Posts Tagged ‘featured’

CPUC Public Participation Hearings on Basic Phone Services

The Digital Network for Students with Visual Impairments: How do visually impaired students approach the new trend of digital social networks by using assistive technology?

Sunggye Hong currently works for San Francisco State University and trains teachers of students with visual impairments and is currently seeking participants for a study.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role digital social networks play in the development of social skills of students with visual impairments and the degree to which visually impaired students are participating in such activities.

Sunggye is looking for a student who is blind or visually impaired and is 12 to 18 years old to participate in a survey study. The survey will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete and will focus on the use of digital social media such as online social networks, text messaging, and assistive technology when using such digital media.

If you have any questions or concerns at this point or in the future, or would like to know more about the study, please feel free to contact:

Sunggye Hong, Assistant Professor

Department of Special Education, San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94132
hong72@sfsu.edu
(415)338-3430

LightHouse Launches Guide Athlete Program

Sometimes all it takes to get people moving is a good partnership! The LightHouse is excited to announce the launch of our new Guide Athlete Program. We want to pair blind athletes with those with vision, for a wide variety of athletic endeavors – anything from working out at the gym to biking in the upcoming Cycle for Sight Fundraiser to running the next half marathon.

We got off to a fantastic start during the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon, where we staffed a table and collected the names of 30 people interested in volunteering for this program.

If you are interested in becoming a guide athlete, or being paired with one, contact LightHouse Volunteer Coordinator Don M. Franklin at 415-694-7371 or dmfranklin@lighthouse-sf.org.

AC Transit Seeking Feedback from Riders

AC Transit is developing a comprehensive fare policy and looking for public input on elements ranging from goals and principles, to pass pricing and transfer rules, to the timing and level of fare increases. The overall aim is to have fares that are more logical and equitable, and fare changes that are more rational and predictable.

We encourage you to learn more about the issues at www.actransit.org, (“Have Something to Say About Fares” article) and then give them your input via online form (see link near the end of the article), e-mail, voicemail, fax, or letter. AC Transit is also holding a public meeting to talk about fare policy and engage riders and other members of the community in discussions with staff. The meeting will be:

Thursday, February 17
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
AC Transit General Offices
1600 Franklin Street
Oakland

2011 Youth Slam Applications

The Youth Slam is a biennial program in its third year that gives blind high school students a week-long college immersion experience focused on exciting STEM (Sience Technology Engineering & Math) subjects like Forensics, Kineseology, Computer Science, Robotics, journalism, Rocketry, Architecture, Environmental Science, and a taste of driving via the Blind Driver Challenge.

Students will spend a school week in the dorms at Towson University from July 17-23, 2011, under the guidance of competent blind mentors, dining in the dining hall, navigating campus to get to classes, engaging in challenging and learningful academic activities, and getting a taste of independent college life, including fun evening activities.

Spaces are filling, but applications are still being accepted through March 1st.  More info about Youth Slam and the application process can be found at www.blindscience.org.

A YouTube video highlighting the 2009 Youth Slam can be found by clicking here.

Free Tax Preparation at the LightHouse!

Tax season has started, and the next thing you know it will be April 15th. Don’t wait until then, come to the LightHouse and get your taxes done for FREE.

When: February 12th. Appointments start at 10:00 a.m.
Where:  The LightHouse, 214 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, 94102

Professional tax preparers will be on hand to help you with your tax needs. Space is limited, make an appointment today!  Contact Brandon Young at 415-694-7372 or byoung@lighthouse-sf.org.

Teaching the Mega No Maki Self Defense Program at the LightHouse

A unique self defense program entirely designed for the visually impaired has been developed by the Enabling Safety Project.  Sensei Stephen Nicholls,  of the British Kodenkan Ju Jitsu, has spent four years of close cooperation with the visually impaired community to devise the Mega Self Defense Program (Mega means eye in Japanese).  It teaches specifically designed self defense techniques.  Rooted in traditional martial arts, those techniques have been adapted to the specific requirements and abilities of the visually impaired community in order to address its specific issues:  How does one target one’s attacker and defend oneself if one cannot see? What does one do when one cannot make a quick escape?  What are the laws and regulations that allow one to protect oneself and how do these differ for the visually impaired?

Come to our next classes at the LightHouse!

When:  Saturday February 19, 3 – 6 p.m. and Saturday March 19, 3 – 6 p.m.
Where: The LightHouse, 214 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Cost: There is a suggested donation of $5.

For more class information, contact Brandon Young at the LightHouse. Call 415-694-7372 or email byoung@lighthouse-sf.org

Blind Man Drives Car Independently

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)  announced that for the first time a blind individual has driven a street vehicle in public without the assistance of a sighted person. Mark Anthony Riccobono, a blind executive who directs technology, research, and education programs for the organization, was behind the wheel of a Ford Escape hybrid equipped with nonvisual technology and successfully navigated 1.5 miles of the road course section of the famed track at the Daytona International Speedway.

For more information and video footage of the event, please visit:

http://www.digitalnewsrelease.com/?q=nfb_daytona

Text to Speech Study

Have you ever wished that you could change the text-to-speech you are forced to listen to everyday and make it sound better? Here is your opportunity to weigh in on matters concerning text-to-speech:

AT&T Labs – Research, with the cooperation of the standards committee on text-to-speech synthesis systems of the Acoustical Society of America, is running a web-based experiment to evaluate the intelligibility of synthesized speech for people who have been legally blind from six years of age or younger. This experiment includes most of the text-to-speech engines on the market today, and the results will be used to improve the usability of text-to-speech for people with visual disabilities.

The experiment can be found at

http://dudley.research.att.com/tts/TESTS/TTSfasterRateIntelligibility/html/

Focus Groups on Accessibility of Conference Calls and Webinars

If you primarily or exclusively use screen magnification to access your computer and have experience participating in conference calls and webinars, please consider sharing your opinions and experiences in a focus group with the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Telecommunications Access.

The RERC on Telecommunications Access will be conducting focus group discussions via conference call on Thursday, January 27, 2011, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, for screen magnification users. All of these discussions will gather consumers’ opinions and recommendations regarding “telecollaboration,” or conference calls that are supported by shared media or other online support for the call. These may be group meetings or webinars.

The purpose of the study is to obtain up-to-date input from consumers about access barriers and solutions. This input will be used to guide our center’s development work and to educate companies that provide tools for telecollaboration.

Each participant will be compensated $30 for the two-hour focus group. The discussions will be conducted remotely.

The requirements for participation are:

• Have participated in at least two conference calls within the past year.

• Reside in the U.S.

• Be 18 years of age or older.

• Have a disability that may affect accessibility of conference calls and computer screen information.

• Have access to a telephone line to call into a toll-free conference for our focus group conference call.

• At the same location, have a computer and broadband connection active during the call.

• Have a Braille or speech output device/technology to allow you to use the phone and computer.

• Be available for 2 hours of discussion at a time to be arranged with the RERC staff.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Paula Tucker at paula.tucker@gallaudet.edu or 202-651-5049 for more information.