[accesscomp] FW: World Blind Union and "Useful Resources For Blind And Visually Impaired People | Just your average Girl", Dan's tip for April 14 2016

From: "Robert Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <aw-announcements@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:51:06 -0700

Robert Acosta, President

Helping Hands for the Blind

(818) 998-0044

www.helpinghands4theblind.org

From: dan Thompson [mailto:dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 3:31 PM
To: dan Thompson
Subject: World Blind Union and "Useful Resources For Blind And Visually
Impaired People | Just your average Girl", Dan's tip for April 14 2016

Tech terms for today:

CKI: Refers to an error in the Chair Keyboard Interface. Think about what
connects the chair to the keyboard.

Crack: To compromise or suborn a piece of software, website, or remote
system with malicious intent.

FUBAR: From an old military jargon term, this means Fouled Up Beyond All
Repair, or at least close enough to that so my editor wont get mad at me.

Fact of the day:

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because
when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all
the books that would occupy the building.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Pondering thoughts:

Why do they call it the Department of Interior when they are in charge of
everything outdoors?

Todays offering is made up of two articles

The start of each article is marked with an asterisk.

The first article is about the world union of blindness organizzations.

The second article is filled with extremely useful information for the
parent of a visually impaired  child and/or an a blind and/or low vision
person looking for more resources to become independent and productive.

There are several sections in this second offering.  .  The start of each
heading is marked with a greater-than sign.

*World Blind Union

by Karen Santiago a writer of the "Blind Perspective" found at:

-than <http://www.theblindperspective.com/current.htm>  sign.  So using a
asterisk or greater-than in your word processors find and replace feature
will allow you to jump from one section.

Have a great day.

*World Blind Union

By Karen from the staff of the Blind Perspective April 2016 Issue.

You can send an email to  Karen at

karen@theblindperspective

I had the pleasure of interviewing Penny Hartin. She is the Chief Executive
Officer for the World blind Union headquarters, located in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada.

The World Blind Union is an organization that represents the needs and views
of partially sighted and blind people throughout the world. This is a
membership organization that brings together organizations of and for the
blind in about 190 countries in the world.

The World Council for the Welfare of the Blind was an organization that
brought Together service organizations. The International Federation of the
Blind was an organization that brought together the consumer based
organizations. Those 2 bodies merged together in 1984to form the World Blind
Union. They thought that by joining together as a, of and for the blind
organization, they would have a much stronger voice across the world.

The World Blind Union is made up of memberships from national or
international organizations that are of and for the blind. Members learn and
share their expertise about the issues around the world that are relevant
topics to blindness. These members have voting rights. There are no
individual memberships. However, people are encouraged to participate in
activities and events.

The World Blind Unions funding is primarily through membership fees. Other
funding sources are member donations, foundations, project funding, and
other organizations.

The WBU is divided into six regions based on linguistics and geographical
location. The regions are; Europe, Africa, Asia, Asia- Pacific, Latin
America (Spanish speaking), and North America & the Caribbeans.

The World blind Union has four main priorities in the following areas:

-Human rights & Representation: working on issues associated with
implementing human rights in all societies, creating awareness and educating
people as to their rights to access education, healthcare, and even the
ability to vote along with other services provided by the government to its
citizens

-Capacity Building: develop and increase our members capacity to better
manage their organization and serve their blind citizens

-Accessibility: access to information; in braille, large print, and audio,
access to environment; safe access to all public & private places &
buildings, and access to technology; affordable products for communicating
and receiving information

-Resource Sharing & Collaboration: informing and working together with
agencies & organizations about different resources

The WBU strongly advocates with The United Nations and different UN
agencies. Such agencies include Convention on the rights of persons with
disabilities (CRPD), UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), and the
International Labor Organization. The WBU advocates to promote more equal
opportunities for people who live in the developing world. In addition, they
provide intervention to the different UN agencies by talking about what the
particular issues are that blind individuals face.

For the last 15 years, on an international level international Development
has been based on what were called the millennium development goals. These
eight goals were intended to help alleviate hunger, poverty and some other
issues at a global level. In turn, these goals influenced how development
money was spent, both by the UN System and by the countries that provide
development assistance. The United States Agency for the International
Development (USAID), is a good example of this.

