The “Voice Of The Blind” Opens In Romania

by Oana Ghita and Rodica State Agerpress    Romania’s First museum dedicated to the history, culture and contributions of blind people opened Thursday in Bucharest.    The ‘Regina Elisabeta’ Technological High School in Bucharest, in partnership with the Light into Europe Foundation, inaugurated the ‘Regina Elisabeta’ Museum of the Blind Community and Education.   According to …

Disabled Musicians Make Sound Beyond Limits

By Kintan Andanari The Straits Times (Singapore)    When Siti Sakinah Zainal sits at the piano, fingers poised on its keys, she begins not by looking at the conductor’s purple baton, but by listening intently.    She focuses on the sound of his slow, measured breath, amplified through his microphone. On cue, she starts Georges …

New Leader Hopes To Expand Vision Bermuda

by Alva Solomon Royal Gazette    The creation of a work readiness program for people who are visually impaired is among key plans pursued by the head of a charity.    Erica Ingemann, who officially assumed the role of executive director of Vision Bermuda in May, also aims to use her creative skills to produce …

Braille Gives Literacy, Independence, Access

by Megan Dausch Helen Keller Services    The Louis Braille Museum in Coupvray, France, smelled like history—aged wood, old paper, and the faint mustiness of time. It was a small house, but it held the weight of a remarkable legacy.     I remember running my fingers over the dominoes Louis Braille played with as a …

Coffee Chain Creating Jobs For The Disabled

by Karen Shimizu Food &Wine    Bitty & Beau’s is a civil rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.   Bitty & Beau’s has everything you could want from a neighborhood café. The coffee is hot and strong, there’s ample seating, and the free wifi encourages you to linger.    But the experience it offers is rare …

Syracuse Turns Its Back On The Disabled

by Stephen Kuusisto     (Nationally-known poet and disability advocate Stephen Kuusisto writes the “Planet of the Blind” blog on WordPress. The following is from his posts of  Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.)    When Helen Keller attended Radcliffe she observed that the experience was a “largely lonely triumph” and described how she was ignored by …

Papa John’s To Pay $175K For Discrimination

by Kevin Burton    Giant pizza-delivery chain Papa John’s will cough up a big chunk of dough, for employment  discrimination against a blind man, according to multiple published reports.    Louisville-based Papa John’s is the fourth-largest pizza delivery chain in the US,  according to USA Today. On its website, Papa John’s lists “the values that …

Blind Man Loses Website Discrimination Case

by  Jessica Stemple    (The following is a blog from the Valenci Rose law firm from Los Angeles.)    Consumers in America and around the world have embraced online shopping for everything from food and fashion to vehicles, medicine, travel, and countless other purchases. But many retail websites are inaccessible for consumers who are blind …