About AFB

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit that expands possibilities for people with vision loss.

AFB's priorities include broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of information and tools for the professionals who serve people with vision loss; and promoting independent and healthy living for people with vision loss by providing them and their families with relevant and timely resources. AFB's work in these areas is supported by the strong presence the organization maintains in Washington, DC, ensuring the rights and interests of people with vision loss are represented in our nation's public policies.

In addition to its New York City headquarters and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC, AFB maintains offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Huntington, WV, and San Francisco. AFB is also proud to house the Helen Keller Archives and honor the over forty years that Helen Keller worked tirelessly with AFB to expand possibilities for people with vision loss.

Contact information:
1-800-AFB-LINE (232-5463)
afbinfo@afb.net
www.afb.org

AFB Headquarters
2 Penn Plaza, Suite 1102
New York, NY 10121
(212) 502-7600
afbinfo@afb.net

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Transcript

What if you learn your child has a severe visual impairment? Or that your parent has macular degeneration? Perhaps you're a visually impaired adult looking for career advice. Where would you turn?

Since its founding in 1921, back then in New York City's Hartford building, the American Foundation for the Blind has been a defining leader, advocate, and resource for people who are blind and visually impaired.

Deaf-blind visionary Helen Keller had an enormous impact on AFB. For more than 40 years, until her death in 1968, she worked as an AFB staff member, advisor and champion for women and people with disabilities. She inspired millions around the world with her visits to 35 countries on five continents.

AFB President and CEO, Carl Augusto, says her legacy lives on.

If Helen Keller were alive today, I believe she would be leading AFB in the same way we're leading AFB: in technology, the Internet.

In recent years, AFB has placed a strong emphasis on reaching audiences online. Its fully accessible web site, AFB.org, is one of the world's most recognized and trusted vision-loss resources. Whether it's helping a parent find information about a child's diagnoses, or providing guidance on techniques for living with more independence, the AFB web site provides unique and helpful offerings. There's senior site, designed to improve the independence of those with age-related vision loss and share their inspiring personal stories.

Another popular offering is FamilyConnect. Created in collaboration with the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments, FamilyConnect provides resources and connections for families whose children have vision loss.

CareerConnect serves as a mentor database, profiling successful blind professionals working in a variety of exciting fields.

To help navigate what can be a confusing and expensive environment in the area of assistive and adaptive technologies, AFB.org offers AccessWorld, a popular resource that reviews technologies and rates them on effectiveness and ease of use. With a combination of videos, message boards, and blogs, the web site is helping the visually impaired become independent and connect with each other. Ensuring that the visually impaired have access to the same technologies as the sighted is one of AFB's most important roles.

Paul Schroeder is AFB's Vice President of Programs and Policy in Washington.

We are able to be an advocate in Congress, pushing Congress to require the technology industry to do more, to do better.

AFB played a central role in legislation passed in 1996, requiring telephones to be fully accessible. But despite some advances, many cell phones remain nearly impossible to use for people with vision loss. AFB is pushing for more accessibility through devices that have options built in and through customizable software. Despite current challenges, today's information-rich environment is much more accessible than it was when Carl Augusto started losing vision at age eight.

My parents were devastated and overcome with guilt. They had no resources, they didn't know where to turn. They had low expectations of my abilities, they overprotected me, I didn't even meet another blind person until I was 20 years old, so I didn't really know what my capabilities were.

Today, parents are able to connect right away, right after diagnosis, they're going to go onto the Internet, they're gonna find us, they're gonna find other parents, they're gonna find connections to resources in the community. That child's going to learn about what visually impaired people can do because they'll connect with other visually impaired people.

With additional support, AFB envisions expanding its web program to more areas of life, and even globally, in different languages, and to different cultures to continue creating possibilities. A goal Helen Keller would be sure to embrace.