Enable Link: an online community of the blind. Enable Link has made their mark in the adaptive technology world, as far as I'm concerned. On their site, you will find articles about technology, life style, health, diabetes, and all points in between. They also do movie reviews for really popular films, of course from a blind person's perspective. Check them out.

The Hadley School for the Blind offers a number of correspondence courses for those interested in distance education, such as: rehabilitation professionals, high school students, parents or friends of blind/low vision people, or the blind/low vision person. Check it out.

If you're looking for a nice leather case that will protect your note taker or laptop, or another kind of case, then consider Executive Products. They make cases for many of the Freedom Scientific note takers, including all of the X series of PAC Mates. I have their PAC Mate QX 440 case, and am very pleased with it. Check them out.

Handi Works is a company which sells cane holders, backpacks, and other storage items for the blind or vision impaired. They have harness signs for a guide dog. They also sell the Executive Products PAC Mate cases referenced above. Check them out.

I Can Work This Thing is a site that has a growing collection of manuals for many different home or consumer electronics, and more. The manuals are available to read online or download in accessible form. Contributions are welcome.

Independent Living Aids, located in New York. This company stands out to me because, not only do they have the usual types of blindness and low vision related products, but they also have tutorials for purchase and, at the time that I bought it, they had the only electric talking clock around. I still have the clock and it works great.

Info Eyes is a site that allows the blind or vision impaired user to either email or have a voice chat with a live librarian. Personally, its about time that one of these librarian chat sites was made accessible. This will surely help blind students or other people that need to do research on a specific topic.

If you like doing taxes on your own, then be sure you have the right materials by going to IRS Accessible Tax Publications. The documents are in text and electronic Braille formats. You can get forms from the IRS Accessible Talking Forms. Though these forms are in Adobe's PDF format, they have been made accessible and can be used with a screen reader like JAWS, or a voice recognition package like Dragon's Naturally Speaking. Notify the website if you have any problems.

The Kurzweil 1000 is an optical character recognition (OCR) program made especially for the blind. This type of program works in conjunction with a scanner, and helps make sense of the scanned images and words. So, if you have ascanner and just want to scan text in without using a recognition program, you won't get very far. In essence, you will have jibberish. With a program like Kurzweil 1000 though, you can make sense of the jibberish. Sure, you can buy off the shelf OCR packages in computer stores, but show me an off the shelf package that can be scanning page 5, recognizing page 4, and reading page 2 all at the same time. That I know, Kurzweil is one of the few that can. Plus, it has many other functions built into it that you just don't get from an off the shelf version. For instance, as of version 6.02, you can convert Adobe's PDF formatted files into recognizable text, and you can convert the Daisy formats of the BookShare.org books, referenced above. In version 9, Kurzweil 1000 has included several utilities that you can use inconjunction with the software, such as a photocopier. I have found this particularly useful since it saves money from having to go to Kinkos.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) has lots of information on books and publications in Braille and on tape. You can search for books, read about their publications, including newsletters, read about the new digital talking book players and initiative, and much more.

The Booksense from GW Micro debuted on 6/30/2009 as an accessible DAISY/book reading device that can also record and play MP3 and WMA files. Though similar to the Victor Reader Stream, the Booksense seems to pick up where the Stream leaves off. Visit this page and learn more about this new and exciting option for enjoying portable media, as well as read the Booksense manual and view a comparison chart that covers the Booksense models, the Stream, and the Plextalk Pocket players.

The Victor Reader Stream is one of the players that can play the NLS digital talking books. However, it can also play many other file formats, such as MP3, text-based Daisy, such as those books from Book Share, make short or long recordings, read HTML files, and more. This is a small hand-held digital player that has great potential. Many people that have seen it can't stop talking about it. Considering that it only costs $329 retail and can do so much, I'd say that this is a steal for such a versitle machine. The Stream is the newest in the line of Victor Reader players from HumanWare Canada. Read more on this page, listen to audio reviews, or read the manual.

For those that don't want to go through the HumanWare site for the Stream's manual, you can click here to read the VR Stream manual online. This page is structured very well with headings for the various chapters and sections.

Living Blind is a site that offers information on all aspects of blindness, such as daily living, getting a guide dog and related issues, college, relationships, employment, and many other categories. There's also information on custom made guide dog harnesses from the site's author. Check it out.

The National Federation of the Blind has put much of their literature online. This literature can either be ordered from the NFB's Independence Market or read online. The online documents are in a range of formats, such as Word, PDF, and HTML. Red more at the NFB Literature Table of Contents page.

