AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND (ACB)

 PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE

16509 NE 20TH STREET, VANCOUVER, WA 98684

(360) 892-9229 FAX (360) 892-7727

ralphsanders_1@juno.com

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December 1, 2004

 

Technology Brings Information Access to the Blind Around the World.

ACB Radio to Provide Audio Coverage of the World Blind Union Sixth General Assembly

from South Africa in December!

 

For immediate Release

 

For additional information contact:

Dave Williams, ACB Radio Director

116 The Paddock

Preston

PR2 8GP

UK

Phone: (888) 625-8684

Email: support@acbradio.org

or

Ralph Sanders, PR Committee Chair

 

ACB Radio, the worldwide Internet Radio Service sponsored by the American Council of the Blind, has been invited to stream exclusive live audio coverage of the Sixth General Assembly of the World Blind Union to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 6 to 10 December 2004.

 

ACB Radio's coverage of the WORLD BLIND UNION Assembly will be heard live by a worldwide audience via ACB Radio Main Stream, including comprehensive English language coverage of the entire program, including WORLD BLIND UNION resolutions and elections.  ACB Radio will also broadcast an address to the Assembly from Thabo Mbeki, the president of the Republic of South Africa.  Archives will be made available on-demand from the ACB Radio web site for later listening.

 

“It will be a privilege and an honor for ACB Radio to work with the World Blind Union on this extraordinary project.”    Said Williams,.  “Streaming live internet coverage of an event of this magnitude presents a huge range of exciting challenges and opportunities for all concerned.  Our coverage will bring the WORLD BLIND UNION Assembly into the homes and workplaces of blind people around the globe."

 

The World Blind Union's General Assembly convenes every four years, and by 6 December 2004 around a thousand delegates and observers from approximately 150 member countries are expected to converge on Cape Town South Africa for the sixth General Assembly of the WORLD BLIND UNION.

 

“This is precisely the kind of information distribution to blind people everywhere we had in mind when we founded ACB Radio," explained Christopher Gray, President of the American Council of the Blind who lives in San Francisco, California.  "It greatly expands the type of important information available to blind people in real time.”

 

During the General Assembly the WORLD BLIND UNION’s progress over the past four years will be discussed, a new constitution will be adopted, resolutions to guide the WORLD BLIND UNION through the next four years will be drafted, and the organizations officers will be elected.

 

The sixth General Assembly of the WORLD BLIND UNION, which coincides with the tenth anniversary of South Africa's democracy, will enhance the importance of human rights and dignity by reaffirming the country's solidarity with people of the world who continually struggle in the face of adversity.

 

Covering the WORLD BLIND UNION General Assembly is the climax of a five-year journey for ACB Radio.  Online since 1999, ACB Radio is a landmark in Internet broadcasting connecting a worldwide blind community like nothing before.  The vast majority of ACB Radio's output is presented and produced

by an international team of more than fifty blind volunteers who donate their time, equipment and skills to sustain this remarkable project.  The majority of ACB Radio's volunteers are scattered throughout the United States, additionally ACB Radio volunteers can be found in: Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Singapore and Australia. Within the past six months ACB Radio Main Stream has broadcast live coverage of the national American Council of the Blind Convention from Birmingham Alabama, the California and Washington State affiliate conventions of the ACB, the Queensland State convention of Blind Citizens Australia and the 2004 Annual General Meeting of Blind Citizens Australia.

 

“In the future I believe ACB Radio can continue to extend its role providing live audio streaming solutions for Blindness related conferences and events from around the world, while at the same time attempting to break down the digital divide by continuing to investigate ways of delivering ACB Radio content to the millions of blind people who do not have access to the internet.” said Williams.

 

The World Blind Union is an international non-governmental organization composed of over 150 member countries representing hundreds of organizations of and for the blind throughout the world.  The WORLD BLIND UNION plays a crucial role as a vehicle for the exchange of views and experience, and serves as a reference point on issues such as education, rehabilitation, employment, assistive technology, social welfare, blindness and aging, equality of blind women, opportunities for youth, and the enhancement of quality of life for people who are deaf-blind.

 

ACB Radio was the first Internet radio project of its kind to connect blind communities from around the world.  Its success has inspired a number of similar projects in the United States and Europe and beyond.  ACB Radio features programming produced predominantly by blind people including information and entertainment of particular relevance to people who are blind or have low vision.  ACB Radio can be heard using a standard multimedia computer and free software.  Additionally some of ACB Radio's output is rebroadcast by radio reading information services around the world.

 

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is the nation’s largest consumer based advocacy organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired Americans.  It has more than 25,000 members organized in more than seventy state and special interest affiliates.

 

Information about the programs and services of the American Council of the Blind is available at http://www.acb.org.