Monthly Archives: February 2014

National Federation of the Blind Applauds Senate Introduction of TEACH Act

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen@nfb.org

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National Federation of the Blind Applauds 
Senate Introduction of TEACH Act

Senators Warren, Hatch Introduce
Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act

Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC (February 28, 2014): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans, applauds Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) for yesterday introducing the Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH) Act (S. 2060). The TEACH Act, which is the result of collaboration between the NFB and the Association of American Publishers, and which has been endorsed by eleven other organizations of and for people with disabilities, will create accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional materials and related information technologies used by institutions of higher education. The introduction of the bill was announced during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing focusing on college access and success for students with disabilities. Continue reading →

Information technology pro, guide dog teach the workplace, world about trust and teamwork

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Veteran information technology salesman Michael Hingson once had a job interview scheduled with a technology company that was abruptly canceled.

The headhunter who arranged the interview phoned Hingson a few days beforehand and asked: “I see you’ve worked with blindness-oriented organizations. Is someone in your family blind?”

“I’m blind,” Hingson said. His meeting was called off early the next morning.

Hingson, who holds a master’s degree in physics, was far from surprised. According to the Social Security Administration, 70 percent of employable blind workers are unemployed and that’s primarily because employers reject their capabilities, said Hingson, who uses a talking smartphone, talking email and other tools. Here’s a link to the whole article

Under Obama Order, Workers With Disabilities To Get Pay Hike

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Under Obama Order, Workers With Disabilities To Get Pay Hike By Michelle Diament | February 12, 2014  From Disability Scoop

An executive order requiring federal contractors to be paid at least $10.10 per hour will apply to workers with disabilities too, White House officials say.

President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order Wednesday raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers, including those with disabilities employed under service or concessions contracts with the government.

The move represents an about-face for the White House. When the plan to hike pay for government contractors was originally announced during Obama’s State of the Union address last month, it left out many workers with disabilities.  Continue reading →

NFB State of the Union Response

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February 3, 2014

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

In your January 28th State of the Union Address, and via a conference call with Vice President Biden and Secretary of Labor Perez on January 29th, it was announced that all contractors would be required by executive order to pay their federally funded workers at least $10.10 an hour under any new contracts. The National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans, urges you to include workers with disabilities in this executive order, affirmatively and explicitly. We further urge you to announce that you will sign the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act (H.R. 831) if and when that legislation reaches your desk. With a Republican sponsor and substantial Democratic co-sponsorship, this nonpartisan piece of legislation will responsibly phase out the discriminatory practice of paying workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage.  Continue reading →

Karen Hingson In Hosptal – Updates

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Karen Hingson

Here is the Facebook update from Michael about Karen’s current condition. You can make donations to help defray her medical expenses bo going to Michael’s Website here: www.michaelhingson.com or simply clicking on Karen’s picture here. 

“Hi everyone,

THANKS VERY MUCH for all of your thoughts and concerns about Karen and me. I appreciate them a great deal. Here is where we are at present.

Karen is improving, all be it at a slow rate. We are optimistic. As you know, Karen contracted pneumonia which advanced to include acute respiratory distress syndrome which means her lungs are very inflamed and thus breathing is extremely hard for her. Over the past week she has been heavily sedated and on an ventilator. They began reducing sedation levels last Thursday and took her off the sedative completely on Saturday. Continue reading →

Launch of Microsoft DisAbility Scholarship Fund

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Dear All,

Excited to share details of the new Microsoft DisAbility Scholarship Fund targeting students with disabilities entering college in the fall.  This is a new initiative from Microsoft and the DisAbility Employee Resource Group (ERG), built in partnership with Seattle Foundation.  The scholarship website is open to applications until March 15th.  Please, use your sharing/posting super powers to distribute details to your communities and anyone you feel may benefit.  All the details are enclosed, and below.

Any questions, do let me know.  Let’s change the number 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Jenny
Chair DisAbility ERG,
Senior Director Accessibility Customer Experience, Privacy and Online Safety Support.  Continue reading →