[NYABS] {Disarmed} Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Newsletter - A Season of Believing, Dreaming, and Giving Thanks

Tue Dec 8 12:24:27 UTC 2015

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind " <IOF at nfb.org>
> Date: December 7, 2015 at 1:46:28 PM EST
> To: Nihal Erkan <nihal_erkan at hotmail.com>
> Subject: National Federation of the Blind Newsletter - A Season of Believing,  Dreaming, and Giving Thanks
> Reply-To: "Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind " <IOF at nfb.org>
> 
> 
> 
> Imagineering Our Future
> 
>   Issue 81
> 
> December 2015   
> 
> In this issue:
> 
> Message from the President
> What's News at the NFB
> Braille Certification Training Program
> From the tenBroek Library
> Education
> Advocacy
> Access Technology
> NFB Calendar
> Citation
> 
> 
> Message from the President
> 
> Dear Friends:
> 
>  
> I was walking around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor with my family during the Thanksgiving weekend. The weather was great, the holiday spirit was in the air, and the joy of being together filled our hearts. On such a normal day, I find myself worrying about the blind people out there who cannot yet imagine that such a day is possible for a blind person—walking around the city independently, changing plans at the last minute, managing the crowds and the business transactions at local merchants, and occasionally taking a wrong turn without fear of getting lost. I have received some of the best training a blind person can get from some of the best blind instructors in the world, and I no longer think about the “what ifs” but rather the “what’s next.”
> 
> In this season of giving, I would like to find new and dynamic ways to give that understanding and freedom to blind people who have not yet found it. It comes through the interactions with members of the National Federation of the Blind at our local chapter meetings and in our larger gatherings across the country. If each of us can get connected with just one new blind person and begin sharing that knowledge and experience with them, we could deliver thousands of presents that will not be forgotten.
> 
> I am grateful for the opportunity to work on sharing this gift of freedom and empowerment every day. I am thankful for the thousands of people who put their spirit and imagination into the work across the country. As we come to the close of another great year of our movement, I love hearing the stories of the blind people who have found the hope and determination we offer, and I look forward to those we will have the opportunity to empower in the next year. I worry that our work has not reached far enough and that our message has not yet been heard by those who most need to discover it. Thus, I continue to seek ways to reach more blind people to give them the gift of hope and confidence that I enjoy every day. 
> 
> Please help me give the tremendous gift that is the National Federation of the Blind. While you are at it, please share with me your ideas about how we can make our work more impactful and our reach more broad. And have yourself a joyous and safe holiday season.
> 
> 
> 
> Mark A. Riccobono, President
> National Federation of the Blind
> 
> 
> 
> What's News at the NFB
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy
> 
> Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves at the NFB Jernigan Institute to get Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas season. The application for a letter from Santa can be found at https://nfb.org/santa-letters. 
> 
> National Federation of the Blind and Scribd Agree to Collaborate to Make Reading Subscription Service Accessible to the Blind
> 
> The NFB and Scribd, Inc. have agreed to work together to make content available in Scribd’s subscription reading service and website accessible to the blind by the end of 2017. Available on desktop and mobile devices, Scribd’s service provides users access to ebooks, audiobooks, and other published content for a flat monthly fee. Read more about the agreement at https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-and-scribd-agree-collaborate-make-reading-subscription-service-accessible. 
> 
> Disability Rights Ohio and Other Advocates File Complaint on Behalf of Sheltered Workshop Employees
> 
> After working for an average of $2.50 an hour for more than three years, three Disability Rights Ohio (DRO) clients are asking for fair pay from Seneca Re-Ads, a sheltered workshop run by the County Board of Developmental Disabilities in Seneca County. The three DRO clients have asked the US Department of Labor (USDOL) to review their claims. The petition, which is supported by the National Federation of the Blind, requests that USDOL review the clients’ wages and the means by which the current wages were set. Details about this case are at https://nfb.org/disability-rights-ohio-and-other-advocates-file-complaint-behalf-sheltered-workshop-employees. 
