[NFBofSC] FW: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, August/September 2024

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From: brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org <brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org> On
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Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, August/September 2024

 


The Braille Monitor, August/September 2024


BRAILLE MONITOR


Vol. 67, No. 8 August/September 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> 

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

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NFB-NEWSLINE® information: 866-504-7300

Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind
<http://Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind> 

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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.

You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your
computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives
can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to
stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive
when you return the device.

Vol. 67, No. 8 August/September 2024


Contents


Convention Roundup #NFB24

by Chris Danielsen

2024 Presidential Report

by Mark A. Riccobono

Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Presentation

by Carla McQuillan

Presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards

by Everette Bacon

Dignity, Respect, and Determination: The Momentum of the Blind People’s
Movement

by Mark A. Riccobono

Inclusion by Example: Adventures of a Blind Woman Navigating the Oceans of
STEM Professionals

by Amy Bower

Remarks of the Scholarship Class of 2024

Resolutions Passed by the 2024 National Convention

Beyond Routes and Techniques: The Energy of Structured Discovery in
Blindness Training

by Carlos R. Serván

A Long-Overdue Step Forward for Blind Cubers

by Paul Martz

Monitor Miniatures

[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen]

[PHOTO CAPTION: A lobby full of NFB members get registered and pick up their
pre-registration packets at the start of convention.

[PHOTO CAPTION: It was a full room during the Rookie Roundup this year. At
the front of the room a member receives ASL interpretation.

[PHOTO CAPTION: David Goldstein, a member from Pennsylvania, checks out the
Patriot ViewPoint headset and chats with Curtis Mintrone about Patriot
Vision Industries in the exhibit hall.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Ankitha and her mom, Liz Valdez, smile together as Ankitha
asks President Riccobono a question during the NOPBC Kid Talk. Other
families and members smile as they listen.

[PHOTO CAPTION: During opening ceremonies, the color guard presents the
flags in the front of the convention hall. The senior sergeant, color
bearers, and rifle guards salute.

[PHOTO CAPTION: A group of Kids Camp participants get a blind hockey lesson
from mentor and USA blind hockey player Josh Schneider.

[PHOTO CAPTION: In the Drop-In Art Room, Georgina Harris along with her
daughter Elly and new friend Marche Roberson hold up the origami they just
completed.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Two NFB members square up to the target to throw their axes
during the Sports and Recreation night.

[PHOTO CAPTION: The Resolutions Committee meeting was a popular event during
convention. The room was packed full of members eager to hear and discuss
convention priorities.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Tasabih Elfaki and Esli Ramos of the NFB of Illinois try out
the bungee cord bouncy house together.

[PHOTO CAPTION: The banquet room was packed full of enthusiastic NFB members
listening to President Riccobono’s speech.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Ray Kurzweil joined us in person again and addressed the
convention during the banquet.


Convention Roundup #NFB24


by Chris Danielsen


Introduction


The annual national convention of the National Federation of the Blind is
often compared to a reunion or homecoming. This seems particularly
applicable to #NFB24, as the convention was known on social media and its
dedicated mobile app. Not only were veteran convention attendees
reconnecting with our extended chosen Federation family, but we were also on
familiar ground at the beautiful Rosen Centre Hotel in the heart of downtown
Orlando, Florida. This was the site of our seventy-fifth anniversary
convention in 2015, at which we broke a world record, and where the National
Federation of the Blind proudly hosted the 2016 General Assembly of the
World Blind Union. It seemed that many Rosen Centre staff were looking
forward to the convention as much as we were. On Wednesday, July 3, the
first convention morning, they greeted us with their expected courtesy,
friendliness, and efficient service. Staff at the large hotel restaurant
known as Café Gaugin not only served many of us our first hearty breakfast
from its buffet (including your humble correspondent, who being a Southern
boy at heart was delighted to find decent grits available), but also eagerly
directed crowds toward the registration area just beyond the restaurant.
These helpful staff members joined volunteers from other Rosen properties,
where we have also held conventions and which were serving as overflow
hotels, in helping the convention run smoothly and making sure everyone
found the meeting or gathering they were looking for. Of course, our
Convention Ambassadors, the Federation volunteers who serve as "talking
signs" and assist in other ways, were also on hand.

Some Federationists had risen well before convention registration started to
attend the annual daylong conference of the National Organization of Parents
of Blind Children (NOPBC) or the twenty-third annual Contemporary Issues in
Rehabilitation and Education for the Blind Conference sponsored by the
National Blindness Professional Certification Board and the Professional
Development and Research Institute on Blindness.

Many of the rest packed the ballroom foyer to wait patiently in the
registration and preregistration lines while greeting each other and
discussing their plans for the upcoming week. Registrants and preregistrants
received a packet containing their convention name badge and any banquet
tickets they had purchased, and many received a QR code so that they could
start playing a trivia game created by the consultants working with the
Federation to create the Museum of the Blind People’s Movement. On the
twenty-fourth floor, the Presidential Suite was also receiving guests, who
enjoyed coffee, snacks, and the opportunity to meet President Mark Riccobono
and other Federation leaders and staff. The afternoon brought the annual
career fair sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind Employment
Committee. Some seven hundred people, most of them attending their first
convention, gathered for the "Rookie Roundup" that evening, where they were
welcomed by President Riccobono, First Vice President Pam Allen, and others
who helped to give them a preview of the convention and tips for making the
most of it.

Throughout this first day and the rest of the convention, many other
meetings or breakout sessions took place. They included gatherings of
Federation divisions, committees, and groups; presentations by some of our
sponsors; "Youth Track" activities for children, teens, and their families
sponsored by the NOPBC; and much more. Readers can obtain an overview of the
hundreds of convention activities by reviewing the #NFB24 agenda, which is
available at
https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/2024-national-convention-ag
enda. We have highlighted only a few of them in this article to give a
flavor of the variety of activities available. We have asked committee,
division, and group leaders to provide reports of the meetings they led or
attended, so we are hopeful that this request will bring additional content
in the coming months.


Overview of the Virtual Experience


In keeping with a tradition begun in 2022, the first in-person convention
after the COVID-19 pandemic, those who could not attend #NFB24 for whatever
reason were invited to participate in a virtual experience. This allows
those who cannot attend the convention to audit the general sessions, as
well as the meetings of the Resolutions Committee and Board of Directors.
They can also access exclusive content designed to give a taste of the rest
of the convention. The first of the virtual experience sessions during the
convention proper was an extensive welcome from the Presidential Suite
beginning at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning. For two hours, Federation First
Lady Melissa Riccobono, with some help from Membership Building Coordinator
Danielle McCann and your correspondent, gave listeners a sense of the
conversation and activity among visitors to the Presidential Suite and
previewed the other content that would be available to virtual experience
participants in the coming days. Much of the exclusive virtual convention
content is now posted on our 2024 convention archive page, which readers can
visit at
https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/past-conventions/2024-natio
nal-convention. This page also contains many of the presentations you will
read about in the following pages, in case you cannot wait to experience
them in this and future issues of this magazine.


Day Two: Exhibit Hall and Independence Market Open, Resolutions Committee
Meets, and More


The next day was July 4, Independence Day. This is an important celebration
for our nation, but also coincided nicely with the first opportunity for
attendees to visit the Federation’s Independence Market and check out some
of its over four hundred offerings, from our ever-popular white canes and
Braille writing supplies to the brand new Rubik’s Sensory Cube, which uses
tactile markings along with colors to allow blind people to solve the
"world’s most popular puzzle" independently. The National Federation of the
Blind worked directly with Spin Master, the global entertainment company
that holds the rights to Rubik’s Cube, to create this product and its
accessible packaging, which incorporates Braille. The rest of our convention
exhibit hall was open as well, boasting everything from the latest and
greatest technology products to various swag being offered by Federation
affiliates in exchange for donations. The exhibitors included many of our
convention sponsors, which have the thanks of our movement for helping to
make this enormous annual undertaking possible. Here is a complete list of
these valued partners by sponsorship level.


Platinum: 


*	Google
*	Microsoft
*	Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (Non-24)
*	Oracle
*	Vispero
*	Waymo
*	Wells Fargo


Gold: 


*	Amazon
*	Target


Silver: 


*	Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
*	Delta Airlines
*	JPMorgan Chase & Co.
*	Market Development Group
*	Uber


Bronze: 


*	American Printing House
*	AmGen
*	Centene Corporation
*	Charter Communications
*	Cruise
*	CVS Health
*	Guiding Eyes for the Blind
*	HumanWare
*	United Airlines
*	Zoox


White Cane:


*	ABLE United / ABLE Today
*	Aira
*	AllyADA
*	American Foundation for the Blind
*	C&P-Chris Park Technology
*	Central Intelligence Agency
*	Computers for the Blind
*	Democracy Live
*	En-Vision America
*	Envision, Inc.
*	GoodMaps
*	IKE Smart City
*	Jackson Walker LLP
*	Leader Dogs for the Blind
*	McGraw Hill
*	National Industries for the Blind
*	National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
*	OrCam
*	Penny Forward
*	Personal.ai
*	Saavi Services for the Blind
*	Selvas BLV, formerly HIMS Inc.
*	Sensotec
*	Tactile Engineering / Independence Science

Meanwhile, beginning at 11 a.m., virtual experience participants could
listen into a sampling of audio from throughout the convention as part of
their exclusive content package. This lively and fun presentation is
available on the convention archive page referenced above.

One of the most important functions of the national convention is as the
supreme governing authority of our movement. Not only are annual elections
held, but our policy priorities for the coming year and beyond are set. That
process begins with the meeting of the Resolutions Committee, which by
longstanding tradition took place on the convention’s second afternoon. The
Resolutions Committee receives proposed policy statements from members of
the Federation, debates them, and takes an initial vote that determines
whether the committee will recommend that the full convention pass each
resolution during one of its general sessions. During the committee meeting,
a proponent is asked to speak in favor of each resolution and answer
questions from committee members. Beyond the participation of these
proponents, debate takes place exclusively among the committee members at
this point. Nonetheless, the meeting is often packed with other convention
attendees eager to learn what policy proposals they will be asked to
consider later. This year was no exception.

As noted, it was the afternoon of July 4, and fittingly the twenty-two
resolutions considered by the committee often touched on the theme of
facilitating the greater independence of blind people in a variety of
activities, from life’s "fun stuff" such as accessing the many theme parks
in Orlando and beyond to more serious matters like managing our own
healthcare, receiving nondiscriminatory treatment in employment settings,
and purchasing goods and services independently, whether in store or online.
Resolutions Chair Donald Porterfield, with help from resolution readers
Jennifer Dunnam and Pat Miller and of course the resolution proponents and
members of the committee, handled the proceedings with efficiency and
aplomb, with all resolutions duly debated and voted upon in just under three
hours. Although not all resolutions make it out of the committee in some
years, this time the committee sent all twenty-two of the proposals to the
convention floor. Accordingly, the text of all resolutions remained posted
to the NFB website so that members could read and consider them in advance
of floor debate and prepare any comments they wished to make.


The Board Breaks Big News


The morning of Friday, July 5, featured the meeting of the Board of
Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. While convention
attendees could still visit the Exhibit Hall and Independence Market, as
well as enjoy other group meetings, sponsor sessions, and more, many chose
to be in the grand ballroom for this important kickoff event, considered to
be the first general session of the convention. Among other things, the
board meeting sets the stage for elections and often provides important
news, such as the location of next year’s convention. In addition, some
awards are presented, and the thirty national scholarship finalists
introduce themselves to the audience. This year’s board meeting did not
disappoint on any of these fronts; in fact, it broke more news than usual.

President Riccobono gaveled the meeting to order precisely at nine o’clock
and called the roll. All officers and directors were present. President
Riccobono then called us to remember Federationists we had lost since our
last convention by reading fifty-six of their names and reminding us to lift
up those whose names did not make the list but were inscribed on the hearts
of all those who knew and loved them. The gathering then recited the Pledge
of Allegiance and Federation Pledge. The latter was celebrating its fiftieth
anniversary, having been proposed by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the 1974
convention. President Riccobono then reminded attendees to avoid engaging in
conduct that was not welcoming and respectful of others, including
jam-packing the elevators, mingling in crowds if we were feeling ill, and
wearing fragrances. The upcoming elections were then discussed, with the
members up for re-election and those whose terms would continue read to the
audience. Ron Brown, second vice president of the Federation, sought the
floor and was recognized. Ron said that his philosophy of service is best
summed up by a quote from the poet Maya Angelou: "When you get, give; when
you know, teach." He recounted his service on the board beginning in
Philadelphia in 2001 and his election as second vice president in 2008 in
Dallas. He said that, having helped drive the train of our movement, he was
ready to kick back with his wife Jean, his "Miss Sunshine," and ride it for
a while. President Riccobono thanked Ron for being a "rock" of the board
during the transition between Immediate Past President Dr. Marc Maurer and
himself and averred that there may never be another board member with as
many World Series of Beep Baseball championship rings.

Carla McQuillan was recognized next. She announced that she would not seek
the office of president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon
when it meets for its convention in October and has recently been elected
chair of the board of BLIND Inc., our Minnesota blindness skills training
center, to help reimagine and reinvigorate its program. She therefore
declined to be nominated for another term on the Board of Directors. Joking
that her husband, Lucas, was raising money by conducting a poll as to when
she would begin to cry, Carla expressed that she did not believe that she
would ever be able to give back to the Federation everything that it had
given to her, but that she would continue to try. There were indeed a few
tears, perhaps not only from Carla. President Riccobono fondly recalled that
Carla was one of the first Federationists he met at his own first convention
and thanked her for the many years of running NFB Camp, our convention
childcare, as well as her board service and her anticipated contributions to
BLIND Inc.

Adelmo Vigil then sought the floor to announce that he was concluding his
eight years of service on the board. He added, however, that he was quite
sure that he would continue to work in the movement, since every time he
announced his retirement from something, true retirement seemed to slip
further and further away. President Riccobono thanked Adelmo for his service
and reflected that he was not the loudest board member, but when he spoke he
did so with authenticity and authority that commanded respect.

Our national President then introduced Jorge Hernandez, president of the
National Federation of the Blind of Florida, who welcomed us home to
Orlando, invited us to visit the Florida hospitality suite, and previewed
the exciting opening ceremony that the host affiliate had planned for the
first general session.

Then the big news came. John Berggren, chair of convention arrangements,
called our attention to various logistics, such as the shuttle
transportation among hotels, guide dog relief areas, and banquet ticket
exchange. In doing so, he alluded to next year’s convention, but noted that
he did not seem to have legibly printed information on where it would be
located. President Riccobono responded that his Braille notes were intact
and announced that the 2025 convention would take place at two
familiar-sounding hotels with competitive rates and ample facilities in the
city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Norma Crosby then sought the floor and was
recognized. She slyly stated that she had earlier assured some of her
Federation family that the President would never keep secrets from our
members, so she was sure that if he knew where conventions were taking place
after 2025, he would tell us. President Riccobono wondered if Norma thought
perhaps attendance would be harmed at forthcoming conventions if too much
information about their locations were provided (she did not think so), and
then needled her by asking if she thought there was a better location than
New Orleans. Norma replied that she thought there were perhaps some cities
that could at least equal New Orleans. This prompted President Riccobono to
announce—after revealing dates, hotels, and room rates first to build more
suspense—that the 2026 convention would be our first-ever to take place in
Austin, Texas. Norma then asked, "Is that all you got?" which prompted the
revelation that our 2027 convention will also take place in Austin. Marilyn
Green of Illinois was recognized and mentioned that other affiliates might
want a convention in their state as well, perhaps in someplace cooler than
Texas in summer. "Maybe by a lake?" President Riccobono teased, previewing
his revelation that the 2028 and 2029 conventions will be held in Chicago.
It is probable that not since the then-pending six Orlando conventions, plus
one intervening in Dallas, were revealed in 2010 have so many conventions
been previewed at a single board meeting. All of the known convention dates
and locations are now posted at nfb.org/convention
<https://nfb.org/convention> .

A video presentation from Federationist Sachin Pavithran was then
introduced. Sachin’s day job is as executive director of the Access Board, a
small, independent federal agency that sets accessibility standards. He
announced that in 2025, the entire Access Board, along with key staff, would
attend the New Orleans convention and hold an official town hall on the
morning of the Resolutions Committee meeting, as well as breakout sessions
throughout the rest of the event. He also announced that the Access Board
would soon be issuing a new standard regarding the self-service transaction
machines that are proliferating across the government and private sector and
urged all of us to read it when published and submit our comments. These
announcements were greeted with great enthusiasm by the audience, and
President Riccobono complimented Sachin and the Access Board for taking the
bold and historic step of holding a meeting in conjunction with the largest
annual gathering of people with disabilities, its direct constituents.


Critical Committees and Supporting Our Movement


Following all of this thrilling news and throughout the rest of the board
meeting, President Riccobono shared more convention logistics and invited
the leaders of several important committees and fundraising efforts to make
brief presentations. A few highlights of what they had to say are as
follows:

Ronza Othman, chair of the Code of Conduct Feedback Committee, reminded
members that they are invited and encouraged to provide critical input
regarding the organization’s Code of Conduct, which governs the expected
behavior of our members and outlines disciplinary procedures for violations,
by sending an email to codefeedback at nfb.org <mailto:codefeedback at nfb.org>
or by calling 410-659-9314 (the Federation’s main national office number),
then dialing extension 2284. This feedback is confidential; only members of
the committee will be aware of the information about individuals submitting
the feedback, and the overall results will be aggregated so as not to
identify them.

Kenia Flores was introduced as the new cochair of the Committee on
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She thanked outgoing cochair Colin Wong
for his mentorship and service and expressed how much she looks forward to
working with cochair Shawn Callaway and the rest of the committee. She also
urged listeners to complete their member profiles at www.nfb.org
<http://www.nfb.org>  so that the committee will have accurate information
about the various intersectionalities and demographics of our membership.

Patti Chang, Director of Outreach and Development, reminded everyone of our
critical fundraising initiatives, including our continued acceptance of
vehicle donations, which can be made by calling 855-659-9314. She also
thanked the convention sponsors mentioned earlier in this article and shared
that a fundraiser planned for Blind Equality Achievement Month in October of
2024 will feature a drawing to win the new BT Speak device from Blazie
Technologies. Information about all of the ways you can support our movement
is at https://nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give, and Patti can be reached at
pchang at nfb.org <mailto:pchang at nfb.org>  or extension 2422.

Tracy Soforenko, chair of our Kenneth Jernigan Fund Committee, which
provides scholarships for people who need financial assistance to attend
their first convention, announced that the committee received nearly two
hundred applications this year and was able to award grants to 111
individuals and families, the largest class of awardees in the fund’s
history.

Everette Bacon, board secretary and chair of the White Cane Fund, reminded
the audience of this fund’s importance, as it is our general fund that
supports much of the work of our organization. He encouraged all to
participate in the "Dream Big, Give 25" campaign to support this fund before
it ended at the close of general session the next day, pointing out that
this would not only help our movement but give donors a chance to win
exciting and valuable prizes, including a trip to next year’s convention or
a Monarch dynamic tactile display.

Marilyn Green, chair of the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) Committee,
reminded us of the importance of that effort and encouraged the friendly but
fierce competition among affiliates that is always part of the national
convention.

Sandy Halverson, reporting virtually from Virginia as her husband John, a
leader in his own right, recovered from a stroke, chairs the SUN Fund
Committee, and reminded listeners of its critical importance in serving as
the emergency fund of our organization. She urged us to find creative ways
to support the fund, including passing a "SUN basket" at caucuses and events
to add to the relatively small but critically important balance.

In the absence of its board chair Kathryn Webster, who had been called away
from the meeting by her employer and could not present her virtual report,
President Riccobono reminded the audience that our Jacobus tenBroek Memorial
Fund supports and manages our property in Baltimore. He announced that the
tenBroek Fund board has authorized the construction of a new, covered guide
dog relief area on this property.


Distinguished Educator and Scholarship Presentations


Carla McQuillan chairs the committee that selects the recipient of the
Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award. She took the microphone for
the second time during the board meeting to announce this year’s winner. The
full presentation and the winner’s acceptance remarks, along with the
official press release announcing the award, appear elsewhere in this issue.

The final presentation of the morning, and probably the most eagerly
anticipated portion of the board meeting except perhaps for the future
convention reveals, was given by Cayte Mendez, who chairs the National
Federation of the Blind Scholarship Committee. Her task was to announce the
thirty finalists for the scholarships and allow them to introduce themselves
briefly to the convention. The winners of scholarships were announced later
at the convention banquet. Full information about the scholarship finalists
and awards appears elsewhere in this issue. Following the presentation of
the scholarship class, Federation First Vice President and Board Chair Pam
Allen moved that the scholarship program be continued. The motion was
quickly seconded and unanimously adopted.

Before closing the meeting, President Riccobono invited Pam Allen to give
some brief additional remarks. Pam’s comments focused on the core values of
our organization, as adopted in our strategic plan published in the July
2023 issue of this magazine. Here is what Pam had to say in closing the
board meeting:

Thank you. Hello, my Federation family! I’m thrilled to be here with all of
you for our 2024 convention. And whether you’re here in person or
participating through our Virtual Experience, I know you feel the energy and
the love. I want to commend President Jorge Hernandez and our Florida team
for all of their outstanding hospitality, and I want to send a special
shout-out to our first-time attendees. It was great to be together at the
Rookie Roundup where our first-timers learned firsthand how to make the most
out of their convention. Just like today, the excitement in the room was
palpable, and our convention veterans and KJ Committee members did an
extraordinary job.

This convention I encourage you to take advantage of all the opportunities.
As we gather this week, let us reflect on our core values:

We believe in the potential of blind people to achieve our dreams. We lead
courageously, taking bold steps toward a more inclusive society. We champion
collective action, knowing that together we are stronger. We foster
inclusion and celebrate our diversity, ensuring that every voice is heard
and valued, and we dream big because the possibilities are limitless. When
we believe in ourselves and one another, we have the power to shape our own
destinies.

How fortunate we are to have been nurtured by our leaders like Dr. and Mrs.
Maurer, Dr. and Mrs. Jernigan, and so many who showed us how to live our
philosophy through our actions and words. I also want to acknowledge and
celebrate the exceptional leadership of President Riccobono.

Your unwavering commitment to each of us and to our mission transforms
lives. Your leadership has been instrumental in driving our mission forward,
guided by our core values, and we are so grateful to you and to Melissa for
your loving dedication, which motivates us all. I want to thank each of you
for being here and for the work we’re doing this week, but also all year at
our local and state levels. We could not turn our dreams into reality
without you, and if you have not joined yet, we hope that you will. Whether
this is your first convention or your fifty-first, I know you will leave
here uplifted and renewed, ready to spread our message.

Eleanor Roosevelt said: "The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams." Let’s embrace our dreams with determination and
optimism, knowing that together, we can achieve extraordinary things. Happy
convention! Let’s go build the National Federation of the Blind!

It is worth noting here that the core values Pam mentioned were the guiding
theme of the convention. The registration badges contained the words
"believe, lead, champion, include, dream big" and the print and Braille
bracelets that many attendees received read "Believe in blind people 2024."

After Pam’s stirring remarks, the board meeting was adjourned. Those who
stayed tuned in to the virtual experience heard a one-on-one discussion
between Danielle McCann and Lia Stone, who cochairs the NFB Employment
Committee along with Jennifer Wenzel. The employment efforts that this
committee helps to direct include a career fair that takes place as part of
each convention. Lia reported that this year’s career fair, which had taken
place Wednesday afternoon, was an outstanding success, with some thirty
employers and some 170 job seekers participating. She noted that
representatives of employers who had not participated were impressed and
approached her to say that they would join the event next year. She also
answered questions from the virtual audience, relaying employment tips and
insights from her own professional journey. This conversation is archived on
the 2024 convention page mentioned above.

The balance of Friday brought the business meetings of many of the divisions
and groups of the National Federation of the Blind, as well as the annual
Braille Book Fair sponsored by our partner organization, the American Action
Fund for Blind Children and Adults. President Riccobono had noted during the
board meeting that 181 boxes of books were received for the book fair, with
plenty of reading material for both children and adults.


The First General Session Begins


The opening general session of #NFB24 was set to begin at nine o’clock on
the morning of July 6, and like all Federation meetings, it started on time.
Well before it commenced, though, Federationists who had found their
affiliate delegations and snagged seats early were loudly and
enthusiastically directing others from their affiliate to join them. The
deep, sonorous voice of Dwight Sayer, immediate past president of the
National Association of Blind Veterans, was also heard directing all
veterans, active-duty personnel, and reservists to come to the right of the
stage in preparation for the Celebration of Freedom, a beloved tradition
that he helped to inaugurate. President Riccobono brought the convention to
order at the appointed time, and introduced Linda Mentink, chair of the
Blind Christians Group, for the opening invocation. After the first door
prize, current NABV President Dr. Vernon Humphrey was introduced. He in turn
summoned the color guard, which brought the American flag and the standards
of the United States Armed Forces to the stage. Our national anthem was
sung, and then the color guard was dismissed. Vernon thanked the local
Shriners for assisting with the patriotic opening, then turned the
microphone back over to President Riccobono. The President took a moment to
thank the Youth Track participants for gifting him with a new hat, featuring
a parrot, in honor of our Florida convention, mentioning past gifts from
them as well, including his rubber chicken, Banquet. He named the parrot hat
Buffet. He then introduced host affiliate President Jorge Hernandez, who
once again welcomed us all and then introduced Tomasito Cruz and the Ritmo
Latino Band. This high-energy combo, led by its Grammy-winning
percussionist, soon had some singing along and many others dancing in the
aisles as it played a spirited set of authentic Latin songs and familiar
Latin-flavored pop and rock tunes. The energetic performance was all the
more impressive given that, as Danielle McCann learned in conversation with
their manager and relayed later to virtual listeners, they were reporting to
our convention after a gig the night before that had lasted until 4 a.m.

The musicians took brief breaks to allow Kaye Baker and Camille Tate, the
secretary and first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind
of Florida, respectively, to introduce themselves.


Celebration of Freedom and Roll Call of States


This electrifying opening ceremony was followed by the Celebration of
Freedom. Vernon Humphrey introduced the thirty-six individuals connected to
the Armed Forces who had earlier assembled on stage. These heroes briefly
introduced themselves and the service branches they represented, and in some
cases identified the conflicts in which they served. Each received a Freedom
Ribbon to affix to their convention badge. A small choir of Federationists
completed the ceremony by performing "God Bless America." Vernon then
thanked the Federation family, the "hidden army" of staff and volunteers
that makes the convention happen, and President Riccobono. He then presented
the President a check from the division in the amount of $11,574.91. Readers
are strongly urged to experience the full breadth of this powerful
celebration by viewing or listening to it from our #NFB24 archive page.

It was then time for the Roll Call of States. To keep delegates on their
toes, and to ensure that delegations toward the end of the alphabet were not
rushed, the roll call this year proceeded in reverse alphabetical order.
This meant that Wyoming would have been first, but President Riccobono noted
that no delegation from that state was present. He mentioned, however, that
members of the Colorado affiliate, the national board, and the national
staff had recently participated in an event to start rebuilding the
affiliate, and that he hoped that a Wyoming delegation would be present in
New Orleans next year. Each of the fifty-one delegates present, in turn,
identified themselves and their alternate delegate, appointed their
affiliate representative to the Nominating Committee, and announced the date
and location of their affiliate convention if known, along with whether a
national representative had been appointed by President Riccobono to attend
it. Many also took a moment or three to identify Kenneth Jernigan
Scholarship recipients and other first-time conventioneers, scholarship
finalists, representatives from their state rehabilitation agencies,
students of training programs, and other noteworthy individuals seated in
their delegations. They also touted their various programs, including NFB
BELL® Academies and STEM2U events. Minnesota President Corbb O’Connor
announced that the affiliate was successful in getting protections for
parents with disabilities and a requirement for accessible prescription drug
labels passed into law. Ronza Othman, president of the Maryland affiliate,
touted its recent legislative achievements as well, including a grant from
the state legislature for the Museum of the Blind People’s Movement.
Colorado also passed accessible prescription labeling legislation, as well
as securing a grant for more assistance to the blind in rural parts of the
state. Arizona announced that in October of 2023, SAAVI Services for the
Blind became the latest official Structured Discovery training center.
President Riccobono then appointed Pam Allen chair of the Nominating
Committee that had just been appointed by the delegates. After a final door
prize, the convention adjourned until 2 p.m.


General Session II: The Presidential Report, Braille and Tactile Literacy,
Adventures at Sea, and More


The afternoon session again packed the ballroom, as everyone eagerly
anticipated the annual delivery of the Presidential Report. The Federation’s
national President, in addition to chairing the convention, traditionally
gives two addresses, and the Presidential Report is the first. In it, the
President recaps the year since the prior convention, highlighting the major
legal victories, legislative progress, program activities, and other
achievements of our movement. This year’s report emphasized the
aforementioned core values, using them to categorize the accomplishments it
described. The full report follows this article. Its conclusion was greeted
with a standing ovation and chants of "Ric-co-bo-no" to honor the man who
delivered it and spearheaded the work that it summarized, just as he had
concluded the report by honoring the membership of the Federation who made
the work possible.

Back in his role as chair of the proceedings, the President welcomed the
presentation of door prizes and brief reports from the White Cane and PAC
Committees, then called the audience’s attention to the next scheduled
presentation. This came from Casey Robertson, the lead instructor at the
Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana
Tech. Casey’s topic was "Leading Courageously with High Expectations:
Braille and Teacher Preparation." She described the rigorous requirements
she has set for learning Braille, a component that is sadly missing from far
too many other programs that are supposed to train teachers of blind
students and other professionals in the blindness field, but not from the
program that she leads. With humor and heart, she explained the Braille
reading and writing requirements of her curriculum and how they benefit the
professionals in training and, ultimately, the blind people that these
professionals will help to instruct and mentor. Casey’s remarks will appear
in a future issue.

