Focal Point
Eric Bridges Appointed as AFB’s new President & CEO effective April 12, 2023.
The Board of Trustees for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has appointed Eric Bridges as its new President and CEO beginning April 12, 2023. Bridges brings over two decades of experience leading causes on the national stage that impact people experiencing vision loss.
“We are delighted to bring Eric Bridges to the role of CEO and President of AFB. He brings strong leadership to the organization and a life’s passion and commitment to improving the quality of life and equal access for the millions of individuals who are blind or have low vision,” said AFB Board Chair Debbie Dennis. “In moving AFB’s legacy of collaborative leadership forward, Eric will be a strong advocate for a whole new generation of leaders working together to create a world of no limits.”
Bridges' professional career grew out of a deep passion advocating on blindness issues. After serving as a Legis Fellow through the Brookings Institute in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bridges took the lead of advocacy and governmental affairs for the American Council of the Blind. It was then that he played an instrumental role in the passage of several landmark legislations like the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), which has reshaped accessibility in the digital age. He then was elevated to the Director of External Relations & Policy, where he cultivated key relationships across a diverse range of industries.
During his tenure as executive director at ACB, Bridges rolled out a new strategic management operating system, allowing for significant expansion of programs and advocacy. In addition, he was able to grow the organization’s revenue and pull them out of a long-standing deficit that existed prior to him taking on the role as executive director.
“When it comes to significantly improving the lives of people who are blind or have low vision, each one of us has a responsibility to make sure every ounce of our energy yields the greatest momentum for full and equal inclusion in society,” said Bridges. “I’m humbled to spend the next chapter in my life harnessing that energy created each day by AFB’s outstanding professionals and using it to power AFB into the future.”
A native of Iowa, Bridges received his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Iowa. He was also a graduate of the inaugural Business Management Training Program, a partnership between the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and National Industries for the Blind. He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Rebecca, two children, and his guide dog Trent.
AFB Spotlight
2023 Helen Keller Achievement Award honorees keep Keller’s mission moving forward in the digital age.
Each year, the American Foundation for the Blind recognizes leaders in the field who continue to keep Helen Keller’s legacy alive and strong. This year’s honorees have their sights set on the future, and we are excited to share their work expanding access and inclusion in the digital age for people who are blind or have low vision.
Since its founding, AFB has been on the forefront of identifying ways technology can be used to break down barriers of inclusion. During Helen Keller’s second decade with AFB, she worked with then executive director Robert Irwin to urge the President of the United States to expand production and distribution of newly developed long-playing records as a way to get recorded books into the homes of citizens who were blind. In 1935, President Roosevelt supported the production of portable record players through the Works Progress Administration. It scaled up talking book manufacturing, which opened the door to a whole new world for tens of thousands of people who had limited access to print. Ninety years later, AFB continues to advocate for ways technology can open doors to inclusion. And this year’s Helen Keller recipients continue to drive forward that spirit following the smartphone revolution.
The Honorable Anthony “Tony” Coelho has long been an icon in the disability rights space. His contributions in the The House of Representatives in Congress helped launch two of the greatest legislative achievements for people with disabilities in American history.
As a young congressman, Coelho, who overcame his own challenges early in life with epilepsy, was a staunch advocate for the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The legislation set the standard for equal access in the classroom for millions of students with disabilities. Then, a decade later, Coelho was the driving force in Congress for the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first comprehensive civil rights legislation for every American living with a disability.
Coelho left Congress in 1988, and has tirelessly worked to continue expanding the impact the ADA has on every American with a disability. In 1994, he started the Tony Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation. The Center is a part of the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and has been a think tank for much of Coelho’s work through the years.
In recent years, Coelho has joined advocates toward pushing for strengthening the rules on web accessibility. When the ADA was signed into law, the internet was still in its infancy. Thirty-three years later, the internet has become both a lifesaver and road block for those who are blind or have low vision. This is due in part to the U.S. Department of Justice’s failure to clarify just how the ADA applies to websites and mobile applications. Thanks to Coelho’s guidance and support of advocates, the winds of change around equal access are finally catching up to the digital age.
