American Foundation for the Blind

The American Foundation for the Blind is an American nonprofit that expands possibilities for people with vision loss. AFB's priorities include broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of information and tools for the professionals who serve people with vision loss; and promoting independent and healthy living for people with vision loss by providing them and their families with relevant and timely resources. For more than 80 years, AFB has been at the forefront of advocating for the rights of people who are blind or visually impaired.

History
AFB, with the support and leadership of M.C. Migel, a philanthropist who was moved to help the large number of veterans blinded in World War I, formed in 1921 to provide a national clearinghouse for information about vision loss and a forum for discussion for the dispersed, yet burgeoning, community of blindness service professionals. Made official at the convention of the American Association of Workers for the Blind in Vinton, Iowa, AFB’s founding was also intended to generate new directions for research and represent the needs of people with vision loss in the nation’s corridors of power.

AFB’s early accomplishments include taking the lead to standardize the English braille code and establishing the first professional publications program for teachers and administrators of programs for people with vision loss. In 1926, AFB’s Directory of Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons — marketed as the most convenient, comprehensive, and reliable source of information on vision loss available — first appeared. The fact that the contents of this publication, now in its 27th edition in print and online, have exponentially increased since its inception show how far services for people with vision loss have come. Today, AFB continues to conduct trailblazing research and provide comprehensive information on all aspects of vision loss to the general public. AFB Press is the largest publisher of scholarly works and research for vision loss service professionals.

From its outset AFB also demonstrated a commitment to enhancing access to information for people with vision loss. In 1933 AFB engineers developed the first long-playing record and player, and set up studios for the recording of talking books. AFB played a major role in persuading the federal government to include talking books in the National Library System for blind people operated by the Library of Congress. Today, AFB remains the largest producer of talking books, with state-of-the-art, fully digital recording studios in New York City. AFB has made significant forays into the commercial recording arena as well.

AFB's advocacy efforts have led to the passage of significant legislation for people with vision loss. AFB was instrumental in creating and passing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and more recently worked on the renewal of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that it contained provisions to meet the specific needs of children with vision loss.

For many years AFB designed, manufactured, and sold products that were made specifically for people with vision loss, such as braille writers, magnifiers, and audio blood pressure monitors. Currently, however, AFB devotes its energies to working with technology manufacturers at the design stage to develop products that can be used by everyone - sighted or visually impaired. Especially since the advent of digital technology, AFB believes that working to establish universal design practices among technology producers is the most promising and cost effective option for making all products accessible in the long term.

AFB Senior Site
AFB maintains a strong online presence at www.afb.org. In April 2007, AFB further enhanced its site by launching AFB Senior Site to help older Americans and their family members cope with age-related eye diseases — a growing public health problem in the United States. Eye experts say that by the year 2020, rates of vision loss from diseases like age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are expected to double as the nation's 78 million baby boomers reach retirement age.

Currently, 6.5 million Americans over the age of 65 have severe vision loss. While some are adapting successfully there are many others who don't know where to turn for help, or even if such help exists. AFB's web site is meant to address this knowledge gap.

Visitors to AFB Senior Site will find instructional videos and articles describing independent living solutions geared specifically to people with age-related vision loss. The web site also connects seniors and their families to important resources in their own communities, such as vision loss specialists who can recommend solutions and instruct older adults with vision loss.

In conjunction with the launch of AFB Senior Site, AFB released the results of a national opinion poll that details people's fears about vision loss:


 * Losing one's sight and paralysis top the list of the public's health fears that were tested. Most feared are losing one's sight (21%) and paralysis (21%), followed by HIV/AIDS (16%), cancer (14%), stroke (11%), heart attacks/disease (6%), and diabetes (4%). The last 4% don't know.
 * Americans say their biggest concerns about low vision are losing the ability to live independently (75%) and read (68%).
 * After physicians (56%), Americans would turn to web sites (29%) and organizations for the blind (20%) for information on blindness and severe vision loss.

Helen Keller and AFB
AFB is recognized as the leading organization to which Helen Keller devoted her life. Keller worked for AFB for over 40 years, and was instrumental in the foundation of the Talking Books Program, among many others. She remained with AFB until her death in 1968 - lecturing, writing, fundraising, lobbying, and providing an example of committed action for the public good. Under the terms of her will, Helen Keller selected AFB as the repository of her papers and memorabilia, which AFB has carefully preserved and arranged in the Helen Keller Archives located in New York City.

AFB Locations
AFB's main headquarters is in New York, New York. Other facilities include the Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., the AFB Center on Vision Loss in Dallas, Texas, AFB TECH in Huntington, West Virginia, and offices in San Francisco, California and Atlanta, Georgia.

AFB Publications
AFB produces a number of publications, both periodicals and books. Periodicals include, among others:


 * AccessWorld: Technology and People with Visual Impairments
 * Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB)

AFB's online bookstore is located at http://www.afb.org/store/.

External references

 * American Foundation for the Blind web site
 * AFB Senior Site
 * Helen Keller Archives
 * American Foundation for the Blind profile at DAISY.org web site
 * Article on AFB 75th anniversary from TerraQuest.com