by Marc Maurer
During the past year the National Federation of the Blind has continued to conduct the activities that have made us the organized blind movement, but we have also initiated new ones. Though our purpose has not changed, our method of implementing that purpose has shifted, grown, acquired additional definition.
Our fundamental being as an organization is the representative voice of the blind of the nation. We are the blind from all areas of the country, from all walks of life, from every political perspective, from every aspect of the social fabric--blind students, blind employees of governmental and private agencies, newly blinded individuals, parents of blind children, blind people who have acquired the skills associated with blindness, blind people seeking rehabilitation, blind people who have not yet heard that rehabilitation exists, blind people in the professions and common callings, and blind people who are without employment. We are the blind, and we have come together to create opportunity, to make possibilities come true. We are the National Federation of the Blind.
One of our members came to the organization in the state of Utah and served as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. She then moved to Maryland, where she worked at the National Center for the Blind. She subsequently worked for the federal government and then became the first person to serve as secretary of the Maryland Department of Disability. Last Wednesday the governor of Maryland announced that she would be standing for election as lieutenant governor on his ticket. She is a blind person and a member of the National Federation of the Blind. The experience of Kristin Cox shows just how far we have come. It indicates that we are recognized as an important element by major political parties.
Last spring the NBC program Three Wishes called the National Center for the Blind to inquire about what could be done to help a blind person who was being featured. The Three Wishes program has as its premise the proposition that laudable but seemingly unattainable desires should be granted. The husband of a blind woman wanted to grant his wife’s wish that she become sufficiently independent to take her child to the park. NBC decided to help, and they asked us how to achieve this seemingly unattainable feat. The program appeared on November 4, 2006, depicting the work of the National Federation of the Blind in teaching blindness skills and independence. Our members, Ron Gardner, Nick Schmittroth, Karl Smith, and Rebekah Jakeman, were shown on national television. The work of Joanne Wilson, executive director for affiliate action, was evident in the program although Joanne was not featured. Blindness need not mean dependence and tragedy. This message was broadcast to the nation. There will be a full report of the work to create this program later during this convention.
Another well-known national television program, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, sought our advice. In this case, Joe Ruffalo, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey, coordinated the effort. The concept for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is that a home of a deserving family is bulldozed and rebuilt in less than a week so that the family in question has a new opportunity for a full life. The program will be shown later this month. Precisely what depiction will occur is yet to be known, but Joe Ruffalo, working with our members in New Jersey and at the National Center for the Blind, urged that the technology involved in this home be usable by its blind inhabitants. Among the technologies filmed for the program were products such as HumanWare’s BrailleNote and the Kurzweil–National Federation of the Blind Reader.
Beginning last year, we have established a program to promote a blind-friendly automated home technology display. Can the blind manipulate security systems, heating and lighting apparatus, the vast array of home electronics technologies, and the increasingly complex interfaces of home appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers, or other products? A few years ago this question would have been ridiculous. Almost anybody could operate a stove, a refrigerator, or the thermostat on a furnace. However, the technology being produced today very often incorporates a visual display for the simplest products, and virtually no access technology is being built into such displays. We are promoting joint programs with major manufacturers such as Whirlpool and others to create accessibility in home-based products, and what we have learned in our research concerning the automated home was part of the message presented to the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition program.
We are undertaking this year a substantially increased effort in public relations. In the past television and radio stations were required to carry public service announcements about the work of nonprofit organizations in the community. However, this requirement was removed by the Federal Communications Commission a good many years ago. Some stations have continued to carry public service messages, but the number with this commitment is diminishing, and the amount of donated radio and television time that we receive has decreased. However, the message of the National Federation of the Blind and the information about the work we do is of such dramatic importance that we must bring it to the attention of the public.
If blindness were properly understood, many of the problems associated with it would disappear. Consequently, bringing our message to the public is an essential part of our program. We have designated a member of our staff, John Paré, to concentrate his effort this year on public relations, and we have secured the services of one of the best known public relations firms in the nation, Fleishman-Hillard. We will be conducting public relations events at the National Center for the Blind, but we will also be promoting our work in our state affiliates, in our training centers, and in events conducted by our chapters and divisions throughout the nation.
Among the partnerships we have formed is one sponsored by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to design the digital Talking Book machine of the future. The lead contractor in this effort is Battelle. VisuAide, a Canadian company that produced the Victor Reader and other products, which merged with Pulse Data of New Zealand to form HumanWare, is another partner. The National Federation of the Blind is responsible for user testing.
I traveled with my wife Patricia Maurer, Mary Ellen Jernigan, and Jessica Thompson to New Zealand to meet with HumanWare officials. The former president of HumanWare, Russell Smith, who spoke to our convention last summer, had died in a tragic accident. I wanted to meet with senior personnel at the HumanWare company to gain an understanding of future prospects and to determine the possibilities that seemed practical for our partnership in the months and years to come. I am pleased to say that the digital Talking Book project appears to be on track, that exciting prospects will be discussed for the future of this project at this convention, and that technologies which have not previously been contemplated appear to be practical outcomes of the work that we have jointly done.
