New York City has the best theater in the world. But what if your vision is poor? Does that mean you can't enjoy Shakespeare, musical extravaganzas or even some hip new off-Broadway show? Not according to Andrea Day. Day is an audio describer. She works in theaters in New York and on the West Coast, describing what happens on stage. She tells us wh…

Growing Up Fisher is one of the few broadcast TV shows featuring a person with a visual impairment. Tonight we talk to the show's creator and executive producer, DJ Nash. The NBC comedy is based on Nash's own experience; his father was blind and his parents divorced when he was young. The series stars J.K. Simmons (you may know him from the Farmer'…

Tonight we talk about vision loss and denial. Three outstanding vision loss professionals: Anna Dureas of the New York State Commission for the Blind; Kate Grathwol of Vision Loss Resources in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota and Dr. Bruce Rosenthal of Lighthouse Guild Low Vision Service will talk about both the emotional and physical challenges of …

Dr. Elena Sabbi's inspiration for accessible astronomy books occured after she hired a visually impaired intern. Dr. Sabbi works at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Her new book Reach for the Stars is a free e-book is designed to be accessible for people with visual and reading impairments. She describes the book as well as her fascinating wo…

The Fifth Sense Project is reseach developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology dedicated to creating assistive technology for people with visually impairments. Seth Teller heads up the program. In this fascinating interview, he tells us about cutting edge tech that is still in the developmental phase--small, unobtrusive, wearable devices tha…

Author Rosemary Mahoney will join us to talk about her recent New York Times OpEd Why Do We Fear the Blind? She'll also talk about her upcoming book,For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind and her work with Braille Without Borders. CCVIP's director, Dr. Karen Gourgey and Gus Chalkias will be on hand to talk to Mahon…

In this fascinating show we talk about dog guides and a new app under development. In the first half of the show, CCVIP's Dr. Karen Gourgey talks about what it's like to let go of a faithful friend--her beloved dog guide Isabel. She also talks about training Ginger--her new dog. After a short break, we talk with Kamiar Kordari of TRX Systems. He's …

People are passionate about their devices. Whether you use iOS' VoiceOver features or Android's accesibility, this episode is for you. Four accessible tech experts debate the virtues and the failings of both phones. CCVIP's instructors Lynne Tatum and Gus Chalkias take up the pro-iOS side, while Chris Grabowski from Mystic Access and Dutch computer…

When it comes to taxi apps, New York City has had more than its share of stumbles. Just when we have a pilot program, an appeals court puts the kibosh on it. In this episode, we talk to Matt Carrington of Taxi Magic. They are supposed to be in NYC's electronic cab hailing pilot program. We talked about apps, accessibiiity and how the company respon…

The New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped celebrates its 100 year anniversary on April 30th. Susan Loeb,CBVH's community building manager talks about their basic work and the upcoming celebrations in Albany and at various locations around the state. To find out more about CBVH's services, go the their website. To find out…

We talk about a recent survey by the National Industries for the Blind revealing the extent of employer bias against visually impaired people. We also discuss the lawsuits brought by the National Federation for the Blind and National Association of the Deaf over accessible e-commerce sites. And, of course, we talk about our own conference here at C…

Meet two extraordinary people in this podcast. Lynne Tatum is CCVIP's senior instructor. She talks about teaching assistive tech, social media and how her changing eyesight has impacted the way she watches movies. Next up is part one of a special two-part interview with Ancil Torres, CEO and president of the W.R. Torres Foundation, which is named f…

In our first episode of the CCVIP Podcast, we'll talk about our latest video series--Accessible iPhone Apps, the need for audible pedestrian signals and a conversation with Dr. Stanley F. Wainapel of Montefiore Medical Center about training new doctors in disability awareness.By The CCVIP Podcast