AccessWorld Staff Interviewed on KSIV Radio, St. Louis, MO
AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief, Lee Huffman, and Senior Features Editor, Deborah Kendrick recently talked technology gadgets with Judy Redlich, long-time AccessWorld reader and radio show host for a program called "Encounter," on KSIV radio covering the greater St. Louis, MO area.? Deborah Kendrick's holiday gifts article in the November issue sparked Judy's interest, and she decided it would be good information to share with her radio show listeners. We all three agreed, even one piece of information or a simple technology gadget can make a huge difference in the life of someone who is blind or visually impaired.
Deborah and I want to thank Judy for helping us to share information about holiday gift ideas, general information about AFB, and living with vision loss. It was a pleasure speaking with Judy and sharing our thoughts and perspectives with her radio show listeners. You can listen to a recorded version of the show and other great content by visiting https://www.judyredlich.com/podcast/accessworld/.
AFB and Gatewave Radio Enter into Partnership
Recently, AFB and Gatewave Inc. entered into a partnership which we hope will benefit people with vision loss. Gatewave Inc. is a radio service for independent living ("Gatewave"), is a not-for-profit audio service for listeners who are blind, visually impaired or have other physical or cognitive disabilities that impact their ability to read or hold daily, weekly and monthly print material. It is one of the oldest such services nationwide since it was formed out of the readers and staff of the radio broadcasting team of the former In Touch Network, and it is the only such radio service in New York City.
Gatewave broadcasts readings directly from magazines, newspapers and the web, spoken by skilled broadcasters in their own human voices, never computers. It also finds and creates special content specifically to help listeners live a full life with vision loss.
AFB is making content from many of its newsletters and publications, including AccessWorld, available to Gatewave for reading on its radio service. It is AFB's hope that this new outlet for our information will reach a new audience through Gatewave, which would otherwise not have been exposed to it. We are excited and looking forward to working with Gatewave to increase the dissemination of our content and, in turn, increase its impact.
To learn more about Gatewave, please visit the Gatewave website, or e-mail John Robinson john.robinson@nmbc.org or call 347-289-7620.
The American Foundation for the Blind to Begin Accepting Applications for its 2018 Scholarship Program
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) administers 4 post-secondary education scholarships for up to 8 deserving students who are legally blind. The available scholarships for 2018 are detailed below.
The Rudolph Dillman Memorial Scholarship: Four scholarships of $2,500
Requirements:
Full-time Undergraduate or Graduate student
Studying rehabilitation or education of persons who are blind and/or visually impaired
The Paul and Ellen Ruckes Scholarship: Two scholarships of $2,000
Requirements:
Full time Undergraduate or Graduate student
Studying engineering or computer, physical, or life sciences
The R.L. Gillette, Gladys C. Anderson, and Karen D. Carsel Memorial Scholarship: One scholarship of $3,500
Requirements:
Female undergraduate student
Studying music
The Delta Gamma Foundation Florence Margaret Harvey Memorial Scholarship: One scholarship of $1,000
Requirements:
Undergraduate or graduate student
Studying rehabilitation or education of persons who are blind or visually impaired.
Visit the AFB scholarships website for further information and to complete an application.
Please direct all scholarship questions to:
Aaron Preece, Scholarship Coordinator
Telephone: 304-710-3034
E-mail: apreece@afb.net
Sensible Innovations named as Consumer Electronics Show 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree
Sensible Innovations' Aware audible way-finding app for visually impaired people has been named a Consumer Electronics Show 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Smart Cities product category.
Aware works with iBeacons, to provide indoor and outdoor turn-by-turn navigational directions, and location descriptions, designed with a focus on visually impaired people, and it plays in real time where and when it matters.
"Aware is making a significant impact on the lives of visually impaired people in areas where it is already in use. We have placed iBeacons at Glenwood High School in Chatham, Mary Bryant Home for the Blind in Springfield, the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in New York, which in September we won a METRO Magazine award for our partnership with Nassau-Inter-County Express at BusCon, and at The Chicago Lighthouse," said Rasha Said, Sensible Innovations CEO and founder.
Aware scored highly across all judging criteria by a distinguished panel of independent industrial designers, engineers, and members of the trade media, and the audible way-finding app joins a small percentage of other products awarded each year. Entries are evaluated on engineering, design, intended function, and user value, as well as how the product compares to others in the marketplace.
While the Innovation Honorees were recently announced in New York City, at CES Unveiled New York, Aware will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2018. Following CES Aware will be displayed at events around the world.
For more information visit the Sensible Innovations website.
