In the News 10.29.12

FEDS CONSIDER RULE FOR ELECTRIC CAR NOISES TO ALERT BLIND PEDESTRIANS

 Federal regulator have proposed a rule to require electric and hybrid car manufacturers to add artificial noises that to alert pedestrians, in particular the blind, to slow-moving electric vehicles. Click here to read more.

RAY "SMARTPHONE FOR THE BLIND" FEATURES TACTILE & AUDIO INTERFACE

Qualcomm has partnered with Project RAY, a group devoted to improving the lives of blind and visually challenged people through technology, to create a smartphone specifically for those that can't see. Click here to read more. 

$2 MILLION PRIZE ANNOUNCED FOR CURE FOR BLINDNESS BY 2020 

Singer Art Garfunkel, a real estate magnate and an investor are putting $2 million in gold bullion on the line to inspire researchers to cure blindness by 2020, establishing through Johns Hopkins Medicine one of the world's largest prizes for a scientific development. Click here to read more. 

BLIND BOLIVIAN, 7 YEARS OLD, JAZZ PIANO PRODIGY

 The musician takes a seat on the piano bench and begins to play, his fingers finding the keys effortlessly. Jazz music fills the room and an audience sits enthralled, but no ordinary musician sits on the stage before them. Click here to read more.

Santa Barbara Mayor's Award

Whole Foods Santa Barbara and the Joshua Project Foundation accepted the 8th annual Mayor's award for their work in providing equal accessibility to their store including braille labeling for the visually impaired. This is the third Whole Foods Market to implement the Braille signage, next up is Tarzana, CA.

To see the story on Noozhawk, click here:

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/101912_mayors_awards_people_with_disabilities/

KCLU Interview

Josh met with Lance Orozco from local radio station, KCLU. Orozco spoke with board members of the Joshua Project Foundation including Bob Love, Evan and Christie Goldenberg, Ashley Eaton and Joshua. He aired his show Friday October 12 to coincide with the Santa Barbara Whole Foods award ceremony. 

To listen to the segment, please click here.

www.kclu.org/2012/10/12/supermarket-chain-adds-braille-to-grocery-aisles-thanks-to-effort-of-ventura-county-boy/

In the News 10.01.12

NEW TECHNOLOGY MAY BRING SIGHT BACK TO BLIND

On Friday, an FDA Panel recommended approval of a remarkable device that helps some blind people regain part of their sight. It's called the Argus 2 and it may allow those who have gone totally blind to regain some of their vision. Click here to read more. 

CINEMARK ANNOUNCES GREATER MOVIE THEATER ACCESSIBILITY FOR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. one of the world's largest motion picture exhibitors, today announced that it is providing an audio description option for people who are blind or have visual impairments, in all of its first-run theaters. Cinemark is installing audio description systems on a rolling basis across it's circuit in conjunction with the chain's conversion to an all-digital format. Click here to read more.

GOING BLIND IN A DIGITAL WORLD: THE ROAD TO RECLAIMING MY WEB SITE

There's no better time to go blind than the present, with all the benefits that digital technology can offer. But a lifetime in tech should have warned me - the promise of IT rarely holds up to the experience of having to use it. Click here to read more.

BEAUTY TIPS BENEFIT VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Paola Espinosa smiled from ear to ear as she got her nails done in bright pink polish. She then applied pomegranate lip gloss straight from the applicator, and finally sat as her hair was softly braided and twirled. A sweep of nail color, a dab of lip gloss and a perfect coif. All are steps many women take for granted in their endless quest for beauty.  Click here to read more.

In the News 09.24.12

REGAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP MAKES MOVIEGOING ACCESSIBLE TO ALL WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FROM SONY

Regal Entertainment Group, a leading motion picture exhibitor owning and operating the largest theatre circuit in the United States, announced a milestone with 200 theaters nationwide now offering the Sony Entertainment Access System at theaters across the country. Regal Entertainment Group is working exclusively with Sony for this cutting-edge technology to assist moviegoers who are deaf, hard of hearing, have low vision or are blind. Click here to read more.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND APPLAUDS RULING REQUIRING EQUAL PAY FOR DISABLED WORKERS

The National Federation of the Blind, the nation's leading advocate for fair wages for workers with disabilities, today applauded a recent ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, Davenport Division, finding that a turkey processing service violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by paying its disabled employees less than federal and state minimum wages. Click here to read more.

