This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB Advocacy and Outreach Specialist Claire Stanley speaks with Stacy Cervanka from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). ACB and AFB are working together to encourage Congress to include language in the 2020 Surface Transportation bill that would positively affect the transportation rights and access for blind and visually impaired Americans.
A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-Transcript-1-9-20

On this, the final Advocacy Update podcast for 2019, Clark Rachfal, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Eric Bridges, ACB Executive Director, and Dan Spoone, ACB President, discuss the organizational progress and advocacy accomplishments of 2019 and tease what ACB has planned for 2020. This was a year of transformation and growth for ACB, made possible by our members, partners, and of course individual supporters.

On Dec. 5, the ACB Information Access Committee (IAC) hosted an evening webinar on accessible shopping, technology, and home appliances with special guest J.J. Meddaugh, Author, Access World. ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, and IAC Chair, Tony Stephens, led this discussion on what is naughty and nice in terms of accessibility, highlighted tips and tricks to improve the shopping experience, and shared ways that we can overcome the challenges when smart appliances fail the test on accessible interfaces for customers who are blind and visually impaired.
To listen to the full webinar, including listener Q&A, visit the ACB Radio Special Events page at: http://acbradio.org/special
To learn more about Access World and read the 2019 Holiday Gift Buying Guide, visit: https://www.afb.org/aw
A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-12-19-transcript

On this episode of the Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark spoke with Barbara Raimondo, Executive Director, Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf, about reintroduction of the Cogswell Macy Act (H.R. 4822 & S. 2681). Named for the first deaf student to be formally educated in the U.S. and for Helen Keller’s beloved teacher, respectively, the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act will strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to improve results for deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind children, including those with additional disabilities. More information about the Cogswell Macy Act is available at: https://cogswellmacyact.org/. To learn more about ACB, please visit: www.acb.org. A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-12-5-19-Transcript

Traveling for the holidays, or need some personal time away from the family? The ACB Advocacy Update has you covered! On this podcast, Claire and Clark discuss all things audio description with Dr. Joel Snyder and Carl Richardson. We highlight the great work of the Audio Description Project, including the Benefits of Audio Description in Education Contest, as well as the 16th Audio Description Institute, and the rapidly evolving landscape of streaming services providing accessible user interfaces and audio described programming.
Register for the 2020 BADIE Contest and submit an audio description review before Dec. 6, 2019, by visiting: https://www.acb.org/adp/articles/badie2020.html.
To learn more about the ADP Audio Description Institute, visit: https://acb.org/2020-audio-description-institute
To access a transcript of this podcast, visit: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-11-28-19-transcript

Calling All Actors! On this episode of the Advocacy Update, Clark spoke with starlet of the stage and screen, Marilee Talkington. Through personal and professional advocacy, Marilee has developed and launched the Access Acting Academy and will host the first-of-it’s-kind Professional Actor Training Program specifically for blind and visually impaired artists. This free flagship program will take place in Los Angeles, Jan. 6 - Feb. 7, 2020, and applications are being accepted through Nov. 30, 2019.
More information about the Access Acting Academy, including how to apply for the Professional Actor Training Program, is available at: www.accessacting.com, and more information about Marilee Talkington is available at: www.marileetalkington.com.
A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-advocacy-update-11-21-19-transcript

For this episode of the Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark spoke with Kelly Gasque, Executive Assistant and Multimedia Design Specialist for ACB. This is the second podcast in our two part series on ACB’s online presence. Kelly shared with us the work that she does to coordinate and update the ACB website and social media platforms, and we discussed how this information is used to amplify the advocacy and governmental affairs work of ACB. To learn more about ACB, please visit: www.acb.org. A written transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-advocacy-update-11-14-19-transcript

Join Claire and Clark as they speak with Jeff Bishop, ACB Board Member, and part of the critical team that keeps ACB up and running on the Internet. During this conversation, they discuss the work being done to modernize the ACB and ACB Radio websites, and how these tools are used to enhance ACB’s advocacy efforts. To learn more, please visit www.acb.org and www.acbradio.org. Share your feedback with us at [email protected].
A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-advocacy-update-11-7-19-transcript

Apple will launch their new streaming video service, Apple TV+, on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. On this episode of the Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark spoke with Joe Strechay, Associate Producer, about his work as a blindness consultant on the new series, See, and the accessibility features of Apple TV+. Additional information about the Apple TV+ service is available from the Audio Description Project at: https://acb.org/adp/index.html.
A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-10-31-19-transcript

For National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Claire and Clark spoke with Dan Kelly from IFB Solutions. We discussed the employment opportunities available to people who are blind through the AbilityOne Program, and ACB‘s advocacy efforts to address the challenges posed by recent changes to procurement policies for the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs.
To learn more about this issue, please read ACB Resolution 2019-03: https://www.acb.org/resolutions2019.
To access a transcript of this episode, please visit: https://acb.org/ACB-Advocacy-Update-10-24-19-transcript