AFB Blog

Veteran's Day is November 11, and I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all of the persons who have served our country, including my father, uncle, grandfather, and many friends. I also want to thank all the soldiers still protecting us, at home and abroad. As with our friends at the honorable Blinded Veterans Association, the American Foundation for the Blind values our veterans, and we offer great resources that are utilized by persons with vision loss, veterans especially. AFB has a…

Regarding our recent blog post on the Unified English Braille Code, the Braille Authority of North America has formally announced the adoption of Unified English Braille, a move that should, among other important things, pave the way for greater materials availability through cross-border sharing among English-speaking countries. AFB extends appreciation and congratulations to BANA for this historic move, and we especially thank Dr. Frances Mary D'Andrea, AFB's BANA representative and Chair…

Since its inception, the American Foundation for the Blind has been dedicated to promoting the use of braille. We have championed braille literacy, the use of technology to facilitate access to information in braille, the development of effective codes to allow for efficient production of braille material, and even for sharing of braille material across international borders. We continue this work by stating our strong endorsement of the Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) and call upon the…

Warning: this post contains a handful of self-promotion. That said, what do Christine Ha, Erik Weihenmayer, Geri Jewell, and Marlee Matlin all have in common? Well, they are all mentioned in an article I wrote titled "The Media’s Impact on Public Perception of People with Disabilities" for the October 2012 AccessWorld. In the article, I cover some of the major portrayals of persons with disabilities that had an impact on my perception thereof, both good and bad. It's no secret I'm a fan of…

As you might have read, October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, but in conjunction with this month-long observance is also National Disability Mentoring Day—which is October 17. I believe far too many people don't realize the impact mentoring can have, both on others as well as themselves. We all have been impacted by mentoring, whether we know it or not. We have family members, friends, coworkers, and other persons who are or have been mentors to us. I can personally tell…

October 15th is White Cane Safety Day, and my white cane, Slim, and I are celebrating out in the community. Yes, I have a nickname for my long white cane, and yes, it is Slim. I am a white cane man, and I don't leave home without him. In all seriousness, I am psyched to be trained to use my long white cane, as it allows me a feeling of comfort, safety, and confidence when I am traveling through the community or even around the country. No, I don't fly on my white cane like a witch flies on a…

With October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), I am ready to give my standing ovation to a few groups these next few weeks. I will be providing a few posts during this stretch, and they all will relate to National Disability Employment Awareness Month in some way. I am not trying to take anything away from our friends, Major League Baseball, but as CareerConnect Program Manager here at AFB, this month is like the playoffs for me. (Although, as a Yankees fan, I'm…

Last week, Cinemark Holdings, Inc., one of the world's largest motion picture exhibitors, announced it is providing an audio description option for people who are blind or have visual impairments in all of its first-run theaters. Cinemark is installing audio description systems on a rolling basis across its circuit in conjunction with the chain's conversion to an all-digital format. Installation is already underway, and all of Cinemark's theaters in California already have audio description…

[Editor's Note: The following post comes from Jim Kutsch, in light of September as National Guide Dog month.] I first came to The Seeing Eye in 1970 as a 19-year-old sophomore at West Virginia University. My Seeing Eye dogs helped me through a number of careers, starting as a college professor and then as executive in the telecommunications industry. Today, I have the unique distinction of being the first Seeing Eye graduate to serve as its president. Ideally, when I'm at work, my dog goes…