AFB Study: Exploring the Use of AI by people with and without disabilities

 

AI Impacts Everyone: Tell Us How You Use It Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live, work, and connect. But is it working for everyone? The American Foundation for the Blind is conducting a study on how people interact with AI. We want to hear from adults with and without disabilities, whether you are an experienced user or not. Your input will help us better understand how AI is being used across different communities. To ensure the depth and accuracy of our findings, we are actively seeking responses from individuals without disabilities. We continue to welcome participation from people with disabilities as an essential part of this research. Who can participate: Adults age 18 and older People with or without disabilities What to expect: Complete a short screening form If you qualify, you’ll receive a survey link within 24 hours The online survey takes 10 to 45 minutes, depending on your AI use You’ll have a chance to win one of twenty $50 gift cards We invite you to share whether you’ve used AI, how you use it, your opinions about it, and any challenges you’ve encountered. To begin, go to: www.afb.org/AISurvey.  Questions? Email: asilverman@afb.org. The survey will close on September 30, 2025. If you have already completed this survey, please disregard this email. Thank you for your participation!

Register Now for DSB Spring Town Hall May 20 6:30-8:00 pm on Zoom

 DSB Spring Town Hall Meeting A virtual event to provide agency updates and answer  community questions. 

The Department of Services  

for the Blind (DSB)  

announces the Spring Virtual  

Town Hall is scheduled for  

Tuesday, May 20, 2025,  

6:30 – 8:00 p.m. 

DSB Town Halls are held  

virtually to allow input from  

citizens across the State of  

Washington and offer the opportunity for members of the public to  hear directly from the agency, ask questions and raise concerns,  and share what’s important to them.  

DSB will provide brief updates on:  

• Current State of the Agency 

• Community Input/Perspective on VR Services 

• Streamlining VR Services to Increase Rehab 

Outcomes 

The remainder of the event is dedicated to taking questions and  comments from the audience members. 

Everyone is welcome to log into this virtual town hall! This event  is free, but participants need to register in advance. Zoom  meeting invitations will be provided to registered individuals a  week prior to the meeting.  

Closed captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided. For  additional assistance with accommodation, please contact  Yvonne.Verbraak@dsb.wa.gov. 

Washington State Department of Services for the Blind 

www.dsb.wa.gov ● info@dsb.wa.gov ● 800-552-7103

Barbie's 65th year with shameless fundraising from from the American Foundation For the Blind

 Reprinted as is from a fundraising email. AFB is always a worthy cause.

Have you heard about the latest Barbie? It’s the first blind Barbie Fashionista doll! It ranked as the #1 selling doll on Amazon and among the hottest news releases of the week. From The New York Times to People, Barbie is prompting people to talk about blindness and low vision. In its first 24 hours, the blind Barbie had over 2 billion media impressions.

AFB’s team of experts has advised Mattel at every step. From Barbie's white cane to the braille on the box, we aimed to make this launch an inspiration to blind and low-vision children. The result is an authentic representative product that has already begun a conversation about what it means to be blind. With your support, we can turn our vision into reality. Through initiatives like the Blind Barbie, we aim to break down barriers and promote understanding and inclusion in society. Your contributions play a crucial role in making these initiatives possible.

This is already among our milestone achievements, including work on the first audiobooks and a uniform braille code to be adopted worldwide. The consistent factor throughout it all has been the power of the AFB community. We’re working hard every day to continue this legacy of innovation and inclusion. You can help us change the national narrative about blindness—and so much more. Please donate today. P.S. Our 2024 Leadership Conference (AFBLC) will be held in Minneapolis, MN, this Sept 23-25! This is a pivotal platform where we bring together our corporate partners, advocacy groups, government representatives, and the blind and low-vision community to share information that propels our mission forward. Explore our exciting conference agenda and register for AFBLC to join us in leading the way for an inclusive future.

Shameless reprint: New Barbies! Representation!

