AFB Blog

Transcript of the video, "Weaving a Web for All: Online Accessibility for People with Vision Loss" AFB is rolling out a new embedded video player. That's the type where you don't need to use extra software, you just click it and it plays in your browser. Why did we create our own HTML5 embedded video player? And what is HTML5, anyway? Technology just keeps getting better. But video-playing technology on the web is still pretty fraught with show-stopping problems. One category of…

Upcoming Opportunities to Learn More! As we begin 2015, the AFB Policy Center has jumped feet-first into the wide (and deep!) world of demographics and data. Hopefully you saw the latest edition of the Research Navigator, “Just how many blind folks are there anyway?,” where we tackled seemingly simple (but actually very complicated) questions about population and demographic statistics for adults who are blind or visually impaired. We have been in touch with the Centers for Disease Control…

"What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us." -Helen Keller With Valentine's Day right around the corner, there's still time to share the love with beautiful Helen Keller-themed jewelry that helps support the American Foundation for the Blind and its programs. You can choose from a sterling silver ribbon-heart necklace inscribed with Helen Keller's quote "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or…

The Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, so get into the spirit with our roundup of resources for every football fan! Even if you are only interested in the Super Bowl commercials, you’ll want to check out Web Director Crista Earl’s look at Comcast’s new talking guide for accessible television and how it can help everyone get more out of the viewing experience. It was a memorable year in professional sports, and our own resident sports expert Joe Strechay shared his reminiscences of the late…

Wherever you may be and whatever you are doing— If you are bathed in sunshine or wrapped in snow— take a few moments to enjoy and reflect on Helen Keller's wise words: "It is beyond a doubt that everyone should have time for some special delight, if only five minutes each day to seek out a lovely flower or cloud or a star, or learn a verse or brighten another’s dull task. What is the use of such terrible diligence as many tire themselves out with, if they always postpone their exchange of…

Our VP of Programs and Policy, Paul Schroeder, got up close and personal with the Mercedes self-driving concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place earlier this month in Las Vegas with lots of gushing about the latest in huge televisions with remarkable pictures. Oddly, the show gave more and more attention to automotive technology. For those of us with vision loss, the other exciting trend was captured in an opening keynote by Boo-…

Yesterday was the first day of the Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. At a time of global concern over economic disparity and cultural polarization it is interesting to read a letter that Helen Keller wrote in 1922. In this letter, excerpted below, Keller sends her regrets to the Rand School in New York City (now the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives), saying that she is unable to attend an event. The letter conveys her strong support for the school’s…

E Q U A L I T Y Again and again down through the ages humanity has shown itself equal to its dream of justice. Helen Keller On Martin Luther King, Junior's birthday we salute all those who have fought and continue to fight for a more inclusive and equitable world. Image: Helen Keller's hand photographed signing the letters e, q, u, a, l, i, t and y of the manual alphabet.

A friend of mine sent me a link to an episode of NPR's "This American Life" on Dan Kish. I had not heard it yet, though I do listen to that show often. I listened to the piece right away, and I thought I would share my take on the piece. First of all, Dan Kish is an extremely successful and brilliant individual who is blind. He has trained youth and adults who are blind or visually impaired on how to travel independently for a long time. He founded World Access for the Blind, and trains…