Legislative Hotlines, current issues for blind persons:
CALIFORNIA CONNECTION:
800-221-6359, after 5 PM and weekends
WASHINGTON CONNECTION:
800-424-8666, 3-9 PM and weekends
DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
Monthly in-person meetings are held at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center (Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired San Jose). Meetings run 9:30 AM to 1 PM the third Saturday of the month and are open to all.
At our January membership meeting, our Board of Directors was welcomed by Roger Petersen, in accordance with our long tradition of Roger's induction pledge. Stepping into the Chapter President position is a delight, as SVCB is a chapter with members who are welcoming, motivated, creative, and self-directed. Also, the Immediate Past President, Rob Turner, and before him, Susan Glass, have both set a wonderful model for leading the chapter. I can only hope to follow their amazing example.
I still remember attending my first SVCB meeting many years ago, and the spirit was present then, as it is now, welcoming, diverse, and loyal to the work of SVCB and California Council of the Blind.
In our January meeting we discussed our favorite books or genres, and the lively discussion confirmed that reading is an important aspect of the fabric of our lives. We will make sure the titles of the books shared by members will be sent to the membership.
We also discussed bringing back a popular activity—The Cookies of the Month. Bev Clifford volunteered to be the point person for working with the wonderful bakers in our chapter to coordinate who will be baking for the meetings. Please connect with Bev, if you want to join the Cookies of the Month Club of bakers. Who can resist homemade cookies?
We have active and well-led committees doing the work of the chapter. All of the committees, welcome new members to bring in new ideas. Getting involved helps to build relationships, and also keeps our chapter vital and relevant for all. Noted below is a list of committees. Please reach out to me if you are interested in serving on any of the listed committees, and I will put you in touch with the Committee Chair.
Transportation
Legislation
Membership
Programs
Fund Raising
Braille Literacy
Tech Grant
Chapter Events—picnic and holiday party
Bev Clifford also encouraged members to send in articles for our In Touch newsletter. Some of our members are not able to attend our meetings, and yet they stay loyal to SVCB due to the informative newsletter. Please send articles to Sandy Quenzer at editor@svcb.cc. Debee Armstrong offered to pen an article for you as your very own "ghost writer." If you have an idea and are not sure how to express it in an article, please reach out to Debee.
We also welcomed two new members to our chapter during the January meeting; and my guide dog, Cora, was so happy to greet two new guide dogs, along with their handlers, Nancy and Linda. Victor will be sharing a bit about them with the membership. Welcome, Nancy and Linda!
2024 has all of the promise of being a great year for our chapter, and I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you! If you have ideas or input about our chapter, I welcome a call from you. Many heads bring new ideas, and many hands make for easy work.
Susan Glass and your new VP, Lorraine Brown, will be chairing the February meeting, as Rob and I will be in Maui for our vacation. And Cora will be on her own vacation visiting the Half Moon Bay house of our traveling companion, along with a pet sitter and Cora's friends, Maxine (a French bulldog) and Einstein (her cat friend).
Well, King, what do you think of Alice's President's Message? "Well, I hope to someday write about books I read. As Alice describes, we heard about the many books you humans are reading, but nothing from the three dogs I know were there. That's just not right, and I'm going to do something about that." Now that's going to be interesting, an ever-present perspective, master of the active voice! "What kind of mumble is that?" It's the butter-up mumble, and you can dance to it.
Anyway, the program segment for the January meeting is on our website at:
svcb.cc/psaudio/ps0124.mp3
The Membership Committee can use some new people. There was a time when every newsletter featured a short bio of an SVCB member, and I'm hoping to start that again. But we need someone to own that project, even a dog! "Yes, and I'll talk about canes, too." We'll address a list of questions like what's your favorite music, and what foods do you hate. So please, someone step up. Maybe we can even get Bev's cantankerous AI to form the questions.
In the business section of the February meeting, we'll elect a delegate and alternate delegate to the CCB convention at the end of March.
Happy February birthdays to no one. "Or everyone. I think it's cool to sing a happy birthday to everyone." And sooner or later you'll get a bone for that. "Good, can't wait!"
We'll be publishing the 2024 budget with this newsletter, and it'll be approved at the February meeting.
And my apology for not following through with the promised new membership list. I hope to include it with the April newsletter. The business calendar was approved and is on the website.
-PBS' American Masters' Launches Visibility, Inclusion, and Accessibility Initiative
The new commitment, which aims to increase documentary programming by, for, and about disabled communities, will support the disability history series "Renegades," and includes a talent incubator and expanded accessibility features for the PBS programming. Read more in "The Hollywood Reporter" at:
Please share with members of your chapters that CAAVL hosts an Adjustment to Sight Loss group, every Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. on Zoom. This group invites anyone who is new to sight loss. You may also pass this information on to anyone outside of CCB as well.