In addition to recognizing individuals who carry the torch of Helen Keller’s legacy, AFB also recognizes corporate leaders who have made significant contributions toward the inclusion of people who are blind or have low vision in society. This year, Charter Communications, one of the nation’s leading media companies, is being recognized for their work on innovating solutions to access and inclusion in the digital media and entertainment space.
Over the past decade, Charter Communications has significantly grown its research and development around accessible solutions. These solutions have not just made their products and services more accessible for customers with disabilities, but Charter Communications has worked to scale and increase solutions that greatly expand inclusion to media across a wide range of distribution channels.
One of their more innovative products in the past few years is the Spectrum Access mobile app. For years, consumers of audio-described content, where a voice describes action taking place on the screen, has been limited to audio shared for all viewers when enabled on television, and personal listening devices for auditoriums have been clunky and often plagued with technical glitches. The Spectrum Access app provides downloaded audio streams of description that are synced up with the movie or program using the microphone on a user’s mobile phone. The user can then have complete control over the audio description experience.
In addition to serving consumers who are blind or have low vision, Charter Communications has also made significant progress meeting the needs of consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing, further carrying the torch of Helen Keller toward making the world more inclusive for people with sensory disabilities.
Join AFB and leaders from throughout our community at 6 p.m. ET on April 19 as we celebrate this year’s Helen Keller Achievement Award honorees at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency in Arlington, Virginia. Tickets for the evening reception and awards ceremony are now available at AFB.org/about-hka2023.
What’s on the Horizon
Leading Our Way to the Future: Empowering Digital Inclusion at the 2023 AFB Leadership Conference.
The theme for this year’s AFB Leadership Conference is “Empowering Digital Inclusion". The conference, which will be held April 19-21, brings together leaders and collaborators from the field of blindness and low vision, and this year’s focus will center on how digital accessibility can significantly lift up our community.
A key highlight of the conference each year is the Awards luncheon, where participants break bread together and celebrate leaders and innovators in the field. Four individuals are recognized each year, and we want to share those who will be celebrated.
Receiving the Corinne Kirchner Award, for outstanding achievement in scholarly pursuits, is world-renowned ophthalmologist Dr. José-Alain Sahel, M.D. Dr. Sahel serves as Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, in addition to holding a similar seat at the Sorbonne in Paris. Having published or co-authored more than 1,150 scholarly works, Dr. Sahel is a world leader in gene therapy research for vision loss. But, his career has not simply focused on better understanding of what sits at the core of genetic eye conditions. Dr. Sahel also leads the way on transforming how physicians should care for patients experiencing vision loss from a more holistic vantage.
The Llura Gund Award this year will be given to Kennith Meaker. Meaker, who is a graduate of AFB’s Leadership Development Program, served as a career counselor with the Foundation for Blind Children after losing his own sight. A former senior director in the insurance industry, Meaker started his own business in 2022 as a career and executive coach.
Finally, one of AFB’s highest achievements, the Migel Medal, named after AFB’s founder, goes to two outstanding leaders in the field. One is a life-long leader in rehabilitation and services, while the other was one of the great legal advocates for full inclusion of the blind in the 21st century, whose own life ended far too soon.
Since 1987, Nancy Miller has served as executive director and CEO of Vision Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which serves more than 7,000 residents each year living in New York City. Miller’s work advocating for and expanding services to seniors experiencing vision loss remains one of her great contributions to the field, receiving multiple accolades and continuing to serve in multiple leadership roles in the field.
And finally, the long-time disability rights attorney and advocate for the National Federation of the Blind Scott Labarre will be recognized posthumously for his life-long commitment toward expanding equality and access for people with vision loss. Labarre played a key role in the negotiations and ratification around the Marrakesh Treaty, which removed copyright restrictions for accessible books and media across the globe.
There is still time to take part in this year’s AFB Leadership Conference. Visit AFB.org/AFBLC for program info and event registration.
AFB Cornerstone
AFB’s own success over the years would not have been possible without the support of those who contribute their time, talents and resources to make our mission work. The AFB Cornerstone takes a moment to recognize those individuals who moved AFB into its second century. And in this issue, we are pleased to share some wonderful news that will continue on the legacy of two sisters.