Two years ago we initiated the Imagination Fund,
a program designed to raise money by calling upon members of the Federation to
seek donations. The money is used to support initiatives at the national level
as well as through our state affiliates and divisions. States or divisions with
programs that could not readily be conducted without additional funding may
apply for Imagination Fund grants.
Shortly before last summer’s convention we received a request to support a
program designed to encourage the blind to explore nature--forests, streams,
rock formations, and the like--at Camp Eureka in Montana. In support of this
first camping experience for many blind people, Mark Riccobono, our director of
education, attended a portion of the camp. Our state president in Montana, Dan
Burke, and other members of our affiliate served as members of the faculty, and
Camp Eureka was a tremendous success. More than thirty-five other programs
supported with Imagination Fund grants have occurred throughout the nation.
The National Federation of the Blind continues to be a member of the World Blind Union, and I serve as vice president of the North America/Caribbean Region. During March we hosted at the National Center for the Blind a meeting of the executive committee of the world organization along with meetings of a number of other committees and working groups. Representatives from outside the United States attended from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Denmark, El Salvador, Fiji, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
“What Is a National Federation of the Blind Center?” was the topic of a discussion held this spring at the National Center for the Blind. As our influence in the field of blindness increases and as rehabilitation programs adopt some of the methods employed by centers directed by the National Federation of the Blind, some may argue that there will be a blurring of the distinction which has been clear about what it means to be a National Federation of the Blind center. The answer to this question has not been definitively settled. Presentations regarding this topic will be made at this convention, and a continuing dialogue will undoubtedly occur.
Throughout the past year our affiliate action department, led by Joanne Wilson, has been working diligently to initiate activities to change what it means to be blind. Over two hundred and fifty Federationists from every affiliate attended seminars including the presidents’ seminar--a gathering of state presidents from our affiliates, the TOPS seminar (Training and Organizing our People to Serve), three grant-writing seminars, the Northeast leadership seminar, and the Kurzweil–National Federation of the Blind Reader ambassadors’ seminar.
Since the founding of the Federation in 1940, blind people have been mentoring each other. Sometimes the mentoring activities have been formal--sometimes not. In an effort to expand this activity, our Affiliate Action Department has developed mentoring programs including NFB-LINK, an Internet-based system that pairs experienced Federationists with other individuals seeking information about blindness; a parent leadership mentoring group, which has brought parents from eighteen families to this convention who will serve as leaders for parents throughout the nation; a scholarship alumni program, an ongoing activity to encourage former scholarship recipients to serve as a network for information and support at state and national conventions; and a veterans’ mentoring initiative, which pairs blinded veterans who are active in the community with newly blinded veterans and their families.
Through our affiliate action department, we have initiated a rehabilitation training program to promote the commonsense ideals and principles of the National Federation of the Blind relating to rehabilitation of blind people. We have developed distinct training opportunities for both residential rehabilitation training centers and vocational rehabilitation counselors and administrators. The training program began in Florida and is presently being expanded to a number of other states. The positive influence of the Federation in rehabilitation services will continue to grow through this new initiative.
Voice of the Diabetic is the publication of the National Federation of the Blind produced through our Diabetes Action Network. Diabetes causes more new blindness in the United States each year than any other condition. GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second largest pharmaceutical company, after a search of the literature on diabetes, found Voice of the Diabetic the world's only publication devoted to managing blindness, diabetes, and its complications.
Glaxo has invited the Federation to collaborate in offering support and advice to those at risk from diabetes. With this in mind we will be expanding and reorganizing the Voice of the Diabetic. This publication, which is now circulated to more than 350,000 individuals each quarter, has been in the process of acquiring a more dynamic appearance during the past year. Further development will take place during the next few months, with the objective that the Voice of the Diabetic becomes the most well-recognized publication dealing with diabetes in the United States.
In the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, led by Betsy Zaborowski, we are now developing the National Center for Blind Youth in Science to make science, technology, engineering, and math (the STEM curriculum) real options for blind youth. This is a center for innovation in education and a clearinghouse for information for parents, teachers, and researchers. With the help of NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, IBM, and the National Science Foundation, we are launching at this convention the new National Center for Blind Youth in Science Web Portal, a Web site dedicated to the teaching of science to the blind.
NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, IBM, and the National Science Foundation are also assisting us with our Science Academy for blind youth, our program of Excellence through Challenging Exploration and Leadership (EXCEL), and collaborations with educators and technology developers regarding accessible artificial intelligence tutoring software.
The Science Academy, which was initiated in 2004, continues to offer classes in biology, earth science, meteorology, and other disciplines for middle school students and classes in physics, electronics, navigation, and related matters to high school students with the culmination of the program being the launch of a sounding rocket from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The EXCEL program provides internships for blind youth at NASA facilities which expose these students to working scientists and Federation philosophy. Last year interns were placed at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. This summer interns will also be included among the personnel at the Houston Space Flight Center in Texas.
