ACB conventiohn Day one

Well, we are just about through Day one of the ACB convention.
As anyone who has been to this convention or any other convention
or conference knows, it flies by fast. It's about 5 PM as I
write this.

What have I done today? I started my day nice and early with the
walk/run for ACB. This felt good and I actually did not mind
getting up for a good cause. I actually completed the walk too,
something I was not sure I would do. I got a silver medal for
the amount of pledges I collected too. In doing this walk, we
let the public know about the capabilities of blind people.
That's a good feeling.

When I got back from that, I went and had lunch after taking care
of other matters. After lunch, I attended a board meeting of the
ACB where important organizational business was discussed.

After this, I attended a program on access to information. We
talked about web 2.0, facebook and twitter. We also talked about
accessible MP3 players. Then we discussed the 21st Century
Communications and Video Accessibility Act, H.R. 3101. We were
asked to contact our Representatives in Congress to get them to
co-sponsor this legislation. ML wanted a commitment from all in
attendance to do this and I am one who will do it as I don't want
to be left behind as communications evolves in the 21st century.
If you think there's nothing in this legislation for the db
community, you are wrong. There is the provision for up to $10
million a year so that our community will have access to the
communications equipment we need in order to decrease isolation
and increase independence. This also calls for full hearing aid
compatibility for mobile phones and itnernet-based devices which
will help a segment of our community. I personally urge all
readers to do as I am going to do and contact your Representative
to urge him or her to co-sponsor this important legislation. The
more co-sponsors we have the better chance we have of getting
this legislation passed. I will post the key provisions
separately later.

This is the start to a very busy and productive week in Orlando.
Stay tuned for more from Orlando.