Posts Tagged ‘Featured’

Finding Described TV Just Got Much Easier!

The landmark Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) has begun a revolution in mainstream telecommunications and video technology accessibility. Among its many groundbreaking achievements, the CVAA mandates several of the most popular television networks to make some of their prime-time and children’s programs accessible to viewers with vision loss by adding video description. To help celebrate and promote this achievement, AFB has implemented a Described TV Listings page on our website, an online guide where visitors can determine which shows will be described as well as when they air.

Video description (sometimes called “audio description” or simply “description”) makes television programs and movies accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired. Short verbal descriptions of action or key visual scenes in a program, such as setting, costumes, and facial expressions, are provided to add context. The descriptions are inserted into pauses within a program’s dialog.

Since July 1, 2012, the networks are required to each provide approximately four hours of video description per week include ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, USA, the Disney Channel, TNT, Nickelodeon, and TBS. This expanded array of choices is a much-fought-for complement to the current rich menu of described programming that PBS has offered for many years.

AFB’s Described TV Listings initiative makes it easier to find which shows are described, allowing people with vision loss to enjoy their favorite shows alongside their sighted peers.

To learn which programs are being described and when they will air in your area, and to learn more about how to access them on your television, visit www.afb.org/tv.

Emotional Article Features LightHouse Board President Josh Miele

A neighborhood boy remembers hearing of a little boy blinded by a schizophrenic man who threw acid on him at the age of 4. Decades later he looks up the man that little boy has become and writes an article about him.

The subject of the article, Josh Miele, is the President of the LightHouse Board. In addition to heading the LightHouse with leadership and vision, Josh is an associate scientist at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, where he has partnered with the LightHouse to create tactile-Braille maps of every station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART). The New York Times called the maps, “exquisite things with raised lines of plastic and Braille labels. They elegantly lay out information that can be heard by using an audio smart pen”.

Read the full article here. It will give you a deeper understanding of the intellectual and moral leadership the LightHouse enjoys.

Come Cycle for Sight on April 20 and Support Enchanted Hills!

The Napa Rotary Cycle for Sight ride will be held on Saturday, April 20. Sign up to ride as a cyclist and enjoy the beauty of scenic Napa and the challenge of a 15, 25 or 50 mile route with 2,000 other cyclists. Register today at www.cycle4sight.com and ride for Team LightHouse! Proceeds support Enchanted Hills Camp.

Where: Beautiful, scenic Napa. Go to www.cycle4sight.com for route information, start times and to register
When: Saturday, April 20 starting and finishing at Justin Siena High School in Napa

Join Team LightHouse! Interested in piloting a tandem bike for a blind stoker? Or, are you a blind stoker in need of a pilot? Contact Tony Fletcher via email at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7319 to join Team LightHouse today!

Blind cyclists wishing to register can do so simply by calling the lighthouse at 415-694-7348 and speaking with Chuck to walk you through the online registration.

If you want to give to a very special cause, please consider supporting Team Lighthouse in this year’s Cycle for Sight ride to be held on Saturday April 20. To sponsor a rider or make a donation, go to www.lighthouse-sf.org/donate and choose Cycle for Sight as your designation. Thank you for supporting Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind!

Check out our Facebook Event page!

Get A National Certification in Literary Braille This April!

Stand out among teachers of the blind and visually impaired! Don’t miss this opportunity to hold this important, nationally recognized certification of literary braille proficiency.

The National Certification in Literary Braille (NCLB) test will be administered by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB), in San Francisco, California on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The LightHouse is located at 214 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco.

To find out more information and to register for this important test, please go to the NBPCB website: www.nbpcb.org/nclb. Deadline for registration is March22!

If you have questions, contact the NBPCB office by phone at (318) 257-4554 or by email at braille@nbpcb.org.

Have You Taken A Major Open Online Course?

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is investigating experiences, both positive and negative, of users of Major Open Online Courses (MOOCs) available through web sites such as Coursera, Udacity, and EdX. If you are legally blind and have taken or attempted to take one of these courses, DRA would like to hear from you.

To share your experiences, please contact Michael Nunez by phone at 510-665-8644 or by e-mail at mnunez@dralegal.org.

Blind Chemistry Camp for High School Students

Would you like to learn how blind people tackle the very visual subject of organic chemistry successfully? Do you have a general love for science? Are you a blind or low vision teenager considering a career in chemistry? Then the 2013 California Chemistry Camp is for you!

During this exciting and action-packed 3-day experience, students will get to learn how blind and visually impaired people use chemistry in their careers. We will explore techniques to make chemistry accessible. Take part in hands-on chemistry experiments, apply chemistry to cooking, and do magic with chemistry.

