Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Seattle Community Celebrates White Cane Safety Day

The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. held its second annual celebration of White Cane Safety Day on October 15th. Representatives from local blindness agencies, state, and local government joined Lighthouse employees and donors gathered at the newly opened Mount Baker Light Rail station to commemorate this day honoring the blind and Deaf-Blind communities.

Mayor Greg Nickels was on hand to deliver his official proclamation of White Cane Day while Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl served as the keynote speaker for the event. Ms. Earl's work on the Light Rail opened up a new avenue for accessible travel for blind and Deaf-Blind people throughout Seattle. "Sound Transit under Joni's leadership has been sensitive to the need for accessibility for all riders. In addition to establishing a Citizen's Accessibility Advisory Committee, features such as clear signage and audible / tactile pedestrian signals have resulted in a more user-friendly system," says Government Relations Specialist Mark Landreneau. "The Light Rail has allowed blind and Deaf-Blind people more independence and a greater quality of life."

Mark closed the event with the following thoughts: "At the heart of this event is the desire for ALL people, blind and Deaf-Blind among them, to be able to travel via bus and train throughout our city to their jobs, their homes, their daily activities independently and safely. By being here today, community members are saying this is a worthwhile endeavor."

Friday, October 16, 2009

Accessible Voting Centers Now Open in Seattle, Bellevue, and Tukwila!

King County now votes entirely by mail, and it's important that voters who need assistance know their options. King County operates three accessible voting centers designed for voters who need assistance casting their ballot.

Each center is operated by trained staff and offers equipment to make voting accessible for everyone. The touch screen accessible voting unit has lap paddle and sip-and-puff devices, and audio option, and large and high contrast front features to aid voters.

How do you plan to cast your ballot? If you are interested in using an accessible voting unit, plan your trip now. King County's accessible voting centers are located at the Elections office in Tukwila, Union Station in Seattle, and Bellevue City Hall. Locations are accessible by public transportation and parking is available.

For more information on accessible voting or the November 3 general election, please call 206-296-VOTE or visit www.kingcounty.gov/elections

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Lighthouse and The Boeing Company

We wanted to share with you an email we received from Bruce Johnson, a manager at The Boeing Company after we worked together on a manufacturing project:

"I just want to remind you of the great team you have at the Lighthouse. In the last twenty four hours your team supported an impossible requirement and built parts that go to an airplane that delivers to a customer tomorrow. Your team worked late into the night to complete the parts and then delivered them to the Delivery Center in Everett early this morning. Then you and your team, hosted the executive staff of the Fabrication Division with a wonderful tour of the facility. All the feedback I got was very inspirational and positive around the mission and capabilities of the Lighthouse. Thank you for all you and your team do in support of The Boeing Company."

Bruce Johnson
ME/IE Manager
Community Manufacturing Partnership
The Boeing Company

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Consortium of Schools and Philanthropists Gives Blind Students a Chance to Excel

CANnect Expands Access to Online Learning for Visually Impaired Students


Vancouver, WA The lack of quality educational opportunities for people who are blind/ visual impairments—both the 100,000 school-aged children as well some 18.5 million working-age Americans—is a serious problem that leads up to a seventy percent unemployment rate among this group. As education increasingly migrates to the online sphere, blind/visually impaired students face even greater barriers to learning.

Whether students are in a classroom or learning remotely, online resources now play a major role in all aspects of education. Many high schools and over 90 percent of public colleges and universities now teach courses online, and even in traditional learning environments, students are required to use online education tools such as Blackboard, Moodle, etc. to obtain course materials, participate in class discussions, and receive grades and feedback from instructors. Unfortunately, research has shown it is three times harder for a blind/visually impaired person than a sighted person to use the Internet, and most online learning content is not consciously designed with the usability and accessibility of blind/visually impaired students in mind.

Responding to this dilemma, in November 2008 the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded CANnect—a consortium of schools and philanthropists addressing the challenge of online learning for blind/visually impaired students—a $50,000 grant to explore joint programs between CANnect and the Sloan Consortium. The Sloan Foundation grant has allowed CANnect to institute three unprecedented projects that explored making online learning an increased reality for these students. These initiatives include:

- A comprehensive “How-to Guide” for creating accessible online learning content. The guide shows course content developers how to create learning materials that are usable and accessible for all students.

- A series of workshops aimed at raising the awareness of Web site developers and course designers to the principles of universal design—ensuring that web and online learning content is usable for all students.

- A study that examines the popular learning management system Moodle in terms of usability for blind/visually impaired students. While CANnect’s report found that the vast majority of Moodle is technically accessible, the report lays out ways in which the experience can be improved for blind/visually impaired students.

These new resources can change how educators and content developers design online learning programs, thus making such opportunities more accessible for all learners. Additionally, CANnect is working with its member institutions—the Carroll Center for the Blind, Washington State School for the Blind, and the Gibney Family Foundation—to expand online learning opportunities.

