Walmart Announces Nationwide Rollout of ScripTalk Service
Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies are now providing En-Vision America’s ScripTalk talking prescription labels at all stores throughout the United States. This service increases the safety and independence of blind, visually impaired, and print-impaired customers.
Since 2012, Walmart and Sam’s Club have equipped almost 1,200 of their pharmacies to provide ScripTalk audible prescription labels at a patient’s request. More than 750 pharmacies have been equipped in just the past three years with 25 additional Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies (on average) set up to provide ScripTalk labels each month.
Walmart and Sam’s Club equips a pharmacy to provide ScripTalk upon a single patient’s request for audible prescription labels. Once a pharmacy is equipped, usually within 7-10 days, the pharmacy provides ScripTalk labels to patients requesting them at no charge and without lengthy delays.
“The ScripTalk system is important to providing convenient and safe healthcare for our customers,” said JoAnn Stevens, Senior Director of Health & Wellness Compliance at Walmart. “We are proud this technology is available at Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the nation, and we look forward to adding more locations as patients ask for this free service at their local Walmart or Sam’s Club pharmacy. This service is free and available at all US locations upon request.”
“We already have almost 1,200 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs offering the ScripTalk system,” says Amanda Tolson, a director of En-Vision America, maker of the ScripTalk system. “Walmart is a leader in disability rights and we’re pleased to grow our partnership to benefit the visually impaired community.”
CSUN Announces Call for Presentations
The Call for Presentations for the General Sessions Track at the 35th CSUN Assistive Technology Conference will open on Thursday, September 12, 2019. The deadline to submit presentations is Tuesday, October 1, 2019 by 3:00 PM PST.
Additional information can be found on the Center's Call for Presentations page. The center will provide procedures and submission instructions within the next few weeks.
Please note that the information contained here only pertains to the General Call for Presentations. Information for the Journal Call for Papers will be sent to those who have indicated an interest in this track. You may confirm or indicate your interest by updating your subscription preferences for CSUN mailing lists.
IAAP Professional Development Webinar Series 2020 Call for Webinars Topics
If you are a subject matter expert in the area of accessibility and would like to share your knowledge, IAAP invites you to submit your topics for IAAP’s 2020 Professional Development Webinar Series. The deadline for submission is Friday, October 4th.
Sessions should focus on accessibility topics as they relate to software, websites, mobile applications, hardware, assistive technology implementation, proprietary applications, content or documents, law, policy, standards or regulations, and best practices.
Presentations focusing on the topics below will receive preference during the selection of webinar proposals. However, these topics do not guarantee your selection:
- VPAT 2.3
- W3C Initiatives
- Inclusive Design
- EPUB Accessibility
- Accessible Emojis
- Autonomous Vehicles
- Wayfinding and Sign Design
- Gaming and Gaming Platforms
- Organizational Maturity Models
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning and the Web
- WCAG 2.1 In-Depth Review
- International A11y Legislation and Policy (Specifically outside of the United States)
Target Audience
Topics in this series may be of interest to anyone whose job requires accessibility awareness or competence, including but not limited to accessibility professionals, policy makers, developers, designers, testers and others involved in the creation or implementation of accessible technology, content, services, programs, and policies.
Webinars may be targeted to those new to accessibility or to those with more experience and who are looking to advance their skill level.
IAAP Professional Development webinars are 90-minute long sessions and involve sharing a slide deck (Powerpoint, PDF, or HTML) through the Zoom screen sharing option. They can also include desktop sharing of programs or resources and additional handout materials.
IAAP's webinar program provides an opportunity for you to showcase your expertise and help advance the knowledge of accessibility professionals. Plus, you will receive compensation for your efforts. If you’re interested in submitting a topic for the 2020 webinar series, please fill out the IAAP Call for Webinars application form by Friday, October 4, 2019.
Webinar proposals will be reviewed by the IAAP Organizational & Professional Development Committee for content and scheduling. IAAP will contact you as soon as possible as to the status of your submission.
If you have any questions regarding the IAAP 2020 Professional Development Webinar Series or the application, please contact Kevin Hower.
