As we move through this season of celebration to welcome a new year, we want to reach out to share a moment of reflection and gratitude. It is because of each of you that ACB remains strong. The very bedrock of our existence stands firm through the investments of your time, talent, and treasure. You contributed over 37,000 volunteer hours to support a multitude of programs, services, and critical advocacy efforts, offered wise counsel as board and committee members, and gave generously through individual donations totaling over $280,000 in 2022.

The Elf on the Shelf® and Elf Pets® have fast become holiday mainstays, appearing in a wide variety of popular books, toys, and videos, and loved by children of all ages all around the world. Once again, the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and The Lumistella Company are proud to offer a special audio described broadcast of the animated holiday special, “Elf Pets: A Fox Cub’s Christmas Tale,” to make holiday cheer more widely available to all this season.

Lights, Camera, Description!

The American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (ADP) and the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) are co-sponsoring an essay contest for blind and visually impaired young people (ages 7 to 21). It’s a great chance for students to engage with accessible learning materials, unleash their inner film critic, and compete for fun prizes.

The 21st Audio Description Institute will be held virtually from Monday, February 20 to Friday, February 24, 2023 at 1pm - 5pm Eastern each day.

Audio Description (AD) makes visual images accessible for people who are blind or have low vision. Using words that are succinct, vivid, and imaginative, media describers convey the visual image from television and film that is not fully accessible to a significant segment of the population (more than 32 million Americans experience significant vision loss).

JAWS

The instructions below were produced using JAWS and Chrome.

Nov. 30 2022 — The American Council of the Blind (ACB) would like to thank all those who participated in the 2022 Audio Description Awards Gala that premiered on November 29th on www.AdAwardsGala.org and Pluto TV.

“We are proud to host the second annual Audio Description Awards Gala to recognize excellence in audio described content and celebrate the growing commitment to accessible media for people who are blind and low vision,” said ACB’s Executive Director, Eric Bridges.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2022 — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) proudly announces the details of the 2022 Audio Description Awards Gala to be held virtually on November 29, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Sunday, November 27 at 7:00 pm ET

Available on Zoom Webinar and ACB Media 6

Shipping Donations

Thanks to the following for their generous donations for shipping:

Appetizer Auction Rules and Information

Contact Leslie Spoone at 407 678-0075 or 407 678-4163 or email at [email protected] with your bid. Please provide your name, phone number, email, item number and bid amount.

Opening bids are Included.

Bids must be in $5.00 increments.

Leslie will send out Appetizer Auction information communicating the high bid on each item at 5:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm ET and 9:00 am ET each day.