AFB Blog

Saturday, January 4, marks the 205th birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of his eponymous code for people with vision loss. In celebration of his birthday, as well as National Braille Literacy Month, we’ve assembled a roundup of braille-centric content throughout AFB's family of sites. Read up, reflect, and appreciate what braille has meant to so many. Braille continues to be a driving force for people with vision loss. Throughout January, we will be sharing information relevant to…

This January, AFB's Darren Burton, director of our AFB Tech labs in Huntington, WV, will be appearing on ACB Reports, the American Council of the Blind Radio Show hosted by Mike Duke. Darren will discuss AFB's app development work, including the AccessNote notetaker app and the AccessWorld magazine app, as well as our other app testing and development work being done at our AFB Tech labs. AccessNote has now been purchased by over 1000 people, and we just released version 1.2, which includes…

Editorial note: Visit our 2014 Gift Ideas for Friends and Family Members Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired roundup for fresh ideas! This time of year, we’re all searching for gift-giving inspiration. If you have a close friend or family member who is blind or visually impaired, here are some gift-giving guides you might want to check out. From young children to working-age adults to seniors who are gradually losing their vision, AFB has you covered: AccessWorld® has suggestions for all…

Tis' the season for giving. AFB is so very thankful to all of you who support our mission to remove barriers, create solutions, and expand possibilities so people with vision loss can achieve their full potential. This holiday season, consider participating in #GivingTuesday—a campaign to create a national day of giving on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday—by making a donation to AFB. Your simple gesture of generosity will make a huge difference to someone…

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from a recent article posted on the Professional Development section of AFB.org. There are important differences between how you teach orientation and mobility (O&M) skills to an adult and how you teach them to a child. Effective instruction of children begins with a careful assessment that takes into consideration their unique development and needs. From the very beginning, an instructor must understand these needs to be able to conduct an…

So many of us who have been waiting for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to get off the dime and issue their long-awaited regulations on airline website and airport kiosk accessibility were excited this week to finally see them published. However, like so much it seems in the technology and civil rights for people with disabilities context, we are given relatively little and expected to gush with gratitude. That's certainly the case with these new DOT rules. Even though airlines…

Are you interested in employment and transition? The Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) is planning a free online event that will coincide with the November-December JVIB Special Issue on Employment and Transition, edited by Karen Wolffe. The week of November 18th, JVIB will be hosting an open forum with a blog by Joe Strechay, program manager for CareerConnect, the American Foundation for the Blind's employment information resource for students and adults with vision loss…

Editor's note: We recently asked Emily to write this post for us, discussing the importance of specialized services. You can also read Joe Strechay's thoughts on specialized employment services here. Simply walk into your average classroom, pre-school through high school, and you will immediately be aware of how much learning is processed visually. The obvious examples are posters on the wall. They're often not just for fun, but provide "hints" for students to remember their ABC's or even…

As advocates for people who are blind or visually impaired, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) knows first-hand the value of specialized services. They change lives by teaching people with vision loss the skills needed to thrive in the classroom, the workplace and everyday life. Yet, these services are almost perpetually in danger of being cut due to shrinking state budgets. It is therefore crucial that we continue to advocate to our policymakers of their importance, and to ensure…