In 2015 those goals expired, and efforts had been underway for a few years
to address the following questions. What happens after 2015? WHAT WILL THE
NEW DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK LOOK LIKE? WHAT ISSUES will be included? How do we
ensure that people with disabilities arent left behind this time? After
collaborating with other international agencies, the result now is that
disability is included in the new development framework. This now means that
when development money is being spent in developing countries to help get
them to a higher level of participation, services, programs, and so on, that
people with disabilities will be included in the programming. In addition,
the government will have to report on what they are actually doing for
people with disabilities, just as they do for other Marginalize or
vulnerable groups.

The UNCRPD, has been ratified in over 150 countries. There are particular
articles and requirements in it that countries have to report on in terms of
what they are doing to improve the situations of people with disabilities.
The United States has not ratified it yet.

Marrakesh Treaty; Right to read campaign: The World Blind Union has launched
a campaign to advocate for an update to international copyright laws
pertaining to reading materials in accessible formats for blind, low vision,
and print disabled individuals. Over 90% of all published materials cannot
be read by blind or print-disabled people, leading to a "book famine". We
need to be able to reproduce published materials into accessible formats,
such as Braille, large print, and audio editions, to address the book
famine, however, current copyright rules within most countries prevent this.

The Marrakesh Treaty was signed on June 28, 2013 in Morocco. It has been
ratified by 15 countries, the United States is not one of them. Once this
treaty is ratified by 20 countries, it will come into force and allow for an
increase of materials in accessible formats through cross-border sharing and
the increased production of books in more countries.

Go to the website to see if your country is one who has already ratified the
treaty. If not, you can browse the page to get useful links to help with the
cause.

Every four years the World Blind Union has a general assembly. This August
it will be held in Orlando, Florida, the first time being in the United
States. This multi day meeting will bring together members from all around
the world. They gather together to discuss and learn about different issues
that are relevant to people who are blind and partially sighted.

The World blind Union website is full of great information, statistics, and
resources. Here are some of the things you can find on:
www.worldblindunion.org

-Braille information & materials

-employment resources

-Global blindness facts

-Blindness & disabilities

*Welcome to Life of a Blind girl.

Useful Resources For Blind And Visually Impaired People | Just your average
blind girl

<https://lifeofablindgirl.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/useful-resources-for-blin
d-and-visually-i>
https://lifeofablindgirl.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/useful-resources-for-blind
-and-visually-impaired-people/

Feel free to contact Holly  if you have any questions, feedback, blog post
suggestions or anything else.

You can reach me at:

Facebook  <http://www.facebook.com/lifeofablindgirl>
http://www.facebook.com/lifeofablindgirl

Twitter  <http://www.twitter.com/hollynataliet>
http://www.twitter.com/hollynataliet

Instagram  <http://instagram.com/lifeofablindgirl>
http://instagram.com/lifeofablindgirl

or feel free to send me an email lifeofablindgirl@xxxxxxxxx

The following is from the web site

Hi everyone,

I have created a useful resource pack for blind and visually impaired
people. It has become more apparent to me over the years that a lot of the
resources and information that blind and visually impaired people often need
isnt in one place and we often have to go searching for it so I tried to
put something together that will hopefully help other blind and visually
impaired people like myself. Ive tried to cover things from

useful websites, to apps, to equipment to good Facebook groups to be a part

of. Ill keep adding to the list so keep checking back for updates! Ill let
you know when Ive updated on my <http://www.facebook.com/lifeofablindgirl>
Facebook and <http://www.twitter.com/hollynataliet> Twitter so be sure to
check those as well.

If you think Ive missed anything or have something that you find very
useful and would like to share with others please do let me know by
Contacting me through one of the options shown above.

There is so much out there for blind and visually impaired people that it is
impossible to cover everything but I have tried my best to give you an
extensive range of useful resources.

I hope you find this of use and feel free to share with anyone that you
think might benefit from this!

Note: Ive put each category in headings so if you are using a screen-reader
you can press the letter H to skip to each heading or change the rotor on
Apple products to get to each heading as well. The different headings
include: useful websites, screen-readers, magnification software, music
software, equipment, iOS/OSX apps and Facebook groups.

Useful websites

Robobraille

<http://robobraille.org/> http://robobraille.org/

This allows people to convert files into other formats. For example,
converting a word document into audio. This website is especially useful if
you have to read a long document or for different methods of revising.