CANnect is a consortium of schools and philanthropists with years of experience. We bring together some of the best minds in education and training for the blind, in Internet business, and in online learning. We promote independent living by forging the most comprehensive, most accessible collection of online learning opportunities for people with visual impairments. Find out more at www.cannect.org

The Sloan Consortium is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online education. In addition to a range of services, Sloan-C maintains a catalog of degree and certificate programs; provides speakers and consultants to help institutions learn about online methodologies; hosts conferences and workshops to help implement and improve online programs; and offers variety of publications. Find out more at www.sloanconsortium.org.

Goalball Coming to Seattle!

Goalball is coming to Seattle! Come and check out this international sport played by blind people around the world. You can come to play or just find out about the sport Goalball.

When: 6-8pm on Friday evenings for 5 weeks, beginning September 25th and running until October 30th. We will not be playing Friday, October 16th due to a conflicting basketball tournament.

Where: Franklin High School auxiliary gym at 3013 South Mount Baker Boulevard

Dinner: Join us for an early dinner at 4:30pm before Goalball at Philly's on 3019 Martin Luther King Junior Way. They have great, reasonably priced sandwiches and are located right next to the Mount Baker Light Rail Station.

Transportation: You can take the Light Rail or the #7,8,9,42, or 48 buses to the area right around Franklin High School and Philly's.

Information: For more information or details please contact Pat Copeland at 206-282-3913

Friday, October 2, 2009

White Cane Safety Day

Carrying on a proud tradition first established with the 1964 White Cane Safety Day Proclamation, the Seattle Lighthouse will hold its second annual White Cane Safety Day on October 15th, 2009. The event, which will be held at the Mount Baker light rail station of Seattle's new light rail line, celebrates the expansion of accessible travel and independence for blind and Deaf-Blind people throughout Seattle.

As part of the event, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will offer an official proclamation commemorating the day, and Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl will deliver the keynote address. Other representatives from local blindness agencies, state, and local governments will also join Lighthouse donors and supporters at the event.

When: Thursday, October 15th, 10-11:30am

Location and Address: Mt. Baker Light Rail Station at 2415 S. McClellan Street (located on the west side of the three-way intersection of Rainer Avenue S, 23rd Avenue S, and S McClellan Street)

The Lighthouse worked closely with Sound Transit, the Seattle area's regional transit authority, to ensure the recently opened light rail line incorporated features that make it accessible for white cane users.

White Cane Day was first established by President Lyndon B. Johnson, honoring the commitment of our society to accessibility and opportunities for blind individuals and all people with disabilities. The White Cane is a symbol of independence, safety, and dignity for blind and Deaf-Blind people.

For more information about the event, contact Kathryn Wiegel at 206-436-2116 or kwiegel@seattlelh.org

Thursday, October 1, 2009

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. is proud to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The United States has been celebrating the work of disabled Americans since 1945, with the week-long recognition evolving into a month-long event. Each October, we acknowledge the employment needs and celebrate the contributions of individuals who are blind or have other disabilities.

Lighthouse Base Supply Centers are gearing up once again to commemorate NDEAM, celebrating the economic and personal independence gained through meaningful employment. Andy Bacon, who is visually impaired and the manager of our Fort Lewis Base Supply Center, has some innovative plans for commemorating NDEAM.

Andy plans to not only display NDEAM posters and distribute fliers, but is making efforts to get other blind Lighthouse employees involved with their customers. Blind and visually impaired employees will accompany interested customers through the store as they shop. Customers will wear vision simulation goggles to simulate the same visual impairments as the employee who is accompanying them. Customers will be able to experience visual conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (tunnel vision) and macular degeneration (lack of central vision). I applaud Andy's creativity in allowing his employees and customers to share this blindness awareness activity.

- Kirk Adams, President and CEO

Monday, September 14, 2009

Inland Northwest Lighthouse One Year Anniversary

On Wednesday, September 2nd, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the opening of the Inland Northwest Lighthouse (INL) in Spokane, WA.

Purchasing the former Tidy Man's grocery store in January of 2008, Lighthouse board, staff, and supporters moved briskly down the path of getting a manufacturing operation up and running.

The INL saw its first blind production employees hired in June of 2008. Last week we celebrated with 34 blind employees in Spokane.

INL employees are hard at work producing quality office products for the General Services Administration (GSA), including a line of communication boards (display easels, dry erase wall boards, and cork bulletin boards), paper trimmers, metal covered binders, and hanging file folders.


We were privileged to have some of our major customers from GSA visit us. Jack Wise and Linda Charo were in from GSA Region III - Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. We were also joined by Greg and Mark from our co-branding partner the Acco Corporation in Chicago. We are partnering with Acco to produce the highest quality communication boards in the industry. Four staff members from National Industries for the Blind in Alexandria, Virginia, joined the party, as did our Chelan based board of trustees member Don Mollett and his wife Betty.

While our employees, special out-of-town guests, and members of the Spokane community enjoyed a fantastic barbecue lunch in the sunshine, we were all entertained by the
Ravins band. This professional band plays gigs around Spokane, and their talented drummer is our very own blind production worker Kurt Lantz.

