Welcome to ACB of Maine
2022 ACB of Maine Virtual Convention November 5. Save the date and Join Us!
ACB of Maine would like to wish you the best with all your endeavors and invite you to join us as we move ahead towards a tomorrow filled with those special ingredients that makes us one of the best organizations around.
Please feel free to look through our website, and while you’re at it, go grab yourself an ACB day!
President’s message:
Happy January and 2023! It seems like just yesterday that I was writing my first President’s message for ACB Maine and here we are a year later. I wish to thank all of you for choosing me to lead you through another year!
We have an enthusiastic board to assist me in fulfilling ACBMaine’s mission statement which is to improve the lives of citizens in Maine who are blind.
We will work hard to achieve this; however, we need all of you to help! You might ask, “What can I do?”
You can attend our board meetings held on the first Thursday of even months.
You can volunteer to be on a committee, which will be listed below.
You could help our membership to grow by getting a friend to join! If each of you brings in one member, our membership would double!
This is your organization and we want to know what we can do to make it work for all of you! Share your thoughts and ideas with the board members at board meetings or email one of us. Our email addresses can be found on the website.
We had a good year in 2022 with the start up of Tech Talk, an exciting and educational convention, and a record number of scholarship applicants.
ACBMaine is sponsoring Tech Talk with Steve Sawczyn again this year. Tech Talk is the second Tuesday of every month. If you want to be put on Steve’s email list, send him a message: Steve@Sawczyn.com
At our November virtual convention with PTGDU, we had an inspiring keynote speaker, Svetlana Ehlers, and a panel of college students who shared their challenges as a blind student, their goals and ambitions. We also had a nice presentation from the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The membership voted to hold the convention in Portland for 2023. The planning for this year’s convention needs to start immediately! If you are interested in helping on the planning, please contact me!
In 2022, we had a record number of scholarship applicants which resulted in ACBMaine giving out $3500 to deserving students! We are honored to be able to assist these students in furthering their education.
Let’s make 2023 as wonderful and successful for ACB Maine!
Thank you,
Leona McKenna
ACB of Maine Tech Talk
Want to learn more about accessible technology? Curious how technology might be able to help you live a more fulfilling life? Do you have questions about technology and just don’t know who to ask?
ACB of Maine has launched a new technology-related program called Tech Talk, hosted by Steve Sawczyn. Tech Talk is a program that will allow folks to get technology questions answered, and have an opportunity to learn something new. Tech Talk will take place via Zoom on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM from February – July. Information for joining the Zoom meeting will be sent out prior to each program.
The sessions are a great opportunity for you to provide input on the types of topics you would like to see covered during future editions of the program. Also, we’ll review how to effectively use the Zoom conferencing system which may be helpful to those who are new to using Zoom, and to those who just might want a refresher.
I hope you will join me for Tech Talk, where together, we can share information about accessible technology, learn from one another, and find ways to use tech in ways that can improve our lives. Tech Talk Dates: March 8th, April 12th, May 10th, June 14th, July 12th. To register for the program and if you have any questions about Zoom, contact Steve Sawczyn at Email: Steve@Sawczyn.com
Phone: (207) 458-8270.
The summary of the first session by Steve Sawczyn follows:
I just want to take a moment and thank all of you for attending this evening’s inaugural ACB of Maine Tech Talk. I already love all the participation and knowledge that was shared. For those who were unable to attend, we do have a recording of tonight’s program, but we’re still working out the details on how to make that available. As soon as we have all the technical stuff ironed out, I will share a link to the recording.
In addition to introductions, here are some of the topics that were discussed, with relevant links:
- Zoom hotkeys for PC, Mac, and mobile devices
- Orcam MyEye reading solution
- Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.
- Aira: Visual Interpreting – Get Live, On-demand Access to Visual Information
- The Dexcom G6 CGM System. Technology that lets us manage diabetes without fingersticks.*
- Dice World® 6 Fun Games: available on iOS app store and on Google Play store.
Note, I do my best to keep track of all topics and resources discussed, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes during the program and so if I missed anything, please let me know and I’ll include it in the next update.
Thanks again for joining me for Tech Talk, I look forward to our next discussion on Tuesday, 03/08 at 7:00 PM.
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA is divided into five titles (or sections) that relate to different areas of public life.
ACB Maine Newsletter
Check out the latest ACB Maine Newsletter
ACB of Maine 