[gui-talk] Fwd: Report from Day Two of the ACB Convention

[Steve Pattison]

 From: Ray Campbell ray1530 at wowway.com
To: ICB Board; Illinois Discussion List

Hello:

Yet another busy day has ended here at the Acb convention in Orlando,
Florida.  What was it like? Sit back and I'll gladly share.

This morning I went to a program put on by the Blind Information Technology
Specialists (BITS) which is one of ACB's Special Interest affiliates.  It
was called "Clash of the Titans," and this year, they discussed the various
Global Positioning Satellite system available out there for people who are
blind.  
Systems presented were Wayfinder Access for the Symbian cell phones, Mobile
Geo, which I personally use, for the Windows Mobile Smart phones, the
Braille Note GPS for the Braille Note, The Trekker and Trekker Breeze from
Humanware, the Sense Nav from GW Micro which runs on the Braille Sense and
Voice Sense note takers, and Street Talk VIP which runs on  Freedom
Scientific's Pacmate.  Each company was given about 15 minutes or so to
discuss their product and then answer audience questions.  This is a great
thing because it allows someone thinking about purchasing a GPS solution to
learn about all of the products out there, evaluate their needs and help
make an informed decision.

I then went to the annual Sports Fanatics luncheon.  We were supposed to
hear from Mr.  Enrique Oliu who is totally blind and the Spanish language
color announcer for the Tampa Bay Rays, but he could not attend for whatever
reason.  We did hear from Donna Brown, herself a very decorated athlete who
is blind and a coach at the West Virginia School for the Blind.  She shared
her experiences competing in Paralympic competition and her work coaching
young athletes who are blind today.

I then attended the Environmental Access Committee meeting.  We spent a
great deal of time discussing hybrid car's and work which is going on,
thanks to legislation being introduced in Congress but not passed yet to
research and develop an appropriate sound standard for these vehicles.
Janet Barlow discussed some of the research work she is involved in
including how to make roundabouts safer for pedestrians who are blind.  She
said roundabouts are here to stay and that we need to make sure they have
both a way for us to find where to cross streets, and ways for us to do it
safely.

We also discussed work going on to make what are called Destination
Elevators more accessible.  These are elevators where you walk up, input
your desired destination floor on a keyboard, and are then directed to a
certain elevator to get there.  If you can't see where that elevator is, how
are you going to find it? 
Thank god we haven't seen any of these things in Chicago or anywhere else in
Illinois yet.

After Environmental Access and dinner, it was time for the opening Plenary
session of the convention.  The highlight was President Mitch Pomerantz's
report to the convention.  ACB has been busy, particularly on the
legislative and structured negotiations front in the last year.  We've
successfully negotiated settlements with such retail chains as Dollar
General, Staples, target and others so when we go in, make purchases, and
choose to use debit cards, we can independently enter our PIN number.  The
Illinois Council of the Blind's work with Tcf Bank was highlighted, where
they will soon be installing talking ATMS, providing statements and other
information in accessible formats and making their website more accessible.

The report from the consultant hired by the Department of the Treasury on
accessible currency has just been released and should move us closer to the
day when people who are blind will have currency we can independently
identify.  Thanks again, to ACB.

We've gotten legislation re-introduced into the 111th Congress, HR734, which
would require minimal sound standards be researched and developed for hybrid
cars.  Because this is out there, the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration (NHTSA) is already beginning to conduct this research.
Because we, and the NFB have both pushed so hard for this legislation, we
have 124 co-sponsors on board.  NHTSA wouldn't have moved if they didn't
feel this legislation could move.

 What about all those lovely set top boxes, new fangled phones and other
things you can't use? Well ACB has advocated for the 21st Century
Telecommunications and Video Accessibility Act.  
That bill is HR3101.  It only has a few co-sponsors, but it was just
introduced.  So, get your member of congress to sign on as a co-sponsor.

ACB is responding to the closure, threatened closure, or threatened
consolidation of schools for the Blind.  We've created a task force which I
have the honor to chair to develop strategies to help our affiliates respond
when this issue comes up.

There's a lot more, so I invite you to go to www.acbradio.org and click or
press enter on the Mainstream link, then select your media player and you
are on your way.  That, by the way, is where you can go to hear the
convention sessions live starting tomorrow morning, July 6 at 7:30 a.m.
central time.

We were entertained by Amy Carroll-Web, who is a Star Florida Folk singer.
She did about five songs and had everyone singing and clapping along.  After
that, we were introduced to our two first time Durward K.  McDaniel award
recipients.  They are Mandy Holly from South Carolina, and Janice Mirand
from Texas.

Eight ACB Life Memberships were presented tonight as well.  If you want to
be an ACB Life Member, you pay $1,000 to the ACB National organization and
never have to pay national dues again.  
It's wonderful to see people making that kind of a commitment to the
organization.

Finally tonight, we had the first Credentials Committee report and the roll
call of affiliates.  We did learn that North Carolina successfully saved
their Governor Morrehead School for the Blind from being consolidated with
the School for the Deaf.

That's all for today.  It will be another busy day tomorrow and I'll be here
to tell you about it.

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
MSN Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype:  steve1963