The most recent data on the labor force participation rate of individuals who identify as being blind or having vision loss in the United States indicate it is approximately 44%. In 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs promulgated regulations pertaining to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to address the continued…

Standardizing accessible test design and development to meet students' individual access needs is a complex task. The following study provides one approach to accessible test design and development using participatory design methods with school community members. Participatory research provides opportunities to empower collaborators by co-creating…

Over the last decade, many local education agencies (LEAs) across California imposed significant restrictions on community-based orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction. Administrators from these LEAs prohibited O&M Specialists from transporting students off-campus for instruction, with one large Southern California district going so…

In this Information Research Cadre, Teresa Blythe responds to the following research question: For those states that have residential schools for the Blind/VI and Deaf/HI students, have they developed policies and procedures for residential placement of these students? To develop this response Blythe conducted web research utilizing numerous…

Like many other states, California is facing a daunting budget deficit, reportedly about $19 billion. Delayed budgets have held up the disbursement of money, affecting school programs in districts as well as at the California School for the Blind (CSB). The current financial constraints have had an impact on CSB's programs. Its department of seven…

If digital literacy is exploding, the visually disabled are taking the shrapnel. The author wagers that most librarians consider themselves committed to accessibility and make individual and organizational efforts to comply with (and often exceed) the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in their buildings and the Rehabilitation Act Section 508…

A path-following experiment, using a global positioning system, was conducted with participants who were legally blind. On- and off-course confirmations were delivered by either a vibrotactile or an audio stimulus. These simple binary cues were sufficient for guidance and point to the need to offer output options for guidance systems for people…

These California state guidelines are intended as a resource for parents, staff, and administrators in assessing, identifying, planning, providing, evaluating, and improving the quality and cost effectiveness of programs serving visually impaired students. Chapters have the following titles and sample subtopics: (1) "Introduction"…

Objectives of this study were: (1) to review existing library service to the blind and physically handicapped who are unable to use conventional printed materials, concentrating on braille and talking books for non-institutionalized persons, and (2) to suggest approaches to long-term planning for improved services in California, authorized by…

The Joint Action Committee of Organizations of and Serving the Visually Handicapped is a coalition of 24 California consumer, parent, and professional organizations; agencies; and product distributors. This article highlights coalition accomplishments in the areas of information dissemination, public policy influence, and public education and…

THESE PROCEEDINGS WERE PREPARED FROM THE WEST COAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH RELATED TO BLIND AND SEVERELY VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN HELD MARCH 8-10, 1965. SURVEY RESULTS WERE PRESENTED WHICH INDICATED THE NUMBER OF BLIND, SEVERELY VISUALLY IMPAIRED, AND MULTIPLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN CALIFORNIA AND THE INCIDENCE OF BLINDNESS IN CHILDREN…

This resource book serves as a bibliography and a directory of information sources and educational/rehabilitation service providers for all categories of disabilities. The book was developed for use by individuals in the 11 state hospitals and developmental centers in California. The resource guide's scope includes: agencies, software, videotapes,…

Data elicited by two questionnaires on the characteristics (numbers, nature, extent, and location) of the multihandicapped population under 21 years of age in California are presented. Based on replies by 613 programs (47% response) and estimated to include 80 to 90% of the state's multihandicapped blind children, statistics concern…