<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Friends:<br> <br>We need your help to make sure that the clock is not turned back for blind rehabilitation consumers. The Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) announced at the end of the summer last year that it was taking over the agency accreditation program formerly administered by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC). This would undo the tremendous progress that has been made in allowing the blind to determine our own destinies and control the programs that directly influence us. <br> <br>The former NAC accreditation program did not consider, or serve the needs of, blind people and was dropped by most agencies. While we support high standards and certain accreditations, as described in <a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm18/bm1801/bm180103.htm">this Braille Monitor article</a> by Dr. Edward Bell, the NAC program was based on low expectations of blind people and other flawed principles.<br> <br>NAC represents the way the world was; the National Federation of the Blind represents the world of today and the future. We demand a say in the programs that serve us; we demand to be the ones who evaluate them. NAC would turn back the clock, but we live in the present and are actively using our time to shape the future. <br> <br>We are asking each of you reading this message to do two things: first, read <a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm18/bm1801/bm180102.htm">this article</a> from the January issue of the <i>Braille Monitor</i>, written by NFB President Mark Riccobono. Next, take one or more of the actions that President Riccobono outlines at the end of the article to let AER know that blind people will not stand for the revival of NAC.<br> <br>It is time, once and for all, to say #GoodbyeNAC. Help us put the past behind us and continue building a future where the blind have a say in the lives we will live.<br> <br>Sincerely,<br> <br>Mark A. Riccobono, President<br>National Federation of the bli<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>