In late 2004 the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped approached the Federation about managing the administration of the National Literary Braille Competency Test. In 2005 we began the revitalization of the test development effort by calling together representatives from many organizations in the blindness field. Earlier this year we met the ambitious timeline set by the committee to implement the pilot test in three examination sites: Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and California. Fifty people completed the pilot test. This fall we expect the full implementation of the National Literary Braille Competency Test.
We have formed a partnership with the Lions Vision Research and Rehabilitation Center at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University and Multiple District 22 of the International Association of Lions Clubs to develop a new Lions Education Program on Blindness and Low Vision. With a proper understanding of blindness many of the problems associated with it would be eliminated. Consequently, this public education program is among the most important that we conduct. A full presentation of this program will occur later during this convention.
The International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind (IBTC) is a comprehensive evaluation, demonstration, and training center for accessible blindness technology. This year we have acquired in the IBTC the following products: ZoomText Magnification software with speech; Book Port; a Sherlock Talking Label Identifier; a Dot and Print Braille embosser and print printer, a Visionary Pocket PC; an Owasys 22C accessible cell phone; a Sales-Talk accessible point of sale terminal; several BrailleNotes with associated software and hardware; Pocket Hal PDA screen access software; a Canon Talking Business Calculator; a single line telephone simulator for the deaf-blind; several PAC Mate upgrades with associated software and hardware; a FacetToFace™ deaf-blind communication solution for the PAC Mate; an FSReader for a desktop computer and the PAC Mate; an FSTTY for the deaf-blind; Braille Sense for notetakers; Window-Eyes upgrades; Small Talk Ultra computers; Virtual Pencil Arithmetic and Algebra software programs; Victor Reader Wave; a Trekker Bluetooth GPS Maestro; an omnidirectional handheld scanner for the PAC Mate; a Dragon voice recognition software program; a J-Say Pro plug-in software interface; a VX1 Parrott TalkPro USB microphone; a MedivoxRx Talking Prescription Bottle pharmacy kit; a Jot a Dot portable Braille writer; Mobile Speak accessible cell phone software; a reference XM Satellite Radio home tuner; an Aesop: The Talking Keyboard; a TVI Colibri splitscreen low vision CCTV; a BookCourier portable MP3 player; a Talking Tactile Tablet; a National Geographic Talking Tactile Atlas of the World; a Triumphonic Mobile PDA; a Tiger Software Suite upgrade; a Pico Portable Video Magnifier; math and algebra Windows basic programs; and a King James Solar Powered Talking Bible.
We have responded to more than 2,500 telephone calls and more than 4,000 emails about technology this year. In our Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification Program we offer companies and governmental agencies certification if their Web sites are usable by the blind. Web sites certified in this program include the General Electric Company, Merck & Co., Inc., Hewlett Packard, Legal Sea Foods, and the eminent Baltimore law firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy.
With generous help from our technology partners: Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Freedom Scientific, and HumanWare Group, the first fully accessible technology training laboratory has been established as part of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. In this facility we will train blind individuals, educators, rehabilitation providers, and technologists on a full range of access technology. The Adobe company has approved a grant to fund the first access technology training seminar for college engineering and computer science students.
For the third year we have received funding to
support our National Center for Voting Accessibility. As a result of the work of
the National Federation of the Blind, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), adopted
in 2002, declares that every precinct shall have the capacity to provide a
secret ballot to the blind by 2006. Our HAVA project educates voting officials
and others about accessible electronic voting technology. We want the capacity
to cast our ballots in privacy. It is practical, it is fair, and it is required
by law.
Now, at the 2006 convention of the National Federation of the Blind, comes the
time for the gestalt shift, the paradigm alteration. The change did not occur in
an instant. One major precursor was the establishment of the International
Braille and Technology Center for the Blind. A second indicator of redefinement
was the creation of NFB-NEWSLINE®. However, the confirmation of the
transformation becomes evident at this gathering of the blind.
The first handheld, portable reading machine for the blind has been developed through a partnership between Kurzweil Technologies, Inc., and the National Federation of the Blind, making print accessible with the press of a button and the flash of a camera. The handheld reader uses a digital camera and specially designed optical character recognition technology running on a PDA to produce synthetic speech from printed text. Since this reader is battery-operated, easy to use, and very portable, this revolutionary technology will make an extraordinary amount of information available to all who cannot read ordinary print. Furthermore, it will provide such information with complete privacy, a characteristic rarely known to the blind.
Although the handheld reading machine today is a device that reads print, it is the beginning of a kind of technology that will build visual access to information into portable devices usable by the blind. This is one of the elements of the revolution. The second part of the alteration of the pattern of our lives is that we have been an essential part of the process of bringing this device into being. It is the fulfillment of a promise we made to ourselves--If we need it, we will build it. We will change programs, we will modify understanding, and, if necessary, we will alter technology as well. This is the Kurzweil–National Federation of the Blind Reader. This is the determination of the National Federation of the Blind.