AFB Blog

On October 4, 2017 AFB and the 21st Century Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss hosted a teleseminar, "Medicare Should Pay for Low Vision Devices: Views Through Different Lenses." We would like to thank all of the panelists (listed below) and participants who joined us for this informative discussion. A special thanks goes out to VFO who generously sponsored the event. Following are a few of the main takeaways from the call: Medicare must determine that low vision devices are eligible durable…

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) applauds Senators John Thune, Gary Peters, Roy Blunt, and Debbie Stabenow for introducing the American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act (S. 1885). This groundbreaking bipartisan bill was passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation this morning, and includes many specific provisions drafted by AFB that address our concerns about the earlier House…

The Senate is moving forward next week with a vote to pass the latest healthcare proposal, written by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). The Graham-Cassidy proposal would repeal the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) Medicaid expansion, premium tax credits, and other beneficial programs. States will be able to waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions. This bill will be devastating to people with disabilities and their families, women and children, seniors,…

We did it! Thanks to all of you the AFB Center on Vision Loss (CVL) reached the $5,000 challenge goal during North Texas Giving Day on September 14 . In addition, our generous challenge grant donors contributed another $5,000 when we hit the goal! In total, you helped us raise $13,025 benefitting the Center on Vision Loss. The AFB Center on Vision Loss focuses on increasing the numbers of persons with visual impairment served in the North Texas region. Funding from the giving day will go to…

Our thoughts are with everyone who is coping with displacement, or whose friends and family have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey. As the vicious wind and rain of Hurricane Harvey leave east Texas and her residents in its wake and move across the coast as a tropical storm, residents are beginning to assess the damage wrought and start the process of rebuilding their lives. This week, the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness has made available the article Disoriented and Immobile:…

"...Let us not forget the treasures which the swift years have laid at our feet—the strength, the sense, the courage to meet difficulties and overcome them. Nothing else matters very much. To keep on trying in spite of disappointment and failure is the only way to keep young and brave. Failures become victories if they make us wise-hearted." -Helen Keller, in a 1921 speech she gave at the reunion dinner for Wright-Humason School, sharing memories of past classmates and her time spent at…

Yesterday, AFB staff experienced the solar eclipse with a variety of high- and low-tech approaches. Associate Director of Web Services Crista Earl used the new Eclipse Soundscapes App created by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA’s Heliophysics Education Consortium. AFB Press Executive Editor Alina Vayntrub went old-school, using a colander to cast shadows of the eclipse against a white piece of paper. And Neva Fairchild, National Independent Living & Employment…

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. workplace accident death rate is higher for older workers. In the article, however, they also cite Ruth Finkelstein, co-director of Columbia University’s Aging Center, who cautioned against stereotyping. She said older people have a range of physical and mental abilities and that it’s dangerous to lump all people in an age group together because it could lead to discrimination. She went on to say that she’s not sure that older workers need much more…

We were so honored today to present at the Society of American Archivists 2017 Annual Meeting to discuss the Helen Keller Archive digitization project, and our work to create a fully accessible archival collection. Our topics included: Why we were doing it, and why you should, too! The process of digitizing braille, and other tricky materials Metadata—all the information about the information that is contained in the collection (archivists love that stuff) How to make websites accessible…