American Council of the Blind

Our Mission

The American Council of the Blind strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity, and quality of life, for all blind and visually-impaired people.

Eatsa Agrees to Make its Cutting-Edge Technology Accessible to Blind Customers

Eatsa has agreed to make its automated technology accessible to its blind customers.
Click here for more information

Oral Argument in Currency Case

On October 19, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear our oral arguments in American Council of the Blind v. Mnuchin, also known as the currency case. To read more, visit: http://acb.org/currency-case-10-19-17

2017 ACB SCHOLARSHIPS

The American Council of the Blind has a great opportunity for students who are legally blind to earn a scholarship, whether you are going to a technical college, an entering freshman, undergraduate or a graduate student. To learn more, visit: http://acb.org/scholarship

ACB Disaster Relief Fund

Over the course of the past weeks, ACB members from all across the country have asked how they could help our fellow blind individuals negatively affected by Hurricane Harvey. Now our concern also extends to those from our community living in the path of Hurricane Irma. To find out how you can help, please visit: http://acb.org/disaster-relief-fund.

ACB Commends Congress on Introduction of H.R. 3457

The American Council of the Blind commends U.S. Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) on the introduction of H.R. 3457, which calls for the Controller General of the United States to investigate the government’s systemic failure to provide materials in accessible formats for recipients of Medicare and Medicaid. Read more at: http://acb.org/HR-3457-Intro

ADP Master List of Audio Decribed Videos

As the only repository of all audio described titles on DVD and the three video streaming services (Amazon, iTunes, and Netflix), the Audio Description Project decided to create a new index of ALL the titles. This new "Master" index will allow you to look up any movie or TV series to see if it is available anywhere for purchase or with a subscription. At the moment, there are 1426 described videos available, 567 of which are duplicated in more than one service. Access the list by clicking on the following link: http://www.acb.org/adp/masterad.html

Social Security Announces 2.0 Percent Benefit Increase for 2018

Social security disability thresholds for the blind will go from $1,950/month in 2017 to $1,970/month in 2018. To learn more, visit: http://acb.org/2018-social-security-increase

Benefits of Audio Description in Education Contest

The American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (ACB-ADP) and the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) are co-sponsoring an exciting opportunity for blind and visually impaired young people, in four categories from ages 7 to 21: the Benefits of Audio Description in Education (BADIE) contest. To read more, visit: http://acb.org/BADIE-contest

Blind Parenting Video

Parents often say that raising children is one of the most rewarding and challenging stages of life. Now imagine how you’d do it if you were blind. Not sure? … Check out this video and learn how two parents, Rebecca and Eric, who are both blind are loving, laughing and adapting as they raise their two-year-old son, Tyler, who loves books, trucks, airplanes, playing, and exploring the world around him. ACB Parenting Video ACB Parenting Video with Audio Description

Microsoft Accessibility Resources

For links to several Microsoft accessibility resources, visit: http://acb.org/microsoft-resources.

ACB Welcomes Reintroduction of Medicare Demonstration Bill

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) commends Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Steve Cohen (D-TN) on reintroduction of the Medicare Demonstration of Coverage of Low-Vision Devices Act of 2017 (H.R. 2050). This legislation will establish a national demonstration/research project tasked with identifying the impact to Medicare and Medicare recipients who are prescribed low-vision devices over a certain threshold cost. To read more, visit: http://acb.org/PR-reintroduction-medicare-bill

ACB and the Policy of Structured Negotiations

An article about structured negotiations, written by Eric Bridges, appeared as a feature in the Philanthropy Journal, a publication of North Carolina State University. To read the article, please visit: http://acb.org/ACB-structured-negotiations.

Charter Communications Accessible Features

To read a message from Charter Communications about their new accessible television features, please visit: http://acb.org/Charter-accessible-features.

DirecTV Accessibility Resources

For Links to DirecTV's Talking Guide FAQ as well as instructions on how to enable video description through DirectTV, please visit: http://acb.org/direcTV-accessibility-resources

Window-Eyes to JAWS Migration

AiSquared is ending sales of the Window-Eyes screen reader in the United States and Canada, effective immediately. To read more, visit: http://acb.org/WindowEyes-JAWS-migration

2017 ACB Conference & Convention Highlight Video

Highlights from the 56th Annual ACB Conference & Convention from June 30 to July 7, 2017, at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada (with audio description): https://youtu.be/ARwprgxjaiQ

ACB Scholarship Winner Jimmy Yocom

A video of 2017 ACB scholarship winner Jimmy Yocom speaking at general session at the 56th Annual ACB Conference and Convention, on July 3 2017: https://youtu.be/CFuuL36jMy4

ACB Applauds FCC on Description Expansion

The American Council of the Blind applauds the Federal Communications Commission's recently adopted new rules increasing the number of hours of audio-described programming available on top-rated broadcast and cable networks. Read more at: http://acb.org/FCC-AD-expansion

National Parks in California Will Become More Accessible to The Blind or Visually Impaired

National parks in California will become more accessible to those who are visually impaired or blind, because of collaboration among the University of Hawai‘i, Google, the American Council of the Blind, and the National Park Service. Read more at: http://acb.org/CA-national-parks

iPhone App from the American Council of the Blind Links Blind People to its Affiliates and Services

The ACB Link iPhone app assists ACB staff, members and friends to readily communicate news of relevance to the blind community. For more information about ACB Link, go to http://link.acb.org or read more at http://acb.org/ACB-Link

Phone numbers for ACB Radio, ACB Braille and E-Forums and ACB Reports

You can reach ACB Radio on the phone by dialing 605-475-8130.

To reach the ACB Braille Forum, E Forum and ACB Reports, dial 605-475-8154.