Load2Learn

<https://www.load2learn.org.uk/> https://www.load2learn.org.uk/

They provide books in accessible formats for blind and visually impaired
people and other disabilities such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. Blind or
visually impaired people can access the books in PDF format or sometimes in
word format and read them with a screen-reader or magnifier.

Living Paintings

<http://www.livingpaintings.org/> http://www.livingpaintings.org

A great charity that produces a wide selection of touch to see books for
blind and visually impaired people of all ages.

RNIB Overdrive

<http://www.rnib.org.uk/talking-books-digital-download>
http://www.rnib.org.uk/talking-books-digital-download

This allows blind and visually impaired people to listen to talking books,
EBooks, talking magazines and podcasts on their phone, tablet or computer.
The overdrive service is also available for other libraries, for example a
library in your local area.

Cool Blind Tech

<https://www.coolblindtech.com/> https://www.coolblindtech.com/

This website gives you the latest information in assistive technology
news, reviews and podcasts.

Apple Vis

<http://www.applevis.com/> www.applevis.com

This website is designed especially for blind and visually impaired people
who use Apple products. It gives you the latest news, reviews, information
on new products/iOS and OSX updates, podcasts, blogs and it has a forum
where users can ask any questions about any apple product or app.

RLSB (Royal London Society for Blind People)

<http://www.rlsb.org.uk/tech-hub/five-tips-for-getting-started-with-assistiv
e-technology>
http://www.rlsb.org.uk/tech-hub/five-tips-for-getting-started-with-assistive
-technology

RLSB have a tech hub, offering some great tips on assistive technology. Be
sure to check out their other services as well!

Paths to Literacy

<http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/> http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/

They provide resources for families and educators for children who are blind
or visually impaired.

Positive Eye

<http://www.positiveeye.co.uk/> http://www.positiveeye.co.uk/

Provides education and training for professionals working with blind and
visually impaired people.

WonderBaby

<http://www.wonderbaby.org/> http://www.wonderbaby.org/

Provides advice, support and resources for parents of blind/visually
impaired and disabled children.

The Vision Foundation

<https://www.facebook.com/TheVisionFdn/>
https://www.facebook.com/TheVisionFdn/

A support network for families of children with visual impairments who may
also have additional learning difficulties and/or disabilities, in the
Barnsley district.

Toy Like Me

<https://www.facebook.com/toylikeme/> https://www.facebook.com/toylikeme/

Celebrating children with disabilities in toys.

Screen-readers

There are many screen-readers out there but here are the main ones. There
are some paid and some free.

Paid:

Jaws

ScreenReader (previously known as Supernova)

Free:

NVDA

Windows Eyes

Apple VoiceOver (included in all Apple products)

Magnification software

I am not sure of the cost implications as I do not use this software.

Video magnifiers

Screen magnification

Magic screen magnification

Zoom text

Music software

Garage Band

This is on all Apple products, it is fully accessible for blind and visually
impaired users. It allows them to write their own songs and much more.

Dancing Dots

This is software that you install onto your windows computer. It has similar
features to garage band. It also allows users to convert printed music into
braille. Unlike Garage Band which is free, Dancing Dots software is not.

Sibelius

This is a well-known music software that many people use that is also
accessible for blind and visually impaired people.

A brilliant charity worth noting is The Amber Trust they help blind and
visually impaired people reach their musical goals and reach their full
potential. They provide funding for music software, equipment and lessons.

<http://www.ambertrust.org/> http://www.ambertrust.org/

Equipment

There is so much equipment out there that it is impossible to list
everything but here are a few examples of very useful equipment.

Braille display

A braille display puts exactly what is on a computer, phone or tablet screen
into braille on a device. It works alongside screen-readers such as Jaws,
NVDA and Apple VoiceOver. Braille displays come with a Perkins style
keyboard so users can either type using the computer keyboard or the braille
display keyboard.

Braille Note-taker

A braille note taker is like a laptop but instead of it having a screen,
everything is displayed in braille and also has a built in screen-reader.
There are two types of braille note-takers: a Perkins-style keyboard and one
with a QWERTY style keyboard.

ClearReader

This uses text-to-speech software to read printed documents out loud. For
example, books, newspapers, magazines, letters and so much more. There are
many different interpretations of these from various developers and
companies.

