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ACB is pleased to share its annual report for 2019. The report highlights our key successes and provides an overall snapshot of ACB’s financial position at the end of 2019. The theme for the design is “Building Our Future,” highlighting the work undertaken in 2019, which has significantly helped in preparing ACB to weather the economic impact of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to Kelly Gasque for her work on the design of the document. Visit this link to view our 2019 annual report.

On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the National Coalition for Accessible Voting (NCAV) launched a “Plan Your Vote” guide to assist voters in developing a plan to assist them vote in November and future election cycles. This how-to work sheet guides voters through the various stages of voting, as well as the different options voters have when determining how they will vote. The guide was written in an easy-to-follow manner and structure to assist all persons in the planning process. More than ever before, voters must have a voting plan, and this guide offers several resources to equip…

As most members of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) know, our organization has been working on a lawsuit against the Department of the Treasury for 18 years now seeking a requirement that the federal government make paper currency accessible for blind and visually impaired people. Most recently, the government successfully argued that it could not fulfill a 2026 requirement to make a fraction of paper denominations accessible. The attorney representing ACB, Jeffrey Lovitky, in an appeal argued against that decision in front of an appellate court on Friday, September 18, 2020. The…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – September 15, 2020 – The search for films or videos with audio description is now easier than ever. The American Council of the Blind and its Audio Description Project has made a new search function available where a title or part of a title can be entered, resulting in matches in a Master Audio Description (AD) List.

This search may be initiated on the main website page (https://adp.acb.org/), the Master AD List (https://adp.acb.org/masterad.html) or on its own page (…

We are pleased to announce the addition of Natalia Ratcliffe to our ACB staff. Nat will be interning with us for the next few months as a Membership Administrative Assistant reporting directly to Cindy Hollis, Membership Services Coordinator, assisting directly with our growing community and other membership-related programs. You can contact Nat at nratcliffe@acb.org.

It is fitting to have Nat work in this role considering she came to ACB through our community events five months ago and quickly engaged herself as a volunteer, hosting and…

The Commonwealth Agrees to Consent Decree for November 3rd Election that will Include Electronic Ballot Marking

August 31, 2020Alexandria, VA – The Commonwealth of Virginia committed to making the November 2020 election accessible and safe for voters who cannot mark a paper ballot privately and independently due to disabilities such as blindness. As a result of the lawsuit and preliminary injunction filed by several voters with disabilities, the American Council of the Blind of Virginia, and the National Federation of…

The American Council of the Blind’s financial office in Minnesota recently moved. The new address is 6200 Shingle Creek Parkway, Suite 155, Brooklyn Center MN 55430. You can still reach the office by phone at 800-866-3242 or 612-332-3242. 

­Contact:
Cindy Van Winkle
(612) 345-9036
cvanwinkle@acb.org

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (August 27, 2020) – The American Council of the Blind is expanding its partnership hours with Be My Eyes, an innovative app that provides real-time video assistance for individuals who are blind and visually impaired. Now, ACB’s support staff and volunteers will be able to field calls from the Specialized Help Providers section of the app from noon to 5 p.m. Eastern on weekdays.

“We appreciate the partnership ACB has with Be My Eyes…

Will auction off two custom, one-of-a-kind Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks following live “Meet the Makers” Instagram virtual event 

Contact: Anthony Stephens, astephens@acb.org

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (August 26, 2020) — Leading textile and fashion designers will auction one-of-a-kind masks during a special virtual event this evening, with proceeds directly supporting work to overcome the barriers social distancing has placed on the millions of Americans who are blind and visually impaired.

“The mask…

These are past issues of the ACB Braille Forum and the ACB E-Forum, the official publication of American Council of the Blind.

Each issue is available in a text (.txt) file format that can be downloaded. Many issues have several ways it can be read, including links to formats in braille (.brf) and zip (.zip) in addition to the text (.txt) format. The later issues may also be available in large print MS Word (.doc)

Please share these issues with anyone you think may be interested.  We encourage circulation with appropriate respect for…