Blindness Briefs – Edition 71 – World Blind Herald

What's Inside

Touch screens causing headaches for blind users.
Everything you want to know about schools for the blind.
Pope visits school for blind in Hungary.
Las Vegas job fair welcomes blind applicants.
Police shooting of blind man ruled justifiable homicide.
AFB Applauds Supreme Court Decision to Uphold Accessibility Ruling
India's first blind stand-up comedian.
Lots of sports and athletics stories.
And, more than 60 more articles about blindness and blind people from the entire world.

How It's Organized

WBH Weekly Blind News Digest is a very simple page to read. The categories are at heading level 2 and the stories are links at heading level 3. So, navigation to the sections and stories you find interesting is quite simple.

Braille

Our Hands”: Reading with DeafBlind Poet John Lee Clark

The first director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind, Samuel Gridley Howe, was praised for his purported advancements in blind students’ education. But DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark’s poem “Oralism” presents a different historical record: emphasizing the abuse blind students suffered under Howe, who demanded that young pupils cover their “malignant eyes” with ribbons and “forget [their] words. This story comes to us from: Public Books.

What British Vogue's first Braille edition means for people with sight loss

It signifies inclusivity towards the visually impaired community. It also challenges public perceptions around fashion and being blind. This story comes to us from: Metro UK.

Technology

Lenovo’s Product Diversity Office was formed in 2020 to ensure that Lenovo’s emerging technologies work for people of all backgrounds and abilities. While the team works to eliminate bias, they also look for improvements that provide a competitive user experience for people with disabilities. This story comes to us from: Lenovo StoryHub.

This bionic eye cures diseases that cause blindness

Corp has conceived of a new bionic eye that targets and cures two diseases that cause blindness. This story comes to us from: Interesting Engineering.

Women With Disabilities Victoria CEO Nadia Mattiazzo says touchscreens are creating growing accessibility problems for people who are blind. This story comes to us from: 9News.

Blindness Organizations

According to the New Mexico Commission for the Blind's website, the Commission works for equality for people who are visually impaired. This story comes to us from: Alamogordo Daily News.

Attend a UC Global Accessibility Awareness Day event: Your Path to Accessibility

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 16% of the world’s population, over 1.3 billion people, live with a disability. The impact of the UC community — estimated at over 2,535,409 alumni, staff, students and faculty — stretches around the world and has the potential to make knowledge and information accessible to all. This story comes to us from: UCnet – University of California.

An 89-year-old woman continues to run the Berkshire Vision Langley & Slough Club despite being registered blind in 2017. This story comes to us from: Slough Express.

WESTY 2023 Honoree: Envisioning the Lighthouse Guild as a World Leader in Assistive Technology

“I have this vision for making Lighthouse Guild–which is the world's oldest and largest organization caring for people who are blind. This story comes to us from: West Side Spirit.

Education

Schools for the blind provide services for blind and visually impaired students. Your local school can help your child apply for admission. This story comes to us from: Healthline.

Young blind people in Scotland risk losing their ability to live independently due to a lack of trained support workers, charities have warned. This story comes to us from: BBC.

Mukta P. Dagli is the recipient of over 50 awards, including the Gandhi Mitra award and Mata Jijabai Stree Shakti Puraskar. This story comes to us from: The Sunday Guardian Live.

A school like no other

Begun in 1912, the School for the Deaf and Blind in Ratmalana has taken great strides in helping both hearing and sight impaired children. This story comes to us from: The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka.

GhanaWeb Special: Meet Sylvia Peprah, the deafblind graduate from the UEW

The 34-year-old deafblind young woman from Breman-Asikuma has achaivede university and has given back to her community. This story comes to us from: Ghana Web.

See Beyond Festival aims to educate community about vision loss

The Maryland School for the Blind hosted its See Beyond Festival, where attendees could try several challenges that tested their senses. This tory comes to us from: WMAR.

Schools for the blind offer specialized education for people with impaired vision. This story comes to us from: Healthline.

