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.
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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
Audio File of Currency Case Oral Argument
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) presented oral arguments on the morning of October 19th before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. To access the audio recording of this, please visit: http://acb.org/currency-case-audio
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.