The BOP met via teleconference on Monday, February 4. The meeting began at 9:30 PM EST because of difficulty with the conference line. Members present: chair Paul Edwards, Denise Colley, Nolan Crabb, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson; ex officio members Berl Colley, Bob Hachey, Ron Milliman; ACB staff/contractors Annette Carter, Sharon Lovering, Larry Turnbull. Several guests also participated on the call, including Donna Pomerantz and Lindsay Tilden from CCLVI.
Nolan moved and Marcia seconded adoption of the meeting agenda as distributed. Nolan moved and Denise seconded approval of the December and January minutes. Both motions carried. Annette put the December and January minutes up on the Web site.
Braille Forum in Large Print
Annette opened the discussion by explaining the characteristics of large print in an effort to clear up common misconceptions. Among other things, she pointed out that simply enlarging a document on a copier makes the print blurry and hard to see. Also, just selecting all and enlarging the font does not work because the formatting will be adversely affected. The use of magnification software or devices does not improve the formatting, and not everyone who needs large print has those devices or software.
We then focused on the large print format of the ACB Braille Forum. Donna, Lindsay and Annette outlined CCLVI's observations and recommendations for the large print edition of the Forum. The problems with the large print publication are present in all of the back issues Annette has checked. The most important point in this format, as well as all others, is that formatting must be consistent. Text should be in 18-point Arial, bolded, throughout the publication, with double bolding where text is now bolded. It is important to have white (blank) space between articles so they are easier to find when scanning with the eyes. Similarly, a blank space between paragraphs is more eye-catching than indenting. Titles should be mixed case, not all capital letters. The full observations and recommendations will be emailed to the BOP members.
The Forum is currently published in 16-point font, with titles in 20-point font, with a maximum of 250 words on a page. Sharon calculated that if all text was in 18-point font, each page would be reduced by 50 to 100 words. Annette will make two mockups. She will take an issue of the Forum as is, redo it incorporating all of CCLVI's recommendations, and compare the number of pages. She will do the same thing with the second mockup except that it will be written across the page, not in two columns. When the mockups are ready, Annette, Nolan, Paul, Sharon, and someone from CCLVI will meet to discuss them. Paul expressed the BOP's appreciation to CCLVI for their diligence on this project.
Public Relations Committee
Ron submitted his report in writing, which reads as follows:
Based upon our PR Committee's quarterly open conference calls, we published one article in the January issue of the ACB Braille Forum entitled: Getting the Most from Your Affiliate's or Chapter's Web Site, and another in the February issue entitled: Using Social Media to Support the Goals and Objectives of Your ACB Affiliate and Chapter. We are holding another of our quarterly conference calls this coming Sunday evening [February 10] that will be focused entirely on using Facebook with some emphasis on using Facebook with a screen reader. While we decided to not conduct a workshop or seminar this summer during the ACB Conference and Convention, we will be recognizing the affiliate/chapter with the most outstanding marketing and PR brochure. Certificates will be given during the Membership Committee's workshop for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The sub-committee formed and given responsibility for this project is made up of Sharon Lovering, Gaylen Floyd, and Sara Conrad. We are also publishing weekly promotional messages to the leadership and ACB-L email lists to give our members ideas about how they can better promote their affiliates and chapters, but the other purpose of these messages is to promote the PR Committee, letting everyone know that we are willing and able to assist them with their marketing and PR efforts.
Finally, I sent all of you a copy of a document written by DeAnna Quietwater Noriega titled: "Handbook for Attending the ACB Legislative Seminar," for your approval to publish to the ACB website with our other resource documents. I urge your approval of DeAnna's handbook.
The BOP agreed to approve this document, pending the approval of Melanie Brunson and Eric Bridges.
ACB Radio
ACB Radio has launched its new Web site, a new version of the tuner, and the new stream, World News and Information. All the schedules for Mainstream, Interactive and World News and Information are up on the new site, and Larry plans to add RSS feeds soon for those programs exclusive to ACB Radio. He is making sure the new links work with C-Crane, APH, and Humanware products.
Editor's Report
Before Sharon sends the March issue of The Forum to press, she will try to implement some of CCLVI's recommendations. The BOP is very pleased with the variety of topics in the March issue.
Internet Oversight Committee
The committee added one sentence to the list rules, which the BOP amended to read as follows: "We expect that affiliates will inform list members when actions such as moderation or suspension are to be taken." Judy moved and Nolan seconded a motion to approve this change, which was adopted.
Web Presence
Paul, Judy, and Carla will work to strengthen ACB's presence on Twitter and to create our Facebook page. We will receive some assistance from the national office. A private individual has an ACB Facebook page. Paul drafted a letter, which he sent to Melanie, asking Facebook to take that page down and to return the ACB fan page to ACB.
The DAISY Committee has suspended its operation. President Pomerantz has ended the operation of the Internal Technology Resource Management Committee and has rolled it into the Web Site Task Force.
Midyear Meetings
During the presidents' meeting, we will discuss the new E-Forum and encourage people to write articles for it; affiliates can also send in articles from their publications. We will also introduce the "Name the E-FORUM" contest, and we will remind everyone about the Ned E. Freeman, Hollis K. Liggett, and Vernon Henley awards.
New Business
Denise will receive the email entries for the contest, and Marcia will collect the entries submitted by phone. Marcia and Denise will submit their top ten choices to the rest of the group, and the BOP will choose the winning name.
Carla has compiled a new catalog of products from the ACB Store, which will be sent to the BOP for review.
The meeting adjourned at 12:10 AM EST on February 5.
The next meeting of the Board of Publications will take place at the ACB midyear meeting on Friday, February 22 at 7:30 PM EST at the Holiday Inn in Arlington, Virginia.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia N. Dresser, Secretary