The László Batthyány-Strattmann Institute, provides kindergarten and primary school education, as well as comprehensive care, for children with visual impairments. This story comes to us from: Herald Malaysia.

UF Health eminent scholar recognized by Florida Inventors Hall of Fame

William Hauswirth, Ph.D., UF Health College of Medicine professor emeritus of ophthalmology, will be inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame in October for his pioneering work in gene therapies to prevent blindness and his research in restoring vision in the functionally blind. This story comes to us from: UF Health.

About 860 students in cap and gown will cross the Tennessee State University stage this weekend, earning their diplomas. Approximately 150 of those students live with mood disorders, cognitive disorders, or physical impairments. Forty-four-year-old Julian Walker is the only blind student graduating in the spring class of 2023. This story comes to us from: WKRN.

Employment

An upcoming job fair in Las Vegas will feature opportunities for people who are blind or low vision. This story comes to us from: KSNV.

Spring Valley man with visual impairment honored for employing people with disabilities

White is visually impaired and over the years has employed other blind people at his business. This story comes to us from: News 12 Westchester.

Identify Jobs For Disabled Persons

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Saturday issued notice to the state government in response to a PIL seeking proper implementation of the 4% quota carved out for physically disabled persons, especially the filling of backlog vacancies and identifying jobs for such beneficia .. This story comes to us from: The Times of India.

A sanitation worker who gave up his job to look after his blind wife and two young daughters is struggling to survive. This story comes to us from: The Trinidad Guardian.

Transportation

New accessible crosswalk tech debuts in downtown Houston

New crosswalk technology recently installed in downtown Houston aims to help people with blindness or low vision. This story comes to us from: Axios.

Smart Ass Cripple: The Right to Cross the Street

A recent court ruling will finally force the city of Chicago to install devices that assist blind people at crosswalks. This story comes to us from: The Progressive.

After a retinal disease left him legally blind, architect John Gleichman was struck by a taxicab while walking home near Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo — at the same intersection where a 4-year-old girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver years earlier. This story comes to us from: NewsTimes.

Discrimination and Inaccessibility

Click here: Twitter alt text meme that isn't funny for blind people

Connor Scott-Gardner is blind and says alt text is so important to him because so much content posted online relies on images.
"There are entire social media platforms like Instagram, which are image-based," he says. This story comes to us from: BBC.

Safety

Walk or wait: US ruling calls for more audio pedestrian signals

Waymap found in a study that blind people average just 2.5 regular routes – such as from home to the office or grocery store. This story comes to us from: Christian Science Monitor.

Heather Siewruk is no ordinary mum-of-two learning how to defend herself; this inspiring lady is doing so despite being blind. This story comes to us from: Plymouth Live.

Toby, who is known as 'blindtobes' on TikTok, shared his experience which he said 'put him in danger' outside the busy London train station. This story comes to us from: MyLondon.

Poverty

A sanitation worker who gave up his job to look after his blind wife and two young daughters is struggling to survive. This story comes to us from: Trinidad Guardian.

Crime

The woman was left permanently blind as a result of the attack. This story comes to us from: The Prince William Times.

The warrant offers explicit detail of the injuries suffered by the victim, whom the warrant describes as "legally blind, bedridden, and unable to walk or push a wheelchair by himself. This story comes to us from: WRAL.

A jury ruled that it was a justifiable homicide in the inquest of a police officer who shot and killed a blind man on a motorcycle in 2018. This story comes to us from: The Tribune.

Guide Dogs

A guide dog owner from Harrogate is set to cycle ten miles a day throughout May to raise life changing funds for Guide Dogs. This story comes to us from: Harrogate Advertiser.

It's a cause close to his heart: Scott Rees' guide dog Kaleb has taken him to the water's edge on countless training days. This story comes to us from: Global News.

When you see a blind person with a seeing-eye dog, remember that this practice started with a young man from Nashville. This story comes to us from: Lewis County Herald.

Politics

Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) are leading the effort to create a refundable tax credit to help blind Americans afford access technology. This story comes to us from: Senator Ben Cardin.