The next item on the agenda was a report on the progress of the Monarch, the
dynamic display for Braille and tactile graphics that is a product of a
partnership among the National Federation of the Blind, HumanWare, and the
American Printing House (APH). Bruce Miles, president of HumanWare, began
the presentation by telling us that the Monarch is set to be available for
sale on September 3, 2024. He proudly announced that since the original
prototypes were created, the Monarch has gained a host of new features.
Among these are the ability to instantly produce a tactile graph of an
equation and announce the coordinates when the user clicks any point on the
graph. Users can also play tactile chess with a friend or against the
Monarch’s computer brain, access a library of thousands of tactile images,
and explore maps. More features are planned, including an app that will
allow teachers to draw images on a tablet and have them instantly appear on
the Monarch and an email client to send and receive digital files. Bruce
emphasized that none of this would be possible without the feedback received
through the partnership with the National Federation of the Blind. Through
this partnership and others, he told the audience, "We have released more
than two hundred Monarchs into the wild, and they are being used by
teachers, parents, researchers, testing companies, technology experts,
libraries and more." Through these opportunities for various entities to
test and learn about the Monarch, he said, the hope is to identify uses for
the device beyond education in employment, transportation, and more. He then
introduced Dr. Craig Meador, the president of APH, to lead a panel
consisting of a teacher, parent, and student who are already using the
Monarch. The panelists were Gina Fugate, a computer science teacher at the
Maryland School for the Blind; Katie Carlock, a Georgia parent from the
Atlanta area; and Katie’s daughter Kennedy, who is in second grade. Gina
emphasized how the Monarch helps her students in robotics and computing
because they can view and edit many lines of code at once. Katie said that
her daughter’s young age was no barrier to her working with the Monarch and
emphasized that blind students should have access to technology just as
their sighted peers do. And Kennedy gave the ultimate kid endorsement when
she shared her own reaction to the device and the reactions of her friends:
"That’s cool!"

Dr. Meador closed the presentation by talking about the important work that
our community will need to do to make the Monarch widely available. The
device is expensive, but he noted that thousands of dollars are spent on
technology for sighted students, so it is simply a matter of equity for
funds to be spent on blind students as well. He then outlined strategies
that our community can use to obtain such funding from the federal
government and from state rehabilitation agencies.

The theme of partnership continued with the next item. In introducing the
speaker, Robert Fenton, President Riccobono explained that they came to know
each other through his role as chair of the board of directors for the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind. The President credited Robert
with helping to bring a more blind-centered approach to the work of that
agency and noted that they both are enthusiastic about ways we can cooperate
as neighbors. Robert, who is also general counsel to the Calgary Police
Service, spoke about his job and how he has succeeded in it as a blind
attorney, but also about the difficulties he has faced and what he has
learned from his career that applies to our shared advocacy to change
societal perceptions of blindness. His remarks will appear in a later issue.

The final presentation of the afternoon was entitled "Inclusion by Example:
Adventures of a Blind Woman Navigating the Oceans of STEM Professionals."
The presenter was Amy Bower, a blind woman who is the senior physical
oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and "adventures"
was truly an apt word for the stories she shared with us. These included not
only tales of her work on the mysterious waters that cover most of our
planet but also of how she navigated the particular challenges of a
high-pressure academic institution to succeed. Her remarks appear elsewhere
in this issue, and we will say no more about them at this time except to
whet your appetite by noting that one of her stories involved pirates. Yes,
you read that right: actual pirates! Following this truly edge-of-your seat
presentation, the latest registration numbers, and a final door prize, the
session was adjourned so that conventioneers could take their last
opportunity to visit the Exhibit Hall, get dinner, and enjoy the many other
evening meetings and activities on the agenda.


General Session III Begins: Financials and Elections


After the gavel fell at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 7, Stuart Proust,
chair of the National Federation of the Blind in Judaism, gave the
invocation. President Riccobono then proceeded to summarize the
organization’s financial position for the delegates and members. The full
financial audit report and 990 form for the year 2023 are available in
accessible formats at https://nfb.org/about-us/annual-report-and-financials.
President Riccobono was able to tell the convention that our financial
position improved from last year’s report, which contained concerning
deficit numbers, so that by December 31, 2023, our net assets were in the
black, although just barely. He reported that the first half of 2024 was
looking much brighter, with positive net assets to the tune of roughly four
and a half million dollars, though he stressed that number did not yet
account for convention expenses, which are always significant. He
acknowledged and thanked the affiliates that had participated in the virtual
Honor Roll Call of States by submitting donations to the four funds
mentioned earlier.

President Riccobono then took a moment to emphasize that our legal program,
while it has great impact, also costs the organization a good deal of money,
typically between 2.5 and 4 million dollars a year, and needs our continued
support. He said that based on his rough calculations over the past five
years, we only recover in damages and attorney’s fees about a third of what
we spend on litigation, and sometimes recovery in a given suit can take many
years. For example, our litigation against the Los Angeles Community College
District has been going on since 2017, and although we won on the merits in
a jury trial, the question of specific remedies for the harm done to the
blind students we fought for is still being litigated. It is therefore
unclear when we will see the financial fruits of victory, although we expect
them to be substantial when we do. With all of that said, President
Riccobono asked if there were questions, and then requested and received a
motion and second for the report to be accepted, which carried unanimously.

Elections were next on the morning agenda. Pam Allen, wearing yet another
proverbial hat as chair of the Nominating Committee, gave its report, which
proposed the following officers for election: Mark Riccobono of Maryland,
President; Pam Allen of Louisiana, First Vice President; Everette Bacon of
Utah, Second Vice President; Barbara Manuel of Alabama, Secretary; and Norma
Crosby of Texas, Treasurer. This proposal moved Everette Bacon from
secretary to second vice president, filling the position Ron Brown was
vacating, with Barbara Manuel replacing Everette as secretary. Jamie Richey
of Nebraska, Jim Marks of Montana, and Ben Dallin of Wisconsin were
nominated by the committee to fill the vacant board seats. The committee’s
report further recommended that Shawn Callaway of the District of Columbia,
Donald Porterfield of Arizona, and Shelia Wright of Missouri retain their
positions. The Nominating Committee report was duly accepted by the
convention, and elections began with President Riccobono turning the chair
over to Pam Allen to conduct the vote for President. After the traditional
three calls for nominations from the floor, a procedure repeated for each
subsequent election, President Riccobono was re-elected by thunderous
acclamation. He kept his remarks brief, having just given his Presidential
Report the day before, but thanked his family, his mentors Dr. and Mrs.
Maurer, and his "left hand" on stage for many years, Federation Chief of
Staff Beth Braun. Of the board, he said: "We have extraordinary leaders, and
they are tough. They are not folks that just say yes. They ask hard
questions, but they are the best group of leaders you could serve with."
Concluding with "I love you all," he proceeded with the remaining elections.

Pam Allen was re-elected to the office of first vice president by
acclamation. She thanked the membership and spoke of the privilege of
serving with her board colleagues and with President Riccobono, whom she
described as a "cherished friend.” She also thanked her husband, Roland. She
concluded by saying:

Together we have already achieved so much: reshaping policies, breaking down
barriers, and creating systemic change. But our work is far from over. We
need you! We need all of us. Now is the time to ignite even greater
commitment and purpose. We must be bold in our actions and steadfast in our
resolve, ensuring our diverse voices are heard and our rights are upheld.
Michelle Obama says success is not about how much you make. It’s about how
much of a difference you make in the world. Let us reflect on these words,
united in our pursuit for equity and justice for all blind people. I love
you all. I look forward to serving and working with you as we write the next
chapter of our Federation story. Thank you!

Everette Bacon was elected by acclamation to serve as second vice president.
He reflected on his predecessor, Ron Brown, whose shoes he said he would
strive to fill and on whose shoulders he was proud to stand. He acknowledged
the close friendships he has developed while serving on the board. He
concluded:

I have faced adversity as a blind person, like many of you. Henry Ford once
said: ‘When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the
airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.’ Challenges are a part of
growth. When I came to this organization, I didn’t believe in myself as a
blind person. I doubted what I had become. And I definitely sold myself
short. My wife Angela, my friends in this room, and especially the teachings
of the NFB movement have taught me that I can overcome and that I have
overcome the challenges of blindness, and that it is truly respectable to be
blind. So with hope, love, and determination, and the strength of all of
you, I am so proud and honored to be able to say that I am and will be
living the life that I want! Thank you all so much.

Barbara Manuel was then elected by acclamation to serve as secretary. She
thanked the convention for granting her the privilege of serving on the
board for the past two years and for electing her to this new role. She
thanked her family, giving a special shout-out to her son, who was
celebrating a birthday.

Norma Crosby accepted her election by acclamation to serve as treasurer with
these opening words: "Thank you. For our first-timers this year, I want to
say welcome to the house that built me. Forty-three years ago, I was a young
blind person not sure where I was going in life and not sure I could
succeed. But all of you were the foundation to that house that I’m talking
about that built me. Every member of this organization has shown me nothing
but love and support, and I hope that I can offer the same back to you."
Federationists know well that she already has, and will no doubt continue to
do so.

Shawn Callaway accepted his re-election by acclamation by thanking God, his
wife, and his daughter, his "princess." He also paid extensive tribute to
Ron Brown, mentioning that they shared the bond of being Black men and the
traumatic experience of having been blinded in their youth by gunshots.
Although Ron served as second vice president for many years, Shawn praised
Ron’s humility, saying: "Ron never sits above you; he always sits with you."
He noted that Ron’s wife Jean proves the old adage that behind every great
man, there is a great woman, and thanked them both for their leadership and
love, concluding that he planned to personally make sure that Ron was not
"put out to pasture" but always would have a role in the organization’s
leadership. It seems likely that Ron will resist any attempt to put him out
to pasture and that Shawn will not be alone in ensuring Ron’s continued
participation.

Jamie Richey of Nebraska was next elected by acclamation. She is perhaps not
a Federation household name yet, but is well loved in her home state and has
the thanks of BLIND Inc. for serving as its interim executive director. In
her remarks, she said that she was happy to fill a need at President
Riccobono’s request in Minnesota but had no intention of ever leaving her
beloved Nebraska. She thanked her husband Jeremy and their family at home,
all four generations of them.

Longtime National Federation of the Blind of Montana leader Jim Marks was
next elected by acclamation. With his characteristic wit, he told the
convention that Federationists are like grizzly bears in two respects: most
of us don’t see very well, but it doesn’t matter because we both go wherever
we want to go anyway.

Upon his re-election to the board by acclamation, Donald Porterfield
credited his wife Amy with bringing him to the Federation and former Arizona
President Bob Kresmer with giving him his first leadership role as the
state’s legislative director. He also shared that he first met President
Riccobono in Orlando, when Donald rode in the back of the vehicle that the
President drove. He spoke of his faith in the arc of the moral universe
bending toward justice and in God. "I never ask, why me God, but rather,
what am I supposed to learn from this challenge?" he said.

Ben Dallin of Wisconsin, accepting his election by acclamation, told his
version of a story that many Federationists have shared: he grew up with a
positive attitude about blindness, but without all of the wherewithal to
make that belief real. When he realized that he needed more training and
self-confidence, he attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

Shelia Wright accepted her re-election to the board by acclamation by
thanking the affiliates that had been her home (South Carolina and Nebraska)
before settling in Missouri, her husband Jeff, and God. President Riccobono
brought the election proceedings to a close by congratulating all those
elected.


Access to Information and Indoor Navigation: General Session III Continues


Jason Broughton, director of the National Library Service for the Blind and
Print Disabled of the Library of Congress (NLS), was the next speaker. This
charming gentleman was unknown to the blind community when he first stepped
into his role, but he quickly built trust and confidence, and President
Riccobono introduced him by calling him "a true friend of the Federation"
and praising him as a savvy steward of the NLS program who is dedicated to
ensuring that it is the library service blind people want.

Jason kept his remarks brief, but highlighted several important items,
including the forthcoming rollout of a BARD smart speaker skill, a plan to
allow simultaneous book searches in up to four languages of the user’s
choice, and the good news that the NLS will be moving from its rented office
space to a home within the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill. We will
publish his full remarks in a future issue.

The penultimate item on the morning agenda was entitled "Indoor Navigation:
Access to Information and Blind-Led Innovations." This was a panel
discussion led by Mike May, currently a member of the National Federation of
the Blind of Nevada and long known to the blind community as an innovator in
the use of GPS and other navigation technologies, with the fondly remembered
Sendero GPS product line among his most notable accomplishments. The other
panel participants were Charlie Meredith, Chief Technology Officer for
GoodMaps, a company in which APH is a majority owner; and Tom Pey, Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Waymap, who came to us all the way from
London and said he was pleased to visit a place with much better weather
than his home city. Mike May facilitated a discussion which allowed these
two gentlemen to describe their companies’ efforts while also humbly calling
for collaboration to meet the challenges inherent in creating and enhancing
indoor navigation technology, which presents many more difficulties than
outdoor navigation. All agreed that it would and should be blind users who
ultimately identify and co-create the most effective and usable answers to
these challenges. The full panel presentation will appear in a later issue.

Having sped through the rest of the morning’s business, the convention was
able to use the final minutes of the Sunday morning session to consider two
of the twenty-two resolutions recommended to it by the Resolutions
Committee. Both passed quickly and unanimously, and the convention adjourned
for the noon break.

Many attendees took their last opportunity to visit the Independence Market,
while others exchanged banquet tickets or attended brainstorming sessions
held by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children or by our
museum consultants, Prime Access Consulting and Origin Studios. Our NFB in
the Kitchen group, led by Chef Regina Mitchell, also held a meeting.


General Session IV: History, Programs, Progress, and Policy


When the convention was gaveled to order again at two o’clock on Sunday
afternoon, President Riccobono announced that a change had been made to the
agenda due to the unavailability of a panel participant. In lieu of the
scheduled item, Peggy Chong, the Blind History Lady, came to the stage to
share some interesting historic facts about past conventions. Her remarks
will appear in a future issue.

Anil Lewis, Executive Director for Blindness Initiatives, then came to the
microphone. His topic was "Putting Our Values into Action: A Report on
Twenty Years of Innovative Research and Training Driven by the Blind." As
the title suggested, Anil’s presentation emphasized how our core values
influence the programs and projects that our Blindness Initiatives
department oversees under his leadership. Anil’s remarks will also be
published later in the fall or winter.

Our Advocacy and Policy team, known affectionately as the four J’s (John,
Jeff, Jesse, and Justin), next took the stage. Their presentation was
entitled "We Belong: A Report on Our Collective Progress toward Equality in
America and Beyond." Their full presentation will appear in next month’s
issue, but a few highlights are worth mentioning. John Paré, Executive
Director for Advocacy and Policy, was first to speak. His office also
oversees the NFB-NEWSLINE® service, which he proudly noted is accessed every
1.85 seconds, and he doubtless delighted many with the news that an Android
Newsline app is coming later this year, complementing the mobile app for iOS
devices that is currently available. Jeff Kaloc, whose portfolio includes
our fight for equal access to all forms of voting, updated us on the
progress made in that area, along with providing comments on other
legislative items. He concluded with a call for us to "organize, strategize,
and mobilize to ensure that our voices are heard by those in power." Justin
Young proudly shared that while we continue to fight for the federal
elimination of subminimum wages through the Transition to Competitive
Integrated Employment Act, we have already had considerable success in
curtailing this antiquated and discriminatory practice at the state and
territorial level. Twenty-one states plus the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico have passed legislation that either reduces the number of people
working for subminimum wages or eliminates the practice entirely within
their jurisdictions. Jesse Shirek announced that the Blind Americans Return
to Work Act, which will eliminate the "earnings cliff” for blind recipients
of Social Security Disability Insurance, was introduced just prior to the
start of convention and assigned bill number H.R. 8878. This fulfilled a
promise made at the 2024 Washington Seminar Congressional Reception by
Representative Pete Sessions of Texas to introduce this crucial legislation.
Jesse dramatically illustrated the need for this change in the law with a
heart-wrenching real-life story about how the current policy has trapped
just one of far too many blind people in unemployment and financial
insecurity. John Paré returned to the microphone to conclude the
presentation, in part, as follows: “Our government affairs team consists of
everybody in this room. It’s the big ‘we.’ It’s we who are doing the
collective action, that are making the progress over the past year, and
we’re going to work even harder together as a team to do even more in the
next twelve months, so we have more to report at our next convention. So for
all of us, this is our report. Thank you.”

The convention then turned to the consideration of the remaining twenty
resolutions. Floor debate was respectful but robust on four of them. For
three of those, the chair could not determine the will of the convention by
voice vote, so the official delegates participated in a roll call vote, and
the number of yes and no votes were announced by the President. All of the
resolutions passed. They are reprinted elsewhere in this issue and available
at www.nfb.org/resolutions <http://www.nfb.org/resolutions> . President
Riccobono closed the deliberations with some important observations. He
noted that while he personally might have preferred that certain resolutions
had been less fiercely contested, he believed that this kind of vigorous
debate is exactly what should take place. He further said that while our
resolutions set policy, there is nothing wrong with the convention later
changing its mind, citing the historical example of how several “quiet car”
resolutions failed before we finally agreed on a policy that we pursued all
the way to the enactment of federal law and international standards. He
concluded by emphasizing that while NFB staff participate in the drafting of
some resolutions, they are ultimately considered the work of their
proponents among the membership rather than as having been authored by
individual staff members. This final observation was shared to clear up a
point raised in the debate around one of the contested resolutions. With the
critical work to set our collective forward-looking agenda as a movement
done, the convention adjourned for Sunday evening.

The penultimate night of the convention was of course packed with
activities. To name just two of the options available to the attendees,
there was an audio-described screening of Unseen, a dramatic and innovative
documentary film that explores the efforts of a blind immigrant to pursue
his dreams. As readers will discover, this film was also the subject of a
presentation at the next morning’s general session. There was also the
ever-popular Showcase of Talent, sponsored by our Performing Arts Division,
which could be enjoyed both by in-person and virtual attendees.


General Session V: Accessibility at the Social Security Office, Authentic
Representation, AI, and More


The final day of convention is sometimes called “the longest day of the
year” by members of the Federation, but this is not a complaint. It simply
refers to the fact that the day begins before 9 a.m. and doesn’t end until
the banquet does, usually some thirteen or fourteen hours later. This year,
the longest day began with a thoughtful invocation delivered by Ronza
Othman. Ronza holds many leadership roles, including serving as president of
our Maryland affiliate, but she spoke this morning as a representative of
the Muslim faith. President Riccobono also asked us to keep those affected
by the hurricane approaching Texas in our thoughts and prayers. He then took
a moment of privilege to present a video from exactly nine years before,
July 8, 2015, when Federationists, then as now assembled at the Rosen
Centre, set a Guinness World Record® for the world’s largest umbrella
mosaic. As described in the video, the mosaic represented a figure holding a
white cane and the words “Live the life you want.”

Roderick Hairston, Deputy Associate Commissioner for the Office of
Electronic Services and Technology of the Social Security Administration,
was then introduced for remarks. He began by expressing his pleasure at
having met his cousin Ever Lee Hairston, and mentioned that the Hairstons
are the largest family in America. He then expressed the hope that many of
us had the opportunity to try out the new, accessible SSA visitor check-in
kiosk in the exhibit hall, and proceeded to describe its features for those
of us who had not. He noted that customers can also check in on our own
mobile devices instead of using the new kiosks and touted the agency’s
online services and accessible notices as well. His full remarks will appear
in a later issue.

Anil Lewis then took the stage for the second time to chair a panel entitled
“Shaping Twenty-First Century Rehabilitation Systems: Leadership,
Partnership, and High Expectations.” The panelists were Cassondra
Williams-Stokes, President, National Council of State Agencies for the
Blind; and Stephen Wooderson, Chief Executive Officer, Council of State
Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation. The subject was the
opportunities for partnership between agencies that serve the blind and
blind people ourselves as represented through the National Federation of the
Blind. The presentation will appear in a later issue of this magazine.

The next agenda item was the first of three presentations having to do with
the authentic representation and inclusion of blind people in entertainment
and the arts. “Leading Courageously in Art: Poetry, Sensibility, and
Aesthetics of Sharing Our Unseen Stories” was presented by Set Hernandez,
Filmmaker and Community Organizer, and specifically Director/Producer of the
film Unseen. As mentioned earlier, the film is the story of Pedro, an
aspiring blind social worker who must meet not only the challenges of
blindness, but of his other intersecting characteristics. In introducing
Set, President Riccobono noted that the filmmaker, who is sighted, had
rightly asked him why Pedro himself, who was at the convention, was not a
more appropriate presenter. President Riccobono told Set, and us, that while
we always center blind people, it is also important to hear from “the allies
who get it right.” Set’s remarks, which will appear in a future issue,
showed that they are indeed such an ally. President Riccobono encouraged
affiliates and chapters to host screenings of the film. If your chapter or
affiliate is interested, visit www.unseen-film.com
<http://www.unseen-film.com> .

The second art-themed presentation was “All the Barriers We Cannot See: A
Behind-the-Scenes View on Authentic Representation of the Blind in Film.”
Its presenter was Joe Strechay, Accessibility Consultant for Film and
Television, Producer and Consultant for the Apple TV+ Series See. Joe was at
convention not to discuss that science-fiction series featuring a world of
blind people, but primarily his latest project, the Netflix adaptation of
Anthony Doer’s novel All the Light We Cannot See. He was introduced by a
video in which the producers and directors of the series discussed their
decision to cast unknown blind actors to play Marie-Laure, the show’s blind
main character, at different ages. He then told us about his work with the
production team and the two blind performers, Nell Sutton (the young
Marie-Laure) and Aria Mia Loberti (the teenage version and primary
protagonist.) The full presentation will also appear later in the fall or
winter. Keely Cat-Wells, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Making Space,
was the third and final presenter in this arts and entertainment segment,
delivering her remarks from London via Zoom. She discussed finding
employment in all aspects of the entertainment industry, including but not
limited to performing, and we will also present her comments in a later
Braille Monitor.

The next two items focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is
being and can be used to enhance the lives of blind people. The first
speaker was Bryan Bashin, well known to his Federation family and currently
vice-chair of Be My Eyes. He told us about the outstanding success of the
company’s Be My AI tool and previewed its forthcoming features. It will soon
incorporate Open AI’s GPT 4.0 to chat with us in a more conversational
manner, listening to our questions and responding with its own voice, and
will be able to describe the live video feed from our phone cameras and
answer questions about it. A demonstration of this new capability got a
rapturous reception from the audience. You can hear it now, along with
Bryan’s other remarks, on the convention archive page mentioned above, and
we will also share the show in a later issue.

Suman Kanuganti, founder and former CEO of Aira and now founder of Personal
AI, was next. Joined by his own personal AI, he explained the concept and
demonstrated the personal AI belonging to one Mark Riccobono. We will share
this presentation in these pages later, but you can experience Mark AI
directly by going to Riccobono.personal.ai if you want to dive right in. In
doing so, you will be helping to enhance the first truly blind-centered
artificial intelligence chat tool in the world.

After these two fascinating visits to the strange and challenging but also
wonderful new world of AI, and a couple of door prizes, the morning session
adjourned.


General Session VI: Bolotin Awards, the Pursuit of Justice, and More


The afternoon general session began with the presentation of the seventeenth
annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. Dr. Jacob Bolotin (1888-1924) was the first
medical doctor who was blind from birth, and each year, with funding from
the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust and the Santa Barbara Foundation, the
National Federation of the Blind gives awards in his honor to individuals
and organizations that are advancing the lives of blind people. The awards
are decided upon by a committee chaired by Everette Bacon, who took the
microphone to introduce the 2024 recipients. The full presentation,
including remarks from the winners, appears later in these pages.

To accommodate the schedule of its presenter, a later agenda item was moved
up, so the convention next heard “Closing the Door on Discrimination:
Championing the Blind in Society through Civil Rights Protections at the
Department of Justice.” The speaker was Kristen Clarke, the Assistant
Attorney General who leads the Civil Rights Division of that agency. She
described in detail the process of promulgating the long-awaited regulations
under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requiring
accessibility for state and local government websites and mobile apps,
which, to her credit and that of her staff, were issued in April of 2024.
She also highlighted other work of her office, including enforcement around
the right to vote and the rights to equal access to education, healthcare,
transportation, and more. She also properly acknowledged that there is much
work left to do, including the issuing of regulations under Title III of the
ADA addressing the websites and mobile apps of public accommodations. Her
passion for and commitment to the work were clear, and you can experience
her presentation on the convention archive page or in next month’s issue of
this magazine.

Troy Otillio, Chief Executive Officer of Aira Tech Corp, was next to the
podium to report on this company’s continued mission to provide equal access
through “visual interpretation.” Troy had high praise for our own Everette
Bacon, who joined the company last year. He also spoke about Aira’s own AI
offering, Access AI, and how Aira Explorers, the blind subscribers to its
service, can help improve it and receive free minutes in the bargain. You
can listen to his remarks on the archive page or just open the Aira Explorer
app, if you have it, to learn about and sign up for the Build AI program.
You can also visit www.Aira.io <http://www.Aira.io> , and of course we will
also publish what Troy had to say in a later issue.

After some more door prizes, John Berggren spoke to the convention about the
important logistics surrounding preparing for the upcoming banquet. After
John reminded us to clear the ballroom quickly when the session ended so
that hotel staff could “flip” it for banquet service and gave other useful
tips for getting to our rooms and back, the next guest speaker was
introduced. This was Andy Burstein, the CEO of Accessible Pharmacy Services.
This company, a 2023 Bolotin Award winner, makes the business of acquiring
and taking our medicine easier for blind people by incorporating accessible
prescription labeling technology, Braille and/or large print on packaging,
and other accessibility features into a mail-order pharmacy service
specifically tailored to each customer’s health and access needs. Andy’s
remarks touched on a number of things, but one standout was support for the
Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act, one of our key legislative
priorities. His remarks will appear in a future issue.

The last agenda item was “Telling Our Stories: A Conversation about
Blindness, Justice, and Shattering Misconceptions from the Federal Bench.”
This took the form of an onstage interview, conducted by Deepa Goraya, first
vice president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers, with retired
federal judge David Tatel, who recently left the bench of the influential
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and is senior
counsel at the DC law firm of Hogan Lovells. If you are thinking this is a
presentation that only lawyers could love, you are incorrect. Although the
law was discussed, Judge Tatel was able to explain it clearly and concisely.
A big takeaway from his remarks is the crucial role that the National
Federation of the Blind has played in influencing all branches of our
government at all levels, and why our legal and legislative advocacy will
likely need to be even stronger and smarter in coming years. The judge also
expressed his love for NFB-NEWSLINE® and thanked Scott White and the
retiring Bob Watson in particular for their work for the service. President
Riccobono presented Judge Tatel with a Louis Braille commemorative coin,
minted by the United States in 2009 pursuant to legislation that the
Federation supported. Check out the conversation with Judge Tatel on the
convention archive page, or wait for it to appear in next month’s issue. In
the meantime, you can whet your appetite by reading Judge Tatel’s recently
published memoir, Vision.

One more large door prize, in the amount of $250, was presented to close the
afternoon session, and then, as John Berggren had directed, the audience
quickly cleared the hall and headed off to get dressed for the convention
banquet.


The Convention Banquet: A Celebration of Dignity


Ever since the pandemic, and possibly slightly before, we have been
encouraging those who cannot be at the convention in person to hold banquet
parties with their local Federation family. The virtual banquet festivities
kicked off at 6:30 p.m., with pre-show hosts Danielle McCann and Chris
Danielsen checking in on three different banquet parties happening across
the country. Sandy Halverson was hosting members of Virginia’s Potomac
Chapter; Lisa Rodriguez and her crew checked in from Stockton, California;
and Connie Scheu and the Erie County, Chapter of Pennsylvania put in an
appearance as well. Check-ins with these celebrations continued throughout
the banquet. Many other Federationists checked in via social media to let us
know they were having their own gatherings, or just kicking back with their
own dinner or snacks, to enjoy the evening’s festivities.

When the process of seating a couple thousand people in a reconfigured grand
ballroom was mostly completed, the versatile Pam Allen assumed her role as
master of ceremonies and gaveled the banquet to order. She then introduced
Jean Brown, wife of our outgoing second vice president and Federation
leader, for the invocation. Following Jean’s thoughtful prayer, the door
prize drawings began and continued throughout the banquet, with the cash
prizes generally being larger than those presented during the general
sessions. A video was shown thanking those who fund our scholarships. Tracy
Soforenko announced the winners of the Dream Big Give 25 drawings. He
thanked all those who contributed to the campaign, which raised $38,019.58.
Marilyn Green gave the final PAC report and recognized the divisions,
affiliates, and individuals whose increases in contributions merited special
attention.

Then came the highlight of the banquet, and one of the most anticipated
moments of the entire convention: the annual address by our national
President, Mark Riccobono. Unlike the Presidential Report given earlier, the
banquet address is typically designed to advance our understanding of the
philosophy upon which our movement is built and how we can put it into
action. The Presidential Report primarily informs, while the banquet speech
primarily inspires, although each contains both of these elements. President
Riccobono began the address with these words: “I would like to be the first
to welcome all the dignitaries of the organized blind movement here tonight.
Yes, you.” The speech that followed expounded on why the word “dignitary”
and the concept of dignity applied to everyone in the audience, and
reflected on how, as individuals and a movement, we maintain our own dignity
and that of all blind people. The remarks are prominently reprinted in this
issue, and the speech is highly likely to become a classic of our movement’s
thought and literature.

Our longtime friend Ray Kurzweil, the single individual most responsible for
the creation and development of the print reading technology that blind
people routinely use today, was present for his fiftieth convention banquet,
and in keeping with tradition he offered some brief reflections and memories
describing how the Federation and its leaders have touched him personally
and changed our world. He mentioned that some of these reflections will
appear in the autobiography he is writing. His remarks can be heard by going
to the convention archive page.

Pam Allen then presented the Jacobus tenBroek Award. For the first time,
this highest honor that the Federation bestows was presented to participants
who could not be with us in Orlando, so careful arrangements had been made
to ensure that they were present virtually for the banquet and also for them
to receive the award plaque in real time as well. The presentation appears
elsewhere in this issue.

Ron Brown is a previous recipient of the Jacobus tenBroek Award, but his
fellow officers thought it fitting that he receive another special gift at
the end of the convention at which his service as second vice president
concluded. Ron is also a beep baseball player, and his team, the
Indianapolis Thunder, have won the World Series of Beep Baseball many times.
Accordingly, President Riccobono presented him with a Louisville Slugger
baseball bat inscribed with the following words: “Thank you Ron Brown,
lifelong NFB All-Star. Keep hitting home runs; proud to be on your team.”