This group is facilitated by me and Nelly Emerson. Our background is in rehab. Nelly's is with DOR, and mine is with the VA. We bring years of professional experience to the group.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is conducting a pilot program for its new free Direct File Service for paying taxes. They are looking for ACB members to test out the program and provide feedback on its accessibility and usability with assistive technology. The pilot is operating in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming; and participants will be compensated for their time. To learn more, visit:
ACB is engaging in some advocacy surrounding the medication, Hetlioz, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, and the non-24 sleep-wake disorder.
If you, or someone you know, have non-24, have had experience with Hetlioz, and would be willing to assist in our advocacy, please email Kim Charlson at:
We needed to make this move as our scope has expanded beyond academics. The www.HadleyHelps.org web address already works. If you type in Hadley.edu by accident, you will be automatically redirected to HadleyHelps.org and your emails forwarded accordingly. Be sure to update your bookmarks to the new address.
-Researchers Need Your Help
We are researchers from the Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research at the Rochester Institute of Technology and TU Dublin, conducting a research survey on the use of accessibility overlays. We are seeking insights from blind and low-vision computer users who are 18 years or older about experiences using accessibility overlays. We are offering a raffle of $100, to a winner drawn from up to 2,000 survey respondents.
Accessibility Overlays are a broad term for technologies that aim to improve the accessibility of a website. Some claim to fix any problems in the site's code that are preventing assistive technology from being used easily. Examples include AccessiBe, UserWay, and EqualWeb. If you have used accessibility overlays, you may qualify for this study.
-Help Us Improve the Website Accessibility of a Popular Restaurant Chain!
We're a team of three master's students—Joyce, Kayla, and Sofia—from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. We're reaching out to individuals with diverse visual abilities to participate in a user experience interview focused on a popular restaurant's website accessibility.
We're specifically looking for participants who are blind and participants with low vision to take part in a 60-minute interview. All you need to do is browse the restaurant's website on your smartphone or computer using any assistive technology tools you normally use (if any) while we observe and ask questions. Our interview sessions will be recorded. The recordings will be deleted promptly after our research concludes to ensure confidentiality.
Are you interested in sharing your thoughts on potential challenges and frustrations in the website's menu design? Your participation and invaluable feedback will positively impact the experience of all individuals with visual impairments who use this website. We will compensate you $25 for your time! If interested, please fill out the brief form linked below, and one of our team members will contact you to schedule a convenient interview time if you qualify for our study.
Do you want to learn the basics of braille but are not quite sure where to start? Have you attempted to learn previously, but have not quite managed to, or are finding that you're getting a bit rusty? Perhaps you know someone who wants to learn braille but isn't aware of the Braille lists?
No matter the reason, you are warmly invited to join Braille for Beginners, our free, self-paced introduction to reading braille by touch. Hard copy learning resources are supported by relaxed and friendly lessons available to stream or download at any time. You will also have access to monthly tutorial support on Zoom, email contact with an experienced braille teacher and peer support through an email discussion forum.
If you would like to learn more or register for the course, visit:
1 can (10 and 3/4 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 and 1/2 cups cooked Mafalda mini lasagna pasta (about 3 cups dry)
1 can (about 7 ounces) tuna, drained and broken into chunks
1/2 cup seasoned croutons
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine soup and milk. Stir in Monterey Jack cheese, spaghetti sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Add pasta and tuna. Toss gently to coat. Spoon into a two-quart oblong baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 25 minutes.
Top with croutons, and bake 5 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly. Makes about 5 cups or 5 servings.
Notes: Mafalda pasta is a small, flat noodle that resembles ripple-edged lasagna noodles. You can substitute 4 cups cooked rigatoni or corkscrew macaroni for the Mafalda (Suzanne uses egg noodles). You can also substitute salmon for the tuna.
-Toffee Pecan Bars
contributed by Suzanne Smith
(Recipes From the Heart Cookbook: The Pampered Chef
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold butter or margarine
1 egg
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup toffee pieces
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto bottom of lightly greased 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir in toffee pieces and pecans. Spread evenly onto the crust. Bake 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Makes 24 bars.
- The Loaft-Over
Contributed by Deborah Armstrong
Once when I had leftover bread, I remembered the method my dad used to make Swedish meatballs, and decided to modify it for a meatloaf made from leftovers. It became a family favorite. Here's my recipe:
Ingredients
2 or 3 slices dill rye
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon dill
1 cup milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
Chopped mushrooms (optional)
Directions
Soak the bread in the milk for an hour or so.
Drain the milk that has not been absorbed by the bread.
In the bowl where the milk was, squish the bread with the back of a spoon.
Beat the eggs in another bowl, and mix in the sage and dill.
Combine the egg mixture with the squished bread, and mix in the ground beef and chopped mushrooms.