When: Friday, May 3, 2013 through Sunday, May 5, 2013
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa, California
Who: Up to fifteen blind high school students ages 14-18 will be selected to participate
Fee: Free

Transportation will be provided to and from Enchanted Hills Camp from pick-up points in the Bay Area and in Sacramento. Campers will arrive back at drop-off spots at 4 PM on Sunday, May 5. Or parents can choose to drive their child to and from Enchanted Hills Camp.

For an application or questions for this free camp, contact Angela Fowler, Director of Planning, Accessible Science at fowlers@syix.com or 530-902-0987. We hope to see you this spring at Enchanted Hills!

Blind Backpackers Hit the Trails on First Outing

Many blind people have spent much of their lives being sheltered by well-meaning relatives, and discouraged from exploring. The LightHouse’s Blind Backpackers Club contests this trend, offering adventurous spirits an opportunity to follow their bliss and take on the challenges of wilderness. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon last month, the LightHouse Blind Backpackers and Outdoor Adventurers clubs hit the trails at Point Reyes National Seashore for their first outing. With warm temperatures, gentle ocean breezes, and relatively mild terrain, the several-mile-hike provided the hikers with the perfect training ground for the more ambitious, multi-day backpacking trips they have planned.

See more photos from the trip in our Facebook photo album. Need more inspiration to hike? Read this recent article about a blind hiker who traversed the Appalachian Trail using a GPS device and trekking poles.

Come join us! Contact John Liang, Director of Community and Volunteer Services for information on the Blind Backpackers and Outdoor Adventurers clubs, at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.

LightHouse’s Employment Immersion Helps Individuals Land the Job

Meet Angela Griffith, One of our Latest Placements.

We’re happy to announce that Angela Griffith, an August 2012 graduate of LightHouse’s Employment Immersion Program, has been hired as a Technical Support Specialist for Bookshare. After two and a half years of jobseeking, Angela landed a job with Bookshare, a non-profit based in Palo Alto that serve as a national repository for etexts of more than 160,000 books and periodicals. If you are interested in signing up for the service, please visit www.bookshare.org.

After being laid off in 2009, when her employer went out of business, Angela went back to school and became Microsoft Certified at Asher College. Concurrent with job seeking, Angela began contracting at the LightHouse for the Blind, maintaining computers in our tech lab. At the LightHouse, Angela learned about the Employment Immersion Program. She credits the program with helping her refurbish her resume and “brush up” on her interview skills. “It’s helpful to get feedback from a variety of people on how to [interview],” she said.

Program Leader Kate Williams said that Angela was especially gifted at providing advice to her peers. “Angela was very helpful to others in the class,” Kate said.

A career in technical support is an excellent match for her skills and personality. Blind since birth, Angela currently has a dog guide, Tasha. The only downside to Angela attaining a fantastic job is that the staff and clients of the LightHouse miss having Angela and Tasha around. Congratulations, Angela!

Do you want to jumpstart your career like Angela did? Are you looking for a job and need that extra little push to get that interview or spif up your resume. The next session of the 2013 Employment Immersion Program will begin Tuesday, March 19 at our office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org.

LightHouse Blind Blood Drive a Great Success!

Blind community members and their sighted friends visited the LightHouse and other Bay Area locations to participate in the first annual Bay Area Blind Blood Drive. They ultimately gave 54 units of usable blood, more than twice the number of units considered by the Red Cross to constitute a successful drive. The drive was so successful, LightHouse for the Blind intends to make this day of giving an annual tradition.

The event took place on January 9th, in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Day of Service 2013, and we were proud to honor and commemorate the great work of Dr. King in this manner. Watch a short television news clip on the drive here.

Before the drive, LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin said, “Often in the past people have thought of the blind as a group who are the recipients of others’ generosity. We’re hoping to change a bit of that perception by rolling up our sleeves and giving back to the same philanthropic community who has long helped us.”

The LightHouse, along with Lions Center for the Blind, Orientation Center for the Blind, Vista Center for the Blind and all of the Bay Area Red Cross centers, would like to thank and commend those of you who participated in the drive. If you have been inspired to give, please consider checking out the myriad ways you can support the LightHouse, including volunteering. Just visit: www.lighthouse-sf.org and click on GIVE to learn how you can get involved.

New Family Camp for Napa Residents

With support from the Napa Valley Community Foundation we are launching a Napa Resident Family Camp. The Camp will be held in English and Spanish. This educational retreat is the first of its kind in Napa. The Family Retreat’s modules will use team-building exercises – including hiking, communal art projects, adaptive sports and trust exercises. The retreat will pair blind students with charismatic and successful blind mentors; facilitate substantive parent-to parent-time to share resources and experiences; and teach parents to design and advocate for Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for their children. If you or someone you know lives in Napa County and has a blind or low vision child, we hope you will jump at the chance to take part in this unique and high-quality opportunity.

The All Napa Family Camp runs from May 17th- 19th 2013. To get more information or sign-up, contact Tony Fletcher, Enchanted Hills Camp Director at 415-694-7319 or afletcher@lightHouse-sf.org.