 

Barbie® Introduces the First Blind Barbie Fashionista Doll and Black Barbie Fashionista Doll with Down Syndrome, Allowing Even More Children to Tell Stories Through Play

Released as part of this year’s global Barbie Fashionistas lineup, Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind and National Down Syndrome Society to ensure doll designs accurately reflect the community they are designed to represent EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 23rd, 2024 – Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) announced today the addition of a blind Barbie doll and a Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome, created to allow even more children to find a doll that represents them and inspire all children to tell more stories through play.  “We recognize that Barbie is much more than just a doll; she represents self-expression and can create a sense of belonging," said Krista Berger, Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls. “We proudly introduce a new blind Barbie doll and Black doll with Down syndrome to our Barbie Fashionistas line, reinforcing our commitment to creating products that represent global belonging and inclusivity in the doll aisle.” Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), an organization dedicated to creating a world of endless possibilities for individuals with blindness and low vision, to ensure details of the blind Barbie doll, including face sculpt, fashion, accessories, packaging experience, and e-commerce communication, accurately depict individuals with blindness or low vision. Counseled by AFB, Barbie was committed to represent individuals with blindness and low vision throughout all stages of the design process, from the doll’s sculpt to the dress pattern:

Accessories: The doll comes with a white and red cane with an identifiable marshmallow tip and includes stylish and functional sunglasses. With some blind or low-vision individuals sensitive to light, the lens provides additional eye protection. Elbow Articulations: The blind Barbie doll includes elbow articulations to ensure comfortable cane use. Textured and Vibrant Fabrics: Barbie conducted testing with blind and low-vision children to ensure that the doll provided an accessible and satisfying play experience for kids with blindness or low vision. With AFB’s guidance, Barbie designed the doll’s fashion to include a satiny pink blouse with a textured ruffle skirt for tactile interest. Additional details include a brightly colored high-contrast hook and loop fasteners for closure on the back of the doll’s top, as well as an elastic skirt waistband to make swapping outfits easier. Packaging and Design: Barbie worked with AFB to create accessible packaging for the doll, including the placement and writing of ‘Barbie’ in braille on the package. Eye Gaze: The doll is designed with an eye gaze facing slightly up and out to accurately reflect the sometimes-distinct eye gaze of a blind individual.

"It was an honor to collaborate with Barbie on the development of the blind Barbie doll,” said Eric Bridges, CEO and President, American Foundation for the Blind. “By increasing representation and promoting awareness about the experiences of blind individuals and those with low vision, our shared goal is to inspire boundless opportunities for everyone, ultimately leading to a world of greater accessibility and inclusion." In 2023 Barbie introduced the first-ever Barbie doll with Down syndrome, which won the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year award presented by the Toy Association. This year, Barbie once again partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) to introduce its next doll with Down syndrome to the Barbie Fashionistas 2024 lineup. Throughout all stages of the design process, Barbie and NDSS worked together to ensure the Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome accurately reflected and resonated with members of the Down syndrome community. NDSS connected Barbie with a focus group of Black individuals from the Down syndrome community, including a young Black woman with Down syndrome, to review the doll’s sculpt, hair, fashion and glasses:

Sculpt: Barbie collaborated with the NDSS to accurately represent physical characteristics of people with Down syndrome including a shorter frame, longer torso and low muscle tone. Additionally, the doll’s palms include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome. Special care was put into the face sculpt, featuring a rounder shape, smaller ears, and a flat nasal bridge. The eyes are slightly slanted in an almond shape while white dots can be seen in the iris. Hair: The doll has a braided hair texture which was one of the key features asked from the Black Down syndrome community. Fashion: Symbols are incorporated throughout the doll’s outfit, and the blue and yellow color palette represents Down syndrome awareness. The three arrows in some of the hearts on the dress, represent the third 21st chromosome that individuals with Down syndrome have. Glasses: The doll also wears pink eyeglasses, representing individuals with Down syndrome who often experience difficulties with their vision.

"NDSS is thrilled to introduce a second Barbie doll with Down syndrome. Having this doll launched alongside the new Barbie doll with Blindness marks another important step in expanding representation for the disability community,” said Kandi Pickard, President and CEO, NDSS. “We are proud to partner with Barbie as they grow to reflect our diverse and beautiful world." “We are delighted to introduce these dolls in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind and National Down Syndrome Society to further our mission for every young girl to feel represented and celebrated through Barbie.” Berger continued. Doll play has proven to help develop empathy and social processing skills among children, fueling social skills needed to excel in their futures as they imagine they can be anything. As the brand's most diverse doll line, the Barbie Fashionistas series offers more than 175+ looks in a variety of skin tones, eye colors, hair colors and textures, body types, disabilities and fashions. This includes dolls with vitiligo, dolls that use a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb, a doll with hearing aids and a doll without hair. The 2024 Fashionistas dolls aim to advance Barbie’s continued goal of reflecting a multi-dimensional view of beauty and fashion, allowing more children to see their world reflected through play. The 2024 Fashionistas dolls, including the blind Barbie doll and Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome, are available online now and in store this Summer at major retailers for $10.99.