Following the presentation of Louis Braille commemorative coins to the
winners of the museum trivia game and the presentation of scholarships,
covered elsewhere in this issue, the banquet drew to a close. The grand door
prize, totaling $2,024 and donated by the Florida affiliate, was presented,
and then Pam Allen handed the microphone over to President Riccobono. He
announced that 2,590 individuals had registered for the convention in person
and 655 virtually, with Florida having the most attendees at 242. He then
led us in cheers of thanks for the Federation staff and all the convention
volunteers, and then requested that we raise a final Federation cheer to end
the event. After that glorious sound of whoops, screams, cheers, and
applause, he gaveled the convention to a close, saying, “We are adjourned
until New Orleans!”


Some Concluding Thoughts


#NFB24 repeatedly stressed the core values of our organization and the
concept of dignity. We believe in blind people, and the substance of that
belief is that blind people have as much dignity as all other human beings
and thus we have the right to pursue the lives we want, without needing to
earn that right or ask for society’s acceptance, charity, or consent.
Because society, often unintentionally but sometimes intentionally, places
artificial barriers in our way that undermine our rights and our dignity, we
have come together to lead courageously and champion collective action. We
foster inclusion because the blind are a diverse cross-section of society,
and the characteristics that make up each of us as blind people may also
present us with intersecting challenges that we need each other’s support to
overcome. Finally, we dream big, not just through our many programs and
initiatives but in pursuit of the overarching goal of a society where every
blind person is included, valued, and respected. #NFB24 was a reunion for
many of us and a welcome for many more. It was a celebration of our
accomplishments and a burst of renewed energy for the work still to be done.
Most of all, it set the direction of our forward motion and strengthened our
resolve.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Mark A. Riccobono]


2024 Presidential Report


An Address Delivered by Mark A. Riccobono, President

National Federation of the Blind

Orlando, Florida

July 6, 2024

Over the past year, we, the nation’s blind, have accelerated our march
toward equality in society. Thousands of active members on the local level
have joined in hundreds of chapters within our fifty-two state affiliates,
unified in a coordinated nationwide movement with a momentum that is
impossible to stop. As we gather to review our progress, we celebrate the
infinite possibilities born from the pledge to work together to create a
world where blind people can live the lives we want as valued and respected
members of society. While the work ahead can feel daunting and the barriers
in our way may appear immovable, we know that success will not come from the
charity of others but from the momentum of our own united efforts. Our
vehicle for acceleration is the National Federation of the Blind.

Despite the great strides we have made since 1940, society still does not
completely believe in the full capacity of blind individuals. We are often
tolerated, but not included, and are told what we can and cannot do because
society expects less of us. In building our movement, we organize around
five key values, which will serve as the basis of my report.

The first of these values is that we unapologetically believe in blind
people. We take action to advance the aspirations of the blind, and we
create a loving community where we learn to be our most powerful selves. Our
faith in the capacity and dignity of blind individuals is at the heart of
our mission.

One of the most important ways we carry out our belief in blind people is
through our efforts to support blind children and their families.
Unfortunately, the American education system continues to fail these
students, but we are pushing back. The key tool for ensuring blind children
receive appropriate educational services authentic to their learning is the
Individualized Education Program (IEP). At the beginning of June, we held
the first of our IEP Advocacy Academies. Supported by the Lavelle Fund for
the Blind, the goal of this program is to increase the number of advocates
available to help families through the IEP process, but equally as important
is to connect them with the lifelong network that is the National Federation
of the Blind. There is a great demand for this support among families. We
trained sixteen individuals from fifteen of our affiliates in our first
cohort, and we will be investing in additional cohorts soon. We believe that
putting a successful blind adult into these meetings is one of the most
effective tools we have for raising expectations.

One example of our success comes in a school district in Alabama. We got
involved in the IEPs for a ten-year-old who could only write the alphabet in
uncontracted Braille and a nine-year-old who could only write half of the
alphabet. Neither of them could read. Neither of these young girls, both
curious and eager to learn, had any access technology or access technology
instruction. Neither of them was receiving substantive mobility services,
thus denying them age-appropriate independence. In school, they relied
exclusively on paraprofessionals to serve as readers and guides. With the
intervention of the Federation, both girls’ IEPs were rewritten to include
integration of blindness skills training into the general curriculum;
age-appropriate Braille, mobility and technology goals; reduced reliance on
paraprofessionals; and daily reinforcement of all instruction. Our Alabama
affiliate now stands ready to ensure that the IEPs are followed so these
girls receive the free and appropriate public education they are guaranteed
by law.

There are times when our local advocacy is not enough to overcome systemic
discrimination. We filed administrative complaints with the Louisiana
Department of Education regarding the failure of two parishes to provide
appropriate assessments and effective instruction in Braille. Due to our
support, the department found violations of the law and ordered compensatory
Braille instruction, training for parish staff on appropriate services for
blind students, increased participation by teachers at team meetings, and
new assessments for the blind students. These complaints got the attention
of state and local professionals who now know that our Federation is
standing by to ensure they give blind students the education they deserve in
compliance with the law. We believe in blind people, and with that belief we
are unstoppable in our pursuit of equality.

Another value is our commitment to lead courageously. Our members and
partners count on our expertise and our resolve. We will never shy away from
the effort to surmount obstacles and raise expectations in pursuit of
richer, fuller lives for all blind people.

After nine years of litigation before the Department of Labor’s
Administrative Review Board and in federal court, we received a historic
victory in our fight against Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Earlier this year, the federal court affirmed that our clients are not
disabled for the work they perform at Seneca Re-Ad in Ohio and cannot be
paid subminimum wages. Shortly after the ruling, the sheltered workshop
agreed to pay our three clients every cent they were owed in back wages and
liquidated damages. This may be the most significant wake-up call we have
ever delivered to the employers abusing the labor of disabled workers.

The momentum is clearly on our side. Sixteen states have passed legislation
or promulgated regulations to phase out subminimum wages, two additional
states have implemented restrictions, and we are gaining support for federal
legislation. In May, another milestone was reached when a joint letter
signed by the president of SourceAmerica and me, as the President of the
National Federation of the Blind, was sent to the chairs and ranking members
of the House and Senate Labor Committees in support of the Transformation to
Competitive Integrated Employment Act. This is the first time SourceAmerica
has joined the blind in urging Congress to eliminate unequal pay provisions
in federal law. In addition, we continue to monitor and advise the
AbilityOne Commission as it undertakes significant reform to raise
expectations in employment for people with disabilities.

We continue to hold the government responsible when agencies discriminate
against blind employees. Frequently this relates to the failure of agencies
to meet the information technology accessibility standards of Section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act. One example is the Department of Veterans Affairs,
which rolled out Cerner’s electronic health records software knowing it was
inaccessible. It is worth noting that we raised concerns about Cerner’s
contract with the Department of Defense in 2015 before the implementation
began. On behalf of Laurette Santos, a blind employee of the VA, we have
filed suit in federal court for the agency’s failure to accommodate. This
case will build on our prior legal victories and help establish the remedies
for relief under Section 508. We seek equality of opportunity, not to simply
be paid as charity cases for doing nothing.

Another area that takes our organizational and personal courage is our
advocacy to counteract the discrimination that blind people experience from
drivers in the rideshare industry. I will make this really simple: both of
the leading companies, Lyft and Uber, are failing to meet their obligations
to ensure that blind individuals are not discriminated against. While we
continue to hold regular meetings with both companies in good faith to
improve their policies and practices, there is rarely a day that goes by
when we do not learn of another ride denied to a blind person.

One example is a recent call I received from Jessica Beecham, a member of
the Federation’s national board, who happens to use a guide dog. She was in
an Uber, but the driver refused to transport her. The Littleton police were
on the scene, and they were treating Jessica like the criminal. They got
increasingly forceful as Jessica kept her cool and attempted to educate them
about the specifics of the Colorado statutes. While Jessica left the car
with her dignity, she had no ride and had all of the stress and frustration
of having her rights denied. The following day Jessica received an
apologetic phone call from the officer who was in charge on the scene, but
any blind person knows this was too little, too late—the damage was already
done. We will take all of the courageous steps necessary to stop this
second-class treatment from both the rideshare drivers and law enforcement
officers. We strongly encourage all blind people to continue to share data
with the Federation about these incidents and to file complaints through the
ADA.gov <http://ADA.gov>  website.

Another area of our persistent advocacy relates to the unequal treatment
blind people receive during airline travel. We have continued to press the
US Department of Transportation regarding our objection to the
service-animal-attestation forms used by airlines. In addition, we drafted
new sections for the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act,
including a demonstration program for service animal users, greater training
for airline personnel, and access to websites and in-flight entertainment
systems. On May 16, 2024, the President of the United States signed the
Reauthorization Act into law, including our accessibility priorities. The
actions of Federation members make all the difference in leading
courageously. A special thank you to Al Elia of New York, who has been a
critical leader in our advocacy work on behalf of guide-dog users.

Leading courageously requires us to put our own ideas to the test, and we do
that through innovative programs coordinated by our staff at the NFB
Jernigan Institute in Baltimore. We are celebrating the twentieth
anniversary of our program expansion, and the difference we’ve made is found
in the blind people, employers, rehabilitation and education professionals,
disability rights advocates, and technology developers who have been
positively influenced. The expertise and authentic experience of Federation
members is what makes our efforts uniquely effective. During the past year,
in collaboration with our National Association of Blind Students, we began
building a new model for regional student seminars. Our Midwest and Rocky
Mountain Seminars provided an informative and fun platform for nearly one
hundred students to build a community together while learning about how
blind students successfully navigate college.

In the area of employment, we have been building community resources with
the support of our Employment Committee. During the past year, we hosted
events connecting over four hundred blind jobseekers with fifty employers
offering competitive integrated jobs. We supported these efforts with our
quarterly Where the Blind Work webinar series, which aims to shatter
misconceptions about blind people in the employment arena. In the coming
year we will complete and launch several training modules, grounded in
Federation philosophy, designed to inform and train vocational
rehabilitation counselors on how to best work with their blind consumers.
This work incorporates the expertise of our National Association of Blind
Rehabilitation Professionals. These resources will be made available to
Federation affiliates to facilitate training within state vocational
rehabilitation agencies.

Through our Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access, we work with everyone
from developers of new technologies to the largest technology companies in
the world. Our staff test and track the accessibility of products and
perform training along with strategic partners. Our technology staff hosts
monthly ninety-minute sessions and quarterly four-hour presentations on
various accessibility topics for Federation members and our allies. Through
our Blind Users Innovating and Leading Design (BUILD) program, we ensure
that technology partners utilize the talents of blind people in their
testing efforts and that they pay users for their time. We continue to
advance a culture of accessibility in higher education through our
Accessibility Inclusion Fellowship program in the state of Maryland. In
order to more effectively track trends and empower Federation members to
engage with companies regarding accessibility issues, we recently launched a
Self-Advocacy Toolkit for Nonvisual Accessibility.

A core aspect of our leadership is being there when individual blind people
need us the most. During the past year we strengthened the technical support
efforts we provide to blind people through our general information, legal,
and advocacy support programs at our national office. We have increased our
investment in counteracting the problems that result from the bureaucracy of
the Social Security Administration. We first aim to support the
self-advocacy of individual Federation members, but sometimes a stronger
intervention is required. One example from the past year is Allison Depner,
a leader in our California affiliate, who received a notice from the Social
Security Administration in December 2022 informing her that she had been
overpaid. According to the letter, her SSDI benefits would cease, and she
would be responsible for repaying approximately $40,000. Allison knew the
program rules, she was confident she had followed them, but the agency
continued to give her conflicting information. She asked for help from team
NFB, and we worked closely with her to fight the agency. After a full year,
during which time she received no benefits, the Social Security
Administration finally acknowledged their error. They restarted Allison’s
benefits, gave her more than $21,000 in missed payments, and issued her a
formal letter of apology. To quote Allison, “It pays to be a member of the
National Federation of the Blind.”

One of the most obvious of our core values is that we champion collective
action. The power of our membership acting through the democratic process,
along with the support of our partners, enables collective action toward
full participation in society by blind people. We achieve much more when we
work together.

This is observed in our increasing influence in Washington, DC, with members
of Congress and among leaders within the executive branch. Our Websites and
Software Applications Accessibility Act has more cosponsors in the House
than ever before. Our Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act was
introduced in the United States Senate for the first time, and our companion
bill in the House of Representatives has a growing list of cosponsors. Our
effort to empower blind people to secure personal technology through the
Access Technology Affordability Act continues to be championed by all sides
within both chambers of Congress. And just days ago we celebrated the
introduction of our Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 8878, which
would eliminate the earnings cliff in the Social Security Disability
Insurance program and create a true work incentive for blind and disabled
Americans. We will continue to have our collective voice heard in the halls
of power.

After more than a decade of our persistent advocacy, on August 4, 2023, the
Department of Justice finally published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
related to websites for Title II of the ADA, however it included seven
exceptions. We seek equality, not a second-class version of the rights of
other Americans. The National Federation of the Blind responded to the NPRM
with thorough comments, including our vehement objection to the proposed
exceptions. When the final rule was released in April 2024, the two most
egregious exceptions had been removed. In May, we were equally successful
with new regulations regarding website accessibility under Section 504 of
the Rehab Act issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. While
we now have more tools to hold state and local governments accountable for
providing us with equal access, we still demand the proposed Title III ADA
website regulations that we were promised nearly fourteen years ago. All
public accommodations must meet an equal standard of access in the
twenty-first century, and the momentum of our collective action will make it
a reality.

Our collective action is effective because it is also concentrated locally.
We assist our state affiliates in advancing model legislation that
strengthens our equality in local communities. In our effort to protect the
rights of blind people to be parents and caregivers, we secured legislation
in Minnesota, adding that state to the list of twenty other affiliates that
have already secured these protections. We have advanced equal access to
prescription drug labeling with a new law in Colorado—making it the ninth of
our affiliates to achieve this milestone. We continue to work on pay
protections, educational standards, public accessibility, and many other
initiatives that are advanced on the local level but supported through our
national advocacy program. One of the most important areas is expanding
equal access to all forms of voting. During the past five years, we have
made considerable progress in expanding the availability of accessible
electronic-ballot delivery to blind people, which is now law in thirty-four
states and the District of Columbia. In thirteen of those states, we have
also secured the ability to privately and independently return the ballot
electronically.

Using the strength of our collective action, we have also taken to the
courts to enforce our equal rights in the voting process. In Alabama, we
have filed suit against Tuscaloosa, Mobile, and Jefferson Counties for their
failure to provide accessible electronic absentee voting to blind and
print-disabled voters. We seek a permanent remedy that provides equal
access. In March, we supported our California affiliate in filing suit
against the California Secretary of State under the ADA and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act. This suit seeks to require California to allow blind
and print-disabled voters to return their ballots electronically. Our
request for preliminary injunction seeks the ability to return ballots by
fax, as the state already provides this option to California’s military and
overseas voters. Meanwhile, we continue to provide technical assistance
under the Help America Vote Act to all voting officials and advocates
interested in meeting the highest standards of nonvisual access to the
voting process. We will pursue equal access whenever it is systemically
denied to us, and we will continue to call out any harmful opposition to our
collective equality.

Our fourth value is a commitment to fostering inclusion. We recognize the
diverse strengths, talents, experiences, and perspectives of our members,
staff, and friends; and we cultivate an environment that is welcoming and
inclusive for all. We seek that same level of integration into society on
terms of equality.

Our movement is built on active participation from members across the
nation, and we have continued to strengthen our tools for communicating with
and connecting members of the Federation with resources. In September, we
launched the Member Profile. This self-service tool allows members to update
contact and demographic information at their convenience. Our Member
Management Module has streamlined the process of updating and tracking
membership status across our chapters, state affiliates, and national
divisions. Through our regular meetings with chapter presidents, our
communication channels with affiliate leaders, and our NFB Portal online, we
are developing new ways to share best practices and basic tools for
advancing the work of the organization at all levels.

We continue to seek best-practice recommendations from our Committee on
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to improve our program and outreach
efforts. In order to create greater consistency across all of our state
affiliates, our national board has required every affiliate to adopt and
maintain an accessibility policy and to coordinate practices with our
national office. During the past year we have piloted the Disability
Inclusion & Accessibility Program tools as part of our effort to ensure our
events, like this convention, meet or exceed the highest levels of
accessibility and inclusion. This program was developed by the disability
advocacy community, including Federation leaders, in order to provide a
framework for companies to guide their efforts to be inclusive and
accessible to persons with disabilities. We believe that we should meet the
standards we expect of others, and we are prepared to continue in our own
journey of leading and learning.

Our investment in emerging leaders is central to our commitment. This was
the first year for our new Kenneth Jernigan Leadership-In-Service Program.
Through this intensive training, we have invested in the development of
fifteen emerging leaders from across the country. These individuals have
combined their unique talents and diverse perspectives into a community of
leadership practice while working closely with the Federation’s President.
We expect to onboard a new cohort later this summer. This leadership
development is in addition to our regular leadership seminars at our
national office, affiliate-building seminars, and special projects to
develop blind leaders to take on the many areas of advocacy that require our
attention.

One example of advocacy is Lisamaria Martinez, a blind Federation leader
from California, who dedicates her time to raising expectations for others.
As part of developing her own life-coaching business in 2019, she needed to
file a form in Alameda County—a form that was only partly accessible. When
an employee at the Clerk-Recorder’s office in Oakland pointed out that she
had made a mistake on the form, Lisamaria politely asked if they could
assist her in making the necessary corrections—the county staff refused to
help, even as they helped other visitors in the office. She attempted to
explain her right to receive assistance under the ADA without success.
Lisamaria returned home, hired a reader to fill out the form again, and paid
for transportation back to the office simply to take care of one single
paper form. Fostering inclusion often requires us to educate others, but
sometimes that is not enough. When Lisamaria pursued a complaint process to
protect other blind people from having this problem in the future, the
county refused to enter into structured negotiations, declined the
opportunity to amend its policy, and litigated the case for the next five
years—all to deny assistance in completing one single paper form. Forced to
fight for her rightful place in society, Lisamaria took the stand. Her
testimony, offered to a jury, a judge, and a courtroom full of
Federationists, was no longer about one single paper form. With eloquence
and grace, she shared how the National Federation of the Blind had made a
difference in her life from a young age and taught her that she belonged in
this society. She explained that she deserved her rights, and she knew the
importance of knocking down barriers to prevent future discrimination
against other blind people. The jury agreed with Lisamaria and found that
Alameda County had violated the ADA as well as state law. They awarded her
$30,500 in damages for the county’s multi-year, deliberately indifferent
behavior over one single paper form, and our work continues to secure
permanent policy changes.

Other examples of our work to foster inclusion within society include
pursuing equality in healthcare services. In Sarasota, Florida, we assisted
a blind woman in reaching a settlement with Partners Imaging after it
refused to assist her with its inaccessible registration system, forcing her
to find a sighted person to accompany her to appointments. In Ohio, we have
filed suit against ExactCare, an online pharmacy, for its failure to provide
effective communication in the form of accessible documentation for
medications. In Minnesota, as a result of our structured negotiations, CVS
agreed to replace its existing inaccessible MinuteClinic kiosks with an
accessible alternative within eighteen months. CVS will also collaborate
with the Federation on the development and testing of the new accessible
alternative.

We have made other progress with the Social Security Administration. In
2020, we began an effort to eliminate the agency’s practice requiring
certain blind and print-disabled SSDI applicants to go through an
inaccessible paper-based process when an accessible electronic process was
available. While we pursue the litigation, the agency has temporarily
committed to accepting electronic signatures with a back-up telephone
verification process. We will continue to work to eliminate this additional
barrier and make the process more effective for all applicants. Similarly,
in April 2024, the SSA finished installation of new accessible
visitor-intake-processing kiosks at all of its field offices nationwide as a
result of a suit we previously filed. Although the timeline for completion
was significantly delayed by the pandemic, we now celebrate the elimination
of this barrier, and we appreciate the agency being at this convention to
discuss the machines and its work to modernize communications.

Our partnerships and communications strategies are also essential to our
work to foster inclusion. Examples from the past year include our
collaboration with United Airlines as it became the first to commit to
installing Braille indicators for individual rows and seat numbers and
signage for lavatories. United expects to include this across all aircraft
in its entire mainline fleet by the end of 2026. We drew attention to the
harm done by Sonos in releasing a new inaccessible mobile application, and
we then engaged with the company to integrate more blind testers into their
quality assurance process. Our concerns were featured as part of an article
in the Washington Post on May 17, 2024. And let us not forget our work to
get blind people included more in the fun stuff like video games and
puzzles. We teamed up with Spin Master, a leading global children’s
entertainment company and owners of the Rubik’s Cube, to design an all-new
cube to empower everyone in the blind community to learn to solve the most
popular puzzle in the world. For the fiftieth anniversary of the puzzle, we
worked together to create the Rubik’s Sensory Cube, reimagining the classic
3x3 puzzle with distinguishable tactile shapes on its surface to enable
solving the puzzle through touch. The Federation worked with the Rubik’s
Cube engineers advising on design and how to effectively incorporate Braille
into the packaging. Later this year you will be able to buy this Rubik’s
Cube through the Federation’s Independence Market online store, and other
promotions will be planned for our 2024 Blind Equality Achievement Month.
The Federation is certainly making moves to shift expectations throughout
society.

The final value I want to cover today is the Federation’s commitment to
empower our community to dream big and our determination to make those
dreams reality. There are truly no limits to what we can accomplish
together. During the past year, this has been observed in our annual NFB
Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning® Academies where twenty-one of
our state affiliates helped to spark the dreams of 242 young blind students
in twenty-five programs in local communities. An additional seventy-two
Braille learners from thirty-four of our state affiliates, as well as a
military family stationed in Dubai, benefited from our at-home program in
2023. These dreams start by connecting these future blind leaders into our
Federation family. The effect of our work is found in the messages of hope
we receive from parents after the BELL Academies. A parent in Virginia
shared that their active six-year-old boy, who previously kept his head
down, straining to keep his eyes focused on the ground, was walking
confidently, his cane out in front, and his head held high listening to the
birds and frogs. A mom from Louisiana says her dreams for her son are now
bigger by emphasizing that “he is thriving because of you!” She goes on to
share, “My only regret is not finding you all sooner
” This summer, our
theme is “I Can Lead,” and I am certain we will unlock some big dreams in
the hearts of these young Braille-reading leaders.

Dreams come alive in our STEM2U programs with the support of General Motors
and the execution of programs in more than a dozen Federation affiliates
where blind students are opened to the opportunities for discovery in
science and the realization that vision is not a requirement for success.
The foundation for dreaming big is built in our Teachers of Tomorrow program
where, over the past year, fourteen teachers from ten states have spent time
each month learning from the lived experience of blind people and being
supported by previous program participants who are now giving back. As one
participant said, “I was inspired because the NFB has fostered a community
of members who come from all walks of life who choose to join together and
invest so much of their time and energy to advocate for change. Real change.
Change for themselves and for future generations of blind Americans.” We are
building dreams through a community of high expectations.

We also dream big by exploring partnerships with early-stage startups that
have the potential to innovate solutions that will benefit all blind people.
Partnership investments from the past year include Making Space, a
disability-owned company driving change in employment and upskilling; XR
Navigation, a blind-owned startup innovating new frontiers in tactile
mapping and navigation; Purple, an entity raising expectations in inclusive
financial literacy; and Be My Eyes, a previous winner of the Federation’s
Bolotin Award and a company committed to blind-centered practices to
leverage artificial intelligence for personal digital assistance.

Dreaming big starts within each member of our Federation—within our own
stories and their connection to our collective action. We continue to
develop the extensive archives housed within our Jacobus tenBroek Research
Library on Blindness in Baltimore. We have added artifacts and personal
papers from blind people who have made our movement what it is. We have put
into place a new digital asset management system for tracking the extensive
collection of photos, videos, and audio recordings that document our
progress. During the past year, we have increased our pace of researching,
collecting, and preserving oral histories from blind people across this
nation. And we are building partnerships to preserve other key aspects of
our shared stories as blind people. As one significant example, I am pleased
to announce that due to the efforts of Ron Brown, a longtime leader of our
movement in Indiana and at the national level, we have agreed to make our
headquarters in Baltimore the official home for preserving and hosting the
National Beep Baseball Hall of Fame. I am confident this will not be the
last homerun Ron Brown hits for our movement.

That brings us to our biggest dream—eliminating the persistent
misconceptions and low-expectations within the average person about blind
people, our equality, and our capacity. We seek not merely to effect minor
changes but to accelerate significant shifts in society. Thus, we have taken
on a big dream—one that will not be easy, will demand resources and new
talents, and that will stretch our aspirations for the future—a dream that
needs to be pursued even as we do all of the other work needed in our
movement. This is our dream of building the Museum of the Blind People’s
Movement. This new dynamic space, physically in Baltimore but accessible
everywhere through a robust digital presence, will be the only museum that
is authentically and unapologetically blind-centered and designed to be
inclusive, again reflecting the values of the organized blind movement. For
centuries, blind people have been misunderstood and underestimated. We will
invite the world to discover the authentic experiences and contributions of
blind people—from the everyday to the extraordinary. This year we have
continued our development work on the themes for this museum, including
moving from a broad concept design process into the schematic design phase
where we will develop the detailed content and experience of the museum.
This spring, we were notified that our museum was approved for
appropriations at both the state and federal levels totaling more than
$500,000. Yet, we have a lot of work to do to make our big dream a reality.
We need to find ways to accelerate understanding about us and to solidify
the truth of our dignity: we belong in the world, and we make it better.
This effort will take all of us, and I am again calling on you to help. You
can help by gifting your personal papers and artifacts to our Federation.
You can assist by researching, writing, recording, and sharing the stories
of blind people into our publications and archives. You can prioritize
approaching contacts within your personal circle of influence and asking
them for a major pledge to our museum effort. And you can make your own
pledge. While dozens of us have already made commitments, the Museum of the
Blind People’s Movement will not happen without the support of thousands of
blind people and our allies. When we challenge misconceptions, we create a
world where we are included, respected, and valued. Our contributions make
the world better. This is your museum, and together we can transform this
dream into reality.

There are dozens of other accomplishments that I have not had time to cover
in this report. These come from our education programs, our legal service
work, our general information assistance calls, our media relations
projects, our training seminars, our collaboration with community partners,
our work to hold entities accountable for their programs and services
affecting the blind, and our daily work to build a coordinated movement. All
of these accomplishments have one single consistent and unbreakable
bond—they happen through the hard work of blind people and our allies whose
personal stories fuel our dedication to making the world better. You, the
active members of our movement who believe in blind people, lead
courageously, champion collective action, foster inclusion, and dream big.
You are the heartbeat of our movement, and you accelerate our progress.

Ten years and one day ago, I was humbled to first accept your affirmative
vote to serve as your President. In accepting your support, I pledged to you
my commitment to build our Federation with the same love and determination
shared among our previously elected leaders, and I invited you to join with
me in the effort. You answered my invitation by accelerating our progress,
and not one day has passed without my feeling the gravity of humility and
gratitude for what you have given to our shared movement. I doubt any of us
would have predicted many of the experiences we’ve shared together during
the past ten years—and my thinning hair and its new grey highlights may
indicate to some that the experience has been hard on me. But every time I
have been confronted with difficult circumstances in the office of the
President, I have found strength, hope, and wisdom in the bond of faith we
share. Hundreds of times I have relied on the trust I have in all of you,
and you have given me the guidance to do what was needed for our movement.
In response, you have trusted me, helped to keep us on the best path
forward, and have given me the courage to push harder and faster toward our
equality in society.

Should you choose to invite me to continue in service of this movement
tomorrow, you will have no less commitment, energy, imagination, and heart
from me than you did ten years ago. And the truth is you will have all of
that even if you decide something different. My trust in you and my
commitment to our movement is unbroken. Thank you for the tremendous
difference you have made in my life and for my family. During the past ten
years, you have shown me the best of the human spirit, the strength of
kindness, and the power of solidarity. I have done my best to reflect back
to you all that you have given to me. If my continued service in the office
of the President is your resolution, I am prepared to accelerate our
progress toward equality. I remain unsatisfied with our position in society
as blind people, even as I am inspired by how the momentum of this movement
raises expectations every day. I will never ask from you anything that I am
not prepared to do myself. I will also never compromise the bond of faith we
share with each other—a faith that can move mountains and mount movements.
It is the efforts of all of us combined that give us power, love, and
determination to go the rest of the way to equality.

My Federation family, this is my report for 2024. This is how we accelerate
progress toward a hopeful tomorrow. This is the future we build for
ourselves with love, hope, and determination.

This is the blind people’s movement.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan introduces Dori Senatori who sits next to
her smiling.

[PHOTO CAPTION: Dori Senatori smiles while holding her award.


Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Presentation


Presented by Carla McQuillan

>From the Editor: Carla McQuillan has been the chairperson of this award
committee for many years because she consistently does a fine job of running
it and her team excels in finding qualified educators. Here was what Carla
and the 2024 winner said at the board meeting held July 5, 2024:

CARLA: Thank you, Mr. President. Every year the National Federation of the
Blind honors a teacher of blind students for going above and beyond
everyone’s expectations to meet the needs of their students. This year’s
distinguished educator comes from the great state of Texas!

This was a tough one this year. We had several very qualified candidates,
but when you get letters from Norma Crosby and Emily Gibbs like I saw and
the committee saw, it is absolutely the correct person we have in this seat
today.

Before I move on, I would like to thank all of the members of the committee
for the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award for participating, going
through applications, and making decisions that will ultimately thank and
reward the individual who has really shown attention to the students she
serves.

This individual teaches at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually
Impaired (TSBVI). She runs the day program for students there.

I think to sum it up the best was a quotation from one of her students,
Madison Flores, who said, "She told me that I was in the driver’s seat, and
that has stuck with me."

