“Dots and Dashes” is a short newsletter featuring a variety of topics and ACB stories. This issue features information about ACB Radio’s new managing director and technical managing director, the latest Advocacy Update podcasts, the World Blind Union’s employment survey, a casting call for Apple TV+’s show “SEE,” Social Security scams and how to report them, and Getty Images and Verizon award $40,000 in prizes.
This is the last issue of “Dots and Dashes” that you will receive until after the holidays. The ACB national office will be closed December 24th and will remain closed through January 1st. The Minnesota office will close at 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Minnesota’s office will be open December 26-31, and close at 2 p.m. Dec. 31st. We wish you all a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.
ACB Radio News
After months of running ACB Radio on an interim basis, we have now hired two people to fill the roles of managing director and technical managing director.
Debbie Hazelton is now the ACB Radio Managing Director, handling the day-to-day operations of ACB Radio and its associated streams and broadcasters.
Jason Castonguay is our new ACB Radio Technical Managing Director. He will manage the technical details and maintenance of ACB’s server infrastructure for both ACB and ACB Radio-related resources including web sites, file infrastructure and associated ACB Radio streams.
Both Debbie and Jason have been involved with our organization for some time, and we are thrilled to formally welcome them to the ACB team.
Advocacy Updates
On the December 5th episode of the Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark spoke with Barbara Raimondo, Executive Director, Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf, about reintroduction of the Cogswell-Macy Act (H.R. 4822 & S. 2681). The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act will strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to improve results for deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind children, including those with additional disabilities. Listen via your favorite podcast player, or online at http://acbradio.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-5-19. More information about the Cogswell-Macy Act is available at https://cogswellmacyact.org. A transcript of this podcast is available at https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-5-19-Transcript.
The December 12th podcast features the ACB Information Access Committee’s webinar on accessible shopping, technology, and home appliances with special guest J.J. Meddaugh, author for AFB’s “AccessWorld.” Clark Rachfal and committee chair Tony Stephens led this discussion on what is naughty and nice in terms of accessibility, highlighted tips and tricks to improve the shopping experience, and shared ways that we can overcome the challenges when smart appliances fail the test on accessible interfaces for customers who are blind and visually impaired. Listen via your favorite podcast player, or online at http://acbradio.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-12-19. To listen to the full webinar, including listener Q&A, visit the ACB Radio Special Events page at http://acbradio.org/special. To learn more about Access World and read the 2019 Holiday Gift Buying Guide, visit https://www.afb.org/aw.
The transcript is available at https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-12-19-transcript.
In the final Advocacy Update podcast for 2019, Clark Rachfal, Eric Bridges, and Dan Spoone discuss the organizational progress and advocacy accomplishments of 2019 and hinted at what ACB has planned for 2020. This was a year of transformation and growth for ACB, made possible by our members, partners, and individual supporters. Listen to this episode via your favorite podcast player, or online at http://acbradio.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-19-19.
If you have feedback on these podcasts, the written transcripts, or ideas for future podcasts, please share them with us at [email protected].
World Blind Union Employment Survey
The World Blind Union (WBU) Employment Committee has developed a survey designed to identify employment patterns of people who are blind or partially sighted and of working age throughout the world. This survey can be completed in 20-25 minutes, and it is available in English, French, and Spanish. It is a four-part survey that uses skip logic to move respondents through the survey questions so that they only answer questions that pertain to them. Section One (demographics) is completed by all respondents. Section Two (current job) is completed by currently employed respondents only. Section Three (previously employed, but not working currently) is completed only by the respondents who have work experience but are not working presently. Section Four (never worked) is completed only by the respondents who have no work experience.
To take the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/8ZP2KW3.
Casting Call: Apple TV+ Series “SEE”
The Apple TV+ series “SEE” is seeking actors who are blind or visually impaired to play characters who are blind or visually impaired for Season 2 of the series. If you are interested, send them an email with your photo and contact information. Send all inquiries to [email protected].
Social Security Scams and How to Report Them
In the last year, Social Security phone scams have skyrocketed, becoming the number-one type of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission and Social Security. To help reduce this kind of fraud, the Social Security Administration launched a new online form to report Social Security phone scams. If you believe you have been a victim of a Social Security Administration Impostor Scam, fill out the form online at https://secure.ssa.gov/ipff/home.
Getty Images and Verizon Media Award $40,000 in Prizes
To read this press release in its entirety, visit http://press.gettyimages.com/getty-images-and-verizon-media-award-40000-in-prizes-to-five-photographers-as-part-of-first-ever-disability-focused-creative-bursary/.
Getty Images, a world leader in visual communications, in collaboration with Verizon Media, has named five recipients to its latest Creative Bursary grant focusing on life with disabilities.
Recipients of the Disability Stories Creative Bursary include:
First Place ($15,000) — Nolan Ryan Trowe for “Adopted Family”: Nolan is a disabled documentary photographer and filmmaker who is inspired by the human condition. His project sheds light on a group of 10 people with disabilities who gather weekly in Harlem to discuss disability rights and representation.
Second Place ($10,000) — Snezhana von Buedingen for “Sofie at Work”: Snezhana, from Cologne, Germany, documents the life of a young woman with Down syndrome for two years as she transitions into adulthood and faces the day-to-day challenges of her disability.
Third Place ($5,000):
- Adetona Omokanye for “Beyond 4 Foot 10 Inches”: Adetona’s project aims to deconstruct the socio-cultural stereotypes of dwarfs in media and advertising. The subjects in this series are beautiful, compelling, bold and vivacious.
- Isabel Alexander for “Metronome”: Isabel captures her brother, who has autism, and the ways in which his disability impacts not only his life, but the lives of those who are closest to him.
- Jacqueline Foss for “Beneath the Skin”: Jacqueline, who lives in Baltimore, uses self-portrait therapy to express what it is like to live with chronic ailments.