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LightHouse News

BART Weekend Travel Delays

There will be minor delays on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line due to track maintenance on the following weekends:

August 19 to 22 and August 26 to 29
Start: 9:00 p.m. Friday
End: 4:00 a.m. Monday

Passengers traveling northbound will experience an estimated 15- to 20-minute delay during the hours work is being performed. Passengers traveling southbound may experience a 5-minute delay due to single-tracking.

There will also be estimated delays of 10 to 15 minutes on the Fremont line on the following Sundays due to track maintenance:

August 21 & 28
September 4, 11, 18 & 25

Please adjust your travel plans accordingly.

LightHouse News

Attention, All BART Riders Who Use Red Tickets

2 Commentson Attention, All BART Riders Who Use Red Tickets

By the end of December 2011, red BART tickets for disabled travelers will be discontinued and replaced by the Regional Transit Connection (RTC) ID/Clipper card created for passengers with qualifying disabilities. This card is specially encoded to automatically calculate discounted cash fare or monthly pass fare each time you use it.

How do you get a Clipper card?
You must apply for an RTC ID/Clipper card in person. You may apply for the card at SF Muni and may submit either a “Basic Eligibility” or “Medical” application.

The following forms of identification are accepted as proof of “Basic Eligibility”: Medicare card, California DMV placard, other transit card issued to you by another California transit agency or proof of veteran’s disability.

To qualify under “Medical Eligibility,” you must be medically certified by one of the licensed professionals recognized by the RTC ID/Clipper card program that your disability meets the program’s criteria.

What is Clipper?
Clipper is an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of any passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value that you load onto it, while applying all applicable fares, discounts and transfer rules. This lets you customize your card for your own transit needs.

The Clipper card can hold multiple passes, ride books or tickets (which are specific to the transit system being used), as well as up to $300 in cash value at one time. Cash value on your Clipper card can be used to ride any participating transit system.

You can add cash value to your Clipper card at all 44 BART stations in the region. BART ticket vending machines now accept cash, credit cards and debit cards as payment for cash value that you add to your Clipper card.

LightHouse News

Wine Tasting in the Dark

Hoby Wedler, the UC Davis chemistry doctoral student who led our 2011 Enchanted Hills Chemistry Camp, is now doing experiments with organic chemistry. He is deeply curious about how food and beverage flavor and aroma relate to science.

For those of you who may be interested in broadening your own chemical knowledge, check out “Tasting in the Dark,” a series Hoby is hosting at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville. Guests are blindfolded as they sample four wines in the winemaker’s lab.

The two-hour program will be offered on August 27 and September 17 at 1 p.m., with a fee of $55 per person. Reservations are required. Call 707-857-1471 or visit www.franciscoppolawinery.com for details.

LightHouse News

Tuesday, August 16! Got Apps? LightHouse Technology Seminar

2 Commentson Tuesday, August 16! Got Apps? LightHouse Technology Seminar

If you have an Android or iPhone, come hear about the coolest accessible applications available for your phone. Tune in:

  • via live audio stream on our website
  • via conference call 1 (641) 715-3300.  Guest code 453058#
  • Attend in person

Guest speakers include Peter Cantisani, author of the book “Twenty-Six Useful Apps for Blind iPhone Users”, Sendero Group founder Mike May, and app users Tina Birenbaum, Ronit Ovadia Mizzoni and Linda Porelle.

When: August 16, 2011, 1:00-3:00 p.m. PDT
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

The LightHouse Technology Seminar series continues with a discussion of applications for the Apple and Android platforms. The agenda will include a conversation about GPS for the smartphone, book reading applications, ways to stream audio and more.

RSVP to 415-694-7326 or rsvp@lighthouse-sf.org. Conference call and live stream instructions will be provided with RSVP.

To support the LightHouse, go to:

http://bit.ly/lighthousedonations

Thank you!

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LightHouse News

National Braille Test to be Held at the LightHouse

The National Literary Braille Competency Test will be administered by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board on Thursday, October 13, 2011, at the LightHouse for the Blind, 214 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.

The test is used to measure the level of a person’s ability to read and write contracted literary braille. Candidates who fulfill all application requirements and successfully pass the test are awarded National Certification in Literary Braille. Although the test can be taken by anyone, it is intended primarily for teachers of braille and future teachers of braille.

Please go to www.nbpcb.org/nclb for more information about the exam (including preparation materials) and to register. Deadline for registration is September 30. You may also contact the National NCLB Test Coordinator, Deja Powell, at dpowell@latech.edu or 318-257-2029 with any questions.