So this year’s Distinguished Educator of Blind Students is—Dori Senatori!
[Applause]

The Distinguished Educator of the Year gets the opportunity to speak to our
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children at their annual business
meeting which will take place this afternoon. She also has her expense paid
for this convention and will receive a check that I have in hand for $1,000.
[Applause]

In addition, we have a plaque that is in both print and Braille. The plaque
reads:

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND HONORS

Dori Senatori

As Distinguished Educator of Blind Students

For your skills in teaching Braille and other alternative techniques of
blindness, for graciously devoting extra time to meet the needs of your
students, and for empowering your students to perform beyond their
expectations.

YOU CHAMPION OUR MOVEMENT. YOU STRENGTHEN OUR HOPES. YOU SHARE OUR DREAMS.

July 5, 2024

[Applause]

Now for a few words, Dori.

DORI: Thank you, Carla. I just want to start off by thanking Norma Crosby,
Emily Gibbs, Mika Baugh, Kaylee Joiner, and Liz Wisecarver for nominating
me, and the National Federation of the Blind for such an incredible
recognition and award. I’m incredibly honored to be selected as this year’s
Distinguished Educator of Blind Students. To be recognized by the NFB is
extremely significant to me. I always work hard to ensure that my students
have the services and supports they need, including widened perspectives, to
help them shape a plan for the life they want to live.

As Carla mentioned, currently I’m the day student coordinator in Austin at
the Texas School for the Blind. Yay, Austin! For the last eight years, I was
in our Eighteen Plus Program, Experiences in Transition program, also known
as EXIT. That’s where the goal is to customize the curriculum to students,
empowering them to live independently or as independently as they can in
their home community.

You know, I always tell my students they have a lifetime warranty with me,
and I love it when I hear from them or see them at convention. I think I’ve
counted at least seven people here today, so I’m very happy.

Recently I was able to see firsthand what happens when somebody is connected
to the NFB, and that just makes my heart so happy, because when I see them
at convention, I know that they are connected, and I see them thriving.

So the collaboration between the NFB Career Mentoring Program started after
I completed the Teachers of Tomorrow Program [applause] in 2021. Prior to
that program, I had a lot of help from Rosie Carranza—I don’t know if she is
here, but she helped me, and maybe along with other NFB members in this
audience, to set up numerous guest speakers for my students. I knew it was
important, and I really wanted to add that into their individualized
curriculum. I wanted them to hear from blind professionals all over the US,
and Rosie sent me numerous people. It was fantastic.

After that, I had reached out to the Career Mentor Program, and I had the
idea to collaborate and make it a part of the curriculum that I teach my
students. This started, like I said, after my completion of the 2021
Teachers of Tomorrow Program. We started it shortly thereafter in the fall.
Then, in the spring, we started the in-person sessions, where a mentor comes
to TSBVI, and we only had seven students at the time when the program first
started. This year we had a record twenty-two students in our program with
our collaboration together. It was fantastic. I think that the growth of
this program is that all of us, teachers and mentors alike, share the
passion. I love teaching, and I think that all the mentors share this
passion to teach students and work with them and give them all these
different experiences that they may never have had before. I just could not
have done this without the collaboration. Just to see how it’s grown over
the years and to see how students, even after graduation, have chosen to
participate and become a member makes me so happy.

I just have witnessed students blossom and grow in ways that I had not
observed prior to partnering with the Mentor Program. I’m so grateful for
this opportunity to work with the Mentor Program and other NFB members who
have helped me through the years and spoken to my students. I just couldn’t
have done it without the support of the NFB.

Thank you so much for this, and I’ll always keep this in my heart.

PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: Congratulations! Thank you. We really appreciate the
opportunity to work with you. Congratulations on this great acknowledgment,
and Carla, thank you to the Committee.

The National Federation of the Blind also issued a press release about the
award and its recipient. The text of the release follows:


National Federation of the Blind Names Dori Senatori 2024 Distinguished
Educator of Blind Students


Orlando, Florida (July 5, 2024): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
announced today that Dori Senatori has been selected as the 2024
Distinguished Educator of Blind Students. This prestigious award recognizes
an educator who has made a significant impact in the lives of blind
students, empowering them with the skills and confidence to live the lives
they want.

Ms. Senatori currently serves as the Day Student Coordinator at the Texas
School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and has been instrumental
in transforming the educational experiences of her students. Her role has
encompassed a range of responsibilities, from providing explicit instruction
in the Expanded Core Curriculum to creating individualized learning
opportunities that prepare students for all aspects of adult life.

Ms. Senatori’s colleagues and students alike speak highly of her dedication,
creativity, and collaborative spirit. "Dori possesses knowledge, experience,
the ability to approach problems creatively, and the ability to lead a team
in a collaborative manner," said Tad Doezema, Assistant Principal at TSBVI.
"Her commitment to the mission of TSBVI and to each student and family she
supports is unwavering."

One of Ms. Senatori’s notable achievements has been strengthening the
relationship between TSBVI and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).
After participating in the NFB’s Teacher of Tomorrow program in 2021, she
began working with the organization’s Texas affiliate to bring career
mentoring to the TSBVI campus, providing her students with invaluable access
to blind professionals and mentorship opportunities that extend beyond their
school years.

Norma Crosby, President of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas,
expressed her enthusiasm for Senatori’s selection: "Dori’s dedication to her
students and her commitment to the values of the NFB are truly commendable.
Her efforts to connect students to life-long mentorship and resources have
placed them on the path towards lives of possibilities and prosperity."

The impact of Ms. Senatori’s work is perhaps best summed up by Madison
Flores, a former student who attended the EXIT transition program at TSBVI:
"Dori encouraged me to take control of my own life. She always reminded me
that I am the driver, and that really stuck with me. I am incredibly
grateful for the impact she had on my life."

“Dori Senatori has shown outstanding commitment not only to preparing her
students to succeed academically and to develop blindness skills, but in
helping them to build a network of mentoring and friendship that will
sustain them long after they leave school,” said Mark Riccobono, President
of the National Federation of the Blind. “Her work is living testimony to
what can be achieved when teachers of blind students collaborate with blind
people to help blind children and youth internalize the truth that blindness
does not define them or their future. The National Federation of the Blind
is proud to recognize the invaluable contributions that Dori is making to
her students and to our community.”

The Distinguished Educator of Blind Students award carries with it a $1,000
cash prize and an opportunity to address hundreds of parents of blind
students and network with other blind individuals and teachers of blind
students at the 2024 National Convention of the National Federation of the
Blind, which is taking place in Orlando through July 8.

----------


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.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: The 2024 Jacob Bolotin Award Winners with members of the
Bolotin Committee]


Presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards


Presented by Everette Bacon

>From the Editor: Here is what President Riccobono said in introducing the
first presentation of the last afternoon session on July 8, 2024:

This is the seventeenth Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards presentation. We have the
chairman of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards Committee. He is the president of
the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. He has served as a board
member and secretary of the National Federation of the Blind, and he is our
incoming Second Vice President. Here’s Everette Bacon.

EVERETTE: It’s always exciting to be able to do the Bolotin Awards. It’s one
of the highlights of the general sessions. We really look forward to it.
It’s something we work hard on throughout the year, and I’m so excited to be
able to be here. This is our seventeenth year giving out this award.

We usually put together a video, so I’m going to have that video queued up
now and be able to play it for you. So, you get a sneak peek at the winners
and a little bit about them. Then I’ll go into our committee members, and
then you get to meet all of the award winners.

So Will, if you’ll start the video, please.

[Music]

AD: During the following presentation, names and logos of organizations
appear on screen as they are mentioned, and pictures of individuals appear
as they speak.

NARRATOR: Federationists and guests:

The National Federation of the Blind is proud to introduce the recipients of
our seventeenth annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards, made possible in part by
the generous support of the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust and the Santa
Barbara Foundation.

These individuals and organizations have broken down barriers faced by blind
people in innovative ways, changed negative perceptions of blindness and
blind people, and pushed past existing boundaries to motivate blind people
to achieve new heights.

The two individual winners are Deborah Kendrick and Donna Posont. Deborah is
a blind writer whose body of work has informed and represented the blind and
people with disabilities, including a syndicated newspaper column.

DEBORAH: The purpose of it as the purpose of probably all of the writing
that I’ve done in one way or another is to connect people to people and let
people understand in a visceral way that those of us who are blind or have
other disabilities are more the same than we are different from others. The
only real condition that matters is the human condition.

NARRATOR: Donna Posont, who leads the innovative Blind Birding and Beyond
program at the Environmental Interpretive Center of the University of
Michigan, Dearborn.

DONNA: When I started out, I wanted to learn nature as a blind person, and
then I wanted to learn it in a way so that I could understand how to share
it with other blind people. Through this, I see how much it helps improve
skills of blindness. When children or adults learn how to identify a bird by
hearing their sound, they get excited, and they gain confidence. When we go
through the woods and we walk the trails and we show them that they don’t
have to use sighted guide but can follow the edge of the trail, that makes a
difference. They can hear the sound of the wind; they can hear where the
birds are; they gain a lot of confidence from that because they often don’t
have that opportunity to walk trails and walk in the woods, and it makes it
better when they are walking out on the sidewalks in the cities because they
gain that level of confidence for using their canes.

NARRATOR: The first of our two organizational winners is Handid Braille
Services for providing quality Braille transcription in multiple languages.
Here’s founder, Don Winiecki.

DON: The company as a nonprofit has grown quite a bit, and without really
planning for it, I’ve become a provider of non-English Braille as well as
Unified English Braille. I specialize in Braille for languages that don’t
use the Latin symbol system in their print alphabet—Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Farsi, and on and on. I do a bunch of that stuff now, as
well as the more common non-English languages like Spanish and French and
German.

We hear over and over again "nothing about us without us." I’m very
sensitive to that idea. I don’t want to claim that I’m doing things for
other people in a sense that I’m trying to take care of them! No, I’m doing
things for people so that they can achieve more, and being a background part
of that is such a rewarding thought. The acknowledgment that the NFB
provides is just further ratification of that.

NARRATOR: Living Blindfully, a global podcast about living your best life
with blindness and low vision. Here’s producer and host, Jonathan Mosen.

JONATHAN: I interview a lot of movers and shakers for the podcast, and I
take a long time before each interview to do my research. I ask the
questions that I think listeners want me to ask. So I aim to be fair but
also fearless. Another element of the show is that we have listeners who
contribute from all over the world, and I’m proud that in an era where
people do a lot of yelling at each other online, we’ve maintained a climate
of respectful but robust debate.

To convey just how much receiving a Bolotin Award means to me, I have to be
a bit vulnerable. Growing up as a blind teenager in New Zealand back in the
eighties, I had so many big dreams, and I was confident that they were
realistic dreams. But I quickly discovered that my biggest problem wasn’t my
blindness. It was other people’s limiting perceptions of it.

I actually became very depressed about this when I was seventeen. So that
was in 1986. I got a 1200 baud modem, and I started logging on to bulletin
boards using technology called Fido Net. Ultimately I got onto an online
service called the CompuServe Information Service, and it was from being
online that I learned about the Federation, and it changed my life.
Actually, if I’m being absolutely honest, I think knowing that there were
other people out there who felt about blindness the way I feel about
blindness saved my life. So to be recognized by the Federation with one of
its most prestigious awards means more to me than I have the words to
express, and it’s an honor I never expected.

These winners each will receive a trophy and a monetary prize to advance
their work to help blind people live the lives we want.

Now the National Federation of the Blind proudly presents them with their
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. [The end of the video is greeted with applause]

EVERETTE: All right, are you excited? Yeah, these are some outstanding
winners, and we are excited to give them their award.

First and foremost, I want to thank the members of the committee who served
this year. Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan, who has been serving on the committee
since it started and has been guiding all of us. Thank you, Mrs. Jernigan.
Thank you to Donald Porterfield of Arizona. Thank you to Steve Jacobson of
Minnesota. Thank you to Dr. Natalie Shaheen of Illinois, and last but not
least, Jessica Beecham of Colorado. Thanks to all of you for serving on the
committee.

I also want to thank members of the National Federation of the Blind staff
who have been so supportive. Yvette Castillo, Chris Danielsen, Beth Braun,
and Suzanne Shaffer Schildwachter. They’re all wonderful supporters in
making sure these awards are given out. Thank you to President Riccobono for
having the faith in me to chair this committee.

Let’s get to the really great information about our award winners. You
haven’t heard their monetary prize. I know you want to know that, right?

We have two individual awards. The first individual award is Deborah
Kendrick. Deborah Kendrick was nominated by Judy Dickson. When personal
computers were a new American phenomenon in the 1980s, she created a Braille
only magazine called Tactic. This would enjoy worldwide readership and
garnered numerous awards from the Society of Technical Communication and
others. That publication was acquired by the American Foundation for the
Blind, and you may know it now as Access World. Deborah serves as senior
editor and continues to contribute articles to this day. I am excited to
give the award of $5,000 to Deborah Kendrick. We’re going to have Deborah
Kendrick say a few words. [Applause]

DEBORAH: When I was sixteen, I met my first blind grownup. He was a
vocational rehabilitation counselor, and he held the key—in other words, the
money—to my college education. He said a blind girl couldn’t be a writer.
Years later, with a pile of awards from both journalism and advocacy
organizations as evidence that I was not only a writer but a writer who got
it right, I learned about Kenneth Jernigan, who was also discouraged from
pursuing his chosen career. In my jobs, books, and elsewhere, I have told
stories of people who are blind or have other disabilities about the work
they do. Many, too many, have told me that they were first told that a blind
boy or a blind girl could not do what they wanted to do, and they did it
anyway. [Applause] Then in 2007 I read the book The Blind Doctor. I learned
about Dr. Jacob Bolotin, who not only did it anyway—became a doctor against
the odds of his environment and swarms of naysayers—but became a truly
gifted healer and dedicated physician. To be deemed worthy to be among those
honored as following his example is both humbling and exhilarating.

One day several months ago, when a child asked me how many words I had
written, I started playing with numbers in my head.

Now, I have no idea how many words I have written, but I added up articles
and books and columns, and I figure that I have published about two million.
[Applause] So that’s a lot of stories—true stories, and there are many more
stories to tell, yours and mine. Thank you so much for this honor and for
the encouragement it gives me to keep writing.

EVERETTE: Thank you, Deborah; what a wonderful award winner and wonderful
story.

Donna Posont—Michigan is excited, Donna—.

These are some words from Donna herself in her application.

Through the years, I have had the pleasure of witnessing some people who
always wanted to walk with a sighted guide turn into scientists taking off
down paths using their canes. There have been times when someone afraid to
touch new things would eventually shape bird beaks and feet using homemade
play dough after being involved in its cooking. Those afraid to speak in
front of others could eventually write Braille notes and increase confidence
to share information.

If you don’t know anything about Donna, she has created a nature society in
Michigan. She works with a university there and is doing such wonderful
things to learn about birds and nature and so many things about our
wilderness that we didn’t get a chance to use or become a part of as blind
people. So I am excited, and it is my honor to give Donna Posont an award of
$5,000. [Cheers and applause]

[Sound of bird chirping]

DONNA: Hey, for those who don’t know, that’s the beautiful state bird of my
beloved Michigan. Many of you have heard me say "It’s not about the birds."
I will explain a little about how I came to that through my journey. Fifty
years ago this summer, I graduated from high school.

I took off to college to get a degree in biology. About a week into that, I
realized I had no skills and no way to learn biology. I had no skills of
blindness, and I couldn’t do it. So I was redirected into social
work—nothing against social work. I graduated in ‘77 and moved to
Philadelphia and worked at the Upsale School for the Blind. It was there
that I met the National Federation of the Blind, or more likely they got
ahold of me.

Through the years, I worked in the vending program in three different
states, and I served as vice president of the Blind Merchants Division until
I married the president of the Merchants Division, and I moved to Michigan
where I have lived ever since. There we raised five children, and that
indeed was the greatest joy of my life. And you know what is so amazing
about them that really makes them stand out? They gave me twelve
grandchildren, which is really an honor.

In 2008, I decided to once again pursue my dream, and I went to the
University of Michigan Dearborn. I didn’t know what you would call it, but I
wanted to learn about nature so I could share it with others who were blind.
It wasn’t about me so much anymore. I wanted to learn it, but I wanted to
make it accessible to other blind people. Because through working at camps
and so forth, I realized blind students often had been denied the
opportunity to learn about the birds and the trees and the insects and the
frogs, and I wanted to change that.

So, during that time, I started a program called Birding by Ear and Beyond,
where we learned to identify birds by their sounds, and then we learned all
about the birds. Then, in 2015, I graduated from the University of Michigan
Dearborn with a degree in environmental studies, and just to show I could do
it, I got a minor in biology.

At that time the director, Dr. David Susko, asked if I wanted to come on the
staff and do what I had been loving to do—for money—and get paid to do the
Birding by Ear and Beyond Program. So that’s what I have been doing ever
since. COVID gave us a little slowdown, but we’re back in business now. It’s
not about the birds; it’s about sharing with blind people and helping them
gain the confidence they need to travel the trails of life. [Applause]

EVERETTE: I’m really excited about our next awards; they are our
organizational awards. We had two individual awards; now we have two
organizational awards.

Handid Braille Services. Don Winiecki. Don Winiecki was nominated or
recommended by Tasnim Alshuli. As a gift for the blind Muslims of Ramadan,
2024, Don volunteered to produce a screen-reader accessible version of a new
translation of the Quran in both English and Arabic. This is pretty
exciting.

We are honored to give Handid Braille Services an award of $15,000.
[Applause]

DON: Give me a minute here. [Cheers and applause]

Hello, Federation family. I’ve been a member of the Federation since 2016
when I joined the Treasure Valley Chapter in Idaho. Transformational is a
word that comes out a lot when people talk about how the Federation has
affected them. That word works for me too.

Transcribing text into Braille allows me to contribute to a world that I
would want to live in, a world I want all of us to live in. I never imagined
I would come to specialize in producing Braille for languages other than
English, much less languages that don’t use the alphabet we’re familiar with
in English. It was a chance meeting with a director of the NLS at this
convention in this venue a number of years ago that pointed out the terrific
gap there was in producing Braille for multiple languages. I and my
nonprofit company now have clients on six of the seven continents.
[Applause] I regularly produce Braille in Arabic and Chinese, in simplified
and traditional Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Thai,
French, German, Vietnamese, Navajo, and others—lots of Unified English
Braille, too. And sometimes even English Braille American Edition (EBAE).

As we know, Braille is a code and not a language. However, languages and
their unique orthography are codes too—codes that allow one to package
intricate concepts into deceptively simple marks and tactile patterns. There
are few things more amazing and beautiful than that. I allowed that beauty
and quality to pull me in to learn how to learn Arabic, Chinese, Korean,
Japanese, and more so that I could put that in Braille.

I type Arabic at a rate faster, I’m told, than most native speakers.

Learning to read these languages has changed my life. The knowledge that I
am producing materials enabling independence is transformational.

And there’s more. To help spread this independence, I’m starting work on
developing Braille instruction for adults in the same languages I transcribe
today. [Applause] But I’ve got to tell you, it is immeasurably more
meaningful to me that the National Federation of the Blind recognizes this
and ratifies what I do with the Bolotin Award. There is no collection of
individuals more able to assess the value of what I do than you, my
Federation family. Thank you. [Applause]

EVERETTE: We have one last award to give—last but certainly not least. I am
excited to give our last or second organizational award to Living
Blindfully, Jonathan Mosen. [Applause]

An example of the podcast remaining true to its values is that Living
Blindfully boasts a commitment that everyone working on the podcast will be
blind. The podcast now employs a transcriber and an audio editor, both of
whom are blind themselves. Living Blindfully is clear about its audience. It
is not seeking to explain blindness to sighted people or to hold back on the
important issues. Living Blindfully is unashamedly our place, our issues.
I’m excited to give an award of $15,000 to my friend, Jonathan Mosen, Living
Blindfully. [Applause]

JONATHAN: So at this point I’m waiting to wake up and realize I’ve been
dreaming this. This is incredibly special. So thank you so much to the
Bolotin Committee and the National Federation of the Blind in general for
this award.

You know, media usually ignores us, and when it doesn’t, we often wish it
did, because it frequently underestimates us, it misrepresents us, and far
too often it would have people believe that you mustn’t say that dreaded B
word—blind.

I was observing yesterday that living visually impairedly just doesn’t have
the same ring to it, you know, does it? [Laughter] So Living Blindfully
seeks to give you an oasis from all that.

Now, in humbly accepting this award on behalf of the members of our Living
Blindfully team, I want to mention them by name.

It includes Hannah Mae Aldeza who produces our transcripts so that, in
particular, deafblind people aren’t excluded from the conversation, because
so often deafblind people are excluded from the conversation, and it’s not
right.

Accessibility has benefits because it means that we also in that process
build an extensive searchable repository of information and opinion on the
issues of the day.

And also Derek Lane, our gifted and [Cheers]—got some Derek fans out there?
Our gifted and brilliant audio engineer who speeds up the production of the
show by editing some of the interviews. And, of course, my wife Bonnie, who
is here with us today to see Living Blindfully get this award. I love you so
much.

And finally, I accept this on behalf of our listeners in over 113 countries
now, and some of whom—good to know some are out there—and some of you share
your thoughts on the issues that we cover and the things that matter to us.

Thank you so much again for recognizing Living Blindfully, and I’ll conclude
my acceptance with the way I conclude every episode.

Remember that when you are out there with your guide dog, you’ve harnessed
success, and with your cane, you’re able. [Applause]

EVERETTE: Congratulations to all of these winners. As President Riccobono
pointed out, when I said my friend, he’s everybody’s friend, that’s for
sure. Jonathan Mosen is everyone’s friend. I’m just lucky to be one of them.

Let’s do one big round of applause for all of these winners. Let’s do it.

Every year we give these awards out. This is the seventeenth year of doing
this, so that is pretty exciting. That means we’re going to have year
eighteen in Louisiana next year. For year eighteen, if you want to know what
we’re looking for, we’re looking for these types of dream makers who do
innovative things in the field of blindness. This is your chance to apply.
If you did apply and didn’t win this year, we keep all your applications. We
review old applications each year, but if you want to apply again, we
definitely encourage that. Please go to nfb.org/bolotin
<https://NFB.org/Bolotin> . You can also find it under awards and
presentations. You can apply. We will open up the application process again
on January 1, 2025, and we will have that open until April 15, 2025. These
are awesome awards. We definitely want to hear what is going on out there in
the field of blindness. Thank you, Mr. President. This is my report.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: President Riccobono smiles as he gives the convention
banquet speech.]


Dignity, Respect, and Determination: The Momentum of the Blind People’s
Movement


An Address Delivered by Mark A. Riccobono, President
At the Banquet of the Annual Convention of the National Federation of the
Blind
Orlando, Florida
July 8, 2024

I would like to be the first to welcome all the dignitaries of the organized
blind movement here tonight. Yes, you; are you a dignitary? Those humble
members among us are thinking, “No, not me.” The most driven advocates among
us may be claiming this status without even considering what it means.
Others may be saying, “I am not a blind person, so I am no dignitary in this
crowd.” Still others among us may be feeling unworthy of the title as they
are here for only the first time.

As we gather tonight in this space we first created eighty-four years ago to
consider the extent of our collective progress, I want to return to a basic
aspect of our movement that may be taken for granted. This is the concept of
dignity, and whether it is different for the blind than for the nonblind.
Tonight, I declare that each of us, engaged in our shared reflections, are
dignitaries of the organized blind movement. As dignitaries, we have a
responsibility to examine our position, consider our progress, challenge our
own assumptions, and recommit to being the “dignity we want in the world.”

The civil rights, Latino, and farm labor leader, Cesar Chavez, said, “From
the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize
themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity
and strength.” And Bernice King, lawyer and daughter of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., noted, “You will encounter misguided people from time to time.
That’s part of life. The challenge is to educate them when you can, but
always to keep your dignity and self-respect and persevere in your personal
growth and development.” While the philosopher, courageous line-breaker, and
celebrated baseball star, Jackie Robinson observed, “The most luxurious
possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity.”

The concept of dignity has a complicated history intersecting with
philosophy, politics, and religion. The root of the word we use today comes
from the Latin term dignitas, which was a central aspect of the ancient
Roman society. Dignitas has several overlapping meanings, including the
intrinsic worth or value of a person, the social standing or rank of a
person within a hierarchy, earned reputation or prestige, and the authority
and influence that come from high social standing. The concept of dignity as
a universal term, meaning the unearned status or worth of all persons, is
sometimes credited as stabilizing due to its appearance in the opening
sentence of the preamble of the United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which affirms the “inherent dignity” and “equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family” as the “foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world.” Today, this concept is often
described as human dignity. I intend to simply use the word dignity to refer
to humans as I have no interest in sparking debate about the dignity of
blind people compared to the dignity of their guide dogs.

If we accept that dignity, the inherent worth of all persons, applies to
blind people, then it is reasonable to accept that it cannot be taken from
us. However, our experience also suggests two other truths. The first is
that not all of us accept that dignity for the blind has the same value as
dignity for the nonblind—at least the words and actions of individuals often
communicate an inequality. The second is that often we, as blind people,
struggle to resist the misunderstanding and second-class treatment in
society, which, in turn, leads to our own doubt about our dignity.

In our movement, we know that blindness is not the characteristic that
exclusively defines our future. We also know that the persistent
misunderstandings we encounter, the undignified actions of others, and the
artificial barriers throughout society threaten our dignity on a daily
basis. Dignity may be inherent, but there is an inequality between how it is
perceived and experienced in our lives. If we fail to resist second-class
treatment, if we value the charity offered to us over fulfilling the
responsibilities inherent in equal rights, and if we internalize the
external low expectations, we risk devaluing our dignity, we move further
from equality, and we sacrifice the progress we have made together. It is
not enough for us to understand the dignity of being blind; we must teach
the rest of society what we know. For just because we have our dignity does
not mean we have realized full equality within society. While the mission
may feel overwhelming, we continue to have the power and determination that
comes from linking our hearts and minds in a movement that has made all the
difference since 1940. Under no circumstances will our dignity again be
taken from us, and under no circumstances will we permit our dignity to be
undervalued. We know who we are, and our dignity is equal to others. In
wearing our dignity with pride, we honor the dignity of others. We continue
to recognize that we do not journey alone. We do not face the challenges by
ourselves, and we do not have to be perfect in order to preserve our
dignity. Our dignity comes from within, and it is valued, strengthened, and
honored through the collective actions of individuals focused into a
movement we share. We are the National Federation of the Blind.

Dignity is a fundamental concept within the philosophy of the Federation,
but having our dignity affirmed in society has taken decades of hard work
and sacrifice. It began by recognizing that dignity comes from taking
control of our own lives, speaking and acting for ourselves, and using that
self-determination to build a network of support. Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, the
founding President of the National Federation of the Blind, framed our early
understanding of the dignity of blind people. Those ideas were radical in
1940 and continue to meet resistance even today. Dr. tenBroek was a widely
celebrated scholar of the United States Constitution. It is no surprise that
his concept of dignity was tightly bound to the ideals of equality, liberty,
and the ability to direct one’s own actions.

As the second generation of dignitaries in our movement began to add to our
shared wisdom, our concept of dignity was significantly challenged by the
vision industrial complex. During this period of struggle, we demonstrated
the dignity of blind people through training programs developed by the blind
themselves. Kenneth Jernigan, the dynamic leader who was first elected as
our President in 1968, led us through a period of aggressive external
resistance to our self-determination. He also provided us with the
historical understanding that the popular narrative about us does not
reflect the true lived experience of blind people. By synthesizing the
stories of blind people into logical patterns of thought and action, Dr.
Jernigan articulated the nature of independence for the blind and its
relationship to our dignity.

In his speech, “The Nature of Independence,” Dr. Jernigan shares that
independence—which is central to dignity—starts with our own internal
attitudes about blindness, involves the development of a range of skills and
resources needed to tackle the complexities of life, and requires the
maturity to put all of these things together in the real world in a way that
does not diminish our dignity or the dignity of others. While it is somewhat
easy to summarize, it is much harder to put into practice in a society that
largely undervalues the capabilities, contributions, and the continuum of
human experience among blind people.

With the third generation of our movement, we gathered significant momentum
in defending our dignity in society. Furthermore, our high standards for
equality increasingly created opportunities for us to partner with others
and raised expectations for the disability community more broadly. A prime
example is our leadership in steadily eliminating the legal practice of
paying people with disabilities a lesser wage based only on a false
assumption that these individuals give less to society than others. Yes, we
must recognize that federal law does not yet fully acknowledge our dignity
by guaranteeing us equal-pay protections. However, by eliminating the
practice in a significant portion of this nation, we have defended the
dignity of blind and other disabled individuals time and time again. Despite
the historical record, even the most entrenched employers, who previously
defended this discriminatory practice as part of the dignity of work, now
celebrate joining us on the better side of history. Many more examples can
be found in our legal victories, in our legislative accomplishments, in our
community building work, and in our innovative programs—all undertaken with
an unapologetic commitment to being blind-centered and blind-led.

With that as background, let us examine some of the components of dignity
that require our daily attention as blind people. A fundamental building
block of self-determination is autonomy. This requires establishing the
pattern of thought and behavior that expects the individual to be in charge
of their own decisions, including having real choices in those decisions.
One of those components is the opportunity to fail, which can provide
invaluable learning. However, when blind people exercise their autonomy, it
frequently creates conflict with others. A fundamental misunderstanding is
that the dignity of blind people requires the charity of others. More
specifically, it requires the charity of any individual who possesses
eyesight. When this pattern is learned by blind children from a very young
age, it has the potential to limit much if not all of their life. When
blindness comes to a person after decades of internalizing the historical
misconceptions, it can significantly impede their progress toward living
successfully in the world as a blind person. It takes real energy and
emotional intelligence to overcome the perception that you have no autonomy
or that you are somehow diminished or less deserving.

One example is that blind adults have the experience of being treated like
they are still children. Most frequently this happens as an instinctual
reaction in customer service situations. The individual encountering the
blind person wants to know, “Who is your assigned companion?” This might be
the person expected to be traveling with you, the person who should be
helping you make a decision, or the person who should be available to manage
your affairs. Sometimes these incidents are minor annoyances for blind
people and opportunities for education. However, very often they are much
more than that and become extremely stressful for us. When this treatment
comes from our own family, it is always deeply painful. When these events
are more than a minor annoyance or when they occur in a series of incidents
together, they challenge the blind person’s resolve to be self-determined
(and to hold back on the four-letter words).

