Blindness

Nonprofit Aravind Eye Care System Wins $1 Million Prize for Preventing and Curing Blindness in India's Poorest Communities

SEATTLE -- In recognition of its groundbreaking work to prevent debilitating blindness and provide affordable, world-class eye care to the poor, the Aravind Eye Care System, based in Tamil Nadu, India, has won the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health. The $1 million Gates Award—the world's largest prize for international health—honors extraordinary efforts to improve health in developing countries.    » read more »

Jan. 15, 2008 -- BALTIMORE - At a Tuesday ceremony at the National Federation of the Blind, NASA unveiled a new book that brings majestic images taken by its Great Observatories to the fingertips of the blind.    » read more »

Jan. 8, 2008 -- BALTIMORE - NASA will debut a new book for blind readers at a media event and reception Jan. 15. The agency will unveil "Touch the Invisible Sky," which gives blind readers the ability to experience cosmic images from the agency's space-based observatories and other telescopes on the ground. The event begins at 10 a.m. EST at the National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore. Media will have the opportunity to ask the authors questions and view science experiments related to NASA's Great Observatories.    » read more »

Research published by SAGE in Neurorehabilitation & Neural Repair

4-Sep-2007 -- Is it possible to offer hope for stroke patients who’ve lose part of their vision? A study published by SAGE in the journal Neurorehabilitation & Neural Repair explores that question.    » read more »

The scientific community is just starting to appreciate the importance of pH regulation in normal vision.

Machine’s 40th anniversary a celebration of ingenuity and convenience

28 June 2007 -- Washington – Forty years after the first automated teller machine (ATM) made it possible for people to get cash from their bank accounts at any time of day and from virtually any place in the world, companies are equipping them with voice-guidance features to improve their ease of use for people who are blind.

“Life should be as convenient for blind people as it is for anyone else,” says Christopher S. Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).    » read more »

June 27, 2007 -- BOSTON – Today, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley entered into a settlement with Cardtronics, Inc., the nation's largest ATM operator, that will provide significantly improved access for blind consumers to the company's machines. Under the terms of the agreement, Cardtronics will increase the number of machines equipped with voice guidance technology to its fleet of over 23,000 ATMs nationwide and on more than 1,200 ATMs in Massachusetts. Over 35,000 blind persons in Massachusetts will benefit from the voice-guided machines.    » read more »