A blind woman touches a plastic template of a ballot paper in braille which will be used during the nationwide elections on Sunday, May 7. This story comes to us from: Colorado Springs Gazette.

Legal

AFB Applauds Supreme Court Decision to Uphold Accessibility Ruling

At the American Foundation for the Blind, we were relieved to see this common-sense confirmation of long-standing precedent. This story comes to us from: American Foundation for the Blind.

A legally blind man is suing OH! Nuts, alleging the company’s website is not accessible to people using a screen reader. Plaintiff Randy Sanchez filed the class action lawsuit against OH! Nuts Inc. on April 7 in a New York federal court, alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act. This story comes to us from: Top Class Actions.

Business

Astellas inks $5.9B deal for Iveric Bio in major blindness play

The investigational drug is a complement C5 inhibitor for the treatment of geographic atrophy. This story comes to us from: Medical Marketing & Media.

Tactile Printing Indusrty to Set Phenomenal Growth From 2023 to 2030

Global Market Vision added research publication document on Worldwide Tactile Printing Market breaking major business segments and highlighting wider level geographies to get deep dive analysis on market data. The study is a perfect balance bridging both qualitative and quantitative information of Worldwide Tactile Printing market. This story comes to us from: Fylladey.

Lifestyle

The Blind Center of Nevada is working to build “Vision Park”: the apartment complex has 100 units with special accommodations for blindness. This story comes to us from: FOX5 Vegas.

A Turkish soldier helps a visually impaired woman to walk around and touch a plane on exhibit at the world's largest aerospace show. This story comes to us from: YouTube.

For the first time in four years, students got to go to prom in person at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. This story comes to us from: WPXI.

Filmmakers needed a blind girl for a role in a new series, “In the Dark,” on the CW Television Network. This story comes to us from: The Concord Monitor.

Yes, you can suddenly go blind overnight. This story comes to us from: YouTube.

As part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (May 1 to 7), mum Jenny wants to reassure new parents it's okay to ask for help. This story comes to us from: Lancashire Telegraph.

Woman 'left without food' after Argos failed to deliver fridge freezer

A legally blind woman was left without food after Argos delayed the delivery of her new fridge freezer. This story comes to us from: Nottinghamshire Live.

Art and Artists

10 Years Ago, Daredevil Encountered a New Villain With a Shocking Secret

In Daredevil #23 (by Waid, Samnee and Rodriguez), it appears as though we are being treated to the origin of Daredevil again, as we see someone save a seemingly blind man from being hit by a truck, and in the process, radioactive chemicals are spilled from the truck and splash on to the rescuer. This story comes to us from: CBR.

Nidhi Goyal is blind, but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming India’s first blind stand-up comedian and an influential activist. This story comes to us from: ABC.

A local gallery has opened a new multi-sensory exhibit to give those with blindness and visual impairments a way to experience art in a meaningful manner. This story comes to us from: Local3News.com.

Sports and Athletes

Thompson took second place in the women's Vision Impairment Division T13 class. This story comes to us from: Houston Chronicle.

Now the visually impaired can also enjoy the famous racing simulator. This story comes to us from: CarBuzz.

This Brazilian non-Profit Association promotes sports and culture for the blind and visually impaired, with a strong focus in partnerships and actions to promote a positive point of view of the person with disabilities for the society. This story comes to us from: sportanddev.

Georgia Blind Sports Association held the first annual Savannah Youth Goalball Invitational in Wilmington Island on Saturday. This story comes to us from: WTOC.

Being legally blind does not hinder her much, though. She uses a mobility cane, dark red sunglasses and red contacts. This story comes to us from: ETV News.

The two blind baseball teams in Milan, Thunder's Five and Lampi, both participating in the Italian League (LIBCI), support the initiative. This story comes to us from: World Baseball Softball Confederation.

If I get the opportunity I would like to meet them with all our blind women's team players and take their advice," remarked Patel, who scored 72. This story comes to us from: Mid-Day.

2023 Malmo Lady Intercup

This page lists the starting times and where one can listen to this tournament. This story comes to us from: U.S. Association of Blind Athletes.