20241102 American Council of the Blind of Maine Annual Convention Afternoon Sessions ACB Maine Business Meeting. All things Technology with Steve Sawczyn. ACB Community Calls Program with Natalie Couch. Door prizes, and raffle. Closing and Appreciation.

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20241102 American Council of the Blind of Maine Annual Convention Morning Sessions Welcome and introductions. 1st Reading of proposed constitution changes. Conversation with Scholarship recipients. Transportation Panel with Ron Brooks from Accessible Avenue, and Zoe Miller from Moving Maine. Employment panel with Alyssa Rowe Director of DBVI, and Lori Scharff from APH. Remembrances.

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20241019 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241019 Banquet Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

• Greetings and Sponsor Acknowledgements, Debby Hill, PCB President
• Drawing the 50/50 Conference Raffle
• Banquet speaker: Karla Gilbride, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• Title of presentation We Have the Power: Fighting for Access and Opportunity in the 21st Century
• PCB Award Presentations,
• PCB Merit Awards, Suzanne Erb, PCB Peer Engagement Team
• Door Prizes & Announcements
• Jason Castonguay presented his strategies for making good audio engineering accessible to those who are blind or who have low vision.

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20241019 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241019 Evening Sessions Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

• Caring for Pets When You Have Limited or No Vision, Debby Hill, and Dr. DeAnna Moore. If someone is blind or has low vision and they have not had training for a guide dog, what do they need to know to take care of a pet?
• This was a presentation plus audience participation.
• Achieve Greater Independence with the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, Lisa Salinger.
• In this session, members learned about the Meta Ray-Ban Smart glasses: their features and possible drawbacks, and how to incorporate them into your daily life.
• Door Prizes & Announcements
• Get Involved with Accessible Adaptive Sports.
• Blind Tennis with Jen Roth who explained the rules and availability of “Blind Tennis.”
• Creating and Promoting Your Chapter’s Identity, Thadeus Graham, PCB Outreach and Engagement Specialist.

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20241018 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241018 Evening Sessions Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

·      Practical Uses of AI With Your Favorite Screen Reader or Without! Jason Miller and Anthony Ballou.

o  Have you ever needed information really fast that is challenging to find? Let’s face it, as students, parents, and regular people, sometimes we may need information, or as blind people even forget things, more than we tend to admit. With today’s technology, helping with the kid’s math and science homework is no issue, did you say your fingers are tingling? Let’s get some possible reasons, slow cooked taco brisket, yes, we can get that recipe! This presentation described how to use the popular Chat GPT to research practical information, in fact, our presenter demonstrated how he used the Chat GPT to research, locate and find a lost love. Moreover, we used both a free and paid screen reader to gain information using the GPT technology. Lastly, another presenter used a mobile device (iPhone), with the GPT app, to have a live conversation. To summarize, this presentation was aimed at demonstrating how to use three different screen reading technologies with AI/GPT as a practical, and accessible resource of information, no matter what platform you choose, we aim to broaden your accessible horizons!

·      Door Prizes & Announcements

·      Worship: Recipes for Accessibility, Sue Lichtenfels, and panel.

o  This presentation was an exploration of accessibility within worship practices. Regardless of the religion or the tenants of a particular faith, we wanted to examine how people who are blind or visually impaired are accessing the basics: fellowship, volunteerism, participation, and leadership. What have their experiences been facing both physical and attitudinal barriers to full inclusion in the worship process? What are the tools and strategies they utilize to make worship accessible to them?

·      Door Prizes & Announcements

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20241018 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241018 Afternoon Sessions Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

• Accessible Appliances: A Menu of Options, Joe Fagnani with the PCB Technical Access Team.
• Audience members learned how many options they have for accessible appliances.
• Creating Art as Vision Changes, Lisa Busch with Lynda McKinney Lambert, Carol Farnsworth, and Tara Arlene Innmon.
• Members found out how to continue or begin practicing visual art while losing sight or totally blind. Enjoy learning the various art forms available to explore. Discover how three women overcame barriers and created paintings, felt art scenes and clay sculpture.
• Door Prizes
• SSP Services, Sherri Rodgers, and Heather Snyder.
• This session assisted members who are hard of hearing and blind to realize the independence of doing their own shopping with assistance, such as an SSP. You get up to 15 hours a month for shopping, banking, doctor visits, dining out, etc.
• A Resource Toolkit for Empowerment: an in-depth look at Community Resources, Suzanne Erb, Cathy Long and Pamela Shaw.
• Have you heard about some resources in passing, but would like more in depth information about them? In this workshop, Suzanne Erb, Cathy Long and Pamela Shaw looked at several resources for shopping, transportation, and community engagement. All these resources can be accessed both using a standard telephone, as well as with more high-tech devices. Not only did we explain how these resources can be accessed, but we provided background information about them. We discussed ACB community calls, several resources for obtaining food, and Go Go Grandparent—a transportation resource that you can use to access LYFT and Uber rides without using a smart phone or computer.