> 
> KNFB Reader Integrated with Dropbox, Available for Android
> 
> The KNFB Reader is now available for Android devices. Released for iOS in 2014, the KNFB Reader app uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to take a picture of printed text using the built-in cameras available on smartphones and tablets and convert it into speech. Now, in response to popular demand, we are proud to bring the reader to the Android platform. More information is available at https://nfb.org/knfb-reader-mobile-integrated-dropbox-available-android. 
> 
> 2016 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
> 
> Applications are now being accepted for the 2016 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program. Each year the NFB presents cash awards to individuals and organizations that have demonstrated exemplary leadership and extraordinary accomplishments in improving the lives of blind people in the United States. For more information and to find out how to submit a nomination, visit the NFB website. 
> 
> 
> 
> Braille Certification Training Program
> 
> Under a contract with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS), the National Federation of the Blind administers the courses leading to NLS certification of Braille transcribers and proofreaders. Successful completion of these rigorous courses requires a great deal of time and effort on the part of the students. We congratulate the following individuals who earned certification during the month of September 2015:
> 
> Literary Braille Transcribing
> 
> California
> 
> Larry Lawrence Miranda, Camarillo 
> Susan Marie Nesbitt, San Ysidro
> 
> Connecticut
> 
> Darrel Wayne Lewis, Cheshire
> 
> Kentucky
> 
> Alchester Sorrells, Lexington
> 
> Minnesota
> 
> Karen Joan Stifter, Menahga
> 
> Nevada
> 
> James Ray Esquibel, Las Vegas 
> Richard Earl Jaramillo, Las Vegas 
> Eriksen Raul Leiva, Las Vegas
> 
> North Carolina
> 
> Jesus A. Calderon, Laurinburg
> 
> Texas
> 
> Nancy Epperson Moreno, Gatesville 
> Helen Ann Thompson, Gatesville 
> John R. Villareal, Houston
> 
>  
> 
> Mathematics (Nemeth) Braille Transcribing
> 
> Georgia
> 
> Charles Allen Carter, Macon
> 
> 
> 
> From the tenBroek Library
> 
> The Jacobus tenBroek Library is thrilled to announce the opening of an online exhibit chronicling the foundation of the National Federation of the Blind in 1940, made possible by a partnership with Digital Maryland, the state processor for the Digital Public Library of America. The NFB was founded seventy-five years ago on November 16, 1940, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at a meeting of the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Federation of the Blind (PFB) during its state convention. Led by Jacobus tenBroek (1911-1968), a young, blind, constitutional law scholar, members of the PFB executive committee and representatives of blind organizations from six other states—California, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois—adopted a constitution and elected their first officers. Their mission was to create a national organization governed by the blind, with a majority blind membership that would work to improve the social, economic, and physical well-being of all blind people through mutual aid and common action. With this one act, the lives of blind people in this country were forever changed. Today the NFB is the largest organization of the blind in the United States with over fifty thousand members.
> 
> Unveiled just in time for the NFB’s seventy-fifth anniversary on November 16, 2015, this small collection of digitized documents includes correspondence between Dr. tenBroek and his mentor, Dr. Newel Perry; the minutes of the founding meeting; Dr. tenBroek’s speech to those present on that historic day; and other related correspondence. All image scans are accompanied by accessible text transcriptions. The documents featured will form the basis of a larger exhibit on the history of the NFB and the organized blind movement in America. We would like to thank Digital Maryland for making this possible and we look forward to working with them going forward.  
> To read the first-hand accounts and original records, which document the birth of the first national organization of the blind, please visit the exhibit at http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/nfnf.  
