by Charles H. Crawford
There is no question that the American Council of the Blind has achieved many social justice goals for blind people, even with the meager resources we have. Now we have found a way to raise money for ACB Radio with no real burden to those wanting to help out!
We are partnering with Easy Access USA, which is a national local dial-up Internet service provider, and they will give ACB $4 per month per subscriber to their service. You get two e-mail accounts, local dial-up for 56kb modems, Internet newsgroups and you can run your MSN or AOL messengers as well!
ACB has decided to dedicate all our revenues from this fund-raising opportunity to support ACB-Radio. In this way, we can ensure the continued growth and vitality of our Internet radio streams and the learning and enjoyment our many listeners want.
Please take the time to go to the Easy Access web site at http://www.easyaccessusa.net and check to see if there is a local access number you can use. Then you can sign up for the service and support ACB’s radio streams as well! The service costs only $19.95 per month, and you’ll be helping out the American Council of the Blind and our radio programs every month of every year!
When you visit the site, we suggest that you check to see if there is an access number in your area which you can search for right there on the web site. If there is, then you can use the sign-up link to get going. You will be given a choice of whether to use the form with the java script or to go to a text form; we suggest you hit enter on the text link. Then use your screen reader, MSAA or other access mechanisms to go through the screen and fill out the edit boxes. Of course, with MSAA you have to hit enter on the edit box you want to fill out, and then fill it out and go back to MSAA to read what they want in the next box. Once you have filled out the form and read through the terms of agreement, then you can sign up online!
If you want to skip going to the web site altogether, then call their toll-free ACB sign-up number at 1-866-835-7872. This accommodation will help speed sign-ups for those who would rather do it by phone.
There is only 56 KB dial-up capacity at this point. Once the company gets the resources to do DSL, then they are looking at going in that direction as well. Like ACB, they are growing, and this partnership will be beneficial to us as an advocacy organization and to them as a company that wants to give back to the community through helping charitable groups.
Please sign up and pass this message along to all your friends and family so we can really start to grow the support for ACB Radio we know is out there. It truly is an easy way to support ACB, and the radio stations we all love.
We are not rich, but we have done much with the little we have. We are blind people together in our membership of the American Council of the Blind. Please sign up and designate ACB as your preferred “charity” today!