[Ohio-talk] Fw: [NFBAffiliatePresidents] HAVA grant update e-mail

[Dr. JW Smith]

fyi

jw

Dr. J. Webster Smith
President National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
P.O.BOX 458 Athens, Ohio, 45701-0458
Phone Number - 740-592-6326 
"Changing What it Means to be Blind"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wilson, Joanne" <JWilson at nfb.org>
To: "NFB Affiliate Presidents List" <nfbaffiliatepresidents at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 11:08 AM
Subject: [NFBAffiliatePresidents] HAVA grant update e-mail


> 
> 
> September 29, 2010
> 
> 
> 
> To State Election Officials, Protection and Advocacy Organizations, and
> National Federation of the Blind State Affiliates:
> 
> 
> 
> For the sixth year, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the
> recipient of a grant under the US Department of Health and Human
> Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) Help
> America Vote Act grant program.  In order to create an awareness of
> nonvisual election technology and promote voting accessibility for the
> blind and visually impaired, the National Federation of the Blind will
> continue its efforts to provide comprehensive training materials,
> information, and access to nonvisual voting machines and technology.
> The National Center for Nonvisual Election Technology (NCNET) is based
> at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore,
> Maryland.
> 
> 
> 
> Plans for the 2009-2010 HAVA grant include:
> 
> *        Develop a voter registration and education program that will be
> implemented at the grassroots level to eliminate barriers that prevent
> blind people from registering to vote by providing materials in
> alternate format that will promote voter registration among the blind.
> 
> *        Preparation of a guide to nonvisual access for voting
> technology developers.  The guide will be distributed to technology
> developers during a nonvisual access technology seminar hosted by the
> NCNET.
> 
> *        The NCNET will continue to have voting machines available for
> demonstration and evaluation at no cost to election personnel or the
> public.  Reservations with the NCNET staff are required in advance to
> ensure that one of our experts will be available to demonstrate the
> voting machines or answer questions.  Contact Clara Van Gerven at (410)
> 659-9314, extension 2410, to make a reservation.  Also, the NCNET staff
> continues to provide informative consultation services on the user
> interface and accessibility features of these machines.  In addition,
> the staff of the NCNET provides feedback directly to voting machine
> manufacturers in order to improve accessibility features and to make
> voting machines more user-friendly to blind and visually impaired
> voters.
> 
> *        Continue to make available a free poll worker training
> curriculum on nonvisual election technology.  The Nonvisual Election
> Technology Training Curriculum, created and produced by the National
> Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, is available on the World
> Wide Web.  Anyone who is interested in learning more about accessible
> voting machines and the NFB's role in assisting with the implementation
> of the Help America Vote Act can obtain a free training curriculum.
> Visit Nonvisual Election Technology
> <http://www.nfb.org/nfb/HAVA_intro.asp?SnID=450365599>  at the NFB Web
> site, www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> , to view the curriculum, or
> download it to your computer for future reference and training purposes.
> 
> 
> 
> Accomplishments during the third and fourth quarters of the 2009-2010
> grant include:
> 
> *        Developed the Nonvisual Access Election Technology Guide, a
> guide intended for election technology developers that describes the
> attributes necessary for accessibility design.  Election officials will
> also find the guide useful when evaluating election technology for
> purchase.  To view or download the guide in MS Word or BRF formats, go
> to: http://www.nfb.org/nfb/purchasing_voting_machine.asp. 
> 
> *        Conducted a seminar for representatives from the major election
> technology developers on nonvisual access to election technology.
> Seminar topics included user experience, accessibility design, and poll
> worker training.  Representatives from the United States Access Board
> and the National Institute of Standards and Technology discussed federal
> guidelines and testing standards.  A demonstration of access technology,
> including state-of-the-art touchscreen technology, was provided by NFB
> access technology experts.  Representatives from Dominion Voting
> Systems, Election Systems & Software, Everyone Counts, and Hart
> InterCivic attended.
> 
> 
> 
> For further information, contact the HAVA program manager, Lou Ann Blake
> at lblake at nfb.org.  Or to obtain the Nonvisual Election Technology
> Curriculum online, click on the following hyperlink: Nonvisual Election
> Technology Curriculum
> <http://www.nfb.org/nfb/HAVA_intro.asp?SnID=450365599> . 
> 
> 
> 
> To make a reservation to visit the NCNET for demonstrations and
> technical expertise, or evaluation of voting machines, contact Clara Van
> Gerven by telephone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2410, or by e-mail at
> cvangerven at nfb.org. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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>