Senators Markey and Capito Introduce Legislation to Improve Educational Opportunities for Visual and Hearing-Impaired Students
Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that visual and hearing-impaired students receive the best possible education. The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act will improve the effectiveness and personalization of education and services for students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind. The legislation would improve reporting and evaluation measures of special education in each state, increase training for teachers and other special education professionals, and reaffirm the Department of Education's mission and responsibility to ensure an accessible and quality education for all students.
This bill is named after Alice Cogswell, the first deaf student to be formally educated in the United States, and Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller's famous teacher. Congressman Matt Cartwright (PA-17) and Congressman David McKinley (WV-1) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives earlier this year.
"More than one hundred years after Anne Sullivan Macy worked with Hellen Keller at Massachusetts's Perkins School, we are coming together to ensure that students in the 21st century receive the best education,"?said Senator Markey.?"I am happy to introduce this legislation with Senator Capito to help deaf, blind, and deaf-blind students across the country?by?improving?access to quality education and offering?them the chance to work with effective educators and trained professionals. Every student should have the opportunity to maximize their God-given abilities, and our bill will help thousands of students do just that."
"It is essential students in West Virginia and across the nation who are deaf, hard of hearing or have vision loss receive the specialized services they need to reach their fullest potential," said Senator Capito. "The Cogswell-Macy Act would help ensure the educational needs of these students are better met."
A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.
Specifically, the Cogswell-Macy Act would:
- Require states to identify and evaluate children who are visually and hearing impaired so that appropriate services can be delivered to each student, and report instances when they fall short
- Help parents and educators stay informed and up-to-date through written policy guidance released regularly from the Department of Education
- Encourage states to plan for and commit to specialized instruction for all deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind students, provided by trained personnel
- Establish the Anne Sullivan Macy Center of Vision Loss and Educational Excellence within the Department of Education to function as a national resource to better support students with visual disabilities
"Since 1975, the law has worked wonders in terms of ensuring the right of every student with a disability to be included in our public education system," said Mark Richert, Policy Director for the American Foundation for the Blind. "But what we've never done is to make sure that students, particularly kiddos who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind, get what they need once they get in the schoolhouse door. With Senate introduction of the Cogswell-Macy Act, we're signaling to everyone that we're not prepared to wait for the needs of another generation of students with sensory disabilities to be ignored before we work with our amazing champions on the Hill to change things."
"This bill acknowledges and supports the various ways that deaf and hard of hearing children learn. There is 'no one size fits all' under IDEA, and the Cogswell-Macy Act will provide guidance to states as to how to tailor individualized education to these students, particularly in the areas of language and communication," said Sandra Edwards, President of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD) and Superintendent of the Mississippi School for the Deaf.
"We are thrilled that the Cogswell-Macy Act will be introduced in the Senate and thank Senator Markey for his leadership and passion," said Dave Power, President and CEO of Perkins School for the Blind. "Perkins has been a fierce advocate in ensuring that blind, visually-impaired, and deafblind students have access to the highest quality services here in Massachusetts and nationally. Their ability to fulfill their unique potential requires the strongest possible IDEA and our ongoing commitment to seeing its execution."
"When it becomes the law of the land, the Cogswell-Macy Act will empower students who are deafblind to succeed in the 21st century American classroom," said Mussie Gebre, President of DeafBlind Citizens in Action (DBCA). "As deafblind people speaking for ourselves, we in DBCA know from personal experience how providing interveners, qualified teachers, and the whole range of instructional services and supports today will make it possible tomorrow for society to fully benefit from the brain power and drive that our community has to offer."
Firefox 57 (Firefox Quantum) released, screen readers to experience Slowdowns or incompatibility
Mozilla has released Firefox Quantum (version 57) which makes significant changes to the underlying architecture of the browser to provide speed increases and lower memory usage. More information on the update can be found here. Unfortunately, the changes to the browsers will cause significant slowing of the browser for users of assistive technology. Users of assistive technology who use Firefox are encouraged to install the Firefox Extended Support Release which can be found here. Various organizations and individuals have provided information on this situation. Freedom Scientific released this statement regarding JAWS and the new version of Firefox. NV Access released this statement regarding NVDA and Firefox. Marco Zehe of Firefox published this blog post describing the issue and providing information on fixes for screen reader users in future updates of Firefox.
Deadline Nears for National Braille Press's Touch of Genius Prize.
The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation was developed to inspire an entrepreneur, educator or inventor to continue the promotion of braille and tactile literacy for blind and deafblind people worldwide. The Prize can be granted for innovative, accessible computer software, Android applications, iOS applications, or tactile hardware that promotes braille and/or tactile literacy for blind people.?The deadline to apply is January 12, 2018.? For more information please visit: http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/technology/tog/tog_submission.html.
