Dear AccessWorld readers,
At AFB, one event we look forward to every year is our annual AFB Leadership Conference, AFBLC. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began just before our conference, causing us to host that year's conference digitally. In 2021, with the pandemic still raging and with it being AFB's centennial year, instead of an annual conference, we hosted various digital events throughout the year to celebrate. I'm happy to announce that once again, we will be hosting an in-person AFB leadership conference this year. This year, the conference will take place on Monday May 2nd-Tuesday, May 3rd at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport. Through April 15, the cost for the conference will be $399, changing to $449 afterwards. The full agenda can be found here but I thought I would specifically mention those events/sessions that might be of interest to AccessWorld readers specifically.
In our first set of breakout sessions on Monday, we have "Breakout #3: AFB’s Workplace Technology Study: Strategies for Welcoming Employees into an Accessible Workplace" which will discuss AFB's recent detailed study on technology use by people with vision loss in the workplace and where barriers still arise. In the second set of breakout sessions, we have both "Breakout #4: Using Technology to Enhance the Pre-Employment Experience: Smoothing Gen Z's Transition Into the Workforce" and "Breakout #6: Digital Inclusion: Public Policy Approaches to Website and App Accessibility (panel discussion with representatives from AFB, ACB, NFB, and NDRN)". On the second day, we have a session focused on the growing field of indoor navigation, "Breakout #12: Wayfinding Technology at Work: Tackling Indoor Navigation Challenges"
In addition to our breakout sessions, the 2022 AFB Leadership Conference will play host to two keynote speakers-Sachin Pavithran and Catarina Rivera. We also have a full list of speakers along with bios on our website.
AFB's CEO Kirk Adams specifically is looking forward to an Idea-a-thon Facilitated by JP Morgan Chase on Monday morning. He said "We have a tremendous line-up of speakers and programming this year. I’m most excited about a unique Idea-a-thon exercise hosted by our friends at JP Morgan Chase; panels on lifestyle and technology; presentations around all-important policy updates; and the opportunity to network with each other and key influencers spanning government to Hollywood."
I'm personally excited to see the Leadership Conference return once again. It is a unique conference that brings together the various focus areas in the blindness industry-from technology to advocacy. From someone who focuses on technology primarily, the learning and network opportunities at a holistic conference such as AFBLC is quite valuable. We hope to see you there.
Considering the gaming article in this issue of AccessWorld, I also wanted to mention a major development in a game we've covered previously-Blizzard's Hearthstone. If you are unfamiliar with the game, I recommend checking out this excellent article by J.J. Meddaugh detailing the game and its accessibility features. Compared to other games we have covered in AccessWorld, Hearthstone is interesting because it is a mainstream game which was made accessible by a third party. Over the years, new game modes have been added to Hearthstone, essentially becoming games in their own right. One of these game modes is called Battlegrounds. When the Hearthstone Access module first launched, the author focused on the original Hearthstone game mode and insured it was fully accessible before moving on to other modes. Recently, a major update to the module was released bringing accessibility to the popular Battlegrounds mode. In this mode, you face 7 other players in a game of strategy in which you aim to destroy their taverns while defending your own. Instead of using cards that you have collected, you recruit minions from a list provided to you. To learn more about this mode of the game, see this wiki page. If you have ever found the collection aspect of original Hearthstone daunting, Battlegrounds may be the game for you as it does not require the investment in gathering resources needed to excel in the traditional card game. For full details on Hearthstone accessibility, see the Hearthstone Access homepage.
As always, thank you for being AccessWorld readers and we hope you enjoy this issue.
Sincerely,
Aaron Preece
AccessWorld Editor and Chief
American Foundation for the Blind
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
