Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB Director of Advocacy & Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, and ACB’s Membership Services Coordinator, Cindy Hollis, speak about the ACB Community. They discuss the logistics of facilitating and growing the ACB community, and how the ACB community is meeting the social and mental health needs of our members and the broader community. Clark and Cindy are joined by Sheila Young, President, Florida Council of the Blind, and Matthew Vollbrecht, Founder, The Tech Juggernaut, and Certified Apple Trainer.

To learn more and become involved with the ACB Community, visit: https://acb.org/acb-community-events.

DOT Final Rule: Air Travel with Service Animals Jan 07, 2021

Show notes

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark speaks with ACB experts regarding the Final Rule on Air Travel with Service Animals from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The DOT Final Rule goes into effect on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, and our panelists for this conversation included: Sarah Calhoun, Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI) President; Melanie Brunson, GDUI Advocacy Chair; Sheila Styron, ACB Transportation Committee Chair; and Becky Davidson, ACB Environmental Access Committee Chair.

2020 Accomplishments Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

Description:

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark speaks with ACB President, Dan Spoone, and Executive Director, Eric Bridges, about our organizational accomplishments throughout 2020. Despite the challenges thrust upon us by a global pandemic, ACB stayed true to our core values and created opportunities to embrace, engage, and empower our community. To help us build upon our 2020 accomplishments and carry this momentum into the New Year, please consider ACB in your end-of-year giving by visiting: https://acb.org/give2020.

The Protection & Advocacy System Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Description:

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark discuss an important resource that can be used by all ACB members and people with disabilities. With special guests from Cyrus Huncharek, National Disability Rights Network, and Thomas Crishon, Indiana Disability Rights, we learn about the federally mandated protection and advocacy (P&A) services available to people with disabilities. The P&A system offers free disability-related legal and advocacy services to residents of their region. To find out more about the P&A in your area, visit: www.ndrn.org.

To access a transcript of this podcast, visit: https://acb.org/acb-advocacy-update-12-10-20-transcript.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

Episode Notes

In honor of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ACB staff member Claire Stanley spoke with two ACB members, Kim Charlson and Mitch Pomerantz. Both Kim and Mitch have held, or currently hold, leadership positions in the World Blind Union (WBU). To celebrate the lives of disabled persons from around the globe, listeners of this episode will learn more about what WBU does.

Internet Accessibility and Digital Inclusion Nov 19, 2020

Show notes

Episode Notes

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark speak with Rachel Weisberg, Staff Attorney for Equip for Equality, the state protection and advocacy agency for Illinois. Rachel shares with us the legal landscape for Internet and website accessibility and walks us through several legal scenarios for digital workplace inclusion.

To find the protection and advocacy agency in your state, please visit: https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/.

ACB Salutes Our Veterans Nov 12, 2020

Show notes

Episode Notes

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark get to know the organizations supporting our blind and visually impaired veterans. First, they speak with Don Overton, President, Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) about BVA’s peer support network and advocacy initiatives. Then, they speak with ACB’s own Tyson Ernst, acting President, Visually Impaired Veterans of America (VIVA) regarding the VIVA affiliate and the tools and resources available to visually impaired veterans. To learn more about BVA, please visit: www.bva.org. To learn more and become involved with VIVA, please send an email to veteransofacb@gmail.com.

Audio Description Update Nov 05, 2020

Show notes

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark discuss the recent updates in the audio description marketplace. They speak with Sam Joehl, President, ACB of Virginia, about the work of the Federal Communications Commission and their Disability Advisory Committee, and they speak with Dr. Joel Snyder, Director, ACB’s Audio Description Project about ACB’s ongoing work to increase audio description availability. To learn more about audio description innovations and to know what content is audio described, visit www.acb.org/adp.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal have the great opportunity to speak with Chairman Neil Romano from the National Council on Disability (NCD). In celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the three talk about the low rate of employed persons with disabilities, the AbilityOne program, the work of NCD, and other issues concerning employment. #NDEAM

Flattening the Inaccessibility Curve Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal speak with Kirk Adams, the CEO and President of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), about the “Flattening the Inaccessibility Curve” research project. The study, which can be found at https://flatteninaccessibility.com, explores the experiences of adults who are blind or have low vision during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey covered areas of healthcare, transportation, employment, education, social experiences, access to meals, food, supplies, and voting.