project coordinator, National Center for

Leadership in Visual Impairment, Department of Graduate Studies in Vision

Impairment, Pennsylvania College of
Optometry, 8360 Old York Road, Elkins
Park, PA 19027; e-mail: <mgarber(g
pco.edu>; phone: 215-780-1502; web site:
<www.pco.edu/nclvi.htm>.

Technology and employment

AFB TECH WINS $i MILLION TO COMBAT
ACCESS BARRIERS

The AFB Technology and Employment Center at Huntington (AFB

TECH)located in West Virginia
recently received $1 million in federal
funding to address technology and electronic access barriers faced by people who
are blind or visually impaired. The funding, awarded by the U.S. Department of
Labor in December 2004, was made possible by West Virginia Senator Robert C.
Byrd, who secured congressional approval for the grant in early 2004. "AFB
TECH works to open new opportunities
for blind and visually impaired persons,
and I am proud to help this organization
accomplish its goals," said Senator Byrd.
"More than two-thirds of working-age
blind or severely visually impaired Americans are not employed, largely due to a
lack of training opportunities and significant obstacles faced in the workforce. . . .
The Huntington center is instrumental in
helping to address two of the biggest barriers facing the growing blind populationemployment and technology."
The funding will be used by AFB
TECH to create a product evaluation program that concentrates on the accessibility
of the office equipment utilized by employed people who are blind or visually
impaired. There will also be a new project
to evaluate small-screen accessibility by vi184

sually impaired people. These "small

screens" are present on various devices, including cell phones; and office equipment,
such as fax machines, Xerox machines,
and digital scanners. In addition, the funding will allow CareerConnectan online
employment resource of more than 1,000
working blind and visually impaired individuals who, among other roles, serve as
mentors for blind or visually impaired persons seeking employmentto expand its
database. There will also be increased
training and materials made available to
public school teachers of students who are
blind or visually impaired, and the needs
of professionals, such as rehabilitation
and counselors, will be emphasized. For
more information, contact: Adrianna
Montague-Gray, Communications, AFB,
11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300, New York,
NY 10001; phone: 212-502-7675; e-mail:
<amontaguegray(@afb.net>.

Trends in art access

ART EXHIBITION IS DESIGNED FOR ALL
AUDIENCES

Sense and Sensuality is an exhibition of

artworks designed to appeal to people
who are blind or visually impaired, which
will open in March 2005 in London, England. Conceived by Iranian-born Sheri
Khayami, who has been visually impaired
since childhood, the project is the result of
Ms. Khayami's coming to terms with her
visual impairment. She explains, "Two
years ago I had to confront my visual impairment for the first time in forty
years.... BlindArt is my way of coming
out and saying to the world, 'Yes, I am visually impaired and . . . it's fine."' BlindArt
is the name of the nonprofit organization
that was founded by Ms. Khayami. The 62
pieces featured in the Sense and Sensuality
exhibition were submitted as part of

Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, March 2005

2005 AFB, All Rights Reserved

BlindArt's first annual art competition to

create pieces that can be appreciated by
people who are visually impaired. To further Ms. Khayami's commitment to universal access, the Sense and Sensuality exhibition and gallery space were designed
to be accessible to the widest possible audience. Most of the pieces can be touched,
and every piece is audio described with
large-print and braille labels. The works
will be hung at a low level so that they can
be explored through touch, and the gallery
floor will have color contrast and texture
to help orient visually impaired visitors.
[Based on information from the BBC
News story "First 'blind' art exhibition
opens," by Geoff Adams-Spink; available:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/
hi/entertainment/4304571 .stm>.]

People
AWARDS

The American Foundation for the Blind

(AFB) presented its 2005 Migel Medal
Awards and Gallagher Awards in March
2005 during its Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.
The AFB Migel Medalthe highest
honor in the blindness fieldwas established in 1937 by the late M.C. Migel, the
first chairperson of AFB, to honor professionals and volunteers whose dedication
and achievements have improved the lives
of people who are blind or visually impaired. Louis Vieceli received the 2005
Professional Award, and the late Bernard
Krebs was the recipient of the 2005 Lay
Person Award. Louis Vieceli is known for
the job-placement training program he
created and taught at Southern Illinois
University from 1959 to 1992. Hundreds
of rehabilitation practitioners from nearly
every state received this in-depth,
outcomes-oriented training, and thou-

2005 AFB, All Rights Reserved

sands of people who are blind and visually

impaired were assisted in obtaining competitive employment as a result of this
course. Bernard Krebs is remembered for
his pioneering work in creating straightforward training materials for learning
and using braille. The publications he authored include, ABCs of Braille, Braille in
Brief and Lessons in Braille Transcribing.
The Gallagher Award was established by
AFB to honor those in the community who
serve as role models and mentors to people
who are blind or visually impaired. The
2005 Gallagher Award recipient is Bonnie
O'Day, who is known for her service as an
advocate, disability rights activist, and
champion of rights for women. Dr. O'Day
filed a formal complaint in February 2003
with the FCC (Federal Communications
Commission) against various wireless service providers regarding the lack of accessible cell phone features, marking the first
formal complaint asking FCC to enforce
the rights provided under Section 255 of
the Communications Act (as amended by
the Telecommunications Act of 1996),
which requires telecommunications equipment and services to be accessible to and
usable by people with disabilities, if readily
achievable. Thanks to Bonnie O'Day, people who are blind or visually impaired are
now able to purchase accessible wireless
telephones. For more information, contact:
Adrianna Montague-Gray, Communications, AFB, 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300, New
York, NY 10001; phone: 212-502-7675;
e-mail: <amontaguegray@afb.net>.
JVIB invites you to submit information for possible
publication in a future edition of From the Field by
faxing or e-mailing information to Rebecca Burrichter, associate editor, AFB Press, American
Foundation for the Blind, New York, NY iOOOl;
fax: 212-502-7774; e-mail: <rebeccab@afh.net>.
For more information on how to submit information
;o JVIB, visit <www.afh.orgljvib_guidelines.asp>.

Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, March 2005

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