In February, on behalf of Marilyn and Francine Gruder, their estate made a bequest to AFB in excess of $2.2M, which will go towards supporting the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) in perpetuity.
“On behalf of AFB’s staff and its Board of Trustees, we want to extend our deepest thanks to the Gruder Trust, for investing in AFB’s scholarly pursuits,“ said AFB Interim Executive Director Howard Sitron. “The generosity bestowed through Marilyn and Francine Gruder’s legacy recognizes the enormous value that JVIB brings to the larger field.”
Marilyn Gruder developed a deeper understanding of the needs faced by those with vision loss after years of caring for her sister Francine, who was blind. Ms. Gruder never married and dedicated herself to supporting her sister. It was through this relationship that it was decided after Marilyn's death, the Gruder Trust would be used to support organizations serving the blindness community. Marilyn Gruder passed away in September 2021, and it was determined AFB would become one of the benefactors to the Gruder estate. Acknowledgement of both sisters’ legacy will be noted in each issue of the Journal moving forward.
“Because of this generous gift from Marilyn and Francine Gruder, JVIB will continue to be able to serve as the uninterrupted archive of the literature of the field of visual impairment,” said Rebecca Burrichter, Senior Editor of JVIB. “Their memory will be memorized in the pages of JVIB, to be witnessed by current and future generations of researchers, practitioners, administrators, and policy-makers.”
JVIB is the international, peer-reviewed journal of record in the field of blindness and low vision. JVIB delivers current research and best practice information, and commentary from authoritative experts on critical topics. Practitioners and researchers, policymakers and administrators, counselors and advocates rely on JVIB for its delivery of cutting-edge research and the most up-to-date practices in the field of blindness and low vision.
Planned giving to AFB is a powerful way to make a lasting impact for generations. To learn more about how estate planning can create a world of no limits for people who are blind or have low vision, contact Erin Persun in AFB’s Resource Development department, epersun@afb.org.
Off the AFB News Stand
What’s New in JVIB
The Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) recently published a Special Issue on Disaster and Emergency Preparation, Response, and Recovery and People with Visual Impairments, guest edited by Gretchen A. Good, School of Health Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. It included an open-access article, entitled "The Impact of COVID-19 on Transportation of Adults With Visual Impairments," by Kim T. Zebehazy, L. Penny Rosenblum, and Kathleen M. Thompson.
The main focus of the article was the transportation subsection of the Flatten Inaccessibility survey, created by the American Foundation for the Blind and 15 partners in the blindness field, which collected data from 1,921 participants from all 50 U.S. states, the "largest dataset of this type known to the authors." To read the authors' analyses of these data, as well as their practical takeaways and recommendations, you may access the article for free on the Sage Publishing website.
What’s New in AccessWorld
Released each month, AFB’s AccessWorld is a leading online magazine for news and reviews on accessible technology. Offering a blind or low vision user’s perspective, AccessWorld is an excellent way to learn where the industry is going, and a way to hear from others who try before you buy.
March is that time when we try to rekindle our New Year’s resolutions, moved by the promise of warmer weather. In the most recent issue of AccessWorld, we thought it would be great to share Janet Ingbar’s article revisiting the Apple Fitness Plus app. Fitness plays such a key part in managing vision loss, with the impact of diseases like diabetes and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) significantly impeded by those who adopt a steady fitness routine.
In Ingbar’s article, she gives a hands-on guide to setting up the app, and spotlights the benefits that come when pairing it with an Apple Watch. When Apple first introduced the app in January 2021, many of its greatest features, like working with a virtual trainer, were inaccessible. But in March, 2022, Apple updated the accessibility of the app, providing descriptions on everything from cardio and kick-boxing, to cycling and meditation.
Sign up for the AccessWorld Newsletter
Visit the AFB website to access current and past articles from JVIB and AccessWorld. Consider making a gift today to continue the work the American Foundation for the Blind does each day to expand its advocacy, research and knowledge sharing on issues impacting people who are blind or have low vision. Your tax-deductible gift can truly help create a world of no limits.
