National Federation of the Blind
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States.[1][2] Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland.
Membership, governing structure and subsidiary organizations[edit]
The NFB's literature estimates about 50,000 active members. Membership is open to all, both blind and sighted. All officers of the organization and its affiliates must be blind, except for the leaders of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children.[11]
The NFB has affiliates in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and these affiliates are divided into local chapters. Affiliates and chapters pledge to support the national organization while carrying on independent activities in their local areas. The affiliates, chapters and the national organization periodically have elections for officers. The positions are president, first vice president, second vice president, secretary, treasurer and several board members.
The NFB also has dozens of groups for people with special interests, such as the National Association of Blind Students, the National Association of Blind Lawyers, The National Association of Blind Merchants, the National Association of the Blind in Communities of Faith, and the National Association of Guide Dog Users, to name some of the larger groups. Some of these groups, such as the National Association of Guide Dog Users and National Association of Blind Students, also have state affiliates.
Since 1945, the NFB has held a convention every year in a major American city, usually early in July. As of 2005, it is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people attend these conventions. In 2002, 2003 and 2005 the convention was held at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, but it is unusual for the conventions to be held so often in a particular city. The 2006 convention was held in Dallas, Texas, and the 2007 convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia. At the 2007 convention, on the morning of July 3, over 1000 NFB members marched two miles from the Marriott Marquis Hotel to the Olympic Park in what was known as the March for Independence. It was led by Congressman John Lewis. The March for Independence was held again the following year in Dallas. Money raised from the march went to the Imagination fund, which will support NFB programs and grants.
Each state has its own affiliate convention sometime during the year. At the national convention, which lasts a week, there are presentations about the struggles and triumphs of blind people, and the availability of technology for blind people has been a common topic.
The special interest groups have meetings at the convention during which they elect their officers, and the president gives his presidential report. The presidential report describes the actions taken by the national headquarters during the last year. The president also gives a speech at the banquet, in which he takes a more philosophical approach focusing on the nature of blindness as a characteristic.
The national convention has elections for officers and board members, in which the selections of the nominating committee have been elected unanimously in recent years, and the convention passes resolutions about the policies of the organization, which often provokes some debate. The state conventions, which usually last two to three days, also have resolutions and elections, which are often more contentious than at the national level.
Technology[edit]
In 1977 the NFB directed the final field trials of the first reading machine, developed by noted inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. The machine weighed 80 pounds and cost $50,000. The machine used 50 bits per word and could store 750,000 bits of information. It used a camera to scan 15 characters per second and was programmed with the rules that govern spoken English. From this it produced the word with a synthetic voice.[13]
NFB has partnered with Kurzweil Educational Systems, a company founded by Ray Kurzweil, to develop a completely portable reading machine: the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader. A digital camera takes a picture of the printed material to be read, and an attached personal digital assistant (PDA) reads the text aloud. The text is also stored as a text file, which can be saved and moved to a computer or portable notetaker so that it can be sent to a braille embosser (sometimes called a braille printer) or read on a paperless braille display.[14][15]
Outside the United States[edit]
The NFB is a participant in the World Blind Union and maintains relationships with groups of blind people in other countries. In the UK, there is a similar organization known as the National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom.[16]