Blog Post
Planning for Aging: Informational Event
by Beth Manuel
Whether you are planning for your own future needs, are a caregiver for an older adult or will assist a loved one to develop a personal care plan, this informational event will be of interest to you. Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor are pleased to offer this presentation about three essential topics all aging adults, family members and caregivers should be familiar with: Long term care insurance, Private duty home health care, and Housing options for older adults in Washtenaw County.The session will be held on June 27 from 7:00-8:30 PM at the JCC and is for informational & educational purposes. There will be no marketing of services. To RSVP or ask a question, please contact: Diane Fenske, Older Adult Services Coordinator, JFS (734) 769-0209 or diane@jfsannarbor.org.
Blog Post
Staying Healthy with a Disability
by iralax
For people with disabilities or long-term health conditions the state of Michigan now offers a six-week workshop that helps you improve your health and manage your symptoms. You will learn how to deal with not feeling well, communicate better with doctors and family members, relax and overcome stress, increase your energy, improve your performance of everyday activities, and stay independent. The program is called PATH (Personal Action Toward Health), and you can get details and find out where the workshop location is in your region by calling Candace Lee at the Michigan Department of Community Health at 517-335-3188, email leec@michigan.gov. For more information at the national level visit National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability.
Blog Post
NFB-NEWSLINE now available for the iPhone!
by monkk
Great news iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users! The National Federation of the Blind have just released an NFB-NEWSLINE "app", available free of charge to all registered users. This application can be downloaded from the iTunes store and installed. Once on your device, simply login and begin accessing the service. With an easy-to-use interface, coupled with Apple's built-in Voice Over software, subscribers can get all of their newspaper and magazine content, as well as television listings. NFB-NEWSLINE is well over 300 publications and it's still growing. The service handles thousands of phone calls each day for individuals across the country who now access daily newspapers and magazines as never before. Register by calling the National Federation of the Blind toll-free at 1 (866) 504-7300 to request an application. You may also download an application or fill out the online application to register. After your registration is processed, you'll receive a letter containing your activation codes and instructions on how to begin reading the newspaper with NFB-NEWSLINE.
Blog Post
We're Talking....
by Beth Manuel
...in English as a Second Language conversation group at three of our locations each week. AADL's partnership with Washtenaw Literacy provides us with trained volunteers to help participants get comfortable speaking English. Groups meet Mondays at the Pittsfield Branch from 1:00-2:30 PM; Wednesday at our Traverwood Branch from 7:00- 8:30 PM. There's also a group that meets at Mallets Creek on Fridays from 1-2:30 PM. Participants do not need to register to take part in these groups and can attend as many as they'd like. If you're interested in learning more about Washtenaw Literacy, check out their website or give them a call: 734-879-1320.
Blog Post
National Federation of the Blind of Michigan 2013 Scholarship Program
by iralax
The National Federation of the Blind of Michigan is pleased to offer two scholarships in the amount of $500 to outstanding blind college students in the state of Michigan. Scholarship winners will be required to attend the entire state convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, and participate in all activities sponsored by the Michigan Association of Blind Students. This convention will take place October 18-20, 2013 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. All convention expenses including transportation, hotel accommodations, and registration will be provided as part of this scholarship. All application materials must be submitted by Sept. 6, 2013, and winners will be notified by Sept. 27. If you have questions or would like an application contact Terri Wilcox at 734-663-4050 or trising@sbcglobal.net.
Blog Post
Insurance Plan A/ABW Open Enrollment
by Beth Manuel
Washtenaw Health Plan's Plan A/ABW Open enrollment is a month-long rare opportunity for uninsured Adult Residents of Washtenaw County to possibly become insured. Under this insurance plan, adults between the ages of 19-64 with NO minor children in their custody may be eligible for comprehensive health coverage-including a $1.00 co-pay for brand and generic prescription drugs. You can apply online or come to one of the numerous enrollment opportunities throughout the rest of April. The Washtenaw Health Plan office will be taking walk-in applicants all month. Additionally, there will be a chance to enroll at the following sites this week: Tuesday, April 23
Packard Health West, 1-3 pm; Ypsilanti Library Whittaker Road, 5-7 pm; Faith in Action-Chelsea;Wednesday, April 24th, 9-11 am; and Packard Health-Main; Thursday, April 25th, 9-11 am. Don't forget every day until May 1 at at Washtenaw Health Plan, 555 Towner, Ypsilanti, 8:30 am-5pm. College Students and other uninsured adults may be eligible for this program.
Blog Post
Center for Independent Living Job Talk
by monkk
Join the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living on every other Monday starting April 15 from 1 pm to 2:30 pm for Job Talk, a career development workshop. Come to support and be supported through discussions on the challenges of unemployment, news, tips, and networking to help you land a job. To register or for more information about Job Talk, contact Cheranissa Roach at cheranissa@aacil.org or (734) 971-0277.
Blog Post
Braille and Talking Book Library Book Club
by monkk
The next Michigan Commission for the Blind Braille and Talking Book Library Book Club meeting will be held on April 13 at 1:30 p.m. in Lansing at the Library of Michigan in the BTBL public service area located on the first floor across from the elevators. This month's book is DB45619 A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson . The meeting can be attended in person or via the OPAL online meeting room. The meeting site is accessible. Individuals attending the meeting are requested to refrain from using heavily scented personal care products in order to enhance accessibility for everyone. People with disabilities requiring additional accommodations (such as materials in alternative format) in order to participate in the meeting, or those seeking more information, should call Scott Norris at (517) 373-5516 at least five business days prior to the meeting.
Blog Post
National Library Service Survey
by monkk
The Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is conducting a survey to understand how to better serve the needs of readers of talking books and braille.
The survey asks about your reading preferences and experiences with talking books and braille, your use or familiarity with the NLS talking book and braille program, your usage of technology, and your personal and household demographics. The survey should take no longer than 25 minutes.
Take the survey now to let your opinions be heard and help the NLS better serve you! You can access the survey at www.LibraryOfCongressSurvey.org or call 866-545-1618 to schedule a phone survey.
The survey will run March 11 - May 10, 2013.
Blog Post
Guide to Old News for Low Vision Users
by monkk
There are a variety of features in the Ann Arbor District Library Old News that can be of use to users with low-vision.
Large Article Images and Photos
Articles in Old News are scanned at high resolution and are served up that way on the site. Simply click on any article image or photo you see in Old News to bring it up in its own window. Selecting the expansion button below the article image will blow it up to its full size--often as much as twice as large as it appeared originally in print!
OCR Text
Many of the articles in Old News appear with Optical Character Recognition text that is readable by screen readers. Look below the article image and look for the "View Uncorrected Scanned Text" section. AADL staff and patrons are working to correct the errors in this OCR and add OCR to articles from which it is missing.
PDF Copies of Historic Newspapers
Many of the newspapers in Old News have been digitized as full issues and are provided on Old News as issue PDFs in addition to being broken into separate articles. After selecting a newspaper from the Papers page, just pick any issue you wish to see by clicking on its date. You'll see an option to "Download PDF" on each issue. These PDFs have large images of each page and text underneath for any screen reader to access.
AADL Local History Podcasts
Old News isn’t just for reading, it’s also for listening. Take a step back in time while listening to Old News Podcasts. AADL talks to locals and “townies” on a variety of topics including Argus Camera, the turbulent 60’s, University of Michigan Sports, and heritage businesses such as Schlanderer & Sons and Vogel’s Lock & Safe, and more.