VISIONS OF A BLIND PHOTOGRAPHER

Sometimes when she's taking pictures, Sonia Soberats forgets she cannot see. Until 1986, Ms. Soberats was like many single immigrant mothers - living in Queens, working two jobs and watching her two children grow into flourishing adults. Life began to crumble, though, when ovarian cancer was diagnosed for her only daughter. Click here to read more and to view photographs.

BEN SIMONS: BRAILLE TRANSCRIBER

Imagine being able to read by running your fingers over a series of bumps. When you see Braille at traffic lights, or as you ride an elevator, have you ever wondered how it works? And who makes it? Ben Simons is a Braille transcriber. Click here to listen.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/20/4839576/national-federation-of-the-blind.html#storylink=cpy

In the News 09.17.12

BLIND AND ONLINE: PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION, FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED TECH USERS

Gayle Yarnall of Amesbury, Mass. is blind. Consequently, photography is not a skill she ever anticipated mastering. "But the iPhone will tell you if the face in the viewfinder is centered, or if [the face] is small or large," notes Yarnal, who runs a lifestyle consulting firm called Gayle Connected. Click here to read more.

SEEING BRAILLE INTO 21ST CENTURY

A Lake Zurich company has played a key role in redesigning a 1950s-era Braille writer into a 'talking' LCD screen device intended to make it easier for people to learn Braille. Click here to read more.

ARE SMARTPHONES KILLING BRAILLE?

New gadgets equipped with screenreaders are increasingly letting blind people listen to text. Is this contributing to "Braille illiteracy"? Click here to read more.

UTILIZING THE BLIND - A VAST UNTAPPED RESOURCE

Over the last few years, we have seen the highest levels of unemployment since the great depression. However, the numbers that are reported only tell one part of the story. Click here to read more.

BLINDFOLDING EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS TO PLAY BLIND FOOTBALL

What is the legacy of the Paralympics? Damon Rose spoke to a primary school teacher in East Anglia who used the Games to inspire his pupils and get them thinking and working differently with each other. Click here to read more.

BLIND CHEF CHRISTINE HA CROWNED 'MASTERCHEF' IN FINALE

From the moment she took those first tentative steps onto the national stage, chef Christine Ha captured America's heart. During Monday night's season 3 "MasterChef" finale, Ha won the title, $250,000 grand prize and a cookbook deal, beating out Josh Marks and about 100 other chefs. But that's not what makes her so inspiring. Ha is bind - the first contestant on the show. Click here to read more.

In the News 09.10.12

BLIND ACTIVISTS BOYCOTT GOODWILL OVER SUBMINIMUM PAY

 The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) escalated its pay protests against Goodwill Industries with August 25 sidewalk pickets at some 90 retail locations around the country. The informational packets are aimed at publicizing the NFB call for a consumer boycott against Goodwill over its policy of paying subminimum wages to thousand of workers with disabilities. Click here to read more.

FLASHES OF LIGHT SEEN BY BLIND WOMAN SPUR BIONIC EYE HOPE

 An Australian woman blinded by an inherited retina-damaging disease experienced some vision after doctors in Melbourne implanted an electronic device they say may lead to a bionic eye by 2014. Click here to read more.

MAGIC GLASSES LET BLIND SEE

Yvonne Felix was just seven when she was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, an inherited condition that can cause major vision loss. In the 24 years since, her eyesight has become progressively worse, to the point where she was declared legally blind. For 40 minutes one day last April, the Hamilton, Ont., woman could see again. Click here to read more.

NATIONAL FEDERATION FOR THE BLIND COLLABORATES WITH ACCUWEATHER

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of the blind in the United States, and its newspaper service for the blind, NFB-NEWSLINE, today announced a collaboration with AccuWeather, an online weather information service, to provide emergency weather alerts to blind and print-disabled subscribers throughout America. Click here to read more.

DANIEL KISH: A REAL-LIFE BATMAN

Daniel Kish has been blind since he was 13-months-old, but that hasn't stopped him living an incredibly active life that includes hiking and mountain-biking. To do this, he has perfected a form of human echolocation, using reflected sound waves to build a mental picture of his surroundings. When Daniel Kish clicks his tongue, the world answers back. Click here to read more. 

'MASTERCHEF' FINALIST CHRISTINE HA ON BEING BLIND, AND A FIGHTER

 Time and time again on this season of "MasterChef," chef Gordon Ramsay asked sight-impaired competitor Christine Ha: Am I being pranked? Are you really blind? Click here to read more.