San Antonio Lighthouse 'Simply Amazed'

San Antonio Lighthouse President and CEO, Mike Gilliam, and Vice President of Manufacturing, Bob Buckley, visited the Seattle Lighthouse in April and had this to say:

“I have been in a lot of Lighthouses and Goodwills, but never have seen a shop so technically advanced and accessible. Seattle was the perfect place to take Bob for his first visit. Wish I had come sooner. Now he (and I) truly know that just about everything is possible if you just focus on providing the right tools and find the right partners.

You have provided new inspiration for us as to what we can eventually become if we follow your lead. Thanks for raising the bar temporarily out of sight. Sometimes you need that target way out there to give you the visions to strive for.

Thanks again. We were simply amazed.” -Mike Gilliam, President, San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind.

An affiliated agency, The San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of Texas. Serving people who are blind or visually impaired for over 75 years, the San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind provides rehabilitation services to over 3,500 people who are blind, as well as employment opportunities through its light manufacturing assembly plant and 13 Base Service Centers on 11 military installations.

Like The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., The San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind produces products under contract with the Federal Government through the AbilityOne Program. Their product mix includes: Mechanical Pencils, Rollerball Pens, Highlighters, Clam Clip System Fastening Products, Military Helmet-Retention Assemblies, Aerospace Insulation Blankets, U.S. Postal Straps, Navy Fleece Parka Liners, Spill Kits and Absorbent Products, Aviation Oil Analysis Kits and other textile apparel items. Through its production facility, the San Antonio Lighthouse also offers employment to individuals that are blind or legally blind through assembling, machine operation, warehousing, quality assurance, maintenance, engineering, management and sewing machine operation.

We Have Extended the Criteria and Deadline for our Annual Art Contest!

Due to increased interest in this year’s contest, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. has decided to extend the deadline and criteria for our Annual Art Contest. The deadline for submissions has been extended to Monday, March 1^st 2010. We are also opening up the criteria for the contest to include visual art as well as tactile art. The contest is open to ALL artists with disabilities within the state of Washington, collaborating with artists from VSA Arts of Washington and The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.

The winning art pieces will be displayed at an art show held on March 12, 2010 at The 2100 Building, located at 2100 24th Ave S in Seattle. Winning pieces will then be donated and sold at the Redefining Vision Auction on April 10, 2010. Remaining pieces will be available for pick-up on

March 15^th, 2010. Artists may choose to donate their submissions that did not win to be displayed in our Braille Library, located at Seattle Lighthouse.

Exhibit Eligibility:

· This juried art exhibit is open to all persons with disabilities age 14 and up throughout the state of Washington.

· Artwork must be original.

· One (1) entry per applicant will be accepted.

If you have a question about eligibility of an item, please contact Robert Hanna at 206-436-2149 or email rhanna@seattlelh.org.

Judging:

The works of art chosen will be viewed by a panel of experts and prizes will be awarded. It is expected that these works of art will be donated to Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation and will be exhibited for sale at the Annual Seattle Lighthouse Dinner/Auction on April 10, 2010. Proceeds from the sale of the art will go to the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation in support of their mission.

Prizes:

1^st Place Winner - $250

2^nd Place Winner - $100

3^rd Place Winner - $50

Submission deadline:

Artwork must be delivered to Seattle Lighthouse no later than March 1st, 2010. Artists must complete the artist profile and artist procurement form attached. These may be submitted via email as attachments to Robert Hanna at rhanna@seattlelh.org.

Please ship artwork to:

The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.

P.O. Box 14959

Seattle WA 98114

Or arrange delivery of artwork to The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. at:

2501 South Plum Street

Seattle WA 98144

Winner Notification:

Notification of the judging results will be made to the artists no later than March 5, 2010.

All materials used in artwork must be self-funded. The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. will not provide funds to spend on the projects.

Winning submissions will be donated to the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation to be exhibited for sale at the annual Seattle Lighthouse Redefining Vision Dinner and Auction on April 10th, 2010. Proceeds from the sale of artwork at the auction directly support the Lighthouse mission of creating and enhancing opportunities for independence and self-sufficiently of people who are blind, Deaf-Blind, and blind with other disabilities. Your generous donation of time and talent sustains and expands existing programs and new opportunities for blind and Deaf-Blind individuals in our community. The Lighthouse art show is also an excellent way to showcase your talent, with donated artworks featured in the auction catalogue and in Lighthouse publications that reach over 5,000 community members and local residents annually.

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."

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

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

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.