AFB Blog

On October 14, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed ten individuals to the Task Force on Disaster Issues Affecting Persons who are Elderly and Persons with Disabilities; among its members is AFB’s National Aging and Vision Loss Specialist Neva Fairchild. The Task Force on Disaster Issues Affecting Persons Who Are Elderly and Persons Who Are Disabled will study methods to more effectively accommodate persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities before, during, and after a disaster or…

The Flatten Inaccessibility report examined the impact of COVID-19 on 1,921 adults with visual impairments and the Access and Engagement survey examined the impact of COVID-19 on the education of 455 children and 1,028 teachers of students with visual impairments and orientation and mobility specialists. These reports contain a wealth of information on timely topics important to those with visual impairments, family members, educators, employers, policymakers, and anyone else who is invested…

At AFB we are committed to supporting job seekers who are blind or have low vision. We know that for job seekers who are visually impaired, there are often technology obstacles along their path to employment but the perception barriers can be an even bigger hurdle. So in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we offer these 10 specific ways you can combat ableism in the workplace. 1. Hire blind people: Actively recruit, refer, and recommend blind and low vision candidates…

In recent months, we at AFB had the good fortune to celebrate several pieces of legislation that have improved the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired. We celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July, the 22nd anniversary of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in August, and now, the 10th anniversary of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). Ratified on October 8, 2010, the CVAA significantly extended…

AFB is immensely proud to release the report on the findings of the Flatten Inaccessibility Study. Almost two thousand people took part in the study, sharing how the coronavirus pandemic has affected them and highlighting how community decisions have in many cases erected barriers to independence and equal access for those who are blind or have low vision. This report is a tool not only for organizations to advocate nationally for dismantling barriers and creating opportunities, but it also is…

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation several months ago, staying on top of the news can be a daunting task. One of AFB’s main goals is to keep people who are blind or who have low vision and their families up to date on the policy issues that affect us all. With this in mind, here are a few recent news stories we found particularly interesting. The Washington Post: Virginia agrees to make mail-in voting accessible to blind voters who sued September 1, 2020 Just as we’ve been…

Women's Equality Day is celebrated on August 26 in the United States to commemorate the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The amendment prohibits state and the federal governments from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. It was first celebrated in 1972, designated by Congress in 1973, and is proclaimed each year by the United States President. Below is an excerpt from Helen Keller's speech to delegates of the new…

AFB’s Director of Research Dr. L. Penny Rosenblum recently joined the Blind Abilities podcast to talk about the two recent surveys, Flatten Inaccessibility and Access and Engagement to Education. Dr. Rosenblum discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting educational services for children birth to 21 years of age and their families, how TVIs and O&M instructors are meeting students’ educational needs, and how adults who are blind or low vision were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in…

Of late, AFB has been celebrating many milestones. Most prominently, we saw the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act earlier this summer, and we have a couple on the horizon, including AFB’s Centennial as well as some exciting forthcoming news concerning the Helen Keller Archive in celebration of the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment. We would therefore be remiss not to also celebrate the anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act amendments that gave us Section 508. On…