so that they can harvest our insider knowledge as members of the blind community and then try to brand it as their own, gaslighting and silencing us while they take credit for our work and the wisdom we have gained through our lived experiences.

Consider a well-adjusted blind student who enters a Vision-Centered orientation and mobility master’s degree program. The program faculty ensure that he and his cane are noticeable in all group photos. When they recruit the next cohort of students, they’re proud to say that they’re so good at training orientation and mobility specialists that they can even train a blind person to do the job. When he speaks his ideas in class, he is repeatedly gaslit and dismissed, but his professors make note of his ideas so that they can market them as their own at conferences and in journal articles. Part of sighted saviorism is the assumption that knowledge is much more credible when it comes from a sighted person and that sighted people have a greater right to know something than a blind person does. Throughout the program, he is expected to use a sighted “reader” to assist with visual monitoring of students. Upon graduation, the program faculty tell him and prospective employers that he is best for a non-teaching role. For years to come, they tell prospective students about the blind orientation and mobility specialist they trained. He went there to learn how to help blind people, but they used him to advance themselves while sidelining him within the profession.

Sighted saviorism includes a harmful approach to epistemology, which is a fancy way of saying “ways of knowing.” Epistemology includes the concept of who gets to know something and what ways of producing knowledge should be privileged above others. In the National Federation of the Blind, we come together and produce knowledge about blindness based on the lived experiences of blind people. If someone wants to know the truth about blindness, they inherently make a decision about where they go to get their information. I always try to use the information coming from the National Federation of the Blind as my starting point. Sighted saviors will often encourage others around them to not trust or not listen to the Federation about blindness because not every blind person is a member of the NFB. Realistically, we will never get to a point of having every blind person as a member of the NFB, so, if that is the requirement, then the NFB can never be trusted to provide credible information about blindness. If they choose to reject NFB knowledge as their starting point, then they have to choose something else. Those who reject the wisdom of the NFB typically default to the mainstream narratives in the broader society about blindness. This is not only illogical, but it perpetuates harmful ideas and invalidates the wisdom of the organized blind. In summary, decentering the collective voice of the organized blind in favor of centering the dominant ableist societal narratives is a form of epistemic ableism, or ableism in ways of knowing.

There is good news in all of this. In 1940, sixteen blind people gathered in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, because they were tired of the way that we were being treated. They knew that we, the blind, had a right to speak for ourselves and to drive the depictions of blindness in public discourse. They founded the National Federation of the Blind, and they dreamt that we would reach the day when the blind could name the sighted savior and the Vision Industrial Complex. They dreamt of the day that blind people would have the right to vote, the right to bear and raise children, the right to earn the same minimum wage as our nondisabled counterparts, the manifested right to equal access in education and employment, the right to accessible prescription drug labels, and full integration into society. Increasing public understanding of sighted saviorism will help us to address it, which is helpful in our quest to raise expectations of blind people. We, the organized blind, get to tell our story, and the knowledge generated by our movement should be treated as the baseline for knowledge about blindness. Helplessness can happen at the beginning of blindness, and sighted saviorism cannot free us from that initial helplessness. We need empowerment and independence, and we will not let sighted saviorism stand in our way.

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Monitor Miniatures


News from the Federation Family


How to Pay for Your Convention Hotel Stay

by Tony Cobb

>From the Editor: This helpful information comes from Tony Cobb, who for many years served as a fixture in the lobby of our convention hotels. Here is an important warning for those who may be considering how to pay for their stay:

Every year at our national convention we have serious trouble with use of debit cards or cash payments at hotel check-in, and, having worked to solve these problems for years, I can tell you they can nearly ruin the convention week for those experiencing them. Planning to attend our national convention should therefore include thinking seriously about how to pay the hotel, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to avoid using cash or a debit card as your payment method. Doing so may seem convenient, but you should not do so. If you do not have a credit card of your own to use instead, prevail upon a close friend or family member to let you use one just for convention. Here’s why:

If you are paying in actual currency, most hotels will want enough cash up front at check-in to cover your room and tax charges for the entire stay, plus a one-time advance incidentals deposit to cover meals, telephone calls, internet service, and other things you may charge to your room. The unused portion of the incidentals deposit may be returned at check-out or by mail after departure. Understand, however, that, if your incidentals charges exceed the incidentals deposit credited, you are responsible for payment of the full balance at check-out. The total can end up being a very large sum indeed.

If you use a debit card, however, you are really at a potentially painful disadvantage. The hotel will put a hold on money in your bank account linked to the debit card to cover the estimated balance of your stay—that is, for the entire week’s room and tax charges plus a one-time incidentals deposit to cover meals, movies, and so on charged to your room. You should be aware that the hold can therefore be a considerable amount of money and that you will not have access to that amount for any other purchases or payments with your card. Hotels sometimes also put authorizations on credit cards, by the way, but those are not often a problem unless they exceed your card’s credit limit.

