One thing that personally interested me with this year's awards is that
Apple was one of the winners, and deservedly so. Another article I read
indicated that Jordyn Castor, a blind engineer who works at Apple, was
at ASB to accept the award on behalf of the team. Was anybody from this
list at the ceremony? I would have been honored to have met this woman
but I didn't know that Apple had won nor that she was in Philly. Here's
the info, from ASB's Web site.
Associated Services for the Blind Celebrates The 57th Annual Louis
Braille Awards
The 57th Annual Louis Braille Awards
The Rittenhouse Hotel
210 West Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Friday, January 27, 2017, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
HISTORY OF THE LOUIS BRAILLE AWARD
Since 1959, Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
(ASB) has annually bestowed the prestigious Louis Braille Award to honor
individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions
on behalf of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The award
has also been given to people who are blind or visually impaired who
have overcome great odds to make outstanding achievements and have
provided inspiration to others living with a visual disability. Proceeds
raised from the awards ceremony directly benefit ASB’s programs and
services.
2017 Honorary Chair
Honorary Chair Sashi Reddi, Founder of SRI Capital
Sashi was the CEO and founder of AppLabs, a global software testing
company based out of Philadelphia which was later acquired by Computer
Sciences Corporation (CSC) in September of 2011. Post-acquisition, Sashi
took over leadership of the Independent Testing Services division within
CSC, and in September 2012 was elevated to lead CSC’s Big Data and
Analytics business. Currently Sashi is the Managing Partner of SRI
Capital. SRI Capital is a seed stage fund invested in various
technology and media companies in the US, UK and India.
Sashi serves on the Advisory Board for the Wharton school where he is a
Trustee. He is on the Advisory Board for T-Hub which is slated to
become the largest incubator in India. Sashi is also on the Board of
Directors for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA which
supported the growth of over 1,750 regional technology businesses over
the last 30 years.
Most notably, Sashi is the Founder of TiE Philadelphia which is one of
the most influential entrepreneurship organizations globally with over
10,000 members.
2017 LOUIS BRAILLE AWARDS HONOREES
Individual Award Honoree Paul Schroeder - Consultant and Former VP,
Programs and Policy Group, American Foundation for the Blind
As former Vice President of Programs and Policy, Paul oversaw all of the
American Foundation for the Blind’s (AFB) national programmatic efforts
in aging, education, employment, literacy, and technology, as well as
AFB’s public policy and research agendas. Paul was intimately involved
in AFB’s technology
initiatives, including efforts to encourage the development of
mainstream products and services that are accessible for people who are
blind or have low vision.
Mr. Schroeder also collaborates with several other organizations working
on policy matters in the field of blindness and visual impairment. He
is regularly called upon to provide input on a variety of issues to
governmental agencies, private industry, and nonprofit organizations.
His policy expertise and activities include the areas of
telecommunications and technology policy, vocational rehabilitation,
education, and public health. Mr. Schroeder is also the senior
contributing editor for AccessWorld: Technology for Consumers with
Visual Impairments, published by AFB Press.
Special Recognition Award Honoree Jeremy Poincenot - World Blind Golf
Champion
& Inspirational Speaker
Jeremy is a World Blind Golf Champion. At 19, Jeremy was a sophomore at
San Diego State University with 20/20 vision. Without warning and in the
span of a few months, Jeremy lost central vision in his right eye,
followed by his left. His vision loss was the result of a rare genetic
disorder called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a disease
that affects a mere 100 people in the United States each year with no
treatment nor cure.
Within a year after losing his eyesight, Jeremy won the World Blind Golf
Championships in England. Today, he strives to raise awareness for
LHON, and has created the C.U.R.E. ride (Cycling Under Reduced
Eyesight), an annual fundraising bike ride that has raised over $200,000
for LHON research. Since losing his vision, Jeremy has been featured on
ABC’s 20/20, CNN.com, and MTV’s True Life. Additionally, he has
presented motivational speeches to many companies including Wells Fargo,
Aflac, Honda, and John Hancock where he has delivered the message that
life is about making choices, and if you choose to have a positive
outlook, resolute purpose, and a hint of humor, anything and everything
is possible.
Individual Award Honoree Chris Downey - AIA, Architecture for the Blind
With 20 years of architectural practice before losing all sight in 2008,
Chris Downey now leverages his disability as a unique strength
specializing in projects rooted in universal design and in projects that
are specific to or challenging for people who are blind and visually
impaired. Whether rehabilitation or transit centers, eye clinics, or
museums, he designs environments that are accessible with particular
care and focus on visual accessibility and the non-visual experience.
In all cases, Chris engages the principles of universal design
advocating further toward his concept of universal delight.
Corporate Award Honoree Apple
Apple believes technology should be accessible to everyone. Intuitive by
design, Macs, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch and Apple TV come
with accessibility features built right in, making them powerful and
affordable assistive devices. Apple built the world’s first full
featured screen reader directly into an operating system in the Mac,
made the first touchscreen accessible with iPhone, and delivered the
first accessible consumer wearable with Apple Watch - all built to be
set-up out-of-the box without sighted assistance. Apple also supports
braille across Mac and iOS devices with braille tables for more than 25
languages and plug-and-play connectivity for over 70 models of
refreshable braille displays. Learn more:
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/.
--
David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
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