Advocate
"Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much." - Helen Keller
We are asking for your help in an ongoing effort that will bring together many to ensure that people who are visually impaired are able to achieve their greatest level of independence.
Increase Funding for Deafblind Programs in FY2010
Spread across the United States are 10,000 children living with the unique and isolating disability known as deafblindness. This number has more than doubled since the mid 1980s and yet federal funding for this population has been level for 20 years. Join the national effort by advocating for increased funding for deafblindness programs in the FY2010 budget. The much needed boost would help provide teacher training, technical assistance, and other vital support services. Learn more and find out how you can help today.
Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library Needs Your Help
The Governor’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget slashes funding to the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library by 17 percent – almost $350,000. If the current budget is approved, the BTBL will face devastating service cutbacks. Thousands of Massachusetts consumers who are unable to read traditional print because of a visual or physical disability could lose their only resource for books, magazines, daily newspapers, and other reading materials. You can help protect library services by sending a letter to your legislator today!
Eliminate the Proposed FY10 Special Education Tuition Rate Freeze
To address the Massachusetts state budget deficit, lawmakers have proposed a tuition rate freeze that would eliminate $26.7 million in inflation adjustment revenue that special education schools like Perkins depend on to continue providing quality services. We are sensitive to the state’s budget crisis but cutbacks should not be made at the cost of education for students who are blind and may have other challenges. Click here to learn more and send a letter to your state representative and senator today.
Sign the Yahoo! Accessibility Improvement Petition
Have you ever been asked to type distorted numbers or letters into a box while you’re surfing the Internet? If so, you’ve used CAPTCHA. Intended to "protect" websites, this technology prevents screen readers from conveying information and often prevents a blind user from signing up for many functions of a site. An online petition is being circulated worldwide asking Yahoo! to implement an audio alternative to CAPTCHA so that people who are blind or have visual impairments will be given the same level of access enjoyed by the sighted.
Sign the online petition to tell Yahoo! you want them to provide an alternative way for blind users to verify their human status!
2 X 10 Campaign: Help address the unmet needs of adults who are blind in Massachusetts
Over 35,000 people in Massachusetts are registered as legally blind and countless more suffer from severe vision loss. The unemployment rate for blind residents under the age of 65 is 77% and 38 % of blind adults have limited social lives because of their vision. To address these and other issues Perkins is partnering with others in advocating that Massachusetts designate an additional $2 million by 2010 to address specific unmet needs. Click here to learn more and send decision makers your letter today!
Sign a Petition Asking Disney to Make Their DVDs Fully Accessible
Consider watching one of the Disney movies with your eyes shut. There are so many details that are conveyed visually, but not audibly. Adding an audio description track would allow viewers who are blind to access this information and more fully appreciate the film. This petition is asking Disney to include an audio description track on their movies released on DVD. Sign the online petition.