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20241018 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241018 Morning Sessions

Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

• Creating Accessible Environments for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Idan Meir and Darren Gladstone.
• This was a discussion around the challenges of making buildings more accessible and how the RightHear audio format signage system can help to turn buildings into more accessible spaces.
• Coming Out of the Dark:  Emergency Preparedness for Those Who Are Blind, Low Vision, and Deafblind, Valerie Claire Haven.
• This workshop presented information and resources individuals with visual impairments can use to keep themselves safe during emergencies and disasters. Topics include how first responders are trained to deal with individuals with disabilities, decisions we need to make before a crisis happens, and resources to increase safety.
• Door Prizes and Announcements
• High Tech, Low Tech, and No Tech: strategies for self-communication of important reminders, appointments and other valuable information, Doug Hunsinger, and the PCB Communications Team.
• The communications team panel presented methods of accomplishing important personal tasks. Whether it’s jotting down that phone number, making a grocery list, or keeping that doctor’s appointment, the team presented high tech, low-tech, and non-tech solutions for dealing with these tasks. We don’t have all the answers, so audience participation was requested throughout the session.

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20241017 2024 PCB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION 20241017 Evening Sessions Accessibility: A Buffet of Choices

PEER PASSINGS

We are saddened to report on the passing of the following PCB peers since our last conference. ·       Theresa Diehl, ·       Janet Facemyer, PRC ·       Connie Howe, GTCB ·       William J. Newman, PRC ·       Elderrean Paules, Keystone ·       Brian Rutherford, GTCB ·       Kathryn (Tina) Wassermann, GTCB ·       Elaine Young, LVCB ·       General Session Prelude ·       Call to Order and Welcome, Debby Hill, PCB President ·       Invocation & Necrology Remembrance, Jacqueline Wissinger, PCB Chaplain. ·       President’s Address, Debby Hill, PCB President. ·       Door Prizes & Announcements ·       Accessible Ballot, Democracy Live ·       Hearing Aids: Audiologist Prescribed VS Over the Counter Purchase, Tony Swartz with Dr. Rebecca Blaha. ·       This presentation explored the options, differences, benefits, and drawbacks of obtaining hearing aids relying on an audiologist opposed purchasing hearing aids over the counter. ·       Candidate Statements, PCB Nominating Team ·       Prepare for Saturday’s elections by getting to know more about each of the candidates through their pre-recorded remarks. ·       Door Prizes & Announcements

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Bay State Council of the Blind 2024 Spring Conference and Convention Agenda Grousbeck Center, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

Morning Session

• Welcome From Our Host, Perkins School for the Blind

• Opening Remarks David Kingsbury, President, BSCB

• Overview of Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Activities John Oliveira , Commissioner, MCB

• Participant Introductions

• State Government Initiatives to Improve Accessibility Ashley Bloom, Chief Information Technology Accessibility Officer, Executive Office of Technology Services and Security

• Updates from Two of Our Committees Ambassador Program: Pam Loch, Membership Committee chair Healthcare Resources web page: Nona Haroyan and Jerry Berrier, Advocacy Committee co-chairs

• First Reading of Proposed BSCB Code of Conduct Policy Brian Charlson and Jennifer Harnish

• lection of BSCB Officers Brian Charlson (to explain voting procedures) Mary Haroyan( to announce slate of nominees recommended by the Nominations Committee) Sharon Strzalkowski to chair election of President David Kingsbury to chair election of other officers

Afternoon Session

• Announcement of Election Results David Kingsbury Short comments by newly elected Officers

• Debate and Adoption of Proposed Code of Conduct Policy Brian Charlson

• Experience as a Book Author Andrew Leland, author of “The Country of the Blind,” interviewed by Kim Charlson

• Announcement of BSCB Awards Awards Committee: Kim Charlson (chair), Pam Loch, and Jerry Berrier

• Tips for Getting a Handle on Your Personal Finances Moe Carpenter, Penny Forward

• News from the Tech World Jeff Bishop, ACB Blind Information Technology Specialists affiliate President: Overview of BITS training activities and other member benefits David Kingsbury, Demo of the new JAWS PictureSmart with Generative AI feature for describing digital images

• Overview of Recent Perkins Library Activities Kim Charlson

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Re-experience the April 8, 2024 total eclipse of the sun through sound.

Harvard University’s Astronomy Department welcomes those who are blind or have low vision to experience the total eclipse of the sun, through use of the LightSound device which uses a technique called sonification, the process of converting data, in this case light intensity into sound.

The American Council of the Blind and ACB Media are proud to partner with Harvard to broadcast this amazing event where you experience and track through sound the eclipse as it reaches totality at different times from Texas through Vermont. Folks from many different organizations around the country connected their LightSound devices to Zoom as the eclipse reached totality at their location.

The podcast opens with an interview of Allyson Bieryla, Science Center Astronomy Lab and Telescope Manager, Harvard University Astronomer, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory who describes the LightSound Project, and demonstrates and explains the LighhtSound device.

For more information about the LightSound Project, go to The LightSound Project (harvard.edu)

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