The National Federation of the Blind has redesigned their website. If you're looking for a particular resource, publication or other page and can't find it, then check the NFB Topic Index.

The National Federation of the Blind has compiled an Accessible Home Product List and resources on Consumer Electronics. Check out these sites if you are wanting to know what consumer electronics are accessible and usable by the blind.

Laws and Legislation page from the National Federation of the Blind. On this page, you will find all relevant laws and legislation which affect the blind. Some of the topics covered are: the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), model Braille Bill legislation, and more. I have found this page especially helpful, because some of this legislation has become harder to locate on the Web, and this page puts it all in one place.

If you've ever wanted to know exactly what the Americans with Disabilities Act says, then check out the ADA Home Page. This is a government site where among other things, you can read the Act itself and see how it applies to you, your place of business, someone with a disability, etc.

For information on the current laws and protection afforded to guide dogs in airports, be sure to check the Helpful tips for traveling by air from The Seeing Eye, and the Transportation Security Administration's guidelines for service animals.

The National Center for Blind Youth in Science is a new initiative from the National Federation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute. Read on this page about the science camps and the 2007 Youth SLAM that will take place next summer, along with other programs, projects and information.

NFB-LINK is a new program from the National federation of the Blind, which "links" people together to share information about blindness, careers, life activities, and more. If you are a blind student, senior, professional, diabetic, etc; and want to know about how you can achieve your goals, live your life, or handle daily activities, then this service is for you. If you feel like you could be a mentor to someone like this, then this service is also for you. Read more on this page.

OcuSource.com networks with many websites on blindness and visual impairment. Here is a sample of the kind of information you can get from OcuSource:

• Product Analyser Tool: search through hundreds of low vision and blindness products by features, price or manufacturer
• The Resource Finder: an easy-to-search utility for finding eye doctors, organizations, agencies and support groups
• News: The latest in pertinent news and information on vision impairment and assistive technology
• The Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ): This utility simplifies the VFQ process, and can be taken in the comfort of the visitors home.
• OcuTrade: Browse our online Auction for used (and sometimes new) low vision and blindness products

Optasia Ministry seeks to provide Biblical study materials and other Christian ministry resources to blind and low vision people free of charge. Among the resources are Bibles in various formats that can be read on a computer, note taker, or other reading device.

Read This to Me allows blind and low-vision people to have printed documents read to them over the phone. All the blind person needs is a phone line and a fax machine (no computer is required.). Refer to the site for more details.

Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, in Princeton, New Jersey. This organization, RFBD for short, has thousands of textbooks and other books on tape, for blind students and professionals. Although I never have a semester where I've gotten all of my books on tape from RFBD, they are still a good resource, and the books I am able to get from them save me reader money. In recent years, RFBD, along with other groups, have been undergoing testing and research of development of digital talking books, which would replace the taped textbook. As of last September, RFBD officially launched their digital talking books program. check them out for more details.

Accessible publications from the Social Security Administration can often be hard to find. Here is a listing of the Social Security Administration Publications, many of which are in web format (HTML) and in Word, in addition to the usual PDF format. If you need a specific publication and don't want to wait for the Braille copy that the local office "says" they'll send you, check this page out.

The Traveller is a new device designed by the National Federation of the Blind's Research and Development team to assist the blind in navigating better when they travel. Read more about it at the site.

The Million Web is a site that I recently discovered which has several blind friendly features, such as a couple of games (including an accessible beta of Wheel of Fortune), a chat area, a bulletin board, and more.

White Stick is a site with all sorts of information on it. In particular, this site has a very active downloads area, and often is where I turn for the latest versions of programs like Winamp.

If you're looking for Christian materials in alternative formats, then the World Christian Resource Directory will likely have what you're looking for, and then some.

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Training Centers for the Blind

Everyone at the state agency I now work at is required to read Freedom for the Blind: the Secret is Empowerment by James Omvig. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in or involved with the rehabilitation or services for blind people, or anyone who wants to know about how successful programs for the blind should be run.

The Colorado Center for the Blind, in Denver, CO, is where I received training between January and August of 1999. I highly recommend them because, not only do they teach you how to make an omlet, but the skills for making that omlet, so you can make other things. They place lots of emphasis on skills, but also on confidence, attitudes, and philosophy of blindness. IN fact, everyone that is low vision, wheres blindfolds during their training and all the teachers are blind or under blindfolds, so that they can relate to the student better. What better way to learn how to cross a street safely, than with a blind instructor? One that can not only instruct, but be a role model. This is one of the three National Federation of the Blind's adjustment to blindness training centers. The other two are the Louisiana Center for the Blind, in Ruston Louisiana, and Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions, BLIND Inc., in Minneapolis, MN.