This is where preserving our dignity takes a measure of maturity and
determination. The American healthcare system seems to be one prime example
of an environment where our dignity is consistently devalued. During my
recent annual physical, the medical attendant who did the intake with me
concluded by instructing me on what I needed to do to get ready for the
exam—this involved putting on the standard-issue paper gown. They then asked
me if I needed their assistance getting undressed. Is this a question they
ask all patients? Was there something about my clean dress shirt, tie, and
slacks that raised concern? My quick analysis of the situation told me that
this was a new employee who had little experience with blind people and that
the question was not routine. As tempting as it was to respond with
something snarky, I knew I would likely encounter this person again, and my
snark would only serve to diminish the dignity of this person who seemed
genuinely not to know better. With a forced smile I replied that I had been
dressing myself for more than forty years and felt I had it under control.
The attendant stopped and, to their credit, they admitted that it was a
silly question to raise with me, but it is not always that easy.

In May I took my daughter to the urgent care near our home. Her last visit
there had been handled by my wife, Melissa, who also happens to be blind.
Unbeknownst to me, during the check-in process they defaulted to sending the
electronic check-in packet to Melissa’s mobile number. I have appreciated
the mobile check-in process as it allows me to manage sensitive information
from my smartphone without having to provide personal information verbally
in the middle of the lobby. When I did not receive the expected text
message, I shared with the receptionist that the packet went to my wife and,
before I could ask to have the packet sent to my number, the receptionist
asked if my wife would be more capable of completing the forms for me. I was
already on edge because of my worry about my daughter, and I did not have
the emotional energy to correct their misunderstanding and further delay my
daughter getting the attention she needed. I took a deep breath and made a
conscious choice in that instance not to be an ambassador of the blind, not
to try to change the understanding in that moment, but to simply let my
actions speak for themselves. I received the packet on my phone and jumped
all of the hurdles needed to get my daughter examined by a physician as
quickly as possible. Afterwords I reflected on the choices we have to make
in order to maintain our dignity as blind people. One of the very difficult
choices is when to simply make a difference by living our lives and when to
consciously work to change the understanding of others. From my experience
in the National Federation of the Blind, I knew in my heart that I did not
have to overtly change someone else’s mind in order to maintain my own
dignity.

Much of the medical system does not give blind people a choice in the
management of the care we seek for ourselves and our loved ones. Many
healthcare providers require the completion of inaccessible paper forms,
prescribe inaccessible home medical equipment, and offer discharge
instructions with the assumption that someone else will be there to care for
us. In many medical facilities, blind patients who are admitted for care
will have a sign placed in their room, without their consent, that notes
they are blind. Often that sign will indicate they are at greater risk for
falling or require other special treatment. Eliminating all of these
barriers rooted in historical misconceptions about us is part of the work we
have yet to accomplish together, but they need not devalue our dignity
unless we accept the narrative of the past. We have the autonomy to make our
own decisions and direct our own actions. We have the freedom to push back
when we need to or to simply live our lives without interference from
others.

Another aspect of dignity is choice, and I am confident all blind people can
relate to having their choices limited. Some common areas where our choices
are limited include career opportunities, access to adventurous activities
like zip-lining and water skiing, the freedom to independently navigate
everyday obstacles such as metal detectors, full engagement in group
projects where our contributions are valuable and where we can lend a hand,
various modes of transportation, and the option to decline unnecessary or
unwanted accommodations. Lack of choices can devalue our dignity in the
minds of others and can make us feel like our dignity is being taken away.

Limited choice is found in the persistent access-to-information problem we
face. In general, when traveling in the environment, the most efficient way
for blind people to get information is to ask a person nearby. This tends to
be a stranger who happens not to be blind. Frequently our questions are not
answered but met with another question. In airports I will often ask, “What
gate number is this?” To which I get a common reply, “Where are you trying
to go?” or the more aggressive, “Can I help you get somewhere?” I generally
choose not to reveal my destination in order to preserve my choices.

Another example is access to menu information at unfamiliar restaurants.
Without independent access to the menu, we must negotiate with wait staff
who frequently limit our choices to, “What kind of food do you like?” How
often do blind people simply choose something they know rather than
exploring their choices because it is easier than demanding equal access to
information? It is easy to say that no one can take our dignity, but it is
harder to deal with the persistent absence of choice.

Maintaining control over our own body is another area where our dignity is
regularly threatened. Blind people are frequently handled without ever being
given a choice in the interaction. If I were about to walk into something
very dangerous, I hope someone would help me avoid it. However, so far I
have never been viciously attacked by a shrub when my cane touched an
outdoor planter. I have never had a glass door shatter when I tapped the
bottom of the door and I reached for the handle. And I was never in danger
of falling through the floor when standing in one place. Yet, in all of
these instances, I have been grabbed, moved, or pulled without consent
because someone else decided I needed help. In an instance where I may want
some assistance, it would be considered inappropriate for me just to walk up
to someone, grab their arm, and command them to take me somewhere. But the
same standard for personal body space is not applied to those of us who are
blind. This is where the choice to seek, select, direct, and reject help on
our own terms is critical. This is why many blind people report feeling
dignity the most when they go through a set of interactions without ever
being grabbed by a stranger.

One concept that often gets paired with dignity is respect. Where dignity is
inherent, respect is earned or lost. Respect is influenced by our perception
of a person’s worth or value. As blind people, if we believe in our inherent
dignity, we must first respect ourselves enough not to compromise when
people disrespect us. Then we must be prepared to give respect as a means of
helping others recognize our dignity. With equal treatment comes equal
responsibility. This, too, is much easier said than done.

One area where respect can be challenging is within our own community of
blind people. Many of us are working through the journey of blindness. Thus,
our actions are still strongly influenced by the misconceptions we have
internalized about blind people. When a blind person who is still new on
that journey takes an action or says something that feels like it takes away
from our dignity, many of us react strongly. We need to challenge ourselves
to take a step back and respect the fact that newly blind people are
especially prone to defaulting to the conditioned vision-centered responses.

Consider these examples. Have you ever been in a room full of blind people
when someone says, “Is there a sighted person here?” or, the one I like
better, “Can I borrow a pair of eyes?” I often jump in to note that I have
eyes, though they do not work, and I am happy to help. My experience is that
far more often than not, vision is not a true requirement for dealing with
the concern of the moment. Considering the increasing availability of image
recognition, I expect that small gap to narrow even further. Recently, one
of my blind colleagues shared with me that, during a Braille technology
training seminar in our building, a participant asked for a sighted person
who could read the serial number of the device they were registering. My
blind colleague walked over, read the Braille serial number off the bottom
of the device, and went on their way.

Do not get me wrong, it can be really difficult to deal with conditioned
vision-centered responses, especially when they come from other blind
people. For the record, dignity for the blind is inherent regardless of the
details of an individual’s blindness. However, if we are going to uphold our
inherent dignity, we need to offer respect and grace to those who are still
on the journey of understanding. We must not forget that many of us came
from that same place of misunderstanding and, thankfully, we were respected
and provided with the grace to discover the value of our own dignity. The
respect with which we handle these situations can significantly contribute
to the shared value of our dignity.

When nonblind allies demonstrate their understanding through their advocacy
with us, we are shown respect, and our dignity is strengthened. For example,
I feel respected when one of my nonblind colleagues reminds a presenter that
purely visual cues are not meaningful and that explaining key aspects of a
visual image may also benefit everyone. If we desire that level of respect
from others, we must also be prepared to give it. My experience is that when
we share a high level of respect, everyone benefits.

Our individual efforts to respectfully educate others about our dignity is
all too often not enough. We must continue to have the courage to take the
more forceful steps required to achieve our equality in society. This
happens when our state affiliates object to the harmful actions of agencies
within the vision industrial complex. It happens when we show up to defend
the rights of blind parents and blind business owners. And it happens when
we negotiate with public officials regarding needed protections in the law.
Sometimes the forceful demand for our dignity requires personal sacrifice. A
common example within our community is the forceful stand against the
discrimination of rideshare drivers that many blind people have had to take.
For some of us, the result has been being treated like criminals by law
enforcement who defend the discriminatory actions of the drivers. Others of
us have had to walk away from those situations because the risk of taking a
stand was too great. This is where the strength of our community helps to
uphold our dignity. Each of us can make a difference by pushing back on the
harmful barriers and misconceptions we face. However, all of us are not in a
position to push back all of the time. By combining our efforts into a
movement, we have the best chance of reaching equality of dignity within
society.

Wearing our equality of dignity with pride requires us to honor the dignity
of others. This was most powerfully articulated by our longest-serving
President, Marc Maurer. As he led our movement into the twenty-first
century, he demonstrated that central to dignity is heart and giving back.
In one of his last banquet speeches as our President, he articulated the
current and unshakeable status of our own dignity and the necessity to
welcome the dignity of others. At our 2013 banquet he said:

One element of the misunderstanding about blindness is that we live in a
sighted society. Although many sighted people live in our society, it is
more accurate to say that the society in which we live belongs to all of us,
and we belong to it. Because we belong in this society, we expect to be
welcomed within it. Because others belong to this society, we expect to
welcome them. We do not accept exclusion from any element of our culture. We
belong within the political, economic, legal, educational, and scientific
arenas. We belong in all elements of our society of every kind and
description. We have helped to make it what it is, and it belongs to us. We
cannot be (and we will not be) extracted from it. We give this society
richness, depth, and a level of experience and understanding that cannot be
had without us. Some may try to shoulder us aside into low-grade, shabby
lives, but this is not enough. We own our freedom; we have power; and we
know what to do with it. Our society belongs to us; we will not be shut out;
we belong!

If dignity is inherent in us, we must recognize the dignity inherent in
others. We must honor dignity even when ours is threatened, we must welcome
the dignity of others even when we do not fully understand their experience,
and we must earn respect for our dignity by sharing in the courtesy of
giving. Dignity is inherent, but upholding it is a choice—a choice of
self-determination and a choice of mutual respect. Upholding our dignity
supports both the diversity and authenticity of our shared community—a
dignified community of blind people who represent the full range of diverse
characteristics including race, creed, color, religion, gender identity and
expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, marital
status, age, genetic information, disability, and any other characteristics
or intersectionality of characteristics.

The day-to-day struggle of overcoming misconceptions, low expectations, and
artificial barriers can feel overwhelming. However, eighty-four years ago we
took back our dignity, and we are still determined to achieve full equality.
What gives us boundless hope for the future is the solidarity of dignity we
have found in the National Federation of the Blind. We preserve our dignity
by speaking and acting for ourselves. We enhance our dignity when we define
the solutions to the problems we face, rather than waiting for the charity
of others to do it for us. We strengthen our dignity through the support we
give to the dignity of others. We share our dignity through the rich
diversity within our community and by ensuring that all blind people can
bring their full selves to our movement. Equality will come when we can link
arms with our nonblind colleagues in recognition of the interlocking aspects
of our shared human dignity.

So is dignity for the blind different from dignity for the nonblind? “No,”
is the firm answer from us, the dignitaries of our movement. Yet, our daily
experience demonstrates that the understanding of others, no matter how well
intentioned, provides an alternate answer. Our challenge is to hold tight to
our shared understanding of dignity for the blind while we do the work of
inviting the rest of society to find their place as dignitaries in the
organized blind movement. We must guard against becoming angry and feeling
powerless when misunderstanding threatens our dignity. By striving every day
to live out the dignity that is rightfully ours as blind people and by
holding firm to the bond of faith we share, each of us has the power to make
a difference in changing the understanding of others. When you encounter
moments when your dignity is respected, pause to acknowledge the progress.
When you are confronted with low expectations, remember that the choices are
yours, and your dignity cannot be taken. When you push back on those
misconceptions and create understanding, feel proud of defending our
dignity. And when you feel like you cannot push any more, when you are too
tired of defending your rightful dignity, remember that you are not alone;
all of the other dignitaries have your back.

My Federation family, let us be proud of the dignity we share. Centuries of
misunderstanding created the narrative that we were not worthy of equality,
but we organized and took back our dignity. Under no circumstances will our
dignity again be taken from us, and under no circumstances will we permit
our dignity to be undervalued. Every day we struggle against persistent low
expectations, but we do so with hope and our authentic understanding that it
is respectable to be blind. We know who we are, and our dignity is equal to
others. In wearing our dignity with pride, we honor the dignity of others.
We continue to recognize that we do not journey alone. We do not face the
challenges by ourselves, and we do not have to be perfect in order to
preserve our dignity. Our dignity comes from within, and it is valued,
strengthened, and honored through the collective actions of individuals
focused into a movement we share. But equality in society is not yet ours.
We deserve a world where every heart and mind know our understanding of
dignity for the blind. The only way we can get to that future is together
through the courage, determination, and creativity of a shared movement.
This is the commitment to defend our dignity. This is the commitment we make
to each other. This is the love, hope, and determination felt in our
movement. This is the bond of faith that fuels our hope for our tomorrows.
Let us go together to find those blind people who have not yet discovered
the power of their dignity. Let us show that we belong in the world and that
we make it better. Let us never again allow our dignity to be devalued. Let
us go build the National Federation of the Blind.

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Bower]


Inclusion by Example: Adventures of a Blind Woman Navigating the Oceans of
STEM Professionals


by Amy Bower

>From the Editor: As the last presentation of Sunday, July 7, this was one
the audience found well worth the wait. It includes drama, accomplishment,
and breaking barriers all in one well-constructed address. It also speaks to
ongoing battles many of us have in school, in the workplace, and in
reconciling what we need with the concepts of independence, interdependence,
societal obligations, and economics. There is no question that for most of
us the battle of accessibility has been far more challenging than the work
we are paid to do.

Dr. Bower is a physical oceanography senior scientist at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Here is what
she said to our convention:

Thank you, President Riccobono. Are you ready for a sea story? Well, thanks
for sticking around. I hope you won’t be disappointed.

These are words you never want to hear if you are on a ship at sea:
"Attention, all personnel! Return to your staterooms immediately, and lock
all your staterooms and passageways. A hostile vessel is circling our ship."

No textbook and no classroom and no advanced degree can prepare you for a
pirate attack on the high seas. But this is exactly what I experienced in
2001 as an oceanographer on an unarmed research ship in the Indian Ocean.

Before I tell you how this turned out—I’m going to keep you waiting a few
minutes—Let me rewind a few decades. Growing up in a small coastal community
north of Boston, Massachusetts, I fell in love with the oceans. Yay, Mass!
An insatiable curiosity had me turning over every rock at low tide to see
what was hiding underneath and wondering what else laid below the waves. I
was also curious in the classroom. I took nearly all the science and math
classes offered at my small high school and found physics, oddly enough, to
be the most interesting. So that is what I chose for my college major. But I
quickly realized that most physicists focus on the invisible particles that
are inside atoms, whereas I was more interested in the physical environment
that we all experience every day: wind and weather, ocean waves and tides,
and how it all fits together to shape our planet.

But exactly how I would turn my interest in these topics to a career was
uncertain until I signed up for an off-campus college program called Sea
Semester. It appealed to my sense of adventurous spirit, sailing for six
weeks offshore on a tall ship and learning everything about the oceans: its
science, its history, its literature and its policy.

There I discovered there is a field called physical oceanography. I bet you
never heard of it. This is the study of the physical forces that drive
motion in the ocean. Now I knew how I could combine my training in math and
physics with my passion for understanding how our planet works. Because,
after all, to be good stewards of our one and only home, we need to
understand what natural forces make our life on this celestial planet
possible.

To be a physical oceanographer, I went off to graduate school. Starting in
my very first year, I was involved in research expeditions to the Gulf
Stream, where I learned to use sophisticated instruments to study the
three-dimensional anatomy of this massive and important current. I loved it:
the adventure, the sense of exploration, camaraderie that develops during
remote fieldwork like this. I was completely hooked.

The frequent storms that I rode out with my shipmates at sea in those early
graduate school years did not prepare me for what happened next. In my third
year of grad school at a routine eye exam, an abnormal blind spot was
discovered, and shortly after that I was diagnosed with macular degeneration
and retinitis pigmentosa, a twofer.

Accompanying this totally unexpected diagnosis—no one in my family had a
similar eye condition—was the demoralizing advice from an ophthalmologist to
change careers and consider a career in science administration instead of
research. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with administration, but it’s
not what I wanted to do.

At that time I had not heard of any scientist anywhere in any field who was
blind or had low vision. In fact, I didn’t know a single person who was
blind or had low vision—not personally.

I wanted to be an oceanographer and go to sea and do research on ships.
Could I still do that? I was no longer sure.

The uncertainty in the prognosis was as unsettling as the diagnosis itself.
I was informed that I would likely become fully or totally blind over some
unknown number of years. It could be several years or several decades.

But since I’m standing here before you now as a physical oceanographer who
is blind with thirty-five years research experience behind me, you know I
did not take that doctor’s advice. [Cheers and applause] Instead, I signed
up to see a low-vision specialist who had a totally different attitude. He
had that positive can-do attitude. I think it helped that he was a sailor
and understood the excitement of living and working on the ocean. He
introduced me to various assistive technologies, and I started believing
that maybe I could continue my graduate studies in my chosen career.

Indeed, I finished my PhD and then started my professional career as a
physical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute or WHOI
[pronounced Hooey] as we call it for short. It’s on Cape Cod in
Massachusetts. Yay, Mass!

So what do oceanographers do? Many think that we only study what are
sometimes called charismatic megafauna. Anybody have a guess about what that
is? Yes, whales, sharks, and dolphins. Yeah, the kinds of things we
typically hear about and see in movies or read in books like Moby Dick or
JAWS or whatever. But oceanography is actually a vast field of study focused
on a highly complex physical, biological, chemical, geological environment
that covers 70 percent of earth’s surface. It is intricately connected to
our climate and therefore to all life on earth. It’s in constant motion from
waves at the surface to slow moving but powerful currents in the abyss.
These currents creep along more slowly than walking speed—maybe three or
four miles an hour or less—but they transport huge volumes of salty water,
heat, tiny marine organisms, as well as greenhouse gases like carbon
dioxide.

But where do all these currents go? Are they changing as the planet warms?
It’s not easy to figure this out, and this is why. Below the sunlight
surface, the ocean is a very inhospitable environment for both humans and
the most sophisticated research tools. There is the crushing weight of the
water overhead. You know if you pick up a gallon of water, it’s pretty
heavy, right? Think of millions of gallons of water.

There is the cold—about three degrees Celsius through most of the deep
ocean. There is corrosion. If not well protected, oceanographic instruments
will just stop working with exposure to saltwater. And it’s pitch dark. No
one, sighted or not, can physically see what is going on with the currents
at these depths.

So how do we measure ocean currents then? With my research team, I release
hundreds of freely drifting buoys in currents more than a mile below the sea
surface, and we track them under water using sound as they trace out the
pathways of ocean currents across entire ocean basins from months to years.
Using these and other tools, we have discovered how one current can change
the path of another current deeper in the ocean. We’ve learned how warm
currents in the Gulf of Mexico fuel hurricanes, which are going to be bigger
in the news this year, and how rotating features the size of Rhode Island
trap salt, heat, and marine organisms in their swirling currents, like a
slow-moving tornado, and transport them thousands of kilometers across the
ocean; think Dorothy in her house in the Wizard of Oz, but in slow motion.

The most thrilling aspect of being a physical oceanographer for me is going
out on research ships. Just for the record, these are not the Love Boat.
These are not cruise ships. They have large working decks, science labs,
dorm-like state rooms (no luxury living), and cafeterias. And maybe if you
are lucky, you get an exercise room with a few weight machines.

I’ve sailed extensively around the Atlantic and Indian Ocean on these ships,
staying at sea for up to six weeks at a time. You don’t go into port every
night. If you’re out there, you’re out there.

After I lost most of my useful vision, I had to give up working with the
equipment on the open deck, but I can still lead the expedition as the
primary decision-maker or chief scientist, as we call it. I depend on some
sighted assistance, though, because most of the data being collected by the
ship is still not accessible in real time for blind or low-vision
scientists.

On one such expedition in 2001, I was chief scientist on a research ship in
the Indian Ocean. This should start to sound familiar. The currents in this
remote region were a complete mystery, and we were mapping them for the
first time. While on station off the coast of Somalia, we noticed a small
boat approaching with six men on board who appeared to be wearing some kind
of uniform, maybe like a local Coast Guard. But they didn’t contact our ship
by radio, which would have been normal operating procedure. Instead, they
circled around our ship, shouting words we couldn’t hear. Then, suddenly,
one of them stood up and brandished a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

Immediately recognizing the danger, our captain quickly got our ship
underway at top speed. We had to get away. But the top speed of this ship is
about fifteen miles an hour. That’s about as fast as a bicyclist on a good
clip. The other boat, which was faster, started chasing close behind.
Everyone on our ship was ordered to their state rooms and told to lock the
doors. Why? In case, what we now realized were modern-day pirates, got on
board our ship. For about an hour, they trailed close behind us, firing
rifles and grenades at our ship, trying to get us to stop so they could get
on board.

But our captain knew much better. He knew we had to keep moving, because
it’s almost impossible if you’re in a small boat and trying to jump up and
climb up the side of a bigger ship if that ship is moving, it’s pretty hard
to do. So the captain knew: keep it moving.

Eventually the sea conditions forced the pirates to give up and turn back to
shore. Whew!

As it probably would be for you as well, this was one of the most
frightening experiences of my life—right up there with trying to cross any
street in downtown Boston. [Chuckles] My PhD studies did not prepare me for
this test of leadership. Even though no one on the ship was harmed
physically, everyone was traumatized to some extent. It was my
responsibility, along with the captain, to maintain a sense of calm and
carry on with our research, even though I myself was as rattled as everyone
else and remember I couldn’t really even see everything going on during this
incident. It was all being described to me. I was getting it in second or
third person or something.

If you are interested in learning more about modern-day piracy,
oceanography, and my career, I welcome you to check out the book
Seven-Tenths: Love, Piracy, and Science at Sea by David Fisichella, which is
available on Amazon and on BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download).

As a scientist with first low and then almost no vision, I’ve had to
navigate a sea of obstacles to be the oceanographer I wanted to be—the
single most daunting one probably being my own self-doubt. In the early
days, not only was I a super minority in my professional community as an
oceanographer with low vision; I was also a woman in a very male dominated
field, with just a handful of female peers.

I sometimes felt like I did not belong in physical oceanography. I was
afraid I wasn’t good enough, that I couldn’t be successful with low vision,
and that any day now my colleagues would figure it all out and kick me out.
Some call this the "imposter syndrome." Yes, thank you! But others have
argued recently that the imposter syndrome is not really a syndrome at all,
but it’s these feelings, which are experienced by many, that are more a sign
of an unwelcoming or unaccommodating community, and not an indication of
some failing or inadequacy on my part.

Anyway, from my female colleagues I have learned that having a network of
peers and mentors with similar lived experience was just as important to a
successful career as being able to write a good grant proposal. Luckily,
this was just when the World Wide Web was taking off. I know I don’t look
that old, but I am. I could search beyond my immediate circle of colleagues
for other blind scientists. Indeed, I was able to find and contact a few,
all in other fields: none in my own field, but at least it was a start.
Around the same time, I searched for support groups for blind professionals
closer to home on Cape Cod. I finally found one in Boston, two hours away by
bus, but it was the closest one I could get to by public transportation.
This was my first significant connection with peers facing some of the same
challenges. I made more connections attending the international Ski for
Light cross-country skiing events. [Applause] Yay, Ski for Light, where I
met many other blind and low-vision outdoor enthusiasts, and many of them
also had professional careers.

I started to have more hope that maybe I could not only survive but thrive
in my chosen career. Others seemed to be doing it, so why not me? My network
and my confidence continued to grow, as my vision declined continuously.

I still had to contend with something important here, which is the tenure
clock. Academics usually only have a limited number of years to build an
independent research program and demonstrate that they have made a
significant impact on their discipline. At the end of that time, it’s up or
out. So even with many video magnifiers and screen readers, many research
tasks took me a bit longer than my sighted peers. Plus I had to constantly
research new assistive technologies and learn to use them, as my vision
continued to decline. With all this extra energy and time spent adapting to
ever-changing vision, I wasn’t sure I could make tenure.

At that time, academic institutions were beginning to implement "slow the
clock" policies, mainly as an accommodation for expectant mothers who were
pursuing academic careers. It occurred to me that such an accommodation
would be appropriate for someone in my situation as well. I too was
experiencing a life event that was going to impact how quickly I could get
my research program up and running.

But I had to request this accommodation, and I was hesitant. As far as I
knew, no one at WHOI had requested a "slow the clock" accommodation for
reasons of disability. With the encouragement of my institution
ombudsperson, I did make this request, and to my relief it was granted
without hesitation. [Applause] Thank you.

I earned tenure in 1999, and a few years later I was promoted to the highest
rank for scientists at WHOI, senior scientist. I was the first woman to
achieve that rank in my department.

Over the next twenty years, I continued to grow my research program. Then,
in 2018, I was selected by my colleagues to be the next department chair. I
wasn’t expecting that. I was, there too, the first woman to serve in that
position in my department and also the first blind person to hold any high
leadership at WHOI at all. [Applause] This meant I would be responsible for
the professional well-being of over one hundred researchers, students, and
administrative staff in the physical oceanography department. I would also
join the other department chairs, vice presidents, and the president of WHOI
to lead our world-renowned research institution of over one thousand
employees.

Before I became chair, I was constantly running to keep up with my workload.
After I became chair, I had to sprint to keep up with the huge increase in
the volume of emails, reports, memos, spreadsheets, budgets, personnel
concerns and, oh, by the way, the response to a global pandemic.

Many documents I had to read and digest as a department chair were not
accessible, and decisions based on those had to sometimes be made very
quickly and often at the same time that the PowerPoint or spreadsheet was
being shared with me and the rest of the leadership team for the first time.

Screen reader accessibility was not familiar to this team at all. So it was
a big challenge for them to make their documents accessible. They were as
busy and pressed for time as I was, making it challenging for them to find
the time to make their documents accessible. I had to start pushing publicly
and repeatedly for accessible documents to be provided with time to review
them, which, by the way, I pointed out would be good for the whole team if
we had more time to review them—universal design, right?

This constant reminding, though, was not comfortable for me, but I just kept
asking. After all, my department had chosen me to be their representative at
the highest administrative level, and I did not want to disappoint them. In
spite of my persistence, I didn’t always get these documents in an
accessible format at the same time. Life is messy; it doesn’t always work
out. I just had to ask a lot of questions and do the best I could.

It was not always an ideal situation by any stretch, but nonetheless I
successfully completed my four-year term as a department chair two years
ago. This experience made me realize, a little late maybe, that what I
really needed to be on a level playing field with my peers in this kind of
fast- paced career was an access assistant, a concept I recently learned
about from Mona Minkara, a blind assistant professor at Northeastern
University. Previously a few staff members in my department were assigned on
an ad hoc basis to help make data, graphics, and documents accessible for
me, but they had other responsibilities competing for their time and
attention. As a result, I often hesitated to request access assistance when
I needed it. Finally, last year, I requested that my institution support the
salary for a dedicated access assistant, whose only job would be to help
make inaccessible information accessible to me. I was so excited when the
request was granted. Yay!

As far as I know, this is the first such approval at my institution. Until
the STEM fields have embraced independent accessibility, it is my opinion
that access assistance is required for one to reach their full potential.
This dedicated access assistance has been the game changer I imagined. No
longer do I hesitate to ask for help with making information more
accessible. I suddenly feel free to be a scientist again, without the extra
burden of scrambling for access just to get to the starting line with my
colleagues. I wish I could wind back the clock and repeat the last twenty
years or so of my career with an access assistant.

Over the past twenty years, I have spent some of my time sharing my
experiences with the next generation of low-vision and blind students
interested in science to help them realize that they too can succeed in STEM
careers. With Perkins School science teacher Kate Frazier, I started an
outreach program called Ocean InSight. With other members of my lab group, I
visit Perkins classrooms and other classrooms with stories about my career
and all my assistive technology and how I have managed to carve out this
career with data sonification—which I’m getting into more—and touchable
oceanographic equipment for them to explore. We also host an accessible
field trip to WHOI every year through the Perkins Outreach Program where
students can learn more about all the exciting research going on at WHOI.

At the beginning of my career, the odds seemed stacked against my dream to
be an oceanographer. A doctor’s advice to give up on a career as a
researcher left me awash with self-doubt. There was no network of low-vision
or blind scientists in my field.

Since I began to lose my vision as a young adult, I did not get any official
blindness training as a youth. I was racing all the time to adapt to ever
changing vision, and all that time the tenure clock was ticking. In my favor
has been the supporting encouragement of my family, a somewhat accommodating
employer—mostly accommodating I would say—and the energizing curiosity and
passion to understand the inner workings of Planet Earth, or more aptly
described by Arthur C. Clarke, Planet Ocean. As my network of blind
scientists and other professionals grew, so did my self-confidence, my
comfort level requesting accommodations, and the realization that, yes, I
can do this and, yes, I do belong, and so do all of you. Thank you!

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Cayte Mendez]

[PHOTO CAPTION: The 2024 Scholarship Class: (left to right) Back row: Thor
Kargatis, Joshua Olukanni, Benjamin Grelk, Henry Young, Enrique Mejia,
Miranda Lacy, Miles Little, Hannah Clemenson, Natalie Rankin, and Tom
Geraci. Middle row: Jonesti Steele, Madison Flores, Cole Carper, Muntaha
Ruthba, Rachel Grider, Sam Morgan, Abey Finklea, Tamara Lundy, and Lindsay
Adair. Front row: Josè Montano, Julia LaGrand, Krystle Allen, Colin Wong,
Casey Reyes, Thelma González Santana, Lynn Wu, Maranda Ulvestad, Amanda
Juetten, and Dishon Spears]


Remarks of the Scholarship Class of 2024


>From the Editor: One of the highlights of each convention is listening to
the remarks of our scholarship finalists as they share our convention and
add their enthusiasm and ambitious plans to our gathering. Here is what they
said to the Board of Directors and the thousands attending the meeting.
President Riccobono introduced this presentation as follows:

Now, I want to move to a very special part of the agenda. We’ve had a packed
agenda, but I know most of you have been waiting for—especially now that we
told you where the convention is—our scholarship program!