Read More in the News

Finding Services: A Beginner's Guide to Visual Impairment

This item showed up in RantWoman's media streams just in time for RantWoman NOT to go to Florida for either #NFB24 or #ACB2024 national conventions.

For virtual participation information, check out acbmedia.org or nfb.org

And enjoy this video all year!

Hah! Get me to visit Facebook AND look up Alt text info

#GAAD #GAAD2024  #a11y

Brain is still working on things for a City of Seattle presentation even though a video and Powerpoint have already been turned in. Note to self: there is LIVE Q&A.

A STAR Center customer dragged me into one of my occasional visits to Facebook. 

After customer and I got as far as we could for today, I HAD to do a little digging. Never mind the critical path for the day's agenda and more cosmic reflections. Today's quest for world domination and ubiquitous accessibility features Material Already Out There! This is exactly WHY people do events like the City of Seattle Event.

Let's see: obvious Alt text in a couple places on a thread about a major high school reunion. Graduating class is STILL playing golf for their reunions, so I am still not going. Digression: I was in Paris during my 10th reunion. Paris, HORRORS, was not my fave Eurail pass destination, but it was still way better than golf. For my 20th reunion, the short kid I got paired with for 7th grade dance class had grown up respectably. I haven't been back since.

Now back to Facebook and alt text.

There's always the search bar IN Facebook.

The Search string "alt text in Facebook" yielded lots of help!

Excellent level of detail for an explanatory video.

Interesting reference to "hover over." Screen reader users probably know a screen reader equivalent.

Also important to note mention of browser extensions. 

In large organizations, it is a good idea to be aware of organizational policies about what gets installed on work computers and how to get something like this approved. 

The same point probably applies for contrast checking. Contrast checking may occur through browser extensions or features built into content creation tools. I hope the presentation inspires people who might need such tools to go have a look.

From the Perkins School for the Blind: how to create Alt Text on Facebook

The Accessibility Hut at Harvard gives advice on Alt text on Facebook

Now for a bonus, let me see what I can do with the same photo still generating chatter on Nextdoor, chatter level being one reason I am not a big Nextdoor user either.

For reference, here's the photo!

Bus stop in SE Seattle closest to
what is about to become a family destination

VOTED!

Outgoing ballot envelope
on top of incoming one

RantWoman is on a tear to deal with PAPERWORK, taxes and other things. Taxes this year are in the realm of "Good problem to have," except for the part about figuring out whichever online tool RantWoman decides to wade through.

Other PAPERWORK depends on tax information and whatever testing of a new portal RantWoman decides to wade into. Joy. And temptation to procrastinate commenting on any number of topics roiling the infosphere.

But there RantWoman's ballot is on her desk screaming "DEAL WITH IT."

Deal with RAGE about the Supreme court, Section 3 of the 14th amendment, the lesson in post-civil-war reconstruction history that we are all dealing with. RantWoman actually recognizes complexity about names on ballots, party machinations, conventions, and different state standards. RantWoman just thingsk SCOTUS has handled all of this badly and is glad for some persistent teams of voting rights lawyers tackling SOME associated issues.

Deal with it: RantWoman also is particularly inclined toward scorn for the most junior member of SCOTUS, the one crammed onto the court a month before #DonTheCon was resoundingly voted OUT OF OFFICE: dialing back controversy seems EXTREMELY beside the point when one party is happy to place at the top of the ticket a guy who tried last time violently to overturn the will of the people. RantWoman also has RAGE about various other dimensions of campaigns. NONE of that solves the immediate problem of how to deal with the WA state Presidential primary.

Deal gratefully with ballots instead of caucuses which, the times RantWoman has gone, have proven an absolute nightmare on accessibility and aggravation grounds.

Deal with a wish somewhere for a statewide list of every county in WA with opportunity to vote in person using accessible voting methods, the location and hours of in-person early voting opportunities. 

