[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook

Tue Aug 11 12:53:15 UTC 2015

August 10, 2015
President's Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

As we get into the final weeks of summer, I know that many of you are turning your attention to fall conventions. I encourage you to start sharing your convention ideas-especially the ones you have found useful in building the affiliate-with your colleagues. A number of our presidents are planning their first convention, while others who have planned many are looking for new ideas to keep the convention fresh and interesting. Who might offer the most powerful convention idea of 2015 to our affiliate leadership listserv?

Please do not miss the opportunity to meet with members of Congress during the summer recess. As you know, we had our TIME Act legislation dropped in the Senate last week (S. 2001) and we should use this as an opportunity to meet with our elected officials locally and get them to support our TIME Act.

On a more personal note, I regret to report that this morning we received the news that long-time active member Shirley Morris passed away. Shirley fought for nearly two decades with cancer and she will definitely be missed by many in the Federation. Please keep Don Morris and their family in your thoughts and prayers.

Critical actions this week:
Legislative Alert:
Please call your members of Congress to ask for an appointment while he or she is in town during the August recess, which runs from August 3 through Labor Day, September 7. We need your representative to cosponsor H.R. 188, the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment ("TIME") Act.
Also, we now have a Senate bill, introduced in the Senate (S. 2001) by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). Please try to meet with your senators during the August recess to encourage them to co-sponsor the bill. More information can be found at https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-introduction-legislation-integrate-workers-disabilities.

Internet Regulations:
Contact the White House to let them know it is time to upload the internet regulations. Emails and phone calls should be directed to Maria Town, the disability liaison at the White House. The email for the disability office is disability at who.eop.gov<mailto:disability at who.eop.gov>, and the phone number is (202) 456-1212.
The link to our blog post, "Time for the White House to Upload the Internet Regs," is https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/time-white-house-upload-internet-regs.

Seeking DOD Employees Who Use Health IT:
In light of Cerner, Corp. being awarded a $4.3 billion contract with the Department of Defense (DOD) to modernize the agency's Healthcare Management System, the NFB is seeking feedback from members who work at DOD. If you, or someone you know, are employed at DOD and use Health IT or electronic health records (EHR) as a function of your job, the NFB needs to hear from you. If you are seeking employment with the DOD in a career field that will use Health IT or EHRs, the NFB needs to hear from you also. Please contact Valerie Yingling, paralegal, at (410) 659-9314, extension 2440.

Seeking Cerner Users:
NFB is investigating the general accessibility of Cerner's EHR system. If you have experience using Cerner's EHR system as either an employee or patient, please contact Valerie Yingling, paralegal, at (410) 659-9314, extension 2440, as soon as possible.

News:

Convention Audio Article from the BBC:

BBC reporter, Gary O'Donoghue, has recorded an article about our convention. Check it out at http://t.co/N0IKftMEsK.

Convention Highlights:

The convention highlights page is up on our website. The link is https://nfb.org/national-convention-highlights.

Presidential Release:
The August Presidential Release is posted at https://nfb.org/presidential-releases.

Order Your Own Personalized GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS(tm) Certificate of Participation:
Remember that time we made history and broke a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS(tm) title for the largest umbrella mosaic?! Well, now you can order proof of your accomplishment.

For an accessible ordering process, please contact the NFB Independence Market at (410) 659-9314, extension 2216 or IndependenceMarket at nfb.org<mailto:IndependenceMarket at nfb.org>, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. The Market will be taking orders for certificates until September 30, 2015.

You can also order certificates using the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS(tm) online store, but please note that there are accessibility issues with this site. If you would like to use this option, go to http://store.guinnessworldrecords.com. Click on the "Records" link to reach certificates for purchase. Use ID# 140602-13928 and the code moeq5230MO. Certificates cost $25 apiece, plus a shipping (via UPS) and handling fee.

Video:
Jerry Whittle has been an athlete, a professor, a Braille instructor, and even a published author. Despite losing his vision as a teen, he learned to adapt to his circumstances using nonvisual techniques. The training and support he received from the National Federation of the Blind empowered him to pursue his dreams and now, Jerry is living the life he wants. His video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMY5VPIsBpg.

Did you know?
Ensuring Digital Accessibility through Process and Policy:
The epub3 version of the book authorized by Jonathan Lazar, Dan Goldstein, and Anne Taylor is out. Interested NFB members can use the promo code "LAZAR40" when buying from http://store.elsevier.com to get a 40 percent discount.

Dates to keep in mind:

*         Fall state conventions<https://nfb.org/state-conventions>

*         September 11-13, 2015: NFB STEM2U Leadership Academy

*         June 19-25, 2016: NFB EQ (first iteration)

*         July 31-August 6, 2016 (second iteration)

*         August, 2016: WBU-ICEVI General Assembly

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.

Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org/>

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