The Division for Blind Services is the separate state agency for the blind in Texas. Also, the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center is the main state training center for the blind that DBS sends most of their clients to. They have really turned their attitudes and practices of blindness around in recent years, so that they are now very similar in their teaching methods to NFB training centers. If you're interested in this, then contact me and I'd be glad to talk with you about it.

Assessing 3 Rehabilitation Agencies. This is an article that was compiled by Dr. C. Edwin Vaughan, in the December, 1998, issue of The Braille Monitor. The article, which is based on a study conducted by Dr. Vaughan, compares the three NFB training centers with a state training center for the blind, and looks at some subtle and some not so subtle, differences between them. If you are thinking of which kind of training center to go to, then this might provide you with some information.

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Blindness Related Mailing Lists

Top Tech Tidbits is a weekly newsletter, available in email, RSS, or web formats, that Dean Martino sends out which summarizes the week's technology news, mostly adaptive but some mainstream. On this page, you can subscribe to his email and RSS feeds or just read the issues he's posted. New issues come out on Thursdays.

Yahoo Groups has taken over the lions share of mailing lists that are out on the Web, including boht blindness and many other kinds. Several of them that I have had experience with or have been on include:

• Blind Webbers: for blind people interested in web design;
• Blind Gamers: for blind people interested in any sort of accessible computer game;
• JFW Lite: this was actually referenced on the "Computers and Internet Resources" page. Unfortunately, it is no longer running, but you can read all the archived messages, over 150,000 worth.
• JFW list: This is more of a general list from JFW Lite, and it has a lot larger distribution than JFW Lite, with at least 300 more subscribers, but covering the same sort of material; and
• MS Office: as you might think, this list talks about issues having to do with the Microsoft Office suite of programs.

NFB Bulletin Board Service. On this site, you can see all the lists that are run through the NFBNet website. You can also search through the archives of the various lists or browse entry by entry on the lists. For those old school people, you can Telnet to this site as well. Check it out.

Circle of Friends, on Smart Groups: This isn't actually a blindness related mailing list, but its run by a blind friend of mine, Lynn White, so that qualifies it in my mind, :) This list is just what it sounds like, a circle of friends chatting about whatever, which might include: cooking, hobbies, kids, and more. The intent of the list is to bring together people who are serving Christ or looking for answers about Christ. Or, if you just want to meet people and don't know Christ, I'm sure you'd be welcome as well. To subscribe, send a blank message to: circleoffriends-subscribe@smartgroups.com, reply to the confirmation message, and you will be subscribed.

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Note Takers and Other Similar Devices

First before I get into the list, for those that don't know, a note taker is not someone who takes notes for a blind person--well, actually it could be. In this instance though a note taker is a small computer that a blind person can take notes on, such as a laptop but much smaller. If you want an analogy, think of what the Palm Pilot has done for the mainstream realm. Read on and discover the recent boom and competition in note taking for the blind.

there are two main note taker groups on the market today. One is the BrailleNote and the other is the Pac Mate. Both note taker groups use Windows CE, which is what many of the note takers and PDA's for sighted people are based on. The BrailleNote has more of a proprietary file and menu structure, menaing you don't have to learn all about Windows in order to open a document or write an email. While the Pac Mate uses the Microsoft Windows Mobile suite of software as its base, with a few proprietary programs thrown in. Both note takers have different versionf or different types of people, such as a qwerty (computer style keyboard) and a Perkins (Braille style keyboard), along with your choice of a Braille display, or a speech only unit. Read more on the individual sites for mor details on the combinations you can have. The Pac Mate has released portable Braille displays which can be "integrated" into the Pac Mate, which certainly present options for the user. For instance, one could attach the display to their Pac Mate while at work, and then remove the display and attach it to their home computer as a refreshable Braille display, which would work in conjunction with a screen reader like JAWS.

For more information:

• BrailleNote's official site
• PAC Mate Headquarters from Freedom Scientific, is a round up of all things PAC Mate, in cluding: new software, accessories, audio tutorials, news, and more.
• If you have a Pac Mate, be sure to drop by Pac Mate Gear, for all things Pac Mate, including news, helpful downloads, and more.
• Freedom Scientific's older note takers. This page lists older note takers available from Freedom Scientific.

Freedom Scientific have done it again by releasing another great free program for the PAC Mate BX and QX, this time for controlling devices with the Infra-Red port on your PM. Check out FS Commander, and soon you too will be controlling your TV and Cable box from the comfort of your easy chair, all through the PAC Mate.

