Dear AccessWorld readers,
In this December issue, Deborah Kendrick provides even more suggestions for holiday gift giving in her article, More Holiday Gift Ideas for People with Visual Impairments. Another article in this issue that may have special importance for you this time of year is Jamie Paul's article describing accessible diabetes management strategies. This season is filled with tempting cakes, pies, cookies, and all sorts of culinary goodness, and it is important to keep moderation in mind, especially if you have elevated blood sugar levels.
AFB has additional resources for gift ideas. In addition to AccessWorld, I invite you to visit AFB's FamilyConnect page and read Toys and Gift Ideas for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired. You can also visit VisionAware's page and read Gift Ideas for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and Holiday Picks and Black Friday Deals for People with Vision Loss.
Have you shopped until you dropped yet? Good news! There is still time to get the shopping done. If you need additional ideas, select the "Back Issues" button to check out any past online holiday issue of AccessWorld.
If you happen to be doing some cooking this time of year, you may also want to revisit Deborah Kendrick's November 2010 review of the Directions for Me website, Website Evaluation: Directions for Me, a Gift to People Who Can't Read the Box. This article may help take the guesswork out of preparing those holiday meals by having package directions available at your fingertips. Yes, the article is seven years old, but the information is still good, and the website is still active.
If you find yourself needing a break from all the pre- or post-holiday rush or festivities, you may want to consider a stop at the local movie theater. As you know, audio description technology in movie theaters is becoming increasingly available. Relying on a friend or family member or imagining what might be happening in the film is no longer necessary. It's now possible to become completely immersed in the theater experience and enjoy films on an entirely new level. Sit back, relax, and take a break from the holiday rush.
A lot has happened in this past year of technology, from smaller changes to hardware and software, to exciting new accessible apps and advances in vision research. One additional exciting event for the AccessWorld team was receiving its third Honorable Mention Eddie award at the 2017 Folio Awards in the Digital, Non-profit, Standalone Magazine category. For more than 20 years, the Eddie & Ozzie Awards have recognized excellence in magazine editorial and design across all sectors of the industry.
This year, a panel of more than 300 judges over 2,500 entries into a pool of roughly 1,000 finalists. In total, over 250 awards were given out across 33 categories. The awards are broken into four main categories: Eddies and Eddies Digital for the best in print and digital editorial, and Ozzies and Ozzies Digital for the best in magazine and website design. The Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards celebrate excellence in editorial and design across multiple markets. This awards program is the only one of its kind to honor both magazine and digital design and journalism in the consumer, business-to-business, association, regional, and non-profit sectors. Winners and honorable mentions were recognized in October in New York City at a celebratory luncheon at The Folio: Show held at the Mid-town Hilton.
The AccessWorld team works hard to bring information to our readers, and we are honored and humbled by this recognition.
All the while, we here at AccessWorld have done our best to keep you updated and informed in 2017, and the team certainly hopes you have enjoyed reading the publication and have personally benefited from our coverage of the technology and issues most relevant to people with visual impairments.
If you have benefitted from information presented in AccessWorld, we would like to know about it. We would appreciate you sharing how information in AccessWorld has been of benefit to you, your student, or someone you care about. Please send your story to us; we are always excited to receive your feedback, and we sincerely appreciate you reading AccessWorld.
Also, in this season of giving, as the Editor-in-Chief of AccessWorld, I would like to ask for your support. The American Foundation for the Blind and, in turn, AccessWorld, depend, in large part, on private donations from people just like you.
If you read AccessWorld and can do so, I would appreciate you considering a gift to AccessWorld. Your donation will help us continue our work on behalf of people who are blind or visually impaired.
Each dollar you donate allows us to:
- Review assistive and mainstream technologies, websites, and mobile apps
- Provide technology resources and support for everyone affected by blindness or visual impairment, including senior citizens, parents, families, and friends
- Offer a hub of technology information for professionals in the vision loss field
AccessWorld is here for the millions of people living with blindness and low vision because friends like you are here for us. If you would like to donate to AccessWorld, please visit the AccessWorld donation page. I ask for your assistance and ask that you encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to join in our efforts.
I would also like to thank our generous readers who donated to AccessWorld last year. Your contributions helped us to have our most successful year ever.
The AccessWorld team wishes you a happy and healthy holiday season. We look forward to bringing you the latest in tech news in the coming year!
Best regards,
Lee Huffman, AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief
American Foundation for the Blind