Kurt also presented Jack Wise with the 40,000th communication board made in our Spokane facility - a dry erase magnetic board with aluminum frame that Kurt and his co-workers produced.

After the presentation, "The King" made an appearance. Our new operations guy in Spokane, Doug Wever, is a talented musical impersonator. He wowed the crowd with three Elvis numbers in full Elvis regalia, and bestowed the sacred Elvis scarf on production worker Maria Bradford.




The celebration could not have been any better.


Looking forward to next year!


- Kirk Adams, President and CEO, Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

64th Annual Blinded Veterans Association Convention

Last week I attended the 64th Annual Blinded Veterans Association Convention in Portland, Oregon.

The conference kicked off with a presentation by Veterans Administration Secretary Eric Shinseki. He spoke of three main focus areas: accessibility, backlog, and homelessness. By accessibility he meant the ease with which each veteran can access the services they are entitled to. He said that of 23 million eligible veterans, only about 8 million receive the services they need.

Turning to backlog, Eric said that they measure this in terms of claims that are over 120 days old. When he came on board in January, there were around 487,000 cases in backlog. The number now is down to 300,000 cases. In July 85,000 cases were closed, but 88,000 new cases were opened as President Obama broadens the parameters of eligibility.

Homelessness among blinded veterans was also a big focus during the conference. Eric mentioned that there would be homeless veterans sleeping on the streets of Portland that very evening. Currently there are 131,000 homeless veterans in the United States. Eric and President Obama have pledged to bring that number to zero in five years through a multi-pronged attack, focusing on mental health, substance abuse counseling, and access to affortable housing.

The Lighthouse contributed $5,000 in support of Operation Peer Support (OPS). OPS works to bring recently blinded veterans from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq together at the annual convention. This year 11 blinded veterans and many family members attended. The OPS veterans enjoyed some great recreational activities, including white water rafting on the Deschutes River, as well as sessions focusing on the newest assistive technology for people who are blind and briefings on the supports available to them through the Veterans Administration.

I was on an employment panel Wednesday afternoon for the OPS group. I focuses on the message that blind people can successfully pursue nearly any imaginable career using the correct tools, technology, and with a solid grounding in blindness skills.

Thursday evening the favor was returned as a blinded veteran from Fayetteville, North Carolina, Dexter Durrante, schooled me in how to use my new KNFB Reader Mobile Cell Phone. I now know how to put contacts in my phone and how to check missed calls - Thanks Dexter!

Friday afternoon was the Father Carroll memorial lecture by Colonel Donald Gagliano, the new director of the VA's Eye Care Center of Excellence program. The Colonel is also an eye surgeon and talked about the fantastic battlefield emergency care people now receive, saving lives, but resulting in more survivors with disabilities. Father Carroll, namesake for the annual luncheon lecture and a pioneer in blindness services, helped found the Blinded Veterans Association in 1944. Prior to 1944, blind people used the white cane as a symbol of blindness only, holding it across their bodies in public. Father Carroll, working with newly blinded WWII service men, turned it into a mobility tool by introducing the techniques still used today with the long white cane.

Father Carroll also stared the Carroll Center for the blind in Newton, Massachusetts. The Lighthouse currently partners with the Carroll Center and uses their distance computer training program designed for blind computer users.

During the Father Carroll lunch, I chatted with Bob Campbell, a district director from Kansas City. I learned that the BVA is divided into six districts, with over 50 regions within these districts. There are six district directors who serve on board. In addition, five board officers are elected from the membership at large. There are approximately 30 staff people whose salaries are covered by fundraising.

Next year's BVA conference is in Washington, DC, and I am very much looking forward to continuing to build our relationship with this fine organization.

- Kirk Adams, President and CEO, Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

9th Helen Keller World Conference

The Ninth Helen Keller World Conference will be held in Uganda this year, from October 22nd -27th. An international event held every five years, the conference is used as a platform for discussing issues concerning Deaf-Blindness as a critical agenda in development and human rights. In 2005 the conference was held in Finland, and in 2014 Japan will host the event. This is the first Helen Keller Conference to be held on the African continent. Read more about this year's conference.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Save the Date for White Cane Day!

Save the date to celebrate National White Cane Day on Thursday, October 15th at 10am. Join the Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. in celebrating White Cane Safety Day at the Mt. Baker Light Rail Station. An annual event, White Cane Safety Day celebrates the independence of blind and Deaf-Blind individuals.

We are excited to have Sound Transit as a sponsor of this year's event, and will spotlight light rail's accessibility features during our walk at the Mt. Baker Light Rail Station. The Mt. Baker Station is located on the west side of the three-way intersection of Rainier Avenue S, 23rd Avenue S, and S McClellan Street. View Map.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Alphapointe Creates 15 Jobs

Fellow National Industries for the Blind member Alphapointe Association for the Blind created 15 new jobs in the Kansas City area. The unemployment rate for individuals who are blind in the United States is 70% during good economic times, making these new jobs in the Kansas City area particularly valuable. Watch a local news broadcast featuring Alphapointe.