Pen Friend

This is a labelling tool, it allows people to create personalised audio
labels of things around the home. Stick a label on a product, record an
audio clip of what it is and next time you need to know, scan the pen friend
on the label and it reads the audio message out loud.

Daisy players

This is a way of reading talking books; either on a cd or other formats.

iOS/OSX Apps

A lot of these are available on Android as well.

Apps for blind and visually impaired people:

Tap Tap See

This app helps blind and visually impaired people recognise objects and
other things, for example tins of fruit or books. Point your iPhone camera
to a tin of fruit for example, and VoiceOver will announce what it is.

Cam Find

This app is a low budget version of Tap Tap See.

Aipoly Vision

This app tells users names of objects and you can also change the setting
easily to say colours. It works in real time so this is also an added bonus.
It uses artificial intelligence where users can also edit the description if
the app gets it wrong. The longer the description, the more helpful it is to
yourself and other users.

KNFB Reader

This app is like a ClearReader, scan a printed document and it uses
text-to-speech software to read out loud what is on the page. For example,
it will read letters/menus.

Prizmo

This does the same thing as KNFB Reader but it is a lot cheaper. Despite the
price difference it is still great.

Voice Dream Reader

With this app users can import word documents, pdf documents etc and it uses
text-to-speech software to read them out loud.

Voice Dream Writer

This app helps people proofread essays and anything else, it is also great
for helping people structure essays.

LookTel Money Reader

This app identifies money, it is great for telling the difference between a
£5 note or a £20 note etc.

VIA

This is a good app directory for accessible games and all kinds of apps
designed for the blind and visually impaired.

Ariadne GPS

This is a GPS app for blind and visually impaired people. It helps you
navigate places, save routes and so much more.

BlindSquare GPS

This is the same as Ariadne GPS, it does have some differences and some
similarities. It can help you identify travel, restaurants, shops and uses
Google maps/Apple maps to help you navigate to a particular place.

RNIB Overdrive

This was covered in the useful website section. The app is fully accessible
for blind and visually impaired users.

Selfiex

Allows blind and visually impaired people to take selfies independently.

Be My Eyes

Allows blind or visually impaired people to contact sighted volunteers via
live video chat for help identifying things.

Apps that are accessible:

National rail

This app tells you what stops you are at and it also tells you train times.

The Train Line

This allows you to book tickets and is accessible with VoiceOver.

Bus checker

This app tells you what bus is coming next at a bus stop.

Pages (Apples version of Microsoft Word)

It allows you to write documents. It also comes with a range of templates,
for example CV or letter templates which are really useful. This is
available on all iOS devices and on Mac.

Kindle

It allows you to read books from Amazons Kindle website using VoiceOver.
The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver.

Audible

It gives you access to Amazons audible website that has a huge range of
audiobooks. It is also fully accessible with VoiceOver.

Twitter

This is a social networking website.

Facebook

Again, this is a social networking website. Facebook have now released a
feature where images are described to blind or partially sighted people
using a screen-reader.

Google

This is a search engine that is fully accessible.

Youtube

Allows people to watch and upload videos.

Spotify

Allows users to listen to music from just about any genre, artist or
playlist.

WhatsApp

A great app for texting/voice messaging people.

Shazam

Identifies songs.

WordPress

Great for writing blogs and reading other people.

Netflix

Users can watch a huge range of TV shows and films. It also has audio
description in a lot of its content which is great.

Facebook groups

There are many Facebook groups out there for blind and visually people or
parents/carers of children or young people living with sight loss. You can
post questions and help each other out, they are quite like forums.

Here are a list of some of them:

British Blind Community

Blind and Vision Impaired Community

VI Talk

iPhone and iPad Apps for the Blind and Visually Impaired

JAWS screen reader users

VIP Hair & Make-up

Playful explorations for children with visual impairment

Blind penpals

YoungRNIB

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

(James 4: 7-8, NIV)

https://gloria.tv/?media=479543&language=3SsSaAhCEfb

If you wish to subscribe to my Daily Devotion "Hotspot with God" or "Dan's
Tips" send an email to dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx with either "subscribe dan's
tips" or "Hotspot with God" in the subject line.

[accesscomp] FW: World Blind Union and "Useful Resources For Blind And Visually Impaired People | Just your average Girl", Dan's tip for April 14 2016

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