Welcome and Call to Order
Meeting commenced, Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Chair, Zelda Gebhard, welcomed board members, guests and the community. She noted public comments could be submitted to this email: bop@mail.acb.org.
Roll Call
Board members present: Deborah Armstrong, Jeff Bishop, Belinda Collins, RaLynn McGuire.
Others present: Katie Frederick, past BOP Chair and ACB Board Liaison; Sharon Lovering, ACB Braille Forum Editor; Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager; Deb Cook Lewis, ACB President.
(Scott Thornhill, ACB Executive Director, was absent).
Approval of the Agenda
Approved by full consensus.
Approval of the Minutes
Belinda moved, Jeff seconded, approved.
Public Comment
After the agenda item about the communicators gathering, a listener asked if it was a public presentation, and President Lewis explained it was only for people who edit newsletters or other communications for their affiliate. However, because Jeff targeted several community presentations on GLOW, they are, or soon will be, available as podcasts.
A few other listeners asked questions about the communicators’ gathering and the software being showcased.
Editor’s Report
The BOP received in email a report including statistics and upcoming Braille Forum issues. It was decided to add a notice about the candidates’ page to the next Dots and Dashes. Sharon also reported on working on the job bank. It was also suggested the Job Connection be reported in Dots and Dashes.
There was discussion about it being acceptable for Braille Forum articles to also appear on the Voices blog, and it was decided that was fine to do.
ACB Media Report
Rick also supplied a statistical report. He said podcast numbers continue to rise. He gave the board a deep dive into those numbers to amplify what they meant.
Rick also said it was difficult to get numbers of listeners for individual shows whereas getting the numbers of listeners per stream and numbers for podcast listeners was not complex. He will, however, be working on this frequent request.
Rick also said another goal is to train technically minded people in each affiliate on using a standard set of audio-visual equipment. If an affiliate wants to have their convention streamed this will no longer require Rick to travel. For the first year, people will be trained and the hope is affiliates will become self-sufficient by the second year.
Communicators Gathering
Zelda thanked Jeff for his upcoming presentation on GLOW, his web-based software that converts documents to a fully accessible format. He will speak for the gathering on May 8. Jeff noted over 2,000 people visited the software’s site and he deeply appreciated all the feedback he received. He also said they’d received feedback requesting a differentiation between font sizes of headings levels 2-6.
There was discussion about changing the guidelines, but it’s complicated because 18-point is the standard size for normal text and 22-point the size for heading level 1. It was decided to form a sub-committee to further discuss this. It was agreed Debee and Jeff would be on the committee, along with representation from ACB’s low-vision affiliate. Zelda will ask Melanie about being on this committee, and Sharon will join as well. It was also suggested to invite David Kingsbury. David joined with his hand raised to explain that before and after paragraph spacing can also distinguish between heading levels.
Candidate Checklist and Guidelines
Zelda reported she had posted the checklist to the Conversation and Leadershid lists and a reminder was also in Dots And Dashes.
Candidates Forum
July 8 is the live Candidates’ Forum on ACB Community. RaLynn and Zelda will run the forum because the other two incumbents are candidates. Katie also said she would assist with the forum.
BOP Awards
Sharon said the deadline is May 15. Documents for the board to review are in a DropBox with an explanation and standards of each award to be voted on.
BOP-Sponsored Convention Session Update
Jeff and Zelda reported on the planning that has gone in to organizing this panel discussion for the upcoming convention. The goal is to help affiliates improve their communications with their membership with ideas from affiliates who have done so already. Some of the focus will be on using technology tools to simplify newsletter creation and also unique approaches to keep communication fresh.
ACB Voices Blog
One post was received. Deborah Armstrong will be blog editor for May. She will also monitor the conversation list.
BOP Chairperson
President Lewis explained in odd-numbered years, the president appoints BOP members and members for the BOP are elected in even numbered years. But with Katie moving from the BOP to the ACB main board, some alteration had to occur. The ACB constitution, President Lewis explained, states that no BOP member can serve more than three consecutive terms, which means Zelda’s term ends after convention is over. President Lewis will then appoint a new chair for the BOP for a one-year term. She wanted the board to know she will be making that decision before the convention.
Other Items
Jeff requested some clarification on candidate deadlines.
Adjournment and Next Meeting
The next meeting is Tuesday, June 2nd. This meeting adjourned at 10:03 p.m. Eastern time.
Recordings
Find past meetings at: