The Blind Lifestyle Newsletter for March 1, 2022 - Issue 3The Blind Lifestyle Newsletter is the newsletter by and for the blind and visually impaired by Award Winning Sight Loss Coach, Advocate and Author Donna Jodhan. Content curation sponsored by Top Tech Tidbits. The Blind Lifestyle Newsletter focuses on current lifestyle news and trends for the blind, deaf, deafblind and disabled. Subscribers: 171 opt-in subscribers were sent this issue via email. Dear Blind Lifestyle Subscriber,1) Accessible Information Vs The PDF: Are You Breaking The Law?Accessible information is gaining ground on the war against the PDF. In fact, presenting information only in accessible PDFs is becoming illegal. But, will an accessible web design be too expensive of an overhaul? The answer might just surprise you: 2) New Summer Camp Launched For Blind And Visually ImpairedCamp Abilities Four Corners wants to open up the world of sports to visually impaired and blind students at a new camp June 12-17 in northern Arizona. Adaptive practices allow students to play basketball, soccer and golf and compete in swimming: 3) Blind People Stagnating At Work Due To Inaccessible Technology, Says New StudyBringing "your whole self to Work" has been an important mantra within diversity circles over the past few years. However, according to a new study carried out by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), employees with sight loss continue to be hampered in in carrying out the bare essentials of their jobs by their employer's lack of knowledge and commitment to digital accessibility: 4) The Hidden Image Descriptions Making the Internet AccessibleIn an image-saturated world — over 63 million were uploaded to Instagram alone in a single day in February, according to Internet Live Stats — it can be difficult for people who are blind or have low vision to fully experience the web: 5) Interview: Blind Streamer Rattlehead Explains How He Plays Pro Mortal KombatEven at a basic level, playing well in a fighting game isn't just about just memorizing moves, but also being able to react to your opponent. Knowing how to pull off specials and combos will help, but if you can't mix it up depending on what the other guy is going, you won't get very far. That level of multitasking is hard enough, so how would you do it without being able to see what the other player is doing? Carlos Vasquez, also known as Rattlehead, does just that. As a blind gamer, he doesn't just play Mortal Kombat casually — he's a pro: 6) Patients With Bionic Eyes Fear for Sight As Company Discontinues TechnologyMore than 350 blind people around the world who received retinal implants manufactured by an American company — which provide them with an artificial form of vision — discovered that the technology has been discontinued and the firm will no longer be offering repairs or replacements, sparking fears for their futures, according to a report: 7) The Teacher Who Wants Everyone to Fall in Love with BrailleJuventino Jiménez, a visually impaired indigenous Ayuujk and teacher of the braille system, talks about the usefulness of the raised dots and how to use them in everyday life: 8) Growing Into Braille Technology | Carroll Center for the BlindAt five years old, an age when most kindergarteners were just beginning to learn individual letter names and sounds, I remember working with the Perkins Brailler. The Perkins Brailler is similar to a typewriter and produces braille on paper instead of producing it electronically: 9) Envision Grows Dallas Footprint With More Jobs For Blind, Visually ImpairedEnvision's purchase of a new campus in the Dallas area is another indicator of the demand for jobs for those who are blind or visually impaired, said David Stupay, managing director of Envision Dallas: 10) Persons Who are Deaf-blind Need a Seat at the Legal Table11) Congressional Lawmakers Want Investigation Into USPS Program For The Visually impairedMaryland U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and other congressional leaders want the post office's inspector general to investigate a program for the blind and visually impaired after reports of delayed delivery of materials under the program: 12) Meet the Teacher Empowering Visually Impaired Students With Next-Gen TechSpecial hardware and training from HP is helping make education accessible at this historic North Carolina school for the blind: 13) Architecture Students Design Playground For Visually Impaired ChildrenNC State's Freedom By Design is a club of architecture students with the purpose of providing service to the community by utilizing the students' design skills. The club — a program under the American Institute of Architecture Students — is currently working on a playground for the Governor Morehead School (GMS), which serves the visually impaired. The club has been working on the playground for a few years, with setbacks due to the pandemic: 14) The Social Model: Do We Disable People Through Our Tech?Here is a good article about the social model of disability applied to the technology industry: 15) New App Seeks To Identify, Solve Accessibility Barriers At Public Sites In LavalA new mobile application could be the secret to fixing accessibility problems in publicly funded institutions, such as hospitals, pools and schools, according to the Laval disability rights group ROPPHL: 16) A New Wayfinding App For Vision-Impaired Users Found Its Way To DCThe UK's Waymap, which is making DC its US home, is designed to help people who are blind or have limited vision move around the city: 17) A Book For The Visually Impaired 'Blindness And The Power Of Inner Vision' By Dr Hilary Marlow | YouTubeVisually impaired people who love reading have a new book to lay their fingers on. Blindness and the power of Inner Vision, written by Dr Hilary Marlow, is out in both print and braille form. The book by the UK-based author is a biography of Advocate RW Bowen, one of the founders of the South African National Council for the Blind. It was launched in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape in partnership with the South African National Council for the Blind: 18) Web Accessibility Is Good For Your Soul-And For BusinessFew websites go the whole nine yards to make themselves fully accessible to the disabled. Yet compliance with the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is well worth the effort: 19) Reflections On 30 Years In The Accessibility Field | Peter Korn30 years ago, on February 10, 1992, I began my accessibility career as the junior software engineer on the outSPOKEN screen reader team at Berkeley Systems. Thanks to my successful interviews with company CEO Wes Boyd, head of engineering (and my boss to be) Jack Eastman, and key members of the accessibility team: Jane Berliss, Josh Miele, and Marc Sutton, I got my start in this amazing, incredible, fulfilling field: 20) ASL And Deaf Culture Classes Are Part Of An Expanded Focus On Disability And AccessibilityStudents in Daniel Maier's ASL 102 course are among the first cohort able to fulfill their Princeton language requirement with American Sign Language, which is now the basis of five ASL language courses at the University. Princeton also offers the class "American Deaf Culture:" 21) Vispero Names Seasoned Technology Executive Bob Ciminera Chief Executive OfficerVispero, the world's largest digital accessibility and assistive technology provider for the visually impaired, and Vector Capital portfolio company, today announced that Tom Tiernan is retiring from his position as Chief Executive Officer of the company and that seasoned technology executive Bob Ciminera has been appointed to the role, effective immediately: 22) Group Continues To Fight For Accessible At-Home COVID-19 Tests For The BlindOnly 1 of the 13 available COVID-19 tests approved by the FDA is accessible to the blind and visually impaired. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is working to change that: 23) Able Fit Is Creating A Comfortable Fitness Space For Disabled Adults To Workout And Make FriendsTwo certified speech language pathologists who also happen to be certified fitness trainers are making it easy for disabled adults to get into fitness and strength training: 24) Improving Accessibility Is A Journey Best Navigated With The Help Of ExpertsEntrepreneurs face a number of challenges on their journey to becoming successful business owners: 25) What It's Like to Create Accessible Beauty Products for a LivingIn her 21 years at Procter & Gamble, Sam Latif has worked on some of the most impactful examples of accessible beauty product design: 26) Deadlines Are Set to Comment on EAS ChangesDeadlines have been set to file comments in the latest NPRM from the Federal Communications Commission concerning emergency alerting. The commission has a notice of proposed rulemaking that it says would improve the clarity and accessibility of visual Emergency Alert System messages to the public, particularly to people who are deaf or hard of hearing: 27) Patent reveals Huawei is Developing Wearables that Help the Blind to Navigate their Daily LivesEver since Huawei got restricted by the US sanctions, the company has been diversifying its product catalog away from smartphones, and into the IoT(Internet of Things) business instead. The company has been branching out into other businesses, such as Smart TVs, Smartwatches, and even Smart Electric Cars. In fact, Huawei may be planning to release devices in new product categories too, like its own medical assistance device. Recently, a patent database revealed that the company is working on wearables that help the blind to navigate in their daily lives: 28) Only 2% of Sites Meet Accessibility Standards. Let's Change That.Long sentences and the use of jargon are just a few