Without further ado, I would like to introduce from the great state of New
York, our chair, Cayte Mendez.

CAYTE: Good morning, Mr. President and members of the Board. This is the
seventh year that it has been my privilege to introduce the National
Federation of the Blind scholarship class to all of you. Every year it is as
much of a privilege as it was the first time.

This year we have thirty wonderful students. They were selected because of
their academic excellence, their leadership potential, their community
involvement, the quality of their applications, and I am delighted to be
able to present all of them to you and to the folks watching.

We’ll be passing the mic down. They will have about thirty seconds to
introduce themselves to you. They are going to tell you a little bit about
who they are, where they’re from, what made them excellent candidates for
the scholarship program, and a little about their vocational goals. This
year we have two tenBroek Fellows with us. Jacobus tenBroek was the first
president of our organization, and we reserve the title of tenBroek Fellow
for those receiving their second National Federation of the Blind
Scholarship. Scholarship finalists, are we ready?

Wonderful! They have been ready for the last two hours. They’re ready to go
and get this done. I will be introducing them—first name, last name, home
state, school state, and vocational goal. For the purposes of making sure
the agenda moves along as it should, I’m going to ask that you hold your
applause until the end. I know that can be extremely challenging, but please
help us all out with that.

Without further ado...

Lindsay Adair, Louisiana, Louisiana, psychology, social work:

LINDSAY: Hello, my name is Lindsay. My career goals are to be either working
in psychology or social work, and I am a person who loves to help other
people. I want to give back, and something I would like to do is to reach
out to other blind people who may not have heard of us. I encourage you all
to remember those who have no hope and who have not heard of NFB. Please
reach out to those people. I do not know where I would be without this
organization today. Thank you. [There was some applause despite the request
of the Chair.]

CAYTE: Thank you for the 95 percent of people in the audience who remembered
to hold their applause. For those 5 percent, there you go.

Krystle Allen, New Jersey, New Jersey, social work:

KRYSTLE: Good morning everyone, and thank you to the Scholarship Committee
for selecting me as one of the finalists. I am excited because I am a
nontraditional student, and I am pursuing the goal to become a full-time
employee. I currently work at the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and
Visually Impaired as their state community outreach specialist part-time. So
with my education credentials that I’m acquiring for social work, I’m in the
helping field, and I want to go full time so I can help more visually
impaired and blind consumers to pursue their dreams. I’m excited that during
my education experience I’m celebrating a milestone year with a nonprofit I
founded ten years ago called “Eyes Like Mine, Inc..” I’m wearing a crown for
you guys today, because I am Miss New Jersey 2024! [Applause]

CAYTE: Cole Carper, Arkansas, Alabama, aerospace engineering:

COLE: Good morning, everyone. I just graduated high school in May. I’m super
excited to be here. It’s a great honor; thank you to the National Federation
for doing the convention. My career goal is eventually to work at NASA,
Boeing, SpaceX. I don’t have a specific company I want to work for yet; I
just know I want to work in that industry.

CAYTE: David Carrillo, Utah, Utah, counselor:

DAVID: Thank you to NFB for the honor of being chosen as one of the
finalists this year. Right now I’m currently working on my Master of Social
Work with the goal of becoming a licensed social worker so that I can be
able to counsel in specializing in grief, trauma, and bereavement. Having
lost my three-year-old son in 2020 and my sister in 2022 to suicide, I feel
particularly versed in order to understand that grief and what comes with
it. I want to be able to be there for those newly experiencing that and help
them through that journey knowing that there is a light at the end of the
darkness.

CAYTE: Hannah Clemenson, Montana, California, journalism and broadcasting:

HANNAH: Good morning, Board members, Scholarship Committee, and Federation
family. I grew up in a really small town in Montana, and at the time
National Public Radio was about the only sound on my dial. Despite my
isolation in rural Montana, I was able to build a vivid and nuanced image of
the world around me through listening to public radio. I want to use my
scholarship to jump into that world and continue to be a storyteller for the
people.

CAYTE: Before I introduce the next finalist, I just have to tell you this:
If you haven’t applied—first of all, how many people in the room have
received a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship? [Cheering]

Okay. So from where I am sitting, the whole left side—right side, you have
to get on that, okay?

If you want to know what month you should have a birthday in to win a
scholarship... those that sit through this presentation each year, you know
that I love birthday trivia. August, you guys are my people, Leos and
Libras. You almost made it this year, but with only five, we lost to May
which has six. This was the year to have a May birthday. And next:

Abey Finklea, Wisconsin, Washington, elementary education:

ABEY: Hello, everyone. I am very passionate about working with children, and
I have had many wonderful experiences working with elementary schools and
equine therapy programs for children. My goal is to use my degree to improve
the education system and empower underserved students to reach their full
potential. Thank you.

CAYTE: Madison Flores, Texas, Texas, law:

MADISON: Good morning, everyone. It feels really great to be here. Thank you
all for selecting me as a finalist. As for my career goals, I’m currently
studying government at Austin Community College with plans to transfer to
the University of Texas at Austin where I will complete my bachelor’s in
government before going to law school. Thank you so much.

CAYTE: Tom Geraci, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, marketing and public
relations:

TOM: I am Tom Geraci, a senior at Merrimack College, and I have been very
involved in the local blind community in the Greater Boston area for most of
my youth. I currently work at the school for the blind in Watertown,
Massachusetts, in the marketing department, and I am pretty involved
locally. But this is my first convention, and I have really enjoyed it so
far. Thank you to Cayte Mendez, the rest of the Scholarship Committee, Ryan,
Cassandra, and my mentors for guiding me through the whirlwind. Thank you to
my fellow finalists, because it’s not easy being the only vision impaired
student at your college, and you guys get it. Most importantly, thank you to
the donors for giving these scholarships away and allowing me and other
students to really live out the college experience we want and deserve.
Thank you.

CAYTE: Our scholarship class this year is representative of twenty-two
states, but twenty-four affiliates. One of the affiliates that is not a
state is the one from which our next finalist hails. Her name is Thelma
González Santana. She is representing the affiliate of Puerto Rico, so
Puerto Rico home state, Puerto Rico school state, and she is looking at
going into a career in international development. She will be speaking
through an interpreter, so we’re going to give time to let the process work
out.

THELMA: Greetings. Good morning, Federation family. I am very honored to
share with all of you. This is my first convention. I am studying strategic
communications and international studies. My purpose is to project our
philosophy to the entire population in general, so I am carrying out several
projects. Among these is to create a database at the Puerto Rico level on
how many blind people currently have a job. In addition, I’m trying to
create empowerment in all our community with a mobile fashion application
and also creating an educational committee for emergency management. The
essential idea is to empower our community and let them know that we can all
achieve what we want and fulfill our dreams and goals. Thank you.

CAYTE: Ben Grelk, Nebraska, Nebraska, software engineer:

BEN: Hello, everyone. I was a military brat, so I popped around seven
different addresses before settling in Nebraska. I am a software developer,
and I love using my skills to contribute to open source, especially in the
web accessibility space.

CAYTE: Our next finalist is a tenBroek winner: Rachel Grider, California,
Louisiana, orientation and mobility:

RACHEL: Hi, guys. I am so excited to be here today. First, thank you so much
to the Scholarship Committee and the National Federation of the Blind for
selecting me as a finalist. Up until less than a year ago, I was teaching
music at a music academy. During the course of several years teaching there,
I started becoming more and more involved in the National Federation of the
Blind of California. As I was doing that, I started to see that more and
more there is such a strong need for orientation and mobility instructors
and all kinds of instructors of the blind who help empower blind people, and
I started to feel a calling and passion to come and give back. I am back in
school, and I am pursuing a degree in Structured Discovery cane travel,
orientation and mobility, and my goal is to teach Structured Discovery in a
place where there is not a lot of SDCT around. One of my dearest ambitions
is to start a Structured Discovery center in California.

CAYTE: Amanda Juetten, Tennessee, Tennessee, blindness training:

AMANDA: Good morning, Federation family! How are you? I’m Amanda Juetten
from Tennessee, currently getting my bachelor’s degree in organizational
leadership and will go from there to work on a graduate certificate in
blindness rehabilitation teaching. I am opening a training center in the
wonderful state of Tennessee, and we have established our nonprofit and
working on the process of funding and development and getting that thing up
and off the ground. I enjoy serving on many boards and positions within the
Federation, but I mostly enjoy serving and doing whatever it takes to see
the Federation reach the blind community. I believe in the philosophies of
the Federation, and I believe that we need more quality teaching in the area
of alternative skills of blindness. That is my aim, and that is my goal.
Thank you so much; thank you for this opportunity.

CAYTE: The next one I mispronounced twice. I’ll see if I get it right this
time. This is Thor Kargatis. I mentioned earlier there were two affiliates,
not states, represented in this class. Thor hails from the District of
Columbia, going to school in New Jersey and pursuing a career in urban
planning.

THOR: Cayte actually got it right on the third time today. Nicely done! Good
morning, everyone. I’m Thor Kargatis, the guy who has been doing
neurodivergent things in the front right corner of the room for the past two
hours. I’m interested in studying urban planning. I’ve come to realize there
is often an overlooked aspect of accessibility, which is that accessibility
means frequent bosses and accessible Braille services and fair systems that
work and whatnot. I’m very new to the NFB. I didn’t find out about its
existence until I applied for the scholarship. I’m here to meet people. This
is my first convention. I implore you to come up and say hello and talk to
me about anything, whether you want to talk to me about me living in DC or
urban planning or anything really. I’m eager to make some friends here.

CAYTE: Miranda Lacy, West Virginia, West Virginia, social work:

MIRANDA: Hello, everyone. Good morning. I’m humbled and thankful that I have
been chosen as a finalist from West Virginia. I’m studying social work at
West Virginia University. My undergraduate degree is psychology from West
Virginia State University. I spent thirteen years out of the workforce
thinking that I would never be able to work while raising my children as a
single mother. I have two boys, ages twelve and eighteen, but blindness is
not the characteristic that defines me. I am excited to start my internship
at the Appalachian Center for Independent Living. It’s the first time I’ve
worked in eighteen years. It’s been exciting and overwhelming. I found the
National Federation of the Blind when I was seeking assistance with
discrimination from my university. So I am thankful to have an advocate in
the West Virginia chapter, Ms. Sheri Koch. I’m excited to be here and learn
about the NFB philosophy. I am a new member.

I can’t wait to get to know you all. Thank you so much.

CAYTE: Julia LaGrand, Michigan, Massachusetts, violinist and educator:

JULIA: Good morning, Federationists. Thank you to everyone for giving me
this incredible opportunity. I am about to start a joint degree program at
the New England Conservatory at Harvard pursuing violin performance and a
liberal arts education. I want to continue my work becoming the best
classical violinist I can be, but also be a more broadly educated person and
continue my passion for disability advocacy. I have had a number of
professional opportunities to engage in this kind of work, and I have also
learned so much about the organized blind movement and how that interacts
with music through my role as a board member of the National Federation of
the Blind Performing Arts Division. I am so grateful for the Federation. In
this year of music intensive training, I have heard so many times in
different ways about how classical music doesn’t work with blindness, and I
have been so grateful to my Federation family who I have called often to
hear reassurances and grow, and it has changed me so much. I look forward to
continuing growing with the Federation, and thank you for making that all
possible.

CAYTE: Miles Little, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, finance:

MILES: Good morning, everybody. First off, I would like to say that I’m very
thankful and grateful for being here, and I have plans to become a financial
adviser. Also, one thing I’m excited about is that I want to show everybody
that we can do it and that it is possible. Thank you.

CAYTE: Tamara Lundy, Louisiana, New York, healthcare finance:

TAMARA: Good morning, everyone. I am honored to be standing before you this
morning. My career goal is to become a financial analyst or health insurance
specialist. I served in a nonprofit clinic for fifteen years, and my passion
is to serve patients. I’m honored to be able to do that once again. I’m
looking forward to pursuing my CDC as a certified medical professional coder
once I get my master’s degree. I also look forward to serving you all once
again in New Orleans. Thank you.

CAYTE: Enrique Mejia, Iowa, Iowa, special education teacher:

ENRIQUE: Good morning, Federation family. My name is Enrique Mejia, and I’m
currently pursuing my master of science in teaching with an endorsement in
special education at Drake University. For the last ten years, I have worked
at the Iowa Department for the Blind as a technology specialist where Dr.
Jernigan developed the philosophy that we now refer to as Structured
Discovery. During the summer I have worked with students to become empowered
and pursue their goals. Throughout the years they have inspired me to no
longer be a bystander and pursue my own goal to work with children who are
receiving special education services. I am deeply thankful to the National
Board and the Scholarship Committee, as well as the generations of
Federationists who have come before me—Federationists like Shawn Mayo, Emily
Wharton, and of course my wife, Helena Mejia, who is in the audience. Thank
you, and let’s go build the National Federation of the Blind.

CAYTE: Josè Andre Montano, District of Columbia, New York, jazz pianist:

JOSÈ: Hello, everybody. I’m Josè Andre Montano. It’s an honor and a pleasure
to be selected as a finalist. Thank you so much. My goal in the future is to
become a piano teacher and mentor for other young musicians like me. Despite
the challenges I have had, I’m still here today, transmitting joy and
happiness with my music. Remember that life is a trip to be enjoyed, and we
can all love our differences and who we are. Thank you so much.

CAYTE: Sam Morgan, Colorado, Massachusetts, meteorology:

SAM: Good morning, Federation. I want to say that I’m deeply grateful to be
here, and it’s an honor to be among such great people. For my degree, I am
pursuing a master’s degree in meteorology at the University of
Massachusetts, Lowell, with a minor in math and a minor in sustainability.
Thanks to the Federation scholarship, this fall I’m going to be doing
research in Iceland on how climate change is impacting precipitation trends
in the Arctic. Further in my career I hope to be able to help with the
presence of those with blindness and low vision in the fields of STEM and
atmospheric science. Thank you.

CAYTE: Joshua Olukanni, Georgia, Minnesota, organizational development:

JOSHUA: Hello, everyone. Good morning. I just want to start off by saying
I’m very appreciative to have the opportunity to be a scholarship finalist.
I am currently majoring in human resource development at the University of
Minnesota. I want to leverage this degree to become an organizational
development consultant where I can come up with strategies to better
implement DEI and how to best develop and organize an organization to make
it run most efficiently. Currently I am learning a lot from the current
internship I have at Unilever, and I hope I can continue to build on the
foundation I have. Thank you.

CAYTE: So there are thirty-two years between our most seasoned scholarship
finalist and our youngest. This next finalist is toward the younger end.
Although I would like to shout out the most senior member of the scholarship
class, I won’t say who that is. That person’s birthday is Valentine’s Day,
which is really fun.

Our next finalist is not "the youngest;" that one is coming later, but,
Natalie Rankin, Texas, Texas, cybersecurity:

NATALIE: Hi, everyone. I want to express how deeply grateful I am for this
incredible opportunity that the Federation has offered me. I am deeply
passionate about protecting privacy in this digital age that we live in, and
I fully intend to use this scholarship to help in promoting a safer
cyberspace that is accessible for all. Again, thank you so much.

CAYTE: Casey Reyes, Utah, Utah, public relations:

CASEY: Hello all. My name is Casey Reyes. I’m very grateful for having been
selected as a 2024 scholarship finalist from the National Federation of the
Blind. I’m currently studying strategic communication at the University of
Utah and hope to pursue a degree to go on to pursue a career in crisis
management. Mentorship is something that I deeply value, and since becoming
more involved in the National Federation of the Blind, I have been blown
away by the abundance of mentorship available to me. I look forward to
taking advantage of this mentorship and growing. I cannot wait for where the
Federation can take me and where I can take the Federation to live the life
I want. Thank you.

CAYTE: Muntaha Ruthba, Texas, Texas, international blindness program:

MUNTAHA: Hi everyone. I am Muntaha Ruthba, and I go by Ruth. I’m a Bengali
American woman from Austin, Texas. I’m majoring in psychology and minoring
in disability studies at UT Austin. My goal is to remove mental and physical
barriers for blind children and families so that they have the tools and
training to be independent and successful. I’m so grateful for everyone who
has made this scholarship possible. Thank you.

CAYTE: Dishon Spears, Colorado, Colorado, nonprofit tech:

DISHON: Hello, everyone. My name is Dishon Spears, and I want to thank the
Board and NFB for giving me the opportunity to get this scholarship. I’m
studying business right now with my focus being on nonprofit organizations.
I hope to start my nonprofit and being able to give back to blind people in
the technology area. Thanks again to the NFB and to all of you who helped
raise money to make this possible.

CAYTE: The youngest finalist is in the last group, and this person turned
eighteen which means they qualified for the scholarship, on July 2—just
squeaked under.

So, since we shared a fun fact about our most seasoned birthday, I thought
it would be a fun fact about our least. As we commence the last group of
scholarship finalists this year, we have Jonesti Steele, Mississippi,
Alabama, rehab counselor:

JONESTI: Good morning. For those of you who don’t know me, I went blind
three years ago due to a physical assault. Initially I looked at my
predicament so negatively until I realized I was blind but blessed. As a
rehabilitation counselor, I aspire to continue working alongside my
Federation family within our movement to make a difference. My plan is to
encourage individuals to see capabilities before our disabilities. Thank
you.

CAYTE: Maranda Ulvestad, Arizona, Arizona, elementary teacher:

MARANDA: Hello, Federation family. Thank you so much for the opportunity to
be a finalist. For me, I have seen my confidence grow from being a member of
the NFB through the opportunities that I have received from this
organization, some of which include advocating for the blind community at
the Washington Seminar, as well as working as a mentor for the BELL® Program
this year. I am looking forward to becoming an elementary schoolteacher
sometime in the future and working to build the NFB in the rural parts of my
home state of Arizona.

CAYTE: Our next finalist is a tenBroek winner. Colin Wong, Washington,
Washington, professor:

COLIN: Thank you, everyone. My name is Colin Wong, and I’m honored to be
here today. The Federation has shaped me to be who I am as a student of both
CCB and LCB, and even my first job was offered to me outside general session
at Shingle Creek. So I’m incredibly thankful for the Federation and the
Scholarship Committee for supporting me again in advancing my career and
pursuing a PhD in educational leadership to become a university professor
and researcher to study adult education and blindness education. There needs
to be more research in blindness with the high expectations expected from
the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you.

CAYTE: Lynn Wu, California, California, nonprofit tech:

LYNN: Good morning, everyone. My name is Lynn Wu, and I am the youngest of
the scholarship class this year. I just want to begin by saying how grateful
I am to the NFB and the Scholarship Committee for selecting me as a
scholarship finalist. I just graduated high school a month ago, and I’m
going to pursue a major in computer science at Stanford University with the
hope of improving digital accessibility, especially making STEM more
digitally accessible to encourage and let more blind people explore the
topics in STEM more easily to really help in the age where technology is
rapidly advancing. Thank you.

CAYTE: And last of all, this year in our fantastic group of scholarship
winners, we have Henry Young, New Jersey, Montana, park ranger:

HENRY: Hello, everyone. My name is Henry Young. Again, I would like to thank
the Scholarship Committee for the great honor that you’ve given all of us;
it is truly appreciated. I attend the University of Montana, studying
history and mountain studies in beautiful Missoula, Montana. This summer, as
well as after I graduate, I will be pursuing my dream of living in and
working in the national parks, and that is for one simple reason: I love
national parks. I want to spend as much time in them as possible, telling
their stories in a way that is unafraid of conflict and controversy, yet one
that showcases a common American narrative. At the same time, I want to help
issue a special welcome to those Americans who do not yet feel a sense of
ownership of their national parks, their common inheritance, America’s best
idea—to show that these sacred spaces belong to all Americans regardless of
race, ethnicity, or disability.

CAYTE: With that, Mr. President and members of the Board, I am pleased to
conclude the presentation of the 2024 National Federation of the Blind
Scholarship class.

At the Annual Banquet of the National Federation of the Blind, Cayte Mendez
presented the 2024 National Scholarship Awards to this year’s winners. Each
received a plaque in print and Braille contributed by the Ray Kurzweil
Foundation and an award of eight thousand dollars from the National
Federation of the Blind.

National Federation of the Blind Scholarships: Lindsay Adair, Krystle Allen,
Cole Carper, David Carrillo, Abey Finklea, Tom Geraci, Benjamin Grelk, Thor
Kargatis, Miles Little, Tamara Lundy, Natalie Rankin, Muntaha Ruthba,
Maranda Ulvestad

Charles and Betty Allen Scholarship: Henry Young

EU and Jean Parker Scholarships: Jonesti Steele

Charles and Melba T. Owen Memorial Scholarships: Amanda Juetten, Julia
LeGrand and Joshua Olukanni

Edith R. and Alvin J. Domroe Scholarships: Enrique Mejia and Casey Reyes

Jesse and Hertha Adams Trust Scholarship: Josè Andre Montano

Jacqueline Billey Memorial Scholarship: Hannah Clemenson

Mimi and Marvin Sandler Award: Miranda Lacy

JAWS for Windows Award: Dishon Spears

NFB STEM Scholarship: Lynn Wu

Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in STEM Field: Sam Morgan

Adrienne Asch Memorial Scholarship: Colin Wong

Scott C. LaBarre Memorial Scholarship: Madison Flores

American Action Fund Scholarship: Rachel Grider

Kenneth Jernigan Memorial Scholarship: Thelma González Santana

----------


Resolutions Passed by the 2024 National Convention


RESOLUTION 2024-01


Regarding the Accessibility of Theme Parks


WHEREAS, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires that
theme parks be accessible to individuals with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice is responsible for
enforcing the ADA; and

WHEREAS, large theme parks such as Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and
Universal Studios claim to provide accessible theme park experiences, but
these experiences are insufficient and often ineffective to provide blind
and low-vision guests with equal access to the parks’ attractions,
experiences, and information; and

WHEREAS, Walt Disney World and Disneyland both post tactile maps of their
theme parks, but these maps are large and stationary, meaning blind and
low-vision guests do not have accessible map information while moving about
the park; and

WHEREAS, both Walt Disney World and Disneyland offer to blind guests a
reasonable accommodation of a physical book containing park information
concerning rides, attractions, shows, and food venues in large print or
Braille, but this book is heavy, cumbersome, and potentially inconvenient to
carry around the park and store while riding attractions; and

WHEREAS, neither Walt Disney World nor Disneyland offers an electronic
version of this information, meaning those who use a reading media other
than Braille or large print have no meaningful access to the information
contained in this book; and

WHEREAS, Walt Disney World and Disneyland both offer an audio description
service using a Disney-provided handheld device available for rent, which
includes information such as general area descriptions, queue and
pre-attraction descriptions, real-time attraction audio description, nearby
restrooms and restaurants, and service animal relief areas; and

WHEREAS, the handheld device uses beacons Disney has installed to trigger
the description service, which is supposed to update as a guest navigates
the park; and

WHEREAS, users report that some of the issues they’ve experienced with
Disney’s handheld devices include outdated hardware, short battery life
requiring guests to return to guest services to replace their devices,
frequently failing to connect to location beacons, attraction descriptions
that are not properly synchronized with the attraction experience,
descriptions for attractions that have been discontinued for many years, and
general unreliability; and

WHEREAS, Walt Disney World and Disneyland both offer mobile applications
that enable guests to perform tasks such as scheduling visits, scheduling
rides using the Disability Access Service (DAS) and GeniePlus, joining
attraction virtual queues, checking wait times for attractions, pre-ordering
food, getting walking directions to attractions and activities, and more;
and

WHEREAS, most of these features and tasks are not accessible to those using
the mobile applications with assistive technology; and

WHEREAS, Disney’s DAS program, with certain limitations, offers guests with
disabilities and their traveling parties the ability to schedule ride times
without having to wait in the stand-by queue; and

WHEREAS, Disney recently changed its DAS program to grant access only to
those with developmental disabilities; and

WHEREAS, many blind Disney guests also have other disabilities which would
make standing in a queue difficult or impossible, such as heart conditions,
cancer, being immunocompromised, anxiety, and mobility disabilities; and

WHEREAS, Disney has denied the DAS applications for guests with
intersectional disabilities including blindness, telling them they can use
scooters, wheelchairs, and companions they bring as alternative
accommodations; and

WHEREAS, these guests have communicated that such alternative accommodations
are ineffective because many blind guests cannot drive scooters, cannot push
themselves in a wheelchair, or cannot provide a companion to push them, but
Disney still denied their reasonable accommodation requests; and

WHEREAS, Disney’s new DAS approach ignores those with intersectional
disabilities related to mental health and immunity; and

WHEREAS, Disney’s one-size-fits-all approach to disability accommodations
fails to ensure that blind guests with intersectional disabilities have
equal access as do non-disabled guests to their theme parks; and

WHEREAS, the Universal Studios mobile application also has significant
accessibility challenges for those accessing the app with assistive
technology; and

WHEREAS, Universal Studios does not offer an audio description service at
all, and instead only offers access to attraction scripts in large print and
Braille but not electronic formats; and

WHEREAS, these scripts are only accessible at Guest Services, meaning guests
cannot remove the scripts from that location or read the scripts while
experiencing the attraction; and

WHEREAS, though Universal Studios’ attraction scheduling service application
process for individuals with disabilities, including those who are blind
with intersectional disabilities, is individualized and consistent with ADA
disability definitions, the Universal Studios disability scheduling service
uses a paper ride scheduling pass that is not accessible to the blind or
others with print disabilities; and

WHEREAS, blind guests, including those with intersectional disabilities,
have a desire and a right to experience theme parks and their attractions
and to be effectively accommodated when visiting: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we call upon Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Universal Studios to
establish tactile maps that blind guests can take with them as they move
about the parks; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge Walt Disney World and
Disneyland to make available their park information books in an accessible,
electronic format and permit guests with disabilities including blindness to
access them on their personal devices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge Universal Studios to make
available to its guests with disabilities including blindness Universal
Studios’ attraction scripts in an accessible, electronic format and permit
guests to access these scripts on their own devices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge Walt Disney World and
Disneyland to update, modernize, and maintain their audio description
services program and devices and strongly urge Universal Studios to
implement an audio description service for its parks; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge Walt Disney World, Disneyland,
and Universal Studios to make their mobile applications fully accessible to
guests with disabilities and that they consult with the National Federation
of the Blind to ensure these apps are accessible and usable by the blind;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we condemn and deplore the decision of the
Disney Corporation to apply a one-size-fits-all approach to reasonable
accommodations for its guests, including those who are blind with
intersectional disabilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we demand that the Disney Corporation revise
this discriminatory policy to make its DAS program comply with the Americans
with Disabilities Act, affording an individualized assessment for guests
with disabilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge the Department of Justice and
any applicable state entities with jurisdiction to immediately enforce the
ADA with regard to theme park accessibility at Walt Disney World,
Disneyland, and Universal Studios.


RESOLUTION 2024-02


Regarding Legislation to Create a National Framework for Fully Autonomous
Vehicle Deployment


WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind advocates for equality,
security, and opportunity for blind Americans in order for us to live the
lives we want; and

WHEREAS, the right to freely move and travel is a cornerstone of our
society, enriching life and fostering economic opportunity; and

WHEREAS, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) outlines six levels of
driving automation starting with Level 0, which is limited to warnings and
momentary assistance such as a lane departure warning or automatic emergency
braking system, and ending with Level 5, which is fully autonomous driving
under all conditions with no geographical limitations; and

WHEREAS, the advent of Level 4 autonomous vehicles, which are fully
autonomous but restricted to operation only within specific geographical
boundaries, presents a unique opportunity to revolutionize automotive
travel, increasing transportation opportunities for the blind to the extent
that blind people can now travel alone, in a fully autonomous automobile
throughout several cities across the United States including San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and Phoenix; and

WHEREAS, twenty-four states have passed legislation expressly permitting
autonomous vehicles to operate within their borders; and

WHEREAS, many bills that would limit the deployment of fully autonomous
vehicles, and even specifically require a licensed driver in every fully
autonomous vehicle have been introduced in state legislatures across the
country, essentially stripping away a dream that is now a reality: Now,
therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we call upon members of Congress to work with the National Federation
of the Blind to pass legislation that would create a national framework for
autonomous vehicles that ensures equal access to transportation for blind
and low-vision people, addresses potential access barriers to the use of
autonomous vehicles by blind and disabled people, and promotes the inclusion
of blind people in the testing and continued development phases of
autonomous vehicle technology.


RESOLUTION 2024-03


Regarding Raising the Supplemental Security Income Resource Limit and
Eliminating the Marriage Penalty


WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration (SSA) provides monthly benefit
payments to individuals and couples who qualify for Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) due to blindness, disability, or old age; and

WHEREAS, in order to be eligible for benefits, a beneficiary who is single
must possess resources valued at less than $2,000, or less than $3,000 if
the beneficiary is part of a married couple; and

WHEREAS, the resource limit, established in 1972, has only been adjusted
once, in 1989, and is not indexed to changes in the cost of living; and

WHEREAS, when the monthly SSI benefit was first established it comprised
approximately one tenth of the resource limit, but since the resource limit
has increased so little in fifty years, the current monthly benefit is
nearly half of the resource limit; and

WHEREAS, this year, the monthly SSI benefit amount for a single individual
is $943 and the monthly benefit amount for married couples is $1,415; and

WHEREAS, two individual SSI benefit recipients living as unmarried partners
currently receive over $450 more in monthly combined benefits than if those
same two individuals were to get married, resulting in a marriage penalty;
and

WHEREAS, this same marriage penalty also exists in the SSI resource limits
for two individual SSI benefit recipients living as unmarried partners
versus a married couple: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we call upon Congress to enact legislation that abolishes the marriage
penalty associated with SSI monthly benefits and SSI resource limits; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Congress to increase the SSI
resource limits to $10,000 for single individuals and $20,000 for married
couples; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Congress to tie the resource limits
to the consumer price index to ensure that resource limits maintain
proportional value with inflation.