Avoid handling to prevent it from getting tough. Instead, mix thoroughly with a cold spoon.
Dump into a greased loaf pan or mini loaf pans.
Slice a hole or two in the top of the loaf for steam to escape.
Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.
Notes: For Swedish meatballs, substitute 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and 1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaves for the dill and sage. Substitute Swedish rye for dill rye. My dad, who is Swedish, says that stale bread rather than breadcrumbs makes more authentic meatballs.
Form the meat mixture into balls, and place in greased muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.
The cookies are back! Our SVCB Board has approved the return of the monthly tradition that all of us so enjoyed. We can now look forward to acquiring delicious confections, created by SVCB volunteer bakers that is, if anyone who loves making cookies will get in touch with me to let me know that they are interested in helping out with this project.
I am your Cookies of the Month chairperson, and I already have one volunteer.
The cookies will start showing up at our meetings starting in February of this year, and I will be the first baker. Each person who bakes for us will need to package two or three cookies at a time into zip-top plastic bags for sanitary and health reasons, and for ease of distribution at meetings.
To become an SVCB cookie baker, please contact me by calling the SVCB phone number:
1-888-652-5333
and leaving a message for me, by dropping me an email at:
or by looking me up in your SVCB membership list to contact me directly by phone or email. At that time, we can discuss which month you would like to do your baking.
Thank you in advance for helping our chapter rejuvenate this much-loved endeavor.
As a lover of art, and of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural creations, I was thrilled to visit the Guggenheim Museum in New York years ago when I still had clear central vision. Having lost my ability to distinguish colors and to see very much at all, I thought that art was lost to me. I have, however, discovered some ways that I can access art, and others can, too.
One example is the Guggenheim's Mind's Eye Program, which invites people with disabilities to participate in the museum building and its exhibits. People who are visually impaired or blind have an opportunity every month to sign up for a descriptive visit to a featured art exhibit. Those who cannot make it to New York can participate virtually, either with Zoom or by calling in. Usually the program is presented twice, and each participant can select the time and date that is most convenient.
Those who can see will be able to enjoy the shared screens, and those who have no vision at all will be treated to a thorough descriptive program by a specialist in that field. The program is interactive, which allows participants to ask questions about the works, their creators, or the descriptions themselves in order to get further clarification. Participants also give their opinions and their own interpretations, which are respected by the Mind's Eye Team.
In December, participants were mailed a gift package of artful objects with which they could explore their own creative impulses. The package included many different items: Model Magic air dry clay and thin strips of wax allowed participants to explore texture and create spatial objects. In addition, participants received rice paper, colored pencils, a notebook, and snowflake-shaped scratch art that was black, but became colorful as the paper was scratched. Extra treats included a Guggenheim Museum magnet, a pencil sharpener, and even a granola bar! It was great fun as everyone shared their discoveries and creations during a discussion of the past year's monthly programs as a year-end wrap up.
I highly recommend that you try out The Mind's Eye virtual program if you are interested in pursuing knowledge and appreciation of modern art. Each month, you will receive an email invitation with that month's descriptive program, and a way to RSVP for one of the two virtual sessions, either on a Monday at 3:30 pm PST or Wednesday at 11 AM PST. Once you've sent your RSVP, the access team will send you an email with the Zoom link and call-in phone number.
To get more information and embark on a new adventure, contact the Mind's Eye Access Team:
I am truly enjoying the new article submissions we have received so far. Thanks for your contributions! I look forward to seeing what else will be submitted in future.
Events no longer take place at the old Tabard Theatre building in San Jose, as that theater has permanently closed. Instead, events are staged at various other venues around town.
For weekly information about these events, contact Marilyn Watts as above to be placed on Tabard Theatre's email list.
The phrase "On Demand" means that an event can be viewed through services like Comcast.
3. Shows Described by AudioVision Bay Area
For all productions (Golden Gate, Orpheum Theatres, Broadway San Francisco, and Broadway San Jose), tickets are generally on sale four weeks before the production opens. To charge tickets and reserve receivers, call:
888-746-1799
(SHN Theaters), or fax your order to:
415-581-2121
and ask for AudioVision tickets. If you have any questions, please email:
Audio described shows by TheatreWorks have resumed, with descriptions by Gravity. Pre-register for tickets that include a free "show talk" 30 minutes before the show, at the TheatreWorks box office at:
To hear weekly events at the San Francisco LightHouse, call:
415-694-7325.
6. Let's Talk Low Vision
The monthly "Let's Talk Low Vision" conferences are held on the third Tuesday of the month at 8:30 PM Eastern. Archives are at the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI) Official website at:
8. Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP)
BORP believes that everyone should have access to the unique challenges that outdoor recreation provides, and makes every effort to accommodate each person's needs, including providing transportation and volunteer support. For event listings, call Lori Gray at: