AFB Staff

The growing organization and activism of the disability community is successfully getting the attention of candidates running for office. Today's disability policy speech by Hillary Clinton, as well as the media's interest in asking candidates questions about disability policy, represents a significant shift from how the issues we champion have been acknowledged in past presidential elections. In Illinois, a landmark Senate race is taking place between two candidates with physical…

Image: Helen Keller smelling flowers, circa 1919. This is the fourth in our series of posts celebrating Helen Keller and the wonderful new avenues that are opening up for research about her life and legacy as a result of the Helen Keller Digitization Project. This week’s post is from Christopher Carlson, author, screenwriter and playwright. Enjoy! I’m thrilled by the diligent work being done at American Foundation for the Blind to digitize its prodigious Helen Keller archive – so needed…

By William Reuschel and Aaron Preece Image: Aaron Preece stands with his guide dog Joel and a Pidgey Pokémon. Pokémon mania is sweeping the nation once again! The latest incarnation of the game that has players collecting and battling fictional creatures is called “Pokémon GO,” but this version is a little different from past games. You can’t play GO on your couch. In fact, you’ll have a hard time playing it indoors at all. Pokémon GO is all about getting players outside and interacting…

New federal regulations on accessibility for digital and web publishing are expected to have a significant impact on the publishing industry. The American Foundation for the Blind was pleased to co-sponsor, and AFB staff were pleased to attend, a summit on accessibility in publishing, along with many other publishers and accessibility experts, hosted by the Center for Publishing Innovation. Discussions included the impact of revisions to Section 508 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act…

On the heels of major accessibility announcements from Twitter and Facebook, tech giant Google recently highlighted its own efforts to build a more inclusive world for people with disabilities. Here are four ways Google is working to improve the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired: Gaining equal access to information—As part of the Google Impact Challenge the company recently awarded $20 million in grants to 29 grantees around the world. One of the grantees, the DAISY…

The American Foundation for the Blind needs your help! This week, we are asking all of you to support the Cogswell-Macy Act, the most comprehensive special education legislation for students with sensory disabilities to date. Call in on April 14th to ensure key resources are available to these students and their parents and educators through and expansion of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Parents and teachers around the country are rallying around this bill…

VisionAware peer advisor Audrey Demmitt recently attended the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. She writes, “As a consumer and paraprofessional who works with the visually impaired and blind community, I found it both informational and inspirational. I came away feeling very encouraged by all the efforts, research, product development and initiatives that are taking place on behalf of those who live with vision loss." She was particularly impressed by…

Thank you to the 400 wonderful attendees of the 2016 AFB Leadership Conference, who made the conference a fabulous place to network and meet other dedicated professionals from around the United States and abroad! We wouldn't be able to pull off this conference without the longstanding support of our sponsors, including presenting sponsors JPMorgan Chase & Co, and the Consumer Technology Association™ (CTA) and CTA Foundation, and our partners: Vision Serve Alliance, Conference Ally…

It's the final day of a packed 2016 AFB Leadership Conference. Last night we celebrated our retiring President & CEO Carl R. Augusto's 25 years of outstanding leadership and service to the American Foundation for the Blind. If you are able to, please join us in honoring Carl and his legacy of outstanding service, with a gift to AFB. Each year, we honor individuals, corporations and organizations that eliminate or substantially reduce inequities faced by people with vision loss. Yesterday…