ACB Advocacy Update

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal speak with three ACB members - Jeff Thom, Maria Kristic, and Lindsey Tilden, as they celebrate National White Cane Day. The guests talk about their own life experiences as white cane and/or guide dog users and the independence they afford. The holiday emphasizes the independence of blind and visually impaired persons, which oft...

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark discuss 10 years of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). ACB member Jesse Acosta shares his personal story and advocacy which helped lead to the passage of the CVAA, and Carl Richardson, co-Chair of the ACB Audio Description Project, shares where accessibility and digital inclusion needs to go in th...

On this episode of the Advocacy Update, Clark Rachfal is joined by representatives from the U.S. Association of Blind athletes (USABA) to discuss the third annual and first virtual National Blind Sports Day. Cat Bouwkamp, USABA’s Membership and SafeSport Coordinator shares the impact of USABA’s work on the health and wellness of people who are blind and low vision, and Paralympian Ben Goodrich sha...

Episode Notes This week on the podcast, Claire, the advocacy and out reach specialist, and Tony Stephens, the director of development, celebrate the two-year anniversary of the podcast. They reminisce about the first episode of the podcast, and then turn to the topic of the week: national guide dog month. They both talk about their experiences as guide dog handlers. Lots of laughs ensue.

Episode Notes This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark discuss a newly formed coalition of organizations that is working toward equal access to voting for all people with disabilities. They speak with Jack Rosen from the National Disability Rights Network, Maria Town from the American Association of People with Disabilities, and Sarah Blahovec from the National Council on Independent...

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark recap the 2020 ACB Resolutions as adopted by the Board of Directors. They are joined by ACB Resolutions Committee co-Chair, Gabe Griffith, to discuss the work of the 2020 virtual Resolutions Committee. The episode concludes with a conversation with ACB 2nd Vice President Ray Campbell about the ad hoc task force he is chairing to moderniz...

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal discuss the launch of ACB Voices. They speak with two of the great minds behind the blog, ACB Director of Development Tony Stephens and ACB Communication Intern Anthony Corona, as well as ACB's new membership intern, Nat Ratcliffe, who has authored a post on the blog. Get ready to learn about ACB Voices and find out how you too...

Clark Rachfal and Claire Stanley speak with Sarah Malaier, Public Policy and Research Advisor for the American Foundation for the Blind. They talk about their participation in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Accessible Strategic Plan Framework. The plan is exploring all angles of accessibility in the transportation arena.

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB staff members Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal discuss how the coronavirus has touched upon numerous areas of advocacy ACB routinely works on. They highlight issues surrounding transportation, education, and voting, as well as outline the advocacy work that has been taken up in light of the pandemic. Not surprisingly, COVID-19 has presented a myriad of new...

On this episode of the Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark speak with multiple guests about the advocacy work and government initiatives to ensure in-person and remote absentee voting options are accessible. We are joined by Commissioner Donald Palmer, Vice Chair of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), as well as Carrie Chapman, President of the Iowa Council of the United Blind, and Barbara Sal...

This week, Claire and Clark speak with ACB members about their experiences surrounding education, both K-12 and higher ed, during COVID-19. The three guests offer different perspectives from blind parents, blind students, and disability service offices on university campuses, demonstrating how accommodations look different during the pandemic.

This week, ACB staff members Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal speak with three ACB leaders who helped develop and present the Transportation Forum at this year's convention. The podcast covers the content, speakers, and take-aways from the forum.

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, please enjoy this Audio Description Project (ADP) panel presentation from the 2020 ACB virtual conference and convention. Clark Rachfal and Claire Stanley were joined by Suzy Rosen Singleton and Will Schell from the Federal Communications Commission’s Disability Rights Office, and Carl Richardson, ADP Steering Committee co-Chair, to discuss the ten years...

This week's episode features ACB's Advocacy Bootcamp hosted by staff members Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal during the 2020 ACB virtual convention. During this bootcamp, Claire and Clark discuss how to effectively self-advocate and the panel of advocates share their own advocacy journeys.

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB staff members Eric Bridges, Claire Stanley, and Tony Stephens provide a sneak peak of the 59th ACB Conference and Convention. They discuss what the convention will look like, what has gone into planning for the event, and how members can participate.

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, we air the second part of an important webinar developed and produced by the ACB Special Education Committee. This podcast will teach parents and guardians about how to effectively work with their blind and visually impaired students, now that as a result of COVID, parents are playing a much larger part in their children’s educations.

On June 19, 1865, the Union Army reached Galveston, Texas, and read a federal order proclaiming that all enslaved persons in the U.S. state of Texas were now free, nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. On June 19, 2020, and subsequent to nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, ACB members Verlencia Somuah and Kenneth Semien Sr. share their pe...

Join some of our own ACB members and outside educators as they talk about best practices for parents to work with their blind and visually impaired students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents now play a bigger role in their children’s education, and this podcast will provide invaluable tools to equip such parents. This is Part 1 of a two-part episode.