LightHouse News

Alice Chavez Pardini Education Advancement Grant

The San Francisco Chapter of the California Council of the Blind will give a grant of up to $2,500 to a legally blind Bay Area student who can best demonstrate the need to improve his or her educational or employment opportunities.

The 2011 Alice Chavez Pardini Education Advancement Grant will be awarded to a legally blind student in grades 6 through 12, college, graduate school or a certificate program who lives in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin or San Mateo counties.

To request an application and instruction form, or for further details, contact: Charlie Dorris (415-775-0487, tyreedorris@aol.com) or Ellie Lee (415-378-6079, ellieleesf@yahoo.com).

A completed application form and essay must be postmarked by October 31, 2011, and sent to:

The Alice Fund Committee
c/o Charlie Dorris
966 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

LightHouse News

Join the California Association of Blind Students at “Sunday Streets” San Francisco!

Summer vacation is beginning to evaporate away. But there is still time to sprinkle in a little more fun into your two months of freedom. Come and join some friends for some San Francisco-style fun! The California Association of Blind Students (CABS) will be venturing into downtown San Francisco to take part in a popular community event known as Sunday Streets. Sunday Streets is a free pedestrian and family-friendly community gathering.

Where: Sunday Streets Tenderloin/Civic Center
When: August 14, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

If you wish to go with the group, CABS will meet at the Powell Muni/Bart Station at 10:30 a.m. and then travel to the Civic center Area. If interested, or have questions please call Darian Smith, event coordinator at 415-215-9809 or e-mail him at dsmithnfb@gmail.com 

Find out the schedule of events at http://www.facebook.com/sundaystreets?sk=events

What is a Sunday Streets event?

Sunday Streets creates miles of car-free roads for people to get out and get active in diverse SF neighborhoods.  Bay Area residents of all ages, families, local businesses, and visitors are all invited to join the fun. Come one come all. No sign-ups required. Participants will enjoy this unique opportunity to safely enjoy the streets and explore new neighborhoods.

How to get to Sunday Streets:

MUNI: These routes serve the event area: Metro lines J, K, L, M, N, T to Civic Center; 5 Fulton, *19 Polk, 21 Hayes, *27 Bryant, 31 Balboa, *38 Geary;

* NOTE: 19, 27 and 38 lines will be re-routed on nearby streets. For trip planning and other Muni-related info, go to www.sfmta.com

Bike: Go to: http://bicycling.511.org/ for help mapping a bike-friendly route from your area to the Civic Center BART area

BART:  Civic Center Station: Exit at 8thand Market Street. For trip planning, go to www.bart.gov

 

LightHouse News

Video Magnification—For Some Bigger is Better

Adaptations, the LightHouse store, provides a full line of hand-held magnifiers to assist with spot reading. But many times, hand-held magnification isn’t enough. To provide you with assistance in finding possible alternate solutions, Adaptations and our low vision training services can help.

That’s because there really is no substitute for holding a device in your hand and checking it out directly rather than reading about it in some catalog. Each month, on the first and third Monday, an Adaptations store associate will host a free one-hour overview and demonstration of our 12 desktop and hand-held video magnification systems. During this hour you will learn how magnification and contrast may enhance your useable vision through the use of video magnification.

When: First and third Mondays, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. (please RSVP)
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

To RSVP for a demonstration, please call Adaptations at 888-400-8933.

Personalized Sessions Also Available
Would you like a one-on-one assessment to determine which kind of magnification is right for you? Make an appointment for a 90-minute session in which you and a trainer will match your vision with the tasks you hope to accomplish, your need for magnification and the attributes of both desktop and hand-held video magnification systems. For an appointment and information regarding the fee for this service (some individuals 55 and better may be eligible for assistance), please contact Linda Porelle at 415-694-7315 or lporelle@lighthouse-sf.org.

Low Vision Evaluations
If you are new to low vision and have useable vision (you can easily read the headlines of a newspaper) but have never had a low vision evaluation, we encourage you to do so and can make sure you are connected with a low vision specialist in your area. A low vision specialist will provide the evaluation that may enhance your useable vision. To set up an appointment, contact Alex Galeczka at 415-694-7318. This service is covered by most Medicare and Medi-Cal plans.

LightHouse News

Courts Rule in Favor of JetBlue

In a closely watched case against JetBlue Airways, United States federal judge Joseph Spero ruled on August 3, 2011, that state anti-discrimination laws do not apply to airline websites and kiosks

Brought by the California Council of the Blind and three blind JetBlue customers, the case pertained to access barriers on JetBlue’s website and the inaccessibility of the airline’s airport check-in kiosks to people with visual impairments.

Read additional details about the ruling here.