> 
> 
> 
> Education
> 
> In partnership with museums and science centers, NFB STEM2U will bring accessible STEM learning opportunities to blind and low-vision children in elementary and high school from across the United States. Furthermore, NFB STEM2U will offer learning opportunities to parents of blind children and educators working with blind students. Each of the regional programs will serve twenty blind elementary school students (the juniors) and ten blind high school students (the apprentices). All students will engage in hands-on, inquiry-based STEM learning. Moreover, the students will have the occasion to learn with and from blind adult role models about how to succeed in the STEM classroom and in everyday life. Apprentices (the older students) will also have the chance to develop and refine their leadership and mentoring skills as they give back through their work with the juniors (the younger students) throughout the regional programs. Our most recent regional program, STEM2U Phoenix, was held November 5-7, 2015, and was an inspiring success. Workshops and activities were held for teachers of the blind and visually impaired, parents of our juniors, and our juniors and apprentices to learn how science is accessible, or can be made accessible, in the classroom. One of the many activities held at the Arizona Science Center included a starfish dissection! Blind and low-vision students who are looking for more opportunities to learn about STEM while having  fun with their peers from across the country should apply to attend NFB STEM2U. Applications for juniors are open for our San Francisco (March 3-5, 2016) and Minneapolis (May 19-21, 2016) programs. The deadline is January 5, 2016. For more information or to apply, please visit http://www.blindscience.org/nfb-stem2u. 
> 
> 
> 
> Advocacy
> 
> Self-Service Kiosks in SSA Offices 
> 
> The NFB is currently investigating whether Social Security Administration (SSA) field offices have made their self-service kiosks accessible to blind visitors. Though designed to be accessible, SSA’s Visitor Intake Processing kiosks are frequently made available without the keypads that are needed for accessibility. The NFB is seeking members in every state to assist with testing the SSA’s kiosks this winter. Your support in this effort is critical. If you are interested in helping, please contact Valerie Yingling, paralegal, at 410-659-9314, extension 2440. Additionally, if you recently visited an SSA office and encountered an inaccessible intake-processing kiosk, please also contact Valerie Yingling. 
> 
> 
> 
> Access Technology
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access to Commerce, Public Information, and Education (CENA) and the Maryland Technology Assistance Program hosted the fourth Web Accessibility Training Day on November 4, 2015. For the first time ever, the event had a virtual component, so that participants unable to travel to Baltimore could participate remotely. Between online and in-person attendees, this year yet again broke the previous record attendance. It was also the most packed Web Accessibility Training Day ever for content—with two full tracks for technical and policy topics after the introductions, and the keynote by Microsoft's Wendy Chisholm. The recorded sessions will also become available as an archive.
> 
> Under the same web accessibility umbrella, the access technology team also hosted a small-scale pilot training on manual and automated testing for web accessibility on November 5-6. This training served to share our knowledge and develop expertise in the field, and we expect to host more trainings like it.
> 
> 
> 
> NFB Calendar
> 
> Upcoming Events
> 
> December 10-13, 2015: BELL Seminar
> 
> March 3-5, 2016: NFB STEM2U San Francisco
> 
> May 17-20, 2016: BLAST, Chicago
> 
> May 19-21, 2016: NFB STEM2U Minneapolis
> 
> June 19-25, 2016: NFB EQ (first iteration)
> 
> June 30-July 5: National Federation of the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida
> 
> July 31-August 6, 2016: NFB EQ (second iteration)
> 
> August 18-25, 2016: WBU-ICEVI General Assembly 
> 
>   
> 
> Citation
> 
> We will make the plans and take the actions to determine the shape of our own tomorrow. We have the ideas; we have the leadership; and we have the people. Nothing can prevent us from going the rest of the way to freedom, for we will not let it happen. We have reached the kindling point, and we absolutely intend to reflect the flame. 
> 
> --Dr. Marc Maurer. "Reflecting the Flame." 1991 NFB National Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 5, 1991.
> 
>   
> 
> Thank you for reading the NFB’s Imagineering Our Future.
> 
> Help make a significant difference in the lives of blind people across the country.
> 
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> If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, please email JerniganInstitute at nfb.org.
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> Interesting links:
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> National Center for Blind Youth in Science
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> Access Technology Tips
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> TeachBlindStudents.org
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> Archive of Straight Talk About Vision Loss videos
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> 200 East Wells Street
> at Jernigan Place
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> United States
> 410 659-9314 
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