AFB eNews

March 2012

AFB.org Gets a New Look

Spring has sprung and so has the new AFB.org. Our main website has been completely reimagined and redesigned. The new site makes it easy for you to locate information on everything from accessible technology to raising a child with visual impairments to webinars on the latest research in the blindness field.

Like the former AFB website, the new afb.org is fully accessible to people with vision loss. You can easily change colors, font, and font size to increase content readability.

Visit today to find:

A new information architecture that improves navigability via a cleaner design
Slideshows that highlight news, events, and resources on living with vision loss
New and enhanced ways to engage with AFB through public policy campaigns and social networking channels
The ability to easily share content by e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter
In-depth descriptions of more than 1,600 agencies and organizations that offer services to people with vision loss, available for free for the first time through AFB's Directory of Services online

News and Announcements

Register Now for the AFB Leadership Conference

Join us for the 2012 AFB Leadership Conference, being held in conjunction with the Florida AER chapter, at the beautiful oceanfront Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete Beach. This three-day event includes speakers from around the country, with 40 sessions of interest to practitioners and leaders in our field. The dates are May 3-5, and you may register online now. The discounted hotel rates disappear April 1 (no fooling), so please make your reservations today. If you can't make it to this year's conference, note that we will record some of the sessions and make them available online for a fee through the AFB eLearning Center after the conference. Conference attendees will be provided with free access to the recordings.

Access Award Winners Announced

Major League Baseball (MLB), NV Access, Leader Dogs for the Blind, and Lauren Lieberman, Ph.D., will be presented with the 2012 Access Awards at the 2012 AFB Leadership Conference. Chosen annually, the Access Awards honor individuals, corporations, and organizations that eliminate or substantially reduce inequities faced by people who are blind or visually impaired. This year's recipients have created new standards of accessibility and a better quality of life for people with vision loss. MLB made America's pastime more accessible through MLB.com and the MLB At Bat 11 app, NV Access created a free screen-reading program, Leader Dogs offers a free weeklong O&M program, and Dr. Lieberman founded a non-profit called Camp Abilities, which aims to increase physical fitness in children with visual impairments. Read more about the Access Award winners in our Press Room.

VisionAware to Join AFB's Family of Websites

VisionAware, the popular Web and social networking site, will join the AFB family of websites this spring. VisionAware, sponsored by Reader's Digest Partners for Sight and AFB, will continue to offer vital information for working-age adults, seniors, and the families and caregivers of people with visual impairments, but with a new look and fresh content from AFB's award-winning Senior Site®. Visitors to the site will find the information and resources they need to live independently with vision loss at their fingertips.

AFB's New Directory Center Allows Agencies to Update Information in the AFB Directory of Services

Agencies can now easily update their profiles in the AFB Directory of Services thanks to an integrated online tool known as AFB's Directory Center. The directory has been the go-to source for visually impaired persons of all ages and their families, as well as professionals seeking to identify, coordinate, and deliver services effectively.

Agencies are encouraged to use the Directory Center to place their job postings, announcements, and events on AFB's website at no cost. Agencies may access and update their records by logging on with their current user names and passwords to the Directory Center. For questions about how to access a record or how to be included in the AFB Directory of Services, please send an e-mail to afbdirectory@afb.net.

New AFB Press Book Is First to Address Listening Skill Development in Children with Visual Impairments

Learning to Listen/Listening to Learn: Teaching Listening Skills to Students with Visual Impairments is a new resource from AFB Press for teachers, literacy instructors, other professionals, and parents. It is the first comprehensive book written by experts to address the systematic development of skills in listening to or interpreting auditory information.

Listening skills are a crucial but often overlooked area of instruction for children who are visually impaired and who may have multiple or learning disabilities. Edited by Lizbeth A. Barclay, coordinator of the assessment program at the California School for the Blind, this new book brings readers targeted information on listening skills appropriate at different age levels and practical strategies that can be put to immediate use. The book's user-friendly format highlights essential information and contains valuable charts that outline skills to target for instruction, as well as a helpful assessment checklist.

Learning to Listen/Listening to Learn is $59.95 and is available in the AFB Press Bookstore. Customers in Europe may order from www.amazon.co.uk; those in Australia may order from www.thenile.co.au.

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind Brings New Attention to Age-Related Macular Degeneration

AFB Press recently released Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind: Personal and Professional Perspectives on Age-Related Macular Degeneration. This important new treatment of a critical topic presents 93-year-old Lindy Bergman's personal account of living successfully with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), combined with highly informative chapters written by world-renowned experts from The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired. Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind is focusing new attention on AMD and the importance of integrating the individual's psychological recovery into low-vision service delivery.

"We want people facing a progressive retinal disease to receive the best care possible, and we believe the information and practice methods in this book will play a major role in quality care," said Janet P. Szlyk, Ph.D., president and executive director of The Chicago Lighthouse, who wrote an in-depth prologue to the book.

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind is the result of a collaborative effort between The Chicago Lighthouse and AFB Press. AFB Press Bookstore. Customers in Europe may order from www.amazon.co.uk; those in Australia may order from www.thenile.co.au.