In the News

It is with a heavy heart that I share that Phil Hatlen, AFB trustee emeritus and a preeminent leader in the blindness field, passed away earlier this week after an extended illness. Phil was an incredible mentor and dear friend to many, including myself. He was loved and admired by this field.

“At the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), we have worked for nearly a century to break down societal barriers and eliminate discrimination by achieving equal access to the world of copyrighted works. But for all the promise of technology to provide equal access to copyrighted works, the copyright laws that protect those works have sometimes served to impede that technology.”

Welcome to the second day of our 8-day #BeAMiracleworker campaign. We are thrilled to report that our total has risen by $2,212 and we have reached $12,957. Please help us reach our $25,000 goal by September 30th. Every dollar we raise will be matched by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Donate now and be a miracle worker. And don’t forget to follow the campaign’s progress on Facebook.

If you haven’t read this USA Today piece on what it’s like to be visually impaired, you should. Every year or almost every year, my friend Mickey Damelio includes me in his Florida State University class called the Blindness Experience, which he has designed over the years. I feel lucky to have gone to graduate school with Mickey at Florida State University.

Big news from Netflix this week: the internet television network announced that it is adding audio description to its platform as a setting. This is huge news for those of us with vision loss.

I heard such exciting news this morning! A well-known drone company, Auto-Fly, and a major bicycle manufacturer, Trekker, have teamed up to make a self-driving bicycle.

The new device has pedals and seat much like a conventional bike, but the steering and braking are handled by electronic and mechanical devices based on recreational drone technology.