Wait. Wait. EARTH TO RANTWOMAN.

Check out: sos.wa.gov .see the following link for County elections offices

County Elections Offices in Washington State | WA Secretary of State

This page has a nice combo box where people can look up county office location, hours, and contact info.

Choosing the county you want in the combo box is a better idea than just letting JAWS read the county names off the Google map. 

Urk! RantWOman sometimes gets impatient and makes bad assumptions based on my visual experience. RantWoman did that here and then decided just to try the Immersive reader in MS Edge and that cleared things up nicely. Once RantWoman found the info with the immersive reader, she also went back and did the same thing with JAWS and it worked fine.

There are other ways to find this info on county websites, but this statewide view is really nice.

Deal with it for the mental lint RantWoman is accumulating about how different states handle accessible voting practices, which states are doing accessible online voting, glacial evolution of enthusiasm by the WA Secretary of State to tackle this statewide in WA...

Deal with it for the line in tiny print on King County ballot envelopes where one is supposed to share an email or a phone number openly on the outside of an envelope.

And FINALLY, deal with the actual ballot which RantWoman thankfully has enough eyesight to spend her daily allotment of tiny print tolerance handling on her own.

--a desire to make a protest vote and irritation that by the time national elections reach WA, protest options have more than once already dropped out.

--The thought of just picking a party and then sending in a blank ballot.

--a number of OH HELL NO names.

--temptation to game out "well if the vote went this way...what about that way...?

How has RantWoman actually dealt with this???

RantWoman prefers to remain a woman of mystery with the following caveat:

There are LOTS of ways to make an impact on elections. Grab one and go for it.

And for an extra bonus rant on behalf of everyone currently asking RantWoman to opine about AI

1. Sight dependent readers who do not have a screen reader, hover the mouse over the photo for commentary about AI in RantWoman's phone camera.

2. Every dang platform RantWoman regularly interacts with is currently asking RantWoman some version of "help us improve our search" or "Wouldn't you like to try our AI?" NO! RantWoman would like to g-d get done the work she is trying to do. MAYBE LATER.

3. Reminder: RantWoman has enough vision to deal with Blogger backend. RantWoman strives to make posts  accessible, usable but cannot vouch for Blogger as a useful platform for people who are totally blind. One quirky note: RantWoman frequently uses photos from her phone. This works fine when creating the post but when RantWoman reopens, the post automatically reopens in HTML mode. In order to resave and see the photo, RantWoman has to click some button to accept whatever Blogger does to satisfy itself about the resulting HTML code. RantWoman would not mind having this fixed but has not taken the time to complain in the appropriate direction about the problem.

 

Valid WA State driver's license required, round n+1

 One of RantWoman's frequent media streams is job posting, OFTEN in the transportation or public transit sector that, as part of job requirements, say "Valid WA State driver's license required. Translating into RantWoman terms, this means :"must make an ADA reasonable accomodations request just to apply and then must demonstrate that one can satisfy the "essential job requirements." 

In the most recent case, RantWoman looked at the job description, determined that the job will probably involve situations that might require more transportation than showing up to an office, and made a snarky post on X / Twitter about the job perhaps having some "eat your own dog food" aspects as far as creativity about multiple transportation options. Now RantWoman gets to decide whether she has the guts to apply, if not for the immediate permanent position perhaps because of the "recruiting for a pool that may involve short-term positions.

RantWoman has in fact held a driver's license. In every state where she has ever had a license, there has been some kind of notation such as "must wear corrective lenses" or "must have a rear-view mirror on the side of the vehicle where she sees badly." Now, though, RantWoman's driver's license record says "medical suspension.: This is what happens when one goes to renew one's driver's license with an undiagnosed medical issue in her better eye and then decides after the automatic one-year suspension that there is no magic wand available that would justify trying to revisit the issue. 

Now RantWoman tends to walk into meetings, sow confusion pairing white cane and eyeglasses, and say things like "I don't drive...anymore, but this sounds really confusing." in that case the traffic engineer concurred and RantWoman added the location to her list of places she might discourage infrequent senior drivers from trying to figure out.. RantWoman also learned a while ago from RantMom that a few months before his death, Grandpa Farmer was told by his doctor that because of gout-related shakiness, he could no longer drive. Grandpa Farmer lived in a small town in SW CO with no public transportation. The fact that he could no longer drive up a hill to visit his sister was devastating. In other words, besides lots of youth who grow up with vision impairments, non-driver status happens for many different reasons.

