American Council of the Blind 
1703 N. Beauregard St. Suite 420 
Alexandria, VA 22311 

January 31, 2022

Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD
Acting Director
National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Dear Acting Director Lawrence Tabak: 

As the President of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), we need your help. I write to you on behalf of our members and the blind and low vision community, to urge the National Institutes of Health to develop accessible testing right away. 

Are you an ACB member who has been active in the organization on the local and/or state level and have a desire to learn more and explore opportunities associated with the national level?

Prepare to experience an array of opportunities to learn and grow personally as you connect with other like-minded individuals. We’ll join together in Omaha, Neb. for the 61st annual ACB convention from July 1-8, 2022 and become better familiar with ACB’s wealth of inclusive convention activities. The Class of 2022 DKM First-Timers will be able to enjoy the privilege of connecting with the two previous classes of DKM First-Timers who were selected during virtual conventions.

The DC Leadership Meetings will be held virtually from Saturday, March 12 to Tuesday, March 15. Registration is $20 for ACB members and $30 for non-members. All ACB members will be sent a registration discount code via email on January 24th. If you are an ACB member and did not receive your code, please call the Minneapolis office at 612-332-3242 for help.

The American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project Audio Description Institute will be held virtually from Monday, March 21 to Friday, March 25, 2022 at 1:00pm - 5:00pm Eastern each day. Register by visiting: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/2022ADI. Visit https://acb.org/2022-ADI-agenda to view the agenda. 

Title: BLINDSIDED

2 hour pilot, 8 episode guarantee

BLINDSIDED is a crime drama following police detective, Emma Bardovi, who is having to relearn how to do her job after an accident causes her to lose her vision. 

Shooting Locations: Vancouver and Los Angeles

Today, ACB President Dan Spoone sent a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration to request immediate action be taken for accessible rapid testing options for our community. This is as direct result of the challenges raised by our ACB Members and the inaccessibility of current testing options. 

American Council of the Blind
1703 N. Beauregard St. Suite 420
Alexandria, VA 22311

January 21, 2022

Kimberly Knackstedt
Director of Disability Policy
Whitehouse Domestic Policy Council

Dear Dr. Kimberly Knackstedt:

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark speaks with Steven Ewell, Executive Director, Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation, and Matt Ater, Vice President, Vispero, about the accessible tech innovations at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). ACB attended CES as a guest of the CTA Foundation as part of the organization’s tenth year inviting accessibility leaders to CES.

On Sunday, January 16th, the American Council of the Blind Board of Directors unanimously voted for the 2022 DC Leadership Meetings to be held virtually on March 12th – March 15th.

Details to come:

Here’s a way to celebrate all we’ve done in 2021 as part of our community. This twelve hour event will include: a focus on different events each hour, entertainment, opportunity to give back to ACB, prizes, fun, fun, and more fun. This is an event you won’t want to miss. Ring in 2022 with your friends in our ACB community!