of the major barriers for consumers with disabilities: 29) PYMNTS Intelligence: The Importance of Digital Accessibility in Enhancing Loyalty and Brand ReputationThe digital transformation is in full swing, but despite all the positives it has brought, it also had created the potential for financial institutions (FIs) to overlook some of the most vulnerable customer populations if they are not careful. Digital accessibility standards have both practical and regulatory implications for FIs, and it will be imperative for FIs to balance speed to market with innovation to ensure all their channels are compliant: 30) Tanzania: Govt Introduces Orbit Reader Technology to Visually Impaired StudentsThe government through the Tanzania Institute of Education (TET) has said that orbit visual aids for sight impaired pupils will bring positive change in the education sector: Give The Gift of Accessibility TodayPlease consider giving the gift of accessibility to disabled children and their families today by supporting one of Donna's many ongoing initiatives. Your support makes the difference in keeping our children connected, healthy and part of our community. You may donate one time, monthly, quarterly or annually. All donations, no matter how small, ensure that persons with disabilities, especially our kids with disabilities, are given every opportunity to be a part of our growing virtual world. Learn more today at: Partnership Package InformationYour Business or Organization Name and Information HereThe Blind Lifestyle Newsletter is currently accepting partnerships from select individuals, businesses and organizations that have a record of serving the blind and vision impaired community from anywhere in the world. Partnerships are paid positions that help to support the distribution of the newsletter and offer you your very own space within each issue of the Blind Lifestyle Newsletter. Learn more here: Sight Loss Coach And Author Donna JodhanCatching Up With The Coach | March 2022Catch up with the Coach in March 2022. Insightful tips, shares, how-to's and other useful information from Award Winning Sight Loss Coach, Advocate and Author Donna Jodhan: Ask The Coach | March 2022Award Winning Sight Loss Coach, Advocate and Author Donna Jodhan answers 3 different questions posed by readers new to sight loss: Donna Jodhan's Sight Loss CoachingDonna Jodhan has been coaching persons with sight loss since 2000. She is a high profile Apple Certified Trainer and Consultant and a world-renowned Author. She has written and produced and continues to write as a blogger, editorialist, podcast commentator, writer, and fiction author. She produces meaningful and up to date info designed to assist the reader and listener to become more confident when dealing with sight loss. As a person with sight loss herself, Donna recognizes and knows only too well how the colossal challenges of COVID-19 have changed the lives of us all; especially so for those living with sight loss. At the best of times, it is difficult enough to cope when sight loss sets in for anyone but when the world is unexpectedly and practically turned on its head and we are all now forced to find new ways to cope, the challenges of sight loss becomes even more acute. AboutAs a coach, Donna will use her vast knowledge and life experience as an advocate, author, and entrepreneur to successfully assist you in navigating through life and learning how to live with vision loss. Donna will teach you how to navigate the fast moving and complicated world of technology and show you how to conquer bullying and scams. You will learn how to cope with sight loss in your home, garden, places of employment, and your home office. There is nothing better than having someone beside you who can provide personal and customized services to meet and accommodate your needs upon request. ServicesCoaching is available via Telephone, Email, Facetime, Skype, and Zoom. PricingYour Initial Consultation is free of charge. You can expect this assessment to last anywhere between one hour to one and a half hours and we would be pleased to contact you at our expense thus avoiding you having to incur any long distance charges. We believe that our payment structure is affordable and will be able to meet your budgets and expectations. You may pay as you go at $50 / hour or purchase hours in blocks of 5, 10 or 15 at $40 / hour. Pricing Packages5 Hour Package - $200 ContactTo learn more please visit: https://www.donnajodhan.com/. Subscription Information:ABOUT:The Blind Lifestyle Newsletter is the newsletter by and for the blind and visually impaired by Award Winning Sight Loss Coach, Advocate and Author Donna Jodhan. Content curation sponsored by Top Tech Tidbits. The Blind Lifestyle Newsletter focuses on current lifestyle news and trends for the blind, deaf, deafblind and disabled. 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