Be My Eyes Wants to Help Keep the Most Private Moment of Your Life Private
Whether you are hoping to start a family, or wondering if you may be starting one just a bit ahead of schedule, this is news you may wish to keep between you and your partner, or to yourself, at least initially. You may not even wish to have family and friends know you’re even thinking about such matters. Until now, it’s been difficult for a blind woman or couple to take a home pregnancy or fertility test without having a sighted third party present to read the results and be the first to know the outcome and share your initial reaction. It’s one of the many ways a blind person is forced to give up privacy in order to thrive and prosper.
Through the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), home pregnancy and fertility test maker Clearblue was made aware that blind and low-vision customers were struggling to access their pregnancy test results. “Women told us that they wanted to be in control of their reproductive health information. That they wanted to be the first to know and that they wanted to be able to access their results in private,” says Clearblue Customer Support Manager, Sally Haworth. “We listened, and agree that this has been out of reach for too many, for too long.”
So recently Clearblue joined forces with Be My Eyes to give consumers more control. “To make sure blind and low-vision women and couples receive their results in a safe, private space with no judgment and with full support from Clearblue’s specialist Customer advisors – just like any other woman,” says Haworth.
Be My Eyes is a free service that utilizes a worldwide network of volunteers to offer 24/7 remote video support to help vision impaired individuals with everything from locating which door says Enter to setting the double rinse cycle on an inaccessible washing machine. They also offer direct accessibility technical support options from Microsoft and Google in the “Specialized Help” option. We recently wrote about Herbal Essences becoming a Be My Eyes partner, and now Be My Eyes app users will also find an option to connect to a Clearblue associate, available Monday through Friday from 2AM to 5PM, Eastern Daylight Time.
The Be My Eyes app is free to download and use, and is available for both iOS and Android.
Microsoft Announces Accessibility Webinar on Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a unified communications platform that combines chat, video meeting, file storing and document collaboration all using one application. Register to join the next webinar on September 18th from noon to 1 PM Pacific time to learn Microsoft Teams and ask questions directly from members of the Microsoft engineering group.
- Review the upcoming schedule and register for your favorite topic by visiting the Accessibility Webinars Sway. Microsoft will continue to update the Sway with more topics every quarter. Once Microsoft receives your registration, they will send you an email with a link to join the webinar.
- The presenters will be available to answer questions on the products and features they are covering towards the end of the webinar.
Essilor Enters Fortune's 2019 Change the World List
Essilor has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 52 companies that “Change the World,” acknowledging the Group’s commitment to eradicate poor vision by 2050. To achieve this ambition, the Group focuses on its mission of “improving lives by improving sight” that guides the company’s core strategy and culture, driving market growth and long-term value.
Fortune’s “Change the World” ranking highlights Essilor’s efforts and how its action to address issues of vision health across the world has a significant social impact on people’s lives, while representing a significant shared value opportunity.
With 6.6 billion people on the planet in need of vision correction by 2050, of which 5 billion will be affected by the myopia epidemic, taking action without delay is key. Even though a pair of eyeglasses can answer most of the world’s vision needs, the lack of access to and awareness of vision care remains overall too low, both in mature and developing countries. Hence, Essilor is committed to continue driving innovation across the market, establishing access points for everyone everywhere, while driving greater awareness and advocacy for good vision.
Over the years, the Group has also significantly accelerated its efforts to fight uncorrected poor vision, the world’s largest disability, affecting 2.5 billion people today, of which 90% live in base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) economies. To do so, it has expanded its three-pronged approach, based on awareness, inclusive business and philanthropy.
With the help of more than 600 partners – from governments to NGOs to corporates – 2.5 NVG and the BoP Innovation Lab have enabled access to a pair of glasses for more than 25 million people across 62 countries in need of vision correction, and empowered nearly 12,000 micro-entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses, providing sustainable access to vision care to 250 million people.
Hubert Sagnières, Chairman of Essilor,stated: “We receive Fortune’s award with pride and responsibility. This distinction is a tremendous endorsement, as we are building a sustainable business model to solve a global problem at scale. We are committed to achieving our ambition to eradicate poor vision: as an industry leader, we believe it is our duty to continue pushing the boundaries of optical solutions; all of Essilor’s employees, from leadership to shop floor, share and live this ambition. Following our recent combination with Luxottica, we are now the industry leader across optical products and instruments, with an even larger platform and greater scale to achieve our goal.”
