Nation’s Blind Podcast

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, United states Treasury Department, is close to producing paper currency with tactile features to make it more easily identifiable by the blind beginning with a new ten-dollar bill in 2026. Anil Lewis and Chris Danielsen discuss how blind people currently use paper money and the long journey to this announcement. But first, they do some myth-busting about the h...

Is there such a thing as a model Federationist or blind person? Is Federation philosophy a rigid set of rules? How do we provide support and raise expectations without judging each other’s choices? Anil and melissa discuss these questions, dispel some common misconceptions, and point to some resources to help understand and apply the NFB philosophy.   Important links: NFB Philosophy: What It Is an...

This episode highlights recent developments in a case supported by the National Federation of the Blind, Orozco v. Garland, addressing the right of federal employees to sue their agencies under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act when information and communication technology are inaccessible to them in violation of that law. Roving reporter Chris Danielsen interviewed Ronza Othman, an attorney a...

  In January 2023, Anil and Melissa spoke with Dr. Craig Meador, President of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). They discussed the monarch, the new dynamic tactile display that has emerged from a partnership among APH, Humanware, and the National Federation of the Blind. With ten lines that can display both braille and tactile graphics, this device is a potential game-changer, espec...

In celebration of Black History Month, this episode highlights the National Organization of Blind Black Leaders, a division of the National Federation of the Blind. Melissa and Anil talk with Shawn Callaway, the division’s president, who is also president of the Washington, DC affiliate and a member of the national board of directors. Shawn explains the inspiration for forming the division, its me...

In this episode, Melissa chats with Beth Foor from Kellogg Company, makers of some of your favorite cereals and snacks. Beth shares her story with blindness and discusses NaviLens, a technology to assist blind and low-vision adults. Kellogg is proud to be the first food company to feature this technology on packaging in the U.S on select cereal boxes. The NaviLens app and the NaviLens GO app are a...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Karen Anderson, who coordinates educational programs at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. She talks about the Teacher of Tomorrow program, which connects teachers of blind K-12 students with blind people so that our lived experience can inform their instruction of the children they teach. Karen shares the reaction of some of these...

This episode features an interview with NFB President Mark Riccobono about the purpose and importance of Blind Equality Achievement Month, formerly known as Meet the Blind Month. President Riccobono talks with anil and Melissa about how blind people are often forced to educate the public in situations that are not ideal, making it critical for us to plan intentional ways of conducting this educati...

This episode features an interview with Elisa Beniero of Netflix. The popular streaming service received one of the 2022 Dr. Jacob Bolotin awards at the national convention in New Orleans. The award was given for Netflix’s industry-leading work in providing quality audio description in multiple languages for an ever-increasing number of hours of programming (over 18,000 at the time the interview w...

This episode features an interview with Caroline Karbowski, who received one of the 2022 Dr. Jacob Bolotin awards at the national convention in New Orleans. She is the founder of See3D , which provides all kinds of models created through 3D printing technology to blind people, teachers, schools, and families of blind children  who request them. Caroline describes how she became a sighted Braille u...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa chat with President Riccobono, as well as Chris Danielsen and Danielle McCann, who participated in the “pre-shows” for virtual experience registrants prior to the board meeting and general sessions during the recent national convention. They give an overview of our first in-person convention in three years, discuss some of their personal favorite moments, and shar...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa chat with John Berggren, Executive Director for Operations for the National Federation of the Blind and chairperson of convention organization and activities. He tells us about some of the features and amenities of our two hotels, including dining options and where our meeting spaces and exhibit hall will be located. They also discuss our COVID safety protocols, i...

In this special episode for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (#GAAD), Anil Lewis and his special guest co-host take a deep dive into the work of the National Federation of the Blind Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access (CENA). Meet the team behind the work of this center, funded in part through a grant from the Maryland Department of Disabilities, and learn about the events and trainings pro...

The Nation’s Blind Podcast is back for 2022! On this first new episode, recorded in the fall of 2021, Anil and Melissa talk with Ted Henter, who is one of the pioneers of the modern Windows screen reader. Mr. Henter was the cofounder of Henter-Joyce, which created the original Job Access With Speech (JAWS) screen reader still available and widely used today. Listen to find out about his fascinatin...

In this episode, Anil talks with President Riccobono to get a sneak preview of #NFB21, the biggest event of the year. Learn how our President prepares his banquet speech, what his favorite parts of the convention are, and more. For the latest information about the convention, be sure to visit www.nfb.org/convention. The Nation’s Blind Podcast will take a brief post-convention hiatus and then be ba...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Petr Kucheryavyy, senior manager at Charter Spectrum’s Product Accessibility Center of Excellence, about Spectrum Access, a free and innovative smartphone app for both iOS and Android that uses audio synchronization to allow you to hear audio description for a variety of content without regard to source or streaming platform, even if you are not a Spectr...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Rick Boggs, CEO and general manager of AudioEyes. He has breaking news about a forthcoming event with live audio description (AD) provided through a partnership among his company, Vitac, and a major television network, with sponsorship from Google. You’ll want to listen right away so you won’t miss the big event! You may even want to issue the Audio Desc...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Colin Wong, who co-chairs the diversity and Inclusion Committee of the National Federation of the Blind. Colin talks candidly about his own lived experiences as a blind Asian American, including the conflict between the “model minority” myth and low expectations for the blind in both the Asian community and among the general public. He also talks about w...

Content warning: This episode of the Nation’s blind podcast discusses abuse and sexual assault. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you are not alone. The National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential support, 24/7, at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or online.rainn.org. In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Marci Carpenter and Daphne Mitchell of the NFB Survivor Ta...

On this episode, Anil and Chris talk with Dean Blazie, who has been working with blind people to develop technology we can use since the 1960s. They discuss how dean got involved in working with blind people through his relationship with Tim Cranmer; how initial ideas they worked on developed into products for blind people; and the origins of the Braille’n’Speak, the pioneering Braille notetaker t...

On this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Stephanie Flynt, government program specialist for the National Federation of the Blind. They discuss the continued momentum to eliminate the practice of paying workers with disabilities subminimum wages, including recent reports from the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the National Council on Disability. They also talk about why there is co...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa talk with Lou Ann Blake, the NFB’s Help America Vote Act project coordinator, about the November 3 election and how blind people can cast our votes. They discuss what the law says about the rights of blind voters, different ways we can vote accessibly, and what the NFB is doing to ensure that more blind voters can cast our ballots privately and independently. They...

This episode of the Nation’s Blind Podcast is the second of two episodes featuring a conversation about the joys and challenges of having children learning at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Eric Guillory, director of youth services at the Louisiana Center for the Blind and father of two, and Angela Wolf, teacher at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and mother of two, disc...

This episode of the Nation’s Blind Podcast is the first of two episodes featuring a conversation about the joys and challenges of having children learning at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Eric Guillory, director of youth services at the Louisiana Center for the Blind and father of two, and Angela Wolf, teacher at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and mother of two, discu...

In this episode, Anil and Melissa have a conversation with President Riccobono, who takes us behind the scenes of the presidential release live. They discuss the history and purpose of the presidential release, why President Riccobono decided to take it in a new direction during the coronavirus pandemic, the success of the new format in bringing our community together, and how the presidential rel...