Level Star has introduced a new kind of note taker for the blind called the Icon. In the world of note takers, this one is truly unique. It consists of a detachable unit, like a remote control, from a docking station. With the Icon, you can do many of the things that other note takers can do, like create documents, send and receive email, maintain a calendar and contacts, and more. You can also do other things, such as subscribe to and retrieve podcasts and RSS content. The Icon is still in development from being introduced early last year. However, this product has captured the attention of many blind people, and I can see why. There are various Icon audio demonstrations you can listen to about the Icon's applications. Check it out.

Independent Living Aids is one of the places that's selling the Olympus DS-50 digital voice recorder. Though they refer to this recorder as the one that can record up to 275 hours, you can read more about the recorder on this page, as well as download a copy of the manual in Word or MP3 audio file formats. Or, click here for a Olympus DS 30/40/50 Voice Recorder manual to read online.

The Jot a Dot is meant for those that don't want, or may not need, an electronic note taker. Or, perhaps for those that might just need to write a quick note. The Jot a Dot looks like a cross between a slate and stylus and a Braille Writer, but without the bulk and weight of the Brailler. You can fit an index card, like 4 X 6, in it and braille away like you're using a standard Perkins Brailler. In fact, the keys are in the Perkins format. Plus, since it is totally mechanical, the price is very affordable, or at least more affordable than a PAC Mate or BrailleNote. Visit their site and learn more about this nifty device.

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List of U.S. Guide Dog Schools

The GDUI School Survey 2006 is a great way to find out about many differetn guide dog schools without physically making the trip to see them. If you're looking for a guide dog school or want to know more about one, then check out this comprehensive survey. While it wouldn't be a wise idea to base your decision of the next school to go to on this survey alone, this can give some good information on the school, their training methods, the kinds of dogs they use, and so forth.

If your school is not listed here, or if you want to know more guide dog information, then visit the National Federation of the Blind's National Association of Guide Dog Users.

Eye Dog Foundation For the Blind, Inc.
211 S. Montclair St., Suite A
Bakersfield, CA 93309-3165
661-831-1333 1-800-393-3641
Fax: 661-831-0681
Eye Dog Foundation

EDF Training Center:
8252 South 15th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85041-7806
602-276-0051
Fax: 602-276-1046
Email the EDF Training Center

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc.
P. O. Box 142
Bloomfield, CT 06002
860-243-5200
Fax: 860-243-7215
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation

Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind
1210 Hardscrabble Road
Cassville, NY 13318
315-822-5132
Fax: 315-822-5132 (call before faxing)
Email Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
371 East Jericho Turnpike
Smithtown, NY 11787-2976
631-265-2121 1-800-548-4337
FAX: 631-361-5192
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind

Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.
P. O. Box 151200
San Rafael, CA 94915-1200
415-499-4000 1-800-295-4050
Fax: 415-499-4035
Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs for the Blind (Oregon Campus)
32901 S.E. Kelso Road
Boring, OR 97009
503-668-2100
FAX: 503-668-2141

Guide Dogs of America
13445 Glenoaks Blvd.
Sylmar, CA 91342
818-362-5834 1-800-459-4843
FAX: 818-362-6870
Guide Dogs of America

Guide Dogs of the Desert, Inc.
P. O. Box 1692
Palm Springs, CA 92263
760-329-6257
Fax: 760-329-2127
Guide Dogs of the Desert

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Inc.
611 Granite Springs Road
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
914-245-4024 1-800-942-0149
Fax: 914-962-1403
Guiding Eyes for the Blind

Kansas Specialty Dog Service
124 West 7th
P. O. Box 216
Washington, KS 66968
785-325-2256
FAX: 785-325-2258
Kansas Specialty Dog Service

Leader Dogs for the Blind, Inc.
1039 South Rochester Road
Rochester, MI 48307-3115
248-651-9011 1-888-777-5332
FAX: 248-651-5812
Leader Dogs for the Blind

Pilot Dogs, Inc.
625 W. Town St.
Columbus, OH 43215-4496
614-221-6367
Fax: 614-221-1577
Pilot Dogs

The Seeing Eye, Inc.
P. O. Box 375
Morristown, NJ 07963-0375
973-539-4425 1-800-539-4425
FAX: 973-539-0922
The Seeing Eye

Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc.
4210 77th St. East
Palmetto, FL 34221
941-729-5665
Fax: 941-729-6646
Southeastern Guide Dogs

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I realize that this page is long, but I appreciate you reading about the different materials and services offerred. I'm open to any thoughts, questions, or other comments you might have on the products or things I have said., please fill out my Feedback Form.

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