RESOLUTION 2024-04


Regarding Amazon Employment Practices


WHEREAS, Amazon promotes itself as building an inclusive culture for
employees with disabilities, in part, through the establishment of its
Global Accessibility Awareness Month and Amazon People with Disabilities
affinity group; and

WHEREAS, Amazon still does not have company-wide standard operating
procedures in place on a national and global level with regard to
accommodations, accessibility, and assistive technology; and

WHEREAS, company-wide training for leadership, management, human resources,
technical support associates, and employees is minimal or not present; and

WHEREAS, while employment with Amazon is highly desirable, in that Amazon
offers industry-leading benefits, including comprehensive healthcare,
retirement savings plans, tuition reimbursement, and more; and

WHEREAS, Amazon still maintains a practice of refusing to accommodate blind
employees in entry level positions; and

WHEREAS, Amazon has established a continuous pattern of shifting these blind
employees to leave-without-pay status or terminating them, rather than
providing necessary accommodations or placing them in a temporary position
that is currently accessible while accommodations are put in place for other
jobs originally applied for or providing an option for temporary or
permanent placement in an accessible position, such as Virtual Customer
Service Associate; and

WHEREAS, Amazon could provide these accommodations, modifications, and
safety features without significant difficulty or expense given Amazon’s
financial and technological resources; and

WHEREAS, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits
employers from denying employment opportunities to qualified individuals
with disabilities when that denial is based on the need to provide
reasonable accommodations and requires employers to engage in an interactive
process when reviewing accommodation requests; and

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has advocated strongly on
behalf of blind employees by filing suit and supporting administrative
complaints against Amazon for its continued disparate treatment of blind
workers and job applicants: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization condemn and deplore Amazon’s constant pattern of
discrimination against blind employees and job seekers in violation of
federal and state law; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Amazon promptly
implement and keep company-wide processes for reviewing and approving
reasonable accommodations and modifications for blind employees, including
the use of third-party screen access software at workstations, approval of
reasonable assignment modifications, and implementation of nonvisual safety
precautions in warehouse settings; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand Amazon immediately
cease placing blind employees on leave without pay while Amazon engages in a
reasonable accommodation review process; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Amazon and the National Federation of the Blind
regularly participate in joint discussions to improve accessibility,
accommodations, training, timely acquisition of assistive technology, and
company-wide policies regarding the previously mentioned issues.


RESOLUTION 2024-05


Regarding Walmart Refusing Shopping Assistance to Blind Customers


WHEREAS, each week, an estimated 255 million people visit Walmart stores
worldwide, resulting in more than 648 billion dollars in total revenue in
its most recent fiscal year; and

WHEREAS, as a result, Walmart is the largest retail establishment both in
the United States and abroad; and

WHEREAS, in 2024, the average Walmart location employs approximately two
hundred people and comprises more than 160 thousand square feet; and

WHEREAS, according to the 2022 American Community Survey conducted by the
United States Census Bureau there are approximately 8.2 million Americans
who are blind or low-vision; and

WHEREAS, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires
places of public accommodation to make their goods and services accessible
to disabled Americans unless doing so would constitute either an undue
burden or a fundamental alteration; and

WHEREAS, for decades, blind Americans have accessed the goods and services
at brick-and-mortar locations by requesting a guide from the staff; and

WHEREAS, a growing number of Walmart stores have begun refusing assistance
to blind Americans, in some cases going so far as to tell blind people not
to return to their stores unless they bring a sighted shopping assistant of
their own; and

WHEREAS, this is a clear violation of our civil rights and is harming blind
Americans’ right to live with equity, autonomy, and independence: Now,
therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization demand the Walmart corporation, and all similarly
situated corporations, immediately cease refusing shopping assistance to
blind Americans in accordance with our rights under Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand the Walmart
corporation, and all similarly situated corporations, adequately train their
staff as to their obligations under the law.


RESOLUTION 2024-06


Regarding Silent Electric Vehicles Weighing Over 10,000 Pounds


WHEREAS, in the early years of the twenty-first century, blind Americans
noticed a new danger posed by silent hybrid and electric vehicles that were
nearly undetectable to the ear on the roads; and

WHEREAS, because of this emerging threat, the National Federation of the
Blind worked with the automakers and the United States Congress to develop a
solution to which all stakeholders could agree; and

WHEREAS, that solution came in the form of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement
Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in
2011, and required hybrid and electric vehicles on American roads to emit a
safe level of sound; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Transportation limited the scope of
the final rule, published in 2016, to vehicles that weigh ten thousand
pounds or less because it did not “have enough information at this time to
apply the minimum acoustic requirements of this final rule to these
vehicles”; and

WHEREAS, in 2023, there were more than 1,200 electric school buses and more
than 6,000 electric public transportation buses on US roads; and

WHEREAS, these electric buses all weigh more than 10,000 pounds, meaning the
regulation does not require them to emit an alert sound; and

WHEREAS, these motorized behemoths are silently roaming our streets, putting
blind Americans in just as much danger as the quiet cars that were the
impetus for the original Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act more than a
decade ago: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization urge the United States Department of Transportation
to update its rules so that all electric vehicles, regardless of weight, are
required to emit a safe level of sound.


RESOLUTION 2024-07


Regarding Accessible Labels for Medication Dispensed Through the Department
of Veterans Affairs CHAMPVA Program


WHEREAS, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) provides healthcare benefits to spouses,
children, widows, and widowers of a veteran who is rated permanently and
totally disabled due to a service-connected disability, was rated as
permanently and totally disabled due to a service-connected disability at
the time of death, died of a service-related disability, or died on active
duty and the dependents are not otherwise eligible for Department of Defense
TRICARE benefits; and

WHEREAS, as a part of the healthcare services provided through CHAMPVA, the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers the Meds by Mail program; and

WHEREAS, through this program, the VA’s Consolidated Mail and Outpatient
Pharmacies fill and mail prescriptions to beneficiaries at no cost to them;
and

WHEREAS, however, this option is not available to blind beneficiaries who
must rely on audible prescription reading devices, such as ScripTalk, to
manage their medications safely and independently; and

WHEREAS, audible prescription labels are not merely a convenience for blind
patients, they are used to identify medications, provide dosage information,
and include warnings and other important information; and

WHEREAS, these accessibility features ensure that the blind patient can take
the right medication at the right time and lessen the possibility of errors
that might cause injury or death; and

WHEREAS, according to the VA, the Consolidated Mail and Outpatient
Pharmacies cannot currently support the use of audible prescription reading
devices through the Meds by Mail program due to the complexity of audio
label technology and the requirement that specific Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) labels be applied to each prescription bottle; and

WHEREAS, the alternative offered by CHAMPVA involves acquiring the blind
user’s prescriptions from a retail pharmacy, which forces them to incur a 25
percent copay until they meet a $3,000 deductible, a cost not incurred by
sighted beneficiaries who can receive their prescriptions through the Meds
by Mail program; and

WHEREAS, Paragraph (a)(1) of 38 C.F.R. 17.274 addresses cost-sharing
exceptions within the CHAMPVA program but does not include an exception for
blind beneficiaries who must get their prescriptions filled at a retail
pharmacy because they need to use an audible prescription reading device;
and

WHEREAS, since there is currently no way for a blind beneficiary to use the
free Meds by Mail option if they need to access information about their
medication using an audible label, amending the regulations would be a
reasonable accommodation for those beneficiaries; and

WHEREAS, amending the regulation is only part of the solution since using a
retail pharmacy can also present a transportation barrier that the Meds by
Mail program eliminates for blind program participants, making a permanent
solution to inclusion in the Meds by Mail program a critical necessity to
accessibility for the blind: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization call upon the Department of Veterans Affairs to
develop a means by which blind CHAMPVA beneficiaries who must use an audible
prescription reading device can receive their medications using the Meds by
Mail program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the Department of Veterans Affairs to
amend 38 C.F.R. 17.274 (a)(1) to include an exception to cost sharing for
blind beneficiaries who choose to use the option of obtaining medications
from a retail pharmacy in order to have access to the important information
provided by an audible prescription reading device.


RESOLUTION 2024-08


Regarding Potential Regulation of the Use of Artificial Intelligence in
Visual Interpretation


WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is committed to advancing the
lives of all blind people by ensuring that we have access to the same
opportunities, information, and technology as our sighted peers; and

WHEREAS, because most people can see and the world is full of information
that is presented visually, equal access for the blind necessarily involves
equal access to visual information in printed documents, scanned and
photographic images, and our physical surroundings, and;

WHEREAS, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly large
language models such as ChatGPT, are increasingly being used by blind people
and by visual interpretation services, such as Be My AI from Be My Eyes and
Access AI from Aira, in order to generate detailed descriptions of images
and scenes captured with smartphone cameras or imported from other sources,
providing blind people with almost instantaneous access to a wealth of
visual information; and

WHEREAS, these AI implementations have proven to be enormously helpful to
blind people in any number of situations, including but not limited to
exploring unfamiliar locations, identifying items on store shelves,
analyzing printed documents, describing vacation photos, and much more; and

WHEREAS, overly restrictive practices and regulations on AI used in this
manner, particularly limitations on the description of human faces and other
important visual details involving people and places, could significantly
hamper the effectiveness of these technologies and diminish their value to
the blind community: for example, one iteration of Be My AI would not
describe an image at all if it contained any identifiable characteristic of
any human being, including the person taking the image, making it useless
until the problem was fixed; and

WHEREAS, while such severe limitations can be problematic, it is also
essential to balance the benefits of AI technologies with the need to
protect the privacy of individuals captured in images, ensuring that
identifiable information about them is properly protected from harmful
storage, dissemination, and use; and

WHEREAS, other details captured in images may also present challenges, such
as images of artwork that is the intellectual property of its creator or
images of copyrighted text; and

WHEREAS, the rapid advances in AI technology in just the past couple of
years have both excited and alarmed the public, and consequently legislative
bodies and regulatory agencies are already considering laws and regulations
around the deployment and use of these technologies; and

WHEREAS, the development of AI regulations must consider both the
accessibility needs of blind individuals and other rights such as privacy
and intellectual property rights; and

WHEREAS, without the voices of blind people providing our expertise and
lived experience, the wrong regulatory balance may be struck in addressing
the role of AI technology as applied to our needs: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization urge Congress and relevant federal agencies to work
closely with blind Americans to develop AI legislation and regulations that:

1.	Allow AI technologies to continue to be used to provide detailed and
meaningful descriptions of scenes, documents, and images to blind and
low-vision individuals without undue restrictions, ensuring these
technologies remain effective and beneficial to the blind; and
2.	Implement sensible protections that prevent images taken, imported,
or otherwise collected for the purpose of providing visual descriptions to
the blind from being stored, disseminated, or otherwise misused in ways that
violate the rights of others.


RESOLUTION 2024-09


Regarding Inaccessible Insulin Pumps


WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is dedicated to advancing the
lives of all blind people by ensuring equal and dignified treatment in all
aspects of life, including healthcare; and

WHEREAS, access to healthcare technology is crucial for the health and
well-being of individuals with diabetes, including those who are blind or
have low vision; and

WHEREAS, nearly all insulin pumps and related devices currently on the
market lack accessible nonvisual features, rendering them difficult or
impossible for blind individuals to independently use and manage their
diabetes effectively; and

WHEREAS, inaccessible insulin pumps not only pose significant barriers to
daily diabetes management tasks but also contribute to increased health
risks, diminished quality of life, and decreased independence for blind
individuals; and

WHEREAS, accessible technology is essential for ensuring that blind
individuals have equal opportunities to monitor and manage their health
independently, including diabetes management; and

WHEREAS, a 2023 study published by the National Institutes of Health shows
that diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among
working-aged adults in the United States; and

WHEREAS, despite the growing prevalence of diabetes among the blind
population, insulin pump manufacturers have yet to fully address the
accessibility needs of blind users in their product designs and development
efforts: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization demand insulin pump manufacturers and developers,
including Medtronic, Tandem Diabetes Care, Insulet Corporation, Beta
Bionics, and other industry leaders prioritize accessibility in the design
and development of all insulin pumps and related devices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon insulin pump manufacturers and
developers actively to engage with the accessibility experts of the National
Federation of the Blind throughout the design, development, and testing
phases to ensure that insulin pumps are fully accessible to blind and
low-vision users.


RESOLUTION 2024-10


Regarding the Accessibility of Destination-Oriented and Touch-Screen Panel
Controlled Elevators


WHEREAS, destination-oriented elevators, also known as “smart elevators” or
“dispatch elevators” are elevators that typically do not contain destination
or floor number buttons inside the elevator car; and

WHEREAS, passengers indicate their destination floors using a common keypad
that controls all elevators in the area; and

WHEREAS, the technology running such elevator programs assigns the specific
elevator that the passenger should take to reach the passenger’s desired
floor or destination; and

WHEREAS, the elevator car that is assigned to transport the passenger is
programmed for the specific destination in advance of the passenger boarding
the elevator car, the goal of which is to move passengers more efficiently
to their destinations by reducing the number of times an elevator stops per
trip; and

WHEREAS, while some smart elevator control panels operate based on floor
numbers, others operate based on a directory containing specific offices or
individuals rather than floors, meaning an individual seeking to visit a
doctor for example would have to navigate the elevator directory to find the
doctor’s name or practice rather than selecting the floor of the doctor; and

WHEREAS, many of the directory-based destination-oriented elevators are not
accessible to the blind at all, with many of those claiming to be accessible
requiring significantly more time and effort for a blind user to choose a
destination or floor than a sighted user, rendering such elevators
functionally inaccessible; and

WHEREAS, destination-oriented elevators are a fairly new form of technology,
gaining popularity in the last decade, particularly in hotels and recreation
facilities, high-rise commercial and residential buildings, cruise ships,
and government and office buildings; and

WHEREAS, the number of destination-oriented elevators is expected to
significantly rise, with a current market value of approximately $22.4
billion, which is predicted to reach $50.3 billion by 2032, the majority of
which is in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the accessibility features of destination-oriented elevators are
often inadequate to be functionally usable for the blind, including such
issues as audio announcements that are garbled, tinny, or otherwise hard to
hear, audio announcements and non-visual chimes that cannot be heard during
peak or busy periods, Braille and tactile markings that are missing or not
accurate, and/or keypad controls that are not tactilely discernible; and

WHEREAS, there has also been an increase in the installation of traditional
on-demand destination elevators that contain touch-screen destination and
floor buttons that are not tactilely discernible; and

WHEREAS, though many of these elevators have an accessibility button, which
when activated, enables the passenger to listen to a menu of options,
usually hierarchical with multiple levels in the hierarchy, and press the
accessibility button once the preferred selection is spoken; and

WHEREAS, the passenger must wait for the entire menu of options to be spoken
up to the desired floor before the passenger can make a floor selection, for
example having to listen to the audio announcement list floors one through
thirty individually as well as the five to thirty seconds of silence in
between each floor number, before being able to select floor thirty; and

WHEREAS, this results in the blind passenger spending considerable time,
often at least several minutes, waiting for the elevator to cycle through
the audio prompts, while a sighted passenger can make their selection in
moments; and

WHEREAS, the single accessibility button method for on-demand destination
elevators with touch screen controls may be technically accessible, but it
is functionally inaccessible, inefficient, and demoralizing for blind
passengers; and

WHEREAS, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires that
elevators be accessible to passengers with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice is responsible for
enforcing the ADA, including violations to elevator accessibility
requirements; and

WHEREAS, the United States Access Board is charged with providing
accessibility guidelines and standards for certain physical spaces and the
built environment including elevators; and

WHEREAS, blind people have the right to move about our communities, hotels,
and recreation facilities, and the commercial environment using elevators
that are both technically and functionally accessible: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we demand elevator manufacturers design destination-oriented and
traditional destination on-demand elevators that are both technically and
functionally accessible; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge elevator manufacturers to work with the
National Federation of the Blind to ensure that design and development of
both destination-oriented and on-demand destination elevators is
functionally accessible and efficient for blind and low-vision users; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge the Department of Justice to
immediately enforce the ADA with regard to technical and functional
accessibility of destination-oriented and on-demand destination
touchscreen-controlled elevators, including correction and remediation of
functionally inaccessible elevators; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on the United States Access Board to
swiftly promulgate standards for technical and functional accessibility of
both destination-oriented elevators and on-demand destination elevators
including those with touch screen controls.


RESOLUTION 2024-11


Regarding the Adoption of Inclusive Digital Maps by Title IV Higher
Education Institutions and Federal Agencies


WHEREAS, over thirty million digital maps are currently available on
publicly facing websites worldwide for professional and personal use; and

WHEREAS, blind, deafblind, and low-vision individuals have extremely limited
access to the vital geographic information presented in digital maps; and

WHEREAS, alternatives such as text descriptions, turn-by-turn directions,
tables, and nearby address searches fail to convey the same geographic
information inherent to maps; and

WHEREAS, digital maps often have poor contrast, lack full keyboard
accessibility, lack a visible focus, lack interface elements that can be
programmatically determined or set, contain keyboard focus traps, have
buttons and other interactive elements that are too small, and fail to
handle zoom up to 200 percent; and

WHEREAS, the paper tactile maps that may be provided as the only alternative
to a digital map are not part of the website, require physical contact to
view, are simplified, are typically inaccessible to low-vision users, take
days or weeks to be produced, and are often out of date; and

WHEREAS, visual interpreting services and chat-based alternatives can only
provide answers to basic questions about the map, do not facilitate spatial
knowledge acquisition, are not available to everyone desiring to view the
map, are not part of the website’s accessibility, and are not a substitute
for compliance to digital accessibility legislation; and

WHEREAS, inclusive digital maps, effectively utilized in over a hundred
published research articles and nearly a thousand games over the past two
decades, have shown that blind individuals can both independently create
maps and attain a level of spatial comprehension equivalent to that of
sighted individuals using visual maps, encompassing the ability to
accurately grasp survey knowledge, including distance, direction,
orientation, shape, size, and the overall layout of a map; and

WHEREAS, inclusive digital maps are fully Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG) AA compliant, and allow low-vision users to fully
manipulate the interface, including, but not limited to, adjusting contrast,
using patterns instead of colors, adjusting feature border width, adjusting
spacing, using the map as it’s zoomed in 200 percent, using the map with the
keyboard, and having a clear visible focus; and

WHEREAS, Title IV higher education institutions and federal agencies in the
United States currently use digital maps that are not accessible to screen
reader users and fail to meet even the basic WCAG A compliance; and

WHEREAS, these current practices by Title IV higher education institutions
and federal agencies are in violation of multiple digital accessibility
laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (as Title IV
educational institutions), Section 508 (through being a federal agency),
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (as state or local
entities); and

WHEREAS, blind, deafblind, and low-vision users have the right not only to
fully consume spatial information from digital maps, but have the right to
be creators, designers, and editors of digital maps: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization call upon Title IV higher education institutions and
federal agencies in the United States to, over the next three years,
simultaneously with the new ADA Title II rule, implement inclusive digital
map technologies that are at least WCAG AA compliant for all geographic
content on their websites and mobile applications, including but not limited
to campus maps, accessibility maps, parking maps, habitat maps, walking
maps, evacuation maps, building maps, topographic maps, road maps, weather
maps, voting maps, emergency maps, climate maps, land use maps, cadastral
maps, transportation maps, and utility maps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that these Title IV
higher education institutions and federal agencies also implement an
inclusive digital map editor for use by blind, deafblind, and low-vision
employees and students, ensuring full participation in updating and creating
geographic information; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the United States
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to publish guidance
affirming that digital maps are included in their accessibility mandate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the United States Access
Board to publish systematic criteria for evaluating digital inclusive map
accessibility, thereby ensuring that all Title IV universities and federal
agencies comply with existing laws to make all content, including digital
maps, equally accessible to everyone; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon all the Title IV higher education
institutions and federal agencies to work with the National Federation of
the Blind to implement and evaluate systems which will meet the map-reading
and creation needs of the blind and low-vision citizens of the United
States.


RESOLUTION 2024-12


Regarding the Accessibility of Social Media Management Tools


WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind champions accessibility as a
means of achieving full participation by the blind in all areas of
academics, employment, and recreation; and

WHEREAS, social media marketing is an industry in which blind people can
excel given accessible technology and other accommodations; and

WHEREAS, social media management tools including Buffer, Hootsuite,
Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Zoho Social, and others are an industry standard,
allowing professionals to centralize and analyze social media marketing
efforts; and

WHEREAS, the vast majority of these managers have web and app interfaces
that present accessibility issues, preventing blind people from using them
effectively, if at all: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization urge social media management products—including but
not limited to Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, and Zoho
Social—to incorporate blind people’s user experiences and expertise when
evaluating the accessibility and usability of their products through
collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind and others; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that all social media
management product developers remediate their products for accessibility,
thus making the social media marketing industry more inclusive for all blind
people.


RESOLUTION 2024-13


Regarding Microsoft’s Free New Outlook


WHEREAS, Microsoft is a company which has, historically, invested a
tremendous amount of time and effort to make many of its products accessible
to the blind and, by so doing, enabled literally thousands of blind people
to succeed in life and employment; and

WHEREAS, examples of accessible programs from Microsoft include, but are not
limited to, Microsoft Word (for creating and editing documents), Microsoft
Excel (to create and manage spreadsheets), and Microsoft Outlook (to send
and receive emails and organize calendar events); and

WHEREAS, the aforementioned software—particularly those versions running
under the Windows operating system—provide a plethora of useful keyboard
commands which enhance the productivity for nonvisual users who cannot point
and click with a mouse and whose livelihoods, productivity, and independence
are directly related to their ability to perform work effectively and
efficiently; and

WHEREAS, information available online about keyboard commands for the New
Outlook clearly demonstrates that the New Outlook does not contain all of
the built-in keyboard commands that nonvisual users of the paid version of
Outlook have available to them: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization call upon Microsoft to ensure that its free New
Outlook software contains a set of keyboard commands that are as rich,
robust, and as useful to the blind as the keyboard commands available in its
Outlook Office software; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon Microsoft to ensure
that new products have the same level of accessibility as products they are
replacing.


RESOLUTION 2024-14


Regarding Continuous Glucose Monitors and Their Use by Blind People


WHEREAS, Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) are crucial for the effective
management of diabetes, significantly reducing the need for fingerstick
blood tests, which are particularly invasive for blind people who rely on
their tactile sense for reading Braille and performing other tasks; and

WHEREAS, the majority of CGMs come with reader devices that are not
accessible to blind people, because these devices provide output solely in a
visual format, thereby excluding blind people from independently monitoring
their blood glucose levels; and

WHEREAS, Medicare mandates the purchase of a reader device before approving
sensor coverage, placing a financial burden on blind people who cannot use
these readers, forcing them to seek alternatives and often less accessible
means to access their CGM data; and

WHEREAS, Medicare’s policy of allowing the replacement or upgrade of CGM
devices only once every five years limits access to technological
advancements that could offer significant health management improvements for
people with diabetes, particularly affecting those who are blind; and

WHEREAS, the reliance on smartphone technology for accessing CGM data, while
beneficial for some, excludes those who cannot afford such technology or
lack the skills to use it, further limiting the independence of blind people
in managing their diabetes; and

WHEREAS, the resolution of these issues requires the attention and action of
several entities, including CGM manufacturers, Medicare, private insurance
companies, and regulatory bodies: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind, in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we urge manufacturers of CGM devices to prioritize the development of
reader devices accessible to blind and low-vision people, ensuring these
essential health management tools are usable by all who need them; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind calls upon
Medicare to reevaluate its policies regarding the upgrade and replacement of
medical devices such as CGMs, to ensure that technological advancements are
accessible to beneficiaries, particularly those who are blind, based on
functional improvements rather than arbitrary time constraints; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon relevant
authorities, including Medicare, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enact policy changes that reflect
the needs of blind people.


RESOLUTION 2024-15


Regarding Collaborating with Technology Companies on an Accessibility
Solutions Framework


WHEREAS, in an age where technology plays a critical role in all aspects of
society, the National Federation of the Blind has been relentless in its
advocacy for accessible technology as one means to advance the lives of all
blind people, the effectiveness of this advocacy being evident through a
reflection on how much more information to which we have dynamic access
today as opposed to forty years ago; and

WHEREAS, accolades mainstream companies receive for their accessibility
initiatives are well deserved, as the blind have immediate access to
computers, smartphones, and other life-changing tools in the palms of our
hands for a fraction of what they used to cost; and

WHEREAS, achieving the degree of accessibility we enjoy today required the
use of a range of advocacy tools, including building strong relationships,
being thought leaders, and, when absolutely necessary, legislative and legal
action; and

WHEREAS, while impressive innovation continues at pace, the provision of
accessibility by mainstream companies has created new advocacy challenges
involving the quality and reliability of some of the tools we use, resulting
from a poorer standard of products for the blind consisting of show-stopping
bugs that significantly degrade our ability to use some mainstream devices
and would be unacceptable to the sighted, including:

*	If your screen reader suddenly and regularly stops speaking, which
would be the equivalent of a sighted person’s screen flickering and then
completely blanking out at random intervals;
*	If you are typing on your smartphone using Braille Screen Input and
you are regularly experiencing unexpected behavior that slows you down or
results in you typing gibberish, which would be the equivalent of the
virtual keyboard being next to useless for a sighted person;
*	If you are blind and wear hearing aids, and your screen reader is
quiet to the point of being unusable when on a phone call, which would be
the equivalent of a sighted person having their screen so dim every time
they make a call that they can’t see it well enough to use it;
*	If you, in good faith, install the beta of an operating system and
then find that your screen reader doesn’t work at all on it, which would be
equivalent to a sighted person installing a beta, understanding that there
may be defects, but finding with horror that their screen was blank, making
their device completely useless;
*	If you scrimp and save to buy a popular Braille display, only to
find you can’t connect your smartphone to it via Bluetooth because a
protocol about which there was an industry-wide consensus, and that the
company promised to support, hasn’t been implemented, which would be the
equivalent of a sighted person buying one of the leading printers on the
market today, only to find that the operating system developer hasn’t kept
their promise to support it; and

WHEREAS, a poorer standard of product for the blind is not merely a legal
issue; it is a moral and financial one, because if competent blind people
are unable to perform their jobs due to serious accessibility defects in a
mainstream product that are not fixed in a timely manner, this perpetuates
the myth of incapacity of the blind and threatens our ability to support
ourselves and our families; and

WHEREAS, when the blind, just like the sighted, purchase a product, we have
a reasonable expectation that the product is fit for purpose, we integrate
the technology into our lives, we come to rely on it, and there should not
be such egregious accessibility defects that a blind person is left unable
to benefit from the tools readily accessible to the sighted; and

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind recognizes that our active
engagement in addressing this problem is essential, but requires information
and collaboration to be effective: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we call on any and all technology companies that have built
accessibility features into their products to consult with the National
Federation of the Blind in the development, implementation, and publishing
of a framework that provides a clear definition of the type of accessibility
bug that is so critical that it requires extraordinary remedial action
beyond the usual software release cycle; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that with this framework in place, these technology
companies should collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to
resolve the under-resourcing that is contributing to this situation, which
should include employing the talent of more blind employees throughout the
product development and testing cycle; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each technology company should establish a
public database of its accessibility defects, which allows users to identify
which bugs have already been submitted and what priority they have been
accorded; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that technology companies making these commitments
use Global Accessibility Awareness Day as an opportunity to provide a
transparent, independently audited report that demonstrates their progress
as measured against the framework that has been established for their
products.


RESOLUTION 2024-16


Regarding Medicare and Hearing Aids for Deafblind Individuals


WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is the transformative
membership and advocacy organization of blind people in the United States;
and

WHEREAS, according to the 2022 American Community Survey conducted by the
United States Census Bureau, nearly 65 percent of blind people are either
unemployed or underemployed; and

WHEREAS, blind people rely heavily on hearing to obtain information needed
for communication, accessing information, orientation and travel, and
participation in society and the workplace; and

WHEREAS, the loss of hearing as a blind person renders them as deafblind and
significantly affects their access to information, particularly for those
who lose hearing in later life; and

WHEREAS, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain hearing
aids through Medicare, even though they are almost always of benefit to
deafblind individuals; and

WHEREAS, research links unaddressed hearing loss with dementia which leads
to expensive healthcare needs that far exceed the cost of hearing aids: Now,
therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization call upon the Center for Medicare and Medicaid
Services to establish a uniform exception clause to allow Medicare to
provide hearing aids, as prescribed by an audiologist, to deafblind
individuals who are eligible for Medicare.


RESOLUTION 2024-17


Regarding Audio-Described Library Content


WHEREAS, the Institute of Museum and Library Services estimates that
two-thirds of all Americans have library cards; and

WHEREAS, many blind individuals avoid registering for or using their library
cards because they believe books and video content will not be accessible to
them; and

WHEREAS, an increasing number of public library systems contract with Hoopla
and other third-party providers of streaming or downloadable library content
that do not pass through audio description or other accessible content
information; and

WHEREAS, Hoopla has thus far chosen to build its streaming software
incompletely, so the audio description content originally included with the
video content isn’t passed on to blind users, ironically shutting blind
patrons out from content that has already been made accessible; and

WHEREAS, blind library patrons and allied librarians have been asking Hoopla
to add an option for consuming audio description content for nearly eight
years; and

WHEREAS, Hoopla has not rolled out this feature and has no estimated
timetable on its development roadmap; and

WHEREAS, this is out of compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and many related state
laws, which all generally stand for the concept that blind patrons cannot be
excluded from programs and services of government, including public library
systems: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization call upon the American Library Association (ALA) and
related state libraries to halt future contracts with Hoopla or other
vendors whose software does not permit inclusion of all accessibility
features already present in streamed and downloaded content; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that Hoopla immediately
enable audio description in its streaming systems in response to the
requests of blind patrons and concerned libraries.