Holds can remain in effect for three to five days or even a week after you check out. If you have pre-authorized payments from your bank account, for example your monthly mortgage payment, or if you try to make a purchase with your debit card and it's refused, the hold from the hotel can cause you trouble or result in very large overdraft fees for payments you thought you had money in your account to cover. I have seen this hit some of our members in the form of hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

This means that, if you use a debit card, you would have to be certain you have a high enough balance in your checking account when you come to convention to cover any debit card holds. This is a perilous practice since charges may exceed your estimate by a considerable amount. Some frequent travelers even open a separate checking account used only for debits like these. Remember, a hold is going to be placed on your debit card regardless of how you end up paying the bill, and the hold is not necessarily released right away, even if you pay with a credit card or cash when you check out of the hotel.

Planning ahead in this area can ensure an untroubled week at convention, leaving you free to enjoy fully the world’s largest and most exciting meeting of the blind.

Blind Businesswoman Vindicated and Awarded over $30,000 by Jury in Federal Equal Access Case

National Federation of the Blind Supported Important ADA Litigation

San Francisco, California (April 29, 2024): A jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California rendered a verdict in favor of Lisamaria Martinez, a blind entrepreneur, in her equal access lawsuit against the County of Alameda. The jury found that the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office deliberately violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California law and awarded damages in the amount of $30,500 dollars.

The lawsuit stemmed from an incident on March 29, 2019, at the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, where Ms. Martinez was denied assistance to write information on a printed form in order to register her business name. The lawsuit asserted that this refusal contravened federal and state disability laws. Personnel at the office cited internal policy that prohibited clerks from providing transcriber services to assist Ms. Martinez in completing a paper form. Title II of the ADA specifically requires state and local government entities to provide auxiliary aids and services, such as a reader/transcriber to help blind or print-disabled people fill out forms.

“This case underscores the legal obligations of public entities to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment for all individuals, including the blind,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, which supported the litigation. “Even when technological solutions are available, the policies of these entities must be flexible so that blind people have the same options that are available to everyone else, including the ability to fill out a paper form. The fact that we had to join Lisamaria Martinez in her courageous five-year fight for one of the most basic accommodations contemplated by the law is shocking. Fortunately, the jury recognized and rectified this injustice. We stand ready to collaborate with any entity that seeks our help with best practices for providing both human and computer-based access for blind residents depending on their needs, but we will not tolerate willful discrimination and are prepared to fight until we win.”

"After a grueling five-year journey, my Federation family and I have reached a verdict that upholds the right to equal access for all,” said Lisamaria Martinez. “When Alameda County refused to collaborate with us on a solution, I was faced with a choice: remain silent or fight against a clear injustice. In choosing to fight, I risked being told my rights were different because I am blind—a risk worth taking to ensure no other blind person faces this kind of discrimination. I am grateful to the jury and proud to have torn down artificial barriers so that no other blind person who enters an Alameda County office will encounter them."

Lisamaria Martinez was represented by Timothy R. Elder of the San Francisco-based TRE Legal Practice, www.trelegal.com <http://www.trelegal.com>  and Tomiyo Stoner of Undaunted Law Firm, P.C.

Upcoming Events at the Meeting of the DeafBlind Division

Maurice Mines sends us the following: Jonathan Mosen will be our main speaker. He was so excited about coming that he asked if he could stay for the entire division meeting. I of course, said yes. We will also have the head of the I Can Connect program nationally coming to join us in Orlando. She’ll talk about the program’s offerings. In addition, we have the regional director of Helen Keller coming to talk with us. Two professional blind women will speak; one of them is, of course, a long-time author, Deborah Kendrick, and the other is our former Second Vice President Danielle Burton. They’re going to talk about how they got their jobs and what challenges they faced. They’ll also give some tips to others looking for employment.

We have confirmed that Orbit Research and HumanWare will attend and present. There may be more to come, but that’s what I have so far set up for the division agenda this summer.

Sonos Seeking Blind Beta Testers

Sonos is a company that produces high-quality audio products, such as speakers and other components, that connect to the internet and each other through home wi-fi networks. Many blind people have been enthusiastic users of its products over the years because the company maintained high standards of accessibility. With the recent redesign of the smartphone app that is used to control a user’s devices, there was a severe degradation of screen-reader accessibility. Sonos has since acknowledged the issue and reached out to the National Federation of the Blind to ask for our help in recruiting blind beta testers for future iterations of the app. Since the company says that it will be rolling out accessibility improvements through the end of June, signing up right away will likely be the best way to test these improvements and provide feedback. If you are a Sonos user and would like to participate in its beta program, here is the link to sign up: https://beta.sonos.com/key/passport.

We anticipate that a future Monitor and other Federation communications will contain more information on our advocacy with Sonos. 

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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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