RabtWoman digresses. Back to the original job description and current job application fashion about asking applicants to perform some increment of topical work for free.

RantWoman's first question: why should non-drivers be the only applicants who have explicitly to think about getting around without driving? In fact, RantWoman MIGHT think to dream up an interview scenario for EVERYONE. Imagine a situation that would involve some kind of transportation emergency, lack of a drivable vehicle, need for a wheelchair user to travel, disruption in some major transportation choke point, multiple Sound Transit elevators deciding they just are not interested in people's transportation needs for the day, and perhaps something else to amplify the crisis level such as a major event or large international delegation in town. Open Book test: take two hours. Solve the immediate need to be somewhere or to suggest enough audio / visual wizardry to meet the communications need, develop steps to address the crisis and decide on public statements.

If RantWoman were doing especially well about out of the box thinking RantWoman might add a supplemental question such as "if any of the needed travel segments involve either flying carpets or Mary Poppins umbrellas, please be prepared to discuss technological, regulatory, and budget considerations that could make that idea fly.

Presto, equal opportunity job interview for everyone.

Now, will RantWoman or will she not apply?????

New Frontiers in the bureaucratic miracle cure!

 First read this article about the Census Bureau proposal to change both the way data about disability is collected on the American Community Survey and accompanying recommendations about how to use the data.

If you read the article before December 19 and you have strong opinions, please use the link to comment.

National Partnership on Women...article on Census Bureau Proposal

RantWoman's STRONG opinions:

--Imposing data discontinuities and interpretations meant to minimize who gets counted as disabled is NOT the way to either optimize use of resources OR to reduce fiscal considerations about disability claims. Social Security and Medicare can both be made solvent and sustainable by modest adjustments: index the cap on income subject to tax with inflation. Make more income such as capital gains subject to these two taxes. RantWoman knows perfectly well these suggestions terrify many people. Oh well.

--Some valued members of our families and our communities truly cannot work. But there are millions more who are willing and able to work if barriers due to discrimination and accessibility challenges can be solved. These barriers cannot be solved if people pretend differences don't exist and then don't collect data to inform decisions about how best to work with these realities.

--Adopting both the proposed change in data collection and the interpretation recommended by the Census Bureau will worsen the undercounting of many categories of disabilities. The proposed interpretation will also subject millions of people to the "bureaucratic miracle cure," worsening of funding and resources available to deal with disabilities in general and to deal with the specific and highly variable needs of people who have widely varying levels of functionality related to specific disabilities, age of onset, educational opportunity, and living situation.

--Imperfect as the current 6 questions on the American Community Survey are, RantWoman wishes they were more widely used on many surveys just as a small step toward comparability between different data sets. RantWoman would recommend keeping the six questions just to assist with comparability over time.

--At the same time, RantWoman thinks it would be FINE to add say 10 questions about functionality with say a 1-5 scale from low impact to severe. Use these questions as many places as possible and encourage people doing other data collection to use the same questions. RantWoman knows there is a cost to collecting more data. RantWoman believes it is worthwhile.

--RantWoman strongly urges the Census Bureau to promote better collection of data and NOT make any recommend any specific interpretation. Instead let people designing programs decide how to use the data that is collected.

--Collecting MORE data is never bad. We live in an age of cheap data storage and temptation to run generative AI in all kinds of ways that put RantWoman in mind of "Garbage in Garbage out." If AI is going to be everywhere at least collect data better to feed into the models.

The Bureaucratic Miracle Cure is already more than enough of a thing:

--Social Security somehow loses record that someone has been legally blind for decades.

--A paratransit agency gets a new CEO. New CEO makes a couple who have both been blind since birth go to a doctor and bring back a paper reassuring the newcomer that, unsurprisingly, the couple are still blind.

RantWoman is pretty sure she would have no trouble collecting many such Bureaucratic Miracle Cure stories, but it's the holidays and RantWoman is trying VERY hard to stay somewhere within the same galaxy of holiday spirit. RantWoman strongly urges the Census Bureau to do better than just Bureaucratic Miracle Cure.