RESOLUTION 2024-18


Regarding the Harmful Namesake of the Perkins School for the Blind


WHEREAS, the New England Asylum for the Blind was incorporated in 1829 and
opened its doors in August 1832 in Boston, Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS, in 1839, the Asylum was renamed after Thomas Handasyd Perkins after
he donated to it, and, after further name changes, that entity is known
today as the Perkins School for the Blind; and

WHEREAS, the Perkins School for the Blind, as a collective institution
including its library and products, remains an important provider of
blindness-related services today; and

WHEREAS, born in 1764, T. H. Perkins used money from his wealthy family to
start an international trading business, where he traded slaves and the
goods produced by their labor, including cotton, sugar, and rum in the
Caribbean until the Haitian Revolution in 1791; and

WHEREAS, T. H. Perkins later expanded his fortune by illegally smuggling
opium into China; and

WHEREAS, pairing valuable products, services, and educational experiences
with the name of a known opium smuggler and slave trader teaches students
and community members of all backgrounds that these immoral acts are not
disqualifiers for being publicly honored; and

WHEREAS, continuing to honor a known slave trader and opium smuggler
perpetuates intergenerational trauma for people of all colors; and

WHEREAS, on its website, the Perkins School for the Blind acknowledges that
it has financially benefitted from both the slave trade and opium smuggling,
and acknowledges the problems caused by this, particularly to those in Black
and Chinese communities: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization assert that the enslavement of human beings and
illegal smuggling of opium are unequivocally immoral; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization applaud the Perkins School for
the Blind for courageously acknowledging how it has benefited from these
historical wrongs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Perkins School for
the Blind to advance its efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
by changing its name to remove all references to Thomas Handasyd Perkins.


RESOLUTION 2024-19


Regarding Enhancing Self-Checkout Accessibility for Blind People


WHEREAS, self-checkout systems are proliferating across major retailers like
Walmart, Target, and Kroger, offering speed and convenience to shoppers; and

WHEREAS, the current design of many self-checkout systems, relying on visual
interfaces and touchscreens without audible instructions or tactile
feedback, poses significant accessibility barriers to blind people; and

WHEREAS, the reliance on barcode scanning exacerbates these challenges,
further impeding the ability of blind people to use these systems
independently; and

WHEREAS, the reduction of human cashier options in favor of self-checkout
systems limits the usability of shopping environments for blind people,
compromising their independence and right to equal service; and

WHEREAS, adherence to the principles of inclusivity and equality, as well as
the legal obligations of stores under the Americans with Disabilities Act,
necessitate that retail services be accessible to all customers, including
those who are blind: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization demand Walmart, Target, Kroger, and similar retailers
implement self-checkout options that are accessible to blind people,
including but not limited to voice-guided instructions, tactile buttons, and
interfaces designed for ease of use; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these retailers ensure the availability of human
cashiers in sufficient numbers to meet the needs of all customers, including
those unable to use self-checkout stations due to blindness; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these entities collaborate with the National
Federation of the Blind to understand the needs of the blind and work on
developing accessible solutions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all retailers provide staff with ongoing
training focused on the accessibility needs of blind customers, including
assistance at self-checkout stations and throughout the store.


RESOLUTION 2024-20


Regarding Inaccessible Retail Kiosks


WHEREAS, many retail stores, restaurants, and other businesses are
increasingly deploying kiosks for a variety of tasks, including placing
orders, checking out after selecting items to purchase, presenting menus,
checking prices, and more; and

WHEREAS, these kiosks may partially or fully replace human staff, meaning
that there may not be any personnel available to assist blind customers with
the tasks for which the kiosks have been deployed; and

WHEREAS, frequently these kiosks lack accessibility features for blind or
low-vision users; and

WHEREAS, accessibility features can include, but are not limited to,
audio-based interfaces, tactile keypads, and Braille signage; and

WHEREAS, the absence of these features can make it difficult or impossible
for blind users to place orders, shop, or otherwise fully enjoy the products
and services of a business; and

WHEREAS, blind customers deserve to be able to fully participate in the
economy and take full and equal advantage of the products and services
provided by businesses; and

WHEREAS, accessible kiosks, kiosk software solutions, and alternative
devices (e.g., accessible tablets like the iPad and some Android devices)
are available and have been deployed by some businesses, including the
McDonald’s restaurant chain: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that this organization strongly urge all businesses deploying kiosks to
choose and demand accessible devices so that all users can take full
advantage of them; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge kiosk manufacturers to
work with the National Federation of the Blind to develop accessible kiosks;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Congress and federal regulators to
consider solutions to require or facilitate the manufacture and deployment
of accessible kiosks.


RESOLUTION 2024-21


Regarding Calling Upon the News Media to Use the Word “Blind”


WHEREAS, blind people are held back by a common set of misconceptions about
being blind, low expectations for blind people, and barriers resulting from
a lack of equal access to information and public services; and

WHEREAS, since 1940 the National Federation of the Blind has used the word
“blind” as an inclusive term with a functional definition that encompasses
individuals with varying degrees of blindness, but who have in common the
need to use nonvisual tools and techniques, some or all of the time, in
order to learn, work, play, and otherwise live the lives we want; and

WHEREAS, throughout our history, we have rejected the tendency of society to
treat the word “blind” as a word to be avoided; and

WHEREAS, for example, in 1993, our convention affirmed in Resolution 1993-01
that “We believe that it is respectable to be blind, and although we have no
particular pride in the fact of our blindness, neither do we have any shame
in it. To the extent that euphemisms are used to convey any other concept or
image, we deplore such use”; and

WHEREAS, because of our belief in the normality and capacity of blind
people, we reject the idea that eyesight or vision is a requirement for
success, and believe that vision-centered language focuses on what we are
perceived to lack, a negative framing of blindness, rather than on our
fundamental normality as people who share a characteristic that, while it
does not define us, is a positive part of who we are; and

WHEREAS, increasingly other groups of people with disabilities and the wider
society have embraced the idea that “blind” and other words describing
disabilities are not words to be avoided, but positive indicators of
identity; and

WHEREAS, a common euphemism for the word blind is the phrase “visually
impaired,” or variants thereof, which is an example of vision-centered
language that portrays us as broken because of our lack of eyesight; and

WHEREAS, the news media, in all its forms and to varying degrees, uses words
to inform and shape the perceptions of those who consume it; and

WHEREAS, the phrase “visually impaired” continues to be used by many media
outlets to describe blind people, even in stories about individuals who
embrace their identity as blind people and which purport to be positive and
affirming: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida,
that we call upon all of the major broadcast, print, and digital news
outlets, services, and other entities that influence the language used
throughout the American news media to stop using the term “visually
impaired” to describe blind people, and to instead use the word “blind” in
the way that those of us who have the authentic lived experience of
blindness use it; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon all of these entities to consult
with the National Federation of the Blind as they review and revise their
guidance to journalists, editors, and producers, and otherwise make
decisions about the language they use in describing and characterizing
blindness and blind people.


RESOLUTION 2024-22


Regarding the Use of the Term "Visually Impaired" when Referring to Blind
People with Some Vision


WHEREAS, language plays a crucial role in shaping society’s perceptions and
understanding of different perspectives and aspects of life; and

WHEREAS, accurate terminology is an essential factor in the creation of a
climate which fosters respect and inclusivity for everyone, including the
blind; and

WHEREAS, at its 1993 convention, the National Federation of the Blind
unanimously adopted Resolution 93-01, which says in relevant part, “
the
word blind accurately and clearly describes the condition of being unable to
see, as well as the condition of having such limited eyesight that
alternative techniques are required to do efficiently the ordinary tasks of
daily living that are performed visually by those having good eyesight
”;
and

WHEREAS, this resolution clearly declares that the word “blind” is meant to
include people with poor vision or no vision and does not circumvent the use
of a word which, in other circles, is either avoided altogether or combined
with other terms such as “visually impaired,” “visually challenged,”
“sight-challenged” or “hard of seeing,”—euphemisms which are thought to be
more acceptable and less off-putting to the broader community; and

WHEREAS, the term “visually impaired” (often combined with the word “blind”
as in Blind and Visually Impaired) is used by many programs and agencies
serving the blind as an attempt to clarify that their services are available
to individuals with limited or no eyesight and not just to individuals who
are totally blind; and

WHEREAS, the word “impaired” when combined with the word “vision” or
“visual” implies a sense of deficiency and inferiority and perpetuates the
incorrect notion that people who have lost part or all of their eyesight are
automatically less capable or limited in their abilities as compared to
people with normal eyesight; and

WHEREAS, when referring to a group of people comprised of individuals with
varying degrees of sight—from total blindness to legal blindness to
significant vision loss—the term “blind and low vision” is a more accurate
and positive description in that it correctly indicates less-than-20/20
vision without connoting the negative assumptions and stereotypes that have
too often been associated with the blind; and

WHEREAS, other minorities, such as the deaf community, have successfully
advocated for the use of terms like “deaf or hard of hearing” in place of
“deaf and hearing impaired,” recognizing the value of moving away from
terminology that includes the word “impaired”; and

WHEREAS, self-advocacy and asserting preferred terminology can do much to
challenge existing misconceptions and encourage others to adopt more
accurate and respectful language; and

WHEREAS, raising awareness and educating the public to use appropriate
terminology that is free from negative assumptions and stereotypes can be
achieved through educational campaigns, media initiatives, and inclusive
language guidelines in academic and professional settings: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind, in Convention
assembled this 4th day of July, 2024, in the city of Orlando, Florida, that
this organization reaffirm the respectability of the word "blind" as
articulated in Resolution 93-01; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon organizations,
agencies, and entities that work with or serve individuals who are blind who
feel that it is appropriate to use terms such as “blind and visually
impaired,” “visually impaired,” or similar terminology in their names and/or
promotional materials to use instead "blind, ” “blind and low vision, ” “low
vision,” or similar phrasing instead; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization acknowledge and praise the
United States Federal Government for making a strong effort to use the term
“blind and low vision.”

----------

[PHOTO CAPTION: Carlos R. Serván]


Beyond Routes and Techniques: The Energy of Structured Discovery in
Blindness Training


by Carlos R. Serván

A Speech delivered at the Contemporary Issues in Rehabilitation and
Education for the Blind—twenty-third Annual Rehabilitation and Orientation
and Mobility Conference

July 3, 2024

Orlando, Florida

>From the Editor: Each year I asked presenters and meeting attendees to send
me articles we might use for the Braille Monitor. We don’t usually get much
in response to those requests, but when panning for gold, one strike makes
it all worthwhile. This is certainly the case with the article you’re about
to read. It speaks to the low expectations that people have of blind folks
and the magic of the intervention of key people who see the potential in a
man whose heart and brain have too much to offer and give him the
encouragement and resources to live the life he dares to dream about. Here
is his presentation:

In the last few decades, scientists went from a conviction that there is no
such thing as an energy field around the human body to a certainty that such
fields exist and are scientifically important. Since living tissues are
conductors of electricity, the laws of physics require that the currents set
up by the heart and other muscles, and the brain and peripheral nerves, will
produce fields in the space around the body, producing an aura. The aura has
layers of vibrational frequencies and mindfulness. Thus, our thoughts shape
our reality. We are more than flesh and bones; we are energy that influences
others.

Other words that describe energy are vitality, vigor, action, and power. So,
when we talk about empowering consumers, we are also talking about
transferring energy.

As we talk about Structured Discovery in rehabilitation programs, we must
recognize the work of Dr. Jernigan, who brought and perfected this approach
throughout his tenure in Iowa. The Iowa experience was characterized by Dr.
Jernigan’s magical energy he had when working with people.

To make a real difference in the training we provide, we must recognize that
the main problem blind people face is public misconceptions and low
expectations. Our Structured Discovery teaching extends beyond techniques.
It infuses lessons about attitudes—attitudes that empower greater
confidence, advocacy, self-esteem, and hope.

I am originally from Peru. I became blind and lost my right hand as a result
of a grenade explosion. I went from being in good physical condition, about
to graduate as a lieutenant with a future full of opportunities, to being
blind, missing my dominant hand, doing nothing, with a future full of
uncertainties—including whether or not I could get married and start a
family. The only exposure I had to blind people before I lost my sight was a
blind beggar who played some music with a couple of sticks and an empty can
at a flea market.

A year after becoming blind, I spent a few months receiving traditional
training at a center in Peru and trying to find independence. I was happy to
get that training but did not know they were limiting my expectations. I
wanted to go to college so eventually I could become an administrator, but
they told me that blind people can only work with their hands or voice, such
as massage therapists, musicians, phone operators, broom makers, and so on.
I have respect for all jobs, but I don’t think blind people should be
limited to a few options. In the back of my mind, I knew I could do more but
had no idea how. I felt frustrated.

As I was part of society, I also had misunderstandings about blindness. I
lost my dignity, my expectations, and my self-esteem; it was painful, a
constant pain in my soul. I decided to look for more opportunities in the
USA.

I came to America in 1989 and searched for help. I eventually ended up at
the National Federation of the Blind National Center. It was here where I
was introduced to the philosophy that, with proper training and opportunity,
blind people can be full-contributing members of society and that the main
problem we face is society’s misconceptions about the capability of the
blind.

I went to New Mexico, a Structured Discovery Center, to start training. Not
knowing much English or much about American culture other than some tv
shows, and with no friends or family, I wondered about this training center.
I remembered a short story where a grandpa is encouraging his granddaughter
to get into the ocean. She asks, "Is the water cold?"

The grandpa says, "If you want to know how it is, dive into it." So, I dove
into it.

Upon arriving at the Center, I immediately noticed a stark contrast with the
traditional approach in Peru. When I met the director, Dick Davis, he posed
an unexpected question: “If you weren’t blind, besides being a detective,
what would you like to do?”

Without hesitation, I replied, “I want to go to college and then graduate
school so I can eventually become an administrator, a director.”

Dick Davis’s response caught me off guard: “Good, we will help you then.”
What frightened me the most was the matter-of-fact tone he used. Despite my
excitement and elation, I was also gripped by fear, worrying that I might
not meet his expectations. However, his matter-of-fact tone, though
initially intimidating, also conveyed confidence in my abilities and a
steadfast commitment to supporting me in reaching my full potential.

The Center staff showed, in their actions and in their attitude, that they
believed in me, that they wanted me to be successful. I sensed their
vitality, their energy when working with the students. They were investing
in us. I had hope, I had control over my life again.

Structured Discovery also provides the foundation for critical
problem-solving. We encourage our consumers to adapt, innovate, and find
unique solutions to the challenges they encounter. One of the most difficult
things for me was to figure out how to type with only one hand. I thought I
couldn’t, as that is what they told me in the traditional center in Peru.
However, at this Structured Discovery Center, the teacher encouraged me to
try and not give up. I could sense her aura; I could feel her honest belief
in my capabilities. This gave me motivation to try harder; I became
determined. After several weeks of much trial and error, I was able to
create my own typing system.

Our approach is also about elevating expectations. Dave Andrews, a blind man
now working for the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, was a staff
trainee in New Mexico when I was in training. I remember telling a group of
students, "Listen, if you are frugal enough, you can live on minimum wage.
You can rent a small apartment and find a roommate and split the cost. Only
buy the groceries you need—no sodas, no cookies, only what is necessary. You
can even only buy second-hand clothing."

Dave said, "Carlos, you don’t want to settle for minimum wage. You can do
more. I am making almost four times more than minimum wage. You can go to
college; you have the skills and the brains. You don’t have to rent a small
apartment; you can own a house and don’t need to have a roommate. You can
have a family, buy nice clothing, own a car, go on vacation, save for a
better retirement." Then I realized I was looking for excuses not to go to
college or giving my best effort. Often, it takes the unwavering belief of
someone like Dave to push past our own self-imposed limitations and strive
for excellence.

I did learn the non-visual skills and was ready to start an independent life
in America.

We also prepare our students to advocate for themselves, to be ready to deal
with low expectations from the community. Despite skepticism from many in
Peru and a few in America who told me I couldn’t handle the demands of law
school, I drew inspiration from several successful blind attorneys and knew
I could achieve that too. After finishing my training at the Center, I
learned enough English within six months to be accepted into college. Then,
within seven years, I completed my bachelor’s degree, master’s in public
administration, and a juris doctorate. Additionally, while attending school,
I worked part-time for the Commission for the Blind and remained active in
my community.

So, what set others and me apart and led to success? It was the vitality and
high expectations set by other blind mentors and professionals who possessed
an honest belief and understanding that, with proper training and
opportunity, blind individuals can be fully contributing members of society.
When blind individuals recognize their full potential and have
opportunities, then we have a sense of purpose.

Neuroscientists have discovered that when we have a purpose, our body
generates dopamine, which manufactures adrenaline, and thus gives us energy.
When we crave success, when we want to win, our body is generating dopamine.
Therefore, our bodies are made to have forward action.

In New Mexico, Structured Discovery was expanded to field services and other
programs, such as transition. When I began running the Summer Training and
Employment Program (STEP) for blind youth, I sent application packets to all
the school districts and the school for the blind. Many of the teachers
working with blind students, including those at the school for the blind,
initially disagreed with the changes being implemented by the New Mexico
Commission for the Blind, particularly in its training center using the
Structured Discovery approach.

I offered to visit the school for the blind to talk to the students about
STEP, but the school administration informed me that it wasn’t necessary and
requested that I just send the applications. That year, twenty-one students
applied for STEP, eleven of whom had additional disabilities. All the
applications from the school for the blind were from students with
additional disabilities. While I didn’t want to entertain the idea that they
would try to sabotage our program, it was clear that there was a
misunderstanding. Knowing that most of the students didn’t have any
opportunities for the summer, we decided to accept all the applicants.

STEP offered more than just a job; it provided non-visual skills training,
had high expectations, and fostered a positive attitude about blindness.
Regardless of their additional disabilities, we set high expectations from
the beginning. Since the students with multiple disabilities hadn’t been
expected to do much at home or at school, they were eager to try new things
and prove to themselves that they could be independent and successful. At
the end of the program, we encouraged participants to continue being
independent at home and at school: take out your garbage, make your beds,
clean your rooms, carry your trays in the cafeteria, and use your canes at
all times. Never forget, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

About three weeks after the program ended, I received a call from an irate
student named Michelle, who asked, "Why didn’t you send me an application
for STEP? I was at home all summer doing nothing!" Confused, I asked her
what school she attended. Michelle, from the School for the Blind in
Alamogordo, insisted that she never received an application. After getting
her parents’ contact information, I assured her that an application would be
sent to her next year. Michelle and other disgruntled blind students who
hadn’t been informed about STEP complained to the school’s administration.

The following summer, at the start of the program, I asked Michelle, "How
did you learn about STEP, and why were you so upset?" Michelle explained,
"Well, Carlos, when we returned from summer break, we noticed a big change
in some of the students." Intrigued, I asked for more details. Michelle
continued, "We saw several students walking on their own, using their canes
all the time—different from the ones we have—carrying their trays, and
disposing of their garbage after meals. Not only that, but they were
students with multiple disabilities. We observed a significant difference in
their confidence and independence, so we asked them where and how they
learned all of that. They told us about STEP and that they also worked and
got paid. We were never informed before that we could get jobs or learn to
be independent. That’s why we were upset!"

The year Michelle joined us, we received thirty-six applications, the
majority from the school for the blind, including those without additional
disabilities. By the midpoint of the program, a couple of staff members from
the school for the blind came to observe our activities. We demonstrated
what we do. The crucial aspect was conveying, through both our actions and
words, that these were normal teenagers and that we believed in their
capabilities and potential; moreover, that we not only care about them but
trained them with love—at times, employing tough love.

It is now recognized that the energy we emit is sensed by those we
encounter, influencing how they perceive and react to us. No wonder that our
students often surpass their initial expectations when leaving our centers.

About four years ago, in Nebraska, we organized a one-week training on
robotics for blind high school students. They coded and assembled the parts,
constructing their own robots. We filmed portions as well as the culmination
of the training, where each student showcased their robot. We then uploaded
the video to our website. A few months later, a blind college student
expressed interest in studying robotics in college. However, upon arriving
in class, the professor informed her that she couldn’t participate, as sight
would be required. Without contention, the student left and conducted
research and found the training on robotics video on our website. She
forwarded the link to the professor, who not only welcomed her to the class,
but also gained insight into the capabilities of blind individuals. Success
begets success.

Nebraska is well known for having a Structured Discovery Center since the
seventies, even though we did not use that term back then. We also have
expanded this comprehensive approach to other services. We have a robust
transition program, even before federal law required us to do so. We have a
robust Business Enterprise Program, doubling the number of vending sites and
increasing the vendors income in the last few years. We have a robust older
blind program, being able to get over a million dollars from the state in
the last few years and providing quality services to more blind seniors. We
have been contracting with blind engineers and blind scientists to train
consumers on STEM such as robotics, dissecting organs, and doing chemical
experiments using adaptive lab equipment we purchased. Most recently, we are
partnering with museums to bring accessible art and science to blind
consumers using 3D technology and audio description. Furthermore, to expose
our clients and staff to the depth of vitality, action, energy, and power,
we bring them to state and national conventions.

We have challenged stereotypes by showcasing the achievements of blind
people. >From lawyers, judges, politicians, teachers, administrators,
assembly and factory workers, to farmers, successful businessmen and women,
rehabilitation professionals, and those working in STEM fields, the list is
endless. We have moved beyond mere belief; we now know and have proven that
blindness doesn’t inhibit success or hinder contribution to society.

So, what is our challenge? As professionals in the blindness field, our
challenge is not to be complacent, but to keep pushing ourselves and our
students beyond our comfort zone.

Advocates worked tirelessly for us to have laws that protect the disabled.
However, the power of law is restricted; it may set limits on behavior, but
it cannot create understanding. We are dedicated to continuing training
blind students, training new professionals, and training ourselves. We
should keep striving to lift blind people out of poverty.

About a year ago, I attended a conference pertaining to quality management
for vocational rehabilitation. One of the statistics they gave is that
around 35 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed and that people
with disabilities, compared to people without disabilities, make $7,000 less
per year and have less health insurance. We know the disparities for blind
people are even higher. While some blind individuals may have humble
aspirations, these should not be confined to a narrow range of options, nor
hindered by the misconception that blind people are unable to compete.

When blind people come to us, it is often the last place they go, their one
chance to live a full and productive life. We can make a difference, we hold
the key to breaking the cycle of dependency, underemployment, and the myths
about blindness. Our goal is to provide proper training to our students so
that they reflexively use the non-visual skills and reflexively know how to
deal with negative attitudes about blindness.

We are progressing, we are evolving; there is continuity, but not sameness.
Structured Discovery is not static; it evolves. Evolving requires fresh
perspectives to tackle new problems and develop new solutions. We learn from
each student and from each other, refine our approaches and embrace
innovation. We are part of this evolutionary process, shaping the future of
O&M in rehabilitation, ensuring that blind people have the opportunity to
navigate the world on their own terms.

We use the Structured Discovery model in our individual teachings, in our
training centers, in our agencies; yet each of us, each training center, and
each agency has its own identity. Like Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself;
everyone else is already taken."

As we empower our students toward true independence, we honor the legacy of
those who paved the way. We have the energy and collective experience to
empower our students. We ignite a spark that propels them beyond our
teaching. Like renewable energy, our influence endures. The knowledge we
impart becomes the fuel for lifelong learning journeys.

----------


A Long-Overdue Step Forward for Blind Cubers


by Paul Martz

>From the Editor: I believe this is Paul’s first contribution to our
magazine. He started going blind in 2004, and in 2014, he switched to screen
readers, learned Braille, and bought his first tactile cube. That’s when he
began to identify as blind. He worked for thirty years as a software
developer. In his retirement, he writes. Beyond the Rubik’s Cube book, he is
a published author of science fiction. He also blogs about blind technology
at the AppleVis website. In addition to all of this, he reads voraciously.
Here is what he says about the Rubik’s Cube:

NFB’s partnership with Spin Master to develop the Rubik’s Sensory Cube is
exciting news. It sets a standard for tactile cube markings, increases the
legitimacy of non-visual cubing, and opens cubing to a much wider audience.

What? You’re not excited? You should be.

Solving the cube provides many benefits. It’s a great tool for exercising
both short- and long-term memory that develops tactile sensitivity, fine
motor skills, and problem-solving ability—valuable skills for anyone living
in today’s fast-paced world.

The cube is also relaxing and meditative. When solving, I enter the same
flow state that many authors, musicians, and athletes experience. It’s a
pleasant form of concentration that exercises my brain, nervous system, and
muscle memory.

Never mind all that. It’s infectiously fun. It’s a craze that has endured
for decades, attracting new enthusiasts every day from ages seven to
seventy. Once you learn to solve a cube, you’re unlikely to put it down.

I’ve been a cuber since the Ideal Toy Company launched the Rubik’s Cube in
1980. At the time, I was a seventeen-year-old puzzle nut with low vision.
Solution guides hadn’t been published yet, and the internet was a distant
science fiction dream. To solve the cube, I spent weeks filling a notebook
with ideas and observations until I had devised my solution.

When I lost my remaining vision to retinitis pigmentosa, I switched to
off-brand tactile cubes or modified standard cubes with bump dots. The
quality has been variable, and of the many cubes I own, no two are exactly
alike. I’m looking forward to comparing a Rubik’s Sensory Cube to my ad hoc
solutions.

Today, I solve the cube in World Cube Association events, competing
alongside my sighted peers. I’m part of a global cubing community that puts
me in contact with other cubers around the world. I’m not setting any world
records, but as a sixty-plus senior solving a tactile cube, I’m rather proud
of my unofficial one-minute, seventeen-second personal best.

Nonetheless, two barriers impede our ability to participate in this
stimulating pastime. The cubing community has innumerable websites, videos,
software tools, and solution guides devoted to solving the cube. As you
might expect, most of this information is visual, creating an accessibility
issue for the blind community.

Fortunately, this is a problem I can fix. I’m writing a solution guide
intended for blind readers. The book and companion website will provide
text-based instructions for solving the 3x3 cube with no images or diagrams.
I hope to publish the book in Braille sometime next year.

The second barrier is a lack of standardization. The original Rubik’s Cube
uses six colors in a standard arrangement, often known as BOY, for the
clockwise ordering of the blue, orange, and yellow sides. Sighted cubers can
pick up any cube and find the colors in their expected locations.

In contrast, there are no standards for tactile cubes. Different
manufacturers use different tactile shapes and arrangements. Once you become
accustomed to a particular arrangement and style of textures, it will take a
significant amount of time and practice to adjust to another tactile cube.
The success of the Sensory Cube and Rubik’s brand strength will pressure
other manufacturers to adopt its texture style and arrangement as a
standard.

I applaud NFB and Spin Master for partnering on this important development.
An affordable high-quality accessible alternative to the standard cube has
been long overdue. The success of the Sensory Cube might inspire other toy
manufacturers to create more inclusive products. And making this classic
puzzle accessible includes us in a pastime that has historically been
closed.

----------


Monitor Miniatures


News from the Federation Family


Save the Date: Rideshare Rally at Uber and Lyft—Stop the Discrimination

What: Join our demonstration to protest rideshare discrimination against
blind people using guide dogs and white canes.
When: October 15, 2024, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time

Where: Uber and Lyft Headquarters, San Francisco, California

As reported in the 2024 Presidential Report, “both of the leading
[rideshare] companies, Lyft and Uber, are failing to meet their obligations
to ensure that blind individuals are not discriminated against. While we
continue to hold regular meetings with both companies in good faith to
improve their policies and practices, there is rarely a day that goes by
when we do not learn of another ride denied to a blind person
 We will take
all of the courageous steps necessary to stop this second-class treatment.”

Please plan to attend. Monitor email communications, social media, and the
National Federation of the Blind website for further details, including an
interest form (filling out the form does not obligate you to attend but will
help us keep in touch with you as plans develop), logistics, rally route,
hotel recommendations, and more.


In Brief


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

Ski for Light Goes for Gold in Celebration of Golden Anniversary

Active adults from across the US and around the world will go for gold as
Ski for Light, Inc. (SFL) celebrates its fiftieth anniversary at Soldier
Hollow, January 26 through February 2, 2025. Ski for Light, an
all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, hosts an annual, week-long event
where adults with visual or mobility impairments learn the basics of
cross-country skiing.

Participants will stay at the Provo Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, and
ski on expertly groomed trails at Soldier Hollow, near Midway, Utah.

Each visually or mobility impaired participant is paired with an instructor
guide for a week of skiing, sharing, and learning.

First year participant Lucas Rice enthusiastically sums up his experience;
“For me, Ski for Light was very freeing and adventurous.”

For SFL 2025 Event Chair Sheri Richardson, there’s no better setting for a
golden anniversary than the storied Olympic trails of Soldier Hollow. "In
addition to the amazing location, we are planning a fun-filled week of new
activities and past reminiscences,” Richardson says. "Come and catch up with
old friends while we all make new ones, and help us set tracks for the next
fifty years of Ski for Light.”

Join the celebration by participating as a skier, a guide, or a volunteer.
Applications and additional information will be available in the summer at
www.sfl.org; meanwhile, join our community on Facebook (Ski for Light,
Inc.), and check out our YouTube channel (Ski for Light International).

1455 West Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55408-2648

(612) 827-3232

www.sfl.org

Media Inquiries: Marie Huston

(970) 531-8652, mtn9000girl at aol.com <mailto:mtn9000girl at aol.com> 

A Way to Make New Friends

Fred Olver sends the following: Are you looking for a fun, friendly, and
supportive community of blind and low-vision people? Do you want to chat,
play games, and make new friends using your microphone and computer? Then
you should check out blindcafe.net, the online home of the Blind Cafe.

Blind Cafe is a website that connects you with other blind and low-vision
people from all over the world. You can join the Team Talk server, where you
can chat with others in real time, participate in trivia contests, and enjoy
various games and activities. You can also browse the website for useful
resources, information, and tips for living with blindness or low vision.

Blind Cafe is more than just a website. It’s a community of people who share
your experiences, challenges, and joys. It’s a place where you can find
support, friendship, and fun. It’s a place where you can be yourself.

So what are you waiting for? Visit http://www.blindcafe.net today and join
the Blind Cafe community. You’ll be glad you did.

But there is more: Are you looking for more than just a variety of great
music? Do you want to hear from DJs who love bringing the music to you? How
about joining contests to win prizes? Then you need to tune in to
http://www.blindcaferadio.com the station that raises cane! Blind Cafe Radio
is an internet radio station where music matters. You can listen to it on
your Alexa device, your computer, your Victor Stream, or your phone. You can
also interact with your favorite DJs on Facebook or Twitter; you can even
check out their podcasts on your favorite platform.

Don’t miss out on the fun and the music. Listen to
http://www.blindcaferadio.com today and discover the art of music!

---------


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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