Alexandria, VA (March 31, 2020) — The American Council of the Blind (ACB) Board of Directors voted unanimously to forego its annual conference and convention in Schaumburg, Illinois, amidst the growing concerns about the novel coronavirus crisis. During a special meeting convened by the board on March 30th, the elected leadership moved to explore ways in which members, partners, and stakeholders can continue to meet virtually through an engaging and enlightening experience.

ACB Link 2.0 is now available for iOS and supports iOS version 13. This release brings a number of major improvements:

“Dots and Dashes” is a short newsletter featuring a variety of topics and ACB stories. This issue features information about the coronavirus, information on a call to help find ways to entertain your guide dogs during this temporary shutdown, ways to take the 2020 census, a reminder about the deadline for applying to become a leadership fellow, what to do if you’re experiencing telehealth and/or e-learning accessibility challenges, and Advocacy Updates.

On Friday, March 20, the American Council of the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind sent a joint letter to Congress opposing language included in the pending Senate stimulus bill, the CARES Act (S. 3548), that requests a report from the Department of Educations about regulations contained in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that should be removed. Please contact your U.S. Senators and tell them that Congress should not consider any waivers that would remove the civil rights of students with disabilities.

March 20, 2020

ACB is undertaking a major infrastructure update of our server platform and we expect an outage of 72 hours to complete this project. The update will take place Friday, March 20, beginning at 8pm Eastern. 

The following services will be unavailable during this outage:

“Dots and Dashes” is a short newsletter featuring a variety of topics and ACB stories. This issue features information about Tony Stephens’ return to the ACB national office, information about Cathie Skivers’ memorial service (and other plans in the works), Advocacy Updates, and the winners of the Benefits of Audio Description in Education awards.

Welcome Back …

A familiar face has returned to the ACB national office. Tony Stephens is ACB’s new Director of Development.

We hope you are having a great start to the new year! Back in July 2019, ACB and OrCam began a cooperation to raise awareness of OrCam’s assistive technology among ACB members in the United States.

OrCam MyEye 2 is the most advanced wearable assistive technology that can empower and enable you to be more independent. The MyEye 2 can support you in education, employment and improve quality of life, allow you access to visual information by converting images into sounds and read it to you discretely into your ear in real-time.

BADIE: Benefits of Audio Description In Education

For Immediate Release - Contact: Joel Snyder, Director, Audio Description Project
jsnyder@acb.org - (202) 467-5083                       

A familiar face is returning to a new post in the ACB national office. We are thrilled to announce that Tony Stephens is ACB’s new Director of Development.

The Audio Description Project (ADP), an initiative of the American Council of the Blind (ACB), aims to bring more meaning and enjoyment to entertainment, cultural, and educational experiences for blind and visually impaired people.