ACB Media Calendar

Double session (with no break) of the ever-popular North American guide dog school updates.

This session will share information and Best Practices for Designing Accessible At-Home Diagnostic Test Kits. ACB advocacy efforts has collaborated with the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation® (AAMI), a global leader for the development and production of national and international consensus standards. This initiative includes work done by the National Institutes of Health and RADX on accessible COVID-19 home tests and other diagnostic testing. Come and hear from members of the Task Group that championed and developed this accessibility guidance for future production by pharmaceutical companies.

Continuation of Double session (with no break) of the ever-popular North American guide dog school updates.

Learn how AI enhances skills and productivity for the blind community. Discover Copilot tools that streamline workflows, foster collaboration, and equip the community with digital skills for the modern workplace. Speaker: Crystal Jones, Microsoft

Did you know that most theatrical releases are audio described? Learn from a blind movie goer, AMC Theaters, the National Alliance of Theater Owners, and others on how to make your visit to the movie theater a successful one by enjoying the magic of cinema with the help of audio description. Moderator: Carl Richardson, Co-Chair, ACB Audio Description Project, Boston, MA Presenters: Alex Howard, Enthusiastic Blind Theater-Goer and Co-Creator of The Dark Room Podcast, Burbank, CA; Cinema United (formerly known as National Association of Theater Owners (Invited); AMC Theatres (Invited)

Join us for a discussion of Christian Nationalism, what it is and its growing impact on civil, legal and religious life within the United States. Presenters: Mariko Hirose, Chief Program Officer, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, DC; Reverend Peter Heide, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and ACB Board Member, Baraboo, WI.

Don Olson, customer service specialist and Zhe Huang, Patron Education and Training Specialist will familiarize us with the new DA2 talking book player which will shortly be available and will allow an NLS patron to download books directly from BARD. We will also learn about the My Talking Books smart speaker skill which gives a patron hands-free access to BARD through the Amazon Alexa devices. Presenters: Don Olson, Customer Service Specialist and Zhe Huang, Patron Education and Training Specialist, National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), Washington, DC. Facilitator: Jane Carona, LUA Vice President, Silver Spring, MD

Are you worried that you might live longer than your money? How do we plan for an uncertain future? The Royal Bank Of Canada investment manager and financial planner has the answers to these questions and many more. Please join the ACB Resource Development team and our ACB investment advisor for this informative session on how to plan for your retirement and make the right choices for your Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Presenter: Mike Dickson – RBC Wealth Management Financial Advisor

Presenters from NLS detail the process a book goes through in its journey to becoming available as an audiobook on BARD. Presenter: Alice Baker O’Reilly, NLS, Washington, DC. Facilitator: Brian Charlson, Watertown, MA.

Discussion and demonstrations of audio description AI writing and assessment tools and how they work on their own and with essential human collaboration Moderator: Renee Arrington-Johnson Presenters: JOEL SNYDER, PhD., Author of The Visual Made Verbal, President, Audio Description Associates, LLC, Takoma Park, MD; Caroline Desrosiers, Founder and CEO, Scribely, Truckee, CA; Brett Oppegaard, Ph.D., Professor, School of Communication and Information, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, HI; Professor Sri Kurniawan, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA; and Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager, Burlington, MA

Learn about the legal landscape in what many on all sides of the political spectrum view as an unprecedented period in our history. Experts in disability advocacy law will cover a spectrum of issues important to our community. Be prepared with your questions about the latest happenings in disability law. Panelists: Matthew Handley, Partner, Handley Farah and Anderson, Washinton, DC; Rachel Weisberg, Supervising Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates, Chicago, IL; Madeleine Reichman, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates, New York, NY Facilitators: Claire Stanley, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Alexandria, VA; Jeff Thom, ACB Advocacy Steering Committee Chair, Sacramento, CA

Join Scott Davert, Coordinator of the Technology Research, and Innovations Center for the deaf blind at HKNC, as he explains how we can use technology to live without dual sensory loss to the fullest.

Join us in welcoming Dr. Joern Soltau, Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Louisville, as he shares the latest findings and insights on low vision research. Sponsored by: CCLVI